Hmmmm....interesting!!!!!!!! (The week before......)

Yeh jo world hai na, isme do tarah ke log rehte hai, ek jo JCC hote hai aur ek jo JCC hona chahte hai. The past week here has seen a flurry of activities, right from the beginning of arrival of PGP2's to the jostle for being JCC (which still hasn't peaked by the ways). For the uninitiated, let me try to define the term JCC, but before that, I would like to confess that I still am to fully understand the true meaning of the term. But the adventurous soul that I am, I would give it a shot anyways!!!! ;)

From what I have heard , gathered, concluded, testified, re-testified,deliberated, the term JCC is usually used to describe a  b-school "fuccha" or rather say a "buccha" (clever....huh!!) who with stars in his eyes tries extremely hard to score some brownie points during his initial stay in a b school while also trying simultaneously to make a contribution towards the betterment of his fellow inmates as well as the institute itself by losing his hair, appetite, sleep, fat content in the process.

Welll.....enough of shitbull, as i said earlier, with the arrival of PGP2's our campus for the first time is totally hara bhara with the load of around of 500 people. You can sense the buzz around the campus now.And I must say with the promptness and ease with which they took reign really impressed me be it the functioning of canteen or some minor hostel issues.  It was truly great to see their helpfulness and active interest in matters at hand.

The week started off with the customary SAC and Placement committee GBMs. We were briefed on the rules and regulations, do's and dont's  and lots of other interesting things. That really upped the ante and every other day we had some club's presentation or various other engagements. And now all is left to wrankle your brains about the choice of clubs. atleast for the time being.

We also had the famous "Ribandar Talks" with Mr. Ashank Desai which was very informative and extremely interesting. Its quite amusing to hear to listen to "Ribandar" talks sitting here in sanquelim. Its like few of those things such as "panama hats are from ecuador not panama". Anyways I like the term "Ribandar Talks", it somehow makes me feel more connected to that old yellow building which has seen the genesis of numerous careers.

But till now it has been all good, atleast we are looking at the shape of things to come. In between all these chaos and people running for collecting club membership fee, some running to get dates for fresher's party.....yes we have to ask out a senior on a date!!!!!! People are working real hard to present something on midsummer's night. We all have already our hands full.....I am scared to think of the day when the term formally starts for us.

But untill that as they say in mozambique "world going fetching oil, you having fun" or something like that.....you get the idea!!!!!

From this year we also have a mandatory CSR course that too a three credit course, which I believe is something very unique and is an awesome concept in itself. We are in the process of listening to various NGOs and then we will have to chose one project among them. Really looking forward to it!!!!

But untill then, I still have to figure out which club to join, get hold of philip kotler and his cronies, a visit to Tito's, prepare for midsummers night, face the music at freshers night..........phew!!!!!(panting panting panting!!!!).You see, life before a b-school :"formally" starts is something which you have to take full advantage of.........and I still have a week left!!!! :) :)

P.s. we had a PDP session with our seniors in the canteen, which was super fun and very "enlightening" in every sense :)

Later,

Abhishek

the kaam before the calm!!!!!!

Its a week already since I arrived in Goa, and to confess i have already succumbed to the "vices" of Goa..... :). Explored panjim a bit, gorged buffet at the legendary haunt "fidalgo", got sloshed....sigh!!!. There are still places to explore, people to meet , soak the goan sunshine instead of getting soaked in the heavy rains!!!!!.....my schedule is already filled.....

Not to deviate from the course of action, we are already knee deep in action here at GIM. With the advent of the gruelling ( well.....at least for some people!!!!) 3 week long foundation course, things have started to fall in place a bit. Still we have enough time to explore the nearby scenic areas. The inland beauty of Goa really amazes me,compared to the beaches and all, it is hugely underrated. With the occasional  sprinkle of rain, the greenery of the place literally lightens up....

