Another phase in my life is coming to an end. Two years at NMIMS, Mumbai, doing my MBA. Looking back now, it has been a happy two years. Of course there have been good and bad times. When I first came here, I was disappointed- with a lot of things. My college lacked in a lot of things. But it also gave us a lot, which one sees only when the college days come to an end.
I shall try to talk about my most pleasant and unpleasant moments here. My first year here was difficult. I was initially disappointed with the college and hostel infrastructure. I also had difficulty adjusting to the food and the climate. Also, the people were different. I was interacting with north Indians after a long time and it takes some time to adjust. Added to this, I fell sick quite often- probably not adjusting to the Roti & Dal diet after a long time. The most difficult aspect for me at NMIMS was interacting with North Indians. It sounds kind of silly, but after these 2 years, I strongly feel that I am much more comfortable with south Indians around me. Of course I’ve had a few good friends from Northern and Western India (not least my room mates). But, in general, I’ve found it much easier to build a rapport with South Indians. It probably because of the obvious difference in personality between north and south Indians. This difference is kind of accentuated in girls. That probably why I never was comfortable with girls at NM. The matters were made worse by the fact that there was not a single Chennai girl in my batch L.
When I look back, the most enjoyable times of my life have been the three years in Chilka, the final semester in engineering and the 2nd year at NM. Being in Mumbai and away from any relatives, I got introduced to some of the materialistic vices in life- and I don’t regret it at all. The 1st year freshers party, the nights in Asiad and Harish were really enjoyable. The daaru parties in hostel were rocking too! The freedom that I got after the repressive atmosphere in my engineering college was very refreshing. It helped me feel mature and grow up. Most important was probably meeting some good people who will be my friends for a long time..
The last two years have been a break from life- from responsibilities, work, routine, etc. I have cherished these years for that. So many new experiences, new lessons and new friends have made these years worthwhile. I have truly enjoyed these years. The experience of doing MBA from NMIMS is truly unique. It is different from any other b school in the country. The spirit of NMIMS is unique and special and I am proud of being a part of it.
Note: Most of this article was written during my last days at NM. Some part has been added more recently.
Showing posts with label Life in B School. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Life in B School. Show all posts
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Friday, February 09, 2007
Back to Cognizant!
The placement season is over and I am glad to announce that I have been placed. I will be going back to my old employer, Cognizant Technology Solutions. I will hopefully be put in the banking vertical and be located in Chennai. Thus ends the great quest of a job at the end of a MBA course. Well, the course is not over yet…but for all practical purposes, it has now lost its importance in our eyes. The placement week itself was more stressful than I had imagined. I thought I was very calm and composed and confident. But just one rejection shook me up and I realized how vulnerable I was to failure. I am forced to follow some protocols here which do not allow me to disclose which company I am talking about. This company came to campus about a week before the official placement week that started on 30th Jan. And it wasn’t just me who was disappointed. Scores of others who were rejected were also dejected and depressed. I hadn’t imagined the kind of gloom and negativism that set in throughout the campus as companies started their pre processes and shortlists started coming in. We MBAs are supposed to be a self confident lot. But a lot of that is actually pretension. Placement season makes even the most self confident soul feel humble about himself.
By the time 30th Jan arrived, I had regained my old self confidence. I knew that confidence, calmness and composure were the key to get through placements. And with the amount of preparations I had put in over the past few months, I knew that I could not rely on my knowledge- coz I don’t have much of it. So confidence and composure was very crucial. Thankfully things ended well and I ended up in the IT sector as I had wanted to. The interview itself was very cool. I had never expected it to be that way. The subject on which my knowledge was tested most was Formula One racing! I couldn’t have asked for a simpler interview. Anyway, I guess I got placed at the right moment. At around 7 pm people who were yet to be placed started getting anxious. Some cried- especially girls. The tension was explicitly palpable. I stuck around till my other room mate was placed. Then I quietly got down and took a drag and went back to the hostel.
By the end of the day, less than 20% of the batch was remaining to be placed. These guys were placed the next day. The placecom guys did a really commendable job. The first year students who handled the show were extremely good at their task and kept the inevitable confusions to minimum. The quality of the companies coming to campus was not compromised even till the last moment. Unlike the previous years there were no ‘bulk recruiters’ that took candidates in droves. Yet everyone got placed very fast. When placements ended, around 40 odd companies were yet to come! This speaks of two things- the marvelous effort of the placecom guys in convincing so many companies to come to campus, and the present crazy demand for MBA students from institutes like NMIMS by corporates. I guess the official placement statistics are not out yet. But the average salary this time will be substantially higher than last time’s figure. A look at the salary figures in top b schools over the past 5-6 years will give a mind boggling picture. Wage inflation is running up like crazy. It will have to stop at some point. At least the party hasn’t ended until I entered the dance floor!
