ISB - A new place, a new world. 421 strangers, 356 days. This place would change my life, they had told me. And how I didn’t know then. I first drove into this campus on 13th April 2007. Didn’t know a soul. Was never a part of any Mumbai pre-ISB meets, so didn’t know my then to-be batch mates. Wasn’t fortunate enough to have anybody from my undergrad college joining me here.
One year is too short to transform someone, I thought. 8 months down and I can say I’ve been proved wrong.
What is a B-school without seniors on campus, I wondered. Now I know how this place doesn’t necessarily need that; with the alums pitching in every time you need em.
In more than 1 ways this campus has managed to challenge, if not change many of my perceptions. So while I look back now, I think about those numerous moments from the past 8 months, that have been etched clearly in my mind, those memories that I will cherish forever. The friends that I have made, the friends that I couldn’t make, the Profs that I salute to, the classes I would rather miss ;) the sleepless nights, the morning 8 am submissions, sleeping after breakfast, waking up to have dinner, the midnight snacks, the all exclusive booze parties, the poolside maggi, the spicy gossip sessions, the irony of being tagged as a Delhi-ite by Mumbai people and a Mumbai-ite by the Dilliwallas :-)
If I were to put my experience in one word, I would say constantly ‘Exploring’; it’s about exploring yourself, stretching yourself, knowing your strengths, your limitations, being able to take in stride things you never thought you could do and truly going beyond what you though (not so) do-able.
It’s been a party all the way for some, an ordeal for others, brought vacation for few, and ‘losin-it-all’ for others; But surely a challenge for all of us, that has given us the strength and confidence of being able to handle all that comes our way; And probably that’s been the most important thing. Now there is no such thing as ‘fatigue’, and no such thing as ‘being limited by time’ and when that happens, there is no looking back :-)
So Cheers! Let the party continue …
