Celebration Of Learning Student Sign-Up Sheet To Show: Fill & Download for Free

Life at NIFT is definitely as fancy as many would claim but it is also equally challenging and hectic that many don’t know. Many pave their way into NIFT to pursue their passion but most are here to attain that prestigious tag of “NIFTian”.NIFT Chennai, being amidst a harmless Conservative locality, constitutes a diverse student population from across India. NIFT Chennai is also one among the top 5 fashion institutes of the country, contributing some of the finest, talented individuals to the fashion and apparel industry.All the UG programmes at NIFT are entitled for a span of 4 years. The first year is deemed as the Foundation Programme where every student is exposed to various facets of fashion and apparel field. Most of the first year runs out in figuring where are we, what are we doing and what we would probably be doing at the end of these 4 years. It’s fine to be paranoid but slowly you will be too much occupied with assignments, submissions, projects, presentations and documentations and what not, so meeting the deadlines will be your only priority after that. One of the best thing about studying at NIFT is, the importance given for practical learning is immense.A typical weekday at NIFT will commence at 9.am. (Which is like moving earth and heaven for most to make it to the campus ) and classes goes until 5.30.pm. Another great thing is that, you don’t have to be carrying heavy textbooks and notebooks as most of the lectures are given as presentations ( made by the faculties after referring to numerous books and online articles). But design students have to certainly carry numerous other heavy articles which is until 1st year and after that we get lockers. Apart from classroom learning, there will be frequent industrial and field visits for better understanding of concepts. The students are also encouraged to undertake numerous internships and part time jobs in this course of 4 years, which tremendously help in building confident, versatile individuals. To not make it monotonous, the college also arranges numerous workshops, some alumni interactions and lots of guest lectures from industrial experts and faculties from other colleges. After the first year, we get the passes to enter into the core of each of their courses. Thus, during 2nd year and 3rd year at NIFT, you get the broader opportunity to express yourself and at the same time identify and establish your goals for the next few years. It is during this time that many budding entrepreneurs start surfacing and soar to great heights. One such instance is my classmate who started off slow and steady by designing and sewing garments for our department’s fashion show for the college cultural and then established herself into a brand and she’s making some good money. You can find her as Divya Samal Clothing on Instagram and also FB.Some of the frequent terms or slangs that you would encounter in any NIFT are Attendance( I will come back on this later), CMS( online college portal)( our results are safe here), submission sheet( one of the million dollar feeling for every NIFTian is signing this sheet), learning diary( the holy book of every student), Jury( the only time we realize our true friends), Log book( resurfaces only during Jury and diminishes forever), GC(Garment Construction )Lab( great place only during non-submission days), pen-drive hain kya?( the answer is NO but still everybody asks everybody which means Get your own pen-drive), body-forms( has seen the worst with us and also been in the worst with us), RC( Resource centre( apparently that’s how we address our library)) and many such things. Attendance at NIFT is like the Oxygen cylinder of every student, you gotta keep it sufficient to make your way into another semester and also another year.Now and then, there is massive celebration of some Indian Festivals where DJ night is mandatory to de-stress ourselves and to keep us going until the next big celebration. The mega cultural fest of NIFT Chennai is the Spectrum, for which the entire college awaits eagerly and also everyone work hard to make it spectacular each year.“The world is your ramp. Own it”, “Dress up like there’s no tomorrow”, and “People will stare. Make it worth their while”, all these phrases Comes into life at NIFT. Growing up teaches us some serious lessons on presenting ourselves and dressing up. But at NIFT, you master them.For anyone, hostel life is the happiest of times to cherish and to always speak about. Hostel life is the best at NIFT. There are no inhumane rules and practices as it happens with most of the engineering colleges in India. Definitely No ragging of any kind, just a friendly interaction. As most of your friends will be around all the time, it will only be difficult to focus on your work. But everybody gets engrossed with their stuff as the deadlines approach nearer. Also too much misbehaviours can lead to denial of hostel facility to you for the rest of the years. The food is good and healthy enough to keep you energised all through the day. In addition to this, a snack bar is also set up to keep all those hard working owls brisk through the night, coping with the assignments and project work.Inspite of being in a glorious fashion institute in India, you are always going to be criticised and cornered for not being an engineer or a medico or whatsoever, but they also forget to acknowledge that the basic human need has always been Food, Clothing and Shelter. Be proud to be part of an industry which is going to evolve but never diminish.

The following article published in India Today gives us an insight of Dr. Raghuram Rajan's journey in becoming the Governor of RBI.As a young boy studying in Delhi's prestigious Delhi Public School, R.K. Puram, Raghuram Rajan, when asked what his ambition in life was, would say: "I want to be the Prime Minister of India". This when most kids of that generation would answer either doctor or engineer.A few decades later, there is very little Rajan has not achieved. Only 52, he is not only an Indian icon, but a global one. He is called a "Financial Prophet" and a "Rockstar" in the same breath. His fan following is across the globe, ranging from heads of states to young women who swoon at his very mention. What he says-or does not say-not only moves stock prices on Dalal Street but also on Wall Street. He even has a fan page on Facebook with close to a million "likes"."I don't quite recall my ambition of being PM, but I do know that today my ambitions are far more realistic," says Rajan, with a shy smile, in an inter-view to INDIA TODAY at the Reserve Bank of India headquarters in Mumbai.The RBI has seen many governors with both, the highest intellect and integrity, but none as popular-not just in India but globally. And perhaps none who speaks his mind with the courage of conviction