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Episode 3 of SIBM Decoded

Corporate Interaction and Cultural Activities are two facets that speak volumes about the quality of a B-School. We at SIBM are proud of both - our strong Corporate Interface and rich cultural vibrancy at the campus which adds colours to SIBM rigours. We bring you more on these through our third episode of SIBM Decoded.

You can click here: http://www.sibm.net/blog/?page_id=18 to access the podcast.

And yes, we will wait for your Bouquets and Brickbats at decoded@sibm.net

Sit back and enjoy! 

Episode 2 of SIBM Decoded

SIBM Decoded- Episode 2 is here. After having described the new residential campus of SIBM in the first episode, we now get to listen to the Co-ordinators of the Alumni and Placement teams speak on some major happenings on campus.
So, dive right in by clicking play below, or download the podcast by clicking the following link: http://www.sibm.net/blog/?page_id=18
Please write to us with your queries and feedback on decoded@sibm.net

SIBM Decoded, the official podcast of SIBM is here!

SIBM is proud to launch its official podcast ‘SIBM Decoded’ to bring you face-to- face with life at the institute.
Through these weekly theme-based podcasts, we bring to you in a light-hearted conversational style, all that you possibly wanted to know about us.
The 1st episode talks about the very new picturesque residential campus of SIBM in Lavale, Pune and its facilities. To get a sneak peek, go to http://www.sibm.net/blog/?page_id=18
Please write to us with your queries and feedback on decoded@sibm.net, and we shall be glad to be in touch!

The Roller Coaster Life @ SIBM

There is no way I can describe life at SIBM by mere words - it has to be lived in order to be understood in all its glory. The experience so far has been nothing short of spectacular - I am amazed by the amount of positive change three months at SIBM have brought in my “not-so-happening” life.

The day I joined was the first time I ever laid eyes on the new campus blissfully nestled amid picturesque hills and verdant valleys. I could almost feel the beauty overpowering me and talking to me in a way nothing had ever talked to me before. The unpacking, the “meet-your-roomies” day, the double shifting, the coffee & Pringle sessions in the evenings, the long walks at night through the hill-paths, the induction programme (wearing saree on the first day), the wild insect photography, the uninterrupted all-night blah sessions, the  “I-wanna-go-to-the-city” syndrome and the first interaction with the senior batch were things that made my first month here truly memorable.

The induction programme was indeed a commendable and highly useful effort aimed at bridging the gap between students from diverse backgrounds and academic streams; we were taught the basics of subjects like statistics, accounts, maths (really essential for the “math-o-phobic” students like me).

Then came “scary-day-1″: the induction test day, 5 exams in a row on a single day were enough to jolt me out of my wits. This is the time I realised that at SIBM one cannot afford to be slack or callous. Then came the results and my above-zero scores were nothing short of a miraculous and can only be attributed to the dedicated teaching efforts of the faculty  during the induction period.  

The other things at SIBM Pune that deserve a special mention and form an integral part of our lives here would be the great learning environment, highly awaited sweet-dish in the mess on Sundays, awesome outbound trip, fun-filled freshers party, sports events, ”specialisation-related” counselling sessions, Corporate events, endless presentations, enriching Vedanta sessions, informal coffee shop discussions and finally the student driven approach !

Each day brings with it its own unique flavour and learning, there is scope for growth in every opportunity. I feel that joining SIBM is one of the best decisions I have ever made in life.

Life at SIBM simply stated - ROCKS!

Konika Sharma

MBA Marketing (I)

Life@SIBM

I still remember the first time I stepped into the hallowed portals of SIBM, Lavale campus for my admission. Till then I had only seen the pictures on the internet, but like they say, you actually have to see in real to believe it! I was overwhelmed by the natural beauty, picturesque hills, fresh air and the sheer size of the massive red brick buildings all around. It was then that I realised, this is where I belong. I roamed through the entire campus gulping each joyous moment as it came, imagining myself walking in those corridors, sitting in those perfect classrooms.

