Back to School !

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”.