My IIM Days

I look forward to writing a post where I don’t begin with “Finally, I’m back”. But truth be told, it has eluded me so far. Anyway, I’m back again.

This post is a long overdue. I should have written it in March when one of the most wonderful journeys of my life came to an official end. A journey that started on the 29^th of June, 2013. A journey that has given me a new identity. A journey that has helped me improve on all spheres. A journey that has given me so many friends. A journey that has left me with so many new experiences. A journey that has, in a way, shaped my life for the years to come. A journey in a beautiful place called IIM Kashipur.

It is good in a way that it took me almost six months to come up with this post. That way, I am able to look back at this journey with a clear, calm mind and present a balanced picture of the days gone by.

It is also true that I can write so much about this journey that I can easily fill a 200 page book. But then again, the market has been flooded with books by IIT/IIM grads recounting their stories that another book on the same topic would vanish without a trace. I may still spin a fiction out of this some time. But for now, I’ve tried to capture some of the real unforgettable memories, as briefly as possible.

Note: This is not a story but a factual recollection of a few things here and there, as it happened. This is not a fiction.

Warning: This is a long post. I wrote it as it came to me. Hence this post could be a boring monologue. If you’re looking to read something short and spicy, then this is certainly not the post for you. But if you’re looking to read some interesting things that happened in the life of a student in a new IIM, well, then again this is not the post for you, for it may not be interesting. :P If you’re still up for this, read on.

The start:

I.I.M. The three letters that I strived for. You can read about the arduous journey to make it to an IIM here. If you had read that post, you’d understand how much it meant for me to be in an IIM – to achieve a cherished dream. So naturally, I was elated. The first few days were like a dream. Despite the heavy work load and the lack of sleep, I was on cloud 9. I quickly adapted to the new lifestyle of endless assignments, quizzes (in B-Schools, it is a practice to call ‘tests’ as ‘quizzes’), case studies, preparation for every class, projects, numerous lectures, guest lectures, late-night sleeps, sleepless nights and so on. I admit that it was not easy to adapt to this new lifestyle, but the people around me were also experiencing the same challenge and their company made it easy for me. It was that phase where I was still reveling at the fact that I made it to an IIM and feeling overjoyed about it. That phase probably lasted a month and a half, post which normalcy returned.

The Speech:

Since the moment I got into the institute, I was clear about one thing – that I’d make the best use of these 2 years in every way possible.  On that note, I was a little enthusiastic in the first few days and tried to participate in every activity possible. I won the Induction Quiz conducted by the Quiz Club and that really set the tone. This enthusiasm made people take notice of me in the initial days, I guess. It so happened that I was chosen to give the Independence Day Speech. I have to thank my batchmate and friend Divya Teja for recommending my name for the same. I felt it was a great honour and that I should do justice to it. But it was also that phase where I felt supremely confident about myself and everything I did. So I never bothered to prepare a proper speech for the event. I just thought about a few points that I would dwell upon and wrote them down in a tiny piece of paper. But it was also one of those days where I felt that nothing can go wrong. I just stood before the microphone and words flowed out of my mouth like a river approaching a cliff. It was the best impromptu speech that I have given till date.  The faculty and friends commended me and I too felt that I did a good job. Only after returning to the hostel, I recollected that speech and wrote it down, lest I forget what I spoke.  You can read it here.

The reason I’m mentioning this speech here is because it was that day I truly felt that I belonged there and I can compete with my illustrious batchmates, many of whom were from the IITs, the NITs and the like.

The Independence Day Speech

Competitions:

It was September and our seniors spoke to us on the importance of participating in external events and competitions in order to build the repute of the institute. Ours was a new IIM and we had to work towards building the brand of IIM Kashipur. Ours was like a start-up and the onus was on us – the pioneering batches to set the tone and build a structure for the years to come. This actually appealed to me. I was very proud of my institute and I decided that I’ll do all that I can to help build the brand image of the institute. So I decided to concentrate on quiz competitions, where I felt that I was fairly good. This was when my partnership with Arun started. Arun Kandikonda, my senior, was a product of K-Circle – India’s oldest Quiz Club based in Hyderabad. We instantly hit it off and what began was a wonderful partnership that yielded so many quiz wins. We named our team ‘Et Splendidiora’ and by the time we were done, it was a popular team in the B-School quizzing circuit. We managed to win some 20-25 quizzes – online and offline – in those six months from September 2013 to February 2014. This was followed by a runner-up finish in the Tata Crucible Campus Quiz at Dehradun, with my own batchmate Mohit Mohan. The momentum slowed down in the second year, but there again I won a couple of quizzes, got a second place finish in a National-level debate and another prize in a writing contest. Now when I look back, these competitions - especially the quizzes with Arun are some of the unforgettable memories that are vivid in my mind from my Kashipur days.

