My Journey So Far

“You have been selected for the PGPM programme at Indian Institute of Management Rohtak”.

These were the magical words in the mail I received on 27th June 2010 while surfing on internet in a cyber cafe. My immediate reaction was of utter joy and disbelief at the same instant.

I read the mail again, and indeed I had made it to an IIM, a dream I had been pursuing for the last two long years. It felt like a reward for all my hard work and effort over the last two years. It was no doubt the best day of my life so far.

However, now there were some difficult choices before me. I had converts from lots of other established and reputed B-Schools, including MDI, IMT, and NMIMS. I had to choose whether to go for an established B-school, or to bet on a new IIM with no history behind it. Initially, there were some fears about the quality of infrastructural and academic facilities that the first batch would get. With no alumni or seniors to support us, it was going to be a journey on uncharted terrain.

Fast forward six months, and as I sit down today to write about my experiences here, I can honestly say that these have been the best six months of my life. It has been a roller coaster ride with more highs than lows. The facilities provided to us here are truly excellent, with modernized classrooms, excellent sports facilities, very comfortable hostel rooms and a great mess.

The first few days at the campus were quite hectic, with lots of classes, guest lectures and other such activities. The faculty, vastly experienced with many of them being internationally reputed names in their areas of expertise, made us feel comfortable and at home. The learning environment all along has been excellent, with some of the brightest minds in the country exchanging ideas and discussing management concepts. It was a pleasant surprise to know that three of our batch-mates had CAT percentiles in excess of 99.90.

The best thing I have felt here is the sense of camaraderie amongst the batch. We have always stood by each other in thick and thin, and have helped each other in all possible ways. We have crossed all barriers in trying to help each other. I have personally made some great friends here, who I believe will remain so for life. All in all, it has been truly wonderful to study with such a great group of talented, enthusiastic, and lively people.

Weekends have provided some opportunity to play sports. I started playing tennis for the first time here, and have enjoyed it thoroughly. We have regularly organised sporting events in our campus, starting with RunSangram, a cricket tournament on the lines of the IPL. Apart from that, we have organised tournaments for many other sports including Carom, Chess, and Table tennis, and all of these have attracted the attention of the entire batch. We have had loads of fun during these, and the camaraderie in the batch has been further strengthened by these events. Yours truly got the honor of being crowned the table tennis champion of our batch.

With the third trimester going on now, and the process for choosing electives for the second year underway, it feels strange that almost a year has passed without anyone even realising it. It still feels as if it was only yesterday that we landed here in Rohtak. Time has flown by very fast, and the winds of change have swept all of us in the last one year. I had some fears and suspicions at the time of joining this college, but now I can honestly say that it has been one of the best experiences of my life and the sceptic in me lies completely at rest.

Manish Kumar Verma

IIM Rohtak