and does so with an air of confidence that surpasses his territory. To show the government and the powers that be, the mirror.Be it questioning "Make in India" and instead suggesting "Make for India", or telling a room full of journalists the "RBI is not a cheerleader", Rajan calls a spade a spade. And has the confidence to handle the back-lash, knowing fully well there would be no dearth of organisations and institutions who would grab him the moment he were to raise his hand. His is a CV every young Indian dreams to have-a gold medalist at IIT-Delhi and IIM-Ahmedabad and a winner of countless awards. And yet, despite his stardom, he is a man rooted to the ground. He values his integrity to the point that he tells his college classmates that he won't be able to come over to their place if those invited include bankers. "The most amazing thing about him is his genuineness.He has gone places but even now you meet the same Raghu as he was back in college. Extremely warm," says the CEO of a leading company who was Rajan's classmate at IIM-Ahmedabad. Rajan spends a lot of time with his family when he can and is particularly close to his brother Mukund, who is the brand custodian and chief ethics officer of the Tata Group. Integrity obviously runs in the family. He is also seen at malls often, buying groceries over the weekend. He retains his email id from the Booth School of Business, University of Chicago, where he taught before he came back to India in 2012. He married his IIM classmate, Radhika Puri, who is now a Lecturer in Law at University of Chicago Law School.But few know Rajan's return to India was not an accident. It was not about power and holding a position of authority. He needs no official position to wield authority. Years ago he had decided not to opt for an American passport, because, as he told a friend: "One day I want to go back to India and contribute to public policy in my country. I must therefore retain my Indian passport." Even as a young man while he was making waves with his lectures, predictions and economic theories, Rajan's heart was set on returning to his country someday. His wish was to come true.HOMEWARD BOUNDIn 2007, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was chairing a meeting that included then Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, then Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the PM's Economic Advisory Council Chairman C. Rangarajan and bureaucrats from the finance ministry.Even as they got down to discussing financial sector reforms, one of those present remarked how once the economics stalwarts gathered around the table fade into the sunset, India would not have a strong economic mind in public policy. Unlike in the US, India had failed to bring bright academics into public policy and there would be a vacuum once the four wise men at the table had finished their innings, it was suggested.The suggestion resonated with Singh. He asked for Rajan to attend the next meeting. Once the meeting was over, an impressed Singh is learnt to have said: "We should bring him to India so he can begin to wet his feet in Indian waters." Rajan was asked to prepare what is now called the Rajan Committee report on financial sector reforms titled "100 small steps". "He worked very hard. He would finish his class in Chicago and take the flight out to India. He would head straight to meet-ings and once done head to the air-port and make it back in time for the Monday class," says a bureaucrat who worked closely with Rajan then. After a stint as an external advisor to the PM followed by a year-long innings as chief economic advisor, Rajan took charge as RBI governor in September 2013. His task was cut out. Inflation had spiraled out of con-trol and the rupee was near Rs 70 to the dollar. Then Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, who shared a very good equation with Rajan and treated him as "an equal", was simultaneously fighting the battle of bringing the economy back on its feet. The two together succeeded in taking several decisions that led to staving off the threat to the economy. No sooner did the Narendra Modi government come to power, rumours of Rajan, a UPA appointee, being shown the door grew louder every day. His decision to not cut interest rates as swiftly and sharply as the government would have liked him to, made him unpopular with the finance ministry. But then every RBI governor in recent memory has had an issue with the government, especially on the pace of interest rate cuts. His not being from the "tribe", has seen him battling the bureaucracy, with some wins and some terrible losses too. "He is not a part of the tribe. Unlike his predecessors who had either themselves cut their teeth in the civil services or had a deputy who had done so. He had the choice, but I think he prefers to not be part of the tribe," says a bureaucrat. Take for example the visit to the annual World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) meetings as part of the Indian delegation. With Finance Minister Arun Jaitley indisposed, the natural choice to lead the delegation would have been the RBI governor, who enjoys a minister of state rank.But it was then Finance Secretary Arvind Mayaram who led the delegation. This reportedly prompted the RBI to even send a letter to the government seeking a cabinet minister rank for the governor. It has not been agreed to. Rajan is still governor but Maya-ram has since been moved out to a low-key ministry.IN STEP WITH MODIRajan also ended up picking issues with the government on the extent of dividend the RBI should pay it. Once again, the bureaucracy insisted it was for the government to decide the amount and not for RBI. Eventually, RBI did give what the government wanted. More recently, the government had to beat a hasty retreat on its proposals pertaining to the Public Debt Management Agency that sought to manage government debt in the form of government securities and bonds. This is handled by the RBI. The government also wanted to hand over the regulation of debt market to capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Rajan's concerns were not so much with the broader principle but with the eventual process that would be followed and the autonomy the RBI would enjoy.Like his predecessors, Rajan is fiercely protective about the autonomy of the RBI, one of the very few credible and respected institutions India has.A recent proposal by the RBI to appoint a chief operating officer of the rank of deputy governor too is awaiting government approval. Rajan's attempts to usher in dramatic change in the functioning and structure of RBI to bring it in sync with global best practices have been resisted so far. Even within RBI there is a certain sense of resistance to big bang reforms and change."The ghosts of the Harshad Mehta scam still resonate at RBI. The fear of being left to the