Life At XLRI - 15 Quick Facts

 

4. It rains every day here in Jamshedpur. Everyone is sick of it.

5. Once a marketing professor asked if we considered B-school life  to be as good as that in engineering colleges. Very few agreed. Then he wondered aloud if B-schools were not in fact colleges but were just glorified placement agencies. Near unanimous agreement. It was sad but kind of true.

6. Is it true because as opposed to being seventeen year old daisy eyed, foolish kids fresh out of school, we enter B-schools a little bit jaded and cynical, when the weight of the world has just begun to chip at us and break us down? Maybe we could still have had it as good as engineering, but it is we who changed. The folly of man.

7. The foundation of 98% of B-school friendships is hating the same people. Entire evenings are devoted to shit talking sessions.

8. You might think elite B-schools consist of elite students, but many of us can't get through five minutes of class without our phones, and are merely getting another year of the Indian education system over with one final time.

9. Nikola Tesla would struggle with the first year's academic workload. My two year old nephew can comfortably clear the second year. Who designed this?

10. It is raining right now. Not that there's a lot of things to do in Jamshedpur. Man fuck this place.

11. If there's one thing we all love, it's the inner glee emanating from us when someone we hate is ripped to shreds on XL confessions.

12. I know I've been critical of committees on campus in the past, but actually they are pivotal to ensuring a holistic and dynamic B-school learning experience and synergising the value addition of hahahahaha no it was all true.

13. Groups are usually formed based on common interests and region of origin, but there's also a division of poshness. You only ever hang out with people as posh - or as unposh - as you are. To find your type you have to start uber-civil and gradually start peeling the layers of courtesy to reveal your real self. Stop when someone becomes uncomfortable.

14. Some people get along with everyone, irrespective of how posh that person is. Do not trust them.

15. The top students seem to have it all - great grades, case competition wins, busy committee work and a CV to die for - but they did not waste enough time and make enough mistakes together with their group to form meaningful, lasting friendships. This is what I tell myself so I can sleep better at night.

 

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About the author:

Abhishek Tahlan is a second year student at XLRI Jamshedpur and part of the InsideIIM student team 2016-17.