IIMB Campus Pics

Was scouring the net for some info on IIMB when I chanced upon this blog - http://guha.blogspot.com/ maintained by a B student (who should have passed out by now). Apart from the rather interesting observations on life of a PGP1, it had a collection of superb pics which I have posted here ... all credit goes to Guha - PGP2005

Classroom Cluster

Hostel Block .... Hostel Entrance

Faculty Blocks

Library Exterior



Library Corridor

Main Corridor

Having stayed there for a couple of days, all I can say is that the campus is awesome. The pics above hardly do it any justice. Suffused with the grandeur that one would associate with temples and monuments of the yore ... the place does leave an inedible impression upon you.

I am a PGP1 now

“Made it to the base camp. Climb to the summit starts…and then the summits after that…” These precisely were my thoughts when I sat staring at –

“ Status of application to PGP 2006-08 at IIM BangaloreCongratulations! You have been selected for the PGP 2006-08 at IIM Bangalore. The official offer letter is being despatched. Please contact the IIMB admission office in case you do not receive the offer letter by April 18, 2006. To secure your seat you are required to do the needful as per instructions in the offer letter by May 8, 2006.”

7 months of single-minded pursuit resulted in this and what was it I felt? A feeling of relief at having crossed the first hurdle and possibly the easiest one at that.

The last few days have been excruciating to say the least … F5-ing and spamming PG…. ignoring the mounting pile of high priority stuff on my desk…. hoping that I convert at least 1 call…. getting rude with all and sundry. Honestly, never has any exam result had this kind of an impact on me.

Speculation as to the D Day was mercifully laid to rest by the IIMA director who named 13th as the date on which all IIMs would come out with their final lists. C was the first off the block with results coming out on 12:01AM. A large number of PGs had made it. Sent a couple of congo PMs and went to sleep. The rest of the results started trickling in around 10:00AM and so did the disappointments. Both A and B danged me. While A’s reject was clear enough….B’s reject was rather cryptic – “Data entered does not match with records”. Shaken, I waited for K, which came around 13:00PM. Phew, I was through. I had made it to an IIM … finally. True, it was not the one I would have preferred…. But hey! Things could have turned out much worse. Opiate msged me about something being wrong in B’s results but I didn’t bother to check. Next day … the day after the storm … checked my mail…and saw a mail asking me to join the Y! group for the IIMB PGP Class of 2008. Surely, there was a mistake…. Me … PGP Class of 2008 … Bah … My data did not match with their records!! But then hope floats … so logged into B’s website and keyed in my details … Got the msg which I have pasted in the beginning of this blog. Spoke with the admissions office and the seniors to confirm the news the next day.

So, Its now official … I am now headed to B to pursue the PGDM course. It’s been quite a ride and it’s nice to taste success at the end of it all.

Relaxing and girding myself up for the experience that is B School!

More gyan later …

The waiting game....

The last PI of IIM B gets over today and the waiting game for results "officially" commences today. For me however, it started on 31st of March......the date on which my B PI got over. Honestly, it wrecking my nerves. While I may seem this ultracool types outside, spouting lines of "having given my best shot" etc, only I know how much of a bundle of nerves I am now. I keep checking PG every other minute to check for that one thread !!!

God help me!!

GD/PI - IIMB

Venue - M Block(room M14)
Date - 31/03/06-0900 hours

Panel - P1(bearded,long hair,smoked a lot,spoke accentless english...the BBC types and looked like...well, will come to that later) and P2 (youngish, light accent, sardonic grin always in place).

GD - Case study abt director of edu insti wondering who among 2 profs is to be the next Dean. P2 gave the instructions.1) 10 min to digest caselet contents2) 15 min to discuss - No fish3) 10 min to summarise. Summary and not your viewpoint.4) No sms lingo in summary. Should has 6 letters.5) No bullet points. This is no ppt.6) Keep the parapharnalia(files) down unless you wanna refer to them in the GD.
GD started with 2 ppl starting together and keeping at it.In the first min we had a mild fish in hand.P1 who was watching stepped in to warn we were not listening to each other. Duely chastened we settled in for a decent GD. Towards the end, P2 stepped in to ask-"so what should the prof do?" Group guided itself to a solution. Put in decent participation. Coming in whenever I wanted. Thecky though was the star.
Summary went off w/o any major incident though my handwriting was illegible to say the least.
Came out and chatted with Thecky and Opiate. Had rasna and hogged krackjack offered.
Was the only non engineer in group of 6. 3 ppl with workex of more than 18 months each.