wolves when the chips are down still makes the rank and file very cautious and hence while one has seen lots of incremental steps by a Rajan-led RBI, you have not yet seen the big bang reforms," says a government official. "Rajan is a practical man. He knows which battles to pick and when to back down."It is perhaps this quality that has resulted in him enjoying the support of Prime Minister Modi. Rajan is completely aligned to the vision of the strongest Indian PM in three decades. Modi believes in infrastructure explosion and so does Rajan. Modi believes in big bang banking sector reforms, so does Rajan. Modi believes in a stable rupee, so does Rajan. Modi believes in a major thrust on manufacturing, so does Rajan. Modi wants inflation to be reined in, so does Rajan, who has picked slaying the inflation demon as his big agenda. Modi wants financial inclusion, so does Rajan. Modi wants to encourage entrepreneurship, so does Rajan.Within this broader alignment of vision, Rajan does from time to time show the mirror to some initiatives of the government. For example, he questioned the "Make in India" slogan and suggested "Make for India" not because he is opposed to manufacturing growth in India. He was only cautioning not to follow a totally export-led strategy that had caused extreme economic pain to many countries in the past, and instead look at India as a big consumption economy. In the same breath, he has also acknowledged the good work done so far by the government and has highlighted the fact that expecting dramatic change is being unrealistic. Being critical is fraught with risk, as this government is more sensitive to criticism. But if he has been critical, he has balanced it with being equally stoic in his strong defence of the government too.And therefore to assume he is not in sync with the government and is on a constant warpath with it is a completely wrong reading. It is instead merely his way of saying there is a better way of achieving the same goal. And which may well be why Modi has backed Rajan to the hilt. At the 80th anniversary celebration of the RBI, Rajan chose to address the audience in Hindi in the presence of Modi. Modi on his part gave a big pat on the back to Rajan, saying he is a great teacher and he enjoys his crisp presentations. Modi perhaps knows Rajan's value and as long as it is in line with his own vision, he would back him.MAN FOR ALL SEASONSRajan has his fair share of critics too. "While Rajan has scored a big win by signing the Monetary Policy Framework Agreement, that establishes for the first time in RBI's history, a specific inflation target, his stand on PDMA (Public Debt Management Agency), or on Uber's cashless innovation or on him opposing voting in a Monetary Policy Committee which would improve decisions, is something one did not expect from someone who had been brought in to change this very mindset of RBI," says Ajay Shah, an economist and professor at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP).Rajan is a communicator par excellence and is clear in his mind that RBI needs to not just make great policy but also articulate it. To that extent he has taken the role of the RBI to a completely different level and that has made him a popular governor. And perhaps even more unpopular with the bureaucracy.As he enters his third and perhaps final year as governor-unless he gets a second term-Rajan has many challenges ahead. For one, the likelihood of a failed monsoon and an increase in inflation would severely cramp his attempts to boost growth by further cutting rates. Moreover, any spike in oil prices that Rajan says "worries" him, could negate all the economic benefits India has reaped following a more than 50 per cent crash in global oil prices. He has to continue to give a big push to cleaning up rising NPAs (non-performing assets) in the banking sector and work closely with the government to bring a robust bankruptcy legislation and tackle the impaired balance sheets of PSU banks by recapitalising them. To that extent, forging a close working relationship with the mandarins in North Block will be a necessity and challenge for Rajan. He also has to push through reforms in facilitating payment banks and throwing open doors to more banks, including foreign ones, to make the banking sector more competitive and widespread."Not only is he someone who knows his subject, he is also someone who is constantly learning and is a very balanced person," says Ashima Goyal, an economist and professor at Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research (IGIDR) and a member of RBI's Technical Advisory Committee. "Let us not forget how fragile our currency was when he took charge and what he did to bring stability to it. He knows what he has to do going ahead." Rajan has been trying to bring change to the RBI too. Being someone who endears himself to people across ranks helps. "Sir comes to office every day by 8.45 am after his gym and run," says the lift attendant at RBI headquarters. "It is not just me but the entire RBI staff that will ensure no harm comes to our governor," says a security officer on the recent threat to Rajan's life. "He just walks into our room sometimes and chats on any issue. We have never known such a friendly and candid governor," says an executive director and an old RBI hand.AN ALL-ROUNDERHe works hard. And works fast. Within days of taking over, Rajan picked his IIM classmate and banker Nachiket Mor, now a member of the RBI's central board, to come up with ways to cover small businesses and low-income households. The Mor committee came up with the concept of "payment banks" with an initial capital of Rs 50 crore, one-tenth of what a full-service bank requires, that would only accept deposits and not do any lending.On his very first day in office, Rajan had talked about a new approach to formulating monetary policy. The same month he picked Deputy Governor Urjit Patel to examine monetary policy framework.Rajan's two biggest successes have been his persistent attack on inflation and stabilising the rupee that had spiraled out of control at the time he took charge. But bringing in greater competition among banks by throwing open the field, or ushering in big bang mobile payment reforms, or cleaning up the banking system of its ballooning non-performing assets by reigning in big defaulters, are still works in progress.Shortly before Rajan graduated from IIM-Ahmedabad, one of his batchmates wrote that he would earn a slot in the Guinness Book of World Records for the world's thinnest book: 'Games I haven't played'. His father R. Govindrajan, a former RAW officer now settled in Chennai, laughs as he recalls this tribute to his son's all-round versatility. "He was willing to try out everything that intrigued him," he says. "Raghu was not just a bright student but an all-rounder, from quiz contests and debates to sports."Such