Term 2 and Year 2009

...and the second term at IIM Lucknow comes to an end. It is done, and what an eventful one it has been. Started as usual with academic rigour and quizzes n all; gradually all that took a back-seat, and for a month I was busy nursing an A4 sized sheet's content (37 iterations on the content), mugging away rudderless, watching short-lists pass me by with a whoosh sound; five formal shirts were duly purchased for five eventful days; and it all culminated in me being one seriously lucky chap. In the last post I wrote in a similar context, I put forth certain remarks and observations about the MBA culture -- more specifically its Great Indian equivalent -- the PGDM.

This post comes at cross-roads between a term-end and an year-end. I'll try and summarize both, from my perspective. The past year has been quite an eventful one for me. The key notables were some academic eventualities I hadn't exactly wished for, some minor instances of ill-luck which worked entirely against me, and some extremely mechanised competing machines whom I ran into at IIML (I wrote an entry on such mugging-machines here). Things were consistently failing to fall in place. This term flagged in a much warranted recess.

Some of my favorite Key takeaways from the year have been:

• I knocked a convincing 99.91 percentile in cat, something I'll cherish all my life.
• Submitted the first resignation of my life. The good bye letter I wrote to the company is here.
• Bought my new tele-lens and opened a Flickr Account. Click here to see it.
• Completed one third of my MBA.
• Made some really really really great friends.
• Learnt how to give exams. (Roughly 90 exam-hall appearences in 6 months).
• Realized that the honour of feminine companionship is unlikely for mono-plane flyers like myself. Officially giving up on any prospects/pursuits :P
• Officially scored a Type-A score of 150+ [Type A personalities defined here]
• Secured a summers stint with an awesome firm. [The recess I spoke of up there somewhere]. Looking forward to it :)
• My first picture to be used for some constructive purpose :D [Click here to see the picture]
• Learnt plenty of economic theory. The only and maximal value add over the past year, I'd say.

Looking forward to the following in the coming year:

• Learning shall continue to be the primary motive here at Lucknow. I continue to hope that it doesn't take a toll on my gradecard ;) [Refer to previous term's post here]
• Buy a macro lens and go up n close with wildlife.
• Buy a portrait lens and convince some female into volunteering for portrait shots :P [Tried Seth's Lens and click here for one of the pics I grabbed with it.]
• Buy a Mach-V and learn some serious TT from Adi-Jain and Pandhi.
• Have fun :)

Next post on this theme shall follow right before summers...