The next two days of induction had less of the vigour that existed in the first day, partly because more people believed that the stunts put forward by the seniors was fake and partly because most of the people were tired of running around doing completely worthless things just because the seniors said so. The second day saw a completely new and tiring exercise forced on us by the seniors. The CV completion time was extended to midnight because an amazingly few people were even trying to complete it. We were asked to assemble near the cafeteria at around 6:00 pm for a health run. I reached there in my jeans with my bag. I was immediately asked to return and keep my bag back at the hostel and wear something more suitable. Upon my request, I was allowed to run with my bag on my shoulders. However, when I told them that I had mild asthma, I was asked to get my inhaler from the hostel. Soon an attendance was taken and the running began. It started of ok but soon became very tiring. One round around the campus was about 3 kms. But we were supposed to take atleast two rounds. A person with a marine background overtook everyone and quite effortlessly won the race. We however were struggling to catch our breaths especially during the second round. I was thinking about giving up on multiple occasions. Seniors shouting riding on their bikes around the road didn’t help much either. We essentially had to walk some distances in between but the seniors would drive around and make fun of anybody who was walking. Some of the seniors were especially very aggressive and I found a couple of them uttering curse words to the runners. I never expected students from this institute to behave so very unprofessional. Otherwise, the majority of the seniors were very well behaved and they kept asking everybody to run and not walk. I somehow managed to complete the race and my leg’s been paining ever since.

After that day, I have never done anything the seniors said. I didn’t complete my CV, I didn’t report for the case study and GD as asked by the seniors. I had a lot of free time then. I along with two of our friends went for a walk around the beautiful campus after dark. Then I slept soundly. The last day of the induction was not much different. In the evening, we were supposed to deliver presentations. The topics were very vague too. Some of the topics were: “Detro, Metro and Hetro”, “Lipstick Jungle”, “Terms Of Endearment”, “I-Porn”(Yeah u heard it right), “The bold and the old” etc. As usual, I didn’t go to the presentations. As far as I heard, seniors ripped apart most of the presentations. I am not sure however. That was the end of the induction module. I will write about the first day of the classes in my next post. Am going for lunch now. C ya !

Now onto the experiences with seniors here. It all started with the evening of the first day of the induction with the seniors. They all came (formally dressed) to the classroom in which we had our last session. There were about five of them. They introduced themselves as the Student’s council of IIML. The president of the council talked with a lot of aggression about how he will not let anybody to tarnish the image of IIML and that for the same reason, they will run certain tests to ensure that we were fit to be studying there. They said that the outcome of the tests would determine whether we get to stay here, get to enter certain committees or even get placed. They seemed very serious in their talks. The president told us that the single point of contact between them and us would be the mess notice board. He said that if he posted any notice there at 2:00 am in the night, we should know it by 2:15 and not later. Then they said that they have assigned everybody certain mentors (5 seniors). A CV form was then distributed to each one of us. We were required to fill the form and get it signed by 3 out of 5 of our mentors. This meant we had to run here and there, search for those seniors and get their signatures. This also meant that they could reject our answers we had written in the CV and make us fill them all over again before signing. Then they said that a quiz was scheduled for us at 9:00 pm. We were supposed to assemble at certain halls for the quiz. Till then we were supposed to get the CV filled and the signatures done. We all went to the mess then. Surprisingly, most of the batch without even bothering to find out who the mentors were, started having their dinner. This was real fun to watch. We were supposed to be tense and worry about the signatures and all we were doing was eating.

Come 9:00 pm, it was the time for the test. Firstly the seniors shouted at people for not switching off their mobile phones and then for not bringing calculators. Then the test started. It had questions related to Marketing, HR, Finance etc. with some case-lets and case studies. We were supposed to fill in the blanks in the question sheet and we were provided an A4 sheet for the answers. The rules were :

• All questions compulsory (regardless of whether we had a clue or not)
• There was negative marking.
• No extra sheets provided (although there were six case questions to be answered in 300 words each ! )

Needless to say, I wrote real funny answers there and so did most of the batch. Many were caught for cheating, illegible handwriting, looking here and there etc. It was total crap. We were supposed to complete the test by 12:00 am, but they finished off the test before 11:00 pm. Then we were taken to another room and shown a video about a lady teaching what “Financial Statements” were. We were supposed to complete a write-up of that 27 min video and submit it before 6:00 am in the morning. Many people didn’t even understand the technical stuff the video said, but they rushed in all directions as soon as we were allowed to leave. I and a friend left for the FPM hostel to a friend’s room and used Wikipedia to search for the meaning of Financial statements. I slept at 3:00 am but my friends kept on writing. I woke up at 5:30 in the morning (2.5 Hrs sleep) and wrote two pages by looking into my friend’s work and putting it into different words. We then went and submitted it just on time. This was the end of the first day. I’ll write about the next days of the induction in the coming posts.

Today is the last day of our Induction. It all began with a bang day before yesterday. The inaugural speech was by the Director followed by a series of sessions. In the ice breaking session, we were given a case (BIO) which we were supposed to study till the next day. C’mon man, it’s only the induction module and the studies start already.

