IIM Shillong - A Week To Remember

Getting into a B-school is not an easy task, for after the gruelling season of interviews comes the tough phase of making the ’Final Decision’. After working tirelessly for a month gaining insights into the various b-schools, pitting them against parameters (which I then believed to be utmost important) like batch size, faculty, I finally decided to make my call by choosing IIM Shillong. Having faced endless scorching heatwaves of Delhi, the prospect of living in a pristine north east state thrilled me beyond measure. Finally, after a long wait, I set my first foot in Guwahati on 20th June 2018. A 3-hour ride through spotless roads twisting and curving around the lush green trees of the background-Shillong seemed like a dream!

Some breathless moments and a forked road named Nongthymmai point later, I finally arrived at the CampusInCloulds-IIM Shillong. One step inside the campus and I was shrouded in guilt at my callous usage of phrases like ‘student-driven ‘across various interviews. Students do drive this campus, literally! Be it registration, hostel allocation, luggage transfer, petty issues with switch boards and almirah locks, those second-year students managed everything and that too with humbling smiles. Safe to conclude that management begins at home!

‘Home’-the word that becomes the synonym of nostalgia for those living away, doesn’t seem bad when you are a part of IIM Shillong family. My days at IIM Shillong started with a week-long course on sustainability. Although it began with a classroom hubbub on mugged up definitions of sustainability, the week-long mind-boggling and fun-filled activities by faculty ensured that each ‘participant’ understood what sustainability meant at its very core. IIM Shillong knows how to strike the right chord and so to sow the seed of ‘sustainability’ in our hearts, we first-year participants were taken to a day long trek over the weekend to a beautiful sacred forest in Mawphlang. Some candid poses and carefree laughter aside, it gave us a chance to truly appreciate nature in its glory and to re-form the bond that had lost its essence long ago.

But that is not all that’s unique about this campus. A few days in the campus and it became easier to comprehend where the pedagogy is derived from. Late Mr. Kalam’s powerful notions of leadership and quest for knowledge is what each participant strives to attain. It has helped many form the outline of the kind of managers they what to be in the future. As for me! Well I have made some interesting revelation about IIMS- ‘It is not going to help me achieve my dreams, but rather help me broaden the horizon of my dreams.’, a journey I am glad to have embarked upon!

If given a chance, I would like to join the wowforce for Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited (ABFRL). Planning a management career in the field of marketing, I feel ABFRL will help me in gaining insights into the application of the business and will enable me to apply knowledge and ideas acquired in these 2 years at IIMS. The expertise of ABFRL amplified by synergy of Madura and Pantaloons itself is a proof of the strong vision that the company holds. As a budding manager, I will benefit being a part of management pedigree that believes in building the “Best Brands with Best People”.

Richa Agarwal