Coming back to the foundation classes, it has been fun interacting with profs and fellow batch mates alike. Some people really capture your imagination, some hijack them and in some cases you still wonder "what was that?". But I guess these are  perspectives which one needs to shift accordingly :). From the initial reactions one can gauge the fact that the faculty here is really up to their task and they know their "p's" and "q's" damn well.... I can already see my future :p

Our campus here is promoting a real novel concept of RFID cards for your every need on campus be it food ,laundry, stationary, snacks anything. Every transaction on campus is cashless transaction. So, up the hill cash doesn't work (pun intended!!). And as far as I know other than GIM none other institute can boast of such a unique facility. Of course there's a flipside, if you lose the card you are broke or the guy who finds it will make you  :) :p

The campus is still in a progressive stage but once it is complete it will be a sight to see.

Quite unusually it has not rained for over 20  hours now, its a first for me since I arrived so am not complaining.

Rain or no rain, first week here was quite eventful. Hope my cheerful tone doesn't get caught in the myriad shenanigans of the coming weeks. :) :)

Later,

Abhishek

P.s. TT is a big hit in the hostel (the only "entertainment" here)

Prologue: GIM

As I settle to write this, the rain drops tap my window incessantly and the clouds draping the mountains are slowly caressed away by the cool winds.The whole greenery and the misty mountain tops are the perfect setting for a great countryside novel. But that is not what I am here for :). Such is the beauty of this place that the moment you gaze around, you cant help but marvel at the nature's work.

 In case, you are wondering why this guy is yankering about the surroundings here at Goa Institute of Management (GIM),Goa. Its because I'm completely smitten by the beauty of this place :-).

Well, first things first, Its been two days since I arrived here in Goa or rather somewhere which somehow happens to be in Goa but its not "the Goa". Sanquelim (Saakhli, Sakhlim), had a tough time explaining to the taxi driver at the Karmali railway station that I want to reach GIM not some god forsaken Hotel management college which he was hell bent on taking me to.

So, when I finally saw the campus from down the hill, I heaved a sigh of relief. During the journey, armed with Google map (god bless amerika!!!) I had been constantly peppering the taxi wallah that whether he knew the way or not? we should go right not left!!. And as a consequence of my smart ass antics, the taxi wallah refused to give me his number, when i asked for it. A snubbing, which I richly deserved :). Lesson learnt: Never underestimate the taxi driver, even if you don't understand a word what he's saying.

It was raining elephants, sharks everything when i arrived.....after a lot of roaming around in rain and sacrificing my umbrella to the hands of gusty winds. I somehow manged to complete all the formalities and got myself a nice hostel room overlooking the mountains. By that time I was completely out of steam......met some people from the facebook group.............dumped the contents of my luggage in the cupboard....phew!!!!.

As the day came to an end, got acquainted to my roommate and few other nice people. The campus was already abuzz with construction activities and with 240 people now and 240 more to come.......i only hope there's going to be an awesome camaraderie around.

Day 2 started off with the director's speech and the faculty introduction. Mr. D'Lima, our director, introduced us formally to the "GIM". Somebody mentioned he has close to 42 years of experience, and the experience definitely showed in the wonderful way he addressed us and presented his points clearly and crisply. The faculty introduction thing passed off in a whiz. And it was time for the "tests". About which I rather not write here. :) ;)

Post lunch session was the doctor's talk.....abstinence from the vices of Goa.........proper care of your health...........antibiotics usage............ I wonder till what time i will abstain from the "vices" of Goa. A thought to ponder,indeed. :)

Forgot to write about my trip down the hill.............the adventurous soul that I am (pun literally intended!!!!) decided to look around sankhlim market a bit. My roommate Sanil, dropped me off  while on his way to panjim. With my newly purchased umbrella, I set upon exploring the place amidst heavy rains. Although being a pretty small hamlet sort of place..... I was surprised to find the place has everything you need. A hospital, physician, optician, banks, atms, general stores and even a "national bar" which for the record i didnt go to.

The adventurous streak which i mentioned earlier, I don't know how  but that streak died its slow death the moment I started climbing the hill. and by the time I was at the cafeteria scourging those puffs I was literally huffing and puffing (Shakespeare would have turned in his grave on seeing my rhythmic connotations).

Anyways, enough of my ramblings, these days have been dramatic, chaotic and everything right from the word go!!!!! Already loving it!!!!! Somehow the sense of achievement and urgency is yet to sink in and hopefully we will overcome the "stressing" and "stretching".

Till then, its time get drenched in rain again and again!!!!

Later,

Abhishek