IIM Calcutta

IIM Calcutta : An Experience To Look Forward To

There comes a time in your life when you are confused about what you are doing. About how the effort vector is not adding up in the right direction. You might be an engineering student looking for that management flair in your life, a person lost in a job that you don't find interesting, someone looking forward to an exciting experience which also adds value to your skillset or whatnot. IIM Calcutta is the right fit for every single one of you. Want to know more about life in IIM C? Read this article to know more.

While the college is known for its excellent academics, lakes and impeccable placements the fact that is often overlooked is that Joka is fun. The life on campus is far from mundane or monotonous, it's as happening as it gets. The varied opportunities that are present across avenues from sports to cultural activities to entrepreneurship opportunities to social initiatives ensure holistic development. The diverse crowd at IIM C would mean an engineer straight out of college might be seated next to a pretty experienced lawyer or a person with a banking background. While engineers form the majority of the crowd, the skillset and aspirations of students in the college are part of a broad spectrum. Life as a Jokar is full of surprises and the initial flurry of activities will slowly make you ready to accept life for what it is, no matter what.

Placements

The campus recorded 100% placement yet again with a hassle-free process. With roles being offered across avenues every student had his shot at what interested him the most. It was after I came to the campus that I realized how wrong the myth about "MBA colleges being a placement agency" was. The whole process of placements, ranging from late-night prep sessions, mock GDs, company buddy calls, and all day long prep fairs challenge the students enough to help them develop their skillsets and personalities. The culture of not leaving anyone behind means, the whole college waits right outside the interview room while the last person is being interviewed. The after placement celebrations are one of a kind and instils a feeling of brotherhood among every student.

Sports 

The sports council ensures the enthusiasm of the student community despite the presence of a hectic schedule. Right from the beginning starting with intersection sports, the momentum is set. The inter hostel sports meet - 'World War' tends to be a very memorable weekend. The specifics about these events tend to be guarded religiously for, after all, it's something one has to experience to gauge. With Sangarsh, C-XL and other tournaments lined up the sports calendar tends to be always jam-packed.

Celebrations

From the first fresher's party,  the Badla party for seniors organised by first-year students, the exchange students come on campus to the after placement Jobbers party, Jokars celebrate their moments euphorically. The whole college comes together to create memories that people cherish. The people in college love celebrations and never miss a chance to party. Don't be surprised to see a party or two happening every other day.

Life in IIM C is one of the best experiences a person can have. It leaves you exhausted from all the grind and fun but still wanting more. And with the Kolkata sun rising pretty early in the morning, chances are, you end up seeing a lot of sunrises during your time here either finessing your report or creating memories.

 

Why Is IIM Calcutta A Dream B-School For Many?

For a question like this, I can almost imagine prompt answers like “the holy trinity”, “placements”, "legacy” and everything under the sun. Not that I am denying any of this, but after spending a year in the institute, when I sit back and try to answer this question, I find a radical change in my thoughts.

Let’s begin with the place - Kolkata.

Although you see remnants of the colonial period throughout the city, it is far more prominent in South Kolkata (IIM Calcutta is located in South Kolkata). Beginning from the old houses proudly showcasing British architecture to the roads filled with old-style buses and century old trams, the place can never fail to mesmerise you. However, in stark contrast, New Town has a completely modern look with high rise buildings and wide roads. It is almost similar to all other metro cities that you can think of. So, if you take a tour around the “City of Joy”, you would feel you’ve almost had time travel.

Another aspect that excites me about the city is its cultural heritage. Temples, churches, art galleries, theatres – name it and you’ll find the best of the country located in Kolkata. Also, it hosts some of the best local markets and food joints. So, if you are an explorer, you are definitely going to love the city.

Now, coming back to IIM Calcutta - What is it that sets it apart?

IIM Calcutta fosters relationships. Starting from the mentorship program before joining the college to assigning mentors for CV review, preparation and so on, a colossal amount of mentoring and hand-holding is done for the fresh batch to help them smoothly transit into the life at B-school.

Now, once you are into the B-school and a few months had passed by, especially, when you had overcome the triumphant feeling of making it to one of the most prestigious institutes of the country, reality seeps in. You become scared of losing your individuality amidst the bundles of sticky notes and long unchecked lists of things-to-do. This is when IIM Calcutta already has a plan set for your rescue. It has around 28 clubs to help your interests grow. Ranging from clubs for entrepreneurship, social work, music and drama to clubs for animal lovers, IIM Calcutta promotes ideas and interactions in every possible way.