Once the college started in full vigour, ‘Time’ which was once abundant, soon became a rarity. Scampering from one place to another was common, but fresh air and natural beauty (and I am talking about the nature only!) never let the fatigue set in. Cooperative faculty, compassionate seniors and good friends have made life all the more better @ SIBM. It is here that I have learnt the importance of time(which I used to earlier fritter away too liberally) and the true implications of the adage:

“The heights which great men reached and kept, were not attained by sudden flight.
They, whilst their companions slept, were toiling upwards in the night.”

Today, I know that I have made the right decision. Each morning when I wake up to the rays of the resplendent sun, I thank God; I thank him for giving me an opportunity to spend the two most important years of my life in this haven.

Aditya Ahuja

MBA(I)

Of New Beginnings…

It is exactly a month today, July 8, 2008 that MBA(I) stepped into the hallowed corridors of SIBM at Lavale. The experience has been nothing but astounding. As I sit at my table overlooking a hillock through my window, my thoughts run wild. MBA - is what I thought I would do. Until now, it has been much more than that. Twenty two hundred feet above sea level has its own uniqueness. Classes, more classes, presentations, meetings and council work fill the entire time you have, and also not so! Somehow, there is time. There is time for that two hour sessions at staircase, playing guitar and humming songs. There is time to get the feel of the indoor badminton court at 2 a.m. in the night. There is time to take those long walks; up and down the sloping roads sharing experiences and forming bonds.

Oh yes, time is a premium and also an abundance. Come to think of it - it is just the beginning…

Himanshu Bhagat

MBA(I)

We Move On …

This one goes out to the Batch of 2006-08 

Time, with fingers that weave misty minarets,
And speaks in secret alphabets,
Never ending, never ceasing,
It creates & it produces immortal thoughts,
And is the harbinger of change.
A thought, an idea, a season, a color,
And a breath of sweet perfume,
A few fleeting, transient moments,
Followed by another, and another, and another …
The written word captures the nuances of color,
In a frieze frame of pen and ink,
The merry flow of words,
In them the feelings are expressed,
But something somewhere remains unsaid,
We move on ……
A seamless sheet is spun,
With the wefts of here and now,
A testimony to us and ours,
Time has flown and swept us along,
In its inexorable winds of change,
It is invincible ahead of us all,
Never conquered, never vanquished.
It has led us to the end of our spool,
Eventually it’ll help us add to it,
Year after year & decade after decade,
Many more words will be weaved,
On the high tide of time,
And feelings will be expressed.
We move on ……

Dheeraj Kukreja
MBA(I) Marketing

Travel for travel’s sake-Part I

 As I sit here facing the mother of all writer’s blocks, I’ve been given the oft quoted advice of ‘Write what you know about BEST’. Unless there is a large reader base to be found in literature about Authentic Manglorean Cooking, I’m not sure I should take this advice…The only writing I seem to have done in my two years in Symbiosis Institute of Business Management has been in answer papers (strictly precis writing at that). I seem to be hopelessly out of form.

I’m also trying hard to avoid making this a ‘senti’ piece because I find all this talk of the end of student life a little premature. There are, after all, about ….7 weeks to go. (!!?? Is that all!!??)So my brief is to write about something exciting. And there has been no shortage of that during my time here. The most exciting thing I’ve done at SIBM though, for its sheer unexpectedness, is travel. Oh sure, nowhere too exotic, but unforgettable none the less.

I will not cheat and count the Pune to Bombay trips, I promise.

I naively thought that nothing will disturb me during my MBA. I will be here one hundred percent and learn a lot and live away from home and do my summers somewhere great and find an amazing job.. the usual suspects on every B-school kid’s laundry list. Nothing will distract me.Except, the rest of my life continued to run parallel to MBA life.

A cousin really close to me suddenly announced her wedding. This was no good! No one is supposed to get married in August. Its raining. There are too many assignments and tests..!!

But this was family. Non- negotiable. The wedding it is. Destination? Goa.

The 2006 rains were baa-ad! On the evening of my departure, I show up at Raj Travels office. The one near KP. The incessant rain had messed with a phase of electricity in the area and so me and my fellow passengers stood there in the darkness. For two hours. We boarded our 6pm bus sharp at 8.15pm.

