Midterms loom

The atmosphere, atleast in my dorm, is rather grim. Though some are relaxed, many have been busy mugging since last night. I have already described my strategy in my last post. Will continue to enjoy till circumstances dictate a change. The guy pictured above is Moti, generally regarded as the smartest in our dorm (I agree, but he doesn't, of course). His strategy is very different from mine. He wants to be thoroughly prepared and as you will notice from the rather large stack of papers around him, he is succeeding. Well, to each his own. I hope everyone does well.

Harsha Bhogle visited WIMWI last night. In continuation of my policy of missing opportunities in deference to inertia, I did not attend the interaction session with him. Even though during that period (10:30-11:30 pm), I was doing nothing better than updating my blog. From what I have seen on the institute's LAN, I missed a good chance for some fun.

Accusations of RG :)

Every weekend most of us in dorm 18 go outside WIMWI for dinner. I thought this time would be no different. I innocently posted on DBabb asking if we were indeed going out. Since mid-terms begin on Monday, everyone is busy mugging and if I have nothing much to do or I pretend that I have nothing much to do, I must be RGing (Since WIMWI follows Relative Grading, anyone who tries to exploit this is said to be using RG). Some of the others did not take to this very kindly and accused me of being a show-off(not too seriously, of couse). How rude!

Of course, I was not being that innocent. Showing off was part of the fun (though I was also genuinely wondering if we were going to a restaurant). It's been over 3 years since I was in a position to relax 36 hours before a fairly important exam began. That does not mean I did not relax before engineering exams, but that was the relaxation of someone who knew he would do badly come what may. I can now relax knowing that I have done my best.

I am sure I will make spectactular blunders in the exams, but I am also sure that nothing I study now will prevent them. So I am taking things coolly, till one paper goes really badly. Till the good times last, why not enjoy them.

At the same time, I know I have a manner of speaking which is not the most tactful. Crossing the line between frankness and insensitive rudeness is a frequent occurence with me. I can only plead my ignorance of understanding people as a defence.

Sleeping in Classroom 10

Okay, this has been covered in countless other blog posts and DBabb (DBabb is WIMWI's electronic student communication board - will write more about that later) messages, but I will join the bandwagon.

All hail Chhedi, the sleep king of Section D. Everyone in the section is entralled by the feats he has pulled off. Not one day has passed when he did not sleep in atleast one class. He sits in class right next to the TA and effortlessly dozes off 15-20 minutes after the class begins. Fortunately, he has been caught only once (unfortunately, by the HR prof, who really took up his case) so far. People who are bored or feeling sleepy themselves look at him and are roused out of their drowsiness by the entertaining sight! Not content with sleeping in complusory attendance classes, Chhedi today attended an optional remedial class (Rem) and proceeded to sleep there too! And given that he lives right next door to me, I can testify that he sleeps a lot in his room too (though mostly during the day - is up when everyone else is asleep, I guess)!

At the end of an unprecedented quizless week, the mugging for the midterms has begun. Should not be too difficult, though we have six papers in three days. I realized today that I have now attended 75 straight classes (70 minutes each) without missing a single one or being even a second late in any. I share this record with atleast half the WIMWI fachcha batch, of course. The days when joining a lecture scheduled at 8:30 am, 40-50 minutes after it started, are becoming a distant memory.

Contemplating events in Bombay

Five working days and no quiz! What has happened to my beloved WIMWI? Everyone is complaining, "Why are we paying these fees, if we'll not be tested properly? We demand a partial refund!"

On the flip side, the past three days have been very relaxed. I easily managed to sleep before 2:30 am yesterday and the day before. Should be able to do the same tonight. And then it's the weekend!

The rains which wrought havoc in Bombay reached here today. They were harbingers of coolness though, relieving us of the intense heat. I still can't grasp the enormity of the wet, wet day in Bombay - the highest rain to fall in one place in one day ever in India! My family was not much affected, but sadly so many in my hometown incurred property damage and worse. Some of my friends' flights to the US were delayed. My sister told me that Bombayites did join forces to help each other. I wish the spirit of Bombay stays forever.

CP

Class Participation is accorded marks in many courses at WIMWI. While it encourages some to speak up, I am afraid it seems counterproductive to me. The professors claim that only good quality participation will be credited. In practice though, it is the TAs who mark us and they probably don't bother with mundane things like the relevance of the point. The more you open your mouth, the better your CP marks are likely to be.