Tata Crucible Quiz

Quiz on the Beach

Initiatives:

With the objective of building the brand name of the institute, we initiated many new things at IIM Kashipur.  There were 5 student committees and 6 clubs when we came into the institute. The number stood at 8 committees and 18 clubs by the time we bid our farewell. My seniors, juniors and my own batchmates worked earnestly to make this possible. In addition to this, we also brought in a structure, wherever necessary. For my part, I joined hands with a couple of my seniors – Srikanth and Arun and we started this new Literary Club and named it ‘Can’t Stop Reading’.  In the Quiz Club too, Arun & I initiated a few new activities and these were further built on in the second year when my fellow Quiz Club members and I introduced the Kashipur Quizzing League, the buzzer quizzes, Quriosity – the Quiz Club Newsletter, ‘Out of Syllabus’ quiz and so on. The final icing in the cake was our flagship quiz – ‘Rumble in the Jungle’. On the Lit Club side, we introduced debates and other activities and the culmination point was the first ever Lit Fest of IIM Kashipur, which my juniors organized with much fanfare. We also introduced the Yearbook for seniors and then followed it up with a Yearbook for our batch. The second Yearbook was brought out after much struggle and I consider it as one of our biggest achievements. Our annual management fest – Excelsior, our cultural fest – Agnitraya, the Leadership Conclave, the Annual Magazine – Revista, the IT Conclave, Neev – the Operations Conclave, DigiGo Social Media Week, MStore, Samanvaya – the HR Conclave, etc. were some of the other initiatives that I was a part of in some small way or the other – mostly as an anchor for these events, during this period.

But the biggest initiative of all was bringing a TEDx event to our institute. I was happy that I could play a significant role in this initiative.

Pongal Celebration - Another Initiative :-)

Academics:

In the very first month at Kashipur, I realized that this course is not going to be a smooth sailing as far as academics was concerned. I realized that I have to work hard if I were to get good grades. Relative grading made it more difficult to get good grades. Not only should I do well, I have to do relatively well, compared to my batchmates in order to earn good grades. I did struggle initially and for about 2-3 months, I did feel that I might have made a mistake by joining this course. But things got better once I got into the groove. Still, this was not going to be a course where I could top a class like I did in Engineering without much effort. Here my priorities were clear. I wanted to do well in so many activities, that academic excellence was not my top priority. Still, I wanted to ensure that I finished above average and that I finally managed to do comfortably. Choosing subjects in the domain I liked helped boost my academic performance in the second year and I finished with an overall CGPA of 7.6, which placed me in the top 30% of the batch. I was happy with that. Looking back, I realize that I did have the capability to achieve a CGPA of 8.4 or more, but that would have meant compromising on so many other activities that I was able to do.  The point here is not that academics was not important in a B-School, but there are other things which are equally important and it was important to prioritize things and balance those priorities well. In the end, I was quite happy and satisfied with my performance, both academically and otherwise.

The Internship:

One important activity for any B-Schooler in the first year is the Summer Internship Programme. I did manage to get a good internship offer with Emerson Network Power. I was to fly to Mumbai for two months to do my internship project in the field of Digital Marketing. Those two months – April and May 2014 – were probably the most comfortable and relaxed period during my two years of MBA. It was only during that period, was I able to sleep well for 7-8 hours every day. I stayed in IIT Bombay campus and had a wonderful time exploring the beautiful campus every evening with my batchmates Arnab and Vibha, who also stayed in the same campus during that period. It was my first time in Mumbai and I experienced everything that a person visiting Mumbai for the first time experiences. Initially, it was a shock for the first 10 days and slowly, the shock turned into awe and by the time those two months were over, I was completely in love with this city. It is a love story that continues to this day and I’ll write about this awesome city in a separate blog post.  Work was also pretty enjoyable and I enjoyed travelling to my office in Thane every day from the IIT campus via the famed local trains of Mumbai. That 60 day internship was followed by a two week holiday at home in Coimbatore, before I started the second year. These 75 days refreshed me both mentally and physically and all signs of exhaustion that were present during the busy months of February and March 2014 were gone. I was now ready for second year.

