[RupKr]

They say live life king size,they say live life on ur own terms but after coming to IRMA I say Live life with a difference.......

Even when I am trying to be accustomed to the fact that that I have finally joined this unique institute, the influence of the ambiance and the motto is working on me...I can feel it the least I can say!!

One of the most striking thing that anyone would come across here is the humility of the ppl whether he is a gate keeper or the chairman of the institute they are so polite in their conduct.

This is unique in a lot of ways...I mean which institutes send their students to the villages to stay there for a week during induction programme..where they are supposed to live in one of the houses and share the same accomodation as their hosts...this experience is again enhanced during 2 months stay in a village anywhere in India after the first term.

But again the institute doesn't lose its charm of a b-school in the humility it presents...there is ample time for every thing from studies to sports..
just four hous of lectures nad then u r on ur own aprat from he Quizes and seminars in the afternoon ofcourse.
And saturday grindes...dance till u drop ....even though it hasn't catched up fully till now with PRM 30 but the essence is really enthrilling...

And the diversity of the profile of the students ..its owesome..man..there hardly any profession which is missing here..
The campus its so beautiful..and that adds to the charms..lush green..u can see ppl going on morning walks ,jogging...evening stroll is the best remedy to cool ur heads after a hectic day..go to gym or play anything...bottomline is do whatever u like there is no stopping...

and after dinner chat in front of Mess is a must ...we have different unofficial clus like the Insomniacs et al

Here hey call us participant as they want us to be partners in their motto.

It has been less tha 3 weeks into the programme but looks like we have been a part of it since long..

can only say that looking forward to 2 most happening years of my life..
RoCk Onnnnn!!!!

[nitinpai87]

IRMA as a institute is shrouded in mystery. It never markets itself to aspirants and its participants are conspicuous by their absence in B school forums. We never had a life@IRMA thread. But the only constant is change and we finally have a LIFE@IRMA thread.
Its been a month since i have been here.One week of remedials, 2 weeks of induction and one week of regular classes.
As rupesh bhai mentioned the village visit, it is indeed a very unique point about our induction. I was staying in a village called moti koral in a dharamshala.The room i was staying in was 300 meters form the beautiful Narmada. COming from a city as chaotic as Mumbai, the serene and calm environment was a refreshing change.
Interactions with landless labourers, rich landlords who owned land worth crores of rupees, watching use of biometric machines to provide financial services to the poorest of poor was a great learning experience. What we read in papers was being expereinced hands on.
The regular classes have been stimulating. THe unique point of IRMA is that it merges two apparently different strands of development studies and management science which provides a holistic view of the environment.
For example in economics we study how to maximisr profit and in the next class of Rural society and polity we look at naxal movements, dalit movements, agrarian crisis and read and quote MArx extensively.
Managerial Analysis and communication is aimed at making us critical thinkers. One careless word or jargon used and the profs rip you apart.
Guess this will do for now. Will try to update this thread as often as I can.
Cheers!!!

[mistakenguy]

I absolutely agree with pai . The entire thing is aimed at changing you as a person . The fact that you have 110 + people from different backgrounds living in close quarters is something that you might not get at many other b schools .
For example , today i had an ache in my shoulder and the first thing that I did was searching for karan , who is a physiotherapist . Though the majority is made up of engineers like me and agricultural grads , we also have some vets , 2 dentists , a person who was an SI in CISF for 5 yrs , dairy technologists ,history grads , bcom , BA , Ba in chinese language , MA in sociology , fashion technologists , management undergrads etc etc .
If you look at the work experience of the people , we have some people from IT , 2-3 ppl who have come from the coaching industry like me , people like keshav bhai who have worked in NGOs , people who had their own NGOs , freshers , etc etc . The duration varies from 1 yr to around 15 yrs .
It is the education that I'm getting from these people that is value most in this campus .

The village stay was a unique experience in itself . Though a lot of the time was invested in quality sleep , we also were able to understand the rural livelihood from an insiders point of view . And I understand that many of the stuff that we learn here will be understood better if we crosslink it to the fieldwork .

