First Day @ SCIT

I reached Pune on the humid evening of 2 June. That was a real turn off. Especially, when my friends back in Delhi were all praise about Pune’s weather. I was telling myself, “It’s OK buddy. You will learn to get along the weather here”. After a quick registration on the next day, I immediately called my childhood friend who was also in Pune. We met over lunch reliving our school days and the graduation years. It was fun. I was feeling very glad to get back to college life after 4 years. But, there were several questions in my head. Hostel, food, Placement were the least on that list. The big questions were “will there be parties?” “I heard so much about the outings and night-outs in B schools, (well facebook pictures of my friends speak for it). Will it be the same here?” “Also, doing an MBA is like trading your sleep with the devil for making ppts and preparing reports. How true is that?” “Wait!! How are these two situations possible together??? So what is it going to be, parties or reports?” After all, I am here to have fun and along the way learn how my ex-managers earned more money by working less. 😉 Well, that second part is more important.
Next day was Induction Day. My First Day at SCIT. It was a much awaited day. It would be the first chance to know about the college, campus, our faculty and moreover the Symbiosis culture. It started with a fabulous speech by our director, Dr R. Raman. I think nothing could have been more motivating at that moment. Not only did he answer the usual answers of the placements, hostel, food e.t.c. but also, in a very convincing way, answered my questions and much more. The jar of priorities revealed a lot about what was to happen in the coming 2 years. That for me was my first lesson in management. It is not that I had not come across jar of priorities earlier. But, that presentation was like the rocks in the jar. Important and had to miss. It might also be because teaching has been Dr Raman sir’s passion. Overal, the presentation was like the almanac for the next two years. It is a lesson which I will never forget in my life. Dr Vidya Yeravdekar, the Principal Director of Symbiosis Society, and Dr. Rajani R.Gupte, Vice Chancellor of Symbiosis International University , spoke next. They spoke about the Symbiosis culture, the concept of ‘One Family’ at Symbiosis and how it has brought the homely feeling to many students , domestic and International at the SUI. Dr Vidya madam also shared the experiences from her travelling and how the Symbiosis students could reap the benefit of being global citizens. After the thoughtful speech by Vidya madam, Dr. Rajani R.Gupte, Vice Chancellor of Symbiosis International University took the podium. The last speaker was the esteemed chief guest of the event, Mr. Abhilash Verma. A successful alumnus of the 2001-03 batch. He is currently Director, Product Management at Citrix. An insightful speech uncovering about his life at SCIT. A very insightful speech by the guest. The Induction event was a great experience. But, the students still didn’t gel very well. But, not for a very long time. In the evening time, the café arena was filled with students. The batch got along with their classmates and short conversations continued till the night. While interacting with the batch mates, everyone tried to look attentive. Trying to memorize the names of new acquaintances they met. Time passed very quickly that evening. And it was time to head back to your hostels. As we walked backed to the hostel, the guys were not speaking much. Maybe they were thinking. Thinking about the bigger objective in mind. Or maybe about the dreams they would fulfill at SCIT. Or could be that girl they chatted with in the campus. But what mattered at the end of the day was that the batch accepted the Symbiosis family as much as Symbiosis had accepted them. We all look forward to spending some of the most memorable times in the coming 2 years, filled with joy, excitement, thrill and obviously sleepless nights. 🙂