Also, the sports culture in the institute is amazing. IIM Calcutta is one of the few colleges which participates in almost all the sports fests among B-Schools. Not only that, it had brought laurels to its name consistently.

Another fact about IIM Calcutta that will make you proud is that it has no gender-specific rules. In a time when most colleges have different rules for girls’ hostels and boys’ hostels and both argue on the privileges of the other, I can happily announce that we do not even have separate hostels. I have never seen any rule or restriction based on gender and it definitely talks of the modernity of the institute.

Last but not the least, the speciality of the institute is its people. You will find the best mix of population here – diverse in age, gender, background, culture and many things else. This makes not only classroom discussions productive (like we all say in interviews ;)), but it also has a huge impact on your perception.

However, the interesting part about its diverse population is its unmatched unity. The placement season among many others is one of the best evidence to it. Each person (even if he/she is placed), wakes up early in the morning, runs around with food and beverages or sits next to his friend to morally support him. In fact, no one parties unless the entire batch gets placed. Such is the Joka culture – we stand by each other, no matter what!

So, who would not want to be a part of it?

Life Of A 100% Visually-Impaired Student At IIM Calcutta - Ritesh Agarwal

They say every story inside an IIM is a success story. Truly so. Here is the story of Ritesh Agarwal. Ritesh is currently a PGP1 student of Indian Institute of Management Calcutta. I know Ritesh from the very early days in this course.

This short interview was recorded over a half an hour tea session in front of one of the symbolic tea joints inside the scenic campus of IIM Calcutta.

 

Hi Ritesh. Would you mind introducing yourself?

I am Ritesh Agarwal. I am a graduate in commerce. Passed out in 2018 from Gauhati University. As my name suggests I am Marwari, but I have been born and brought up in the beautiful city of Guwahati. This is the first time I have parted from my parents.

I came to Calcutta with lots of hope as well as anxiety. Hope that a new career was waiting for me. Anxiety in the sense that not only it was the first time for me leaving home but also because I am a visually impaired candidate. While in Guwahati I received a lot of support. But I had no idea how disabled-friendly the campus would be. I had known that for physical disabilities it was fine but had no idea how friendly the campus infrastructure would be for a 100% blind candidate.

Also, my parents were in doubt whether so much pressure of MBA, which people used to tell, I’d be able to handle or not.

When I reached the campus I only knew 4-5 persons from my batch. With two of them, I kept in touch since my interview day. Few others I came into contact through the Conclave program, that the institute organized after the final calls were sent out. When I came I was accompanied by my parents. The day they left I actually cried. I called one of my friends from Assam, who also joined IIM Calcutta. I have good company here.

In the initial days, what challenges did you face?

In the beginning, lots of challenges were there. First was the food. Not the taste of it rather the fact that I cannot take my own food. In the first few days, I would always call someone to accompany me to the dining hall, who would serve me. Then after a week, the mess workers saw me and they volunteered to serve me. This incident made me feel that people are caring here and gave me a sense of independence.

In the classes, the teachers were new. Peers were new. But during admission, I got a lot of help from my peers. They themselves approached me to help me. My forms were all filled by my friends, some of whom were just a stranger to me probably a minute before that.

What about the classes? And the notes?

Here my way of study has totally changed. In my graduation, I have studied through recordings. There in my study group, I would sit with my friends and they would record the parts that they studied. While studying accounting I’d tell them how I think it should be done and they would check whether that’s correct.

I didn’t use the JAWS software during my graduation. The notes would usually be given verbally. No PDF or PowerPoint would be handed out. Hence JAWS wouldn’t be useful anyways. But I was still learning to access JAWS to run such software as Word, PowerPoint, Excel etc.

Before I came here I knew that here nobody would be able to take time and record notes for me. So after I joined the classes first thing I did was I asked permission to record the lectures, which I was given. But I found out that here classes are of 90 mins while in graduation classes were of 45 mins. Even if I did 90 mins recording it would be utterly tedious to listen to them afterwards. I had to abandon the idea.

Here I found that all the course materials were available in PDF form also professors would hand out PowerPoints. All these would work well with JAWS. The problem occurred for Statistics, Economics etc., which were visual subjects with lots of graphs.

I came to know that there are tutors in IIMC (PGP2s or FPs who volunteer to provide guidance), but I didn’t know what they teach and how they teach.