PI - Third in order and went in after Thecky. Thecky and the guy b4 him came out mouthing the word "stress" I am B(bakra).
P2- Why MBA?
B - Current job description. How MBA will help me get exposure/expertise to achieve my future goal.
P2- You have said ur goal is to b the CFO of an Indian MNC. Care to explain Indian MNC.
B - Flashback as to Indian MNC.Also agreed it is very difficult these days to categorise any company wrt any country.
P2- Name any Indian MNC. Infy?
B - As of now, Yes.
P2- Think you can make a difference in Infy?
B - No. Reason - Infy already has its share of CAs, Engineers and MBAs,. Difficult for me to distinguish myself.
P2- Where do you think you can make a difference...KVIC..which is actually bigger than Infy?
B - Can achieve what I want, in a new company ...also in manufacturing company. Some gyan here.
P1 steps in here
P1- Whats unique abt Infy's accounting? They have many firsts to their credit.
B - Have not studied their accounting practices, but is it human resource accounting.
P1- Nope
B - First company to report in US Gaap.
P1- Any other firsts?
B - Dunno
P1- They were the first to go in for quarterly results/disclosure. Is it required under US Gaap.
B - Dunno. But required under SEBI norms.
P1- How many standards under US Gaap.
B - Dunno.
P1- With your goal, u r supposed to know.
B - Yes, but I have no exposure to it.
P2-How many Indian companies complying with US Gaap?
B -Depends on the number of Indian companies that are lsited in the US.
P2-Gimme a number.
B -20-30. But I am guessing here.
P1- Who is the CFO of Infy.
B - Mr.Mohandas Pai.
P1- He is well appreciated, isnt he?
B - Yes, was featured in the latest edition of Business Today as one of the most admired CFOs.
P1- What is Balance sheet.
B - Told
P1- Asset?
B - Told
P1- Liability?
B - Told
P1- Opportunity Cost?
B - Replied with example
P1- Another example?
B - Told.
P1- So where is Bakhra Nangal?
B - Punjab,on Satluj.
P1- Any other speciality?
B - Nehru called it one of the temples of modern India (dunno from where I got that)
P2- He referred to industries, didnt he?
B - Referred to dams and industries.
P1- Any other speciality?
B - Built with russian help.
P1- What abt Bokaro plant?
B - Also built with russian help.
P1- Capital of Turkmenistan.
B - Ashkabad (mispronounced it terribly)
P1- Wrong.
B - Okie
P2- Any 3 states in American midwest?
B - Havent been there..guessing...Milwaukee, Nevada.
P2- Nevada?
B - Guessing.
P2- Any city in Nevada?
B - Las Vegas
P1- What is privatisation?
B - Told
P1- What is divestment?
B - Told
P1- So what is the difference between privatisation and macroeconomic stabilisation??
B - Started off with privatisation.
P1- So, is privatisation = divestment?
B - Nope, divestment is a part of privatisation. Illustrated with examples of Modern Food, Balco and arbit.
P1- What was the consideration in case of Modern food?
B - Dunno.
P1- Dont you think divestment is just a ruse of the govt. to bridge the fiscal deficit?
B - Yes, It has been referred to as selling of the country's silverware.
P2-What kinda books do u read?
B -No specific likes. Recent reads include - Freakonomics, Straight from the gut, Snapshots from Hell, an Economics textbook etc.
P1- First time you taking cat?
B - Nope
P1- So is it secod, third, fourth...
B - Second.
P1- Why?
B - Work pressure. Come in at 8am and get out by 10pm.
P2- You wud be a disaster in HR.
B - Grin.
P2- Do you think it is ok to work so hard.
B - No issue at this age. Get to learn a lot.
P1- Your refrees seem to have written a lot abt you in the weaknesses.
P1- Reads out stuff all of which points to my habit of overworking/overloading.
P1 and P2 look at each other
P2- Okie thats it.
B - Sir(to P1), can i ask a question?
P2- Yes?
B - Are you Sam Pitroda by any chance. Asking as there are bets outside that you are him.
P2- Nope.
P2 and P1 grin.
B - Thanks for the oppurtunity stumble out.
Verdict - Honestly, no idea. At the end of it all, I came out feeling good which is surprising, given the number of "dunnos".