Debashish Reang

Lines from some of my favorite books that shaped my thinking

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 16:31:00 GMT

A friend once asked me why I care so much about whatever is happening around the world, all the time. It is a genuine question. Maybe it is because I grew up knowing nothing at all about the outside world. In a sense, I am simply trying to catch up—learn more about why some things are the way they are, and understand some of the things I saw while growing up. Or perhaps it is a way to prepare for all that I have to face in the future. I still do not have a very specific answer.

A few lines left a deep impact on me, to the point where I got goosebumps while reading them. They shaped my thinking, forced me to reconsider my beliefs, and provided a sense of direction when I needed it the most.

Educated by Tara Westover

I read the book for the second time recently. It surprised me because I registered a lot of new information that did not strike me as remarkable when I first read it three years ago.

It is a beautifully written memoir about the author’s quest for an “education.” What struck me most was how much family systems can aid a person’s growth or hamper it. It is a story of incredible resilience: her journey to BYU, and eventually to Cambridge and Harvard, despite never having finished high school, seems almost absurd.

The past was a ghost, insubstantial, unaffecting. Only the future had weight.

I began to experience the most powerful advantage of money: the ability to think of things besides money.

It’s strange how you give the people you love so much power over you.

Bitter Wormwood by Easterine Kire

“All of history can be written in two small words: Challenge and Response.” Think about that for a moment. Isn’t it beautiful?

The book is written simply, but some of the lines hit home. Bitter Wormwood follows the life of a person from boyhood to old age—a simple life in the village, growing up to join a movement marked by bloody conflicts, and ultimately losing community life as he knew it. Words can be really powerful, and this book is a prime example of that.

If life is hard to you, you simply harden yourself so its griefs are easier to bear. That is the only way to meet it.

Not many remembered what the women had done to keep their families alive in those dark years. Because war was men’s business, not women’s.

Born A Crime by Trevor Noah

Trevor writes about his experience of growing up in South Africa. I expected the book to be hilarious since he’s a comedian, and he delivered. But that is only one aspect of the book. There are so many impactful lines in it.

They shaped my understanding of relationships, ambition, and how to look out for myself.

Being chosen is the greatest gift you can give to another human being.

People are getting hurt, and just because it’s not happening to you doesn’t mean it’s not happening.

We spend so much time being afraid of failure, afraid of rejection. But regret is the thing we should fear most. Failure is an answer. Rejection is an answer. Regret is an eternal question you will never have the answer to. “What if …” “If only …” “I wonder what would have …” You will never, never know, and it will haunt you for the rest of your days.

There are so many others. But these are some of the most impactful ones. Last I checked, I had collected about 650 highlights across 34 books. Maybe I’ll share some of them in the future.

And yeah, you should totally re-read books because the second reading will give you a new perspective. It is also faster the second time if that was ever a concern.

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I read what I read

Thu, 09 Jul 2026 15:07:00 GMT

I spent the first several years of my life learning to read. In the beginning, it was learning to read and write the Bengali script in a Bengali medium school. I had memorized the first eight to ten lines of countless poems (that’s what they asked in the exams), learnt about some poet’s romanticization of some river in Bangladesh, and got confused a lot trying to differentiate between the number 4 in Bengali script and 8 in English.

After that, it was about learning to read English words properly and finding the optimal pen strokes so that I could maximize the number of words I wrote down in my answer book.

The first few books that I read for fun, in the sense that they were not required readings in school, were the Oxford English to English dictionary (I read this cover to cover multiple times—there really wasn’t much to do outside of going to school, and coming back home. So I had plenty of time on my hands.), the Samsad Bengali to English dictionary (I read this cover to cover too. Growing up, I really wished to learn how to speak fluent English.), and an Atlas, which was a gift from my cousin (It had colorful flags, names of capital cities, and beautiful photos of the Sahara Desert. I could not have known while memorizing Austria (not Australia)—Vienna that someday I’d get to live there for months).

I read Mahatma Gandhi’s The Story of My Experiments with Truth sometime between Classes 8 to 10. The school let me borrow the book because I did well in my exams. By the second year in my new English medium school, I had started topping my classes and also gained decent fluency in English. I suppose reading the dictionaries actually helped. There was a room everyone referred to as “Library,” but it had no books. It was mostly used for holding remedial classes and exams. The books were locked away elsewhere, in some other room. I got lucky because we were cleaning/dusting the room and I happened to come across the book. It is kind of funny, looking back. But it also feels kind of tragic. Books are meant to be read, not tucked away in some room. Then I got lost in preparing for the Class 10 board exams. As one of my teachers had put it, it was the first ever public exam of my life because now people outside the confines of my school would be taking the same exam.

Classes 11 and 12 were not much better. Most of my waking hours were devoted to understanding Physics, Chemistry, and Math concepts. But now and then someone in the hostel would circulate a few books in secret. That’s how I read Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist. I had also read a book about some monk who had sold his Ferrari (Lewis, remember who you are!). My hostel mates and I were preparing for JEE Advanced (the entrance exam to get into one of the Indian Institutes of Technology, the IITs), so at some point someone circulated Five Point Someone: What Not to Do at IIT by Chetan Bhagat. That was perhaps the first time I came across “IIMA” (in the “about the author” section). I read more than one Chetan Bhagat book during this period simply because the books were in circulation and there was not much to do outside of studying Physics, Chemistry, and Math.

I read Shoe Dog by Phil Knight sometime during the first or second year of my undergrad. It taught me a lot about hard work and about being at the right place at the right time. I could not read a lot of books during this period, but this was one of the books that left a deep impression on me.

Honestly, the first time I truly started reading for fun was during the COVID-19 lockdown. I had done the bulk of the required coursework for my undergrad degree by then. I could not take on additional research projects or anything else because it was difficult to keep them up amidst everything, so I just read books. I came across Educated by Tara Westover during this time and it left a lifelong impression on me. It is one of my favorite books of all time.

I read Ikigai and Atomic Habits too during this period and decided I was done with the self-help genre for the rest of my life. I’m actually quite happy that I came across them early in life because now I can focus on other genres, genres that I have come to love. One such book that deals with love, friendships, and the whole human experience is A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. It is a storytelling masterpiece.

IIM Ahmedabad has one of the best libraries in the country. The Vikram Sarabhai Library is quite accommodative of students’ requests too. They mostly have all the popular and niche books that are published, but in case something is missing, you can place a request and they’ll acquire it for you. I read On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder while browsing the shelves one afternoon. My Life in Full by Indra Nooyi was a good read too. As someone pursuing an MBA degree at the time, it helped to learn more about the story of someone who took some of the same path and ended up rising to the very top in her field. Someone at IIMA even distributed a hardcover copy of the book to everyone. I still have the book with me.

I read just one or two books during the seven months I spent in Vienna. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday is a hilarious book. I got the book from a second-hand bookstore on my way to a cafe one day. I really liked the vibe of the bookstore. If I ever open a cafe with a bookstore, the bookstore will probably look something like that second-hand bookstore. I also read System Error: Where Big Tech Went Wrong and How We Can Reboot by Mehran Sahami, Jeremy M. Weinstein, and Rob Reich. I remember staying up all night reading the book because the authors came to the Vienna University of Economics and Business the next day. It was probably the first time that I spoke to the authors of a book that I read to get some of my questions answered directly.

On returning to India, I decided I needed to learn more about the world close to me. To understand why things are the way that they are, to know more about my place in this part of the world, and whether things are getting better or worse on the whole. I picked up Easterine Kire’s Bitter Wormwood and Temsula Ao’s These Hills Called Home. The stories were so gripping. These two books reminded me of the times I visited my maternal grandmother’s house as a child.

We would wake up before sunrise to walk to the nearest market (a walk of about an hour or two) to catch the bus back home. The journey usually took the entire day. The books reminded me of the grass cuts that I got, of my uncles and aunts carrying me on their backs when I got too tired walking, and of the rusted pebbles that slipped in between my toes creating this really awkward dilemma because I couldn’t walk with the stony feeling but also couldn’t take my chappals off because that meant stepping on the sands of the unpaved road. The books reminded me of how far we have come. It was a good feeling.

Tripura shares a border with Bangladesh on three sides. In some areas, you can see the international border some distance away as you drive by. It was quite fascinating reading India and the Bangladesh Liberation War by C. Dasgupta, a former Indian diplomat. I learned a lot from this book. An interest in the diplomat’s writings and diplomacy in general led me to A Life in Diplomacy by MK Rasgotra, whom Dr. S. Jaishankar had called the GOAT of the Indian Foreign Service. There are several noteworthy anecdotes in the book. It also shows the human side of things amidst all the protocols. It was a great read. I came away feeling more optimistic about things.

These days I spend most of my time reading to learn more about the world around me. Inevitably, that means thinking about how to navigate the world with all the changes happening. With everything seemingly AI-powered now, AI Snake Oil by Sayash Kapoor and Arvind Narayanan was a sensible read. It talks about what AI systems can do reliably, what AI can’t do, and also offers a few ways to tell the difference. Private Revolutions by Yuan Yang talks about the lives of four women in modern China. Although set in a different country, stories of doing everything one can to improve lives (of oneself, and those around), to do better than the earlier generation, etc. felt quite relatable.

I’ve been re-reading Prof. Karthik Muralidharan’s Accelerating India’s Development. The first time I came across his work was in the Education Policy in India course taught by Prof. Ambrish Dongre at IIMA. It is one of my favorite books about the challenges we face as a country and how to overcome some of them. Whereas this book talks about the current challenges, India After Gandhi by Ramachandra Guha talks about the history of the country—why certain choices were made by the actors and how things came to be. Both books are goosebump-inducing, to be honest.

I did not have access to a lot of media growing up. Most of the access came after I started my undergrad at IIT Kanpur. The first time I came to know about Harry Potter was in college. I watched the entire catalogue during Antaragni (the college’s annual cultural fest) one year. It also means that I never read the books because by the time you are 20 or 21, you stop believing in the power of magic among other things. Friends would often ask things like, “Oh, do you know Premchand said this?” in some context. Sadly, I do not know because I never got to read Premchand’s works. I did not grow up reading Ruskin Bond’s stories or watching many Bollywood movies from the 90s. So, when someone said “K3G” in some context one time, I had no clue.

I’m not really sure how much I’ve missed out on. But at 27, it feels like there’s a whole new world out there for me. I’ve been reading books and essays concerning India’s place in the world, her relationship with her neighbors, the Northeastern region, and why some things are the way they are. Knowing Bengali proved useful too, in retrospect, because I could read about the latest election in Bangladesh on their local news site, right as the results rolled in (they took some time translating and publishing the English edition). I’m also reading Amartya Sen’s memoir in Bengali, although it feels like I might have to pull out my dictionary again for this. I hope to be able to read and write Hindi someday, and immerse myself in Hindi literature.

Over the years I have refined my taste in picking which books to read. I judge books by their covers and it has not disappointed me for the most part. Reflecting on the books I read is probably more helpful to me than anyone else because I can re-read the ones I liked, slowly this time. Some friends have suggested reading more fiction or reading about happier themes. I’m sure they meant well. I have added some of them to my list of books to read. Maybe I’ll get to some of them in the future. Until then, I read what I read.

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I have an MA in Political Science now

Sat, 30 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

I came to know about the existence of the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) a few years ago when I had to send a few documents via post. I searched for “India post near me” and Google Maps led me to the one in IGNOU. The staff at the post office were friendly from what I can recall. It was a good experience.

Some time in 2024, I realized I was sleeping really well, and that did not sit very well with me. So, I did what a rational person would do: sign up for a new academic degree in a completely new field. Still, I thought an MA in Political Science sounded really cool. “Worst case, I’ll have something to write about. Best case, I’ll have something to write about, and a fourth degree.”

I filled the forms, made the payments, and before long I had the term-end exams on my plate. Thankfully, the test center was not too far away from home, so I could write answers really fast, and still make it to work on time. And when the exams happened during the weekends, I walked back home—the weather was good for walks. I really love winter!

On the last day of the first-year term-end exams, as I walked past a food cart, I felt an intense sense of, “oh, I miss eating roti-sabji so much.” But I had already booked an auto to come back home. Fortunately, I was able to convince the auto driver to have some roti too. He did not seem to be in a hurry either. It was finger-licking good!

