Flashback!!

The first term has sped away. With little time to think about any thing, one definite advantage of such a rapid pace is that you dont really think about getting settled. You just get on with the situation and are always in the damange control and disaster management mode. Are you thinking .. Is it that bad? I'd say there's no other way to deal with it. But in between all this, all of us did have some good moments... Here's a flash down the memory lane.

1. Just Arrived

From the Heathrow airport, we (myself and Deb) rode straight to Oxford. The journey was uneventful, though I found myself in deep thoughts captured by the vast green spaces and relaxed environment - a strike difference from what you find back home in India. At the Oxford bus stop, we were greeted by university's 'international students welcome team'. They guided us to our destination. I was supposed to stay with Deb at his college accomodation for the first few days. The private that I had taken up with three other guys was getting renovated and we were supposed to get the keys only after a week. Unfortunately for both of us, the caretaker of Deb's house had already left office by the time we reached. Andres, my first friend at Oxford, offered to help. He had an apartment in the same building and went around with us to search another Indian friend's place who was supposed to collect the keys of Deb's house. Courtesy Andres, I took a short guided tour of the city on the very first day itself.

2. First Class

After a week long orientation in the school, we were supposed to be ready for the grill. We had heard the following three words a lot of time in the past one week (Week 0) - 'Welcome to Oxford'. This day marked a beginning to the long study group meetings and an end to all the welcoming rituals. The atmosphere and the feeling was full of optimism. And why not! It was like a dream for me and many others to study at this great institution and I was about to realize this dream. But what about all those assignments? With the first week, also started a never ending stream of assignment submissions and deadlines. My first friends were my study group mates - Andrea, Angel, Deepak, Shreyas and Kate.

3. Matriculation Day

A big tadition @ Oxford. All of us were dressed in formal black suits and a bow tie. It appeared like a great ceremony across the entire city. You could see everybody else also in similar attire, ready to be officially inducted in the university. For the first time in life, I wore a subfusc as well. This is also our uniform while we take our term examinations. It was a truely magnificent experience as the Vice Chancellor addressed all the students from Templeton College - the ceremony lasted around 12 minutes. And then as the official students of the university, we could call ourselves 'Oxonions'. Well, we did look like business graduates - Men and Women in Black Suits.

4. More Study Group Meets

As the semester wore on, we started spending more time in the school attending lectures, support classes and those largely unfruitful company presenations (followed by a small reception including a round of drinks.. without doubt, the largest attraction for the already tired students). I was lucky to be a part of a wonderful study group. We managed to strike a real consistency in performance of all our assignments - almost ZERO standard deviation right from the first assignment. Be it Strategy, DEM, Finance - we scored all 60s!! The best thing was that we all agreed on a very efficient way of wrapping up the assignments... Generally we had just one full fledged meeting where we discussed the case for an hour and a half. And one person took the responsibility of writing down the analysis and then others reviewed it and came up with minor suggestions before deciding upon the final draft. Very very efficient! Here in this photograph: Sitting - Kate and Deepak, Standing (from left) - Angel, myself, Andrea and Shreyas. Cheers Guys!

5. Babbu @ Oxford

This chap always makes you laugh. He always has an anecdote up his sleeves which you will relish. And so when he came to meet me during the mid of my first term, it was a well deserved and much needed break from studies. As simple as this - 'yaar mujhe samajh nahin aata yahan ke log har baat pe Thank you kyon bolte hain; maine to jitna thank you peechle ek mahine mein bol diya hai, lagta hai poori zindagi ka quota poora kar diya hai'.



We had real good time - went around the city, clicked photographs. The kind of personality he is, he stated that watching a Piano Concert at Sheldonian Theatre made his UK trip successful. I, though, slept through majority of that concert (may be I was tired because of less sleep and whole day walkout). The second day was spent largely searching for souvenir for his friends and loitering around the various streets. Two days well spent!


6. Financial Reporting and Managerial Economics
The big ones! Last two assignments of the semester and really the big ones! Both accounted for 40% of the total course evaluation and came at a time when the semester was already half-way through. But, like all other things in this world, everything that begins has to end as well. We managed to get over this phase as well. The highlight for me definitely was the presentation on 'Managerial Economics' report that I and Andrea gave to the class. We managed to engage most of the class in the discussion and with Andrea on board, it was bound to be hilarious and lot of fun.

7. Week 10 - Examinations

The final week of Michaelmas term. We had a week's preparatory break for the examinations. The break was welcome after 8 weeks of regular classes. The celebrations had begun with no more classes to report to. You could sleep, eat, drink, study whenever you wanted to. The exams were largely a formality and you could sense that professors want you to pass their course :). But the experience was good. Seeing yourself and everybody else dressed up in business suit with an elegant bow tie gives you some confidence and the feel of being a MBA student. Champagnes opened after the last exam and it was a realy party time. Why not! we had a long break to unwind and recharge the batteries.