My first day @SCIT (By Praveen Kavaladandi)

My First Day @SCIT

It was my first day in B-school. I was happy to unwind it with my dad. Woke up in the guest room given to dad, which was inside the campus. Walked down to hostel room in a refreshing morning weather . I got ready and wore the black & white uniform. Wore the new watch which I had got as farewell gift from my IBM team (farewell  was wonderful day of my life, people had made a 40 mins of video wishing me good luck for future…!!!  ) Dad took the pic of me in his mobile to show to my mom, that was a nice feeling.

We reached auditorium for the induction program. It was nice auditorium filled with young guys , gals  & parents sitting separately. Sat in front row along with dad, even though other parents were seated separately. Symbiosis evolution video is started being played on the big screen. Dad did not had clear idea about symbiosis university, he had just agreed for admit because he knows i have done proper research on it. I was feeling good that dad is seeing it and might feel good about –  I m studying at one of the top university & he is investing at the right place for me.  He is first person in this world for me when it comes to the respect, not just because every son has it for his dad but because of his hard work & way he has come up in his life. They were very poor that time. He started working from when he was 10 yrs, he use to sell bajji & grains on roadside every day.  From that money he supported his education. Now we don’t have any such pressure & fortunate to study without any of those difficulties. So hats off to him.

After the evolution video there was time left for guests to arrive. So in the meanwhile Dr.Sen sir started playing some inspirational videos. Power of 10 video showed what are we wrt to this universe. Another video of how undersea internet lines are laid amazed me. There comes our guests – Dr. Raman sir, Vidya madam, Rajni madam & esteemed alumni Abhilash verma (Director, Citrix).

Our induction program started with lighting of the lamp. Then guests talk one by one. First comes our Director Raman sir. Typical of MBA professor, even to talk on first day & tell us the stories – he had prepared the ppt. He had even set up the experiment  apparatus on the stage. It was about prioritising – first fill the high priority thing – which were big stones he had. He put them into the container first and then he puts the small stones , then salt & then water. They all got into the container because he had filled them in the right order. On contrary he showed us the reverse case – first by filling it with water n then trying to put stones. He could not accommodate more things as before  as water started spilling out. So moral he gave us through this is – fill your mind & use your  time for more important things in these two yrs and then fill least important ones. So that you can become successful. His main message was – Have faith & get ready for hard work. He categorised the people through the graph, on X-axis it was energy & other axis it was focus. His message to us was to fall in that top right category where people have high energy & high focus who are called as Purposeful action takers, who will become successful .  He also advised us to look at MBA as an experience rather than just running for placement.  It reminded me of Aamir Khan’s  dialogue in 3 idiots where he says – “Success ke peeche mat bhago, kamyabhi ke peeche bhago. success apne aap aa jayegi…!!” Director  ended his wonderful presentation with great sentence – “It’s all in your hands.. !! “. Yes it’s all in our hands, how we utilize these two years.

Then comes our Vidya madam – who says she had requested Raman to break the protocol & talk last but he didn’t agree. She said because it’s very difficult to match his style of presenting & talking. So she wanted to finish her talk before him. She said she was happy to see all young guns dressed neatly in black & white. She talked about the respect Indians have got abroad is mostly because of our IT industry, which was good to know. She had recently visited Europe & everywhere they had got a good respect it seems. Her speech was reflecting the experience she has in education sector all over the world. Rajni madam also gave short inspirational speech, which was great. Then comes our  esteemed alumni abhilash verma, Director, Citrix. (He had chosen his soul mate from SCIT only 😉 ) He also stressed on the Dr.Raman’s  point that – all is in your hand. His speech was  inspiring one for me. I was imagining myself as Regional head Asia Pacific, IBM  (mentioned specifically IBM because that’s where I have worked before coming here. First love is the best love(Even though I did not get back any love in terms of money & position at first stint), so wants to go back to IBM after working for few other companies after MBA)& coming back to SCIT in ten years giving speech like him 🙂 Hope that dream comes true… !!

Our deputy director Dr. Dhanya madam gave the vote of thanks and then it ended with National Anthem. I was singing it after long time. Felt great that symbiosis respects the nation where it originated even though it has spread its wing in many countries. Stood in long queue before having lunch.  One of my friend took a picture of me & dad in his DSLR camera. That will be  memory of lifetime. Dad left that night to native, felt bad. But yes, my responsibility starts here…..

By: Praveen Kavaladandi a proud SCITian