Life at one of the most coveted management institutes in the country is of course hectic with lengthy lectures and late night projects, but one should come with an open mind because he will have the freedom to do whatever he likes, says Mohana T Rajan (2011-13), a second year student at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. “The classes for second year students depend on their electives, as the curriculum during this year mostly consists of electives. However, we do get a lot of time in between classes as the first class starts at 8 am and the last lecture of the day continues till 7:30 pm,” said Mohana.
Students tend to complete their daily chores in between these gaps. In fact, some even try to catch up with some sleep as generally they remain awake till 3 am. Evenings are generally active when students come back from their classes and engage in leisure activities such as playing basket ball prior to working on projects with their respective groups.
Sports are an important part of life at IIM-B. “We have several sports events. IIMB and IIMK sports competition will take place on September 16-17. There is also a sports event exclusively for IIM-A, IIM-B and IIM-C. It will be hosted by IIM-Calcutta in January next.
Working till the wee hours forces them to embrace Athikas or late night urge for a bite. The night mess runs till 2 am. The other eateries include Amul, Park & Eat and Java Green Coffee outlets that remain open till 4 am in the morning.
Besides, studies and project work, students engage themselves in various activities that help them cut stress levels. “On the eve of Janmashtami, we arranged a matkiphod competition. We do organise small events related to various festivals. Special dishes are prepared in the mess on such days,” she said.
IIM-B is organising a street play on the eve of the Independence Day. It is an initiative of the Dramatics Club. Students here manage to find ways to pursue various things that may interest them. There are 34 student clubs which cater to various needs of students.
There are other activities which make life at IIM Bangalore a great learning experience through fun-filled activities. Several inter-college competitions like Eximius, the entrepreneurship fest of IIM-B, are organised annually. Eximius is one of the three big events held on the campus, the other two being Vista (which happens in October and is India’s largest business fest) and Unmaad (the cultural fest which happens in January and is one of the largest B-school cultural fests).
Life for first year students seems to be very different. They have their classes only till lunch hours. According to Mohana, they get more spare time. However, Ritesh Agarwal, one of the first year students (2012-14), differs. There is hardly any leisure time for first year students even as they finish their classes by afternoon, he said. “There are so many clubs and each of us has to be part of at least two clubs and after the classes are over we need to work on several event-related activities. Generally, the events take place during the evening and the preparation and group meetings take place after 12 am and continue till 3 am”, he said.
The saving grace, according to Ritesh, is the eating joints inside the campus. “While menu in all the eateries are more or less similar, egg paratha is one of the most popular items, reveals Ritesh.
In the second year, student exchange programs take place. Close to 100 students come to the campus every year and similarly there are students who leave the campus to go abroad. So, the composition of the batch does change during that time.
In IIM-Bangalore, hostel life does not get much prominence as students do not get time to spend inside rooms. Apart from hectic works related to clubs and events, they wait eagerly for weekly section parties to unwind.
Students like Mohana, who have successfully spent an year in the campus, sound upbeat about the life inside IIM Bangalore and feels that there are pressures to perform but at the same time as long one take things with a pinch of salt and do not come with a pre-conceived notion about landing up with a cushy job, life is fun at IIM-B.
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