The juniors:

One of the things that we all looked forward to eagerly in our second year was the imminent arrival of our juniors. Everyone had their own reasons as to why they were so eagerly looking forward to this ;-) For me, I was looking forward to having people take forward the initiatives that were started by us. I was eager to share the responsibilities that rested on my shoulders with them. I had a wonderful time with my juniors during my second year and developed a good rapport with most of them.  They learnt a few things from me and I learnt many things from them. Similarly, my other batchmates too had a great time with the juniors. TEDx, Rumble in the Jungle, Lit Fest and so many other events happened because of the efforts put in by them, along with my own batchmates. I am not a tough taskmaster, but I had to act tough on a couple of occasions.  There were so many times when a junior walked up to me for some advice or the other and I was glad to help them in any way possible. Overall, the juniors were as much an integral part of my IIM days as my seniors were. I cherish those memories and the bond developed.

The busiest period ever:

It is not often that I use superlatives to describe anything, but I have termed this period from August to December 2014 as the busiest period of my life so far, for it was really that. I was occupied with so many things during this period on all spheres that I slept for only about 4-5 hours on an average every day. I had some work or the other to keep me occupied during this period. Be it academics or club activities or the events that happened during this period, especially TEDx, or some of the competitions that I took part in or getting ready for placements, I was always occupied during this period. But this period also yielded some of the happiest moments of my IIM days. I became a published author during this period. The book I co-wrote with authors from other IIMs titled ‘Small Big Bang’ got published during this period. It was a proud moment and a dream come true for me. Another dream – TEDxIIMKashipur happened successfully during this period.  My birthday that happened during this period remains one of my happiest days in Kashipur. It was celebrated with so much fanfare and the spontaneous outflow of love (that’s a polite way of describing the birthday bumps :P) totally floored me (literally and figuratively: P). This period drained me out so much that I spent the week of term break in December resting in my room at Kashipur, while my batchmates went home or went on a holiday to some of the picturesque locales near Kashipur.  This period threw up so many challenges that I emerged a stronger person with a steely resolve after this period. 

Clubs and Committees:

One of the reasons why I was busy during the above mentioned period was because of my involvement in many student clubs and committees. During my second year, I was the Secretary of the Quiz Club, Secretary of the Lit Club, Head of MStore, Executive Member of the Magazine Crew, Executive Member of the Marketing Club and an Executive Member of the Infrastructure & IT Committee.  I was the reason why the then Student Council framed a rule citing that no student can be a part of more than two clubs and one committee. But all this did not happen by choice. It happened by chance.  If left to choice, I would have been a part of just the Quiz Club and the Lit Club. But in some way or the other, my presence was needed in all these clubs & committee and I accepted the opportunity with open arms. I had a good time in the Quiz Club and the Lit Club as mentioned above. I had a nice time in Infracomm, where my responsibility was to coordinate with the concerned authorities and get the problems in IT, electricity, carpentry and plumbing rectified in Hostel 1, whenever necessary. I learnt quite a few things about networks, wifi and routers in this role. I was also a part of the editorial team (Magazine Crew a.k.a. MagCrew) that brought out the first and the second editions of our institute’s annual magazine – ‘Revista’.  In the Marketing Club, I was a part of the team that conducted a series of competitions during the DigiGo Social Media Week, including two brand quizzes. But my maximum time was consumed by MStore, where we struggled a great deal. You can read about our MStore story here. To sum it up, I can definitely say that I can’t talk about my IIM days without mentioning the clubs and committees which consumed a significant chunk of my time during my time at Kashipur. 

A Buzzer Quiz in progress

  

TEDxIIMKashipur:

The one event that became a benchmark for all other events was this event – TEDxIIMKashipur. November 9^th, 2014 will remain etched in my memory forever.  It was one of the biggest challenges that we faced and it was one event where everything fell in place, just in time. It was also one event that gave me an opportunity to lead from the front as a Licensee of the event and brought out a new facet in me. I enjoyed my role and I have to place on record that it was a massive team effort that made it happen. The teamwork was on display the day before the event when everyone chipped in, one way or the other and I felt completely happy that day. It was a huge team of 55 people and everyone performed his/her role to perfection and we managed to pull it off. The event was widely praised and it was only on the night of November 9^th that I managed to sleep well in over 2 months. I will cherish the memories of the event forever. What the event also did was convince me in the abilities of my juniors and on that day, I got the confidence that these people will carry forward the good work done by my seniors and my own batchmates in building the brand image of our institute. Needless to say, they have ensured that a grand TEDx event happens this year too and I am completely confident that it’ll be bigger and better than last year’s event and raise the bar higher for the years to come.