It reminded me of the winters of my childhood. We didn’t really make roti-sabji at home. On a good day, we’d have three meals of rice and call it a day. But on some days, my grandparents would get roti-sabji from the market—rotis wrapped in a newspaper, hot sabji (potatoes and peas) in a transparent plastic bag. For some reason, I think that’s one of the most delicious combinations of food items that I’ve tasted.

The exams were good for the most part. As Yuri Slezkine in his excellent article Boyhood says, “Globalization, among other things, is about people from anywhere reading about people from nowhere.” I like reading non-fiction and that proved useful when answering some of the exam papers. Some answers also included my personal experiences—that’s such a lovely thing because I get to live life, and then recount that in some of the answers, and someone goes, “ooh, that’s a 14/20 experience.”

Overall, it was a good experience. If you are sleeping too well, I’d recommend signing up for another academic degree.

The difficulty level, out of $5$ , is subjective and based on my impression of the material. $1$ represents a straightforward course, while $5$ represents a very challenging course.

First year courses

MPS1 - Political Theory

As I said before, I do not have formal training in the field and hence this was probably the most difficult course in the entire curriculum. Obviously, I did not have a lot of say in what each thinker thought because they all came and went a long time ago. However, I genuinely liked what some of them had to say. And I made my feelings known in the exam paper.

As the title of the course suggests, the course talks about various theories and concepts such as Rights, Democracy, Liberalism, Multiculturalism, Feminism, Citizenship etc. It is quite enjoyable because the material deals with what various scholars across time, cultures, and geography thought about each of these concepts.

Difficulty: 4

MPS2 - International Relations: Theory and Problems

Reading the course title reminds me of this meme where the person goes something like, “so, how are the international relations these days? are they good?” The course deals with various approaches to the study of international relations. It takes a macro view of the world: about economic relations between nations, terrorism, various regional groupings, questions on the idea of the nation-state itself, the impact of Science and Technology on international relations, etc.

It also felt very grounded in everyday reality. And I’m very much interested in the everyday reality. Historically, a lot of subjects I studied seemed abstract, not immediately visible, and very distant in some sense. I very much do care about India’s place in the world, about the betterment of my fellow citizens. I have so much to say! Perhaps, that’s why I also got the best marks in this course.

Difficulty: 2

MPS3 - India: Democracy and Development

This was a very easy subject because in summary all it seemed to ask was, “write about the things you deeply care about in cursive.” The course deals with federalism, how the political system in India evolved over time, various institutions, governance, development, poverty alleviation, among other things.

I was pretty disheartened when they published the term-end test score for this paper. But then I remembered, it’s the sort of material I think about when I’m at a coffee shop by myself. So, I requested them to re-evaluate my answer sheet and then the score almost doubled I think.

Difficulty: 1

MPS4 - Comparative Politics: Issues and Trends

The course has a few theories to learn, but other than that it takes a broad view on issues, and makes comparisons across geographies, and time periods. For example, the role of religion in anti-colonial struggles, community identities, how different groups present their views to get a particular set of outcomes, globalization’s impact on society etc.

It was quite nice learning about different countries, cultures, societies, and how something that worked out a particular way in one country worked out differently for others. It was also helpful looking at one issue from various perspectives, and making comparisons.

Difficulty: 4

Second year courses

They let me choose the second year courses. Naturally, I picked the courses on topics that I was very interested in.

MPSE1 - India and the World

As I said previously, I deeply care about India and its place in the world. I found the course material quite simple because of that. It talks about the evolution of Indian foreign policy from the past to the present, India’s relations with other countries, the Nuclear policy etc.

It’s a fascinating subject. As fascinating as I can get fascinated.

Difficulty: 1

MED8 - Globalization and Environment

The course deals with globalization itself, and its impacts along several dimensions. It also talks about various measures taken by countries to address environmental degradation. Then there’s the part about various types of disasters, and how countries are mitigating some of them.

All in all, it’s an easy subject if you care about the topic, and also read up about how countries around the world are tackling the climate crisis.

Difficulty: 1

The title of the course pretty much explains what the course is about. It talks about many social movements, various political movements, and how some political parties emerged out of such movements. There is much to learn, and even more to think about. Honestly, I thought so much throughout the course: when reading through the material, doing the assignments, and in the exam hall. It was quite pleasant.

Difficulty: 2

MPSE8 - State Politics in India

This course is so fascinating because it deals with so many things that affect us directly: determinants of voter behavior, mechanisms for resolving differences between states, the impact of contemporary changes on state politics, the rights of minorities, coalition politics, and so much more.

Difficulty: 2

MED2 - Sustainable Development: Issues and Challenges

Unsurprisingly, the course talks about sustainable development, and the challenges we must overcome collectively. The content is generic, but a lot of perspectives on the concept of development are introduced.

Difficulty: 3

MPSE3 - Western Political Thought

This was one of the hardest courses because I had to actually remember the names of the thinkers, and their thoughts on a lot of subjects. In terms of the timeline, it deals with thinkers from Plato to Marx. I remember thinking, “wait, really?” on several occasions. But, that’s expected because that’s how thought and society as a whole evolve. What was once reasonable might not be so a century later. Or as one of the most prominent thinkers of this decade, Harry Styles, said, “…it’s a sign of the times”.

Difficulty: 5

The course is as hard as Western Political Thought if not harder. If you set aside the fact that you need to remember the names of a lot of thinkers, and their actual thought processes, it is quite enjoyable in terms of reading. There are chapters about M. K. Gandhi’s formulation of the relationship between religion and politics, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s understanding of caste, and untouchability, socialist features, tribal movements, political mobilizations, etc.

It is quite remarkable that so many people thought about so many dimensions—what India and her people ought to be. And it is very audacious too because a lot of the choices the country made could be termed “unconventional.” Look closely, and several of them could be directly traced to one or more of the modern Indian thinkers.

Difficulty: 5

MGPE13 - Civil Society, Political Regimes and Conflict

I chose the course because I needed to pick 8 electives, and I had more or less run out of the ones that interested me. But, this turned out to be a surprisingly good pick. The course material deals with the concept of civil society, swaraj, different types of political regimes, human rights, conflicts in various parts of the world, etc.

Difficulty: 1

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Demystifying the IIMA-WU Double Degree Program

Thu, 06 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMT

That Portuguese river bank.

For some context, I am in Vienna as a double-degree student from IIM Ahmedabad. I spent the first year of the two-year MBA program at IIMA and am spending my second year here as an MSc student in the SIMC program at WU. Once I meet the academic requirements set out here, I will receive degrees from both IIMA and WU; an MBA from IIMA, and an MSc from WU. I won’t get into why I chose to come here instead of spending my second year at IIMA.

That will be the subject of another essay, perhaps.

I said that in Studying legally in Vienna. Well, this is that essay. The time is now.

It’s been about three years since the time I applied for the degree program — it’s only fair that I write about it now. Life went by quite quickly.

As with other essays, you must remember that whatever I say here is based on my experience. Things might have changed, for better or worse. That said, I hope to answer all of the questions you might have regarding the IIMA-WU Double Degree Program in this essay. Let’s begin.

Before anything, you might ask, “What even is the double degree program? What is so double about it?” As the name suggests, you get two degrees — an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad and an MSc in Strategy, Innovation and Management Control (SIMC) from the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration.

So, instead of spending $2+2=4$ years on obtaining two master’s degrees, you can get them in $1+1=2$ years. You spend the first year at IIMA (Ahmedabad) and the second year at WU (Vienna).

It is different from the standard exchange program in the sense that in the shorter one-term exchange program the grades you get are not listed on your transcript in detail (they only mention pass/fail). So, you just need to pass your classes and the rest of the time you are free to roam around whichever part of the world you decide to go to.

In the double degree program, they actually transfer your IIMA credits to ECTS (all the courses you take till Term 4 at IIMA gets converted into ~68 ECTS), and you get a detailed transcript of your academic progress when you go to pick up the diploma finally.

The time durations are also different. The standard, short term exchange lasts for about three to four months, whereas the double degree might last about seven to nine months.

The Exchange Office at IIMA will send a detailed grade sheet to the WU International office and they will convert your IIMA credits (Term 1 to Term 4 courses) to ECTS. Usually, 68 ECTS gets transferred.

Then while you’re at WU, you must take the requisite courses (mandatory + electives), write a Master’s thesis (I wrote my thesis on “Exploring the Role of Internet Access on Education and Poverty Reduction: A Case Study of India”) and defend it to meet your academic requirements. In all, if all goes well you would have accumulated about 120-130 ECTS. That’s enough for you to get an MSc in SIMC.

You can read Review of 3rd Semester courses at WU and Review of 4th semester courses at WU if you are interested to know which classes I took. I also wrote about the classes I took at IIMA. You can read that here.

Interestingly, after you meet your WU degree requirements they don’t transfer the ECTS credits back to the IIMA grading system. So, your IIMA transcript will have grades only till Term 4. But, it really does not matter so long as they invite you to the convocation ceremony and hand over your degree document.

You may read The IIMA Convocation (Reang’s Version) if you’re interested.

I found the academic workload relatively lighter at WU compared to IIMA. I also feel everything seems easier after having been through the B.Tech. in EE program at IITK. Most things don’t even come close. Maybe that’s just me but I thought you should know.

There are no language requirements. The MSc in SIMC program is taught entirely in English. In addition, their MoU with IIMA means that you don’t have to take any standardized tests such as the GMAT. IIMA (via the Exchange Council) will nominate you, WU sends you a letter of acceptance and that’s pretty much it in terms of admission formalities. This is the easy part.

You can take a look at this outline if you are interested.

Let’s now talk about the more difficult part. After IIMA nominates you and WU sends you the acceptance letter, you are pretty much on your own.¹ Okay, maybe not anymore — lucky for you, I wrote an entire essay about the paperwork. You may want to read that now.

At this point you might ask, “Wait, you got this far without actually saying why you chose to do a double degree. What’s in it for you?” Fair question.

In short: I grew up thinking I’d like to experience a foreign education system, I got a dog bite, fell ill with dengue at IIMA; I decided one year in Ahmedabad was more than enough. In addition, getting three degrees by age 24 seemed like a worthwhile endeavor. I hinted at it here. And I actually got most of them!

One of the aspects that I get asked about frequently is the placement situation. I’ll avoid commenting on whether or not the Double Degree will be worth it in terms of finding a (well-paying, meaningful) job. However, since I’ve been through the process I’ll mention a few things:

The European Union.

Landing a job in Austria, and the the broader EU is hard, especially for roles that require fluency in a local language.
Since I did not explore job opportunities within the EU, I’ll not elaborate further on it.

India.

You choose to sit for placements with your batchmates (usually in February, semester break between the $3^{rd}$ and $4^{th}$ semesters at WU):
- You will still have one semester of classes left.
- You will also have the thesis left (by then you might have finalized your advisor and the topic to work on).
- Your IIMA CV verification will happen online but it is unlikely that the institute will switch to online final interviews just for you.
- You might need to deal with the “alignment problem” — WU classes usually go on till the end of June. By that time, if all things go well, many Indian firms already start their cohorts, so you might be at a disadvantage here.²
  Technically, you might be able to squeeze everything so that your stay in Vienna ends by May or June but that assumes everything (prof saying yes to your thesis proposal, class schedules, paperwork etc.) going your way. I won’t make such assumptions! Most likely, the thesis + defense + $4^{th}$ Semester classes will keep you occupied till August. And if things go South, you might be occupied till October too.
- In any case, informing potential employers about your academic commitments might be the best way to go. If they are okay with you working on the thesis after you join the workforce, well and good. If not, well not so good. If you have a PPO (pre placement offer), you can communicate the same to them. You’ll figure it out.
You choose to sit for placements with your junior batch (usually in February of the next year, after your time at WU ends):
- I did not opt for this, so I won’t be able to describe in detail how it goes.
- One very important thing to note here that you cannot write the experience (full-time employment or any other gig) you gained after your time at WU on your IIMA CV. I don’t really know why that rule exists ³ but that was what we were told. Please verify it with IIMA - things might have changed for the better.

