As I awoke to the blaring sound of the alarm, it took me a minute to gauge that I was not in my bedroom anymore but was in the hostel of one of the top B-schools of the country. With a tinge of homesickness, I looked at the buzz around my roomies and pseudo-roomies aka “loomies” were already getting ready for the long day that awaited us. I quickly got ready and grabbed my breakfast on the way to the classroom. As soon as the two hours of the class got over the students rushed out of the class to the in-campus Nescafe kiosk: The lifeline of all IIFTians. With coffee working its magic, we participated in the second class with as much enthusiasm as the first. After two more classes after lunch, as soon as I assumed we were done for the day, I was proven miserably wrong with an email instructing to assemble at the auditorium in an hour for a guest lecture. Being an optimistic person, I once again repeated the mistake of assuming the day was over after the guest lecture. This time the forms floated by the clubs, committees and cells for Positions of Responsibility (POR) proved me wrong. And soon I found myself busy drafting the answers to the forms. Lesson 101: At IIFT you are never done for the day.
The next day was pretty much the same as the first with a minor change: We had selection procedures for the PORs from 9pm-3am. Lesson 102: Sleep is a lost commodity. On my way back to the hostel, a cute puppy pulled on my palazzo plants and magically the tiredness of the day reduced to half. Now I take several biscuits to feed Messi (my puppy buddy) and its friends when on a night-time coffee break to Nescafe. As I juggled through classes, assignments, committee meetings and guest lectures, I realised the week had come to an end. The weekend saw the atrium (IIFT lingo to describe the space near the auditorium) come alive with the fresher’s party the seniors threw for us. It is during times like these we witness the beautiful camaraderie we have as a batch as we cheered exuberantly for our batch mates who gave scintillating performances for the coveted title of Mr. And Ms. Freshers. After the party, as I sat on Top of The World (IIFT lingo to describe the area above the Wings of Wisdom) with my friends, the clouds of homesickness were replaced by the warmth of friendship. A strong wave of emotions interlaced with happiness, calmness and gratitude surged through me as I realised I had become an inalienable part of IIFT Family for life.
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ABG Group Company I want to work for and why?
In future, I would like to work for Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail Ltd as I believe it’d give me valuable insights on the working of the industry. I hope to gain an understanding of the consumer behaviour and its effective utilization to convert it into sales. I have studied the retail atmospherics about how lightings, the colours and music help trigger consumer behaviour and the post purchase dissonance which follows. I have taken a keen interest in how retail works while I’ve been shopping for myself.