Living in the Bounties of Planet- IIM

In school, one of my closest friends had the habit of nagging me a lot about how little I study, and how I pay no attention to my future, and how I will not get into any good college. He was one of the few who I had told about my dream to be a manager, from the best institute in the country- I wanted to be an IIM graduate! On our last working day of school, amidst a mad rush to finish practical files, and getting people to write on your shirt, he wrote in a tiny corner, “I have a feeling you’ll make it”, and hence, not even six months after my twelfth board exams, I was gearing up to go to an IIM.

The Integrated Programme in Management or IPM as it is called, is a unique, one of its kind opportunity for teenagers like me, who knew they want to do an MBA, but were unsure of their bachelors. When I received my confirmation, I was excited and exhilarated to say the least, jumping and squealing all around the house is more apt a way to put it. So, I was set, all ready to come to the Indian Institute of Management- Indore.

On entering the majestic gates of the campus, the first thing that strikes anyone would be the greenery. As tucked away from the hustle-bustle of the Indore city, perched on top of a hill, called the “Prabandh-Shikhar”, is IIM-I, or Planet-I, as it is called by its denizens. The campus is big, 193 acres big, with the Academic Block at the top of the hill, while student and faculty housing form the middle and bottom layers of the campus.

When I first came to this campus, life here was pretty uncomplicated starting at 8:45 for the morning class which was either Statistics or Spanish or Personality Development and usually ending at 3:30, and classes ending at 5 were a rare occurrence. These were followed by eating at one of the many eateries dotted across the campus and then walk on one of the innumerable roads of the campus. It was one of our rituals, and our precedent to dinner. However, by the end of the first year, those roads were only seen when we were going out to the city as our days started with PT in the wee hours of the morning, and ended late till 7 PM, which was immediately followed by dinner, and then hitting the bed.

At the beginning of my second year, life had taken a turn for the worse, with the credit requirements increased to almost 1.5 times its previous prerequisites. However, by the end of that year, with a significant decline in most of our GPAs, the credit requirements were back to the same old, and life was relatively freer.