First day at Anna University - CEG Contact Classes - April 19th

This is a log of events on the first day of our MBA contact classes at Anna University, Chennai.

Hi all 

I am Prasad and am happy to post the first message to the group.  Hope others would follow the lead to share their views, ideas & knowledge (Remember what our Communication skills faculty taught). Keep your communication lines and mind open and share more. 

This is my effort to capture the happenings during every contact class session.  Have included a tinge of humor.  No offence meant.  So, I kindly request you to read and see stuff in the right spirit.  In the event of unexpected offence, my apologies in advance.  Shall convey the same in person in next class.  

First Day at CEG

Now, let us move on and see what happened on the first day. 

I had to check the notice board at the entrance to find out my classroom at ANNA UNIVERSITY. That word does have an aura, doesn't it?  Isn't it why me and many other students have slogged out at the entrance (I may be exaggerating a bit about the entrance exams ;) ) to get into this university, although we are allowed to enter only four times every month, that too at weekends.  I don't see a realistic chance of seeing the students or the faculty at action.  Well... I had to console myself that I atleast see the buildings which have seen great people like Dr. Abdul Kalam.  Hey friends, we can be proud that we are sharing the same roof as other greats.

 

Girls Vs Boys

The first impression on entering the class was the number of girls in the class.  The girls easily outdid the boys by 3:1 ratio (not that the guys were complaining, ofcourse. Although I don't have the intention of revealing the same to my wife ;) ). On a serious note, what is it with HR and girls?  Do they see themselves as a better fit as HR professionals?  Does their empathetic personality help them prosper better in a HR career?  Are they naturally gifted with qualities to be excellent HR resources? Serious questions.... Maybe, we'll have a separate debate on that later as we go. 

Another thing I noticed was grouping of girls on one side and the guys on the other side.  It is acceptable at schools, maybe.  But, as working professionals I expected a much more open and mixed seating.  After all, we are all professionals working in uni-sex environments. Why can't we use this opportunity to shed inhibitions and interact freely?  I don't think we'll be handling only the employees of our sex while we are HR professionals.  Why not take the initiative and sit according to the attendance order, like the movie "Nammavar". Just my suggestion... Guys... Gals... Give it a thought and act on it.  Hope the representatives are listening!!! 

I only hope our representatives don't take this a bit further by creating separate yahoo groups for Guys and Gals ;)

 

Part-time Students; Part-time Friends

The day started with introductions all around.  Interestingly, most guys around me were engineers working in IT industry.  They had taken HR as an option... as a guarantee... just in case, American economy decides to take another plunge and their jobs become a question mark.

 

First session - Economics

Keeping with the Indian traditions, the first session started an hour late and the appointed faculty not being able to make it to the class.  Anyway, the replacement faculty was not bad, ofcourse. 

We started our Calendar year 2009 MBA courses with "Economics" session which, I suppose, was alien to most of the students (judging by the looks on the faces whenever the faculty asked questions?).  He did rather well explaining about National Income, Inflation, Consumption, Currency appreciation etc., etc., He covered the basics and we hope to get a full session atleast in next class.

 

Crossover confusion

There was a lot of activity at the end of the first session.  The students who did not know the batch nos. and the late comers were moving one room to another to find their right names in the attendance sheet.  I had no idea about my batch and was lucky to find my name in the list. Otherwise, I might have had to cross-over.

 

Second session - Communication skills

The faculty for the second session was from St. Josephs.  As this was an interesting subject, my expectations were high.  Although the faculty tried her best to keep it interesting, it still turned out to be rather monotonous.  I am not sure if we all have had too much exposure about this because of all the induction and skills development programs that we've attended in our offices.  Presenting a practical skill like communication with an academic perspective is quite a challenge for the presenter.  She suggested there would be exercises in future.  Maybe, we can suggest that we have more exercises and less of theory.  I suppose we can go back and read theory on our own.  Just my thoughts, ofcourse. 

Maybe, she can also reduce usage of words like "RETRENCHMENT", "LAYOFF", 'TERMINATION", "SALARY CUT".  That was not helping the general atmosphere considering the fact that many of the students were from the IT industry affected by US downturn.

 

Loitering at Lunch 

After another attendance, we were let go to have our grub. While most of my fellow students were lining up at the Anna university canteen, I and another classmate set out looking for a decent restaurant outside.  Well... I did not have food at canteen not because the food was pathetic but because I was hungry as hell.  I didn't want to be seen by my classmates, eating like a pig.  Our search led to Hot chips, which is only half a kilometer away from the university.  If you discount the overcrowded tables, snotty waiters and slow-as-snail servers, the food was edible. My classmate from HCL finished his lunch in 5 minutes flat.  He explained his work has trained him to have food on the sly. I took my own sweet time finish mine. 

