I wake up from the hug of my bed, looking at the lush green hills of the Western Ghats kissing the snow white clouds, when the beautiful birds singing in their own language of love, while the tiny Rain drops kissing the Earth giving the Karaoke for the birds. Mesmerized by the beauty, standing in my room’s balcony, I am kissed by the chill breeze that gives warmth to my heart. Aww what a place it is!!!!!

A typical day at IIM-K starts after the sunrise and ends just before the sunrise. The day starts in Spring then people have breakfast in Rainy, lunch in Summer, the classes in diverse atmospheric conditions and finally we lie down in winter.. hahaa.. That’s IIMK’s weather DIVERSITY for you!!!

At IIMK, I even started admiring the Fauna. Sometimes I intentionally stop and stare at the beautiful hands that pamper the Black Cat, that looks at me more seriously than my Father, but this one is not the only Professor Minerva McGonagall at the campus, they have a troop. I also pretend that I love dogs when some beautiful hands coddle them.. I believe you understood why I started admiring Fauna!!

The students don’t let the academic blocks sleep. Thanks to the lights that burn whole night and give warmth to the tiny insects which eventually bites at wrong places. But the beautiful FIREFLIES roam unnoticed and thats good for them too, otherwise they would have been loved and taken care inside glass jars in someone’s hostel room.

Jaise ki ek din bacha baap ban jata hain, bahu ek din saas ban jati hi, the same way juniors ek din seniors ban jaate hain. They are busy with their own stuff but still Seniors take out time to “INTERACT” with juniors for first few days and then they really “interact” with juniors and tell their experiences and give valuable advice as to how to get the best out of year one. And probably the network with seniors is one of the most valuable intangible asset.

Then comes the SECTION WARS!! To all those people who wants to learn Hindi, its the best time. You learn all the words, slogans, sledging, etc, etc.,, even the English to Hindi translation in Google can’t give you. And people who already are pundits in this Hindi become poets and writes slogans in perfect rhyming!!

Life @ IIMK is full of surprises, surprise tests, surprise quizzes, surprise events and surprise peers. You spend some days chilling out with some guys and suddenly you come to know that the other guy is holding patents or has some Guinness record or is a world champion in some event or game and that make you feel more shitty..

Life @ IIMK teaches to accept and ride through the CHANGE.. I wanted to do MBA but changed to PGP, I wanted to go to IIM Kozhikode but came to IIM Ko’ikode, ladies and gentlemen changed to bandha and bandhi, launda and laundi, prefixes and suffixes change from some good words to BC, BSDK, GD, etc.,

Amidst all the confusion, overwhelming, Hype, uncertainties, everyone here eventually finds their future business partners for entrepreneurs , life partners for singles and crime partners for all the weird stuff ..

Overall Life @ IIMK is a count down..

9 – Kategory of core courses

8 – Kins (Sections)

7 – Kourses in term

6 – Kinetic terms

5 – Klasses a day

4 – Kozy sleeping hours

3 – Koffees

2 – Klosing tired eyes

1 – Kommon goal – IIM Kozhikode!!!!!

-Hari Krishna, IIM Kozhikode PGP Batch of 2021

The past few weeks at IIM-K have been nothing short of a roller coaster ride in the most literal sense of the word. For most of us being accepted as a PGP aspirant at this prestigious Institution has been nothing short of a dream come true. As is the case with all people who have been through this stage, we were filled with anxiety and to a certain extent some precariousness. As we descended upon this picturesque city, we were filled with hopes and dreams. There is a latent temerity which manifests itself whenever we as humans come to terms with a profound sense of personal achievement. And that is precisely what happened as we navigated through the ethereal landscape and made our way into the labyrinth of roads and passages of IIM-K.

Once there, most of us were mesmerised by the sheer paucity of certain attributes which we have come to associate with modern cities such as air pollution, noise pollution, lack of greenery etc. That’s the moment when “God’s Own Campus” was able to live up to its name in our minds. The fact that contributed most to this was the tireless effort put in by the institute to coexist with nature in a sustainable manner. The Institute is a firm believer in sustainable development. It is evident by the innovative implementation of rainwater harvesting techniques in the campus. The fact that the campus is able to meet almost all of its water requirements from this single eco friendly source is a testament to the commitment that the institute has towards preserving our natural heritage. Additional measures such as no plastic policy and proper waste classification only further strengthens this assertion.

The commitment of the institute towards promoting diversity in the batch and going to the extent of having supernumerary seats for women is something to take note of. Having diversity in any business or academic setting leads to a synergistic effect which helps the group in delivering more well-rounded and thoughtful results as compared to a homogenous group. Moreover, on a personal level this infusion of cultures and backgrounds helps us in developing ourselves as an individual. All of us took the opportunity to know about each other during the first few days of our stay. Although there was an emotion of assurance when we came across a person who came from a similar background, but that emotion changed to fortuitous epiphany whenever we came across a person who could not have been less similar. 

As we got accustomed to our hostels and mess, we were quite mesmerised by the unbounding compassion and concern the Chettas and Chechis had for us. One of the most pertinent concerns that we have while going far away from home is related to food and accommodation. But we did realise in a few days as to why they were referred to as elder brother and sister. They are Family. Moreover, the campus is designed in a manner such that it promotes a healthy lifestyle. The incessant flight of stairs right from L1 Hostel to the Academic Block looked daunting at first and gave our calves and glutes a hard time. But we eventually got accustomed to it in no time.

