FROM CHAOS TO ……CHAOS?

(After a sabbatical of 4 months am back with the longest post iv ever written...Hope u read it till the end.)

The days, weeks and months have flown on a whirlwind of activity. It seems like yesterday that I first stepped into a world that was so cut off from reality- Mica. Second term at Mica, as somebody warned us, was the one with the most fun! Micanvas, Sankalp, and other extra curriculars were all crammed into one term making it the one with the most sleepless nights ever recorded in pgp-1’s history! As we looked at the schedule for second term, we wondered just how we were going to get any studying done.

First up was Micanvas, our inter B-school fest that attracted participation from B-schools all over the country. 3 days of undiluted learning intermingled with the right amount of creativity and entertainment made the perfect combination. Unprecedented preparation included looking after the slightest details, and a mind boggling logistical network; pens, ids, folders, markers, beds, pillows, transport and what not! 3 days in which the best minds in the country competed with each other equipped with an undefeatable spirit. 3 whole days in which Mica rocked to the music of Parikrama and the Unlike No ones (Mica’s very own band), to the theatrics of Evam and the party thrown by Trinetra- this was replete with foot tapping music and Cold Coco! The end result: Insomnia, bloodshot eyes and a contented heart for your average Mican.

Then the Diwali break arrived, which saw most pgp-1’s heading back to their homes to spend the festival of lights with family. But not this particular group of women (me included of course!), who had the crazy idea of jetting off to Diu to spend Diwali by the Arabian Sea (almost sounds like a song ;)… So, how do most people spend their vacation at a new place? Exploring all the touristy places and sightseeing temples and old forts maybe… But not us, we went there for sleep, sand, shells and the sun…in that precise order! That is not to say that we did not enjoy ourselves, to the contrary we came back looking like Cheshire cats who had just siphoned off all the cream…*sigh*

While my mind still lay in the golden sand of Diu, my reverie was broken with endless assignments that poured in from every possible direction. Suddenly, life did not seem so beautiful, what with Economics, Ethics and other ‘E’ subjects latching on to us with a vengeance. After what seemed like some more endless-sleepless nights, we settled in to accept the vagaries of faith and the rut of a repetitive routine. However, all that was about to change.

Sankalp had started to make its presence felt. Sankalp- the annual theatrical presentation of Mica was ready to go forward on all cylinders fired. So, with the help of one of the biggest cast & crews ever, ‘Suraj Ka Saatwan Ghoda’, which was this year’s play, was born. Now our days were spent looking at Brochure, Poster, and Ticket designs, visualizing the final look and basically thinking laterally and pretending to look busy! Creatives at Sankalp was an experience far removed from anything I had ever done before. Seeing the designs in my head actually emerging in print form was just exhilarating! Those days also brought back memories of the time I spent in an ad agency quibbling with the creatives over commas and full stops. Only, I was on the other side this time and someone else was doing the quibbling (a case of coming full circle indeed!). Creatives however, was just a small part in the mega scheme of things, creatives did not make the play, it was made by the actors, the story and the direction. All of which melded together to give Ahmedabad three whole days of entertainment unlimited. It also gave us some more sleepless nights (that goes without saying I guess).

Sankalp had just gotten over when we realized that we wouldn’t be stepping out of the classroom for a long long long time. Portions had to be completed and the admin office was ensuring that it would literally be knocked into our heads, by hook or by crook. So it came that a very tired bunch of first years trudged in to class and got imprisoned in the world of the GDP, SLR, CRR, and what not (understanding/not understanding? Not understanding of course!) But the term and its breakage of routine was not over yet.

We suddenly found out that we had been short listed for a marketing competition at FMS Delhi. So there I found myself traveling across India to Delhi for a 4 day visit packed with loads of traveling and little sleep. Intense competition from a ‘Demon’ from IIM Indore and the team from MDI saw us finishing 3rd, losing out by our flawed pricing strategy. However, Delhi itself was an experience to remember, as I was visiting the city after eons and lapped in the colours and sights that it had to offer. We returned to Ahmedabad a little wiser about under pricing and over spending (damn should have stayed awake in those pricing sessions!) but not with defeated souls!

As soon as we landed at Mica, the prospects of the exams loomed over us. Imagine an exam when you have not even looked at the book forget skimming through its contents. So we had the mighty task of achieving gold medals in speed reading with maximum retention (like that was ever going to happen), and emerging unscathed. All I can say after this was that I survived two terms at Mica.

What with the second term finally over after the killer exams (although we all hail a collective sigh of relief at no more economics or quant…yeah!) and the insaneness of the schedule that we kept in the last few months, we said goodbye to each other and stepped back into the ‘civilised’ world.