“AT IIM-C, I LEARNT HOW TO HANDLE STRESS AND COMPETE WITH SOME REALLY TALENTED PEOPLE”

AN OPEN CULTURE OF LEARNING, BALANCING STUDY AND PLAY, KOLKATA’S RICH CULTURAL DIVERSITY, IIM-C SPARKS VIVID MEMORIES

Looking back on those 18-odd months at the Joka campus of IIM-Calcutta (IIM-C), one cannot but state a by now cliched phrase: “Those were the best days of my life.” But in this case, it is true, even today, 25 years later.

While there was a lot of academic learning, the two things I took away from my time there are: how to handle stress and pressure and how to work with and learn to compete with some really smart, talented people who would eventually be colleagues, managers and subordinates in my professional career.

The beautiful campus peppered with lakes, the hostels each with their sub-cultures, countless hours of table tennis, cricket and playing Tetris in the pre-internet era, the stress of finishing group projects on time, getting decent grades and the camaraderie of helping each other during the placement season, IIM-C left behind an entire spectrum of emotions.

I fondly remember the courses in economics, behavioural sciences and marketing and my professors, Leena Chatterjee and the late Amitava Bose, who gave valuable life lessons that I carry with me to date.

The open culture of learning, balancing study and play, the deep, lifelong friendships that one built out there and experiencing the cultural richness of Kolkata and Bengal, each one of these experiences sparks vivid memories that I look back on with a lot of satisfaction and joy. Honestly, even if I could turn the clock back, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Dhonyobad IIM-Calcutta. ■