First Day at IIM-A
- by Vinamra Srivastava *
Here I am, finally! At the Mecca
of Management, at the best B-school in the country, the place where lakhs strive
to get in every year and very few finally make it... the hallowed portals of IIM
Ahmedabad.
The time had finally come when I
had to move out of the house into a hostel. I had always wanted to experience
the hostel life and have finally got the chance, and what a place to get it at!
Let me first give a brief description of how the institute is organized.
The entire residential area at
IIM-A is divided into dormitories. There are 27 dorms in all and each dorm
contains about 30 students. Three dorms are reserved for girls and the remaining
are guys' dens. A new campus has been under construction for quite sometime now
and contains 9 dorms, some class rooms, seminar rooms and few other things which
are yet to be completed.
The old and the new campus are
located on two sides of the main road and are connected from inside the campus
via an underground tunnel. The tunnel itself is a sight in itself and contains
huge pictures of life, culture and history of IIM-A. The old campus is all open
brick construction and the new one is all open concrete. I am no civil engineer,
and hence, can't go into the details, but the crux is that there aren't any
plasters / distempers on any of the buildings and such a construction is very
unique and extremely difficult to maintain. This construction is one of the rich
heritage of IIM-A.
OK, now I reached the campus in
the afternoon, and from that very instant, all I encountered at the institute
was sheer professionalism. At the beginning itself, I never expected the
security guard to be so cordial. He smilingly guided me to the SAC (Student
Activities Committee) office in Dorm 4. After few formalities, I was given the
room keys and the Programmes Officer himself addressed me personally and ensured
that I do not face any problems. I was given a bag there itself that contained a
telephone instrument and few other essentials that I would require in the room.
Then a person accompanied me to the room and carried the luggage as well.
I have got a room in the new
campus, Dorm 23, Room 30. The room is located on the second floor. The room is
really good, with all basic facilities provided, including a phone and a
balcony.
It indeed is very comfortable. Each dorm has a TV, washing machine, pantry and
our dorm also has a TT table, though am not sure if I will get any time to use
that. Initially, I thought that a room in the new campus is not that good as I
would be a bit away from the buzzing life at the old campus, as everything apart
from few dorms and classrooms is located in the old campus. The old campus
symbolizes the actual traditional IIM-A and the new campus is till under
construction. But I can't help it as the rooms have been fixed for each student.
Hope I get used to it soon. I met the seniors (henceforth referred to as tucchas,
in IIM-A jargon) of my dorm and they have been extremely helpful, guiding me
about the basic fundaes of the life I am about to start here. What I have seen
and been told here is that the dorm culture is very strong and your entire dorm
becomes your family.
The actual registration of the
course is day after tomorrow. Once all first year people (henceforth referred to
as facchas, in IIM-A jargon) are here, then we will have dorm meetings in which
our formal intro, etc., would take place. We have been given handbooks that
describe the entire schedule of the next two years in detail and gives other
required info about the institute that we need to know. The actual classes start
from Monday.
I will be posting the events of
the forthcoming days here as and when I get an opportunity to. The internet
connections in our rooms have not been activated as yet and will be done in 4-5
days. Hence, I will have to go to the (CC) Computer Centre to access the net. I
don't even know where the CC is. Will find that out tomorrow.
Its an awesome place and though I
have not even completed 24 hours here till now, I can already foresee the great
time I am going to have here. They say there is no life in first year. All you
do is study as you have absolutely no time for anything else. So am already
gearing myself up for that. Lets see whats in store as the days unfurl.
P.S. I got the opportunity
to watch the entire Eng-Sweeden match today in the dorm. Seniors said, dekh lo
abhi TV, baad mein pata nahi kab mauka mile once classes start.
Its already 3:40 am... a prelude
to the night-outs ahead in store, I guess