WU holds it’s graduation ceremony (convocation) in the month of November and you can take part in it if you meet the academic requirements by the deadline ( $31^{st}$ October in the worst case).

The ceremony is held on campus in Vienna. I did not attend it because I thought it did not make financial sense to go back to Vienna just to collect the diploma. You can just ask a friend to go and collect it on your behalf (I chose this).

IIMA will also invite you to the convocation ceremony with your junior batch. Don’t skip this please — it will be one of the most beautiful evenings of your entire life.

Some had also asked me how much I spent during the entire stay. I know the exact number, but of course, I won’t spell it out here. That’s something for my future self to worry about. All I can say is that I spent within the yearly estimate that I had provided to them while doing my paperwork. I have reproduced the estimates from another essay for your reference.

Proof of sufficient financial means. This is perhaps the most tricky thing of all. Depending on your situation, you may be required to prove that you have the living expenses for a year or the entire study duration. Refer to the website above because the various amounts keep changing yearly. Proof of sufficient financial means to cover the living costs [as of 2022]:

Students under 24 years of age: EUR 569.11/month

Students as of the age of 24: EUR 1,030.49/month

Couples: EUR 1,625.71/month for both

For each child additionally: EUR 159/month

The following example is handy in understanding the amount you need to show to the authorities (as of 2022). You are 23 years old. You are staying (or have a contract for) in a student dorm, with a monthly rent of EUR 605.00. The health insurance costs EUR 65 per month. And you plan to stay here for 12 months. In this case, you need to show proof for
$(\underbrace{569.11}_\text{min based on age group} + \underbrace{605.00}_\text{monthly rent} - \underbrace{309.92}_\text{min rent} + \underbrace{65.00}_\text{monthly insurance}) \times \overbrace{12}^\text{stay in Vienna, in months} = \text{EUR } 11,150.16$

It’ll be helpful to hand in the proof for more than EUR 12,000 so that they know you have sufficient means to support your stay here. Also, only the amount above the minimum monthly rent is added to the rent component.

You need to show that amount when submitting your application.

I had the best year of my life in Vienna. Words won’t do justice to the sense of transformation I felt while walking around the beautiful streets of Vienna. It was perhaps the most transformative year of my life in all aspects.

Maybe it was the coffee, the refreshing tap water, the people I met or the long walks in $2\,^\circ\mathrm{C}$ temperature. Most people treated me fairly and with kindness. I went to events hosted by the Indian Embassy for free food, got invited to a Christmas dinner, and spent a lot of time thinking about so many things.

During my solo trip, standing on that Portuguese river bank I felt so free: the fear of death, of being mediocre, most insecurities, most feelings that I’d bottled up for so long simply vanished.

I don’t remember the exact day or the conversation that led me to the realization, but there was a point when I started seeing things in a different light. “Yes, there will be bad days. Perhaps I might not get all that I dream of. But, what else is there other than feeling hopeful; that things will go my way?”

Can you put a monetary value on that? I don’t really know. So, I cannot tell you if the Double Degree was worth it in terms of job prospects. However, I can certainly say it was totally worth it for me. Am I saying that you should follow whatever I did? Not really. In any case, a general suggestion might not even work for you.

But if you get the opportunity, and have the means I’d totally recommend taking it up. I understand that the placement season is perhaps the thing that IIMA graduates look forward to the most. However it is also true that most people leave their “dream” jobs in a few years.

In that sense, if your consideration is that you’d lose out on that dream job because the timelines might not align if you do a double degree, I would suggest thinking some more (and deciding to do a double degree). But you do you. All the best!

Neither IIMA nor WU will assist you in getting your residence permit. VFS, email servers, and anxious days and nights will be your best friends during this period. My thoughts and prayers for you. Don’t worry much, start the process early and you should be fine. Please start the process early because the paperwork might get very overwhelming later with so many things on your plate (securing finances, housing, classes, your summer internship, and others). ↩
I’m not saying you won’t get hired, but certain firms may choose to hire others instead because it doesn’t make a ton of sense for them to move their cohort system just for you. If firms don’t have such issues, well you’re sorted. ↩
Let’s say you write your thesis, defend it, and complete everything by August or September. Post that, you take up a job thinking you’ll leave it in a few months to sit for IIMA placements with your junior batch. Well, you can sit for placements, sure. But, you cannot write about the experience you gained (between September to January/February of next year) on your IIMA CV. ↩

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Review of every cafe I’ve been to in Kolkata, so far

Tue, 20 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Sit still, sip coffee.

Introduction

This is the second essay of my (hopefully ongoing) cafe review series. Of course, this essay is modeled after my Review of every cafe I’ve been to in Vienna, so far.

I should state that the reviews are mostly subjective, and you should explore these cafes independently.

Please speak to us in Bengali. We like to hear you speak in Bengali. — one Starbucks barista.

Methodology

I got a list of the cafe I’ve been to by going through photos of coffee. For each cafe, I describe my general experience: what I liked, what I did not like, and what I did there depending on how much I could recall. And then finally provide a cafe score based on that.

I’ve listed the cafes in order (according to the cafe score) this time — from the best to the “okay types.”

The cafe score (CS) is a weighted average of three parameters: vibe $(v)$ , aesthetic $(a)$ , and price $(p)$ .

The cafe score (CS) is calculated using the following formula:

$CS = w_v * v + w_a * a + w_p * p * (-1)$

Where,
vibe $(v)$ ranges from $1-10$ , with $1$ being the worst, and $10$ being the best.
aesthetic $(a)$ ranges from $1-10$ , with $1$ being the worst, and $10$ being the best.
price $(p)$ ranges from $1-10$ , with $1$ being the least expensive, and $10$ being the most expensive, relatively. Everything is expensive here.

$w_v = 50\%$ : vibe is very important.
$w_a = 20\%$ : aesthetic is important, but if the vibes match, it’s secondary.
$w_p = 30\%$ : I’m price-conscious.
The $-1$ term is a penalty term.

Cafes

Get a cup of coffee and have fun reading.

Potboiler, Salt Lake

The cups here are so pretty!

Cafe Score: 5.2

I love this place. I won’t trouble you with the story on how I discovered this place but I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been here. I went here with my friends, ex-friends, and of course alone.

I walked from my house to the cafe (a walk of about 25,000 steps) on my 25th birthday. The food here is pretty good, and the coffee is excellent. You should try their Vietnamese coffee. The Uncle Chips they serve with pudina chutney is otherworldly. However, if you are looking for coffee beans, you’d be better off buying them from other cafes.

The only thing that bothers me now and then is their “we allow pets” policy. No, don’t get me wrong — I have nothing against pets. But to put it simply, I did not have a great experience with dogs, historically, so when I see pet dogs larger than me, I freak out a little bit, although most pet owners are responsible.

Other than walking to this place on my birthday, the other memorable incident was when this one gentleman asked me if I’m from South Korea and immediately apologized when I told him in Bengali that I’m Indian lol.

One time, I also met Sam Curran here.

Craft Coffee Experience Centre, Ballygunge

Kohli scored a century that day!

Cafe Score: 5.0

I found this cafe while walking around a friend’s place, on the day of the India vs South Africa Cricket WC’23 match (Kohli scored a century that day!). I just love the neighborhood, although it can be a bit noisy on some days. The cafe is on the first floor, but like the one in Salt Lake, their coffee is excellent too.

I was in a hurry the two times I went here, so I don’t recall much — and I did not do much thinking either. The cafe is quite far from where I live or I might have gone there frequently to read a book or watch the mango leaves sway.

Craft Coffee Experience Centre, Salt Lake

Always ask for extra cookies. And read that book — it’s great.

Cafe Score: 4.9

I love the zucchini fritters here. I read quite a bit during my visits here.

They even remember my order now (zucchini fritters with a flat white, and a tiramisu sometimes). The seating area outside is pretty nice too, although I almost always preferred sitting indoors because passive smoking does not sit well with me.

The vibe here is great for thinking about things happening around me. I’ve also seen a lot of people on what seemed like a date, not that went on a date here myself. Someone once waited with a flower bouquet and the person they were expecting did not show up (I think) — what a cruel world. There was also that sinking feeling that it could happen to anyone ¹. Writing that line reminded me of one of my favorite lines from one of my favorite books of all time, Humankind:

”… accept and account for the fact that you’ll occasionally be cheated. That’s a small price to pay for the luxury of a lifetime of trusting other people.” — Rutger Bregman in Humankind: A Hopeful History.

If you decide to order the zucchini fritters someday, remind them not to put the extra peri peri mix or it’ll be too spicy. Funny story — the first time I asked them to make the fritters less spicy they said it was not possible. A gentleman patiently explained to me the preparation process.

In that same monologue, he also mentioned that they sprinkle the peri peri mix after frying the zucchini (which is already dipped in a spicy batter). I asked him why they can’t simply not sprinkle the spice mix at the end. After some thought he said they can make it less spicy.

Sienna

This was something out of this world!

Cafe Score: 4.5

This place almost resembles the cafe of my post-retirement dreams — standalone, has some kind of a store, and serves great food. However, everything was priced a bit higher than other places.

The rice and fish dish I had was something out of this world. It was dark, we were seated outside, but I felt like I could taste each grain of rice and the fish. It was so good!

This locality is also quite pretty — there are street arts, some cut out yellow taxi, and overall peaceful. I’ve been there only once mainly because it takes me ages to travel.

If you are in Kolkata you should go here for the food. ~~You can walk to a nearby cafe and have good coffee from there instead.~~ The coffee here is also excellent.

They have revamped the place, and their coffee has improved a lot too in 2025.

Artsy - Coffee & Culture

Some Instagram reels are actually useful.

Cafe Score: 4.1

My flatmate sent me a reel about this cafe one evening, and we went there the next evening. It did not disappoint. The owner (an old lady) was lovely to us, and the coffee tasted excellent. It’s quite close to the Victoria Memorial. So, if you go there to learn about the colonial history someday, you should drop by the cafe.

The area is quite good for walking around in the afternoon, if it’s not scorching hot. The cafe itself is located in some non-descript street, but its bright walls are beautiful. In terms of aesthetics it’s one of the best ones I’ve seen, perhaps next only to the Flurry’s outlet on Park Street.

This cafe is also very far from where I live, so I’ve been there only a few times. But if I open a cafe someday, I think it’ll have elements from Artsy (or at least be inspired by it).

Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters, Southern Avenue

What a heart!

Cafe Score: 3.8

I fell in love with this place the first time I went here. I ordered a breakfast platter at 3 PM and it was something out of this world. The eggs were supremely good, and the mushrooms had just the right level of spice. The best experience in any Blue Tokai outlet, according to me, is the water they give you in one of those blue cups. It feels like it’d quench your thirst when you drink the water.

Anyway, the entire locality, with its narrow, one-way streets, is quite the treat to walk around. Of course, it’s an entirely different issue when you try to take a cab because for some reason people in that locality seem to think they own the roads (which they might, to be honest) and park their fancy cars on the road, leaving little room for other cabs to move around.

If you happen to be around, you should definitely visit this cafe.

Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters, Salt Lake

What a sad heart.

Cafe Score: 3.6

The experience here was similar to any other Blue Tokai outlet. However, this one is closer to where I live, so it’s more convenient in that sense. They have a section with a huge stack of books, and they also display various roasts of coffee, and other merch prominently which I liked.

The cafe itself is quite small, probably frequented by corporate employees because there are quite a few offices nearby. It’s beside a lake which dries up during winter and overflows during the rainy season. If you think really hard, the lake looks a bit like Rann of Kutch in winter. Without all the salt, of course.

The washroom situation is a bit sad though. You need to walk out of the cafe, and there is no guarantee that it will be clean most times. So, something to keep in mind if you decide to visit.

Bunosilo Estate Coffee Roasters, Ballygunge

That ice-cream was ice-creaming hard!

Cafe Score: 2.9

This cafe is about 50 meters from Craft Coffee Experience Center, Ballygunge. It is on the same street, in fact. I went here a few times — it was great. The noise level was optimum for reading, they also have mirrors (I mean who doesn’t like a few mirrors).

