The Morning Bell and the College Day

The day generally starts at 6:30 AM. It is difficult to get out of the cozy embrace of the blanket and take a hot shower. The morning begins with the hustle and bustle which includes getting ready for the classes and running down from your accommodation as you manage your hot breakfast while the horn of the bus crisply starts your day. A nap in the bus can give your red eyes the much-needed rest. But a quick revision of the upcoming case study will help you perform well.

Typically, every day the classroom activities begin at 9:15 AM and end at 4 PM which include 4 interactions of 1 hour 15 minutes each. There is an hour-long recess in between, which is required to cool down your brain.

The Pinkish Evening and Behind the Scenes

The return journey to hostel is quite pleasant with eyes longing for sweet slumber. The bus soon enters the hostel premises and the smell of evening tea and complimentary snacks attract the students to the mess like buzzing bees. The hot beverage and chowmein is just the beginning of a trailing tiresome evening to follow.

It's almost 5:30 PM in the evening when everyone is in their respective rooms. The real work for the day begins here. There are 4 interactions to prepare for the next day.

The reason why sessions are called interactions and not lectures is that students and faculties prepare equally well for the forthcoming subjects and to participate continuously in interactions, you need to work for around 2 hours per subject which include tedious note making, followed by assignments and preparations for surprise quizzes.

This is the real work; that nobady sees. This is where an IIM differs from other B-schools. Here which teaches us how to manage it. You never realize where that 8 hour sleep vanished and you start taking 10-15 minute naps whenever possible to compensate for them. That 4 hour sleep myth that IIMs are well known for is partly true.

What about the Virus?

In the first week at IIM-Amritsar everyone was extremely formal with professors but little did we realize that over a period of 2 trimesters we would have had so many interactions in and out of classrooms with a lot of Professors that we would cherish them as life-long mentors.

Virus? Well they are more like an Antivirus- they kill the doubts and remove insecurities from your systems and even the strictest of Professors are so warm when you approach them and put in some effort to walk into their cabins.

Nights at IIM-Amritsar

Even around 10 PM, apart from everyday class preparations, there are a lot of group activities and projects that have to be simultaneously worked upon. To make sure that we have a hands-on experience with a lot of diverse personalities, we are usually not allowed to form our own groups. The groups are formed by the PGP office and often you end up working on projects that challenge your own friends in the end term presentations.

You must have heard a lot about surprise quizzes, interactions and group projects; these activities are quite common in almost all the IIMs. But what sets IIM-Amritsar apart is that it is run by committees and interest groups. We strive day in and day out to bring out events and competitions for students and that keeps us on our toes.

Well, every day is exhausting, yet not so always. We do enjoy Halloween, Diwali, Placements Parties, visits to Golden Temple, having interesting classes where Professors share their experiences, we get chances to interact with the CEOs and CFOs in Conclaves, get live exciting projects to work upon that create a difference in society and what not.

I still remember one of the most interesting lines by my senior mentor, “Every day here is hard, it will be interesting and it will be exhaustive but one thing is assured that even with dry red eyes and all the hustle and bustle, it is never going to be boring.” Every day here prepares you for something great.