Well, that was placements @ NMIMS for you. Now that it is all over, life is boring. But I am glad that I got most of what I wanted from placements. I am back at home now. I have a pleasant feeling going around in my head now which I would like to call- peaceful relaxation…
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Another competition, another experience
Last weekend I had gone to a b school in Mumbai, NITIE for their annual inter b school event, Prerana My team was shortlisted for an event called B Sultans. Since B Sultans constituted of many sub events spanning 3 days, we had gone there prepared to stay there for the three days.
The NITIE campus was really amazing and beautiful. It had lots of greenery and was surrounded by 2 lakes. The students of NITIE are indeed lucky. The event itself was very exhausting with lots of games involved. One of the games required us to go to the streets of Mumbai and sell toys worth 2500 rupees. It was a real challenge. The final event was a presentation of a paper we had written on offshore outsourcing. We learnt a lot while preparing for the paper. The events as a whole were interesting. Although we did not win any prizes, I think we all gained something from it.
This is the second competition I ve been part of. The first one being IIM Indore. It will be unfair to compare the two institutions. But both my exoeriences have been pleasant. I was unable to watch Euphoria when they performed in Indore, but as luck would have it, the same group performed in NITIE during Prerana. So I had the opportunity to watch this famous group's performance.
Thanks to my roommate Arjun's initiative I participated in this competition. It was definitely three days well spent. Lot of good food, fresh air and indeed good learnings.
The NITIE campus was really amazing and beautiful. It had lots of greenery and was surrounded by 2 lakes. The students of NITIE are indeed lucky. The event itself was very exhausting with lots of games involved. One of the games required us to go to the streets of Mumbai and sell toys worth 2500 rupees. It was a real challenge. The final event was a presentation of a paper we had written on offshore outsourcing. We learnt a lot while preparing for the paper. The events as a whole were interesting. Although we did not win any prizes, I think we all gained something from it.
This is the second competition I ve been part of. The first one being IIM Indore. It will be unfair to compare the two institutions. But both my exoeriences have been pleasant. I was unable to watch Euphoria when they performed in Indore, but as luck would have it, the same group performed in NITIE during Prerana. So I had the opportunity to watch this famous group's performance.
Thanks to my roommate Arjun's initiative I participated in this competition. It was definitely three days well spent. Lot of good food, fresh air and indeed good learnings.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
How life comes a full circle
As a b school student often does, I often think about my future. What kind of job would I like to land in… Which is my dream company… Which sector would I like to work in, etc… And like most b school students, I am clueless. The only thing I am sure of is that my job should pay me well, shouldn’t be too taxing and also give me ‘job satisfaction’. Economics students may call this the unholy/ impossible trinity. But hey, I am human and I have the power of hope and imagination :)
Recently I was chatting with a good friend of mine. During the course of our conversation I said that right now I am looking at IT companies for my final placement. He reminded me that we had a conversation on the same topic about a year and a half back. At that time I had told him that I came to do a MBA because I wanted to get out of the IT sector in which I was previously employed. At that time I had wanted to end up in anything but the IT sector. How ridiculous isn’t it… Human mind is so fickle! What I didn’t want to do 15 months back is precisely what I want to do now! Life has come a full circle so soon!
If I look back at the reason I gave for disliking the IT sector one and a half years back, it sounds so stupid. And if you were to ask me the reason I prefer the IT sector now, I would probably not tell you. Because, sometimes the reasoning sounds stupid even to me. See, the problem is that I do not have a clear cut preference for anything. I do not have any area of interest so to say. I do not have a passion for any particular thing. Probably that is why I am not clear as to what my aim should be. Once I chatted with my dad about this. He said that it is good this way. One must always be open to anything. I think his point of view is that it is not important what job you get into. What is important is how well you do the job. Well I think he is justified in thinking that way. After all, considering his family situation 40 years back, he would’ve been happy with any job he could get. But I do think that there is a lot of truth in what he says. I think most people in this world end up in jobs they did not want to do. But not all of them are unhappy. And not everyone who gets into a job of his choice is happy with his job. One must learn to develop a liking to what one is doing. That is how one can be successful. I think to some extent I prescribe to this idea. During group projects in my MBA, many times we have to divide the work among ourselves. When the work is being divided I am not very particular about what part I get. That is because I tend to think that whatever part I get there is always scope to do a good job at it and impress people.