The coffee is excellent, but I should point out that the food was mid at best. However, the hot bread they served on the side was excellent. The best thing is probably the fact that they don’t have any other outlets. There’s something charming about cafes which are standalone — someone’s pet project probably, like on the ground floor of an old house etc, which would otherwise be used for car parking or renting out to strangers. I hope you get what I’m trying to say.

When I’m really old, I mean when I’m super old, I’d love to go back home and start a cafe. It’ll have a reading section with my favorite books that I’d have hoarded during my lifetime and a section selling handcrafted textiles. If all goes well, I might keep a few cats as well. A cafe and a pineapple plantation. If it all goes according to this plan, I’d consider my life worthwhile. We shall see!

For residents of Kolkata only: Assuming you are on Maa flyover (which you will most likely be), exit at Park Circus, take a left, and keep driving towards Quest Mall. Take a left after Quest Mall, and keep walking on what looks like a deserted street. Stop when you find a dead end. The cafe should be on your left.

Flurry’s, Park Street

Legend has it that Sia was inspired to make Chandelier sitting here.

Cafe Score: 2.8

A historic place on a historic street. The cafe is located next to a traffic stop which never stops for more than 3 seconds for pedestrians. I wish to someday understand the thought process of whoever programmed the lights at this traffic intersection. How does someone expect someone else to do anything in 3 odd seconds, let alone cross a street?

The vibe inside the cafe is immaculate though. The bakery section is stuffed with pretty food items whose names I can’t recall. I love their Affogato! Apart from coffee, the food is okayish. However, the ceiling and the chandeliers are something else.

Yeah so, if you ever go here you must take a photo of the ceiling, have some good coffee and skip the food part. That is assuming you don’t get run over by cars — because someone decided a few seconds is enough to walk across one of the busiest streets in the entire Eastern India lol!

Roastery Coffee House, Kolkata

Art. Cookies. Coffee.

Cafe Score: 2.5

If you ask a Kolkata native about cafe recommendations, this is probably the place that comes up most often. I went here one evening with my flatmate and was lucky enough to find a place to seat. It is beautiful! Especially in the evening. It’s not one of those situations where you can say, “Oh, dekhne wale pe hai.” (It depends) It is objectively pretty in the evening.

The coffee was fine, and the food was meh for the most part. It is almost always crowded so you can expect it to be noisy if you go there someday. Also, when I went there someone in the adjacent table had their dog with them. It was quite unsettling for me.

The washroom had fancy soaps, though. It was quite nice. Honestly, I’m not a huge food enthusiast, so it was fine for me. A cup of good coffee and an aesthetic surrounding are enough to satisfy your hunger sometimes. Or so I tell myself.

$8^{th}$ Day Cafe & Bakery, Salt Lake

for youuuuuu…

Cafe Score: 2.4

The first time we went here, my flatmate and I received a giant cookie as a token of apology. The coffee was excellent but the food was quite meh. We ordered Baba ghanoush, fully expecting to taste smoked eggplant. Instead they gave something that had a texture similar to baby food (think Cerelac). So, I kept cribbing about that.²

The second time we went here, the food was still meh but the Affogato was lovely and their choice of music was amazing. I distinctly remember a lady (whom we did not know), my flatmate, and I going, “for youuuuuu!…” ³ at the same time when they played Yellow by Coldplay. It’s one of the loveliest human experiences.

To think about it, the weather was much nicer during the second visit. So, if you ever decide to go here, go when the weather is lovely and you might just have a nice time.

Cafe Coffee Day, Behala

Time flies. I started my undergrad 7 years ago, apparently!

Cafe Score: 2.1

CCD played an integral part during my undergraduate days. I’m sure you can relate well to feeling numb, and lost at some point during your UG. For me, it took the form of overloading coursework and research projects, with some personal projects on the side.

I cannot comment on the usefulness of this approach however. I would attend the day’s classes, go back to my room to sleep and wake up around 11 PM and have a king-sized Latte at CCD and work through the night and repeat that cycle daily.

This particular CCD holds some significance too. That’s because it’s one of the cafés I went to when I came to Kolkata a few years back — now I actually live here! It’s crazy how life works. So I went here one day just to relive that moment. It was calmer this time, with a few new structures around but it’s still quite distinct. The layout of the cafe, the tables and chairs and the sofa did not change one bit.

I also walked around after having some coffee, mango juice, and banana chips. If you go to a CCD, you must try their banana chips. The fish market, vegetable hawkers, and the entire area was chaotic but great for walking around. Honestly, the amount of sensory overload was something else.

Indian Coffee House

The background food was nice.

Cafe Score: 1.9

A senior from my undergrad college took me here. The place is pretty historic, but in its current form the building looks nondescript and in decline. I don’t know how long the structure will hold up. Wires, electrical switches, a very tall ceiling and college canteen-looking arrangement of tables and chairs. That’s the vibe.

The coffee tasted like instant coffee but the food was nice. I don’t remember what I ate, only that it was nice. This is the sort of place you visit once because you are interested in its history, or just because one afternoon you feel like taking photos of old crumbling structures.

Apart from that, the surrounding also looks very old — full of bookshops and old buildings. But walking around the place can be quite a treat. It’s lively, at the same the devoid of life. I mean the bookshops and the other small shops have people going in and out of them, but the other buildings looked mostly empty. It could be because I went there on a weekend, but that was my impression.

Unless a friend takes me there someday, I would probably not go back on my own. Some things are better on Instagram, and there is nothing wrong with that I suppose.

Starbucks, Park Street

Cafe Score: 1.9

I went here during New Year’s Eve, after going to the Indian Coffee House. Frankly, I did not need to go in, but Park Street was super crowded. And understandably so. People were waiting for a new year after all. I needed to use the washroom and Starbucks washrooms are generally a safe bet. So I went in. Then I thought I’ll drink some Cappuccino and walk with the crowd — literally hundreds or thousands of people. I knew none but there was something about that experience that made me feel quite lively.

Someone once said, “Unbothered. In my lane. Moisturized. Thriving!” I really felt that. There was a long queue everywhere that evening. Since the street was lively, and crowded I decided walking around would be a better use of my time than sitting at Starbucks to have coffee at 10 PM. So, I collected my takeaway coffee, some Starbucks stars, and headed out to the street.

Starbucks, Newtown

Cafe Score: 1.9

Of all the cafes I’ve been to in Kolkata thus far, this is probably the place where I did the largest bit of thinking. The staff here speak to me in Bengali, and know my name. They even know my order!

It’s a great spot (when it’s empty) for reflecting on things — education in Tripura, the healthcare system, the Reang tribe’s progress, on identity, and the list goes on. I don’t overthink or anything. Watching cars pass by from afar, and thinking about some of these things bring in massive sadness at times but also excitement during other times.

You realize that you can’t do anything about a lot of things, but then you also read about things and realize that a lot of things have been getting better too.

$8^{th}$ Day Cafe & Bakery, Jatin Bagchi Road

Cafe Score: 0.2

I went here one evening right as they were shutting shop. The coffee was as bland as it could be. And they seemed more interested in counting the coins and bookkeeping than brewing coffee.

Honestly, I get that. I’m to blame for the wrong timing. However, they did not charge me any lesser for a cup of coffee, and it was very noisy.

Hence, I put this place at the bottom of my list. I don’t think I’m going back to this place because it is very far away from where I live. You shouldn’t go either. But, okay you do you. It’s a free country. ⁴

Summary

Thank you for reading till this point. I don’t know what is worse — me going to 16 cafes, taking photos (and writing about them) or you reading a 4000-word-random-train-of-thought on a Saturday afternoon. Surely, your life must be more happening than mine.

However, since you are here — thank you!

Sorry about that. Please go on dates. Life is too short not to be going on dates. ↩
I did not tell the staff anything to their face, obviously. My flatmate and I were just talking, and they noticed that we haven’t eaten anything. So, we got a giant cookie. ↩
If you know, you know. ↩
Read the disclaimer! ↩

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Jaipur

Tue, 13 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMT

The Hawa Mahal.

Sunny, beautiful, and generally walkable. That’s what I thought about Jaipur. One of the most touristy cities in India, Jaipur is rich in history, culture, cuisine, and the people I met seemed lovely.

The first time I read about Jaipur was obviously while trying to memorize the names of the capital cities of all the Indian states. Chhattisgarh — Raipur, Goa — Panaji, Rajasthan — Jaipur and on and on. I actually loved reciting the names of the capital cities of Indian states. Okay, more like I knew mom would give me a thrashing if I forgot the names of the capital cities, so I did my best to keep up.

And the first person I met, who had some association with Jaipur was my IIT JEE physics coaching teacher. I can’t recall if he was from Jaipur or if he studied in Jaipur. Either way, how does it matter? From reading about the city, and hearing about it to actually walking around the city aimlessly was an incredible experience. For a moment I felt like, “Man! I could spend the rest of my life here.”

I have no idea how to write a travelogue or if there is a right way to narrate your experiences in a new city. So, I’ll mostly follow my own way — narrate the story as if I’m talking to myself. If someone finds it useful or entertaining, great! If not, I’m sure I can read them to my kids and their kids at some point in the future. People come, people go. Life happens, life ends. But the words must flow. Content creation must not stop.

A slight issue with trying to write a travelogue eight months after your travel is that you tend to forget some things, or at least you don’t remember them as vividly anymore. That’s where taking photos (of yourself, random buildings, other people, and trees) comes to your rescue. I have Google Photos open on one tab as I write these words. The recollection seems a bit easier now.

As with other trips, I did not really have a plan for what I was going to do in Jaipur. I thought I’ll go to a cafe when I get there, sit there for a few hours, and then think about where to go next. More often than not, that meant turning my location on and searching “best cafes near me.” I must inform you — that actually worked out great.

This is one way to plan your travel. It has worked reasonably well for me, thus far.

The first thing I saw as I stepped out of the Jaipur International Airport was a giant billboard that said, “Jaipur Rugs” and I thought, “Wow! These people really know how to market their products.”

As I said before — I did not have a plan. So, the next order of business was to find a cafe where I could sit and plan. I asked a few friends for suggestions, and ended up in Tapri. Unfortunately, not a lot of planning happened here. I got distracted by the mini samosas and the copper water jug. Also, that one guy slurping on his masala maggi was super distracting. Anyway, I remembered that I had not slept the previous night — so I bought some essentials (shampoo, conditioner, and a sunscreen), walked back to the hostel, ate a bowl of rice and went to sleep.

The real exploration began the next morning. Since I still did not have a concrete plan for what I was going to do in Jaipur amidst the sleep deprivation, copper pots, and maggi slurping, I decided to put my foot down and plan something — search on Maps, text some friends for recommendations, and walk as much as I could.

I went to Roastery, got myself a cup of coffee and extra cookies (free of charge — you just need to ask nicely and smile). I opened Google Maps and searched for places that my friends recommended. After getting an overview of the different landmarks, I decided to walk around that day, take a faster mode of transportation the next day, and go to the farthest landmarks towards the end of the trip.

After finishing my delicious cup of coffee, I started walking towards Amar Jawan Jyoti, a war memorial. What I did not realize at the time was that further down the road sits the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly. If you know me, you might have realized that I have a thing for democracy and places from where decisions impacting millions of people are made. I had a great time admiring the beautiful Rajasthan Legislative Assembly building.

Amar Jawan Jyoti.

Further down the road, I passed by the MLAs’ housing complex. My first thought was “Wow! These houses look beautiful. I wish I could get a house here someday.” As a matter of fact, I cannot because I need to first get elected to the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly to be eligible for housing there.

Board showing the 2023 Rajasthan Legislative Assembly Election results. Sign of things to come. More on this later.

I went to the Albert Hall Museum after some more strolling. They did not think I’m an Indian citizen and asked me for foreign entry fees. I did not pay up of course. One person demanded to see my Aadhaar card (unique ID for residents of India). I flatly declined and asked him if me conversing with him in Hindi was not enough. Anyway, they gave me the Indian ticket eventually and that was the end of it. Inside the museum itself, I had a good time looking at pottery and reading their descriptions in Hindi.

One of them said, “Phooldaan, safed rang ka arbi laalten ke aakar ka, jis par lal rang ke dragon ebam suhnehre rang ke pushpa ankit hai.” Vase, Arabian lantern shaped, white with dragons in red and flowers in gold color.