So some start talking randomly during lectures. Their hands are always raised, whether or not they have anything worthwhile to say. If the professor is strict, they remain in some control due to their fear of being insulted. Even so, we had some really arbit CP being flung around the class on Tuesday. In economics our new professor is really soft. For him, the idea of pre-class preparation is unimportant. We were meant to read a chapter in the textbook dealing with government inteventions in a market. One of the six sections in the chapter is "The impact of a Tax or Subsidy". So, we are meant to prepare and come and the professor invites doubts. One chap raises his hand and says, "Sir, please explain the impact of taxes and subsidies." Other fellows do the same with certain other sections (None of these sections is particularly difficult). Why didn't they ask the prof to explain the entire chapter in one go? And the prof happily explains the concepts, as if we are little children in 8th standard. I was so frustrated that I simply zoned out of the class and started reading the next day's material in class. Luckily, this professor doesn't seem to want student attention either. Time saved in avoiding a repetitive lecture in class is time gained for sleeping.

Stealing a Weekend

I did something audacious this week. I stole a weekend from WIMWI to escape to Bombay for the weekend. If I may say so, I am rather proud of myself, especially because this was a WAC submission weekend. The entire week was a period of intense uncertainty about whether I would be able to make it. I booked my tickets on the 8th of July. Then, day after day I received new blows - an OM assignment was announced on the 1oth, HR project on the 12th, an IC assignment given on the 19th - all due in the week after after my proposed trip. Add to that, my ticket for going to Bombay was waitlisted and the number was not moving up fast enough. And Harry Potter came out last Saturday and I was busy reading that till Wednesday.

But I just about managed. A lot of thanks go to my understanding study group who allowed me to freeride on the OM (Operations) report. I also put in a good night's work on Thursday to finish the WAC report.

After some nervous moments on Friday evening when I wanted to submit the WAC report (the TAs were helpful, for once), I finally managed to reach the train in time. But my waitlist was not cleared. I sat around near the door of the Sleeper compartment at 10:00 pm. Had to shell out 90 bucks to a cop and a TC to get a vacant berth at 1:00 am, even though the berth should have been mine, I believe, by right.

So there I was, in Bombay after exactly one month and a day. This has been the longest continuous spell I have spent outside the city. I had a good time in the 38 hours I spent there. Met with my family and was particularly pleased to see my niece Vrisha. I also wanted to meet my friends, especially those bound for the US. The visit was a bit hectic - I made four separate visits to meet various friends. I also had to buy gifts for some, and visit Juhu beach - had to see the sea for some undescribable reason. The trip was capped by 'gatecrashing' Kartik's farewell party. I was really happy to see my college classmates. Watching them enjoy though, reminded me of those happy days (can't believe it's only been a month) when the only reading I did was of newspapers and non-textbooks, and watching Buffy, whenever it was broadcast, was a necessity (Haven't seen a complete TV programme since coming here).

Got a piece of relieving news on Sunday - I had passed engineering. I am really happy that lingering worry is off my back.


Was on my way back on Sunday night. I expected to reach Ahmedabad by 5:45 am and planned to read cash flow statement preparation before classes at 9:00. Unfortunately the train was late and I only reached my room at 7:45 am. Luckily, I was not 'cold-called' in MANAC class.

All in all, a good escape.

Cracking Under Pressure

The pressure cooker is now softening the toughest of skins. The cracks in the discipline of the students are beginning to show. Almost one month after classes began, for the first time, a student was late in my class (late by barely 2-3 minutes). Luckily the professor did not say much to him. It's testimony to WIMWI's reputation and the awe the students hold its culture in, that such a thing did not happen before, even though almost everyone here on average sleeps at 3 am. But the reserves of people have finally run out and there are hints that some are throwing in the towel. Quizzes are now greeted with an air of resignation, rather than excitement or anxiety.


The only subject where attendance is optional, Quantitative Methods, saw 5-6 students missing the class today. I myself am thinking of skipping tomorrow's QM class. Today I was unable to continue my battle against sleep and was forced to nod off (for a few seconds at a time) in the first two classes.

But the spirit isn't dead yet. As I write, at 2:30 am, a girl campaigning for the post of PGP1 representative is in my dorm going from door to door, asking for support. And of course, as I no doubt will relate in the third week of August, T-nite is yet to come.

Finished reading Harry Potter

I have completed the Half-Blood Prince, some 80 hours after I bought it. It's a good book, though not as good as some of the earlier ones, especially the Prisoner of Azkaban. I was very disturbed by the actions of my favourite character in the series. Oh! I hope things will be different in the next book from what they appear to be now (I am writing cryptically so that no one is 'spoiled' by this entry). Nevertheless the wait for the final book will be enjoyable, I am sure.

No test today - we were all pleasantly surprised after four successive days of coming out of the classroom at 1:10 only to see a notice of this or that quiz.

Had interviews for Confluence today. Didn't go badly, but as I have no prior experience, I don't expect things to go well.

