Plaudits To The Preceptors - A Tribute To IIM Kozhikode Seniors

MBA, A domain where the phrase “the world is your oyster” gets a radical new significance.  We were told in our introduction that IIMs are sometimes referred to as a military training school (which was assumed to be an exaggeration). There would be 4 classes a day, an hour and a quarter each - 5 days a week (9:15 am to 3:45 pm with 15 minutes’ softeners in between.). Before setting off to the class, you are required to prep cases for each class and read up on course readings and reference material. Attendance is mandatory for all sessions. Although leniency is allowed up to 20% it barely adds up to 2-3 classes a term. Whatever you say in the class is reviewed and carries a significance in your term evaluation component. There are name sheets in front of your seat and a teaching assistant sitting at the back is taking note of whatever you are stating and doing. You then go for lunch in the mess (or somewhere else) where you may get a notice for an unexpected test. In the event that there is an unexpected test, PGP office will send an email precisely at 1:45 disclosing to you that you have an unexpected test at 2:45. When they took tests for a similar subject on three back to back days, there are mid-terms and end terms. 25 credits to be finished in the first year. 2 credits are comparable to 20 sessions. So in every one of the 250 sessions. If, one gets two F reviews in the year and won't be escalated to the second year. And then, there are clubs, extracurricular, getting into which is focused once more. Committees are evaluated on the electability and also on aligning your personality to the vision and mission of the committee. If you chose to be working in the core working committees, you better kiss your sleep and social life goodbye. You need to work for summer placements which is no cake walk either. All hell breaks loose when there is a mail from the Placements Committee stating the guidelines on how your CV must not exceed 1 page and you realise that your CV does not even cross the half page barrier. That’s when you realise, to compete with top 5%ile of the brightest minds of one of most populated countries, you really need to dig out even that first ever perfect tooth your tooth fairy rewarded you for. And you realise that everyone around you is in a race, in which they are neck deep and have already gauged their competition on the first evening of the orientation classes. You feel like Mr Virus is bestowing his life philosophies upon you.  

Life is  a race!! Tez nahi bhagoge toh koi tumhe kuchal kar aage nikal jayega!  

Most of your classmates would have already contacted seniors before they came reporting on the first day of college. They had most of their queries answered, ranging from what happens on daily basis to what majors to choose in the second year. So, imagine my surprise when all this was thrust upon me and I found myself stumbled between a sea of people running around haywire, yet perfectly organised on what they wanted to do. Don’t take me wrong, I am not at all a misanthrope. But hey, I was not the best miss congeniality either. More or less, I was flawlessly happy with that part of my identity, where I was fine with my social circle and saw no motivation to change. That’s when we got to interact with our seniors. We had various rounds of varied strata of interactions. Section seniors, dorm seniors, grad seniors, subject seniors, regional seniors, state seniors, school seniors... all of these to ensure we do not miss out an opportunity to network and talk to them. That’s when the whole system sunk in. We have to maintain our relations to ensure we held a solid ground at an ever-changing current of an ocean called MBA. They told us on how important networking can be. Simply put, Networking was THE future of MBA. Or rather it already IS. Various ‘gyaan’ sessions continued. How the teachers were, how to choose our friends right, how to choose the wise decisions from the vide array of options to do in a split second of time, how doing everything and excelling at most is a very important mantra at an IIM and how doing all of it whilst maintaining our air-conditioning systems was imperative. This became our survival 101 guide.   Committees, a choice had to be made. Most popular committee or most effective committee or most chilled out committee? They told us each and every nuance of every committee. I can still recollect that sleepless night which I spent on talking to a senior on why he would choose most effective over most famous? My CV had to undergo 4 rounds of varied pairs of experienced eyes looking at it, before it seemed like it could be shown to our placements committee, only to be followed by 4 more rounds of scrutiny. Then a lot of sleepless nights followed, combined with committee work and summer internship preparations. The only prep I got was when I went to my senior and gave numerous mock interviews.  Oscillating from subjects, games to committees, work to parties, studies to summers, our seniors always ensured that we had a foolproof support system to lean back on. They did not bother whether they had exams or submissions, whether it was 5 am in the morning or 2 pm in the noon. Always had a helping structure in place. From advice on eating joints to party places, from tips and tricks on handling difficult professors to multiple rounds of CV scrutinises, from listening to us whine to making us all chuckle, our seniors have done it all. I sometimes wondered, why? And I got an answer, “I had someone to guide me the same way, so I am glad to be helping you out.”  They are the reason we had our feet sunk into hard concrete yet our eyes gazed upon the sky and aiming high. We have learnt to not hesitate when we might have to do so much and more to our juniors when they are as lost as we were. In case you're not a part of any b-school and you're reading this, you may find this odd, a blown out dedication! You may wonder what's the big deal? But when a whole system of over exaggerated expectations in upturned by another system of extravagant workload, you tend to search of that little vent to let all your pressure out, all your worry answered. Trust me when I say, seems like an angel in disguise. So, thank you Dear Seniors, for being the anchor we always needed to board onto. For being the support system we always could rely upon. For being the torchbearers in every aspect, be it partying, night-outs or studies. For being there in times of distress and times of joy.  For setting a perfect example of how we must become and how we must be. For making a dull journey into an immemorial experience     ------------------ About the Author: Pranathi Amula is  currently pursuing her PGDM Course, Class of 2016-18 at IIM Kozhikode.