Rigour one word that has sent a chill down every first year students back and just might be the fire that forges the best and brightest.
But little is ever talked about what rigour actually means. I am here to shed some light on that, read on and trust me you will not only have a different perspective about “Rigour” but also want it more than ever. Our story starts with the first week of college all’s good we just finished with our induction (a topic which we will not be discussing here, element of surprise my friends) and were ready for the worst or so we thought.
Studies assignments and deadlines aside let’s look at the other more interesting intricacies of what forms the IIM Kashipur culture.
Not a day was wasted, a form was sent to students to fill in their preferred committees and clubs and accordingly people were asked to send their CV’s along with two or three tasks, specific to specific committees.
Believe me the tasks were not easy, waking up at 6 to finish assignments attending eight hours of lectures not having time to eat food, nothing, all we had on our mind was the next task and how we had to get it done.
Start week two all the tasks are complete and some of us are strained and some of us well are waiting for a Sunday to prop up somewhere and rid us of this pain.
Little did we know “Rigour” had different plans for us. Sharp at 22:00 (Afternoon for us) we get a mail saying we are leaving for the Out-Bound. Well there you have it - good by Sunday.
Facing god awful weather and constant running up and down the hill did not dampen our spirits, what was the worst that could happen was on all of our minds and hence we set forth to challenge our fate.
Well the worst did happen and we woke up trekked for 10 kms and by the time we were sitting in the bus heading back to college we were not only unconscious we were almost lifeless.
Darker days seem to never end the much fabled HR Conclave began where we saw company stalwarts such as Mr. Abhishek Tiwary Head HR KPMG , imagine having such honchos under one roof and to top it of organizing the whole event on the strength of the student body. From planning to strategizing to booking hotels getting flight tickets collecting money down to getting flowers for the auditorium we did it all and I have to admit everything was new for us but it was under the supervision of our seniors, seniors who never shied away from helping us from receiving the guests to standing under the blistering sun to make sure the Hotels shelved out their best while serving these guests.
Well the training wheels were now off, our next nightmare took the form of Coalescence, a three day event that show cases live panel discussions and also key note addresses themed on the club conducting the event.
Like everything else about our college one thing is paramount we are made to do things ourselves, from planning to execution we do it all, we hear about leadership we hear about team work, but I can say with the utmost confidence that we experienced all of it, and are still not done.
One of the biggest events in our college Leadership Conclave tested this commitment and valour.
Not only were we required to use our past experience but the event had a twist. All of the professors were involved in this event. Our every move was being checked and we had to come up with execution able plans. Imagine putting in practice everything you have learnt over the last six months.
The ecstasy of seeing everything you have learnt suddenly being used is heartwarming.
We were so used to the practical applications of Design Organization, Marketing , Finance and operations that come TED x, come Agnitraya (the multi-cultural event of IIM Kashipur which sees colleges from around India participating and seeing a footfall of around 800 people all night events, poker you name it we had it) come the highly fabled IIM Kashipur Marathon we were ready, we were ready to pull all nighters help each other get through courses and definitely had each other’s backs in the worst of the situations.
So no sleep, high amounts of stress and a whole lot activities to not only make you forget where you are but also make a mark on you strong enough to mold you into being better than you could ever imagine.
The road is rough, you will not only want to quit but will beg to, but there will always be someone around you to pull you back up and I promise you by the end of it, life will never be the same, you will be able to do things and achieve things that you once thought unattainable and unachievable, while the world around you stares in disbelief you will achieve.
So how’s rigour sounding now?
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Read more about IIM Kashipur on InsideIIM here.