In the first term, we got the same tutors for all DA (differently abled) students. There would be 3-4 tutors for all DA students. But I asked them that I and 2 others would need individual tutors because we couldn’t read the questions. This is due to the fact that for quantitative subjects JAWS is not very useful.

The PGP-rep himself volunteered to be our tutor for Statistics. While teaching us, he learned how we study. Then from the second term onwards each of us was given individual tutors. Each tutor would devote his/her complete time to one student only. It was extremely helpful. In Statistics, which used to be my weakest subject, I secured a 7-point score, which was above average.

What about the academic pressure?

While going through the course I learned the breakneck pace at which things are taught in this institute. Since I had a commerce background I knew how we were taught accounting in graduation. After I came here I saw them teach the whole concept of “Journal, Ledger and Trial Balance” in a single session. In that class, I struggled to keep myself from laughing because we learned and practiced the same topics over a period of 8 months to almost a year, and here we were learning it in mere 90 minutes.

I was laughing but I was also afraid. Although CFRA was my field of expertise, what about other subjects? What if in Statistics, they taught a year’s concept in a session? I was scared to think how much effort I’d have to put to keep up. I’ll again thank the tutors. Not only the official tutors, but there were also many PGP2s who simply volunteered to teach and clarify doubts.

Also about getting a scribe, in Guwahati, I knew almost everyone. It was easy to arrange for a scribe. I was not sure about such things here. But I was assured that the institute will arrange for it. That was a huge relief for me. Then I could gradually focus on my studies and got acquainted with the system.

Do you think this course transformed you as a person?

In a lot of ways. Before coming here, I was a mamma’s child. I hardly took any big decision. Whatever came I’d ask my mother first, and whatever she would tell, I’d do. After coming here that changed. Now you cannot ask your mother every time something arises, can you? So after coming here, that is something that transformed within me.

I saw people. Each coming from such diverse backgrounds. Everyone with their own difficulties. Notwithstanding, they are striving for success. Also, I heard stories about people landing into great jobs despite their struggles. The support that I got from PGP2s, FPs, and my peers was in a word, unprecedented. I met with so many people including PGDBA and PGPX students. This exposure gave me such a huge networking opportunity that I simply couldn’t imagine.

You wouldn’t believe that I didn’t hear about McKinsey, Bain, BCG and AT Kearney. For us, Big 4 used to be Deloitte, KPMG, PWC, E&Y. Before coming here, I couldn’t have imagined getting into companies whose turnovers are in the range of thousands of crores. Also, not only the façade of the firm but I was also unaware of the culture within such big corporate houses. During my IIM interviews, I didn’t wear a blazer. But after coming here I learned the importance of such things.

What about the placements?

In the first year, we have placement for summer internships. As I already said I had no experience in the corporate world. My uncle has a factory. From there, I have learned a thing or two about the plywood industry. In college, my internship was in an NGO. So the corporate world was absolutely new to me. Managing everything along was a little bit difficult. I didn’t have to make a CV before. Also here I heard about separate CVs for finance and marketing.

My biggest dilemma was whether to focus on finance or marketing. Being from a commerce background I had exposure to both the domains. Moreover, I didn’t know what exactly to put in the CV. Here also mentors helped a lot. I learned how to express oneself. I believe knowledge and skills are two different things. You may have the knowledge but if you don’t have the skills to convey that to the outside world, then your knowledge won’t have an adequate impact; in a way, your knowledge won’t be fully utilized. I learned this through this placement process.

You see, my story is a little emotional. But I didn’t want to show it that way. It should not look begging for sympathy. It was really crucial for me. I didn’t want to convey the message that since I cannot see, that is why please take me. Rather I wanted to relay that I am a meritorious candidate, I am the Gauhati university topper. Hence I should be selected basis my merit and not my disability. So finding the right balance while framing my answers to tell my story without asking for sympathy was tricky, and that is what I learned through the process.

Would you like to share your placement day experience?

On the day of placement GD (group discussion), everyone needed a tracker. All my wines were already tracking someone else. I saw in my section group someone taking initiative to arrange a tracker for whoever is left out so far. I really felt the section support that day. There was at least a person tracking me all through the day, and he/she never left the premise of the room in which I was having the GD.

