After spending a year at IIM Shillong, I have come to share a strange bond with my campus. Before I start expounding my predicament, I must admit that it’s complicated. My feelings towards it are polar, inconsistent & transient in nature- it’s highly agonizing one time and utterly conciliatory the other. Not unlike love-hate, the opposing feelings kind of reinforce each other.
A PGDM course from an IIM is by design rigorous and extracting. Gather a bunch of minds, charge them up during the day in classes, engage them with simulated problems, insinuate panic with deadlines and spice it up with extra-curricular commitments. Voila! You get a place which is a melting pot of hurried activity, swift plans, incessant tasks and commitments. A b-school campus perfectly exemplifies these characteristics. I have evolved from being a busy actor on ground zero to a reflective critic, now able to discern all that had transpired during my first year at IIM Shillong. Apart from the routine chaos - club & committee inductions, term exams and summer placements have added to the strenuous culture that came to be associated with campus life. In times of such scramble, the escape however momentary always seemed far.
So far yet it is ever so near. The therapy to stress that the campus life infuses is hidden in itself. All it takes is either a leisurely stroll down the pine-laden roads, or soaking in the exquisite view of foggy white clouds engulfing the campus or the pleasure of basking in the warm sunlight on a chilly morning or experiencing the recovering silence of the hills in the pitch of the dark. All have an unburdening effect which leaves me light and recharged. The campus metamorphoses into the perfect spot to escape from itself!
My ramblings might sound oxymoronic, but these conflicting feelings are nonetheless complementary. I have made peace with all the confounding experiences that my b-school has to offer. For it is the saturating rigour and activity that compels me to fully relish the relaxing surroundings. And it is the de-stressing effect that empowers me to tackle all my pressing commitments. We often compare b-school campuses based on the infrastructure and facilities that they offer to its residents, but this unique undiscovered intangible is of considerable value to me. All in all, this bittersweet affair has been memorable.
Which ABG company would you want to work for and why?
I would want to work for UltraTech Cement Limited. Cement industry in India is a vital part of its economy and is second only to China in terms of its installed capacity. The potential is matched by the rising in-house consumption demand & higher projected infrastructure spending. As an industry leader, the company would offer me the opportunity to contribute to this growth and learn the management skills of steering the swift rise of an industry. Its global presence as one of the top 4 producers in world adds to the appeal of the company for me.
Jatin Pahwa
PGP 2nd Year
IIM Shillong