The faculty is world class . Though the ac in the classroom induces sleep , I really enjoy the classes . And you get the maximum benefit if you actually indulge in some prereading as suggested by the faculty . I've compared the benefits with and without prereading .
We just had our first quizzes in economics and financial accounting and one more coming up on thursday ( Rural society and polity ). This means that you cannot expect to see anyone out in the lawns for the next 2 days . Even I have got bored of the empty lawns that I've come back to my room which I call my store room cos I rarely come here . Most of my studies also happen in the lawns .

I guess that's all for now . Will come up with more posts in the following days .

We Care H- block

[nitinpai87]

Just back from the elections to the various committees run by students. It is surprising to know that for a batch for 110 we have 33 seats up for grabs.
And yours truly still doesnt feature in any committee.
Rupesh bhai has got himself into the placom committee.
And mistaknguy aka insomniac aka abhijith has become the alumni secretary. COnsidering the strong alumni network that IRMA boasts of he sure will have a great time.
Cheers!!!

[mistakenguy]

Thanks to all the support you guys provided me . Feeling elated at being in such a valuable position . And pai ! You can be assured that I'll do justice to the post ..

Will come back after some time to give a report for the past 2-3 days .

[RupKr]

Nitin,

U rightly said that probability of gettin elected as a comm member is more than .30 and again there wasn't any fight for the place com.

But ya the exercise...was a nice experience.... and all said n done...at the end of the day everybody has to put his/her efforts be in any comm or not.

So cheers to the way we all call it the IRMANS....!!!

[mistakenguy]

All the guys are busy burying their noses in their economics books cos there is a quiz scheduled tomorrow . Yours truly , as always , is planning to do something about it in the night . Many people are also busy with FAC especially after the first quiz results disaster .

Weather Update : It rained moderately for sometime today . Hope to have more rain . The temperature has also come down a bit making the daytime a little bit better .

Will be back with updates soon . Gotta leave for dinner after sometime . Today is non veg day and you have to be among the first few people to get it .

Cheers

[nitinpai87]

The heat is being felt and hence the absence on this thread. As the recreation room was filled up on sunday night with chants of Roger and Roddick filling the air, the economics test on monday and the non-preparation of it due to the epic match dawned on us on monday morning. The day got worse as a Quant quiz was announced. So monday afternoons were spent in attempting to solve ridiculously tricky questions of eco and quant. THe pleasure on the Prof's face loooking at our puzzled faces while attempting the paper was evident.
The highlight of the day was a talk given by Shri V Vivekanandad who is the first batch passout of IRMA and worked at SIFFS for three decades which included a stint as its CEO and now is an advisor to SIFFS and many national and international organisations involved in the fisheries sector. His vignettes were amusing and inspiring.
The best part of listening to IRMA alumni is the fact that these people have done unique things in their lives and are very frank and honest about life after IRMA.
As I type this sitting in the Ravi J Mathai library surrounded by Managerial Economics books, I realise that I am in a unique institution and time and again it reaffirms my belief in IRMA as a premier institute in the country.
And now back to estimating the optimal production using Cobb-DOuglas multiplicative production function
Ciao

[mistakenguy]

Had quiz 1 in Individual and Group Behavior today . I had an intuition that we would have a quiz in IGB today . But still I went without much of preparation . As expected , I got an F . First F in IRMA . Hope not to repeat this .
In 45 minutes , we have a session by our classmates to help people who are finding problems in Financial Accounting . A very noble gesture by some of our classmates .
Time to go back to Organisational Behavior by Nelson and Quick ..

[nitinpai87]

Abhijeet has opened his account at IRMA..... I think by tomorrow I will join that list too. Given my business management background I am not attending the accounting primer classes given to techies.Abhijeet and Rupesh (not sure) are slogging it in the library basement.!!! And cognitive dissonance has set in as far as I am concerned!!!