I just named this post IIM-Ahmedabad to attract readers and get more views. Just kidding. I recently had an opportunity to visit IIM-Ahmedabad and no other title or description can do justice to the magnificence of this institution. And so I hope its name suffices.
Lets begin with how I got fortunate enough to visit IIM-A. This one day my cousin, Dipen, who's the same age as mine and is also an MBA aspirant messaged me saying "IIM-A me event hai! Chalegi ?" And I obviously responded with a yes (super freaking excitedly). But also mentioned that he'd have to give me time till I get a permission from mom. The permission wasn't about if I could go or not, of course I'd be allowed for that, it was if I would be allowed to travel alone. Now the story after this isn't important. We filled forms, made payments, reached Ahmedabad and did attend the IIM-A workshops.
We stayed at our Nani's place in Ahmedabad. Now trust me, I'm being brutally honest and not exaggerating one bit. I was certainly excited when we left home for IIM-A but as we were reaching nearer to the campus, I was bloody nervous. My stomach almost churned like I was about to give a maths exam for which I hadn't even opened the book. Not like if I opened the book I'd know too much, but you get it right ?! My hands got all moist because of nervousness. I was so intimidated by IIM-A's magnificence, I couldn't keep it together. Again, not exaggerating one bit. My cousin must have thought I just went crazy or something. So then we finally reached the campus. Reported to the responsible person and got our proofs of participation, campus map (yes you need a map to roam around the campus, its humongous), and the schedule for all the workshops. We had an hour and a half before our first workshop began, which meant time to look around the campus and take pictures of every place. We took pictures like we needed a proof. Look we went to IIM-A.
And by the time the feeling of awe for the intitution started to sink in, it was time for our first workshop.
We headed to the Ravi. J Mathhai auditorium (also known as RJM auditorium) for our first workshop by IPSOS. IPSOS is a global market research company with its worldwide headquarters in Paris and France. IPSOS has offices in about 87 countries and employees approximately 16,000 people. We had 2 indian representatives from the company to give us a talk about market research. Now market research is the process of gathering information about how a consumer feels about the product they're using and the increasing or decreasing demands of the product in the market. We got information right from the conventional methods of market research till the latest methods using technology. It was genuinely enlightening.
After we were done with our first workshop, we had free time for almost two hours, which we utilized for more looking around the campus and eating. There's one mess for the students and two restaurant kind of canteens. Unexpectedly the prices were quite reasonable and completely student friendly. Even the canteens look beautiful there.
It was time for the second and the last workshop for the day. This workshop was by Prahlad Kakar. He is considered as the advertising guru of India because of his great contribution to the advertising world. He briefed us about his life and how he had reached where he is now, in the most humble way. He's 65 and genuinely the most lively person I've ever listened to. His sense of humour is impeccable. By the end of the seminar he showed us 12 of his best advertisements including some of the biggest celebrities like Amitabh Bacchan and Sachin Tendulkar. His ads were genius. Some were completely hilarious while others would touch you right in the heart. His seminar was the best one out of the 3 we attended.
And the last seminar was on the next day known as Social Beat. This was conducted by IIM-A alumni themselves. Here we were given examples of two online start-ups. And we needed to design its business models, revenue goals and business strategies. Me and my cousin finished it in half an hour. And we were quite proud of what we'd come up with. We wrote all our goals, models and strategies theoretically. And since we were so proud of it we even submitted it. Thankfully it was a seminar so there was no chance of failing but if it was an exam we were sure to get an F. The reason being, we'd ignored the amount we had to assume to start the company and our answers were all theories. When all the commerce students or MBA students started presenting theirs, they had solid figures in their answer about how every penny would be utilized. It was mind boggling, and also we were pretty ashamed of presenting our paper! BUT. We learnt and that's what's important.
We were done with all our seminars with this and now we had the whole day to look around the campus. The library is gigantic and its ambience is of the kind where you'd just enter and you'd feel like sitting and studying! It's very well build. There's a huge freaking subway to go to the new campus from the old one! The architecture is majestically admirable. Next, we also had the chance to attend the cultural events. When you listen to the name IIM-A all you can think about is genius students and high scores. But IIM-A is not only studies. The students are talented beyond comparison.
To sum it up, I can't thank my stars (and my cousin) enough that I came to know about these seminars on the last day before the closing of registrations and also be able to attend workshops at IIM-A. And after attending the seminars I can be sure as hell that this is certainly what I'm interested in and I want an MBA degree. Also, got a validation that my decision for choosing to do MBA in the future isn't wrong. Now the thing is when you've visited IIM-A, and if you're an MBA aspirant, all you'll wish for is to get into this prestigious institute anyhow. When you've seen the best in the country and among the 20 best in the world, everything else seems like mediocre shit. Not like I'm not mediocre as hell, I am an average-below average student (yes, cliched under estimation) but dreams don't judge you for mediocrity or excellence before entering your eyes. It's practically impossible for me to get there but who knows what the future holds ! It's a materialistic dream and I'm a mere human. Humans are materialistic. And IIM-A will always hold the top most position on my list of dreams ( no I'm not getting all senti).
Ciao.
