Term 6 started off pretty slowly with not much to do except all the events that we had this time. We had the Venture Capital Investment Competition, in association with the Kenan-Flagler Business School @ UNC. This was an internal round and the winner from ISB gets to participate in the Asia Round that we are organizing for the first time sometime in Feb. So this was kind of a trial run. I was handling all the logistics and I can tell you, it wasnt an easy job. It did go off without a hitch though, so no complaints.

VCIC Internal Round

Parallel to the VCIC, we also had the Energy Conclave organised by the Energy and Manufacturing Club on the same weekend!

Next, we had the RBI Governor, Dr. D Subbarao on campus to talk about the impact of the recent crisis on India and our future growth.

Dr. D Subbarao @ ISB

Then we had the ISB Leadership Summit, ISB’s flagship event with over 30 speakers coming over to speak on multiple panels, all on a single day. It was an interesting experience, with the sad part being the choices we needed to make on which discussion to attend. I settled for a very interesting panel discussion where Mr. B S Nagesh, the MD of Shopper’s Stop, spoke on his experience with Indian Retail and its growth over the years.

Mr. Nagesh on Indian Retail

Then of course, we also had ISB Day celebrations as ISB turned 8, with a cultural program over the weekend as well, with some great performances by students, staff, families, you name it!

ISB Day- The Acapella Band!

In between we also had the finals of the iDiya, the social entrepreneurship competition, with teams of working professionals from all over India competing, and the top 6 teams attending mentoring workshops at ISB. One of the highlights of the competition was the session on Responsible Leadership by Rahul Bose, who besides being an actor, is involved in a lot of different things, from the Indian rugby team to his NGO.

In addition, pre-placement talks have started, with companies coming to campus almost everyday to deliver their pitches. There are some really interesting roles up for grabs, and resumes are being polished, and interviews being prepared for.

And last, but definitely NOT the least, we have Solstice 2009 this weekend. The biggest fun event of the year, when ISB alums from all over come back to school for 3 days of partying with the current batch.

WHEW! So much for being short, I am already out of breath.

Oh, and this is just a single term at ISB!

- Jasnoor

Class of 2010

The best part of the weekend was the Halloween party organised by the Student Life Council at the open air 08 Lounge. It was the largest party yet, with lots of alums turning up as well. People turned up in proper Halloween attire, with lots of thought having gone into the costumes. There was food, drinks, as well a rocking DJ…

The Open Air Dance Floor

Halloween Decorations

While the party literally went on till the break of dawn, we left at around 4:30 A.M., for a long drive on the smooth road to the Airport!! Its rare that you get time for such things at ISB, traveling with friends on a long road with nothing in particular to think about, just driving to nowhere for the heck of it.

I finally got to bed at around 6 A.M., and was up running to a meeting at 10:30 A.M. Some things never change…..

- Jasnoor, Class of 2010

However, unless you are reading the contents of this blog off a feed-reader, you’d have noticed a few changes taking place on this website.

A new look, a new feel and a new wordpress theme are just the tip of the iceberg insofar as our revamping of this site is concerned. Over the next few days, you will see this website undergoing an obvious metamorphosis to shape up the way the class of 2010 would like it to be.

Just to keep you posted on what is happening on campus, our Graduate Student Body President and Directors have been elected, and work is going on to have the various professional and social clubs instituted with their respective Presidents and office-bearers by the end of this week, so that our non-pedagogical pursuits can follow suit in full swing.

Regular programming shall continue, in the meantime.

– Your friendly neighbourhood weblog admin, Hari Shenoy (Class of 2010)

Let me come to the issue at hand. We got our course packs for the first term in ISB and that was the first time I kind of heard the words “mid-terms”. Anything that read “exams” was too far off as we had just begun our course. I was more excited about the fact that I would be learning new subjects like Marketing Management, Financial Accounting and Managerial Economics. I had Statistics in my blood. So that was not a worry at all.

New people, new subjects, new ways of learning, and birthday dunkings were the major attractions at ISB for me. Then there were also lectures to attend, presentations of clubs, and such activities that were equally important. I was under the impression that I had a whole year to get accustomed to this new life that I am in. The pre-reads for classes kept getting postponed – supposedly for the other activities that I tried to be a part of. I even sat at the LRC for studies but ended up making some new friends there too. Everything was going fine. Except the fact that the so called distant mid-terms were not so distant anymore! One fine day I (most of us in the class of 2010 actually) realized that the mid-terms were like just around the corner. And thus started the desperate attempt to catch up!