Pottery.

After that I went to a cafe adjacent to Hotel Narain Niwas Palace. The coffee itself was mostly okay, but since it was raining outside, I spent some time flipping through a book about the Jodhpur Lancers, while admiring the beautiful walls and carpets of the cafe. Having walked about 7 km, I decided to call it a day — went back to the hostel, had some rice, and slept.

I started the next day with an English breakfast at a cafe called Bae (wow!) and some coffee (of course). As usual, I opened Maps and found out that the Jaipur metro line isn’t very far from where I was. As a public transport enthusiast, I had to go and check it out. After some online search, I found out that I can get a metro card, and pay for it online too. So, I got the card. The card had a photo of the Hawa Mahal printed on it, so I decided that I must go to the Hawa Mahal next. Fortunately, visiting the Hawa Mahal is super convenient using the metro line.

I’m very proud of this photo.

I realized that I just had to go to Badi Chopar and take the appropriate exit. They did not question my citizenship this time. The entry to the Hawa Mahal was super smooth.

I spent a few hours walking around and taking a ton of photos. Every corner seemed so pretty. Walking there, seeing the crowd below on the street, and the architecture itself made me quite happy. The Sun was just winding down — I felt a sense of happiness that I hadn’t felt in a long time. I don’t know what it was, but I was genuinely so happy at the Hawa Mahal, it is difficult to describe it in words.

That could have been the highlight of the day, except that it wasn’t. The best part of the day was yet to come. So, at some point I had mentioned to one of my flatmates that I have never been to a North Indian wedding before. In fact, I have been to just one or two weddings before that. Clearly, I lack the wedding experience. Or more like “experiencing weddings” experience. Anyway, he told me that I could drop by and see it for myself.

It was the most beautiful evening of my entire life thus far, honestly. The bride and the groom looked so pretty, and so did everyone else (including my flatmate, but he would probably refuse to acknowledge it). Once I got rid of the “I’m so under-dressed” feeling, I walked around, observed people and food, and generally had a great time. Some people even talked to me. I also found out that I’m from the bride’s side. Before that I did not know the couple’s names. None really seemed to mind me going quite close to the procession and observing everything. I very much appreciated that. A decorated umbrella, chandeliers, tons of flowers, fireworks, and garlands — there was everything.

A gentleman saw me taking photos of fruits and said, “Well, you have to eat them to know if they are any good, taking photos won’t help.” Fair point. So, I ate fruits, masala papad, drank soup, and badam milk, a few more things that I don’t remember. And then my flatmate introduced me to rabdi jalebi. That rocked my world. Freshly fried jalebis with rabdi is something out of this world! My first North Indian wedding experience was a great success.

I went to yet another cafe called O’Baque the next morning. It might be one of the most aesthetic cafes I’ve been to thus far. And trust me, I’ve been to a lot of cafes in my time here on Earth. I saw a beautiful mirror there, and then my reflection in the mirror and realized that life is good — I could see happiness on my face. I felt something similar to what I felt while exploring the Hawa Mahal. Feeling genuine happiness from inside is one the best feelings ever. I was so happy (maybe it was the coffee, or the macaroon) that I decided to walk from the cafe to Jantar Mantar, a 47 minutes walk.

Tip: You can click on the left or right arrow to see more photos.

I could not help but admire the structures in Jantar Mantar. It was also eye-opening in the sense that all of modern civilization and all these structures we see around did not simply come about. We actually built them according to our needs, during different periods in history. The weather was quite pleasant for me to walk around and think about civilization, human progress, and our collective and individual roles in that progress. It was quite the thinking (to myself).

I ended my day by going back to Tapri because I wanted the eat those mini samosas again. There was none slurping on their maggi this time, the tea was lovely, so was the pudina chutney. I also made sure to write down my Instagram username on the feedback form because someone suggested it after seeing my previous feedback. I walked about 9 km that day.

Follow me on Instagram. Thanks!

I went to the City Palace the next morning. A tour guide showed me around. He obviously spoke very highly of the royal family, and in the process told me that the previous generation of his family also worked in the palace. Unprompted, he asked me about my educational qualifications — I thought for a moment and then decided to tell him lol. That was a bad decision on my part because he asked me very Jaipur-specific history questions after that. I said, “Sorry, I don’t know the answer to that” a few times, got a few questions correct while thinking to myself, “Wow! I did not come here for a quiz.”

After a few more questions, I asked him why he spoke to me in English initially, before I switched to speaking to him in Hindi. He said he thought I’m from Japan. I asked him if he heard about the state of Tripura, and the Northeast region. And then there was a general understanding that he knows some things more than I do, and I know some things that he might not know.

In one of the rooms, someone went around in circles, flawlessly moving her lehenga. And her tour guide was recording a video of the whole thing. That prompted my tour guide to ask me if I wanted photos. I said not really. Then he smiled saying it won’t cost extra. I told him that wasn’t the issue; but then he said that I should let him take photos of me “for the memories”. So I did a George Russell.

I did a George Russell. If you know, you know.

He received a call shortly after that. He informed me that they are bolting the palace doors because the whole of Jaipur is shutting down for the rest of the day. He reassured me that I need not hurry, but apparently they had stopped issuing tickets for the day, and I would be one of the last ones — I can leave after having some coffee. I asked him if there would be extra cookies. He said, of course, and free of charge. He said something and I remember it vividly to this day — “If you stay alive, you can come back to see the City Palace another time too.”

He was concerned if I’ll be able to make it back to the metro stop by myself. I told him that navigating using Google Maps is something I excel at, so he need not worry. Before leaving I asked him about the cheapest way to get to the Amer Fort. He asked me a few questions to get a sense of where I was staying and then told me that I could take a bus that goes from Badi Chopar to Amer directly.

I thanked him for his time, and we parted ways. He was not messing around. Jaipur had, in fact, effectively shut down. The metro stop looked deserted. Fortunately, the trains still ran, so I hopped on one, and walked to my hostel in a hurry. There was heavy police presence on the streets. They did not ask me questions, however. Once I got back to the hostel, I looked up the news — it quickly hit me why Jaipur had shut down, and why there was large police presence on the streets. If you are interested, you can read this news article.

I wasn’t sure whether Jaipur would be open the next day. I was slightly concerned because I had a flight to catch the next evening. Realizing there was nothing much that I could do, I went to sleep. After waking up I was glad to find out that things were back to normal. So, I decided to visit the Amer Fort. I walked to the nearest metro stop, took the train to Badi Chopar and waited for the bus. After some waiting, the correct bus came by, and I took the longish ride to the fort for ₹25. I fell asleep on the bus and missed the entrance to the fort. Nothing to worry, I told myself. I walked up a long winding uphill road, and made it to the fort eventually. The walk was worth it.

That morning I also met fellow tourists in the hostel — one from Denmark, and a couple from the UK. I ran into them again at the fort, so we explored it together. They even took photos of me. It was lovely all around. We went to Panna Meena ka Kund after taking in the breathtaking views from the top of the Amer Fort. You need to visit and see it for yourself. At one point I pictured invading soldiers, trying to storm the fort, and how I’d have used the cannons. Anyway, the cool breeze quickly brought me back to reality.

Somewhere in the Amer Fort.

There was no crowd at Panna Meena ka Kund surprisingly. I loved the symmetry. The stairs, and their shadows created a beautiful pattern. We spent a fair amount of time taking photos, and then it was time to head back. I had a flight to catch in a few hours. I said goodbye to my fellow tourists, and got on a bus. Since the Jal Mahal was on the way, I got off there and spent some time. The owner of a jhumka shop kept quoting prices to me for some reason. It made me wonder about a few things — it would be lovely to get jhumkas for someone someday, the trip was beautiful, and I was quite hungry.

Panna Meena ka Kund.

So I headed to Masala Chowk to eat local food (someone rightly pointed out that I might try out local food since I eat rice at home anyway). I found out something about myself — as much as I’m open to trying new cuisines, I should stick to eating rice because my taste buds did not appreciate the local food at all. Slowly, it also hit me that I might miss my flight if I get stuck in traffic on my way back to the hostel. There was one last thing to do, however.

I took a cab to Johari Bazar, and bought a few bangles, some sweets, and gifts for my friends. Once that was done, it was time to hurry and get to the airport. There is something thrilling about almost missing your flight, but eventually making it on time. I threw everything in my suitcase, said a quick goodbye to the hostel staff and headed for the airport.

I had a lovely time in Jaipur — something that I’ll remember for a long long time. One of the reasons for writing this travelogue is to remember all that happened during that trip. It went well more than I had hoped for. In some sense, I left a small part of me in Jaipur (well, I also left behind my journal during the hurried packing, but the hostel staff posted it back to me. So all is well. I would love to go back to Jaipur someday.

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The IIMA Convocation (Reang’s Version)

Thu, 18 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMT

That red scarf is called a risa. My mother weaved the shirt, especially for the convocation. 30 March, 2024.

I’ve been writing this essay for quite sometime now — I started writing it at a cafe like most of my essays, on different flights, listening to different songs, going through various moods. I was having a tough time thinking about what to write but seeing Mom walk around the IIMA campus, and giving her the campus tour made me realize exactly what I wish to write about — an origin story, a story of growth, and of increasing optimism about the future.

“I don’t even recall some of the kids I taught, but I remember you — from Twitter!”, remarked one of the Professors I ran into during the farewell dinner ¹. That was one of the most memorable moments from the convocation weekend. My IIMA convocation happened on 30 March, 2024. Initially, I thought I’d publish the essay as soon as convocation day is over. Surprisingly, a lot of things can happen within a short time span, it turns out. So, here we are, almost three weeks later.

Seeing a few familiar faces on campus helped quite a bit in calming my nerves. I have been feeling a lot of things going into the convocation weekend and after. In fact, I almost abandoned this essay because I thought I would not be able to do justice to all the things I was feeling. Like most of my essays, I won’t narrate the events that happened during the convocation weekend chronologically. If you want to know what happened on which day, you can refer to the official schedule, which I’m sure won’t be very hard to find.

Instead, I’ll offer you a frontseat view of the convocation through my lens — everything that led to that moment. The moment they announced my name on stage. Because at the end of the day that’s all that’s left right? Us, our experiences, and our worldview given our experiences. Let’s start then.

A parent. An elder sister to her siblings, but most importantly, a person who hedged her bets right — I wouldn’t be writing these words had it not been for my mother. I’m even happier that she chose to place her bets on me. My earliest memories of time I spent around her are of traveling an entire day to get to her childhood home, meaning my maternal grandfather’s house. Transport options were limited during those days, with a literal army convoy escorting civilian cars to make sure that the passengers are okay. If you are interested in learning more about the happenings of those times you can perform a simple search such as this “Tripura news 2006”.

Anyway, coming back to that trip to my grandfather’s house — we missed a bus connection (coincidentally, we now live in that town where we missed our connection!), but Mom was determined to get home. So we hopped in a goods truck, hoping that we could make the connection in the next town. Unfortunately for us, the truck driver was superbly drunk and started pressing random buttons on the dashboard. If you have been to the Northeast you know how the roads are. Imagine what that might have been like 10-15 years ago — one wrong turn and you’d end up in a valley somewhere.

I had not thought much about the incident. Until now. We asked the driver to stop and drop us wherever we were — turns out it was the middle of nowhere, lush jungles all around. Remember the army convoys I mentioned earlier? One of the army trucks was kind enough to stop for us (they stopped until they made sure we got on a bus that was headed towards my mom’s hometown). Frankly speaking, I was too young and naive at the time to think about the ramifications — my world was limited to spending time with my school books and between two homes — my mom’s and dad’s side of the family.

I don’t remember if this happened before or after the truck incident, but one of the other core memories from childhood has to do with me slicing off a portion of my index finger. It was right before I started Class 1. You see, we had built a new raised bamboo house and the flooring is usually made using bamboo too — you crack open a bamboo and lay them out just like any other flooring. Kids are dumb, I naturally put my tiny finger in one of the cracks — freshly cut bamboo is quite sharp, so I got a cut. Yes, I lived in a bamboo house, a mud house, and then a pukka building. Some of my relatives still live in a bamboo house. Mom poured some mustard oil on it, and I slept for some three hours and that was the end of that episode.