A few weeks back I had a conversation with Madhan, a good friend of mine who is working for a software company. He is doing very well in his job. He got top marks in his appraisals and is always cheerful. I told him that he seems to be very happy with his job and that he is very lucky to be in a job he loves. He said that rather than getting into a job he loved, he got into the job first and then developed a liking to the job so that he can enjoy his work. I think that is a very mature attitude and a very good approach to life. This kind of attitude is not only applicable in work life but more importantly in personal and family life too.
I hope I gain this kind of maturity soon. I know that I have the capability to do well professionally. With the right attitude I will hopefully live life the right way and enjoy it!
Recently I was chatting with a good friend of mine. During the course of our conversation I said that right now I am looking at IT companies for my final placement. He reminded me that we had a conversation on the same topic about a year and a half back. At that time I had told him that I came to do a MBA because I wanted to get out of the IT sector in which I was previously employed. At that time I had wanted to end up in anything but the IT sector. How ridiculous isn’t it… Human mind is so fickle! What I didn’t want to do 15 months back is precisely what I want to do now! Life has come a full circle so soon!
If I look back at the reason I gave for disliking the IT sector one and a half years back, it sounds so stupid. And if you were to ask me the reason I prefer the IT sector now, I would probably not tell you. Because, sometimes the reasoning sounds stupid even to me. See, the problem is that I do not have a clear cut preference for anything. I do not have any area of interest so to say. I do not have a passion for any particular thing. Probably that is why I am not clear as to what my aim should be. Once I chatted with my dad about this. He said that it is good this way. One must always be open to anything. I think his point of view is that it is not important what job you get into. What is important is how well you do the job. Well I think he is justified in thinking that way. After all, considering his family situation 40 years back, he would’ve been happy with any job he could get. But I do think that there is a lot of truth in what he says. I think most people in this world end up in jobs they did not want to do. But not all of them are unhappy. And not everyone who gets into a job of his choice is happy with his job. One must learn to develop a liking to what one is doing. That is how one can be successful. I think to some extent I prescribe to this idea. During group projects in my MBA, many times we have to divide the work among ourselves. When the work is being divided I am not very particular about what part I get. That is because I tend to think that whatever part I get there is always scope to do a good job at it and impress people.
A few weeks back I had a conversation with Madhan, a good friend of mine who is working for a software company. He is doing very well in his job. He got top marks in his appraisals and is always cheerful. I told him that he seems to be very happy with his job and that he is very lucky to be in a job he loves. He said that rather than getting into a job he loved, he got into the job first and then developed a liking to the job so that he can enjoy his work. I think that is a very mature attitude and a very good approach to life. This kind of attitude is not only applicable in work life but more importantly in personal and family life too.
I hope I gain this kind of maturity soon. I know that I have the capability to do well professionally. With the right attitude I will hopefully live life the right way and enjoy it!
Monday, July 03, 2006
Half a manager??...Naah...
It’s a start of a new academic year for me. After spending a week relaxing at home in Chennai I came to Mumbai today morning. I was greeted by a wet and drenched city as the monsoon has well and truly set in. It was a complete contrast to the dry spell I had experienced in Chennai. Luckily the local train was not crowded and we reached the hostel soon. Although we had to walk through ankle deep water before reaching the gate, it was better than what I had expected. Just one week into the monsoon and the approach ‘road’ to the hostel already looks like shit. Wonder what’s gonna happen in the months of rain to come.
It is sometimes hard to believe that I’ve completed half my MBA course. If this means that I’ve already gained half the amount of knowledge I will gain from this course then I am in deep trouble. But being a sensible person that I am, I know that I will be putting in more dedicated effort this time. I have to…because there is only 6 more months left before placements begin, and by then I must’ve learnt enough to fool my prospective employers that I know more than what I actually do! Well, I was kidding (partly). The fact that half my course is over has made some seriousness dawn on me. I realise that the next one year is the best time for me to learn about a lot of stuff.
My academics in the past year have been pathetic to say the least. My grades suck. And I cannot claim that “grades are not representative of my knowledge/capability”. Because I’ve hardly learnt anything. I am gonna specialise in finance and I don’t even know financial ratios. Gosh…I am sometimes confused between assets and liabilities! Well…at least I’ve realised the seriousness of the situation and I know, now is the time to buck up. And buck up I will!
What else did I do apart from academics…I participated in a lot of competitions, both inside the college and in inter b school competitions. I managed to get selected for the final rounds for competitions in XLRI and IIM Indore. But since the dates clashed we had to skip XL. We presented a paper in Indore but failed to get any prize. But I savoured the opportunity to visit an IIM and interact with people from various institutes.
