When I walked into the gates of IIM Shillong a year back, I had a dream. A dream to make the most out of these two years, get a good job, repay my loan, take up challenging tasks unlike my last IT job, rise the corporate ladder, give an interview for a leading newspaper, make my parents proud and others envious, blah blah blah.. Not sure if everyone came with the same intentions but first few weeks into campus and I could see different kinds of people, some smart - some trying to be smart, everyone trying to get noticed and survive the pressure of performance at an IIM.
A term passed by with these dreams being replaced by new ones, to have fun, make the most out of being in Shillong by discovering its natural beauty, make good friends, travel with friends to the remotest possible beauty spots in Meghalaya before leaving this place, talk to people and understand their perspective,, do things differently – no matter how weird or wrong it might look like, learn by yourself – be it in classroom or in life, blah blah blah.. Not sure if everyone saw their dreams changing but one could surely notice the desperation of getting noticed fading away!
I had walked in with dreams but had expected the least; dreams redefined but had only hoped they would come true. Now a year passed by and I am already living most of them. Explored the beauty of Shillong with insatiable hunger still burning inside – from the mystically captivating sacred grooves to the absolute divinity called Cherrapunji, from the adventurous rock climbing in Nongstein to the morning walk in the just beside Smith Village, the journey has been exhilarating. Friends? – Well, there were just 6 in F.R.I.E.N.D.S, but here we have 105, one of their kinds and each one is special (yes, like every child is special)! Friends to rely on, friends to share troubles with, friends to gossip with, friends to bitch about other friends, friends to go on treks, friends to party with, friends to celebrate birthdays with and the list goes endless, because friends are there for just everything.
Learning? – I guess my group mates would be in a better position to comment. I am not sure if they learnt from me or I learnt from them but we all definitely grew together. With one of the awesomest library present, I had a lot to learn from – I used it effectively or not is a different story (anyways we live in the hi-tech world and google has answer for everything). Understanding people and different perspectives? – I bet!!! do you even have an option here. Job? – Oh, I should be last one complaining about it. Already living the dream of many in a top class FMCG company, there is no dearth of challenges, as far as you can take them. Making parents proud? – I guess they already are and the IIM tag will suffice for the dummy community around (this is with the hope that the RG will be dropped sometime soon down the line!). Interview for a leading newspaper? – I guess that still remains a dream but yeah, you should surely have some dreams unfulfilled to motivate you to live on!
Life@IIM Shillong rocks, can’t wait to get back to it!!! :)