TEDxIIMKashipur Team

The Dream Quiz:

In January 2014, Arun and I qualified for the finals of the prestigious Quiz on the Beach (QOTB), the flagship event of TAPMI in Manipal. We had a wonderful time and it also gave us an idea of hosting a similar quiz event in our institute. TAPMI had a beach close to their campus and hence they made use of it. We had the famous Jim Corbett National Park located close to our institute and that gave us the idea of having a Quiz in the Jungle. In my second year, our team meticulously planned for this quiz. A lot of constraints were there and we were not sure if we could do this quiz until December, when we managed to get a venue sponsorship from Aahana Resorts, located within Jim Corbett. That pepped us up and in two months time, we managed to host the quiz which we called the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ (RITJ). We gave away very good prize money and Mr. J Krishnamurthi, a renowned Quizmaster from Hyderabad hosted the quiz. Despite many hurdles, the quiz happened on February 7^th, 2015 and it was indeed a dream come true. The seeds were sowed for a bigger and a better RITJ this year. That was my last hurrah, as far as events in IIM Kashipur were concerned. It was a fitting final bow and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of being a part of so many events during the two years.

Rumble in the Jungle - The Dream Quiz

Clamour for Jobs:

For many, the prime reason for struggling to make it to an IIM is to give a fillip to their career with a good job. Ours being a new institute, we had a rolling placement process – the companies keep coming throughout the year once the process starts and are not confined to fixed days. Our season began in October 2014. Since then, the companies kept coming at regular intervals and one by one, my batchmates grabbed the job offers of their choice. Yes, it’s a choice. For my part, I wanted to wait for the right company and the right profile that would suit me. So I was in no hurry to apply for jobs. While the clamour for jobs made many in my batch get into a frenzied mood, somehow I remained unaffected by all that for a long time. Now looking back, I really don’t know what gave me the confidence to take it light, but that allowed me to concentrate on organizing events like TEDx and RITJ. At the back of my mind, I was confident that something right will click and I just have to be patient. It did click, even if it was a little later than I expected, but I was happy that I got the right job.

The irreplaceable loss:

I could have just finished this post with the high points, but that wouldn’t do justice to all the struggles experienced. No journey is without its fair share of struggles. This journey was no different and I experienced my fair share of struggles on so many fronts during these two years. If you had read that post on MStore, you’d have got an idea about one of the major struggles that I experienced during this period. There were many disappointments too, for no journey is complete without experiencing the highs and the lows. But none of these disappointments would even come close to the shock that we all experienced on the morning of January 31^st, 2015. One of our beloved batchmates, the brilliant Bharat Bansal, who was also the topper of the batch, met with an unfortunate accident and passed away. The fact that he was a nice person and a good friend to all of us, made it even more difficult. A product of IIT Madras, he was, in the words of our Dean, the most intellectual student to have studied in our institute so far. The reason that I mention him here is to remind and recollect the memories and cherish them. His was an irreplaceable loss. That really affected all of us in the last two months of our stay at Kashipur. I have no shame in admitting that he was a much better writer than me. Yet, he always insisted that I edit his articles which he wrote for our annual magazine. From your heavenly abode, if you’re reading this, please know that we miss you and your memories will always be cherished by us, my dear friend.

The last few days:

The last few days in Kashipur weren’t really the best of days, atleast for me. On the one hand, it was a struggle to ensure that we got the Yearbook for our batch that we promised. On the other hand, the ideal job that I was waiting for was not coming. As of February 21^st, 2015, our course was over and we were free to leave the campus. The Convocation was scheduled for the 17^th of March, 2015. So people who had already got their jobs packed their bags and left the campus by the end of February. Some people went on tours to the choicest of places like Goa, Nepal and the like. It was at this point, I began to feel a little pressured for putting off the task of finding a job. I was left with no choice but to apply for any company that came for placements then. The other struggle was the numerous issues that we faced during the final few days with regards to our Yearbook. Since I had taken up the responsibility of the same, I had to work to sort out those issues and get some clearances and ensure that the Yearbook got delivered in time for our Convocation. In the last few days, we also had to hand over some important responsibilities like TEDx, RITJ and so on to our chosen successors. All these tasks ensured that I had to stay on in Kashipur till Convocation, even though many of my batchmates had left. It was in March 2015, in the days leading to our Convocation that I felt lonely for the first time in Kashipur. I was desperate to go on a holiday, but could not. A couple of good companies with the right kind of profile that I was hoping for were to come for placements then and I had to ensure that I crack one of them. I eventually cracked one of them. In short, the last few days are something that I wouldn’t like to remember, but they bear testimony to some of my struggles in Kashipur.

