Life @ IIMB

As I get ready to move to Mumbai, I cannot help but look back over the past 2 years. I set out to IIM-B with just two objectives –
1. Break into the investment banking industry and get into a bulge bracket investment bank if possible. This was near impossible for a CA to achieve in Chennai
2. Make as many new acquaintances and friends outside of the CA/commerce junta circle. Light talk centering on costing, accounting standards and taxation was beginning to get on my nerves
Did I manage to get what I set out for? Yes and much more. What I now take back from IIM-B is something much more valuable –Experience and Memories.

IIM-B offered me valuable insights in human behavior which I thought were impossible after 3 years of industry experience. This is probably because IIM-B is filled with a particular subset of people whom I never had much of an opportunity to interact with. The typical IIMBian would be an overachiever in one or more fields, with a middle class/ upper middle class background with a rather strong competitive streak. Now bring together 250+ of such characters from all over India and you have my batch. This is in was very different from the people I encountered in my previous employer(s) which did have some very bright people but also had huge swathes of mediocrity. So, I was in for the ride of my life from the very first day.

The sheer variety of students was something of a revelation to me. Anyone who needs an eye-opener as to the diversity that makes up India needs to go to a national institute of education. From Bikaner to Kolkata, from Ludhiana to Coimbatore, from the usual engineers from watchacallit engineering colleges to economics grads to the dudes from the IITs, we had them all and much more. For a guy whose circle of interaction had never extended beyond Chengalpattu District’s Chartered Accountant community, this was a rude awakening and a timely one at that.

IIM-B taught me it was quite possible to be very competitive and yet be friends with your competitors. Okay, there were a couple of hyper competitive, footage hungry morons who insisted on making the lives of others and their own miserable. But they were the exceptions. The vast majority were the type who would compete their hearts out and yet gladly accompany you for a cup of steaming chai at Athicas at 3 a.m.

Another lesson that IIM-B taught me was the need to look beyond appearances. It was quite possible for a person with the best background to be capable of the worst conduct possible. Yours truly was often guilty of judging people on the basis of their looks and appearance. It certainly didn’t help that the ones that looked particularly bad also turned to be free riders on the n+1th order. IIM-B helped me to look beyond the surface. One could have the potential to be a world class investment banker and yet indulge shamelessly in behavior bereft of common human decency. To put it cynically, IIM-B helped me understand that “worresht max, K level” behavior was background and looks proof.

IIM-B made me accept people for what they were. This was initially very difficult for me, given my ultra conservative Tam Bram upbringing. It took a particularly stubborn bull from Bikaner to convince me that it was okay if people got stone drunk, as long as they turned up on time for the group meetings and presentations as models of sobriety.

If there is anything negative that struck me during my stay at IIMB, it was some of the cliques that came to exist on campus. They were usually formed during the first term and held on till the last day. The raison d’etre for these cliques could be anything from graduating from a common institution prior to IIMB to having common beliefs, aspirations and goals (both of which were perfectly understandable) to a misguided attempt to seen as the “cool” set. While I agree that one tends to gravitate towards people with whom one feels comfortable, the “cool & happening” cliques were almost tragi-comical. Their behavior reminded me of the typical Hollywood teen flicks that dealt with high school/college hijinks and shenanigans. But then again it could be me with all my biases and prejudices ranting away about something I could never truly appreciate.

All said, I cannot but look back to my days in IIM-B with a sense of fondness and gratitude. So long, IIM-B and thanks for all the memories.