Spicy Tales of My Life

I am quite sure many of us have had conversations like this which are always irritating. Infact, when I first heard of our college, Goa Institute of Management, my initial focus was only on the first word „GOA‟. I was far too excited about the place than anything else. It seemed more like a place for vacation than education, but a bit of research on the credentials of GIM changed my perception that it actually can be a place for both.

When you land in Goa, the first thing you realize is the air about the place. Your adrenaline levels fall down and the first thing you feel like doing is to hit a beach and chill down. They particularly use a term to define this state; it‟s called “Susegaad”. I think for first few days in GIM you will be akin to it but it‟s more like a silence before the storm. Adding to it the serenity of GIM Sanquilem campus is something unique and makes you realise the beauty of GOA is not just about its beaches.

You will be introduced to different concepts that are unique to a PGDM course. Class Participation is one such concept. You are supposed to contribute to the discussion in the class, of course in a productive manner and marks are given for the same. You may find it a bit difficult to understand the concept if you are from the science background. You are generally used to learning the fun- damentals in class which are not supposed to be questioned and you have the tendency to take the word of the professor on any concept. But MBA is not just a science. Every concept/fundamental you learn here is based on assumptions and the situation in which you apply them. You should be able to thoroughly understand, analyse and preconceive every possible scenario to be able to apply a concept. Also there is ample scope of discovering new ideas in each class which are not taught in books. So this necessitates CP.

Many find it difficult to do CP at least initially. You will have a clear thought lingering in your mind and as soon as it comes out of your mouth it turns into gibberish. Give it time you‟ll get better at it. For beginners, I suggest you ask rational doubts that might clear your head instead of trying to give great ideas in the class. Most importantly, first pay attention in class, CP is definitely secon- dary.

Do not ever attempt DCP (Desperate Class Participation) for the sake of marks like stating the obvious pretending you have dis- covered a radically fresh perspective. Such people use their mastery of English language to create rational sounding B.S which is devoid of any logic. Your batch mates will be merciless in crushing you for wasting their time and it rarely happens inside the class. There are some subjects in which you do not have marks for CP which are mostly technical in nature. Understand the hint, the time of the Prof is extremely valuable in such classes, the more you waste time the less you learn.

You‟ll then be introduced to the concept of Group Work. This is definitely going to be one of the worst experiences that will teach you some great lessons. I initially thought group work was easier because I have the experience of handing a small team for a few months at my earlier organization. But here it is a different ball game. Everyone here is an equal to you. You cannot expect every- body to listen to you and do what you want them to unless you convince them with inscrutable (sounding) logic. What is common sense to you is sometimes Greek and Latin to the other person.

Once in a group, you will discover some destructive characteristics (i.e. some might be extremely egoistic, some may be extremely lazy) in every person you considered normal before which will affect the output of the group. I myself have such characteristics (obviously I am not going to mention them here), but you need to understand each person and figure out the best way to work with him. This kind of stuff cannot be learned through gyaan but practice.

Then there are Presentations, Student committee Work (If you become a JCC fortunately or unfortunately), Pro- jects, open/closed book exams and then there is Goa. You need to figure out a way to balance all this and please don‟t drop Goa out of the equation. Try to make the two years you spend here the best time of your life both in terms of learning and fun.