My participation in competitions reduced drastically once my health deteriorated. I always prided myself for not having suffered any major illness ever. But the pleasant environment of GR Jani hostel, in which I am honoured to be living for the past year, has been very conducive to friendly bacteria and viruses that helped me through Malaria, Rat Fever and Jaundice. The good part about this is that now I am not at all scared of another attack of malaria since I know what to expect from this illness.
One of my worst regrets has been my interaction levels with my batch mates and my seniors, which have been very limited. My interaction with girls has been extremely limited. I don’t know whether I should’ve expected this. I’ve always been shy with girls. It did not help that my engineering college had a stupid rule that did not allow opposite sexes to interact. When I joined cognizant, I was able to overcome my shyness and I interacted extremely freely with girls. But somehow, when I came here I went back into my shell when it came to interacting with girls. Maybe it has something to do with culture…its difficult to explain, but to me, there is a sea of difference between girls here and girls in Chennai. And somehow I could not come to terms with this difference. I hope in the coming year I come out of my shell and interact more freely with my fellow batch mates and my juniors.
As I look back at the past year various pictures flash in my mind. The crowded city of Mumbai, the daaru parties in the hostel, my first experience in a discotheque, ogling at the attractive girls standing in and around my college gate during the tea breaks, the lush campus of IIM Indore, my illnesses, the class presentations, sweating it out in the streets of Mumbai during the internship, the sleepless nights, the Sunday trips to Matunga for having authentic Tamil food, the longing for home, and many more…
In the coming year I hope to live life the right way. In the end I do not want to regret not having done this or that. I want to participate in competitions. I want to update myself with all kinds of knowledge. I do not want to be lazy!! I want to interact freely with people. I want to do well in academics. I want to experience life in a b school in the true spirit.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Internship starts
My internship started a few days back.The actual field work started yesterday.And I made my first sales pitch! But haven't made any sale yet though..And by the looks of it so far, there will be no sales for the next 2 months unless the company reduces the prices. Boy, its a tough job to sell something thats available from other sources free of cost!
To tell the truth, I enjoyed the day yesterday despite the fact that I had to roam around in the sun like a dog with parched throat and sweaty clothes.I had expected some bad treatment from the clients like closing the door on our faces,etc.But no such thing happened so far.All the clients treated us well and they atleast let us give a proper pitch.
For one of the clients we walked for arnd 2 kms and when we reached the address finally,we found that its his residence and not his office.Cursing our luck, we went to the office.And let me tell u, most of u (and me) could never imagine an office to be located in such a place! That too, the office of a investment planner/MF distributor. It was in a small industrial 'estate'. There were a lot of manufacturing plants, all kind s of dirty stuff was being manufactured.There was a murky looking
building with rickety stairs.A narrow corridor in the 2 nd floor. There was no flooring or paint on the walls.And of course no lighting. It looked like a scene from a Ram Gopal Varma underworld film.I wondered who the hell will have an office there..But then, there was indeed a small office there. I have no idea why anyone will have an office in such a smelly,dirty,shitty,murky place!! And that guy
is definitely not poor! He has a nice double flat for a residence. Whatever..
Today I again go out, this time to another corner of Mumbai.And I have an asshole from another institute to accompany me.Lets see how it goes..
One thing looks to be for sure.I ll probably become more considerate towards salesmen.
To tell the truth, I enjoyed the day yesterday despite the fact that I had to roam around in the sun like a dog with parched throat and sweaty clothes.I had expected some bad treatment from the clients like closing the door on our faces,etc.But no such thing happened so far.All the clients treated us well and they atleast let us give a proper pitch.
For one of the clients we walked for arnd 2 kms and when we reached the address finally,we found that its his residence and not his office.Cursing our luck, we went to the office.And let me tell u, most of u (and me) could never imagine an office to be located in such a place! That too, the office of a investment planner/MF distributor. It was in a small industrial 'estate'. There were a lot of manufacturing plants, all kind s of dirty stuff was being manufactured.There was a murky looking
building with rickety stairs.A narrow corridor in the 2 nd floor. There was no flooring or paint on the walls.And of course no lighting. It looked like a scene from a Ram Gopal Varma underworld film.I wondered who the hell will have an office there..But then, there was indeed a small office there. I have no idea why anyone will have an office in such a smelly,dirty,shitty,murky place!! And that guy
is definitely not poor! He has a nice double flat for a residence. Whatever..
Today I again go out, this time to another corner of Mumbai.And I have an asshole from another institute to accompany me.Lets see how it goes..
One thing looks to be for sure.I ll probably become more considerate towards salesmen.
Thursday, May 04, 2006
MBA Myths?