Enchanted by Harry

Nothing much to write today. Continued reading HP. Have finished 400 pages now. I was indifferent to the book's beginning, but have become very immersed in the twists and turns now. Sadly, I have other work to do too.

If I have to visit Bombay this weekend, I have to get the WAC assignment done by Thursday. So I must begin now with the analysis of Rocky Mountain Mutual's Fitness Center. We have too many American cases - I wish there were more cases from Europe, Asia and Australia too. Indian cases seem adequate.

Oh, today was our fifth quiz in four working days. But that's just old news now.

Birthdays at WIMWI

Birthdays are celebrated well here. Each dorm has its specific traditions, but common customs include giving bumps to the birthday boy (Girls too? Haven't been to a girl's party as yet) and smearing his face with a cake by a 'guest-of-honour' (of the opposite sex, of course) of his choice. Each dorm has a birthday manger who is responsible for arranging the cakes and drinks, and inviting people, especially the guest of honour. This year, as I mentioned earlier, we have appointed birthday managers for the section too, so that a larger crowd can celebrate.

Today I went to a birthday of a guy (Momo) in my section in dorm 20. It was well attended and Momo was treated to a regular session of bumps as well as multiple sessions of being flung up to almost 3 metres high in the air. There was also an extra round of cake smearing in a particularly enthusiastic manner by his dorm seniors. All in all, quite enjoyable.

Management, Vastrapur

That's what I said to the autowalla after getting out of Crossword. There was simply no time to loiter around and browse through the hundreds of books on the shelves. Only time to finish the business of getting a copy of the latest offering from Rowling. I awaited the release of Harry Potter's next adventure for over two years. Unfortunately I reached WIMWI before the Half-Blood Prince reached me. I was unsure whether I would be wise to get HP here. After all when the last volume came out, I had bought it within 3 hours of release and finished it in 30 hours straight - something I couldn't afford to do here. But my spirit prevailed and I got the book on the day it was released. But no chance of reading it before a week is up. After all there's Operations to be read!

The Ahmedabad Crossword is, I was surprised to note, better than the flagship store in Bombay. It's almost as large and has a more varied collection of books, while the Bombay store is stuffed with too much management and pulp fiction.

Also did some project research with my study group (Shobhit, Simrin, Toefl, and Amit) on a restaurant named Birmies close to the campus. Have to do it for the Operations course. Made some progress but not enough. It's going to be a long night.

Went out to Cafe Upper Crust for dinner with my dormies. Nice sizzlers, though I managed to order a sizzler which was simply noodles, fried rice and manchurian mixed together. Not bad though.

Section bonding

We finally had some class interaction today. After the fourth quiz of the week, the section stayed back to choose the birthday and bumps managers. I am happy I played my small part by writing the notice on the blackboard, and taking some photos. Section D's birthday manager is Shobhit and birthday managers are Shveta and Aditi. Good luck to all of them. I especially hope that Shobhit can suitably punish the arbit CP-makers. The birthday managers are meant to ensure that the section is informed and enthused about celebrating sectionmates' birthdays in their dorms. I hope that we can win the T-nite (the inter-section cultural events contest) this year too.

And best wishes to the PGP 1 rep candidate from sec-D, Rahul.

Precious Sleep

Just when I was beginning to feel comfortable with the pace of the place, the 5 1/2 hours of sleep every day for five days have caught up with me. I know many are doing with much less sleep than me, but I have had it. I'm doing my maths problem set as well as I can, but I will sleep before 1:30. Will take care of the consequences when they arise.

Two tests

Nothing more exciting than the title to report today. We had a test in the HR class - fairly simple, but only 15 minutes were given to write two open-ended answers.

After HR and Eco was the Operations lecture. Operations is surely going to be the most difficult subject - the bottleneck, if you will - for me this term. It's making some sense, but not enough. Perhaps I'm not putting in enough effort.

After Op, we had an eco quiz - multiple choice, 25 min. It was more difficult, but I should do well.

I hope to go to Bombay next weekend. Needless to say, WIMWI is doing all it can to ensure that I cannot leave. The WAC submission is of course due on the 23rd. On Monday, we were told to write and submit an Ops. report by the 26th. Today we are handed the HR assignment, due the 28th. I am still hopeful.

First post from WIMWI

Beginning about three weeks too late I realize, but better late than never.

Experience of the day : I saw a peacock.

The WIMWI campus is marvellous. If only we had more "time to stand and stare." The brick walls of the campus seemed very uninviting when I first came here in February for my interview, but as I have read somewhere, these bricks grow on you. The new campus's cement has not yet grown on me so much. But the plain buildings still have their grandeur. The greenery is a welcome contrast to the red and the grey. I try to walk across the Louis Kahn Plaza (LKP) everyday.