Au revoir, IIM Indore..We come to it at last, Da ...

2 years. Thats how long they say it is. It certainly didn't feel as long; yet, i cant ignore the degree of change in everything that defines me - Ideology, beliefs, knowledge, character and personality.

Ive never stayed out of home, having been a day-scholar(day sci) all my life. So the first few weeks here at Planet I was something radically different for me. Be it the classes, the CP (class participation), the food, the language - everything.

I spent the first day running around the hostel premises in circles not knowing where my room was - it was a confusing maze, comprising of 5 blocks, A through E. I was initially put up at C 318, top floor, C block. I couldn't sleep at all for the first 2 days that i spent here; the excitement just did not die down. On the third day, my parents saw me off and returned home to Madras. It felt very strange, as though it would be the last time they would see me as the man they knew. It was. In my time away from home, Ive changed a lot.

The first few days were spent in getting to know people; both seniors and those in my batch. The language problem was very apparent now, and i felt the need to learn it. Thus began my active role in trying to understand spoken Hindi. I made good progress, and am proud of it. The next few weeks were spent trying get the hang of the academic system here- credits, DCPs, quizzes, End-terms, Midterms, Projects, Group Work, and the likes. I met my study group the first time during a microeconomics assignment, and got to know them better during subsequent meetings.

After that, I began making friends outside the confines of both my section and my study group. With that, came the ubiquitous trips to Indore city. The institute was roughly 20km away, and hanging out involved booking a cab and hurrying back before 11pm. With that, i was acquainted with Hindi film music. There was a lot that i had missed living in Madras, and this was my chance to catch up.

Then came 'positions of responsibility', serious stuff here in B schools, and i was eager to take it on and prove myself. I saw my first student body election, and contested. Later, Came summer placements; a testing time for the batch, arguably one of the foremost catalysts in cementing our unity. I was down when the first day went by with no news of success, I felt elated when my efforts paid off the second day, which quickly vanished, replaced by sympathy for the people i knew who were still in the process of getting placed. The whole process ended soon, bringing color back to peoples faces after days of restlessness.

Post summers, the academic workload increased, and so did plans for the career. My stand(s) on career choices (Fin Vs Marketing) was something of a running gag (explained in a soon to come post). Then we went around India on our summer internships, learning a considerable lot about corporate life. (No, its no where near the rocket science i thought it to be).

We came back, only to be torn asunder under the rule of electives. The finance and marketing students rarely saw each other in the same class, excepting common subjects and compulsory courses. The second year saw a lot of extra curricular activity, and some bearing fruits (Asia Moot Corp 2008) and some not. I learn't more than what i learn't in the entirety of the first year working on those projects.

Finally, its placement time. Things are beginning to heat up, with placement dates nearing. The last week on campus brings back fond memories of the place i called home for almost 2 years.

Here, at the end of all things, I cannot but help but wonder where the 2 most awesome years of my life went. I cannot imagine going to work, or coming back home and not have someone call me and say, 'Dude, lets hit the night canteen' or 'Dude, two and a half men season 2 episode 8 rocks!! download and watch it now!!' or 'Dude, u gotta this assignment man...'(refer this for more info on this statement)

Au revoir, IIM Indore, Im proud to be one of the myriad whom you've nurtured over the past decade.