When nights started turning into day!

Its been two months now, at helL. After a brief and hectic episode of projects, assignments, case studies, committee tasks, life is a lot peaceful during the mid term examinations, except for the one day battings going on. Mid terms have been an eye opener in a way, revealing that I should let go of burning the midnight oil and start studying from day one. The word "Day one" is making me a bit nervous but I desperately need to get used to studying at least in regular intervals.

After the preparatory classes for two weeks, where there was badminton, TT, Gym, squash and even pool ( anything if the court is free) and of course, classes, there was official induction scheduled for three days. All the seniors, as though looking for a chance to have some fun, were waiting for our induction process to begin. And there it was, on the evening of first day of official induction, an announcement that all the fachchas should assemble in class rooms at 10PM, in formals. I was a little excited than scared, and was imagining lots of fun. But it was very formal with lots of deadlines, presentations, formals, classes, even exams.

I will never forget the presentation session, where our ppts were completely morphed. Words like "instant shit" in place of "instant hit" were great pieces of fun and we struggled to control our laughter. It was a really innovative comedy and we wondered how they could act so serious even without a smile. Nights were becoming longer and longer, day after day. And now, hostel interaction after induction. It was fun though, to be awake till sunrise and sleep for two hours and rush for official induction. Amazingly, we had more number of deadlines during those 4 days, (for assignments, submissions, presentations, cases), than the total number we had till date, during the actual classes!

Finally the induction (both official and unofficial) has come to an end with the insti party. There was a batch meet before the party to announce that the entire induction was a hoax and was intended to get us used to the rigor. One of our seniors asked what is the one occasion when the entire campus rejoices, to which his answer was arrival of first years. With those words, the entire room was filled with applause and we will never forget that moment. Suddenly there was a wonderful feeling in the class, especially among the fachchas and all the seniors seemed very close. Had a great party after that, where IIML's own band, 3.4 performed, and lots of songs, dance and fun.

We had overtures of all the committees, the next day. I was amazed by the innovation and hard work of the students. There was a committee for every damn thing I can dream of! Clubs like Abhivyakti, Bhavishya, Quizzing commoners, Random walk, 3.4 were doing a wonderful job by not only entertaining students but also setting up a stage to perform. I was amazed by the amount of work put in by committees like Placecom, Alcom, Oculus, E Cell, Mess, Synapse, Disha for common benefit of all the students. Then of course Manfest, Index, Prism, Media etc who does a great job by their respective events.

Classes started the next day, little more seriously this time with assignments, quizzes, presentations submissions almost every other day. The level of commitment shown by the faculty, one of the best in India, is amazing. To take away all the stress of the classwork there were many events organised by students themselves. "Atonement" by team Abhivyakti was my first play and the way every character was portrayed was simply awesome. The main challenge in a 10 minute scene would be to ignore the crowd, flashing cameras, applaud, and other noise. All these were overcome with ease, My hats off to the Atonement team. Then there was Parichay, where all the fachchas rocked. It was fun when all the seniors were shouting "ek do theen char, bandh karo ye atyachaar", "Simon Go back" and many other funny lines to dominate the junior's performance. I remember one of my friends shouting that it is due to inferiority complex :-) :-). The Mime at the end, which was about a farmer and his problems, got a standing ovation and it surely deserved it.

Committee tasks have become a more or less a part of pre-mid term course for a few. Then came the CV reviews. It was another eye opener as I never would have known that CV is the most important one page I'll ever write at IIM L and I never would have been able to make my CV the way it is now. There is learning every where from the hostel parties where, there is more open interaction after a lot of booze to the all the gyan taught in the classes. And there are the competitions, almost in every other field, to give you a feel of the application part.

The last week before mid terms had been the busiest week in campus. From quizzes to presentations to project submissions to committee final reviews. After all the activity and exams, we had a great Insti party to sign off the pre-mid term. As though indicated by a very peaceful Sunday morning that calm comes before storm the post-mid term, which started this week, has even more activity, with lots of projects, assignments, inter hostel games in the nights, CV work etc.

With a very little difference between night and day, Life goes on at helL..

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