To say that last one week just went by, before I could blink
an eye would actually not be an overstatement. This is the kind of welcome you get,
when you decide to go back to school after almost a decade. Only solace is the
pristine surroundings of IIMC, which calms you and makes you appreciate the finer things in life. From the
first week itself, studying till 2 am has become the norm. Our security guard
actually put things in perspective when he said that 3 or 4 am will be a daily
routine by the next term. Yet in the middle of all this chaos, none of us (at least
most of us) are feeling perturbed.
Whenever we have 20 minutes to spare, it’s been getting utilized either
by going to the gym, playing cricket or as in my case catching a quick nap.
The classes have been nothing like our engineering days. The
commitment to show up in class before time everyday emphasizes on how much we
are looking forward to learn. Either that or we are incredibly scared of the
professors, and to be thrown out of a class at this age will definitely be an embarrassment.
The quality of the teaching has been outstanding till now. But to do a pre reading, assignment or case
study and then listen to 6 hours of lecture will take us some time to get
accustomed. Add to that a surprise quiz, which in reality is more of a shocker,
makes you wonder about the fairness of life. The word class participation has taken a new meaning altogether. While in
the engineering days, we used to hide in the back benches and avoid eye contact
with teachers, here one would be lucky to get a chance to put his point
through. And the reason is the rich wealth of experience everyone brings to the
table. Right from IT classes to Human behavior everybody has a story to share,
and unfortunately the instructors have to put their foot down sometimes so that
they can at least complete their slideshow without interruption. I have
probably learnt more from my classmates and instructors in the last one week
than what I learnt in my previous job in the last one year. And that’s precisely
why I think everybody should go back to school after a while, just to rekindle
the curiosity and to rediscover the child in ourselves. Once we realize this,
everything else will fall into place.
The dorm facility has been amazing and the food has been
good so far. The best part of the hostel life is the camaraderie you share with
your classmates. Although most of us are in our thirties, the hostel has taken
us back to our college days. That includes right from borrowing the iron box, giving bumps
to class toppers to searching tea and snacks in the middle of the night.
So, that’s pretty much the synopsis of my first week at
Joka.Let me end this blog,
again with a quote from our beloved security guard “Yeh toh shuruaat hai sir,
picture abhi baaki hai”.