Finally the drivers revs the engine and out of nowhere, this smiling girl gets on the bus and happily announces, “Good evening! And thank you for your faith in Raj Travels. On this auspicious occasion of Raj Travels’ FIRST Pune to Goa trip (Yikes!!), please accept these pedhas with our best wishes”

Faith! Pedhas! Best wishes! None of these words are any good in pitch darkness and pouring rain. I enjoyed that pedha like I it was my first. Or last. To be fair to Raj though, the rest of the journey was magnificently uneventful. Well except one of the rest stops they chose. But really, that’s another story..

This Goa trip was just the wedding though. I was there for a grand total of 16 hours. I didn’t see a beach even from afar. Just the inside of the reception hall and lots of family.. some who I hadn’t met for close to 7-8 years! Exhausting,but great.

Sheetal Menezes
MBA(II) Marcom

Making the most of an MBA

A typical line that you’ve probably read everywhere, and trust me every one of these people who wrote about it all gave you different views… almost conflicting at time, almost seemed as they all developed their own versions of it.
But they are right,, each and every one of them, every conflicting opinion is true and all that happened with them is real…

Because that is what an MBA is… what YOU choose to make out of it..

Flashback 8 months ago… June 2007.. we had just joined SIBM.. an insane mix of different people.. and in the middle of that there I was, back to studies after 2 years of working in E&Y.. used to the corporate life and suddenly a student again.
Studying again after a break was difficult, 2 weeks in .. and I was restless.. limiting myself to studies had started boring me. That’s when I joined a council team .. and immediately my perspective change.. the restlessness grew.. but in a positive way .. so much to do and yet the hours in a day just never seem enough.
Having come form the corporate world and knowing that is where I wanna go back, I thought I had nothing left to learn. But here at SIBM its all about the students, if u don’t like the system, then you have to change it.. and to change it, YOU work towards it.
Never before has my day seemed to have limited hours and never before has time flown by so fast.. and yet I’ve managed to fit in almost all that I want to do .. been to every place in and around Pune, been part of every event, worked as much for every team …
So heres what I’ll tell you .. Dun learn what the MBA is supposed to teach u.. learn what it wants to teach you.. take away more than the acads.. take away the experience!!

Kaashika Bhalla
MBA (I) Finance

Back to the Future

The anticipation, the excitement , the GD, interviews, the nail biting wait…& then.. at the end of the tunnel ..SIBM! Voila!
“Wow..here we are finally!” , I thought.
After 2 & half years of working, I was a little jittery about joining college.”Well, how will I pick up books & solve assignments after all this while!”

Then came the hostel worries..About roommates, food & rigorous rules & whatnot!

Came D-day & I entered the campus, one amongst many of the dreamy eyed..in search of the much wanted MBA status.

We had a week of induction, during which each of the professors came to speak about their subjects, & what we would be learning therein. Well..after a while, we were waiting to actually get into the classroom & get started!

The first thing that surprised me about SIBM, was the fact, that everything was run by a student body…
The Council, as they are collectively known, controlled admissions, to lectures to placements to the research! Everyone vied to be one of them, & to my relief, I made it to the Corporate Interface Team.

Then began the mad mayhem of the first semester, everything from assignments to lectures to meeting to presentations…all with a prior notice of a few hours! It seemed as if everything had to be cramped & stuck into those 24 hours…sleep was a distant dream( pun not intended)!

It was like a mad movie, with faculty, administration & assignments chasing the hero over the campus, & he running, gasping for breath!
Google became the savior of the student, & something of a demigod, whose face we saw every morning..first thing! I shudder to think what would happen, if for one day,that white & blue page were to disappear!
& for us poor engineer types..finance, accounts, economics.. were these nebulous forms..almost there, but just out of grasp! As I struggled to distinguish debit from credit, & depreciation of assets to the vagaries of demand & supply…how I envied the accountants of this world!
As the semester went on, I found out..ANYTHING can be managed!

& of course..the parties..fun compunded, no holds barred! Hmmm…well deserved I say!
Now that I am ..ahem..1 semester older.., I can proudly say..I survived!
I guess that is all SIBM is about…WORK HARD…PARTY HARDER!

Aparna Iyer
MBA(I) Marketing