talent is always rare to find. Manmohan Singh may well have brought him back to India but Narendra Modi may do well to nurture him and preserve his talent. For India.EDIT 1 : "I want to highlight the role of serendipity - in terms of three incidents. I was asked at Ahmedabad, if you think about a career choice, what will you become? `I have a confession to make here. I said I want to be the Governor of RBI'," Rajan said during an event organised by IIM-Ahmedabad (Mumbai chapter) in Mumbai to felicitate distinguished alumni of the top business school.Amidst thunderous applause, the 51-year-old ex-IMF chief economist, who studied at IIM-Ahmedabad in late 1980s, also enumerated some other events that have shaped his immensely successful life. One of them was joining a PhD programme at the prestigious MIT in US."The first act of serendipity was when I applied to MIT," he said, adding when the top notch research university refused to accept him into PhD programme, he wrote back saying, "I am a poor Indian citizen...there is no way I can pay for the PhD. I would like to come but..."To his pleasant surprise, Rajan received a letter from MIT a few weeks later, saying there is a scholarship programme and the institute would like to consider him.Source:RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan not only keeps his job under the new regime but commands respect with his firm line on monetary policyWhen Raghuram Rajan dreamed of heading RBI at IIM-A

Okay! So I cannot talk about other introverts at IIMs.But, I can surely talk about myself and I will try to generalize my own experiences so that you can choose to decide whether IIMs are suitable for introverts or not.So, as long as talking ‘about’ introverts seems easier than talking ‘to’ introverts, I think, we shouldn’t mind taking some time to know them better.Yes, I am an introvert and even the term ‘deep blue introvert’ wouldn’t be just blue enough to describe meMy silence would be the first and last thing observed about me by any random observer.And, I think I am so silent that I can even make Dr. Manmohan Singh look talkative.Saying simple little things like ‘Hey what’s up’ can me way more difficult for me than analyzing the balance sheet of a company.And, ‘Small Talk’ is the biggest talk I ever had.Sometimes, two people can get lost in a chit-chat for hours in a row, before realizing that there is a third person called ‘Khalid’ sitting in the room, who hasn’t spoken a word yet.That may sound a bit eerie to you, but, usually I am more lost into my own thoughts rather than taking notes of other people conversations.As an ever-quiet person, I am also an easy target for people who just couldn’t stop talking about themselves.For some reason, such people will always have something or the other to talk about.Like an event in their life, which they think I have never witnessed before. Or a cliché joke, which they think that they invented on the spot.Or an opinion on politics and society, which according to them, will change the face of earth.I try hard to listen to all of them. And, sometimes I try so hard that I end up giving long silent stares to them, as they freak out and look for cover.When not making things weird for other people by my silent staring eyes, I sometimes do take part in their intellectual talks starting like ‘ Aaj Weather kitna mast hai na’,to which I am able to somehow respond with supportive facts like ‘Haan temperature 22 degree centigrade aur humidity 53% dikha rha hai’Well, as you can imagine, such attempts hardly make things easier for me.The only tool which I have in my defence is a bright smile which I keep handy all the time, running on a default mode so that people won’t seek any other response from me.But, that smile which appeared to be innocent at one point of time has started to look a bit devious as I seem to creep out my friends all the time.I know you wanted to know about the life of introverts at IIMs, but, before that I will like to share a bit of background about me.Growing up in a large family, I was always surrounded with people talking ‘at’ me rather than talking ‘to’ me.And, my all-boys school life didn’t have much of respite either.All around me, I will find boys jumping, pushing and kicking around each other for reasons beyond my understanding. Obviously, as they grew up, they attained some kind of sophistication, and then they only punched and kicked each other for reasons within my understanding.I almost never talked to anybody at school. Except squeaking ‘Present Teacher’ in the early morning attendance, my lips would be sealed all the time.Then, in between periods, my desk partner will always be excited to tell me stories of ‘How he had so much fun last evening’.Sometimes, I will drift off and get lost into details of his stories as I would imagine myself having the same fun time which he was talking about.Like a double edge sword, such visualizations not only gave me the power to see and feel things which I never had but, also a sense of false hope for things which I will never have.For most part of my early school life, I wasn’t really good at academics.Part of the reason was that I always felt threatened by my teachers. And like some universal law of nature, these teachers expected some kind of discipline and regularity from me which I never had.Getting on the school bus, copying things from the blackboard onto my notebook, waiting for the recess bell and jumping back on the school bus were the only few tasks that I was automated for.Anything apart from the daily tasks was something which made me feel ill-designed for.The worst part was that even though the shocks were lot more common than I expected, I never knew how to face them.Like, I will only come to know that the exams has started when early morning I will see everyone in the class feverishly reading their notebooksSince, even homework was only like a weekly event in our school, I never did that either.Tests, exams, home-works, poetry recitals were all like natural disasters to me. They were a disaster every time they happened and it all appeared natural to me.After, a point of time my teachers also stopped expecting any good coming from me.But, one day, all of a sudden, my elder sister decided to do my homework because she had finished hers’ early and had nothing better to do in life.My teacher was surprisingly pleased seeing my home-work.She was so happy that she gave me a Cadbury 5-Star, only after struggling to take it out from the smallest zip of her big black purse.I ate the chocolate and gave the wrapper to my sister.I thought she liked to collect shiny toffee wrappers.But, for some reason she didn’t liked it and started acting weird. Even weirder than me.And from that day onwards, she never did my home-work again. Bad sister.In school, Games period would be a bit of relief.Football, and not cricket, was the most popular game in our