i stepped in the SPJIMR campus on 17th june at around 5 pm in the evening... my cousin brother who also is an MBA(but not from SPJIMR) and my mother had accompanied me... when i started my walk towards the boys hostel, i observed that the campus was not so great or maybe not good enuf for my liking.. but i had a feeling that no matter what, SPJIMR is going to be great for me.. and after all, it is among the top 10 b-schools of india. So with this feeling in me and it being echoed in the words of my cousin brother, i marched to the boys hostel with two items of luggage in my hands and a laptop bag filled with a laptop and a book for preparing for the test which was to occur right next day. when i reached my room, i found that its like a common room only with 6 rooms in that and a lounge in between for group work or general discussion, i guessed. The bathrooms also, i found, were cramped up for space and i started imagining what rush would be there in the future for getting ready for classes and more importantly, exams. But this was not over yet. As if it was not enough, the almirah in which we were supposed to keep all our clothes was also like a general godrej cupboard, only that it was just one half of it. And to top it, the almirahs were kept outside the room and even the mirrors were in the lobby outside the rooms. But still, i was waiting to meet my new room-mates. When i came, one of my room mates had gone out to buy a lock for our room because, as i learnt later from him, the guard had been pestering him to return the substitute lock which he had taken from him. So, i took the key from the guard and stepped into the lift and what i observed i have already tld u.
After some time, my room mate came in and we got introduced to each other. this guy was from my state!! from allahabad!! i felt a lot good. But then the shock came. He had 4 (i dont know how to make the four bigger to stress it) years of experience!! i felt like "wow" and at the same time there was an internal sigh and i thought that i didnt have any work-ex. i started referring to him as "aap" but then he said, "dont say aap yaar". i again thought, "wow" and "thank god!! i can actually address them as equals even though they have much more work-ex than me". And then, we both opened up quite well. Now, to remind u, i had a test the next day(yes, believe it, THE next day). So, i was thinking of revising the material( a natural action). But i was thinking that i might make my reputation as a nerd which i really dont think i am. Then this guy by the name kabir came into our room with this material in hand and asking me to teach him something. I told him i am really bad at teaching but still, i would try. He seemed to be in desperate need of learning SOMEthing on the eve of the test. After sometime, people started pouring in and i suggested closing of doors lest more people should come in and i should be giving them all a sermon. And one more thing, all people greeted me like "Oh!! you are tanmay jain!!" when i inroduced myself. I came to know afterwards that i had put up a solution to a guy's doubt on our batch's orkut community and so they were all reacting like that. K, enough said about me and that crap test. Now is the time for the entry of my third room-mate and the coolest person i have met till now in my batch.
This guy just walks in at 11 pm(which is supposed to be the in-time for the hostel) with atleast 4 baggages with him and then we begin the same process of intro. A tall, fair guy, he carried a squash racket, a badminton racket, and a tennis racket with him. I thought, "abe ye aadmi hai ke sports items ki dukan!!"... bhai maaf karna if u read this entry. And then, for some days, he seemed to be in his own world and talked minimally to both of his room-mates. He came late to the room every night and we both started referring to him as "bindass-banda". I dont know why he asked me today not to call him but i know he actually likes his name which we have given us ( aur agar nahi bhi like kare to kya kar lega be??) . K, leave this. Now, it is my personal observation but it might be different for him regarding the moment we found out our common like. The TV-series and subsequently, admiring Rafael Nadal for his grit and determination. After that incident, i dont know whether it was because we found our common ground or what but all three of us after that day started interact much more freely (and now we say "what happens in the room, stays in the room!"). I thought this guy would be the one like not taking studying seriously and that he was and is till now. But, i think i am doing the job of inspiring them to sleep because its like whenever one of us sleeps, rest of us follow the lead soon. I think i have found the kind of room-mates i wanted- the balance of tafri-baazi and seriousness.
Hope the rest of the days at SP are as fun and filled with memorable days as they have been till now.
