This an except from an article to be published in Business world Mega B school Guide this Feb end....thought will post it because..well generally :)

In the blink of an eye, in a flash of lightening, in a thousand tears and a zillion smiles…………you are an MBA.

And the blinks, flashes, tears and smiles have each a story of their own. That is what makes Xavier Institute of Management an unforgetful experience.

When you do realise that what you are experiencing is par excellence, as an adept MBA you start taking stock of what is good and what rocks. The sprawling 20 acre campus, world class faculty, the innumerable JLT’s (That is what parties here are called), the rigorous academic schedule, the mughlai of the night mess, the caffeine shots and beyond, you really don’t know what to blame for your elevated existence.

I don’t know if 1000 words can do justice to memories of a lifetime. To reminisce is a daunting task…….the onus of categorizing moments and slotting experiences is an unfair one yet I take up this gauntlet by writing a memoir , not to revisit the past but to acknowledge all that was. My two years have seemed to revolve around assignments, presentations, quizzes, projects, CEO talks and sporadic getaways. But the ensemble transcends it all
Xavier experience resembles a kaleidoscope. It is a diversity of something or piecing together the parts of a symbolic puzzle- your life.

It is difficult where to start. It could be the academic block- the sanctum sanctorum which bears testimony to the grueling academic schedule or the boys’ hostel the walls of which have witnessed and eavesdropped on all my life’s stories.

A typical day in XIM is hard to describe. The academic rigor of the institute is well known. However the scores of classes are as trite as the Sun rising. One hardly seems to notice them. What makes our day is the much desired but occasional lecture cancellations. What makes our day is the quick run to x-café for a bite.

If you bump into a South Indian with an Oriya accent talking French, don’t be surprised. We ximbians have an affinity for languages. Some happen by default (my credentials include Oriya and Tamil) while some by design (German, French to name a few).

We proudly rave about the hard-wired campus, with a full-featured Academic Information System, on the fibre optic LAN. I don’t know if it is a boon or a bane. It does sound cool, such immaculate connectivity, who can complain about that? But when you come back from a sumptuous dinner all ready to hit the bed and then there is a notice on the virtual notice board regarding managerial computing assignment submission in the night or an announcement of a Marketing quiz early morning you really wonder if IT is overrated in this country. You love it, you hate it, but you can’t ignore it.

The XIM community is a small one as compared to some institutes in the country. Its one family. However if you want to descry the stark ends of this family then Xpressions and Maxinations are two events you must witness.

Xpressions-the lambency of which will always glow in my heart as the embodiment of faith, unity and victory is the annual b-school festival of XIM It is 5 days of absolute bindaas fun. The institute is agog with excitement. It’s a carnival with studies duly taking a back seat. The whole XIM junta joins hand to deliver the best to the best in the country. Xpressions is a mélange of presentations, rock show, choreography, quizzes et al which each one seems to savour.
Maxinations is a euphemistic term for war in XIM. Its 4 days of block wars. With each block eying to win the coveted Maxination trophy. Its about product launches, stingy budgets, media planning, recall, awareness…..the 4 days test all your marketing, finance, operational skills. Nobody sleeps during this time, I found it hard to believe when I came to the campus. But today I can vouch for it. The competition is so tough that every minute dissipated is every mark lost.

And carefully interspersed among the classes, presentations, Xpressions, maxinations, xuberance are the tequila shots. Shots of a quick trip to the Puri beach, shots of JLT’s, shots of festival celebrations, shots of food festivals( the Rajasthani happens to be my favourite), shots of basketball matches. Shots which duly live up to the semantics of “motley” and keep our adrenaline pumping.

The famous U2 song “where the streets have no name” aptly describes XIM. There are no specific paths to follow. We make choices, take decisions and humbly receive the consequences. The ambit of our decisions and choices range from trite to profound. Whether it is the decision to form a group, to choose a specialization, to choose a job it’s our call. When you do get in the habit of making your life, the feeling is unparallel.

As my term end approaches I know I have to go and face the “Wild World”. Sometimes I am plagued with the question that whether I am prepared to dive in the deep. The answer is that one can never be prepared for such things. There is always more that you can do. But I am confident that I am ready for it. Whether I trot, canter or gallop is a different issue.

One of the biggest learning’s that I take with me is that my life is a matter of choice and not circumstances. It’s a call I make.
I decide that “I shall not die today”.