The point of these stories is to hopefully convince you that life is vastly different for so many people. It was so different for me a few years ago — most days feel like a dream. There are not really that many things to cry about. The convocation weekend reinforced that feeling. I’m not asking you to feel sympathy for me, not at all! However, perhaps you can appreciate the vastly diverse country we call home — because for some of you, it is not an imaginary construct someone cooked up to convince you of a particular viewpoint. Some of you literally ate from the same plate as I did, so you know about my lived experience. I’ll use the IIMA convocation experience to make a few points.

The IIMA campus was beautifully lit up for convocation, and why not? A couple thousand people had come together to celebrate the graduation of some of the smartest people in the country. That I got to live, play, and grow up among these people feels surreal. You know, I was and am an active part of that world. However, I am also part of another world — where my maternal grand mother’s village still does not have electricity, forget about running water. How do you explain to someone the gap between these worlds? Can it ever be bridged? Can I ever do something to reduce that gap?

I do not have an answer to any of these questions. And perhaps that’s cool — why should I know the answer to those questions at this stage in life? I’m only 24, right?

I love the Vikram Sarabhai Library. 30 March, 2024.

The convocation, to me, meant something of an official transition — of shedding old guard, leaving the old world behind for the more fast-paced, shiny world where I can summon a taxi within minutes, order fresh chillis when I realize that we’re out of chillis and there’s a boiling pot full of veggies. Someone will hear you out patiently and offer refunds because someone else forgot to pack fresh mushrooms for you. In contrast, my grandmother grows most of what she eats including rice, chillis, pumpkins, etc. The nearest market from her place is about an hour away on foot. If you need something from the market, you got to walk that distance and back. I can order whatever I want via an app and an actual person shows up to the house.

I would be lying if I told you that I do not like this new world. Now, there’s an actual proof that I’m a part of this new world. They announced my name on stage (probably the first time ever that someone uttered the word “Reang” on stage at IIMA), the Chairperson, Board of Governors said “Congratulations!” and handed me my degree. Turns out it isn’t a dream after all — there is paperwork now. I’m officially a graduate of the best B-school in the country. Also, of IITK and the Vienna University of Economics and Business, for good measure.

You can view the moment they call out my name here.

Then again, on some days it still feels like a dream. But inviting Mom, who saw much in her life, to the convocation, and seeing her smile (because my sister won’t stop pressing her to smile for the photos) made me realize that perhaps the life I vaguely dreamt of over the years might finally be in motion. The struggles, the sleepless nights, the constant feeling of “everything is coming to an end” — all of it felt like it was worth it when I saw her walking around the campus, recording everything. I now even know what some of the trees at IIMA are called in my mother tongue.

It’s sort of weird, funny, and coincidental that I was one of the first people to go to campus from my batch, and one of the last ones to leave, at least officially. I’ll be 25 in a few months — the time spent at IIMA also serves as a reminder that there has been immense growth personally. It taught me to embrace things wholeheartedly, but also to look out for and look after myself. One of my friends said, “None else is going to look after you, if you don’t.” That is sensible advice. No? Please don’t confuse that as me being cynical about anything. Growing up is actually pretty cool if you think about it — you come across both the pleasant and unpleasant things, and then go, “Oh, right! I actually saw this before. Look at me, I’m still alright. Cool (say this in John Oliver’s voice)!”

The experience after high school has taught me to actually believe in humankind, and the convocation night only made that belief stronger. I did not imagine the convocation day to go the way it did. I felt like I was going to collapse to the ground when the two people who mean the world to me stood up and waved at me on my way back to my seat. Someone’s relative was waving at their relative during the convocation procession, I waved back at the strangers and they just waved back at me — it was beautiful. Actually, beautiful would be an understatement. And if you are feeling cynical, and doubtful, I offer you one of my favourite lines from my favorite book:

”… accept and account for the fact that you’ll occasionally be cheated. That’s a small price to pay for the luxury of a lifetime of trusting other people.” — Rutger Bregman in Humankind: A Hopeful History.

I asked Mom how she liked the IIMA campus. She said it’s beautiful — I agree with her. At the same time, it left me feeling a bit empty because I could not show her around the IITK campus, yet. When people ask me about the IIMA campus, I tell them it’s like the IITK campus but $10\times$ smaller. I could not attend the IITK convocation in December 2021, because the country was going through a once-in-a-century pandemic at the time, and I had my exams at IIMA right after the IITK convocation. I did not go to the WU ² graduation ceremony held in November 2023 because it did not make financial sense to me. So, the IIMA convocation was my first ever convocation, and it did not disappoint. Well, I hope it’s not my last ever convocation. There’s a lot of life to be lived, and I’m here for it.

Coming back to the campus tour. Both campuses are beautiful and I consider myself fortunate enough to have gotten the opportunity to walk their hallways. I had to remind her that the longest powercut we had at IIT Kanpur lasted for about 2.5 minutes. I do not remember of powercuts at IIMA. And Vienna is Vienna. Leading the campus tour for Mom and sister was fun. Telling my sister who Dr. Manmohan Singh was, and why he’s standing next to PM Modi in that photo, telling them about the Ahmedabad heat, and how I ended up in Dorm 19 from Dorm 10 was quite the task. They said Dorm 10 looked “very sad.”

They also said that the library is beautiful. I loved spending time in the library especially when I lived in Dorm 10 because it helped me escape the heat. I even donated a book (Northeast India: A Political History by Samrat Choudhury) — hopefully, it will inform the readers a bit about a region of India that is so dear to me. I also had to explain to my sister why getting a toy dog from the IIMA Store might not be the best idea. She got it anyway.

Oh, before the campus tour, we went to Alpha One mall ³ (or whatever they call it these days) because IIMA said I need to wear a white shirt to the convocation, and if you know me, white shirts aren’t really my thing. One thing led to another and Mom said she liked this black H&M bag. Now, in my time at IIMA I heard plenty of things about H&M and its sustainability initiatives, so it wasn’t like I was not well-informed. But, of course I got her the bag. I was helpless.

The toy dog, and the H&M bag remind me of a line from one of my favorite books:

It’s strange how you give the people you love so much power over you. — Tara Westover, Educated.

And that’s my beautiful mother who raised me, but who also apparently likes H&M sling bags? 30 March, 2024.

I consider myself fortunate that I get to call Mom my mother. Growing up, women of the village treated me like their son — perhaps that’s why they say that it takes a village to raise a child. Convocation represents an official culmination — of the efforts of so many people, primarily my parents but also so many others. It is an official validation, if you will. It felt real when the PGP Chairperson announced my name and the Chairperson, Board of Governors said “Congratulations!” It felt quite dreamy before that.

In the underpass that connects the old IIMA campus to the new campus, there is also a photo of Indira Gandhi. My sister asked me who the lady in the photo was, so I pointed out to her that she was the former Prime Minister of India. If my paternal grandmother’s accounts are to be trusted one of the hydropower projects in Tripura was implemented during her tenure. The story doesn’t have a happy ending, though. My grandmother and folks from her village had to leave everything behind and relocate because of it. She told me that they were warned that in case they did not vacate the village, the army would be sent in.

It’s oddly unsettling, thinking how well-meaning projects can affect common people, both in good and bad ways. If you are a policymaker reading this, please think about how your decisions might affect the masses. My grandmother’s accounts are heartbreaking, and I hope none has to go through something like that in the future.

So, here we are — the grandson of a woman who lost her home because of a hydropower project, and another woman whose village still don’t have electricity or running water. The son of two people who did not finish high school, and who happen to be from different tribes. To think that the best B-school in the country would call my name out loud in front of so many people and confer on me the degree — would sound delusional to most people. Perhaps you got to be a bit delusional now and then, honestly.

Some people said that I’m a “cross” ⁴ because I’m the son of a Tripuri mother, and a Reang father. Well, you don’t have to hate; celebrate. Celebrate the fact that people are different, and that is okay. Everyone is trying to live a version of their life that they saw for themselves. Growing up a lot of people said I’m not Reang enough, or that I don’t look Indian enough. Then again, what is a Reang? I speak the language, my grandmother is my grandmother, I proudly wear the Reang outfit and celebrate our unique culture. Aren’t we all trying to figure it out?

This is it then? Well, not quite. I’m only 24, there’s so much to do, so much to feel, and so much to live for. I won’t claim to know what I want to do exactly but I’m happy generally, and over the years I’ve come to learn about what I do not want, so we are making progress. I’m optimistic about the future. Things seemed kind of arbitrary, and still do on some days but in retrospect most things made sense — the sleepless nights, the obsession with learning about the world around me, and the constant movement in search of better opportunities. All of it kind of makes sense now. And life goes on.

Thank you for reading till this point. All the best with everything. Keep dreaming, and be a bit delusional. Cheers!

IIMA organizes a farewell dinner for the outgoing batch each year, the night before the convocation day. Mom was fasting that day so she did not eat any of the curries because all of them had “sour” ingredients. So, she just had plain rice and some rotis. She said the best thing on the menu was the icecream they served later. I suppose, IIMA got to level up their farewell dinner game. ↩
WU stands for Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, or the Vienna University of Economics and Business, not WhatsApp University. ↩
Did you even go to IIMA if you haven’t been to that mall? ↩
The exact word is “laskar”, after a breed of pigs because apparently my ears looked like that. I don’t really know how much merit their arguments had, but as a child who spoke the same language as everyone else around me, ate the same food, bathed in the same river, it was quite hurtful. Yeah, I think “hurtful” is the right word to describe what I felt then. ↩

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What my double-degree taught me about the world, my identity, and myself

Tue, 20 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT

I’m going to tell my kids I was there, in Vienna.

A few months ago, while coming home from work, a kid asked me in the elevator — “Are you Korean?” I said, “No.” Unimpressed, he returned a few moments later and asked, “Are you Japanese then?” I said, “No, I’m Indian.” He seemed surprised. What is it about me that screams, “I’m not Indian?” Is it because of how I look, how I speak, or what I eat? I get this a lot, and it has become more frequent. It happened the first night I landed in Ahmedabad. It happened when I was in Kanpur, and it happened when I was in Vienna.

I understand that, at times, people are merely curious and do not mean harm in any way. In all instances, I have tried to answer people’s questions honestly, explaining that Nepal is a different country and that I’ve never been to China, Japan, or South Korea. And even though I was in Assam for two years for high school, I’m not from Assam, and I’m definitely not an Assamese. I call the beautiful state of Tripura home. It’s located in Northeast India, bordered by Bangladesh on three sides. This is not an essay on the history of Tripura or its geographical boundaries. However, my identity and upbringing significantly affect how I view the world.

If IITK helped me change my outlook on life, IIMA helped me see things more clearly while making many things quite blurry. But this essay is not about my time at IITK or IIMA. If you are interested in those, you can read College advice for people who are exactly like me or What my IITK-IIMA journey taught me about India, the world, and myself.

This essay sums up the experiences of roughly 8 months in Vienna through the eyes of a confused 23-year-old with a funny accent who needed to use the political map of India to describe where he is from. An alternate title for this essay could have been — “Double degree review: The IIMA and WU experience.”

I’m pretty sure there are excellent articles online that make detailed comparisons across various indicators. If you are lucky, you might even find articles where they assign a rank to these higher institutions of learning. I’m not going to do any of that. Why am I even writing the essay, then? Hopefully, someone on a similar journey would resonate with these words and feel calm, knowing things tend to work out even though things seem unclear. Life is beautiful.

The essay does not have a set structure or a chronological order, like feelings. I felt a wide range of emotions over the last several months. My aim with this essay is to put these feelings into words — using a language I learned a $\frac{1}{2}$ life ago but a language in which (weirdly enough) I feel the most comfortable expressing my feelings in. Putting me on a path to learning English is perhaps the best thing my parents did for me, in addition to everything else.

