“Oh! It’s already 8.00! I’ve got to rush!”
This is how a day usually starts at Symbiosis Institute of Business Management – Bengaluru (SIBM-B). With classes starting at 8.30 a.m., the numerous assignments and tests, the group presentations – you begin to agree with William Wordsworth; ‘there is no time to stand and stare’.
A typical day starts off with rushing for breakfast at around 8.20 a.m. and hoping it would turn out to be chole battura/vada-sambar/dosa, or smuggling sandwiches to munch before class. This is when you learn that you can have breakfast in four minutes flat! You rush to class at 8.30 a.m. on the dot. You end up learning to be punctual, because nobody is allowed in class even if he/she is a minute late. Following that goes attendance, and finally classes.
A blur of economics, quantitative techniques, business law, financial management and financial accounting in a day, each accompanied by at least one assignment, goes on. If you are lucky, you would have classes only till 4.30 pm, with a ton of assignments to finish later. We break for lunch at 12.45 pm, hoping for lunch to be as good as every Tuesday’s menu which is laccha paratha and rajma, with an occasional dessert like gulab jamun or gajar ka halwa.
Once classes are done, students rush off to the gym, play badminton/carrom/foosball, go to the library, or to do the most important thing; sleep for an hour or two. Between 7 and 7.30, we start meeting groups to work on assignments and presentations. That is when the fun begins. Group assignments can be fun, with brainstorming sessions for the presentation, division of labour, cursing freeloaders; all is done at once. That is some expert level multi-tasking we all learn to do while in B-school.
After group assignments are over, it is dinner time followed by a long walk along the roads of Electronic City. That is the best time of day when you can spot groups of students walking around lazily, drinking ginger and lemon tea or juice, and maybe having a quick bite. Do whatever, but make sure to get back before 11 p.m , because that is when the hostel gates close. Once you are back, you would either find most guys in the TV room, watching a football or cricket match, hanging out at the cafeteria or amphitheatre, or in their rooms.
Long day, huh? Time to sleep, perhaps? Not before pre-reads which are due for next day’s classes!
Though the amount of work is huge, it is always a lot of fun to work in a group, create a presentation and rehearse it with your group for the final presentation. A lot of fun, work, Maggi and coffee goes into making each group presentation, which is done at least thrice a week. You are really lucky if you end up in a group where everyone is ready to work, because more than the actual work, it is the coordination of the group that messes up things quite often.
Also, the most important thing for every B-schooler is emails. You get at least eight to ten emails on any given day, and it is very important for students to check them as often as possible. Once the number of WhatsApp groups increase on your phone, you know that there is work to do! If you are a part of a student committee, then you have to learn to juggle the committee work and the academic assignments.
Apart from academics, we look forward to every festival for the amazing food and the occasional DJ nights. If there is a college event coming up, it is amazing to see the students all geared up and working hard for teams such as sponsorship, hospitality, and logistics. What with the various event meetings, the sponsorship work, making posters and videos, obtaining proper permissions from the management, roping in food outlets to set up food stalls — the amount of effort that every student puts in is amazing and totally worth it when the event turns out to be a huge success.
Students usually hang out in the nearest restaurants to take a break from work, to hog on some amazing food, or rush off to Koramangala to catch a movie. If it is your birthday then be prepared to read a really embarrassing email which your dear friends compose for you and send it to the junior and senior batches and for the amazing cake and birthday celebrations in the basement! We occasionally have sports tournaments when the whole college gathers to cheer on their teams, and try their best to escape from the ball when it is hit by the star players! It is amazing to live, work, and eat in the same place with wonderful people where you learn to balance work and prioritise things. It is an experience which students treasure forever.
Swathi Poornima Maganty completed her MBA from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management – Bengaluru, in 2014.