I attended the IIM-L Fresher's meet this saturday (27th May). They had arranged it at Maurya Sheraton Hotel - inviting PGP1 (that would be us), PGP2 (whoever was in Delhi) and Alumni.
The atmosphere was formal for an hour or so - waiters circulating amongst the small groups cheese pakora and murg tikkas; Each senior giving fundaa (called GLOBE in IIM lingo) to each small gathering of facchas. This was supposed to be the prime time for networking, for 'getting to know' seniors. I don't think many of us tried that. When we ran of the silly questions, we moved on from the lounge to the main hall.
Some of the favourite silly questions were "Is there a mess in the campus ?"; "Do you have to study a lot ?" ; "Do I need to bring a bike/vehicle ?" ; "Is CGPA important ?" Most of these could be answered by a diplomat's favourite phrase - "it depends."
It would be naive' to attribute what happened next to alcohol. It can be blamed on something even more potent - 'tradition'.
After the alumni and popular PGP2's (the kind that get a woo-hoo ! ALL the time) were done with their speeches, one of the seniors went up to the mike and said, "Those freshers that are not dressed in formals assemble in front of the stage." That's when I was hit by an overwhelming feeling of deja-vu....
It was exact replica of a college fresher's night - We gave our intros ; Some sang songs ; Some sang cute nursery rhymes ; We danced silly steps for the lovely cameras ; Lined up for the lovely seniors. Soon, we were free to do what we wanted. Of course then we all danced for quite a while. It was great fun - except for the Himesh Reshamiya numbers !
At 10.30pm I encountered the most complex situation of the evening - the dinner. Should I eat the food I know or the dishes that I haven't ever tried or pronounced ? I did the latter and had a serving of weird fish, weird mediterranian vegetables, spectacular lasagnia, khichdi risotto and some dal-roti to satisfy my stomach. Then I stood and gaped at the dozen variety of salads. Since I couldn't choose, I tried all of them. I had of course planned ahead and had left substantial space for dessert. Did I like it ? Lets just say I had more than one helping of the pastries :)
A few energetic beings went back to the dance floor. The rest of us tacitly decided to exit the venue. I made a last visit to the Maurya Sheraton loo (who knows when I'll get to pee there again !) and then safely drove back home.
The atmosphere was formal for an hour or so - waiters circulating amongst the small groups cheese pakora and murg tikkas; Each senior giving fundaa (called GLOBE in IIM lingo) to each small gathering of facchas. This was supposed to be the prime time for networking, for 'getting to know' seniors. I don't think many of us tried that. When we ran of the silly questions, we moved on from the lounge to the main hall.
Some of the favourite silly questions were "Is there a mess in the campus ?"; "Do you have to study a lot ?" ; "Do I need to bring a bike/vehicle ?" ; "Is CGPA important ?" Most of these could be answered by a diplomat's favourite phrase - "it depends."
It would be naive' to attribute what happened next to alcohol. It can be blamed on something even more potent - 'tradition'.
After the alumni and popular PGP2's (the kind that get a woo-hoo ! ALL the time) were done with their speeches, one of the seniors went up to the mike and said, "Those freshers that are not dressed in formals assemble in front of the stage." That's when I was hit by an overwhelming feeling of deja-vu....
It was exact replica of a college fresher's night - We gave our intros ; Some sang songs ; Some sang cute nursery rhymes ; We danced silly steps for the lovely cameras ; Lined up for the lovely seniors. Soon, we were free to do what we wanted. Of course then we all danced for quite a while. It was great fun - except for the Himesh Reshamiya numbers !
At 10.30pm I encountered the most complex situation of the evening - the dinner. Should I eat the food I know or the dishes that I haven't ever tried or pronounced ? I did the latter and had a serving of weird fish, weird mediterranian vegetables, spectacular lasagnia, khichdi risotto and some dal-roti to satisfy my stomach. Then I stood and gaped at the dozen variety of salads. Since I couldn't choose, I tried all of them. I had of course planned ahead and had left substantial space for dessert. Did I like it ? Lets just say I had more than one helping of the pastries :)
A few energetic beings went back to the dance floor. The rest of us tacitly decided to exit the venue. I made a last visit to the Maurya Sheraton loo (who knows when I'll get to pee there again !) and then safely drove back home.
Awaiting more IIM globe [;)]
ReplyDeleteCheers!
Oye Hoye!!!
ReplyDeleteis CGPA important?
ReplyDeletea fine account of the iiml meet..i attended the one in chennai..the booze flowed and we danced late into the night..
ReplyDelete