school.Even though I never knew which side I was playing for, I seemed to be quite enthusiastic about it.When not being pushed and pulled by the other kids, I was trying to run after the ball.Sometimes, the highest point of the day would be me kicking the ball at least once. Or the ball managing to kick my legs. Whichever.At home, I remember my longest conversations would be with my mom. She used to ask, ‘Khana Khayega’, and with an appropriate shake of my head, I would say, ‘Haan’ or a ‘Na’.Sometimes she use to prolong the conversations with questions like, ‘Sabzi lega ki chutney lega’. And my monologue responses to similar questions will be enough for my mom to design my future food preferences.The people at my school didn’t know the reality at my home.The people at my home didn’t know the reality at my school.And, as the introvert I am, I struggled to understand the reality of either.The whole world seemed to be a very strange place to me. In a way, it still is.In much ways, my life mimicked that of Darsheel Safary in Taare Zameen par.Lost in the imaginary world of my own thoughts, I will only be rescued by the reality of my daily ritual.I was always told by others that there is a genuine problem in the way I am and I wouldn’t survive this harsh world out there.And, somehow, I started believing that they are always right and I am wrong.My silence was taken as a sign for my dumbness and other ‘intelligent’ people seemed to have all kinds of solutions to my problems.But, that was then.And things might have slightly changed as they appear to me now.So, let’s fast forward a decade and few years and take you to my life at IIM.I joined IIM Lucknow in the year 2015 after a couple of years of experience in a R&D company.I had decided that I won’t join IIMs A/B/C.You know Why? Because they never called me. That’s why.Bad A/B/C.At Lucknow, there used to be these 2 guys who just sat behind me in the class. One was a Mechanical Engineer from IIT Madras and the other was an Electronics engineer from BIT Mesra.In the 15min. breaks, we will often talk to each other about the new kind of life at IIM L. What was common to all 3 of us was that we were deep introverts who hadn’t expected life at IIM to be this crazy.It all seemed meaningless to us, running after classes, presentations, applications, quizzes with no sense of direction.What seemed stranger was the fact that the majority of people were not only enjoying the same life, but, also found time for parties and celebrations.At least it appeared to be so.We concluded, that probably, we were not made for this kind of place and any life outside this place would be a much better life.And, after a month or so, the Mesra guy suddenly left the college.As I broke this news to the other guy, we both had a long heart to heart conversation.And, I don’t know what insights this guy gathered from the conversation, but soon after the mid-sems, he also took off.I had my own long list of personal issues to deal with, apart from the life at IIM, and as I sat alone in the room staring at my own reflection in the unpowered laptop screen, I wondered what all this meant for me.Well, the problems obviously never stopped there.And, I can go on telling you my story to show how I faced different challenges, but, before that I wanted you to be clear on what do I mean by introversion.For most part of the century, Introversion was seen as a disease, a disorder which needs to be treated as a medical condition.It is like giving a man pills to act like a woman or the other way round.Nobody wanted to believe that introversion is a natural state.Still, companies like Pfizer makes pills to cure introversion.And as long as doctors are making money on the deal, they have no problem prescribing you such medicines.So, is introversion really a natural state?Yes, introversion is very much a natural state, but nobody is 100% introvert or 100% extrovert and most people show degrees of introversion/extroversion depending on the situation.Preliminary research says that roughly 70% of people in this world are extroverts.In a place like IIM, this number could be as high as 90% depending upon the kind of input process chosen by them.However, research also says that there is a good number of self-proclaimed extroverts who are actually introverts, but claim the opposite because of the greater social acceptance shown towards the other.So, who exactly is an introvert?Biologically speaking, introverts are over-stimulated individuals whose sensitivity to events, people and surroundings are very high and hence they always need some alone time to recharge their minds and bodies.Similarly, extroverts are under-stimulated individuals who constantly need presence of other individuals to recharge themselves.Both introverts and extroverts are born wired like that and the early years of their growing up could be elemental in determining how good they become in managing their natural state.You will often hear people complaining, ‘I am getting bored’. Well, these people are actually extroverts who are not getting the required amount of neural stimulation to feel normal.Left alone to themselves, these extroverts will develop similar levels of stress as an introvert might get in a huge group of friends.The concept of boredom does not typically apply to introverts because their minds are already running on a high and the need of an external action is not felt.It is easy for an extrovert to assume that introverts are slow thinkers, because they are reluctant to give immediate response to any normal question.However, this assumption does not even come close to the actual truth.An introverts mind might be running with so many multiple thoughts at the same time that it would be difficult to make sense of them.An introvert might have already finished answering a question in his/her mind, while in reality he/she might have hardly spoken a word.It is this huge discrepancy between rates of processed thoughts and actual words spoken, which is so difficult for an introvert to manage.No wonder, a written communication always seems easier for an introvert as the extra time to process thoughts gives better results for them.And you was also hear extroverts complaining that introverts are shy.So are Introverts really shy?Often confused to one and the same, shyness and introversion may not necessarily mean the same thing.Simply put, introverts are people who prefer alone time and will mostly try to stay away from any group activity in which they are expected to behave like extroverts.Whereas, ‘Shy’ people are those who fear negative reactions from other people in anticipation for their future actions.To the outside world, both of them might appear the same, but, if you try to analyze the reason behind a ‘no’ coming from an introvert, you will understand them better.As a person, I am not necessarily ‘Shy’ because I do seek out many