I recently got this forward from a batchmte here. Its supposedly written by a MBA student, I dont know who or from which institute.But I can tell you from my own experience that its very close to the truth.
Yesterday Term 2 ended. I am now roughly 32 per cent of an MBA. As I evaluate myself on the huge costs (opportunity and real) that I have incured over the past 6 months, I ponder on the learnings (Cudn't help it fellow ManDevIans... WAC ka bhoot utara nahi hai!!!).
1) MBA is about making shit look like hot shit.
2) The faster you understand and implement point 1 above the higher will your Grade Point Average (GPA) and hence CGPA be, and the less expectations will you have, and consequently your satisfaction will be maximised.
3) Recruiters dont give a damn to how many Balance Sheets you balanced, how many models you optimised, what strategy you proposed (for the googled project you did for an MNC which you dint even visit once), what is your understanding of human resource mgmt, what is the positioning of the crap that FMCG companies generate, your exposition on world economics,.... and I could go on.
4) B Schools pressure and academic rigour are myths.
5) People will give their left ball/boob for an extra grade and a fellow batchmate.
6) Point number five is very valid in the corporate world too.
7) Job Job Job... is the light at the end of this MBA tunnel; at least in India.
8) Management is about bullshitting with elan and quoting esoteric gurus (with keywords thrown in for effect) to fool others. Finance guys fool investors, Marketing guys fool customers, HR guys fool employees, Operations and Systems guys join the fun (and the chaos and end up fooling each other)
So in the end its a fools game. I dunno why companies come in hordes and recruit MBAs in such large numbers?? I dunno.. seriously.. hope I am proved wrong!!!
I must tell you, its a very valid question this person is asking in the end.I myself was stumped by a question asked by a friend of mine a few months ago when he was preparing for his XLRI interview.He asked, " Tell me what have you really gained from these 8 months into your MBA?" And I was like..really clueless!
Another of my batchmates offered an answer to the question in the article. He said,
"why companies come in hordes and recruit MBAs in such large numbers is : companies also wanna fool all its stakeholder,shareholders and match the fleecing capability of it's competitors in the marketplace, esp. during the carzy times as we r witnessing now.hence the mad scramble for MBAs."
Yesterday Term 2 ended. I am now roughly 32 per cent of an MBA. As I evaluate myself on the huge costs (opportunity and real) that I have incured over the past 6 months, I ponder on the learnings (Cudn't help it fellow ManDevIans... WAC ka bhoot utara nahi hai!!!).
1) MBA is about making shit look like hot shit.
2) The faster you understand and implement point 1 above the higher will your Grade Point Average (GPA) and hence CGPA be, and the less expectations will you have, and consequently your satisfaction will be maximised.
3) Recruiters dont give a damn to how many Balance Sheets you balanced, how many models you optimised, what strategy you proposed (for the googled project you did for an MNC which you dint even visit once), what is your understanding of human resource mgmt, what is the positioning of the crap that FMCG companies generate, your exposition on world economics,.... and I could go on.
4) B Schools pressure and academic rigour are myths.
5) People will give their left ball/boob for an extra grade and a fellow batchmate.
6) Point number five is very valid in the corporate world too.
7) Job Job Job... is the light at the end of this MBA tunnel; at least in India.
8) Management is about bullshitting with elan and quoting esoteric gurus (with keywords thrown in for effect) to fool others. Finance guys fool investors, Marketing guys fool customers, HR guys fool employees, Operations and Systems guys join the fun (and the chaos and end up fooling each other)
So in the end its a fools game. I dunno why companies come in hordes and recruit MBAs in such large numbers?? I dunno.. seriously.. hope I am proved wrong!!!
I must tell you, its a very valid question this person is asking in the end.I myself was stumped by a question asked by a friend of mine a few months ago when he was preparing for his XLRI interview.He asked, " Tell me what have you really gained from these 8 months into your MBA?" And I was like..really clueless!
Another of my batchmates offered an answer to the question in the article. He said,
"why companies come in hordes and recruit MBAs in such large numbers is : companies also wanna fool all its stakeholder,shareholders and match the fleecing capability of it's competitors in the marketplace, esp. during the carzy times as we r witnessing now.hence the mad scramble for MBAs."
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Got my summers!
Finally I've got a company for my summers. I'll be doing my summer internship in ICRA online. Its a big relief that I've finally managed to get selected by some company! I'll be located in Mumbai for the duration of the project.The company is launching a new product which is some kind of a series of reports about the mutual fund industry.I'll be trying to sell this product to potential customers whom I presume will be Mutual fund houses,brokerage houses,etc.There are two ways to look at this:
1. Negative-
Its a bloody salesman job.I'll be roaming all around Mumbai in the peak of the summer in crowded local trains and dusty roads.I can't even be at home in chennai during the summer.