In the Mahindra GD, they gave a completely different topic. Each participant was asked to talk about one inspirational figure in their lives, discuss upon it for 20 mins and in the last 30 seconds, the group would be asked to decide whose story was most inspiring. Almost 8 out of 12, including me, told about their mothers; and every story was heart touching. That was a very emotional moment for me. I found it little distracting as well. Because on one hand you are having a GD for a job interview and on the other hand you are overwhelmed by emotions.

My story was different in the sense my mother is also visually impaired, and I have been immensely inspired by her. I told about the teachings she has given me about how to become self-dependent in society. I have seen her – she is a self-dependent woman. In the end, I’d say almost half of the group had chosen my story as the best while others were mostly like “we can’t decide”. Even the moderator of the GD himself said: “Ritesh, your story was very good”. I personally believe everyone’s story was great.

How did the interview go?

In the interview, they asked me how I’ll be able to serve. They thought I can’t see the paper, hence how I shall read it and do my work. I told them that I can access them through the digital platform. Digital media and technology, in general, have been a boon for me. It’s a gift of God for me. And it’s because of this that I have become a self-reliant person to a large extent.

They also asked me that since I am not a chartered accountant and the role was a finance role why should they select me over others. I told them that although I am not a chartered accountant, I have a zeal to learn. There were five months from then before the internship started. I asked them about their requirements and I said that I won’t let them complain about that during my internship. They asked me some of the concepts from finance. I could answer some. I couldn’t answer a few. I told them that I hadn’t learned them yet. It was my first corporate interview and I cleared it.

What were your thoughts before entering the interview room?

I remember the night before the interview. I totally broke down. I was thinking among other things, whether I could do better if I had a vision. I mean I was self-dependent and all but not 100% self-dependent. So I was worried lest I have to accept my condition as a constraint.

I have lived both lives. Before the 11th standard, I could see. So I kept thinking whether I could have a better chance at it if I had my earlier self. I consider myself a very positive person. But that night I couldn’t stop the thoughts. I kept thinking what if I don’t get a good firm, or the firm doesn’t have the right infrastructure etc. When my mother called I couldn’t stop the tears. My mother said “Why are you crying? The company shall take you.” I asked her what if the recruiters don’t know that I can read and do most of the tasks without help, and what if they consider me a burden. She said, “You have lived so many months in the institute and you have performed so well that no one considers you a burden. So the recruiters too won’t consider you so.”

After the interview when I called her back she couldn’t stop the tears. She told me that I would get a good firm and I cracked the first interview that I sat for.

Looking back how do you find the journey to be?

Right now I am really excited about the internship. I have received communication from Mahindra. I am leaving for Mumbai on 13^th March. My internship starts on the 2nd of April. Retrospectively, the journey in the last year was much of a rollercoaster journey. I have improved my GPA from 6 to 6.7 in the last two terms. Wish to achieve 7 in term 3. I like the way FP students do their research here. Gaining inspiration from them I am doing my own term paper.

I believe that failure and success is a part and parcel of our lives. So even though I had very little chance of getting into CEMS, I applied, gave an interview and got rejected. My philosophy is that: Go for it. If you want it then try. At least you’ll not regret that you have not tried. If you fail then you should be happy that at least you tried; and if you really want to do it, then why not try again? I don’t feel that I cannot do anything. I can do most of the things. In fact, everything. And I am willing to take any challenge for that.

So what’s next Ritesh?

I have heard from a lot of people that they get inspired by me. I have been featured twice in the leading Hindi daily of North East India, “Dainik Purvoday” – the first time when I secured admission in IIM Calcutta and a second time when I topped my university. I feel that if I can bring a single person from depression to hope, my life would be a success.

I want to I keep achieving new challenges so that this series of motivation goes on. I aspire to become a motivating figure like Helen Keller. Other than my mother, Helen Keller is my idol. I am blessed with listening and speaking skills. I can at least express myself through words. Helen Keller couldn’t do that. Moreover, at that time there were no such technologies. Despite that, she learned swimming, horse riding and wrote many books. Yes, she is an idol for me. She never gave up in her life. Hellen Keller, Louis Braille, Károly Takács, when I read about them I want to be more like them – never giving up on my goals.

Life Of A Studying Mother At IIM Calcutta PGPEX

Saying “Goodbye” to a beloved is always painful and I am finding it difficult to maintain my poise while writing this piece as this really sounds like a ‘farewell bell’ from IIM Calcutta PGEX 2016-17 batch!

