Sadly, I was wrong. Very wrong, actually. This term is easily the toughest of all we have gone through till wrong. Agreed, the mad rush for CGPA & the dean’s list is somewhat less. But for a person like me, whose best academic performance was coming 4^th in Class 3, the above 2 indicators were never a factor anyways. I judge a term purely by its workload and in that Term 5 wins hands down. There is just too much to do. Period.

 

The entire term sort of peaked over this last weekend. Everybody in campus had, on an average, 4-5 assignment submission to be made on Monday/Tuesday. Everybody was running all over the campus, different subjects, different studygroups, always on the phone. Among all this, also cram in a soft skills workshop, a case study prep session with Deloitte, a talk from Google, CV review sessions and so on and on. Of course, there were the obligatory weekend booze sessions which further reduced available time – first, the time spent drinking (usually starting around 8-9 pm and going on till 2-3 at night) and second, the entire next morning spent sleeping or walking around like a zombie.

 

Well, one of the high points of the entire year (at least for me) took place last weekend. A bartending session was organized by Tulleho. So, we learnt to make 4 cocktails and the deal was that whatever one makes, one consumes. So we had about 40 very happy people at the end of 2 hours. Forgotten were assignments, deadlines, placements and other myriad worries. The mind was freshened, the body was charged. I only wish I had taken some pictures.

 

Coming back to the acads, one of the major pain points is that the old study groups no longer exist. For good or bad, some kind of synergy (apparently the 2^nd most abused work in MBA land *) existed in the study groups. Over 4 terms, we know who were good in what and work responsibilities were divided accordingly. With electives all that’s gone. So now I have 4 different study groups and every member of my study groups (19 in my case) have equal number of study groups themselves. The result is there is an astonishing amount of pull from all directions for everybody. It’s hard to fix up a meeting, there is constant juggling of the calendar and even when you meet ultimately, the phone just doesn’t stop ringing.

 

“Have you done this” / “have you done that” / “when are we going to meet” / “but you said you will meet at 10.30” / “it will take only 30 minutes, please come yaar” / “don’t give me BS about assignments, we all have assignments” / “Boss, can’t take this anymore, nobody is responding to meeting invites”…..different outcomes but the same common pain….just too many assignments!!

 

On a totally unrelated note, people tell me that Café has a new menu and it’s actually quite good.

p.s.

* in case anybody is wondering, the most abused word in a B-school is ‘intuitive’

 

Also, getting the K vote is rural marketing. After Kotler and Gillette and SouthWest airlines, classes in this class are refreshingly ‘Indian’. I enjoy the quirky insights about Indian consumers we are getting exposed to and the fast facts on consumer trends. I feel ready to market to this market. I mean, there seems to be oodles of potential in this market and I am looking forward to getting my hands dirty (ummm…pun unintended).

At the risk of changing tracks mid way, (this is exactly how CP happens in class sometimes by the way…why don’t profs get annoyed?) lobbying heavily for the K vote is also the all new menu at the Café. The find of the century is clearly the Spouts and Pomegranate salad.

Track change again.

Ever since I have come to ISB, the duration and intensity of my happy and sad phases have declined considerably. There is so much to do constantly that life gives you no time to gloat, mope or remain angry for more than 12 minutes precisely. After a nasty round of negotiations which about seven months ago would have left me irritable for the entire day, all it takes is a random but sweet message from home and the famed sprouts salad to restore my worn spirit. Maybe I am getting to superficial or maybe I am finally growing up.

Anyway, contending for the K squat scores is the upcoming weekend with a total of 6 deliverables through it. Also, vying for a spot on the K squat countdown is the bidding exercise. Barely stepped out of one round and now we are already in the thick of the second. Sigh! We are living life in the fast lane these days.

 

Pre reads for Marketing Research (also a great course) and Managing Teams (Is Prof. Moon cool or what! Love his humor and sarcasm.) homework beckons…Make way, here I come!

 

 

 

 

 

Back at campus, life keeps moving at a frenetic pace. We have started our first elective term and the first week was spent with crazy bidding, forming a zillion new groups and getting used to attending classes without seeing the familiar faces of the section around me. It really hits me in Term 5 how much we had got used to sitting in class with the same familiar faces of Sec – C. There are a few courses this term I have really enjoyed attending classes. Negotiation Analysis happens to be the best of the lot. Not only is the professor excellent, the methodology of teaching is apt too. I am sure I will love this subject and it would be one of the most remembered classes at the ISB.

And along with all this, co-curricular activities are reaching their peak. Club activities like speaker sessions, case prep workshops, resume reviews…the list is endless..It means unending running around….It really takes out a lot from you and only the people who are driving these initiatives realize how energy sapping, frustrating, demanding and stressful it is. It is my fervent hope that at the end of the day all of this is worth it. Someone may ask what do you mean worth? Well worth in terms of the achievement of the goals we set out for….satisfying the aspirations of one of the most competitive and intelligent young minds of the country.

So it goes on. The days pass on and we keep living by the hourly deadlines. I keep waking up each morning hoping that the first page of Economic Times doesn’t make me grumpy. One of my friends had told me a year back that an one year MBA is a nightmare. I did not believe him. How difficult can it get – I had reasoned. An it’s not like you cannot have fun. I did have a fair share of the fun, parties, challenges and the frustrations in the last 6 months. Well you can only say “Just sit back, relax and and enjoy your flight”. And here goes the in-flight music.
Cerulean-Blue (Click to Listen)

My study group and section wants to party more than ever before as we have those few emotional people tagging along before we all part ways to choose different concentrations here. We have gained the reputation as the infamous Party D11 for our little pre-parties and after-parties. I have now narrowed my interests towards Marketing very much in the Telecom and Internet area with electives from Finance which delve on VC and PE which are my special interests.

I just can’t wait for this term to get over for a long break and of course our study group’s long awaited road trip!! There is a high debate over Goa and Pondicherry as possible getaways. Watch this space over the months as I walk you through my road at ISB. Now, I should get back to some work for few more hours before I head off to the party later tonight in SV3 lawns which will take me much into the morning!

Term 4 is almost at half way mark and with that the core terms are going to get over. For 4 terms we studied, played, partied, enjoyed, laughed, fought, and celebrated as one section. All this is going to end in few weeks. We all had started to feel comfortable in the middle of our section mates, but as they say “All good things must come to an end”. So be it.

This post is about the last 4 terms at ISB. The time just whizzed by, I can’t believe that almost 5 months have gone by and I have only 6 more months at ISB. Life has surely been on a fast conveyor belt. As soon as I stepped on to it, I had no idea that it will move so fast. We have been taught by some truly amazing professors, and many more will teach us in the terms to come. This term is relatively free, there are very few assignments and the courses are mostly theoretical. So everybody is busy with plethora of business competitions that are taking place almost everyday. The placement fever is slowly catching up; some of the consulting companies have started doing the rounds. Alums have started visiting us and exhorting us to start with our placement preparation. Since the placement week has been advanced by a month, it is expected that all the preceding activities will also follow the revised timelines. Study groups for placement preparation have started to form and people have started working on the first of the numerous versions of CV.

Coming months will bring in more stress, more tension and more caffeine, and then it will be bright and sunny after all that turmoil and torture.