Getting into the Groove

As you try and come to terms with Term 1 at the ISB, you can't avoid the feeling that an agitated man is urgently trying to communicate something to you in Russian, even as an earthquake is occurring somewhere in the vicinity. Professors keep firing stuff at you that you can barely comprehend, even as your batch-mates run around in panic cowering from mid-terms, assignments and so on.

You had been warned, of course, and you knew it was coming, but even as you try and remain placid on the surface and spray the, "Hey, I am not here for the grades" line around, it is going to take some amount of hypnosis before you actually believe that yourself. The comforting fact, of course, is that Term 1 is not actually the toughest part of the year. Now, I forget what exactly was comforting about that...

The good part is we are told that a point of philosophical nirvana is not too far on this particular randomly sloping curve. We will, we have been promised, enter into a zone where we give it all up and it doesn't really matter anymore. Some of us who have been smart enough to get terrible mid-term marks have already reached that point, and can be spotted wandering around campus with a sad, sweet, serene smile.

I jest, of course. It has been a lot of fun, despite much of the above being true.

Meanwhile, a few new things have cropped up that have taken up most of our mindspace. On top of the list, of course, is CP. While we are many miles away from mastering business skills, most of us have already acquired a PhD or two in the field of communication. This while attempting to figure out the best way to catch the professor's attention. It is not uncommon to find students, especially those in the last row, perform swedish exercises in class, waving and convoluting their arms about in a manner that would make most Yoga experts proud. Morse codes, neon lights, weird face masks have been discussed. All this typically ends with you being finally picked on....for exactly the one question you don't know the answer to. In fact, a twitter page is up which features the choicest of Arbit CP snippets from class (www.twitter.com/arbitcppolice).

The other interesting activity that just concluded was the GSB Presidential elections. Now, observing elections in a B-school is interesting. The corporate, sophisticated world of business school education is a completely different personality type compared to the murky, dirty world of politics. It is like watching a 55-year old rocket scientist being pulled in to dance at a Bollywood party. Those who have been anywhere in the sphere of DU elections can relate to what I am trying to say. People whisper about regionalism and politics with the tone and coyness of a Page 3 socialite discussing rural marketing. All said, though, a free, fair and very well conducted election happened, and we now have a promising President in Atma Shivalanka. Of course, all the presidential candidates have been ‘promising’ in that that’s all they have been doing for the past week or so – make promises.

The social responsibility circuit has been pretty active, with the students organizing the tenth one day voluntary blood donation camp in collaboration with the Red Cross Society, Hyderabad. The turnout was impressive, and here's a round of applause to Mohit Mittal and Sidharth Malhotra, the student organisers of the event.

Sreeram Ramachandran, Class of 2011