opportunities even though I know that there is a high chance of negation.Also, I have been blunt a lot of times where I have directly hit the insecurity of the other person which he/she is hiding from.Obviously, people don’t appreciate such responses coming from my end.But, there is a good chance that an ‘introvert’ who is always told that he/she is wrong, might develop some level of shyness.So, as long as your career is concerned, it’s perfectly alright to be an introvert, but, it’s definitely not okay to be shy.If you think you are an introvert and feeling uncomfortable to do something which you have always wanted to do, then this is your ‘shyness’ and not your ‘introversion’ which is holding you back.More on this later, but let us get back to the case of introversion at IIMs.As we are discussing the issues faced by introverts at IIMs, I believe it would be better if we can club these issues under various sub-headings.And discussing them thereon would be more relatable for any introvert.So, let us start with the most basic one,Academics - At IIM Lucknow, I didn’t have a great CGPA. Actually I am just bragging. I didn’t even have a good CGPA.The easiest way to locate my marks in any excel sheet was to use a ‘MIN’ function and find my name somewhere around the top.But, trying to maintain a great CGPA at a postgraduate course is one of the most meaningless achievements in anybody’s life.It is like trying to hit 6 runs in the last ball of the match when you need more 125 runs to win.No matter how many marks you score, there is always someone scoring more than you. The key is to not make it a competition of sorts and just let be.As an introvert you can fall into two categories of people.The first, who are much disciplined and structured and who always seemed to be in control of most things, including their academic scores.Or, the other, who is so lost in his/her imaginary world that everything seems to be running on the emergency mode.Silence of the first one reeks of control and composure, and that of the second, is of confusion and disorder.I definitely did not belong to the former group as I was unwillingly running high with ‘carpe diem’ (Living in the Now). No matter whatever submissions I knew about, it had to be submitted ‘now’.So, as an introvert, you might feel that you are putting twice the effort as compared to other students and still not achieving half their results.Also you might be stuck, trying to understand the ‘why’ of everything when others are showing great results with just ‘how’ and ‘what’ of things.As PGP courses are designed, you don’t get enough time to learn any subject deeply, but you are expected to know a lot of different things.For an introvert who needs to spend good amount of time with books to understand the core concepts, this shortage of time may prove debilitating.Extroverts fare better because they tend to spend a lot of time with other people and will find something or the other useful to learn from their friends.Also, you might be aware that true learning and having a good CGPA are two totally different things.You need to spend a good amount of time learning concepts and applying them to get the real learning behind any subject.Whereas you can just manage a good CGPA by picking bits and pieces of information from other people and hope that the same is asked in the examinations.So you will always have to decide for yourself as in what your expectations are.If only a good CGPA matters to you, probably you need to use your listening skills to quickly learn from others.But, probably you should also remember that numbers on your grade-sheet/mark sheet is perhaps one of the poorest ways to measure your true knowledge and learning.Though, terrible as it is, numbers serve the major purpose of giving you the much needed confidence to act on new things.When you think you know something, you are much more likely to take an action than when you think you don’t.And then based on the failure/success of those actions, your confidence gets recalibrated every time.So, the point is that you have to fake confidence before doing something new and whether you chose to fake it with numbers or without numbers, the choice is yours.Donald Trump is faking himself for the last 7 decades into believing that he is the smartest person in the world. And today he is the President of America.I am sure you can do better than Donald Trump.Placements – Placements at IIMs are a lot like Indian marriages. For some reason or another, everybody needs to have at least one.Why? Because ‘Sharmaji ka Ladka’ and ‘Guptaji ki Beti’ also got one.The societal thought process behind ‘You ought to get married before 30’ is hardly any different from the thought process which says ‘You need to have a minimum placement of 20 LPA from an IIM’So, I am not saying that you should not bring objectivity to your goals by attaching numbers to them.But, what I am saying is that it is definitely wrong to let other people dictate those numbers to you.Obviously, the comparisons don’t stop there either.The madness of summers and final placements can only be replicated in the engagement and the actual marriage ceremonies.And just like an Indian marriage, you will find a host of pandits (placecom) who will find a dosh( poor academic past) in your kundali (CV)And, to remove that ‘dosh’, some seniors will give you automated solutions like,‘Join X number of committees and win Y number of case competitions and you have a shot at Mckinsey’Obviously, then you will realize that Mckinsey had some other plans.Simply put, all such advices are only traps which our minds are so likely to believe because we think shortcuts can give us everything.The problem with introverts is not that they fall for all such traps. In fact, extroverts show greater tendency in believing and falling for such traps.But, the problem with introverts is that they will suck at following such advices and when they don’t get what they were looking for, they will have a tendency to regret over the same.To be honest, any job placement is not worth the hype which is created before the placements and regretting thereafter, for not being able to get the same is something even worse.It is like you not only dated Harman Baweja thinking that he is Hrithik Roshan, but, then you also choose to cry afterwards, when he has dumped you.By the way, if you really ever dated Harman Baweja, then even crying won’t help.So am I asking you to run away from jobs and placements?No. In fact, quite the contrary. I want to you to really go for placements, but only for the right reasons.Running after only ‘Finance/Consult’ jobs just because everyone else is doing so is definitely not the right reason.And many people will just take Finance and Strategy as specializations because they sound cool.Honestly, to a marketer, Finance can be one of the most boring things ever taught in a B-School.Okay, don’t get