Hi friends!
My article, this, is from a neutral perspective and an effort to challenge the authorities who think we could swallow any crap they give us. This is no wannabe rebellion to get 5 minute of fame but an uprising with a cause.
IMT is stagnating! Incontestably! And nobody is talking about it.
I attempted to get into IMT way back in 96. I couldn’t. One of my classmate from Venky (son of an affluent business family) got through. I remember how he was boasting about not speaking at all in the GD but maintaining a good eye contact! I always thought you need to open your mouth to crack a GD!
When I cracked the written test of IMT, I was excited. Equally excited I reached the group discussion round. We were given to choose from 2 topics mentioned on the blackboard. First, ‘The Idiot Box’. The second, ‘If I were the prime minister of India’. We unanimously chose the latter and as I would have loved to, could start the GD with great conviction. I really think I was too good in that GD. Then on the same day we had our interview, where I interacted with 3 elderly gentlemen. They asked me just one question- what does your father do. I told them what it was a middle management employee of a PSU. I really wondered forever why such a question was asked and what sense it made. I am still pondering. I was finally put on to the waiting list at number 2 as the authorities told me. That number never reached even number 1.
But interestingly I could get into FMS, which surely is a better place than IMT. Now, almost a decade later, my cousin has joined IMT in the 2 year full time PGDBM course. I went to meet him when he told me the questions that he was asked. To my utter surprise, he was asked the same question as I was 9 years back, but with an addition. Now my cousin’s father is again a rich businessman and you all can very well expect the next question. He replied the first one in words and second one in numeric figures, and got through! This again reminded me of my classmate from Venky who barely got to clear his grad papers and was surely not capable enough. But life moves on.
As his course began, I checked up with him as I used to with my Venky classmate. I was quite taken aback to see the same notes being given to the students, I mean not just same content but photocopy of the same papers (with mistakes as it is) that were given to them a decade back. And not just in one but most of the subjects. So much so, they even got a picture copy question paper of managerial economics!
Aren’t these the rudiments of a stagnating institution where teachers never innovate, where backdoor entries are encouraged and corroborated by the institution itself and the stink of fish never dies!
IMT is stagnating! Think of it!