14 June 2018: My first experience in a B-school classroom
It was my first time at a B-school premises, I entered the classroom allotted to me for the ice-breaking session and caught the first sight of 3 of my peers who were seated there. Their expressions reflected the excitement they had for this new beginning, similar to mine, but it seemed somewhat clouded by the fear of what’s held in store for them, more appropriately ‘for us’. Formal introductions were done and I took my seat to feel this unidentifiable rush in my veins through my blood and we all waited for everyone to arrive.
‘Let’s begin with a brief introduction of everybody and then we’ll move to the first leg of ice breaking session’ said Mr. Santosh Gopalkrishnan, Assistant Professor – Finance and Examinations Incharge – MBA, our faculty incharge for that day. All the introductions were really interesting but 2 of them caught everybody by surprise. Kalyani P, an embryologist, with 2+ years of experience and Satyajeet jagdhale, an International Badminton Player, who has represented India in various tournaments and has played with the likes of Kidambi Srikanth, H.S. Prannoy etc. Their decision to quit the job/take a sabbatical for pursuing MBA gave an altogether different perspective to everybody present there. The last time I had heard of such diverse introductions was probably in a Marvel Movie.
The first leg of the day unfolded and fortunately, it wasn’t something I was unaware about. Speed dating was what we had to do in order to make that transition from formal introductions to the informal introductions. So, we were made to stand in 2 rows of 10 each and given a window of 30 seconds per pair, 15 seconds each, to convey to the other person the things which we believe the other person should know. After every 30 seconds, the person at extreme left was shifting to the extreme right and rest of them to their adjacent positions to find their new partner and repeat the things they had mentioned a few seconds ago. This is how we bragged about our achievements and/or showcased our modesty as the first activity came to a decent end.
It was time for some group activity now and we had been divided into groups of 4, which means 5 groups in total. I, being highly confident and brimming with courage told Mr. Santosh that our group will like to go first but things unfolded in a manner ‘not-so-like it’. ‘Charades with a twist’ is what came to my mind when our faculty incharge and judge told us about the format. We had to act out, not a movie but a statement, to the person next to us in the group. The next person will act it out to the person adjacent to him and that’s how the statement will reach to the final member of the group. The statement we got was ‘Eating Watermelon and spitting the seeds out’. I must say our performance was pathetic and I accepted the fact that not everywhere is the concept of First Mover Advantage(FMA) applicable. It was a lot of fun though, more when one was part of the audience.
We moved on to our next and final leg which was more or less like an ‘Ad-Mad’ competition in which we had to create an advertisement in not more than 3 minutes. The rules were really simple: we could have picked up any existing product or created a new product: realistic or imaginary. We were the last to perform this particular task and it all ended on a very high note. Wait, did I just say ended? No, I mean I did, but in the context of that particular task because the final explosive announcement was yet to be made. All 20 of us, the ice breaking session group, got to know
that there’s a talent round coming up tomorrow, a drama and skit competition, and we all are a team. The format went like: All the groups will be provided with one state of India and they will have to showcase that state’s values by using history, culture - music, cuisine, language, dressing styles, lifestyle, beliefs etc. The competition was scheduled for the next day and all we had was 15 odd hours to the deadline and the state we got in the class itself. Guess what? It was GOA. We were ecstatic, all of us. The sense of responsibility we all felt was huge and I, personally, had never felt it before. Everybody was here for a purpose and the road to that purpose had begun.
Which Aditya Birla Group Company will you want to work for?
Idea Cellular is the company I would want to work for. The much I have read and heard about the telecom industry boils down to only one thing, that it is the most extensive industry and has to incorporate a lot of different verticals in an organization. I want to challenge myself more by being a part of the highly volatile and dynamic environment so that either I can add value to the company or churn out.
- Kartik Miglani,
Marketing, SIBM Pune