The Proud Moment:

The day of Convocation finally dawned upon us on the morning of March 17^th, 2015. All people who had left for their homes and elsewhere returned one last time with their parents, siblings and relatives in tow. It was as much a proud moment for them as it was for us to finally graduate from an IIM after two years of hardwork. Yes, it’s a hard task to be frank. People only talk about the struggle to get into a B-School like an IIM, but it is equally difficult to graduate successfully. So it was something that we all eagerly waited for and the day was finally upon us. My parents and my brother came to Kashipur for the same. What made it more special for me was that I was awarded the ‘Medal for the Best All-Round Performance’ for the class of 2015. I was overwhelmed and so were my parents and my brother. The efforts put in towards building the brand image of the institute through various events, competitions, clubs, and committees and so on, probably helped in me getting the medal.  It was a surreal experience to pose for newspapers and give interviews. That was indeed my proudest moment in the institute. I wouldn’t call it the happiest because so many other emotions were running through my mind then, including the fact that it was finally time to bid farewell to the institute and its people. But it was a very proud moment even for my parents and brother. My most profound feeling at the end of that day was that of sincere gratitude. I felt thankful to all the people who had helped me in that journey, in some way or the other. I’ll never forget that day. 

My Proudest Moment in IIM Kashipur

The Job:

It was only a week after my convocation that the fate of my job got sealed. On the last day of my stay in Kashipur, I gave an interview via video-conferencing and on the 24^th of March, I was summoned to the Head Office of Indofil Industries in Mumbai. I had to take a detour from Kashmir, where I was holidaying with my parents, to fly down to Mumbai. I got the job that day and I flew back that very night to Kashmir to rejoin my parents in their holiday. It was all like a scene lifted out of some movie, where there’s a fairytale ending. That’s how it really was. In the end, the three months of struggle since the start of the year bore fruit and it all ended well. I went back home to Coimbatore a happy man with a job in hand and a medal-winning performance to show for. Now looking back, I can safely say that I did the right thing in waiting for the right job. Yes, it was a risk laden with so many things and I had to bear so many talks and so many unheeded advices, but in my mind I was very clear about one thing. I would rather wait now for the right job, than take something that wouldn’t suit me and regret later. It did pay off at the end, but it is not something that I’d advise anyone to do.

The Legacy:

It has been more than six months now since the journey ended (infact, it’s been seven months exactly today) and this time has certainly helped me to reflect and look back at the journey with pride. These six months have brought in so much happiness and cheer, that it has reiterated my belief that it was all worth it. I now work as a Manager in the CEO’s Office (called Growth Office) in Indofil Industries Ltd. and I have enjoyed this journey so far. Time and again when my boss mentions that me and a few of my colleagues in my department are the bright young minds from IIM, I can’t help but feel a sense of pride and gratitude towards my institute. But it also means that I have to live up to the expectations that people have of me. The same is true for my batchmates too. It is a huge challenge, no doubt, but it’s something that we are learning to take it in our stride and face it with a sense of pride and a smile.

Parting Shots:

Now I am sure if you’ve read till here, some questions might be cropping up in your mind. What about all the masala - the masala that Chetan Bhagat cleverly employed in his stories about an IIT and an IIM? Well, all institutes have their own masala elements. One of the frequent questions that I often get asked is if I found a girl in IIM Kashipur. I blame Chetan Bhagat for doing this. Fortunately or unfortunately, I never had such luck, but it never bothered me. I was clear as to what I wanted from the institute – the IIM tag that I can proudly flaunt and make up for my IIT miss. I got that and much more. I also got so many friends that I’ll cherish that association for life. The hostel wing that I stayed in was called ‘The Hive’. We made up that name and I wrote a song for it. Some of the best memories of my life so far are associated with ‘The Hive’. 

The Hive

It’s always a debate as to whether it is the institute that makes its people or if it the people who make the institute. I strongly believe in the latter and I was blessed for the wonderful people that I spent this journey with. I am not a fan of Chetan Bhagat, but I really liked his parting shots in ‘Five Point Someone’. So I am borrowing the same here. I may have graduated from the institute and may have moved out of Kashipur, but a part of my soul still resides there. It’s probably taking a stroll down the corridors of ‘The Hive’ or in the H1 Classroom or holding a microphone in the auditorium or having a cup of chai in the night canteen. It will always be there, for sure.

- Ashwin Murali

PS: I’m a firm believer in the idea that one swallow does not make a summer. Likewise, none of the above events/initiatives/whatever are one-man efforts. It never was, it can never be and it will never be a one-man effort. Every single thing mentioned in this post is a result of efforts put in by a lot of people. I am just one of them. Keeping in line with that spirit, I’ve taken care to mention we, us, ours, everywhere. If I had missed it somewhere and mentioned I, me or mine anywhere, then please know that it’s a genuine mistake and that’s not how it was intended to be.