hey guys let me introduce you to vishal who has just culminated his M.B.A pursuit from IIM Indore and is all set to join Standad chartered Bank.
Here is what vishal had to say in response to our questions about Life at IIM.I
INTERVIEW – VISHAL KAUSHAL IIM I (CLASS OF 08)
1.What is the most distinctive factor about I.I.M I in contrast to its peers in India ?
High levels of Academic quality is a given at any IIM (or for that matter any Tier 1 B-School in the country). What gives IIMI an advantage over its peers is the fact that IIMI provides its participants (at IIMI, students are referred to as participants) an environment conducive to overall development and not just academic development.
For this purpose, a number of Interest Clubs are in place that enables the participants to pursue their interest in fields as diverse as Finance, Marketing, Economics, Theatre, Photography and many more. Also, there is no dearth of opportunities for sportspersons to showcase their talent in the various Inter and Intra-College sport-meets.
So the experience at IIMI is a complete experience in every sense of the word and that is what makes it so special.
2.Is it a difficult place to get into?
In pure probabilistic terms, less than 1% of the candidates who write CAT every year manage to get into an IIM. One needs to be thoroughly prepared and at the same time lucky to crack the written exam. This is followed by a grueling Interview round which is probably the easiest thing in the world to screw up. Only a selected few manage to come out of the interview room unscathed and unscarred.
Going by the above facts, it is definitely not an easy place to get into.
3.How cool is the faculty – student interaction at I.I.M I?
The faculty is always available and directly approachable for any kind of individual guidance required by the participants. The faculties overseeing co-curricular and extra-curricular activities are also extremely co-operative to the student representatives.
An academic affairs committee (comprising of elected student representatives) is also in place and it acts as an interface between the faculty and the participants for academic matters concerning the batch.
4.What one change can make I.I.M I even better?
Being a newly built campus, Planet-I (as we at IIMI like to call our campus) is still not fully grown in terms of sports infrastructure. Work is underway to address the above issue and very soon Planet-I will have state of the art sports facilities as well.
5.How does the I.I.M I junta have fun on campus?
A cultural committee (comprising of elected student representatives) is in place which makes sure that there is never a dull moment on campus. Weekend parties are organized in the campus once a fortnight to break the monotony and have a blast.
Also, the Cultural Committee ensures that we stay connected to our roots and at the same time never miss home as arrangements are made for the entire batch to celebrate all the major festivals.
We also have a very strong culture of Online Gaming at Planet-I. When there is no Case Study pending or assignment due, one can find us busy fighting against each other in the Virtual World.
Those who prefer the real stuff, have to their disposal the 24X7 Cricket/ Soccer/ Basketball/ Volleyball/ Badminton/Table Tennis/Gym facilities available on campus.
For the more laid-back ones, there are GBs and TBs of movies available on the server to sit back and enjoy.
6.How is the hostel life?
Hostel life at Planet-I is as good as it can get. We call our campus ‘The Hillock that never sleeps’ and do full justice to the name. Apart from the few ‘good’ boys and girls, most of us are up for a large part of what normal people call ‘Night’. Planet-I is always bubbling with life even in the wee-hours of the morning.
The million dollar question now is that what the hell happens throughout the night? What exactly is this Hostel Life that we are talking about.
Well, a lot of us might be up all night working out what ABC company should do to maximize shareholder’s wealth or what XYZ company should do to penetrate the market effectively (or analyzing situations similar to these) through a case study.
The Core Team of our beloved Iris (Management Fest) may be up all night finalizing the plan of action to attract maximum participation.
The Secretary of Mercur-I (The Marketing Club) may be up all night with his team, planning the next event for the batch.
The members of Idanim (The Theatre Club) may be up all night rehearsing for their next play.
The Sportsmen amongst us may be involved in a crunch midnight encounter on the field.
The Body-Builders may be working out in the Gym.
The rest of us may just be sitting in or outside the night canteen, gobbling an Aaloo Parantha and discussing the Sub-Prime Crisis of the US.
Cutting the long story short, hostel life at IIMI is as colorful as one can imagine.
7.What is the favorite sport on campus?
Cricket, Badminton and Table Tennis are the sports most played on Campus.
8.What academic resources do you use at I.I.M I?
The entire study material comprising of Course books, Case studies, Research papers pertinent to the curriculum and other related articles are provided to the participants at the start of a new session.
To cater to the academic interests of the participants beyond the course material, IIMI has a state of the art Library.
Online Databases like Capitaline are also subscribed to and are available to the participants.
Participants also have access to a wide variety of E-Books and research papers through the Intranet.
9.Expectations from a prospective I.I.M I student?
The administration at IIMI puts great emphasis on discipline. There is a strict attendance policy that is executed without exception. There is also a strong policy against plagiarism. The academic rigour is also far more than any undergraduate college (even IITs). So a prospective IIMI student should be prepared to slog it out for two years (of course it’s not just about the slogging; a whole lot of masti also comes along with the package) and should respect the rules of the land.
10.Is M.B.A at I.I.M I all gyan or some masti?
Well, you can decide that for yourself from the above information.
11. Your most memorable moment on campus thus far?
Well there have been so many memorable moments that it’s next to impossible to pick out one.
I think it has to be the day when we prepared the ‘Shakti-Amma’ skit for our SBM presentation on HUL’s project Shakti. Since the story was about an oppressed woman in rural India, our group went to the slums to shoot the skit. As there wasn’t any girl in our group, I volunteered to play the role of the oppressed woman. I had to put on a Sari and take some beating from the guy playing my drunkard husband.
Shooting and editing the skit was great fun and it came out really well. The response we got from the batch and also the faculty when we showed it in the class as a part of our presentation was just amazing. It was a truly a wonderful experience.
