Yet another first

Its been quite a while since i visited my own blog! Mostly that could be attributed to me quitting my job and leaving Bangalore to go back to school. Yes! Even after my disastrous interview, I managed to get into IIM Lucknow. Many thanks to everyone who wished me luck. So yet another new city and new people in my life. I do intend and hope to keep this blog alive. But for now, here is something that i had written for one of the newsletter’s on campus.

The very first time I walked into the hallowed portals of IIML, I was overpowered by a sense of achievement, a heady feeling of smug satisfaction that I had arrived. As I took in the sights of the campus – the statues, hostels, mess, academic block, everything smelt warm and beckoning. I knew I was at the right place.

The first few days after joining passed away like a daze with inductions, and the various ‘activities’ that the senior batch had planned (schemed?) for us. Added to that, meeting 300 odd new people and trying to remember their names was in itself quite a trying task.

After the initial hoax, I quickly realized that they don’t call this place ‘IIM helL’ for no reason. As the assignments, quizzes and projects began to start in true earnest, I learnt the most important asset that we PGP1 have are the seniors. Information is of the greatest essence; you either have it or you don’t. You also learnt to work smart and manage time. A few more weeks into life at IIM’s and I was already working smarter than I had ever done before.

Speaking of time management, the one thing that everyone on campus has a constant eye on is their watch (not the girls)! Never before has 1 minute mattered more in my life. When coming 30 seconds late to class means you don’t get attendance, there is new found respect for time.

But even with all the smart working, the workload never ceases and keeps on piling. Just then when we almost thought it was all an uphill climb all along, we had the “Insti party” – at the end of which I was literally screaming ‘I love this place’! Somehow you find solace in the fact that everyone is subjected to the same pressures and in a way you learn to enjoy the stress.

Another week later I found out that life at IIML doesn’t just constitute of only the campus. The city of Lucknow is a whole different place compared to the campus. It was on my first trip to Hazratganj that I discovered the chaos that the traffic of Lucknow is. But with all the madness somehow everyone manages to get through. The method in the madness is bewildering.

Now when I joined IIML, everyone kept saying how I’ll stand out because I would carry the brand of IIM. I never understood what that meant until at one of the malls here, I spotted a bunch of pretty girls ogling at the guys wearing the IIM Lucknow T-Shirts! That’s precisely when I realized the practical usefulness of the IIM brand 😉

Now as I look back upon the last one month of my stay here, I am sure I have changed much more in one month here than ever. I’ve grown more responsible and mature because I realize I am the future of my country. I am IIM Lucknow.

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