There was a bevvy of guys standing in line trying to do a ramp walk in a cramped corridor. While some were looking at them screaming with laughter and giving them some even crazier ideas, there were others who were lost in the world of music, listening to their favorite playlist on their phones. Another bunch of sleepyheads were drowsing away completely oblivious to the pandemonium around. And then there were those savants trying to read a case study or an article not at all discouraged by the veritable bedlam around them. For those of you wondering what exactly I am trying to describe, let me clear the confusion – I am recounting how the bus ride from Suchana Bhawan to Khelgaon is like once the classes get over. It is a journey where creativity touches the pinnacles as new games are invented to while away the time and where bonds are strengthened as we get to know more about each other during this madness.
While lectures and colloquiums are the time when we listen keenly to the teachers and the industry experts trying to learn from their experience and success stories, hostel is the place where all this learning is put to action. There are days where I sit with my friends, all hemmed in on a single bed watching a movie or recounting my memoirs of the past. Then there are days when I feel like the CEO of some deemed organization as I struggle to prioritize the plethora of tasks at hand and try to juggle among them. The days when I am so overwhelmed with work that it becomes difficult to spare even few minutes to talk over the phone. Case studies, presentations, corporate competitions - the list is just endless. These are the times when I just wish I can catch hold of Hermoine’s time turner so that I am able to complete the umpteen number of activities, all within those 24 hours! The common floor is the principal area where different perspectives and ideas converge as we seek solutions to the company’s ongoing problems or break one’s neck trying to find innovative ways of approaching the case study problems. The environment is both intellectually stimulating as well as spellbinding and enthralling.
Just as I am going back to my room fatigued by the chores of the day, I can hear drums rolling in some room, a band practising somewhere, a flute playing in some corner, an extempore competition going on at some place and students discussing ideas and preparing for an upcoming event in some room. Be it dusk, midnight or dawn this place simply does not sleep. And if there’s a birthday, which on most days is, then the revelry is just phenomenal. It would not be an exaggeration if I say that no hotel party can match the mirth and exuberance of a birthday party at IIM R hostel. You feel no less than a celebrity as the entire class gathers for the celebration which is most often followed by a party at the night canteen. After the night’s ventures, the mornings start with my WhatsApp booming with messages like “Hold the bus” or “Hobus” as per the new fad. The Got fans would have understood the connection and for those of you who didn’t, some things are best understood when experienced by own self!
Being a Bollywood maniac as I am, after watching 2 states I was filled with the prejudice that MBA is just academics and relationships but today I can vouch for the fact that an MBA is much more than that and to do it from a place like IIM R where the synergy is unprecedented and transcendental is like icing on the cake. It is indeed an experience of a lifetime!
– Gazal Kaura, PGDHRM 2018-20.