Utsav ’17 – The IIM Shillong Diwali

It was almost midnight, everybody was present in the quadrangle, the lights went off and boom.

The decorations nobody could even see until now, it all lit up. The campus looked no less beautiful than a Dulhan. Everybody was so mesmerized by the way our quadrangle looked, nobody noticed a bunch of PGP17 participants dancing. There were the lights and there was the flash-mob. Utsav was here in IIM Shillong.

I, like most of my friends in Shillong, missed home. Diwali has always been about family. But with all the placement prep, quizzes, assignments, pre-reads, I’d hardly find any time for myself. But the Diwali, it made me forget about everything. Although I did miss being with my family, this was nothing less.

The preparation to Diwali started at least a month ago. Me being a part of the Cultural Committee, or as we’re called here “CultComm”, I had a more hectic time than most of my other friends. I remember not being able to sleep more than a couple of hours that week. But when the campus lit up, the smiles on all the faces made all this effort worth it.

The flash mob was soon followed by the mandatory ice-cream (it was 12:30 am and the temperature was 10 degrees). The next day was Chhoti Diwali and the irony was that I had classes from 9 am to 6 pm (no use in cribbing). Well the classes got over, there was something going on all around the campus, Bollywood quiz, housie, Antakshari, to name a few. With diyas lit up all around the campus, it did not feel at all as we were away from home.

It was night and came the time to party. 400 people in the quadrangle, dancing their hearts out. I couldn’t be there. I was too busy with the other CultComm members preparing for the next event. As soon as the clock hit midnight, the entire campus was in the classrooms above the EG wing, the mandatory card games you know.

The next morning began with a few CultComm members accompanying Kakoty sir to the nearby orphanages and old-age homes to make donations. All these donations were made by the faculty members and the students. It was followed by a breathtaking match between PGP16 and PGP17. The afternoon had a selfie-based Treasure hunt. Simultaneously, the different wings were heads-on in the Rangoli competition.

The Diwali evening is the one where the faculty members and the director comes to the quadrangle for the Laxmi Pujan. There were sweets, and there was chaos, just the kind we’d expect to find in an Indian festival. Then we assembled at the basketball court for some fireworks. It was followed by a sumptuous dinner. The celebrations ended with bonfire in the quadrangle.

It usually rains a lot in Shillong during Diwali but there were no signs of rains in the last 3 days and just when I was thinking that, the sky poured. The celebration was over and there were classes again tomorrow from 9 am.

Which ABG company would you want to work for and why?

I would like to work for Idea Cellular Limited. The telecommunications sector, although one of the leading sectors currently, to me is very underutilized in its capacity. Moreover, I believe that the time a vast network of opportunities opens up in this sector, is not far. The growth opportunities are tremendous in this sector for a company like Idea that believes in Digital India and has done its best to reach the lengths and breadths of the country’s landscape, not withholding the fact that is one of the leading players in the market and Idea has its offerings driven by customer service.

  Indraneel Das PGP 2nd Year IIM Shillong