2. Positive-
Hey, i never looked at myself as someone who could be a good marketeer or salesman.But the company thought I could be! It means that I possibly have some capabilities which i had not realised before .Roaming all around Mumbai and trying to sell to people will be a good experience.I'll get to know the city well and more importantly i would get to know people well.I may not get such a good opportunity again.I am now forced to do what I've feared and hated doing-travelling and selling. I am sure at the end of those 2 months I will be much better off.I'll be more mature and I'll be more employable.
I look at my summer internship assignment in the second way.
1. Negative-
Its a bloody salesman job.I'll be roaming all around Mumbai in the peak of the summer in crowded local trains and dusty roads.I can't even be at home in chennai during the summer.
2. Positive-
Hey, i never looked at myself as someone who could be a good marketeer or salesman.But the company thought I could be! It means that I possibly have some capabilities which i had not realised before .Roaming all around Mumbai and trying to sell to people will be a good experience.I'll get to know the city well and more importantly i would get to know people well.I may not get such a good opportunity again.I am now forced to do what I've feared and hated doing-travelling and selling. I am sure at the end of those 2 months I will be much better off.I'll be more mature and I'll be more employable.
I look at my summer internship assignment in the second way.
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
2 down, 7 to go
My 2nd trimester exams are going on right now. Two exams are over so far. Till now the indications are that my grades this time will be much better than the pathetic grades I got last time. Lets see.. Next paper is marketing. Haven’t touched Kotler since the marketing paper last trim! The exam is in the morning and am now sitting in the middle of the night, blogging. Well, big deal ! After all its marketing. Its gonna be one more session of story writing . Well, its not exactly story writing, but you don’t hav to study much for these marketing exams. It takes a little more than common sense to solve these marketing cases. And for a fin guy like me I guess its too much to ask for to study marketing throughout the trimester.
The exams get over on 4th and we have planned a trip to Goa. My room mates -Pulkit and Arjun- and I are going. We will be there for 3-4 days. Planning to have lots of fun there.. We’ve hardly had any time to enjoy since diwali. The last party I had was in IIM Indore when I had gone there for presenting my paper in IRIS, their annual inter b school competition. Its been more than a month of slogging. Hope to finish the rest of the exams well and then go and have a helluva time in Goa!
The exams get over on 4th and we have planned a trip to Goa. My room mates -Pulkit and Arjun- and I are going. We will be there for 3-4 days. Planning to have lots of fun there.. We’ve hardly had any time to enjoy since diwali. The last party I had was in IIM Indore when I had gone there for presenting my paper in IRIS, their annual inter b school competition. Its been more than a month of slogging. Hope to finish the rest of the exams well and then go and have a helluva time in Goa!
Sunday, December 11, 2005
Likes and Hates about NMIMS
Yesterday was my birthday. And I had a good time. But only just. I am currently going through a bout of malaria. Thankfully I got a good doc and the medicines are working well and I am feeling well since yesterday. So I could maintain good spirit yesterday. But for 2-3 days before that, I was feeling like shit. Thats when I once again went thru that phase of regretting my decision of joining NMIMS. Of course, when I regain my senses, I realise that it was the correct decision. But the fact remains that, NMIMS, despite being a highly reputed institute, it lacks a lot. I shall try to list out the various pluses and minuses of the institute from a student's viewpoint.
Pluses:
1. Good placement- This is the number one criteria on most students' mind while choosing a B-School, and NMIMS scores well here. Especially since it became a deemed university 3 years back, the placement record has been very good. The average package of last year was 5 lakhs which I think is pretty good considering that the batch size is 240.
2. Location- The institute is located in a prime location in Mumbai. This gives a huge locational advantage to the institute and helps in attracting a lot of guest speakers apart from helping in attracting many companies for placements. Also, for any student, staying in Mumbai for 2 years is a good learning experience.
3. Babes- If there is any Mumbaikar reading this, he might be knowing the location of NMIMS. There is a cluster of colleges in the vicinity of NMIMS and the students considerthemselves to be among the "heppest" in the country. So, one can expect a great feast for the eyes throughout the day. Now I am not saying that it is a criteria for choosing a b-school, but if you are at NMIMS u can benefit from this 'facility'.
