"Life's Different
Here... My First Experience at XIMB"
- by Sapna Mohata *
As I entered the XIM campus on
the 16th of June 2004, the heart was filled with hopes and eyes with curiosity
and I was looking forward to possibly, the two most important years of my life
so far.
It was nice meeting people from
different backgrounds, someone who has worked on 'Bramhos' project in DRDO or
someone who has two memory records in his name in Limca Book of Records or
someone with thirteen years of work experience. (It actually becomes a cause of
anxiety and awe).
We were welcomed to the institute
with a 3-day long orientation program; wherein we had a lot of fun playing games
and engaging in collage-making, skits, etc. These group activities helped us to
know each other better, and of course, our initial lessons of teamwork,
coordination had begun.
As we got to know each other,
came in picture the seniors as their classes were beginning from 19th June. Then
there was a slightly longer period of interaction with them - learning about the
customs, traditions of the place, the values that a XIMBian cherishes, etc. etc.
And amidst different learnings we had, the most special was about the grand
birthday celebrations. The celebration that begins with kicks (or b'day bumps,
to sound better) is followed by bath not just with water (dunking) but also with
cold drinks, especially Coke (I don't know if it has anything to do with Coke's
strategy of market expansion). The cream of the cake acts as a face cream, and
yes, we also sing a melodious birthday song that seems to be the only respite
for the XIMBian born on that day.
The next unique feature of ours
is the JLT (Just Like That) parties that we organize time and again to keep pace
with the hectic schedules (Work hard and play harder is the philosophy out
here). And how can I miss the continual pop-up messages that help gossips spread
like fire and also help us in locating a lost member during group assignments
and for this, the credit goes to our LAN network.
But, then suddenly, silence
before the storm was over. Amidst the informal learnings and fun, we started
getting the shocks by way of narrow deadlines for assignments or an overnight
rendezvous with Kotler for a marketing quiz the next day. I now realize what
nights are meant for - submission of assignments, preparation for the quizzes
(though the next day, the question paper seems to be written in a foreign
language, as an unfolded mystery). Thanks to the chat at coffee table at 1:00
a.m. or game of badminton or tennis at 3 a.m. in the morning, that help us to
keep the eyelids open at night. However, many of my friends try compensating for
the same by dozing in the class.
It is amazing to see that amidst
such tight schedules, most of our seniors have other commitments too, thanks to
the plethora of student committees we have. Each committee is unique in itself,
contributing a lot. As the finance committee, X-FIN recently held a panel
discussion 'Budget Analysis 2004' on a grand scale with dignitaries from RBI,
SBI, NALCO and Verve Consulting attending it. Even, we have started assisting
them in these activities as will be amply evident from my signature at the
bottom of this piece.
Life has become really different,
its all about meeting the deadlines every now and then, time management as they
say is the biggest challenge and you definitely miss many a things.
I had never thought that I will
ever feel home-sickness, but now I really miss everyone, my family, my home-city
- which is better known as the Pink City - and of course, the delicious food at
home (thanks to the food of the mess, but nothing new as this feature is
universally applicable to all hostels).
So, it's all being an attempt to
keep pace with life.