Believe me, nothing changed much. I still had the same number of classes per week. The amount of pre-reads was no different. Activities other than classes were also more or less similar. What really changed was that I had to also cope up with everything I had missed in the earlier 2 weeks. And boy! It was not possible. Not for me at least. Thus, I started with a step behind. I also realized that Stats which was supposed to be in my blood, is not there anymore. (I think I even need to check the iron in there, after the mid terms I have started having doubts about almost everything [:-)] ).

This resulted in the same old desperate attempt behind studies. Sleepless nights, selective studies and a feeling that I was better off with my job (this struck me more often that the others). I had a real bad week. And a mid-term which could surely have been much better! Hence, I am scribbling on this online space.

Now that I want to be a ‘manager’, let me like some managers that I have met in the past, call my behavior before the mid-terms a leaaaaaarrrrrrning. I know that if I repeat this, it will be unforgivable. But, just for the sake of the first time, allow me to call it a ‘learning’. And here is the summary of my learning.

There are loads and loads of things that can be done at ISB. But, you can not do them all. You got to prioritize. (I know everybody knows that, but there is a saying in Marathi. “Kalatay Pan Walat naahi” – though you understand that you should not do something, you can’t help and do it nevertheless). So prioritize! And if grades is among your priorities, dude study! Grades won’t come easy here. If you leave something for tomorrow, leave it assuming that the tomorrow is never coming. Whatever you leave, is gone. With terms only 6 week long, you have an exams like every 3 weeks. No exams is “far off”. So, there is no time to adjust. The perfect learning ground for the maddening pace that is the corporate world these days!

There is another saying that I would like to bring your attention to. They say that preaching is easier than practicing. I have tried giving myself some gyaan here. But, I hope I do not sit after the term–1 exams and type similar things all over again. (If I do, can I call it “learning” reinforced?)

I think I should now go and attend the much deserved party at the Class of 2008 Lounge. Before I go, my parting words: The ISB experience is prodigious. God, just give us the strength to focus our energies on what is the best for us!

Premjeet. 61010403 – Section E

 

Take a case in point. One of our professors allows us to grade ourselves on a course. Only caveat, we need to ensure that the normal curve of grades is maintained. In English that would mean, all of us cannot take home a clean A. Some will have to settle for A- and Bs as well. Which of us will blink first and happily trade an exam off for a lower grade? Test of character #1. How we resolved this prisoners dilemma is a story for another day.

 

Another one, our professor grades an assignment and says that the average is too low. He gives us a chance to make up. The caveat – we could put in all that extra work and end up with nothing or just 0.5 more than the original. Test of character # 2. Do we or do we not take up the challenge?  

 

Another classic, placement season has begun and people are scrambling to get CVs prepared, mock interviews and the like. In the middle of all of this, one kind hearted soul sends out preparatory material for the entire batch to prepare. Gosh! What about competitive edge getting ruined and all that? Well, true test of character # 3.

 

I think B-school has changed me. I have stopped viewing situations as black and white. A whole new palette of grays have opened up to be chosen and assigned to the new circumstances we are being exposed to. This is why I think the whole B-school experience is worth it. It adds a dimension to your thinking and makes life so much more interesting.

 

As an aside, getting the K vote this time is Prof Henry Moon’s farewell speech to the class. Also, the absolutely fabulous end-term presentation in rural marketing by fellow blogger Preeth. Another K-cheer going out to those dean listers who also manage co curricular activities and academics. You guys define the ISB spirit of balancing acads with fun. Rock on guys!

 

The K squat score gets slapped onto the no-break-between-terms weekend between Term 5 and 6 and in fact Term 5 racing to a finish even before I could blink and say “whoa…” (I know! I know! This too is supposed to build character)    

The Term started with an AIKYA function – where we got to meet our AIKYA families – the entire batch was in Indian formals (thanks to Guntas’ threatening) and I think this is the only time after orientation that almost the entire batch was together. The atrium was filled with people and it was an amazing day. The festivities started with a talent show and ended with lunch in the atrium.

Next came Smriti’s birthday. It started with the traditional dunking – with Smriti and friends being dunked at midnight.