angry. That’s just a perspective.Point is what is ‘Cool’ and what is ‘Uncool’ to you can only be found out when you actually test them for yourself.And that is exactly where IIM Placements come into picture.The 2 month summers opportunity is a perfect way to judge for yourself as in how much you are suited for any particular kind of job function.Not just that, take the immediate job placement also in the same way.Keep testing yourselves against other companies. You don’t have to be stuck in a job for long.It might take a few years, but then you will end up taking something as a career, which you might have always wanted to do and not just what ‘Sharmaji ka ladka’ and ‘Guptaji ki beti’ is doing.CV Preparation – As the smallest unit of currency in the transaction called ‘Placement’, CV points will never be enough for you.CV points are like ‘chillar coins’ you collect from the ‘dukanwalla’. You will have them even if you don’t need them.So, you will be running around the campus fetching the same, hoping that you will bring some uniqueness to your CV.But, then you will be surprised to find that the Placement committee has churned 400+ unique, but identical CVs.Out of 400 student CVs, more than 300 CVs will say ‘Single Handedlly organized the cultural and technical fest’.Another odd 250 CVs will felicitate themselves with the Émployee of the year award’.And at least a dozen or so would be talking about ‘Serial Innovation’ and ‘Entrepreneurship’.No wonder IIMs have such talented people.Obviously, not all those facts will be true.Exaggerating on your CVs and HR answers is something which almost every one of us is guilty of.And somehow introverts find it a lot more difficult to talk about their achievements than extroverts do.Especially, if they are not true.Extroverts can lie to your face and then can simultaneously believe that it is the actual truth.Most Introverts can’t. At least not without preparation.And this is because of the overthinking of the correctness of facts as mentioned, which may create some kind of dilemma for an introvert.As humans, our minds are designed to believe in our own exaggerations. And this is true for both introverts and extroverts.The only difference being that, for an introvert it is much tougher to take that first step towards any particular kind of factual exaggeration, whereas for an extrovert it directly comes out as an automated response.No wonder Sales teams are full of extroverts.When you are comfortable bragging in front of an interviewer, you raise much lesser suspicion about whatever you are talking about.Any skepticism you show towards your own achievements will hamper your confidence to such levels that it may have a devastating effects on the overall interview performances.So is there anything wrong with exaggerating facts on CV and Resumes?Well, this seems like an ethical question.But, in the kind of world we live in, we can always pick and choose ethics as per our convenience.So right now, I choose a ‘straight NO!’ for an answer.You may also choose yours.Anyways, Governments, firms and institutions exaggerate data all the time.Even a small baby might be unconsciously exaggerating its yelp to catch its’ mother’s attention.Exaggeration is not evil. Exaggeration is not innocence. Exaggeration is just another human tool for survival.In a world where Originality is a sin and Mediocrity a skill, you need to maintain tools like exaggeration for your self-defense.Everyone exaggerates to some extent or another and the people who actually claim that they never exaggerate are either very low on self-awareness or their self-defense itself is an exaggeration.And, exaggeration on your CVs should not be even called exaggeration at all. Nicely put, it can be termed, ‘Personal Marketing’.You should not look at your CV as a collection of facts and figures.Think of it as one ‘whole’ message, a kind of big picture.Look at your CV as your ‘Personal Marketing Story’.It is that ‘Story’ which you wanted to share with your recruiters in where you are trying to say that ‘Why you are perfect for that company’And since the competition is so high and you cannot be perfect for all the companies, you have to tweak the story to suit your purpose.Never let the presence/absence of some facts or figures compromise the overall message behind your story.Or as once Harsha Bhogle said, ‘Never let the truth come in the way of a good story’As a recent example, the Supreme Court acquitted A. Raja from the 2G Scam.It took 7 years for the Judiciary to declare that 1.76 lakh crore 2G Scam wasn’t a scam at all.Now whether that number was 0, Rs. 100 or 100 crores, is all just a perception.I am sure, Á . Raja’ is no more a saint in your eyes after the verdict, than he was before.The point is that the change in number from ‘1.76 lakh crores’ to ‘0’ has hardly changed your opinion about him.A number may be very useful to build up a credible story. And once the expected audience has perceived the story as intended, the number may not be important at all.So am I asking to lie on your CV?Haha! No, the Placement committee won’t let you, even if you want to.The recruiter spends very little time judging your CV and they need objective facts to select/reject you in the first round.So, your board marks, Graduation CGPA, undergard stream and College, professional certifications, No. of years of work-ex etc. are the main facts which build the story and the Placecom would be very thorough with those proofs.Other supporting facts like ‘Employee of the year Award’ etc. have minimal effect in your CV selection/rejection.You might have been the ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ or you might have been ‘Little Green Riding Hood’. How does that matter?These facts may be important to you, but they are surely not important to the recruiters or the placecom.And because Raja Harish Chandra never sat for job placements, recruiters already assume that every CV has some bit of fictional imagination behind it.And these recruiters will be smart enough to pick and choose what part of the story to believe in.So I am not asking to lie on your CV, but do ensure to create a great ‘Personal Marketing Story’But, if you cannot lie on your CV, how to create a great ‘Personal Marketing Story’?Okay, for everything that I choose to ‘say to you’, there will be always something which I choose ‘not to say to you’. And if you have already cracked CAT, probably you can crack this one too.Parties – It is not that introverts hate crowded places. In fact I am very comfortable in crowded places like airports, stations, local trains etc.But, as an introvert, I do sure feel some bit of discomfort in front of a crowd full of known people. And that is exactly what most parties are all about.I never boozed, smoked or smoked up all my 2 years in IIM, as a personal rule.As essential they are to any B-School party, I felt like some social