Well, if you confuse it as any other B school then you are mistaken, it also houses 4 research labs supported by ICICI bank which are involved into cutting edge research in specialized areas like Advanced Finance, Insurance and Risk Management, Development Finance, Small and Medium Enterprises . Too much for a compact campus of 1. 5 acres and probably I won't blame the people living next door for not knowing about the existence of this place as its one of the policies of IFMR not to advertise blatantly. Or an up and coming B-school would have made an event like that of South Asian Economic Summit a poster thing to get visibility across all the channels of media but then even an international event like that pass off here like a daily activity.
When I first reached here for my interview, I was amazed by the hospitality. I just wrote a mail to the registrar and asked for accommodation during the interview and was surprised to see a room booked in my name. The hospitality touched me. When I started on my journey my mind was preoccupied with too many things, I am a north Indian both by origin and by taste and probably have never imagined that I would have to shift to Chennai for next two years. The food, language, people, weather, heat too many questions were lingering on my mind but then once I set foot into this college, it had a calming effect on me. The campus touches you in its own special way. With giant trees along the sides, it adds to the tranquility of the place. The atmosphere is serene and you will find people in formal as well as informal attire deeply engrossed into discussions.
I asked the mess people about my room and was surprised to find a couple of them speaking Hindi. The room was neatly cleaned, had a bathroom attached and proper furniture. When I asked that do students get the same type of rooms, he politely replied that probably when you will join, you will find someone among you staying in the same room. Everything will be the same except the AC. Interview went fine and for the first time, I saw some serious people asking some serious questions and not just doing the plain talking. It was a panel but they made the environment completely friendly. That student friendliness is still there and its one of the assets of the IFMR that professors are really cool. You can walk to them with any kind of problem and they will help. I have some nice experiences the memories of which I will keep with me forever.
I roamed around the campus and too me 3 minutes to circle the whole campus. It was even smaller than our engineering college hostel and we had 10 of them. But then I remember it used to take 15 minutes walking from the hostel to class and was a hell lot of time waste when you need to walk from building to building. MBA shouldn’t be wasted on walking, rather if you want to waste it then waste it on talking, relationship building, networking and learning. You climb down the stairs you are near library, walk about 20 meters you have the stairs going to teaching halls and computer lab next door. In canteen chances are that you will bump into some faculty where you can get your fundas clear.
Well, my first experience of mess was really exciting. I saw two foreigners enjoying chapathi and dal with spoon. When enquired, I came to know that one was a visiting faculty and another was researcher from Harvard. A popular campus joke goes like “Out of Cambridge town, if you can find MIT, Harvard and
I have almost spent close to 10 months in the campus and in these 10 months have even have learnt to appreciate the south Indian cuisine. Ifmr is not just a B School for us; it’s has become a way of life. And one of the most important lessons that I have learnt here is that if you are capable enough, you don’t need to blow your own trumpet.
Class of 2008
IFMR, Chennai