All of us had planned a surprise party for her complete with party hats, friendship bands, birthday cake, etc etc. We also bought a lot of small gifts and hid them all around the campus and with each gift we left a small clue pointing towards the next gift. We waited for her to change into dry clothes to give her the first gift which was in her room and the poor girl had to run all around campus in the rain trying to find the other gifts (of course we went with her).

Finally ended the treasure hunt at her quad where she cut the cake and all of us partied some more.

The red horn in the photograph just reminded me of the noise we made that night. We had bought this hydraulic horn (working off compressed air) and the noise it made was horrible – and we made the most of it by making sure that everyone heard it 

Soon after we had a Karaoke party in my room – it started off with just another get-together, but went on till 4-5 AM. I think we saw the sunrise before sleeping.

(Did I mention that Guntas had dislocated her shoulder during the term break! That’s another story altogether)

We had started off with Talli singing and us humming along with him – but as the booze flowed, Talli finally gave up and we sang to our own tunes. We found lyrics on the net and projected them on the wall, put up instrumental mp3s in the background and sang to our hearts’ content – though barring Talli – none of us can sing to save our lives – but we sang ( in the loosest sense) nevertheless.

(There’s Deepika, Namrta and Anurag dancing on “Mera naam chin chin chu”)

That was one cool party – and we didn’t disturb the rest of the SV too!

Another such get-together we had was when we were just sitting in my room and someone mentioned the song “meri pant bhi sexy”. For the life of use we couldn’t remember the lyrics – so we did what we always do when in doubt – googled – and this led to the youtube video for the song. That led to a chain of obscure songs we had listened to in school times ranging from “sexy, sexy, sexy”, “hawaa hawaa” to “dil bole dole dole”. We went through the rounds with all the singers of that time – Suchitra, Anaida, Alisha, et al. By the time we got up – it was again 5 – I really don’t know where the time went and now don’t even remember the songs we heard – all I do remember is that we enjoyed a lot and laughed like crazy.

We changed venues and had our first barbecue party in Anurag’s balcony.

Though it rained that night and we had to shift the arrangements inside – party was fun and kudos to Anurag for organizing the same.

Next came Guntas’ birthday and we were at our wit’s ends deciding what to do for her birthday – she is the creative one and normally plans for the birthday parties. So finally we decided to surprise her by not planning anything in her quad – and gave her the impression that all of us were too busy with assignments and there won’t be any party for her. So we planned not to decorate her room and set-up Anurag’s quad for the party – boy did that backfire on us!! We had forgotten how popular she is J, first her section had planned a party for her – as they couldn’t dunk her – they balti-dunked her; then there was a small celebration at her room and finally she came to Anurag’s quad at 1:21 AM. Boy – were we bored waiting – here are some of the things we did while waiting:

Finally she came and the party truly started.

Amrita had made a crown and magic wand (complete with magic rays coming out) for her and we had bought a dress for her – the plan was to make her dress up as a magic princess – but we left out the dress as it was already too late. Of course we had also got some magic candles for her – the ones which don’t go off and had some fun watching her try to put them off.

Next Anurag had composed a song for her and we all sang (like I said earlier in the loosest sense of the word) – the lyrics are:

IK LADKI KO DEKHA TO AISA LAGA, JAISE,

ABHI PADI LAATH… JAISE,

KHATAM HUI BAAT… JAISE,

NIKLI HAI GUN… JAISE,

CHALO AB RUN… JAISE,

HUI HAL CHAL… JAISE,

IODEX MAL, JAISE,

 

(high pitch) ISB MEIN HOOOO… PYAARA DOST HUMARAAAAAA… HOOOO

Never seen Talli so excited about something . . .

Anyways the party was good fun, we had a round of passing the parcel (and with Ashish making the chits – the less said about the same the better – believe me it would get censored anyways) Anyways had lots of fun.

