Term 6 started

After a great Diwali vacation for couple of days, we started our term 6 yesterday. This is the second elective term. I have taken 6 courses last term. Two of them would be continuing in this term. However, I am yet not officially finished with Term 5. I have two projects due by this weekend. Right from term 1, we have developed a habit of getting our project postponed after the exams of that term. The repercussion of that is we have to slog one more week for the projects and it officially merges with the classes of next term. Good or not, but that is how it has been working for us.

I am still attending several classes to decide on the courses I am going to take this term. But I am more or less set on 2 continued courses from last term and Financial Derivatives for this term. Will be deciding on other two courses by 23rd Oct, our official deadline for add/drop courses.

Meanwhile, the placement season is picking up, with few more companies lined up for PPT. I am not interested in any of those. So probably I still have a long way to go and have to bide my time.

On the sporty side, we are in final leg of Foundation Cup games. Foundation Cup is basically an inter branch competition with teams from PGP1, PGP2, EPGP, FPM, PGSEM etc competing in various sports such as Badminton, hockey, cricket, carrom, chess, football. We are in Semifinals of many games and hope to get gold in few of them. The culmination of these games would be on 28th Oct, the IIMB foundation day.

Tomorrow, our Marketing club is organizing a Marketing Conclave. Various industry practitioners and marketing guru's will give us some gyaan. More about it after tomorrows session. Need to rush to class now.

Happy Deepawali

For an oil lamp to burn, the wick has to be in the oil, yet out of the oil. If the wick is drowned in oil, it cannot bring light.

One of the profound words of wisdom I heard about significance of Diwali. I am reproducing it below


Life is like the wick of the lamp; you have to be in the world yet remaining untouched by it. If you are drowned in the materialism of the world, you cannot bring joy and knowledge in your life. By being in the world, yet not drowning in the worldly aspect of it, we can be the light of joy and knowledge. Lamps are lit on this day not just to decorate homes, but also to communicate this profound truth.

Another profound symbolism is in the firecrackers. In life, you often become like a firecracker, waiting to explode with your pent-up emotions, frustration and anger. When you suppress your emotions, cravings, aversions, hatred, you reach a bursting point. Bursting crackers is a psychological exercise to release bottled-up emotions. When you see an explosion outside, you feel similar sensations within you as well. Along with the explosion, there is so much light. Let go of these emotions, so serenity dawns. You can experience newness when you discard these pent-up emotions. Deepawali means to be in the present, so drop the regrets of the past and the worries of the future and live in the moment.

Sweets and gifts symbolise the dispelling of the bitterness and renewal of friendship. Deepawali is a time to throw light on the wisdom you have gained and welcome a new beginning. When true wisdom dawns, it gives rise to celebration. But don't let celebration make you lose your focus and awareness. To maintain awareness in the midst of celebrations, the ancients created rituals: puja brings sacredness. For the same reason, Deepawali is also the time for pujas that add depth to the festivities by infusing the spiritual aspect.

Light the lamp of love in your heart; the lamp of abundance in your home; the lamp of compassion to serve others; the lamp of knowledge to dispel the darkness of ignorance and the lamp of gratitude for the abundance that the Divine has bestowed on us. Light dispels darkness and when the darkness of ignorance within you is dispelled through the light of wisdom, goodness prevails.

Amen!

End of term 5 and start of placement season

So here I am. Could not keep my promise of posting regularly. Well, this time I can blame the higher powers. My laptop crashed and it took quite a while to get it fixed. Well, all's well that ends well.

In the meantime, I have finished my term 5. Which means I am done 62.5% of my MBA. Time is flying. I remember, last year I was struggling hard with my essays and spending sleepless nights on why mba, short term goals, and long term goals and trying to convince adcom gods about my plans. Well, one year down the line, I am in a Bschool and ironically, again confronting with same question. I am quite confused about the career options. Not that I have too many choices available, but I am still not able to make up my mind.

On the other hand, we have officially started our placement season. Today we had our first company for Pre-placement talk(PPT). Did not get much positive vibrations from the company, but its a good sign that companies are interested. The placement process for EPGP at IIMB will be little different than PGP. PGP process usually last only for 4-5 days with companies making beeline for day 0, day 1. Here we have diverse profile and would be looking for diverse job opportunities. So the companies will be invited one at a time and interested students will be applying accordingly.

Tomorrow we are starting our next term. Yeah! no break! But after 6th term we have 2 weeks off. So looking forward to it. I have heard that many aspirants have got interview invite from IIMB-EPGP. Some of the applicants have contacted me and inquired about interview preparation. I have shared my brief interview experience earlier. But here it is again: Generally interviews are fairly straightforward and most of the questions are from SOP. You will be asked about your professional experiences, hobbies, goals and why mba. Some generic questions on latest development in india might be asked as well. No hardball questions as per I know. In short, fairly straightforward and chilled out. So just relax and be yourself.

Feel free to contact me if you need any more info. Good luck.