Well so finally I visited the fabled campus of IIM L. Honestly, these are one of those few institutes which become more like a legend in there own ways especially, when we talk about in a context, where education coupled with a brand is considered dynamite.
Well so finally on Sunday the journey started preceded by wheather which suddenly turned foggy resulting in a four hour delay of my train which just further constrained my already constrained time schedule. Anyways, so after enquiring from few people for the distance of IIM L from my hotel, ( The distance varied from 15 - 25 kms depending on whom you asked) I finally took an auto which honestly asked me a very fair amount but the Delhi wallah in me
said " How can auto wallah be honest Bargain for a reduced price" anyways I took an auto.
The interesting part was almost everyone I met in Lucknow (Autowallahs/shopkeepers) semed to know about the institute.
It wasnt just another B School it truly is IIM L. So finally after driving roughly for 14 kms we reached the IIM Lucknow. On the way I have to tell auto wallah twice " Bhaiya I
am a poor man and if you are planing to kidnap me we won't be able to pay the ransom " ( Honestly the campus is in a far off place) Anyways so here I enter and the first thing I noticed( In absence of a better word) was a charming face who very clearly was not from IIM
L but the chivalrous character in me went to her and asked " Where are the main events for Manfest going on" which actually kind of boom-ranged because I was wearing an IIM L sweat shirt and she looked at me in a way that reminded me of 1091. ( She missed reading the Noida campus part)
The second thought that struck me was " Its a campus or a jogging track" so much of greenery and plants all around you that I literally thought have I reached the right place. But then I realized I am inside IIM L not a concrete jungle.Infact there are peacocks and peahens in substantial number.
The moment you enter the campus you will realize that its not only green, its huge. So I decided to walk and try to deal with the suddenly overwhelming feeling of Awe. So after walking for close to 10 minutes I reached the PGP area where the manfest was going on. It was actually the third and the last day. With differnet B type events like "The next CEO", simulations excersises etc going on. However, the first thing that came to my mind was the sharp contrast between similar festivals in Delhi univ and at IIM L. Here everyone meant business , a no nonsense appraoch. There wasnt a scene that would require crowd control issue but almost everybody I interacted seemed focussed on winning or knowing what they want to do. Anyways, partly because of time constraint and partly because of the fact that I was alone I decided just to be an audience and not the participant in any of the competitions. There seemed to be a substantial industry participation with almost every competition having one or the other sponsor like Sahara/Cognizant/TATA to name a few.
Honestly after visiting the campus for a fraction of second I felt jealous of the people who are studying in such a campus where you can play hide and seek with nature for hours without anyone running out of places, but then I realized its IIM the place with one of the toughest entry criterias.
As they say picture speaks a thousand words, you can find some of the pics at the following location: http://picasaweb.google.com/tanayanand/IIMLucknowMain_Campus#
Well so finally on Sunday the journey started preceded by wheather which suddenly turned foggy resulting in a four hour delay of my train which just further constrained my already constrained time schedule. Anyways, so after enquiring from few people for the distance of IIM L from my hotel, ( The distance varied from 15 - 25 kms depending on whom you asked) I finally took an auto which honestly asked me a very fair amount but the Delhi wallah in me
said " How can auto wallah be honest Bargain for a reduced price" anyways I took an auto.
The interesting part was almost everyone I met in Lucknow (Autowallahs/shopkeepers) semed to know about the institute.
It wasnt just another B School it truly is IIM L. So finally after driving roughly for 14 kms we reached the IIM Lucknow. On the way I have to tell auto wallah twice " Bhaiya I
am a poor man and if you are planing to kidnap me we won't be able to pay the ransom " ( Honestly the campus is in a far off place) Anyways so here I enter and the first thing I noticed( In absence of a better word) was a charming face who very clearly was not from IIM
L but the chivalrous character in me went to her and asked " Where are the main events for Manfest going on" which actually kind of boom-ranged because I was wearing an IIM L sweat shirt and she looked at me in a way that reminded me of 1091. ( She missed reading the Noida campus part)
The second thought that struck me was " Its a campus or a jogging track" so much of greenery and plants all around you that I literally thought have I reached the right place. But then I realized I am inside IIM L not a concrete jungle.Infact there are peacocks and peahens in substantial number.
The moment you enter the campus you will realize that its not only green, its huge. So I decided to walk and try to deal with the suddenly overwhelming feeling of Awe. So after walking for close to 10 minutes I reached the PGP area where the manfest was going on. It was actually the third and the last day. With differnet B type events like "The next CEO", simulations excersises etc going on. However, the first thing that came to my mind was the sharp contrast between similar festivals in Delhi univ and at IIM L. Here everyone meant business , a no nonsense appraoch. There wasnt a scene that would require crowd control issue but almost everybody I interacted seemed focussed on winning or knowing what they want to do. Anyways, partly because of time constraint and partly because of the fact that I was alone I decided just to be an audience and not the participant in any of the competitions. There seemed to be a substantial industry participation with almost every competition having one or the other sponsor like Sahara/Cognizant/TATA to name a few.
Honestly after visiting the campus for a fraction of second I felt jealous of the people who are studying in such a campus where you can play hide and seek with nature for hours without anyone running out of places, but then I realized its IIM the place with one of the toughest entry criterias.
As they say picture speaks a thousand words, you can find some of the pics at the following location: http://picasaweb.google.com/tanayanand/IIMLucknowMain_Campus#
4 comments:
He Tanay,
No doubts, going through your lucid writing made me feel I am also there in Lucknow with you.
On second thoughts, I feel you have choosen wrong profession..You should be a author or a photographer..Keep going. It's never late to start something good.
Randhir
Tanay,
Great writing.
Anindya
Good to know that some one is seriously trying to do "Brand building".. atleast we(i.e Noida Campus) made the attendence there if not participated.. that itself is a big deal.
Manish
Great man...Hats off to your spirit... Seeing your writing has inspired me to start my personal blog... Keep going...
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