4. Good peer group- Since last year (my batch) NMIMS removed the gujju quota for its selection process. They have a 15% management quota which is again based on your score in the selection process. (Mind you, this works out better than even the IIMs' quota for SC/ST and handicaps which creates a huge differential among the students in terms of quality). In fact, NMIMS has one of the most transparent selection processes among Indian B Schools.All this has meant that most of the students here are very good. Many of them just missed out on IIM or XL selection and almost all of them could've got into an IIM with a little bit of luck. Interacting with students of such high calibre for 2 years is a big 'value add' for any student.
5. Reputation- One of the most important assets of NMIMS is that it has a good brand name. Though it might not be well known among the public in south India, it is known to those who matter.
Minuses
Now lets have a look at the ugly side.
1. Space- It the single most obvious factor that hits at you when you first visit the institute. There is a severe lack of space. In fact there is a severe lack of most resources. The resources might be acceptable in the eyes of some, but we are talking about a premier b school here. When a student goes thru a rigorous selection process and finally gets the prize of getting a seat in a
premier b school, it is natural that he expects a good campus. It may not be as lavish as an IIM campus, but atleast some space that can give a decent environment. NMIMS hardly has a campus. The institute is built in an area that is less than 1 acre. The hostel of course cannot fit into this, so it is located outside. To make things worse, the institute has zillions of courses
running in it. part time, full time, pharma, family business, executive program, MBA tech, MBA capital markets,..the list just goes on. No one is sure exactly how many courses are run, leave alone the no. of students enrolled. And all these students have one building that has around 10-12 class rooms, 1 comp lab with around 60 comps, 1 library and a small space inside the compound where you can relax and chit chat in between classes or in the evenings.Oh, that is if you can compete against a couple of hundred others for 30 odd seats available. During certain times like exams, the open space which we call as the 'quad', gives a good resemblance of a Mumbai local. ( If you are from chennai, a better example would be the scene inside a 29 C bus at 8.30 pm). The library is very good at NMIMS (IMO). But the sheer no. of students means
that very few are properly served.
2. The pedagogy- NMIMS was under mumbai university till 2001 or 02. So most of its faculty are used to teaching its students and helping them get 'good percentage' in the board exams. The predominant pedagogy applied in NMIMS is black board and lectue based. The widely used case study based methodology used in other top b schools is not regarded favourably here. Of course there are a few exceptions among the faculty members here, but they are, well, few.This pedagogy means that there is a certain lack of rigour in the course. Of course, students here do burn the midnight lamp and no one sleeps before 1 or 2am, but one can definitely feel the lack of seriousness or rigour in the air.
The hangover from the mumbai university era has also meanr that there is a lack of discipline in the air. There is little incentive for meeting deadlines, coming to lectures on time or even coming to classes at all. IMO, strictness in all these areas would make a better manager.
3. Batch size- The batch size of 240 is huge. Except some of the IIMs, I dont think any other institute has such a huge batch size. Such a huge size means that it beocmes difficult to get all students placed with good companies and packages. Also, it is more difficult to get a bonding among the students. (of course, opinions can differ).
4. Hostel- Now this is where my malaria case comes into the picture. Now, NMIMS does not have a hostel. The MBA students of NMIMS stay in the hostel of SVKM, which is the trust that runs NMIMS among othet educational institutes. Last year the NMIMS students did not get to stay in the hostel because "it was shut for renovation". Those guys were lucky. I dont know what renovation was done though. Soon after the monsoon started this year, the roofs of many rooms started leaking. The approach road to the hostel,...well, ther is no approach road. there is
just a lot of mud and stones. And the hostel is surrounde by slums. And the food is pathetic to say the least. Prime conditions for malaria. During the monsoon, everything came. Students were down with malaria, jaundice, dengue, rat fever, and what not. many of us were paranoid during the 1st trim exams. I somehow escaped the season relatively unscathed with 'simple' throat infections and viral fevers. But it got to me
finally. Now i am lying on the bed with malaria.
To sum it up, the hostel that the NMIMS students are staying in, is a shithole. And the worst part is that the authorities know abt it and are least bothered.
OK..its a long blog eh? Anyway, that is what was in my mind. But having said everything, the bottomline is that the most important criteria for most students in choosing a b school is placements. Money matters- doesn't it?
Pluses:
1. Good placement- This is the number one criteria on most students' mind while choosing a B-School, and NMIMS scores well here. Especially since it became a deemed university 3 years back, the placement record has been very good. The average package of last year was 5 lakhs which I think is pretty good considering that the batch size is 240.
2. Location- The institute is located in a prime location in Mumbai. This gives a huge locational advantage to the institute and helps in attracting a lot of guest speakers apart from helping in attracting many companies for placements. Also, for any student, staying in Mumbai for 2 years is a good learning experience.