Feelings come and go, as with most things in life. Keeping a detailed journal and taking many photos helped recollect some memories. So, where do I start? A chronological narration would make the essay sound like a diary. In contrast, a reverse chronological order would make this essay look like a CV I’m meticulously preparing for a job interview. Should I start in the middle? That seems like a logical choice, you know, similar to eating a plate of rice — make a hole in the heap of rice, pour some dal, some of that fish gravy into it, and start eating from the center of the plate, making your way towards the periphery, slowly.

This story starts with me trying to beat the sunrise — or a race against time if you will. I had to travel to the Vienna International Airport for my early morning flight to Istanbul and eventually to New Delhi. I decided to go back and sit for the final placements at IIM Ahmedabad during the semester break at WU. But before leaving Vienna for a short trip to India to take part in the final placements process at IIM Ahmedabad, I had to pack and put away stuff I had accumulated in Vienna.

I’m not the right person to tell you if you should attend IIMA (you should!), but it is a magical place, and who does not like magic?

So, where were we? Right, getting late for a flight. A friend had generously offered to keep my stuff at her place. Rushing through the Vienna winter, I left my things with her and got to the airport before departure. That day, I discovered two things — white wine tastes great after a rice meal, and I love airplane coffee. I liked that free airplane coffee so much that I decided to submit a pending class project on the following topic — determining the willingness to pay for a cup of good cup on some international flights. ¹

I also talked to a couple from New Delhi seated next to me, returning from Istanbul after serving on some mission there. It says a lot about the medical profession and Humankind. That we have figured out ways to cooperate efficiently, at scale, blows my mind. This couple had no business serving in a foreign country — yet they did because they had the skills, and someone benefitted from their knowledge.

I traveled to a few places and talked to people along the way. I had the good fortune of talking to a gentleman in his 60s who returned to Budapest to sell off his ancestral land in the village and move permanently to the Netherlands. Two really tall, lovely ladies from Serbia brought pastry for the whole hostel — for strangers they’d never met before. I also met someone who moved from Bangladesh to France years ago for better opportunities. I spoke to him in Bengali — we understood each other even though the dialects differed.

Two French boys offered to pay for the wine we had over dinner because they thought splitting the bill and exchanging coins was too tedious! In all these, I’m reminded of three themes: everyone is trying to do better than yesterday, people identify themselves with their homeland, and people associate you with something.

Even though the gentleman left his home country years ago, he spoke of Bangladesh fondly. The older gentleman, who was about to sell off his ancestral land, spoke fondly about growing up in Budapest, and the women from Serbia spoke highly of their homeland.

Asking where one is from is perhaps one of the most fundamental questions you can ask a stranger. When I tell people I’m from India, they almost always seem surprised. I speak “differently” and do not look “very Indian,” I’m told. When I speak Bangla, you can observe a marked change in the expression of whoever is listening to me, as if to say, “Wait! Where did this sound come from? Did he just speak Bangla?”

But what is an Indian? I was born here, and I will die here — not in Taiwan, Malaysia, South Korea, Bhutan, Nepal, or Japan — places that people thought I was from. People tend to have different preconceptions about other people depending on their place of origin. Fortunately, I did not face explicit discrimination because of my nationality. Still, it is pretty clear that in the current world order, people from a particular part of the world have more access than others.

I’m not an expert on how the world works or should work, but it takes no genius to see that your passport decides where you can go and when. I could not join the first few weeks of my classes at WU because of delays in paperwork. In contrast, some classmates could choose to fly to a new country and stay there for up to 90 days, with only a few questions asked.

My documents did arrive eventually, and I’m happy to report that I also received my graduation documents from WU. However, it does seem like the current arrangement is quite unfair. Ironically, humankind has not seen a better time than the present in terms of the flow of information and easy exchange. Yet, so many parts of the world and opportunities remain inaccessible to so many people.

These uncomfortable realities aside, I truly loved the city of Vienna and the overall double-degree experience. A city steeped in history, with so many cafes on almost every street, Vienna represented a truly global city for me. The city has excellent public transportation, world-class institutions of higher learning, and many multi-lateral organizations. ² If there is a single word I could use to describe Vienna, it would be “beautiful.” They had perfectly trimmed bushes around dustbins, for God’s sake. Words are not enough to describe the city. You must visit to feel it.

Meeting fellow Indians in Vienna was a lovely experience, too. Unsurprisingly, in one of the desi parties, a few people asked me if I was from Nepal. A Nepali store owner tried (albeit unsuccessfully) to speak to me in Nepali. An Indian family invited me over during Christmas and fed me rice and fish. They even offered me chocolates. I do not know what I did to deserve that kindness, but that was one of the most memorable moments of the double-degree experience.

Everywhere I went, people were kind to me, except for a singular incident when a really drunk man came up to me and started posing weirdly, and started mumbling “Jackie Chan, Jackie Chan” — probably trying to say I look Chinese or something. Apart from that minor hiccup, everyone treated me fairly and with genuine warmth. I spoke English everywhere I went — a lady bus driver went out of her way to tell me the best spots to visit while in Annecy, a train conductor helped me figure out the bus connection to Barcelona when the train dropped me in the middle of nowhere due to the strikes in France. This gentleman at the booking counter helped me get a ticket for the high-speed train between Barcelona and Madrid. ³ Sure, they were just doing their jobs, but they seemed radiant and kind.

One of the more memorable incidents happened on the train between Budapest and Vienna. The Hungarian Border Police lady who came to check my documents just looked at my residence permit and assumed I had my passport in my backpack (I actually did) without asking further questions or asking me to produce the passport. Smiling generally helps.

Sadly, on some nights, these dreamy European train rides and walks make way for feelings more steeped in reality. I’ve been feeling these for quite some time, but their frequency has increased lately. I wonder if that is good or bad. Truth be told, studying abroad in an unfamiliar city is an incredibly lonely endeavor. I don’t know how Indian students who go abroad to pursue a PhD do it — away from everyone they held dear for years. And just as I was starting to feel like I could call Vienna home, it was time to leave.

IIMA friends had their convocation last year. I have my IIMA convocation this year. I look forward to it, but I also know that the familiar faces with whom I had lunches almost every day — friends who shared the same plate, garlic naans, chocolate-coated paans, and for whom I took fish bones out won’t be around. Conversely, it also means I can do my own thing, not bothered by what my friends would think about me.

My older friends tell me that’s how life is supposed to be and that I’m making progress. If that means moving cities, states, and countries and leaving some friends behind, so be it. I wonder if there is a better way. Maybe there isn’t, and perhaps this is how you make progress. I don’t really know. This is my first time doing life, and things only make sense in retrospect. All these sad realities aside, if you ask me whether the double-degree experience was worth it, I would say yes. I went to the IIMA campus around midnight the first time I went there, during a raging pandemic, trying to convince the guards that I was a legitimate student. As I said, this is my first time doing “Life,” but things make sense retrospectively. Looking back at previous essays here and here, I think things played out alright. When I left the IIMA campus for the final time, my friends were about to graduate, go out into the world, and do their IIMA magic while I started serious work on my master’s thesis at WU.

“Dear Mr Debashish Reang,
The result of the following thesis is available for you:…”

with those words, my studies came to an end. ⁴ I felt a massive sense of relief — a huge weight lifted from my shoulders. It is hard to explain in words, but I hope this essay did some justice to what I felt, what I’m feeling, and how I learned to see the world. Yes, I have thought about writing a double-degree review for quite some time now. Then again, the past year’s lived experience reminds me of this lovely song by Christina Perri called Human.

In it, she sings, “But I’m only human; And I bleed when I fall down…” The lived experience of the past year felt something similar — I’m only human. I felt things, wrote things, deleted them, lost my journal, recovered it, and rewrote parts of this essay. Heck, I even had to burn some pages. My university life ended abruptly one Sunday night, and that was it. At least it ended with a beautifully rolled diploma, so I think it is okay.

Going to tell my grandchildren about this one, to be honest. February 2024.

In the same song, Christina Perri also sings, “I can fake a smile; I can force a laugh…” Perhaps that’s what I’m going to do if need be. Smiling slightly when people ask me if I’m not from here, forcing a laugh when I miss my friends, occasionally catching up with a few when possible, and perhaps sharing a naan or two. The double-degree experience taught me things and showed me things more than I had dreamt of previously. I won’t wish to exchange that for anything else. The so-called character development that happened makes me optimistic and hopeful. I wrote the lines below for myself, which sums up the double-degree experience.

Stay hopeful — about life, about the future, about humankind. You might feel hollow, your judgment clouded. Sit down with a friend, talk to them, cry to them — ask them to draw on a board and show things to you, if need be. You will gradually start to feel things again and see things in a different light, and it will occur to you that there is so much you can do.

You will find yourself dancing alone in a hotel room, saying, “I can’t believe how good I feel right now. I’ll do it all over again, I swear to God.”

Thanks for reading till this point. What next? I don’t really know. I have a day job to go to in a few hours, so I’ll probably try to get some sleep.

In retrospect, it was a bit too spontaneous. I should have picked a better topic or analyzed the data I collected better. I scored a 3 (on a scale of 5). Austrian universities use a 1-5 grading scale, 1 being “excellent” and 5 meaning “fail.” ↩
Most notably, the United Nations has one (out of four) of its major office sites in Vienna. The others are located in New York City, Geneva, and Nairobi. ↩
That train journey was by far the best train journey I had taken in this short lifetime. The train casually cruised at over 300 km/h. They even had a live screen flexing the speed, lol. ↩
Pending official documentation and formalities. ↩

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My IIM Bangalore Interview

Wed, 24 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT

I had this naive optimism that things will somehow be okay. That this life will be worth living till the end. March 2021.

“Can you guys please go out for 30 minutes or so? And please be quiet.” — I said to my friends around 13:30 on 27th February 2021. That was the day of the interview. In addition, there was a 30-minute-long writing ability test (WAT) on 12th February 2021. It was quite nice of them to keep these on two separate days.

Why were my friends with me? Shouldn’t I be social-distancing since it was the middle of the pandemic after all? I’ll get to the why a bit later in the essay. For now let me tell you my interview experience. The interview took place over Zoom. Three years is a long time, and my recollection of the interview might be hazy. So, forgive me in case there are inconsistencies. Although, I remember some things very clearly. I’ll try to focus on those.

Why write an interview experience after three years? I don’t really know. Mainly to come to terms with my emotions, to be honest. I was talking to my cousin today, talking about MBA, my upcoming convocation, the state of Tripura, and so on. Also, if a young person is out there going through something similar, I hope my experience serves as a reassurance that things are going to be okay, with a fair bit of luck.

Right, so back to the Zoom call. I put on a shirt, tie, and a coat to look the part, that I was serious about spending the next two years in Bangalore. Soon the panel introduced themselves briefly, and then proceeded to ask me questions.

Tell us about yourself.
I told them my name, what I’m currently studying, my hobbies (I think I had mentioned something about Quiz Club, IIT Kanpur too), etc.

They got straight to the point. So, this Prof. XYZ wrote your recommendation letter. Explain to us what you did. Why are you interested in Bioinformatics?
I briefly explained to them why the field of Bioinformatics fascinated me, and how getting an MBA might help. I paraphrased my Statement of Purpose, in essence (I reproduce the SOP towards the end of this essay.)

I’ll forever be grateful to my professors for writing my letters of recommendation. So, IIMB required two letters of recommendation, as far as I recall, either from my employer or professors. I was pretty clear and hell bent on getting a PhD and becoming like one of the coolest professors ever. It’s funny how life turns out, lol. Obviously, I had not done any industry internship at the time, and since I’m a fresher I did not have any work experience, duh.

I did the most undergrad thing ever. That is, reached out to the two professors whose courses I loved, scored well, and ended up being fascinated by the topics they taught. One course was on Bioinformatics, and the other course was on Indian Literature. ¹ In fact, I vividly recall my Indian Literature professor replying to my email, warning that her letter might not add much value to my IIMB application. I told her that is okay, and I’d be happy with whatever she wrote for me.

I do not know what those letters said because I did not get to see them. But, I’m super thankful to them for whatever they wrote. I won’t name them here, but in case this essay reaches to them somehow — thank you so much!

Tell us why do you wish to do an MBA.
I told them that I wish to learn entrepreneurship, and apply my interests in Bioinformatics to solve societal problems. Of course, I was listening to myself saying all these. While I did not lie (I really was interested in Bioinformatics and how advances in Bioinformatics may solve some diseases), I felt I should tell them about my circumstances leading to the interview.

