Letter From The Trenches: Half-way Through IIM A PGPX

By Vinay Solanki

It feels like just a few moments have passed, but the reality is that I along with 84 other diverse, wonderful, enigmatic, charismatic, energetic people have already spent 6 months at the one-year full time MBA (PGPX) at IIM Ahmedabad (IIM A)!

Making the decision to come back to India, the decision to pursue an MBA and that too a one year MBA was confusing and complex. But we took the plunge and rode the wave to finish 3 terms and are currently swimming hard to reach the end of term 4 with multiple things happening all at the same time. 

Getting to PGPX

I can still feel the butterflies in my stomach from the time I went for the PGPX interview and faced three friendly, but at the same time serious and tough interviewers. It was here that I first met the humble and always smiling Prof. Shailesh Gandhi – his demeanor didn’t give any hint of how tough he could be in class. But thanks to his grilling, I am today conversant with Balance Sheets and Income statements – he taught us so well that a non-CA like me can today talk in the terminologies of the financial accounting world.

Click to expand – Article in The Economic Times talking of Indians abroad coming home for the PGPX

I still remember the excitement I felt when I got accepted to PGPX and the nerve bending tasks to wrap up things in the USA that followed. I enjoyed a one month honeymoon period at my previous employer and I can never forget the joy in the air and the freedom of speech that I enjoyed during those days :-). But wrapping up, selling everything and then landing at Ahmedabad, India was daunting and tiring.

Inside PGPX

Term I started with a bang, the first ever result of a quiz came out and many of us got the shock of the life when we looked at our grades – most of us were studying again after a 9-10 years gap and many of us had forgotten how to write with a pen :-). But we managed and we learnt!

Gradually, as Term I progressed, we met and understood our syndicate mates (group members for project work). We fought, we laughed, we inquired, we pestered but we managed to get through all the courses.

Prof. Saral Mukherjee taught us Operations Management and his style and aura of teaching with his punch lines and his analogies left an indelible mark on all of us. I will never forget the analogy of Toyota to a Cheetah and Boeing to an Elephant. Communication skills and Organization Behavior courses really opened up for us the interpersonal side of business organizations.

By Term II we were well versed with the case based style of learning and by now the stress of getting good grades had also subsided  – the focus was more on learning, knowing each other and also on an upcoming competition – The Talent Nite (Intra IIM-A talent fest).

Most of us were studying again after a 9-10 years gap and had forgotten how to write with a pen

Talent Nite was an exciting, creative and challenging journey for the entire batch. PGPX had never won this against the PGP and other programs at IIM A – the added load of studies, assignments, other extra curricular activities made things even tougher.

We learnt a lot about how under stress, even close friends can end up challenging each other and can get embroiled in a fight – but that learning was very important to understand the dynamics of the batch. It was a grueling 3 weeks efforts but I am proud to say that PGPX won the competition and created history! I will never forget the dance the 3 of us in the team did on Bedardi Raja wearing Ghaghra’s 🙂

Term III – The international immersion program (ESCP at Paris, France) was superb and was a fun filled trip to Europe. We managed to find some time to visit places of interest too – I went to Switzerland and others visited Rome, Italy, Amsterdam, etc. Two weeks of this program taught us design thinking, working in Europe, the business style in Paris, and luxury brand management.

A few of our batch mates went to CUHK, Hong Kong and one group to Warwick, UK. I think all the three groups learned well and enjoyed the international immersion programme to the fullest. We all came back to the campus satisfied and rejuvenated. 

The current term is critical because as soon we came back we started with our elective courses and a few core subjects as well. Choosing elective was a tough decision – choosing the course that best suits your long term goal is a complex and time consuming process. However even before the study mode settles in, the placement season started and people got busy building resumes, thinking about companies and job descriptions, understanding whether they are taking the right course for their life or not, etc.

A new wave of group formations are taking place to work on case challenges, business ideas, case discussions and mock interviews. Looking at the economy and positive sentiment after the election of Mr. Narendra Modi, we feel that this Class should end up creating history in terms of placements.

But keeping that aside for sometime and thinking more of what we have gained in these six months – I can come up with so many points that don’t correlated directly with jobs: soft skills such as better communication skills, a deeper perspective of business, leadership skills, a new network of close buddies, picking up french, growing self confidence and of course getting branded as an IIM A student! 

I would like to thank all the 84 batch mates and all the amazing professors (Shailesh Gandhi, Saral Mukerjhee, Deepti Bhatnagar, Asha Kaul, Arvind Sahay, Prem Chander, Shailendra Mehta, Krishnesh Mehta, Anurag Agrawal, P. K. Sinha) and many many more for the amazing journey at IIM A.

I cannot end this post without thanking my wife, who has to manage my 13 month old son Vinmay and bear with my timings and tough schedule with me rarely present in the apartment since I have to spend most of the time in the syndicate room studying.

But I know that both of our sacrifices will pay off soon.