05/11/2015

05/11/2015; 05:44:

I think I’ve been procrastinating writing this blogpost forever now! It’s actually been over a week (it's a different month, even!) since I last got around to writing and I haven’t even been that busy. Ah, well, I’ve always been a strong believer in ‘better late than never’ and my belief is only stronger now!

26th began with 5 classes; it was hard getting used to class again, after the endless excitement of the fest. We had a session on Negotiation, in the OB class- we were paired up, each member of the pair was given a role sheet with some information on it- one of each pair was either a buyer or seller for a plot of land- some information was common while some was confidential. We were then asked to negotiate a deal- it was an interesting exercise. The negotiation I engaged in ended in 7 seconds flat. I asked the ‘seller’ if he had a price to offer, he made what I considered to be a fair offer- exactly half-way between both our BATNA’s (Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement) and I accepted immediately. Some other pairs kept haggling, but only one pair ended up with a ‘No Deal’. The exercise was interesting- some buyers outright cheated their sellers while some sellers made unbelievable profits.
Our Marketing Class for the day was cancelled, for unbeknownst reasons. We then had an OB Quiz at 5 p.m. It was a simple, MCQ quiz based on our understanding of the classroom discussions.
Some ambling around later, we ended up in the night mess- it was one typical day here at IIM-Indore- classes, a quiz and food in the night mess.

Tuesday began well, with a finance class where we were to decided whether or not it makes sense to give out an additional loan to an auto parts manufacturer. Two marketing classes ( one that was already on schedule and a second that was carried forward from being cancelled the previous day) followed where we discussed the importance of customer satisfaction. Our marketing teacher now has a favourite student, courtesy his disagreement with every second point raised in these two classes.
Our OB class was spent discussing motivation and leadership styles. The case in hand dealt with two very different basketball coaches- one a strong believer in discipline and the other who treated his team like family- both were effective in their own way. We were asked to recall times when we had been motivated/ we had motivated others. Ultimately the effectiveness of a coach depends on your own learning style.
Some food and sleep later, I headed to SR-16, the IPM girls' hostel to get résumé iteration done before the deadline set by the IPM social committee. We then had a media Comm meeting, the main agenda of which was to tell the junior team to pull up their socks and get working on some new ideas. Meanwhile, the biggest problem confronting one of our members is the distribution of mice (I'm guessing the plural is still mice, even for the computer ones)- there's a free mouse to everyone who's gotten a year long subscription of a particular magazine and he seems unable to track down all the relevant people.
On 28th October i.e. Wednesday, we were to go on a second visit to our allocated industry. Our group had agreed (by way of democratic voting despite our leader's other interests) to work on the HR project the company had to offer. We got to the venue by 11:30 and discussed our choice of project with their boss. The other group who's been assigned the same company decided after much deliberation to work on a operations project. The guys at the company have rather high expectations of us- they strongly believe that 8 visits will not be nearly enough to do justice to the projects we've undertaken- I really hope we live up to these expectations!
After our confabulation, the HR project seemed like a perfect choice- the company has only just added an HR department and any contribution will be a positive step. We then had lunch, a discussion with the HR head and put in requests for some data relevant to the project before our bus arrived and we decided to head back to campus.
En route, we picked up hot jalebis ( mostly since I'd gotten jalebis into everyone's heads on the morning ride, talking on and on about the staple Indore ( or well, M.P.) breakfast of poha-jalebi).
We were back on campus around 5 p.m. Once the sun was down, we took a long walk around campus, ending up at the Meximus setup where we got nachos and some laughs courtesy a friend doing a really bad job of eating a burrito.
There was a Bengali feast set to begin at 8:30 p.m., courtesy the Bengali community on campus and the (Durga Puja) festive season. After an endless wait (wherein I'd convinced myself and everyone around me that the food was most definitely over), we were finally eating, close to 10 p.m. The food was delicious- I don't really like fish most of the time, but, the fish was awesome! I think it's time I learnt some Bengali-style cooking!
29th morning began with a bunch of classes just as it’s supposed to be. There was a surprise in store, for the OB class. There was a case that was to be a ‘role-play’ but, we were in no way prepared for what was coming our way! A toy manufacturer had been blamed for 2 child deaths resulting from swallowing of small parts- a board room meeting was in progress with all the important people (role playing, by our classmates). As they discussed whether to change the product, do a complete recall or just do nothing, an angry mob stormed into the classroom, with loud cries of ‘Hai Hai Chamanlal, down with Asian Toys’. Sobbing mothers, angry media and concerned activists made up most of the crowd. It looked like the real deal; the angry mob later turned out to be a bunch of management students from the Acropolis Institute nearby. They did a marvellous job of scaring the company management into rethinking their decisions. In one of the sections, shirts were torn even, in the midst of an escalated argument!

After this unexpected excitement, we had a MacroEconomics quiz to write. The quiz was fairly simple, MCQ type. We headed for a walk around campus, somewhere at around 7 p.m. A bunch of ‘watch towers’ were installed along the boundary of the campus, some time ago. They’re now functional and unlocked. We just had to climb up and explore! We picked one close to the new cricket ground and slowly made our way up the winding staircase- the view was nice, the cool winter evening breeze was better!
There was then some pending résumé iteration to be done, so I headed straight to SR-16, later going up to the mess to catch up with people. We then indulged in our last favourite pass time, which involves ‘eating a dear friend’s head’- not literally though, but, it’s good fun (mostly because he doesn’t seem to mind either!)

Just as we were heading back to the hostel a little after 11, I spotted a bunch of people with a basketball and they seemed to be heading in the direction of the basketball court. Of course, I had to join them! Nothing is more fun than 2 hours of midnight basketball!