Some things of utmost importance: Firstly, CGPA is very important here for most of the things including summer and final placements. A grade of A+ corresponds to a Grade Point (GP) of 10 and an F corresponds to 0. According to them a CGPA of atleast 6.5 is something that is considered satisfactory. This means getting something above a B+ most of the times, which is quite tough. Secondly, the attendance criterion is sacrosanct over here. A minimum of 80% attendance is necessary. Failing to maintain this level will attract something called a grade drop. This means the grade you get is dropped by one alphabet which means an A(9) becomes a B(6), a D(1) becomes an F(0) etc. This is particularly fatal because in this program, two Fs in a year equals being kicked out of the college. Even 4 Ds will attract the same fate. So attending classes will be one habit I will have to develop. Also, cheating will be dealt with severely. Caught once means a grade drop, twice means an F grade and thrice means Termination of the program. This I think is quite stringent but then, this institute is not what it is for nothing!

After these sessions, the seniors began their job. Before I say that, let me mention that the next day and today were just like the first day of the induction. The morning and Noon dedicated to the official presentations and sessions by faculties, and the afternoon and night taken away by the seniors. Let me tell you about the real demons of hell and the experiences of us juniors in the next post.

Finally, stepped into the hallowed realms of Hell today mornin. Stepped out from the railway station to see a lot of CNG-driven prepaid taxis. Cost around 135 bucks for that 20 odd km stretch of road and a 3.4 km offset leading to the Hell campus. Immediately made an entry at the gate and went to the Student's affairs. Some info here, The hostel is divided into slums(H2-H8), cities(H9-H10) and Palaces(H11-H13). The slums are the oldest and the Palaces are the latest buildings. I was hoping to get anything above a city here. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take a chit as was the norm since we were the last day visitors. So we all were alloted Hostel 7. My room number "719". I couldn't help but ask the person sitting there at Student's affairs if we weren't allowd to chose the room. He replied that we would be shifted to H14 after 1.5 months. Let's wait and watch what happens...

Got a new mobile connection today from the Airtel shop at the campus and also got all the prerequisites for a loan completed. IF you are a hell dweller, loan's never a problem. These people are more than happy to give out money to us. SBI and PNB people specially help you out on more than one occasions so that they stand a better chance of being chosen for the loan. Also got my registration done. Went there at around 3:00 pm and met a lotta rush. The person gave me a paper token with number 71. I finally got my chance at 8:00 pm. Headed for the Computer Centre (CC) soon after I had my dinner in the mess here. The food was good, and they have separate food for veg and non-veg people. Interacted with a few people in my hostel. Am allotted Section D.

First views on the campus, humid as hell out here. Have changed my tee two times today. AC enabled rooms are super cool, but you tend to feel the hot humid climate more after coming out of the AC rooms. Secondly, the campus is B-E-A-Utiful, just reminds me of my home back in Kerala. Even the atmosphere is exactly the same. Guess this cloudy season makes it more similar. Our induction program starts tomorrow morning 9:00 a.m. Let's see how it goes. Will write more tomorrow. C Ya ...

Finally i got a pretty strong reason to create a blog. Since the last one and this one are for entirely different purposes, I thought of starting a new one and continuing the old one as it is. This one's dedicated to just one topic (The title says it all). If I keep on writing this blog for the next two years (i.e. if I get enough time), I am sure it will serve as a good platform for me to keep informing my friends about how my life's goin on there. Moreover, I think it would be a good read cuz I for once would be very interested in the life of a person in the IIMs. Now that I've got the opportunity to be in the eye of the storm, I'd rather share my experiences with all of you ! Hope this story never ends and everybody enjoys it as much I'm gonna do it...

I haven't had any breaks in my study. Thought a lot about whether to join TCS and work for two years before doing my MBA. Finally decided that job's not in the cards right now. I'd rather finish every little bit of studying before I jump into the job world. Besides, the temptation of another two years of student life was a little too tempting for me to deny. I'd always liked it without any break - a truly orthodox life. Just chose science as my main subject after tenth because everybody was doing it, took up engineering again because everyone else did it. And now, 99.90% in the first attempt (the first ever remarkable thing) and MBA. No breaks. And I maybe one of the youngest in my batch (turned 21 this March).

Everything seems to be fine upto this except that these are the days that I should be enjoying myself to the extreme before the roller coaster ride begins and I'm not ! I've got my BE final year exams going on. They get over on 14th June and just six days to enjoy myself before I pack up my bags and go to hell. For people who are not aware of the meaning of this word, "Hell" or "(Hel)L" or "Hel(L)" is the name by which IIM Lucknow is better known among it's inmates. Now don't ask me why ! I know about it as much I told you. I am soon supposed to find that out ("As soon as I land up there" as the seniors said). My first guess would be the rigourous lifestyle there. That is what I've heard about Hell - one of the most rigorous courses among all IIMs. But then the truth is yet to be found out, and I won't have to wait for long. This will be all for today. Check back soon for more ...