All too soon the term was over and we headed out to Dandeli for the term break (that’s a whole story on its own)

Reached ISB in the morning and went straight to our rooms – was pleasantly surprised at the amazing campus (even though I had seen so many photographs on the net – none of them came even close to the real thing). The rooms were perfect – neat and clean and spacious and I must mention the great quality of the hot water showers. We got ready and went straight for the registration – which was a loooooong affair – mainly because of the HUGE rush at the SBI counter. But we got through and by evening we were true-blue students of ISB. So it was time for some champagne – to mark the start of what we hoped (and which I can vouch for now) would be an amazing one year. So a few of us got together and opened the “bubbly” – of course there was lots more after that – but the details are lost in the endless glasses of “daru” There was a nice dinner (though no Hyderabadi Biryani) where we got to interact with our batchmates and alums. I’m sure I still don’t remember half the names I heard that night. The next day “Sunday” (At one time Sundays were a holiday – I wonder where that time went . . . . . ) started off our whirlwind tour of ISB – orientation to the various clubs, the acads, and what not. Not a very interesting day from my viewpoint – but I’m sure many people enjoyed it. And at night we had a great party – organised by the alums

Monday kicked off the orientation activities with a treasure hunt. The alums had gone to a lot of pains to ensure that we understood the entire layout of the campus. Of course an easier way would have been to give us all maps – but this was more fun – even though it was tiring and hot and sunny and sweaty. Though we did get a beer in the middle upon reaching the Event’s Lounge (where most of the parties happen now). And I was “dunked” into the pool on finishing the treasure hunt. Man that was refreshing (Did I mention that the pool is really great – even for non-swimmers like me – its 5′ all over)

Orientation week went faster than we had expected. There was a plethora of activities ranging from bind and unwind to talent night to inter-section sports. A few photos to show the various things we went through: Section A Cheering squad:

Our very own macot – Arbit:

Making an ‘A’

Relaxing while other’s worked

Talent Night – Goodness Gracious Me:

However the pre-term courses were a pure waste of time and money. Didn’t get any great insights – but wasted an entire week which could have been used to enjoy the campus more.

 

The bondings made in the train led to the creation of amazing friendships and we started the term with a small party at the “D-Lounge” we drank, we danced and we had our very own live music – courtesy “talli” aka Pratik – who sang for the sole benefit of the “blushing” Guntas. A perfect start to the year none of us would want to forget. The singing and the drinking started around 3:00 (we were partying outside before) and went on till the early morning . .

Talli singing for Guntas:

The much needed “Maggi” Break:

And all that remained afterwards were the empty bottles – our first (and hopefully last) experience with Cobra and King Cobra beers – were we sloshed by the time we went home (5:30 AM):

This was the start of many amazing parties at the D-Lounge. We’ve had parties, and parties . . . Many of you would be wondering – what is this guy saying – ISB is supposed to be synonymous with pressure, studies, nervous breakdowns . . . . . you may be correct in many ways – as we found out on the first day of class. If any of us were expecting that the first class would be like an introductory session – were we shocked – it was RUN from the first instant. The time allotted for each subject is just enough to finish the curriculum. On top of that we had the infamous “class participation” – where everyone has to participate in class and you are marked for the same. The frenzy this caused in the first term was absolutely crazy – people had their hands up all the time, desperate for something (anything) to say. So we had our very own “CP King” and “CP Queen” contests – the winners got dunked (alongwith half the section who went in just for the fun of it)

The Queen:

The King:

And the praja:

It was soo much fun that none of us wanted to get out of the pool. And of course the CP went down to “near acceptable” levels Then came the first marketing assignment – The Gillette case – the case which made half the batch boycott Gillette (not because there was anything wrong with Gillette – we were just sick and tired of hearing the word) and stop shaving. To mark an end to the assignment – what do we do . . . we have another party:

ISB works on what we felt was a very peculiar system – each professor comes for two and half weeks – takes 5 classes for each section and goes back – so by the time you get used to a professor – its time for him to leave.

By now I’m sure you can guess what happened when the first set of professors were due to leave – Yup – you guessed it – we had a party – a huge blast with champagne flying around and the professors partying with us.

Next came the mid-terms — I think ISB is the only place where you have exams every 3 weeks – and since these were the first set of our exams – the entire campus went silent – people cooped up in their rooms or LRC and started slogging like crazy – the tension went up so high that you could taste it in the air. But as with everything else – they finished almost before they had started and the campus was back to its crazy pace. Then we had the CAS photo sessions – and you saw a remarkable change in the batch – we had people shifting from T-shirts, and shorts into Suits with Ties !!

We’ve done a lot of crazy things – one of them being – making pakoras at 3:00 in the morning:

|

Alongside all this – the studies went on and before we knew it the end-terms were at hand. This time the silence was not as profound and we could actually see some people chilling out even the night before the exams. And whew – I’m tired now – this has been a long winded blog – but any shorter and I would not have done justice to the parties