Make or Break

My article in Business World. It's about life in IIM Calcutta. Check it out

http://www.businessworld.in/index.php/B-School/Make-Or-Break.html

The full text has been pasted below

Make Or Break

Why rigorous schedules of B-school is a love-hate relationship for some

Classes begin at an unearthly 8:30 a.m. and go on till late evening. Quizzes and assignments designed to keep you busy week whole long and then a few extra classes to top it all. Add to this projects and term papers which include trying to map the 4Ps of marketing to the last case study done in class or take a real world survey in Park Street to know what the common man thinks about your latest innovative idea.

All this makes sure that this poor soul in IIM Calcutta goes to sleep late at night (or is it early in the morning) at 4 a.m. And then the damned alarm goes off in the morning when you are absolutely sure that you have just about slept for a few minutes. Anything that gives you a break from 18-20 hour days is supposed to be pure, unadulterated fun, right?

Wrong. Dead wrong. And that is what I gathered in the week-long break from campus life. For those of you wondering as to which guy in his right senses would be saying this, allow me to offer you my take on the whole thing. The point is after a certain amount of time spent in a campus, you get used to a certain standard of living. And when the campus is one with awesome scenery (imagine 7 lakes in a 135 acre setting with tree-lined roads on both sides), you do tend to enjoy the whole experience.

Back home, even though you are given the royal treatment for coming home pretty infrequently, there is only so much one can do to keep busy. Enjoying a good 10 hours sleep and waking up late you eat a leisurely breakfast while going through the entire newspaper from end to end, starting with the sports page of course. And then try and answer a couple of mails and try and update your Facebook status.

Meeting friends is a task that is done within the first 2 days. These guys don't enjoy well timed breaks around this time, so here I am, twiddling my thumbs and wondering what to do next. This is exactly the kind of scenario that would never occur back at IIM Calcutta. You always have something or the other to keep you engaged. And to be fair, I would be lying through my teeth if I insist that B-School is all about academics. There are a lot more things that are worth your time and effort. For some of us, it is the game of footer volley (a variation of Sepak-Tekraw) which is the most popular game on campus. This is generally played all through the night with the players changing as and when they get free from other stuff. So don't be surprised if you walk into a hostel well past midnight and see a fully lighted quad hosting a game on in full swing. Others generally take their pick from tennis, badminton, TT, snooker, cricket or chess. We do have something for everyone here.

And Kotler, the friendly (and aptly named) neighbourhood hostel shop, sees soaring business with a bunch of guys and girls engaged in animated discussions on Obama becoming the next President of the US and its impact on the Indian economy over a cup of instant coffee. The midnight Maggi, without which MBAs will never be possible, is something that has become a habit for me over the last year and half. Then you have the various clubs on campus — be it the Finance, Marketing or Consulting — which again keep you awake. And the more exotic ones like the Lakeside Lens Lovers, our newest photography club, which sees some of its members staying awake to capture the perfect moment during sunrise on the Howrah Bridge replica on the lake front. Try staying awake a little into the night and the folks back home start wondering which planet we guys inhabit when we are away pursuing the great Indian MBA dream. Unlike back in hostel where the guy next door knocks your door at 3 a.m. to inform you that you will be taking part in the next big case study competition lined up for tomorrow.

There just isn't enough incentive to stay back home for one whole week. All said and done, I am waiting to get back to campus and enjoy the last term that I shall have on campus. Waking up to an 8:30 morning class is any day preferable, after all.

The Reading Habit

Or rather the lack of it these days. Though not exactly dying, it does seem to be on the decline. No, I am not talking about the world. I am no flag waving torchbearer for the same. I don't give a damn about whether other people read or not, though I appreciate people with refined tastes. I was talking about myself. The number of books that I average each month has been on a steady decline, even though it is still well above the world average. And it kinda coincides with the time I started my MBA. For a big time reader like me, the signs are not too encouraging

Something that I hope is not irreversible. There were a few positive signs during my summer internship in April- May. I bought and read 12 books. But then, I had decided that I would not take my laptop to Mumbai. Needless distraction is all that it is, and the best part is that it actually worked. More often than not, on my way back from office, I ended up buying books from the roadside. The Bombay booksellers at Fort/ Churchgate have quite a decent collections of books to keep one more than interested. And the best part is that they stock authors who may not be the most popular guys around. And then back at IIM Calcutta, I decided to visit College Street once and bought a few books again. Even promised myself that I would visit the place again soon. But the best laid plans just go awry.

A hectic life is not the problem. Even an MBA is not a good enough reason, which leaves one other thing. The only logical explanation that I can come up with is that hostel life is not exactly conducive to reading, at least in my case. And the main distraction is the laptop, which ensures that I spend a lot of my free time mindlessly surfing the Internet. A habit I am not going to be able to give up anytime soon. All is not lost yet though. Have 2 books on hand and they seem pretty interesting too. One is "Liar's Poker" by Michael Lewis. Currently reading that. Good stuff about Wall Street and the investment banking profession. The other one is Rashmi Bansal's
"Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish", which is about entrepreneurs from a Well known Institute of Management in Western India. And yes, my copy has an autograph from one of the entrepreneurs featured.

I promise to improve my monthly reading average when I head back to Joka after the break, which has been a welcome one for me. This is a promise I would love to keep and one that might not be all that difficult to fulfil.

Feels Like Home

Saturday morning, 6:55 a.m at Pune Station. Just alighted from the train (which was dot on time) and took in the sights and sounds. Felt good to be back here. Really good. There are places where you can get around by just having a feel of the place. You can move around on auto-pilot without any fear of being lost whatsoever. A place called home. The sights and sounds just come back to you and you feel as if you have never been away. In my case it was a case of coming back after just 3 months. All that jazz about change being the only constant remains just that. Jazz. The more things change, the more they remain the same. Irrespective of the number of changes around you, it is almost always a sense of déjà vu when you get back. And being back in my favourite city feels like no other. The ubiquitous auto driver trying to make a quick buck at the station by telling me how far my house actually is in as convincing a tone as he possibly can manage. And my reply reminding him that I still remember where I stay better than he does. The number of potholes has definitely gone down though. And I have the Commonwealth Youth Games to thank for that I suppose. The traffic I am sure would not have changed much, that much I am pretty sure of. But then, on a quiet Saturday morning, it is not exactly something to complain about. Getting my hands on my bike and being able to ride it after a forced break back in Joka feels just about awesome. The good old Caliber is still the same. I am going to be moving a lot in the coming week, that's for sure. Meeting up with old friends all gone their separate ways is an unavoidable and welcome routine that never changes. Will get to meet a lot of people this time round, except for my KPIT gang. Not much else to do this week, except tie-up a couple of loose ends. My idea of a perfect week.

A place called home. A city called Pune. One and the same. One that I consider mine.