With eyes filled with dreams, as I entered inside the beautiful campus of IIM Indore, I felt a great sense of satisfaction of having made it there! However, as minutes passed by, I was looking for approachable faces I could go and talk to as this was going to be my home for the next 2 years. Being an introvert, I thought this would be an extremely difficult experience. In spite of that, owing to the unique induction programme designed by IIM Indore that year, this seemed like a cakewalk.
All of us, (the PGP1’s – as the B-School fresher’s are fondly known) were asked to assemble on the cricket ground for a group of activities which were aimed at teaching team building and us getting to know each other.
The first activity – ‘Get the Signatures’ was particularly fun. In this activity, as the name suggests, we had to get maximum signatures from our batch mates in a period of 7 minutes. It ensured that we went up to each other, introduced ourselves and requested for signatures. I ended up meeting a lot of new people & at the same time people were approaching me as well, because they too needed signatures, right! This activity served as an icebreaker and taught a very important lesson in a very simplistic manner – If you want any help from a person, you must be first ready to help them.
The second activity was ‘Blind treasure hunt’. We were divided into groups of 16 members each and except for one person, the rest 15 of us were blindfolded and asked to form a trail. The person who was not a part of the trail was asked to be the ‘Guide’ to the trail for finding the treasure that could be hidden anywhere within a certain periphery. If the trail breaks, the team gets disqualified. Also, when the first person in the trail gets hold of any treasure (after following the directions of the ‘Guide’) he has to pass on the treasure to the person behind him and then he has to pass it on further till it reaches the last person. This activity emphasized the importance of working in a team and trusting each other so as to achieve something collectively. I distinctively remember that my team ended up winning this one!
The third activity was the highlight of the day – ‘Walking on Fire’. As dangerous as it might sound, it was done under expert supervision and was not as risky. It aimed at facing our fears and removing certain inhibitions from our minds- once and for all. It involved walking on a short path of burning coals. Scientifically, when coals burn, they form a layer of ash over them which actually protects our feet (provided they are dry) if we walk at a certain pace (not too slow) on it. After having done that, I certainly felt a new sense of achievement and that was definitely one more item ticked off my bucket list. However, this MUST NOT be tried without expert supervision and proper precautions in place.
So, after an eventful day, I ended up making a lot of friends, being much more confident and I couldn’t wait to see all the things that my MBA experience would have in store for me.
Which ABG company would you want to work for and why? Ever since I started my MBA journey, I had an inclination towards the world of Finance. It is a dream to work with Aditya Birla Capital Ltd. ABCL is the fourth largest asset management company in India and provides a range of solutions including home finance, personal finance as well as financing for SME’s (amongst many other solutions) which would help me gain expertise about various products in the long run. This coupled with the brand that Aditya Birla Group is and the trust that it enjoys, it would be a dream come true to be working with a company of its stature.
-Heta Ved