Much Needed Breather and Happy Time With Family

 

Finally the 1st term exams concluded and it was such a huge relief. It felt like we have been released from prison. I must admit that this was even tougher than mid-term as it required quite a bit of commitment and dedication to remain connected for 1 whole week at a stretch coping with vastly diverse subjects. The end term party came as a good breather. Kudos to all the organizers Dinkar, Hitesh, Puneet, Tamanna, Archi, Jaya, Sarita, Poornima etal for organizing such a wonderful event during a period when each one of us was struggling to find time for studies. The retro theme was synonymous with what we all have been experiencing so far at EPGP and reminiscent of earlier college life.

It was a double exciting moment for me to meet my family after 2 whole months. Anshu and Arnav landed in Bangalore at the same moment I came out of examination hall after last exam. There were few more whose family arrived around the same day and I must say that it has not been easy for our families to stay away. It is their support and wishes which is keeping us going and helping us to cope with this rigorous program. Such is the rigor of this program that exams finish on Saturday and new term starts from Monday. It was apt that my family was here for a week.

The workload was very light during the start of term and I was able to have some good time with Anshu and Arnav. The weather has become much more pleasant during this 1 week. Besides, I tried to have some time off from my impending project assignments. We made a trip to Bannerghatta National Park along with Kiran and his family. Had heard a lot about the safari and both the kids enjoyed a lot there. For Arnav, it was the first time he saw all those wild animals so closely and a memorable trip for him. Both Arnav and Loukya were very excited when we visited the zoo later. Alas while coming back it rained very heavily and it was good exercise for me and Kiran to run towards the parking area.

Anshu was particularly impressed by the weather here and she is now tempted to stay at Bangalore. I might be shooting in my foot but I might be inclined to start another innings in this lovely city. The last week has been quite satisfying for my potbelly too with likes of paranthas in breakfast and dal makhani or shahi paneer in lunch/dinner.  I have been telling my wife so much about the delicious Italian food at 'Little Italy', and she really wanted to have a go at it. I was fortunate that restaurant did not disappointed and it is still up to the mark. Needless to say, after all this full week of good dining, the paunch only made its way back :).

Overall, it had been a one week full of happy family time and even though I wished that they should have stayed more, flight for Delhi was waiting for them at the airport and my assignments and submissions were shouting at me for some attention.

Individualistic Behaviour During Term I Exams

With the status being 'back to college', how can examination be far behind. It is a demon which we all thought has been exorcised, but it is now part of life for next 1 year. It brings back some-fond-some-bitter memories. Some interesting experiences from term I exam season -


1. Suddenly, all the nerds with whom you never have gone beyond regular 'hi' become your close pals

2. The weather becomes all the more pleasant to tease you.

3. The atmosphere becomes all gloomy. Point 2 has a ripple effect.

4.  Having got used to QWERTY, its now back to basics. Pens, pencils, eraser, ruler etc are the tools being used to put our thoughts on sheets of papers. The only hope is that a chemist is helping the Prof to decipher.

5. Not matter how much you decide to not talk about exams,  its the same old story as soon as you are out of the hall. If there was ever a happy face, the reaction is 'oh sh*%' or 'f*^&'. A sadist delight indeed.

6. Open book exam has its own benefits. You learn lot more during the 3 hours in exam hall than what you prepared or what you learnt during whole term

7. You have a realization of the total course content just a day before the exam. It adds up to the point 3 above.

8. You take loads of print-outs but never understand what exactly it contains



9. What once used to be a party place turns into group study area, with scribblings all over the place.

10. Tastes and preferences change, a cup of tea is welcomed by even those who do not savor it

11. People keep on moving from one place to other in search of 'gyaan' or to find shortcuts

12. Last but not the least, you always make resolution to study from day 1 of next term. Amen!!!

Reflections... The Term It Was

Essence of Strategy

The first chapter of my journey at IIMB EPGP is just about to get over. It is probably some tiny monsters called exams which we will be fighting off next week, barring those the term is as good as over. Today was pretty hectic(?) day with most of us in race against time to submit projects before the deadline. In the end we made it and 'Nothing else matters'. We have finally got a two-day weekend with Saturday a holiday, but it is a far fetched dream to enjoy over the weekend when we have our first terms EXAMS starting from Monday. 



e-chaupal

I was wondering what exactly this term was and what has been my takeaway from this. Consider this, for a person who is used to sleep at least 8-9 hours a day, a 5 hour sleep is now a luxury, discounting the thoughtful process thinking during lectures. The good part is that I have learnt the nuance of power naps. I was used to eating 5-course meal at Amdocs with dollies being dished out during the day and  here I am paying Rs 300 for rasam. I felt gratified with the sight of so many books in my shelf considering that last time I read any sort of book was 8 years back and I left even that halfway. 


Anusmaran 2013

I guess these are just few steps which I took towards attaining 'nirvana' during this term. But the real enlightenment was something else. Before this, I never realized that it is an art to understand the structure of an organization and it has to be carefully designed considering lot of factors. Earlier I used to invest in equities just by sixth sense, which explains the losses I have incurred over the years. I hope to use grey cells efficiently after the understanding I have gained to interpret financial report. Probability of my understanding has always been zero and regression interpretation have always been at lower end of the curve. Hopefully it should not be the same. Besides these, the case discussions made me ponder on how some companies have been successful while others have failed. I still have my doubts open but it is immaterial. Of course learned lot of facets of business law and hoping to cash on it. I would add that Eco had been an uncertain identity.


entrepreneurs in making

Apart from these sometime-interesting-sometime-exciting(?) courses, there have been number of seminars and leadership sessions happening around. Getting a chance to sit with likes of CEO of Himalaya, Mr Philip, or with Bally's Gaming Czar, Mr Srinivasan has made this EPGP journey even more exciting. In addition, the tips from speakers with as diversified profile as a Hindi literature professor or from IIMB alumni entrepreneurs, will be helpful in some point of time. Nonetheless I am enjoying the time here. On a regular day the time I get outside this course is inexplicable, but I have managed to squeak in some of the things. Be it swimming or swinging the baddy racket or burning the accumulated layers of fat at gym, I am giving shot to everything. One does not get another opportunity to be back at the college and the time here should count. The only regret so far, I have not been able to take out time to enjoy this lovely city of Bangalore, but I hope I can try something out in next term.

It was a deliberate act on my part to omit any references to the socializing activities over the weekend, but that's what MBA is all about. Some things are better explained unanswered.