The topic is PGPEX journey in past 1 year: but when we speak of a journey it is ever-lasting; I also wonder why on the earth I am penning my experience of 1 year in PGPEX, as this bond with my alma-matter (hopefully the final one!) will be life-long.

Well, my connection with PGPEX started well before 19th April 2016 when I left a secured job in search of a better, alluded tomorrow. I first visited the campus on 10th Oct 2015, the day we had Lattice (PGPEX flagship program) of the PGPEX batch-9. The warmth I felt by my first interaction with staff members, discussions I had with my seniors and ambience of this esteemed b-school enticed me.

It still feels like yesterday the date 19th April 2016: the day when I entered through the gate of IIMC to start my journey which began on 22nd April. If you have ever visited IIMC campus, you would understand that there is a stark contrast when you are outside IIMC gate vis-a-vis when you are inside. The huge stretch (33 acres) of land full of trees, lakes, migratory birds, monitor lizards ensure that you are in a place of tranquillity and you are far away from the hustles and bustles of daily city lives. Being a person who likes to jog early in the morning, I vouched to myself that I would continue this practice all throughout the year and the ambience of the campus, full of greenery, helped me strengthen my belief. I started with a bang and for the first week, I was on target; but who knew that the first week will be the last one as after the first week, when the program started at the full swing, I realised the advice from the alumni: ‘the first two terms will be really hectic and after that though the pressure will not be subsided, your body and mind will ensure that you are not feeling the stress to a great extent’!

Being away from ‘active’ studying for a long time made the task a little difficult and the first term came in a jiffy. I got a feeling of the clock ticking and reaching at 4 AM before the exam day and that was a strange feeling to me as last time I had such an experience way before, in 2005.

Two terms passed by and then we were ready to travel to the western part of the globe, Seattle. The preparation though started long back during term 2 itself. I can tell one thing for sure, probably for a lot of my friends – immersion was certain a stress-buster. After getting into active studying for three full months, I was probably down and out and the immersion at that time came like a fresh air and gave me the necessary fuel to rejuvenate my energy.

Terms after terms went, we got the basics of Marketing (remember Krishanu sir’s ‘thou shall not  use any technical terms as you do not know what it actually means!’), Finance (Corporate Financial Management made life hell; Ashok Banerjee sir is superb and so is the subject; but when the quizzes were there and the class average became 2 in 10, we thought why the hell on the earth this finance has ever existed!) and strategy (I probably have made the world record by taking all the strategy related subjects IIMC could ever offer!).

But when we speak about PGPEX, would we only speak about the courses, the assignments, the exams or the quizzes? Certainly not. We had fun till throat, we had Lattice, we had Durga Puja, loads of parties at MDC PGPEX lounge and Whatsapp group where nobody spares others!

Just before we joined IIMC was awarded the triple accreditation. We were excited and wanted to share with the others; hence our FB pages were full with that topic, in marketing terms we were reiterating our brand proposition.

Is everything hunky-dory? - Like every other intellectual individual who likes to improve, we kept on asking us this probing question time and again. The intention is always to go big and reach the greater heights. We have identified certain shortcoming the program has - but I will definitely not choose this forum to illustrate those points.

IIMC helped me to meet with some colleagues who have come from other industries, who have seen the world from other angles and this experiential learning is equally invaluable to the curriculum knowledge I acquired.

Oh, one thing, pretty important – I am a mother of a 3 years old, she is my companion in this IIMC journey in every single moment. She is adorable and demanding – I had to make sure that apart from studies and projects, I am giving her ample attention also.

Now, the time has come to say a “Good bye” and kiss the corporate world once more. I came here with the intention of only learning new things, but the knowledge I gained from this course is immense and I certainly can say that the course is in the right direction to reach its ultimate goal, i.e., to produce high-quality leaders for tomorrow.

It is difficult to keep smiling at this time as we will part temporarily from IIM Calcutta, but the intensity I have seen within the school to bring alums in all the occasions and give them importance, I am quite sure that I will be back to “my PGPEX course” soon, not as a student this time- but as a friend who is willing to help her school in every possible way.

 

 

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About the Author:

Simantini has over 9 years of experience in IT industry with various multi-national organisations (TCS, IBM and CTS). After completing MBA from IIM Calcutta, she will soon resume corporate life as manager (Delivery).

She’s a mother of a 4 years angel, who accompanied her during the stint at IIM Calcutta for every single day.