We didn’t have a lot of classes on Friday i.e. 30th October. We spent two WAC classes talking about a case that dealt with Greenpeace taking on FaceBook- for FaceBook had decided to set up data centres that would not be environmental-friendly enough. Greenpeace’s weapon of choice? A social media campaign driven on FaceBook!
We were then sitting around in my room, in the evening when someone called asking for a basketball; soon enough we were on the court- the growing interest in basketball is a good sign; one can only hope that it is here to stay! After a good game, we walked out Gate-2 to get some good chicken and walked back in record time to get back at exactly 10:30 p.m.!



Saturday morning began with a Marketing Class where we had a rather unusual case at hand- a company wanted to begin manufacturing and marketing eye lenses for chicken!
I have no idea how everyone (the professor included) managed to not make a single reference to the oddity of the product, through the entire discussion.
After lunch, at 2 p.m., there was an event on campus, in view of Utsaha- the Rural Marketing Fest. Class 12 students of the Government School at Manpur, in Janpav Kutti were invited to join the MBA 1st year students for a whole afternoon of activities. A session on ‘Career Counselling: New Ideas’ was held for the students. IIM-Indore Faculty, Prof.Sushanta Kumar Mishra of the OB Department and Prof. Shweta Kushal of the Communications department spoke to the students about the importance of having a goal in life and working towards that goal. Ideas emphasised included the need for self-confidence, having belief in oneself and one’s family and friends are essential to succeed in life. The children were quick to understand that money alone does not equate to success. Peace of mind, helping everyone around you, and being happy in life are much more valuable than material wealth. The children shared their dreams, many want to be doctors and contribute to society. The faculty emphasised the importance of diverse career options- a country cannot function with only doctors and engineers; musicians and artists are necessary too.
Following this, there was an informal interaction with the MBA 1st year students where college and life stories were swapped. Just as this informal interaction was beginning, refreshments arrived- hot samosas. I suggested that everyone eat and we then get back to where we were. No one seemed to understand the problem with letting the samosas get cold. I struck up a conversation with a group of girls sitting in the first row and let them know that the samosas were getting cold. While 2 of them were called on to participate in the first ice-breaker activity that involved introductions, one of them and me snuck out, ate piping hot samosas and were back inside before anyone even realised that we were gone. That done, I headed down to my room to file a press release for the event.
Some refreshments for everyone else and a campus tour that I missed brought the event to a delightful close. The Umeed team is a new addition to Utsaha this year. They plan to undertake social welfare and engagement activities in the village, in the run up to the event; this event was part of the same.
We headed out later in the evening, since Saturday calls for good food i.e. Subway sandwiches. We picked up some bedsheets for a friend while we were out; the best part was leaving them behind in the cab we took back to campus- I’m still in the process of trying to retrieve them- hope that works out well.

The new month began on a Sunday which somehow wasn’t spent sleeping until evening- I was up at 11:30 a.m. We ate lots of fruits and then contemplated ordering some pasta for lunch but eventually decided against it, for no one felt like eating cold food.
Then of course, it was Globe@I to the rescue. Mess 2 has decided to put off cooking any food until the PGP2’s who’ve gone off for their Himalayan Outbound Program (a week-long holiday up in the mountains!) are back.
After all the food, I fell asleep at 8, perhaps planning to be up again by around midnight. But, just like it always is with sleep & me (we’re very happy together, thank you) I was up only at 8 the next morning, right in time for class. Waking up exactly when you should be, without an alarm clock is a wonderful feeling, and having slept for 12 hours in the run up to it leaves for words to be added to the English language.
A wonderful Monday morning, with a few classes before lunch. The last class, right before lunch was WAC where we read through and discussed a case involving a soon-to-graduate Business Administration student who needed to pick between two jobs. It was a very relatable case, for most of the class. We were then informed that we would be writing out a detailed WAC report on the case, post lunch. We made our way to our assigned classrooms for the ‘exam’ which began at 2 and went on until 5 p.m.
By 3 p.m., I was at JAM, eating a chicken sandwich. Here, I met the new IPM Media Committee Coordinator, who handed me a copy of the ‘IPM Oracle’. It’s a new initiative- an IPM newsletter! And, it makes for a very interesting read- a roundup of the events and the gossip on campus!
Recently, I’ve discovered a newly begun business venture in Indore. They’re called ‘LalApple.com’ and they deliver fresh fruits and vegetables right to your doorstep! The fruit-seller on campus doesn’t always have all the fruits & veggies I’m looking for, so, this is perfect! I think I’ve been ordering from them everyday since I discovered them, sometime in the last week of October.
We ate delicious butter chicken at a newly opened restaurant close to campus for dinner. I helped a friend with some OM concepts and in return I was introduced to a nice song! I’ve been listening to it on repeat, for 3 days now! That’s just how I ‘do’ music!

All of Tuesday i.e. 3rd November was spent sleeping save for a single Marketing class at 8:45 a.m.
We spent the evening mostly eating- sandwiches, since Royal Sandwich was on campus, then rolls at Globe@I and even lemonade at Mess2.
We then ambled around, got tea and headed back to the hostel. At 1 a.m., I proceeded to walk around campus and get some more tea- the OB midterm the next day was an open-book one so there was definitely no studying to be done.

I fell asleep somewhere after sunrise and was up at 9, just in time for the paper. The paper was interesting- we had to use three of four lenses- Team Design, Team Identification, Leadership and Trust among team members to analyse what could have been done differently in the given case.
Right after the paper, I slept for 7 hours straight, getting up somewhere in the evening, to eat my freshly-delivered fruits and some fried rice.

That's one long blog post! That's probably what happens when you put off writing for so long! And this, when the three days of IRIS had their own post! I should probably get some sleep, there's a MAC quiz in the morning, soon!