During our Orientation week, we got the opportunity to enter that coveted classroom which hitherto was a figment of our imagination. To see that concoction in reality was a surreal moment for many of us. We were amazed at the sheer amount of ideas that could come out of our group during a case presentation as a result of minor nudging done by the professor here and there. At that moment we realise the veracity of the statement made time and time again that the professor is just a facilitator in class. But it also helped us understand and appreciate the importance of this method of deliberation. Perfecting the art of dealing with a case will certainly be one of the key focus areas for majority of us.

Since, it is a student driven campus, most of the activities were organised by the student run bodies such as the Student’s Council. These included certain mentorship sessions which were quite rigorous in their delivery. But, in the hindsight we do feel that it is imperative that we take a pragmatic view of things and come to terms with the harsh realities of the business world rather than concocting an unrealistic view of the same and facing disappointment later. They acted as our mentors and guides on every step of the way and were our first point of contact in the times of need. It was only when we were eventually divided into sections and started preparing for section wars that we realised how indispensable the inputs provided by our seniors really are. 

And how can this write up be complete without mentioning the guest speakers, lecturers and illustrious alumni from diverse fields who shared their key industry insight in addition to their inspirational stories. It was interesting to hear about their key motivations and aspirations which eventually made them work towards their goal and achieve success. The same narrative was channelled by our Director, who shared his vision for Management education in India going forward. One of the key messages that he stressed upon was the importance of Learning, Unlearning and Relearning which is central to the idea of adaptability that one is required to have in this era of rapid advances and change. The fact that he used Arjuna as the embodiment of Continuous and Active learning made us all relate to it in a better manner. The statue at the entrance of the institute reinvigorates this very notion in our minds on a daily basis. 

The Journey so far may have been a fraction of what is yet to come but having embraced the unforgiving rigour of the first few weeks, we know what we are up against.

We will certainly take the challenges head on.

-Samad Alam, Class of 2021 at IIM Kozhikode

“There’s a lady who’s sure all that glitters is gold

And she’s buying a stairway to heaven.”

It was 3 in the morning when these words from Robert Plant were echoing in the room while I was contemplating about a perfect schedule to help me manage my workload and also get enough time to sleep. In the course of performing the usual ritual of checking my social media handles before sleep, I stumbled upon a new assignment with a deadline of 9 AM. That moment, all my sleep disappeared and here I was, working with full rigour and determination on a subject alien to me. The next four hours went sifting through the information that I had gathered and trying to come up with a plausible answer for every question. Wait! Let me start from the beginning.

The journey of Delhi metro can be quite uneventful unless it is transformed by a sudden good news that you have waited for all through the year. The moment I got news of me getting into IIM Kozhikode, emotions were ready to flow and I felt like hugging every stranger and painting the town red. The next few hours went in endless calls thanking my family members, especially my mom and friends who had supported me in times of need.

The feeling of entering the gates of such a prestigious institute for the first time is comparable to none and dopamine was in its full force generating feelings of excitement in me. The sight of such rich flora at IIM Kozhikode was enough to amaze my soul, which otherwise was used to the endless traffic and fast paced life of a metropolitan city. It took me a while to absorb the serenity and greenery of this beautiful campus. Thanks to this place, I now have more frequent Snapchat stories. Amidst all this, I somehow forgot about the type of rigour I was about to face for which the IIMs are known for. All I could think at the moment was the thrill of staying in a campus which could give any resort a run for its money. But, is studying at an IIM really that scary?

The first day went about meeting more than 100 folks like me, trying to remember their names and being humbled by their achievements. The kind of hospitality that I received from everyone right from our hostel warden to mess employees was so warm that I started to feel that we are a big family. I was made aware that nobody at IIM Kozhikode hostels locks their room and this has been a culture in this institute which is carried by the students voluntarily for more than 2 decades. Would you find a better way that teaches students to develop trust in each other? A trait that is so vital for success of any team and yet possessed by few. The same goes true for the industry talks by the distinguished alumni of our college, that we attended. It was a great experience witnessing these stalwarts giving us life lessons, compelling us to think what we really desire. Is it success, money, fame or bagging offers in dream companies? The lady in Robert’s song had acquired a lot of wealth hoping that it would help her get a stairway to heaven only to realize in the end that all her wealth had no meaning. Aren’t a lot of us like that lady in our interpretation to success when we start calculating everything in materialistic terms and give less importance to morals. Even before the commencement of our regular classes, I realized that working conditions in any organisation are far more important for employees’ wellbeing and greater productivity than we usually think; we still need to do a lot more than we are presently doing to create equal opportunities for females at every juncture, and the real success is making a difference in others’ lives rather than our own. I could broaden my horizon of thinking, thanks to the learning that I received at this place and this has all happened in a span of a week. There is no doubt that I will hardly get time to have a sound sleep here, but who needs a sound sleep when there is so much to do and an opportunity to learn something interesting every day.

To sum it all, life at IIM Kozhikode is unique in its own sense that you’re woken by the melodious chirping of birds instead of an alarm, get friends who treat you like family instead of a competitor, experience a pedagogy that not only focuses on academics but equally on ethics, and above all; you get to live at one of the most scenic places of this planet. Feeling blessed to be a part of God’s own kampus and hoping the whispering winds are kind to me.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

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