After hearing about the lack of quality at the canteen and people walking around with serious hiccups due to non-availability of water, I foresee a huge rush at Hot chips during next lunch session.  I need to look for a restaurant further down to avoid the rush.

 

Third Session - Accounting

This faculty was from St. Joseph's was a marvel.  He revealed late in the session that he covered a year's portion of high-school students in a matter of two hours for us.  I could see from the faces of the students that none had accounting backgrounds and their faces were as clean as the blackboard in front of them (mine included).  The faculty did a good job of explaining the difficult accounting jargon in a simplistic manner. I am still confused but it has to be attributed to my lack of accounting knowledge but not to the lack of effort by the faculty to educate us. His true achievement is that none of us dozed off after a full meal and a subject completely alien to us. Kudos to him. 

At the end of the session, we all had a dazed look on the faces.  Too much food and too many accounting jargons had a very dizzying effect on the students.

 

Captains of the team

We were asked to select a couple of representatives from our class.  As this was our first contact class, we did not know anybody well enough to choose one.  We all waited for the one to stand up first... to be our guinea pig.  From our midst, stood up a brave young guy.  To all of us, he looked like the goat about to be slaughtered in front of a deity in a thiruvizha.  We named him as "Captain Vijayanand" and assigned him to the slaughter-house. The girls chose their own guinea pig (No offence meant)  From now on, the representatives will act as our representatives, secretaries, leaders, couriers, captains.  

 

Only one problem.... Both the representatives forgot to give their phone nos. to us... How do we reach you fellas... ???

 

Tea break

While our classroom was being used by all and sundry to get the other side of the veranda, we went around to take a look at what is happening in other classes. 

Most of the time of the convenience break of 15 minutes was spent in the queue for drinking water.  I know Chennai city has water scarcity but I suppose Anna university is atleast equipped to provide a couple of more cans or atleast a couple of more glasses for the students. Representatives... please highlight this to the administration. Thanks...  Maybe, we should bring our own supplies from next week.  Remember, a water packet costs Re.1 at the canteen.   

In the meanwhile, we got to know each other a bit better. Much more relaxed... some more jokes... lesser apprehensions... We are getting there. Girls... You don't know what you are missing... Time for you to join the fun.

 

Final session - Legal Aspects

Our final session was conducted by an easy-going but obviously power-packed faculty.  Her knowledge was exemplary as I didn't see her referring to the notes too many times.   Considering the fact she was a lawyer, somebody in our group mentioned that she might file a case if we are not attentive.  She did quite well covering dry theory with examples from contemporary politics.  I personally think she is a DMK sympathizer.  Not that she was political in the class... I just had a gut feeling about it, that is all. 

Thus, we closed the day at 6:15 pm.  It was a rather uneventful day with all students dutifully concentrating on every word coming out of the faculty's mouth. 

Our representatives have the unenviable task of collecting contact details of the students; creating a yahoo group; scanning and emailing some study materials; giving attendance on behalf of those who are absent; writing our assignments etc., etc.,  We'll be continuously monitoring the performance of our guinea pigs... oops... our respectable team representatives over a period of time. I am sure our CAPTAIN VIJAYANAND won't disappoint us.

 

Closing for the Day

A marathon that had started at 9 am and had lasted much more than any other class I have ever attended. Never attended more than 6 in the school or more than 2 in the college.  Naturally, the sessions were draining.  But, time well spent indeed. No regrets. 

As I had too much to consume, both mind and stomach included, I called my wife and excused myself from visiting her dad's place where she had gone for the vacation.  I called Shaik whose wife also, thankfully, was away at her native.  We both went to "Sennthur" at Mount Road for a hearty meal.  In my opinion, this is the best Vegetarian restaurant in town which gives the best bang for our buck.  So... with a full stomach, we raced off to Satyam for a movie "Anything but Home".  Vince Vaughn and Reese witherspoon in a very simplistic movie with a very simplistic storyline and even more simplistic cast.  Nothing great but not that bad too...  

So, back at home at 1 am and some more television, cricket and news and god know when I dozed off.  ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzz (snoring...)

 

-- A short note about the author -- 

Can be found on the bench before last, probably on the right hand side.  Has a nose sharper than his mind.  Likes talking; Loves listening.  Spelt as "Prasad" in the attendance register and but called as "Pras" by friends. Writes non-sense at http://prasadha.blogspot.com.