3. Babes- If there is any Mumbaikar reading this, he might be knowing the location of NMIMS. There is a cluster of colleges in the vicinity of NMIMS and the students considerthemselves to be among the "heppest" in the country. So, one can expect a great feast for the eyes throughout the day. Now I am not saying that it is a criteria for choosing a b-school, but if you are at NMIMS u can benefit from this 'facility'.
4. Good peer group- Since last year (my batch) NMIMS removed the gujju quota for its selection process. They have a 15% management quota which is again based on your score in the selection process. (Mind you, this works out better than even the IIMs' quota for SC/ST and handicaps which creates a huge differential among the students in terms of quality). In fact, NMIMS has one of the most transparent selection processes among Indian B Schools.All this has meant that most of the students here are very good. Many of them just missed out on IIM or XL selection and almost all of them could've got into an IIM with a little bit of luck. Interacting with students of such high calibre for 2 years is a big 'value add' for any student.
5. Reputation- One of the most important assets of NMIMS is that it has a good brand name. Though it might not be well known among the public in south India, it is known to those who matter.
Minuses
Now lets have a look at the ugly side.
1. Space- It the single most obvious factor that hits at you when you first visit the institute. There is a severe lack of space. In fact there is a severe lack of most resources. The resources might be acceptable in the eyes of some, but we are talking about a premier b school here. When a student goes thru a rigorous selection process and finally gets the prize of getting a seat in a
premier b school, it is natural that he expects a good campus. It may not be as lavish as an IIM campus, but atleast some space that can give a decent environment. NMIMS hardly has a campus. The institute is built in an area that is less than 1 acre. The hostel of course cannot fit into this, so it is located outside. To make things worse, the institute has zillions of courses
running in it. part time, full time, pharma, family business, executive program, MBA tech, MBA capital markets,..the list just goes on. No one is sure exactly how many courses are run, leave alone the no. of students enrolled. And all these students have one building that has around 10-12 class rooms, 1 comp lab with around 60 comps, 1 library and a small space inside the compound where you can relax and chit chat in between classes or in the evenings.Oh, that is if you can compete against a couple of hundred others for 30 odd seats available. During certain times like exams, the open space which we call as the 'quad', gives a good resemblance of a Mumbai local. ( If you are from chennai, a better example would be the scene inside a 29 C bus at 8.30 pm). The library is very good at NMIMS (IMO). But the sheer no. of students means
that very few are properly served.
2. The pedagogy- NMIMS was under mumbai university till 2001 or 02. So most of its faculty are used to teaching its students and helping them get 'good percentage' in the board exams. The predominant pedagogy applied in NMIMS is black board and lectue based. The widely used case study based methodology used in other top b schools is not regarded favourably here. Of course there are a few exceptions among the faculty members here, but they are, well, few.This pedagogy means that there is a certain lack of rigour in the course. Of course, students here do burn the midnight lamp and no one sleeps before 1 or 2am, but one can definitely feel the lack of seriousness or rigour in the air.
The hangover from the mumbai university era has also meanr that there is a lack of discipline in the air. There is little incentive for meeting deadlines, coming to lectures on time or even coming to classes at all. IMO, strictness in all these areas would make a better manager.
3. Batch size- The batch size of 240 is huge. Except some of the IIMs, I dont think any other institute has such a huge batch size. Such a huge size means that it beocmes difficult to get all students placed with good companies and packages. Also, it is more difficult to get a bonding among the students. (of course, opinions can differ).
4. Hostel- Now this is where my malaria case comes into the picture. Now, NMIMS does not have a hostel. The MBA students of NMIMS stay in the hostel of SVKM, which is the trust that runs NMIMS among othet educational institutes. Last year the NMIMS students did not get to stay in the hostel because "it was shut for renovation". Those guys were lucky. I dont know what renovation was done though. Soon after the monsoon started this year, the roofs of many rooms started leaking. The approach road to the hostel,...well, ther is no approach road. there is
just a lot of mud and stones. And the hostel is surrounde by slums. And the food is pathetic to say the least. Prime conditions for malaria. During the monsoon, everything came. Students were down with malaria, jaundice, dengue, rat fever, and what not. many of us were paranoid during the 1st trim exams. I somehow escaped the season relatively unscathed with 'simple' throat infections and viral fevers. But it got to me
finally. Now i am lying on the bed with malaria.
To sum it up, the hostel that the NMIMS students are staying in, is a shithole. And the worst part is that the authorities know abt it and are least bothered.
OK..its a long blog eh? Anyway, that is what was in my mind. But having said everything, the bottomline is that the most important criteria for most students in choosing a b school is placements. Money matters- doesn't it?
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