criminal, breaking the normal accepted rules of the community.I remember people giving me side stares and wondering ‘What exactly is wrong with this guy, why can’t he act normal?’And this is not specific to a B-School or MBA, it is part of life everywhere.So, if you are an introvert who is okay with the above habits, then don’t restrict yourselves.Parties will be the easiest way to network and bond.And as others will tell you, getting high is the easiest way to move from introversion to extroversion.But, if you are not comfortable, then please don’t force yourselves to do the same.Do not suffer from FOMO (Fear of Missing Out).Parties don’t have expiration dates. If one goes, there comes another.Instead, try JOMO (Joy of Missing Out).I am sure as an introvert, you would have tons of interesting things to do than just attend a party.Most extroverts won’t understand this. And you don’t have to explain to them.Remember, people will always want you to act and behave in a way just like they do. Again, you don’t have to.The point is not making a big deal of such parties. If you want to go, just go.Don’t starve your natural self to feed your ideal self. At least not in parties.And, don’t be surprised if after 2 shots of martini your ‘ideal self’ is rolling on the floor, dancing to ‘Saat Samundar paar mein tere…”Group Projects/Case Competitions- As an introvert, you might have a real issue working with groups, especially with those people who take group projects as just another opportunity to chit-chat.Sometimes these group activities will look like a scene from ‘Big Boss’ – Few people trying to work while others trying to do everything but that.And because everybody in the group gets the same marks, there is no incentive to work harder than the other person.This also gives rise to free-riders.Free riders in your group are just like God. You know they exist, but you haven’t seen them.And you won’t see them until the day of actual presentation when they quietly come and stand behind you.Again, just like Gods, they will only show their presence and support when you were least expecting.Usually the first person who comes to you saying, ‘Chal Bhai group banate hai’ is the one who you should be running away from.Obviously this person has carried out his responsibility of forming the group. Rest off-course is your responsibility.I myself have freeloaded in few projects where a specialized skills of CAs/CFAs in my group came in handy to save us from a short deadline.But most free-riders/ free-loaders will do it as a habit.As an introvert, you will have a hard time managing other people’s participation in the group efforts.Unlike a group project, participation in case competitions is purely voluntary in nature where your only objective should be to win the case competition.Hence, it is imperative that each and every member of the group is contributing in some way or another.I felt that the maximum of amount of learning came to me through these group projects and case competitions only.Majorly because I felt like that I was working with some really smart people and also because that it was one of only few means to find practical applications for theoretical concepts.The best way for an introvert to make use of a group project is1) Ignore free riders- Well you cannot force anyone to work. Recognize free-riders early and save your time and efforts by not running after them.2) Delegate your job to others as far as possible. If somebody is not able to contribute through the main group tasks, give them easier tasks like editing and printing etc.Not that you can’t do the same, but you improve your own people skills by showing them that you value them for what they can do.3) There is a good chance that others in the group are smarter than you, and you being an introvert are not able to properly voice your opinions and share your ideas.Never let that happen. Let your ideas get tested at least once.Whether you are at IIM or any other corporate professional place, you will always feel that the world is not designed for introverts.And as true as this maybe, you can always train yourself to survive in an extrovert driven world.For an introvert, living an extrovert’s life may be very stressful and this might even kill them slowly.However, the same stress, if properly managed, can be utilized to grow and succeed as an individual.The most successful introverts are people who can pretend to be an extrovert when needed and then find sufficient personal time to recharge themselves as an introvert.It is this constant process of stressing and destressing yourself is what gives you true mental growth.Just like to get a great body, you push yourselves hard in the gym, lifting weights and then taking adequate rest to heal and grow your muscles, bigger and stronger.Similarly, you can put your mental muscles under strain by slowly adding difficult tasks in your daily rituals and then finding personal time to recover and grow.Most people in this world will see their natural conditions as obstacles to their successful lives.You create mental boundaries in your mind just like physical boundaries, thinking you cannot outgrow them.But, only when you rise up to challenges by slowly taking up tasks which needs you to grow out of your comfort zone, is actually when you expand those mental boundaries and grow so that your definition of ýou’ gets so big that you will be comfortable doing things which you have never done before.Statistically speaking, the most successful people in this world like Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Lionel Messi, Christopher Nolan, Amir Khan etc. are deep introverts who constantly take new challenges and create something new which you have never seen before.The point is to not to run away from an extrovert dominated world, but to see these problems as opportunities to grow out of your normal comfort zone.As humans we have great capability to adapt ourselves to changing environments.Being an introvert it would take more time for you, but, in the end it will be all worth it.You don’t need confidence to do difficult things. Confidence is always an indirect outcome of any action and not the cause behind it.So, you first take the plunge, join a B- School, and start accepting the culture of the place as it is.Soon enough, you will be nailing things as they come to you.Complaining that life has not been fair to you won’t make things any easier.Reality for you will only change after you first change your own approach and mentality.Take proactive control of your life and not let just things happen to you.Finally, it’s either ‘you’ who runs your life or the life runs ‘you’. I hope you choose the former.As I come to end this one for you, I could remember a couplet from ‘Bandey’ song by ‘Local Train’,‘Sikandar hai wo jo jeeta hain yehan, phir bhi akela wo rehta hai yahin,Sab kuch hai tere paas, phir bhi tu kyun roye’