So, at the time I was living with four friends in a cramped rented house in Saket, New Delhi. Why was I living in Delhi? Sometime earlier that year, I feared for my physical safety (for reasons to be told some other day, perhaps in a memoir), so I decided to run away from home. I did not jog, technically, but you get the point. I called up a few friends I knew who lived in Delhi at the time. They let me stay with them, fed me, and I had one of the most memorable months in recent memory, for better or worse.

I told the interview panel that I did not have a place to stay, I hoped to graduate from my UG college, and then start living on the IIMB campus, and hopefully once I have a job post-MBA and a place to stay, I could start thinking about other useful things. I told them they should take a chance on me. The mood on the call had changed, but they did not back down.

So you are in the Quiz Club. Can I quiz you?
(The professor started typing on his keyboard, presumably looking up answers to questions he was about to ask me)

Tell us the names of all the founders of LinkedIn and Twitter. — I named Reid Hoffman, and Jack Dorsey. I didn’t know the others, and I told them that.

Then he asked me the name of the Governor of Tripura at the time. I think I answered this correctly.

After that they asked me what Tripura is known for. I answered “pineapples, and we have some natural gas too.”

The final question was whether Puducherry had a CM. I said yes it did (which was correct), but there was none at that moment because of a political crisis. The CM had resigned a few days before my interview.

They said that was all from their end. I thanked them for their time, and that was about it.

I clearly thought I had blown my shot at a decent life. My friends came back to the room, and I went out for a stroll that evening, and we had a great bowl of thukpa.² All hopes now rested on that IIMA interview (this was scheduled on 16th March 2021).

I make sure to go and have the thukpa when I’m in Delhi. The shop is a few minutes’ walk away from the Munirka metro station.

Verdict.

IIMA’s result (13th May 2021) came before IIMB’s (14th May 2021), and they had put me on a waitlist. As I said above, I thought I’d bombed the IIMB interview, and had more hopes from the IIMA interview. I spent that day messaging IITK seniors, asking about my chances of converting IIMA in case IIMB indeed said no. The lesson here is to apply to more schools, I guess. I had applied to IIMA and IIMB only.

Next day came. They actually took a chance on me! I got an offer of admission in the first round itself. The IIMA waitlist did not feel too bad anymore. Now I had a place to go to after my time at IITK.

I almost ended up going to IIMB.³ But then a cousin said, “IIMA would have been better.” So, I went to IIMA when they extended me an offer. I love you cousin, but that was mean. IIMA felt magical, to me at least. And here we are, three years later.

Some reflections

I had sleepless nights early in 2021. I had a college campus to go to, but IITK was under strict lockdown at the time. They did call us back in April 2021, but I fell sick after going to the campus, lol. Of course, my friends did not try to kick me out or anything, but that arrangement was not ideal.

What was I going to do anyway? I had skipped the final placements in college (this took place in December 2020). I had this naive optimism that one of them was going to accept me, plus “in case that did not work I still have the FMS interview coming up.” ⁴

I could speculate now, in retrospect, but nothing will match that feeling of restlessness, of that uncertainty — night after night. To be frank, like most people, I had hoped very much that they’ll decide I’m worth taking a chance on. And to keep calm I told myself that I’ll still be an IITK graduate, like I cannot fall below that. “We’ll see what happens.”

If IIMA gave me a shot at a better life for myself, and those that come after me, IITK will always be the institution that instilled in me the naive confidence to apply to only the top two B-Schools of the country, and not even bother about the others. Please don’t be this naive.

Perhaps the reason why I feel this general optimism about life, and humankind is this — life right now is miles better than it was a decade ago (yes, I’m only 24 but you get the point). I got to learn about, feel, and observe things that my ancestors and those around me could not even dream of. Of course, it does not end here. I hear some people, especially on Twitter, claiming that maturity is realizing that you’re just another person walking this planet, and you cannot possibly change the world.

If that is what growing up means, I don’t wish to grow up. I still believe that I can do something worthwhile for those around me before my time here comes to an end. I can at least try, right? I mean what is the worst that’s going to happen? I’ll still be an IIMA graduate, like I cannot fall below that. “We’ll see what happens.”

Thanks for reading till this point. All the best for whatever you are doing in life! Below is the SOP that I wrote for IIMB, word-to-word. I changed nothing, I copy-pasted it from a word document I prepared three years ago. I added some relevant links (they were not a part of the original document).

SOP

IIMB SOP

Statement of Purpose
(Prepare a short essay of 600 words on yourself in the space provided below. You may wish to talk about your background, significant events, accomplishments, experience at your workplace, extracurricular activities, relationships with friends and family, career plans, and how the Post Graduate Programme in Management from IIMB fits into your dreams and ambitions. Please make sure that your essay forms a coherent whole.)
Imagine a world where people do not have to worry about premature deaths because of unwanted mutations. My goal is to use my skills and experiences to bring together people from different domains to prevent premature deaths because of unwanted genetic mutations. Doing so would enable people to focus on solving the challenges that we as a species are facing. With increasing compute power and access to more genomic data, we are on the verge of solving some of humanity’s biggest challenges.
My decision to pursue an MBA is the culmination of my experiences in various areas and my background. Both of my parents did not finish high school. My experience as the first in my family to attend college led to my volunteering experience with the National Service Scheme (NSS) during my freshman year. I documented stories about people in the villages around IIT Kanpur. This experience made me realize the value of collaboration and reaching out for help when you need it. I did not speak Hindi natively and hence had a hard time decoding conversations. The exercise became much more comfortable when a friend helped translate the conversations.
Growing up, I did not know what IITs did or what an engineering degree entails. I took up Electrical Engineering at IIT Kanpur based on what my rank allowed. Two years into the program, I realized that I did not want to have a career in Electrical Engineering. During my studies, I came across Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. It is not a part of core Electrical Engineering, and yet, I enjoyed studying it.
From not having Biology as a high-school class to actively self-learning biology to make sense of Bioinformatics, I found my interests. The kind of impact that a breakthrough in Bioinformatics could have is something that I think about deeply. I was surprised to learn that we could prevent many deaths if we knew which sites to target during cancer treatment.
My career goal is to start a company that trains and recruits others to solve many Bioinformatics problems. I envision a society where no person has to die prematurely because of an undesired genetic mutation. An M.S. or a Ph.D. in Bioinformatics sounds like a viable alternative to an MBA. However, I believe that would mean that I would have to spend over half a decade watching Bioinformatics unfold from the sidelines. Founding a company would allow me to solve a broader set of problems at a much larger scale and have a much more significant impact than the traditional academic route.
Starting a venture fresh out of college looks like an attractive alternative as well. This has the disadvantage of limiting my thought process about solutions to problems. I believe my time at IIMB would allow for broader perspectives on solving problems. My background does not allow for a shot at failure, and hence I would like to acquire the skills required to succeed in a real-world setting.
While IIT Kanpur has made me accustomed to thinking about technical solutions, I believe IIMB would help me bring humans into the loop. I want to know about fundraising, incorporating a company, and the skills required to manage a team. I would love to learn from IIMB’s vibrant peer group and its strong network of alumni. Because IIMB has long fostered entrepreneurship on its campus, I would love to learn from the Professors. I loved Bangalore as a city when I visited it four years ago. For these reasons, I would love to spend the next two years at IIM Bangalore.

I just checked my transcript. I got A’s in both the courses. I told you, I loved them! ↩
There is this lovely thukpa place in Munirka, if I recall correctly. I can’t wait to go back to Delhi and have a bowl of hot thukpa. ↩
I withdrew on the last or second last possible day of withdrawal. I also had to pay about ₹1,400/- as interest payment while closing the IIMB loan. I hope someday I’ll be capable enough to forget that number, and not feel the sting. ↩
I did not appear for the FMS interview because of health and other personal reasons. ↩

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College advice for people who are exactly like me

Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Essay title stolen from here.

I’ve just graduated college. It seemed only logical that I attempt to pen down some things that I wish I knew before starting college in 2017. Some things are my advice to friends and juniors, while others are my inner monologues.

Like all points of view, you should take everything I say here with a grain of salt. Everything I say here applies to someone precisely like me. In fact, some exactly opposite things might be good for you. Nonetheless, since you’re here, you might as well read the whole thing.

Plan ahead

When I started studying Electrical Engineering at IIT Kanpur, I had no idea about the curriculum or what engineers do. I joined the program like most people because I was told that IITs are the best places to be in India. I think that is true to some extent. Although, it would have been a lot better if I knew what I was doing or what I would do once I graduated.

I’m starting my MBA at IIM Bangalore in a month. You can read about the thought process here. This does not mean that I know what I’m doing or what I want from life. However, I think I got pretty good at figuring out what I don’t like. The way I learned what I disliked was: (1) try and do what everyone else is doing, (2) if you like something, continue doing that; otherwise, get out, (3) repeat.

I know that I hated Electrical Engineering. I did not like the academic projects, but I really think I want to be in academia, so that needs more exploring. I do not have corporate experience yet, and I believe years post my MBA would tell me if I like corporate jobs or not. I’ll let you know when I have that moment of realization.

The point is that you should have a rough idea about what you want to do after college. No, I’m not talking about planning your entire life. But, you should have a rough idea about what you wish to do immediately after graduation. Otherwise, the options are endless, and you would be like me - trying your hand at everything, end up getting most of them and have sleepless nights choosing what to do.

Take care of your health

I wish I took more care of myself. I had to be critically hospitalized twice during my stay at IIT Kanpur, primarily because of my erratic food habits. Since everything happens only once, it is hard to catch up on work once you miss them because of illness. If your body and mind are not well, it is hard to function at your full potential.

In addition to that, when you fall sick away from home, everyone at home feels unnecessary stress. I don’t know how many sleepless nights my parents had when I fell ill. You tell them not to worry, but because of how human relationships work, they worry a lot more than is desirable.

The point is that hospitalizations suck, and you should avoid them as much as possible. Everyone is better off when you’re healthy. I might sound as if I’m trying to say whether falling ill or not is up to us, but I have a feeling that a few trips to the hospital and the health center could have been prevented if I ate and slept well.

Ignore bullshit

Throughout your degree, you’ll end up talking to a lot of people about various topics. Some of them concern you directly, while others are more general. Even though they mean no harm, many will give you bullshit advice.

These can range from the usual “academics don’t matter as much” to aggressive bullshit like “you can do whatever you want and not be bothered about academics.” As a fresher, you might think that what seniors say is sensible. But, the fact is that they are as clueless as you are and are probably having a hard time themselves.

There are many other things that you would end up liking - like Quiz Club, courses on Bioinformatics, and so on. It’s a mixed bag, honestly. Some boring courses so that you can enjoy other nice things during your stay on campus.

Academics matter

Continuing from the previous point - academics matter. How much it matters to whom is subjective, and an objective number cannot be arrived at. However, in general, it matters. Decent academic performance would open many options to you. Many doors will be shut to you if you’re academically not proficient.

Every extra activity that you enjoy is fantastic. Still, in my opinion, it is crucial to get a handle on your academics while you’re on campus. The thing is, having an excellent academic standing does not hurt at all. But, a poor performance academically could haunt you, at least in the short term.

If someone is telling you that academics don’t matter, they are either on a sinking boat themselves or achieved heights of greatness unimaginable in other fields.

Screwing up is okay

As privileged as it might sound, one of the perks of being at an IIT is that it gives you some cushion to screw up. I’m not saying that you should screw up deliberately. But, when things go wrong, don’t worry as much because they won’t matter as much by the time your college life is over.

Take some risks while building a cushion for yourself. For example, if you’re not well off academically, try getting a hold of your academics before venturing on other adventures. If you’re thinking of applying to a selective college, try securing a job offer to have peace of mind and have a place to look forward to if you don’t get in.

If you’ve failed a course, don’t freak out. You can retake it soon and pass the course. Don’t worry about the one or two classes you’ve failed; instead, try to do your best in the current semester’s course. Sure, you have some making up, but things will be okay.

Graduate early

If possible, graduate early. Personally, it would have saved me a lot of fees and time if I had graduated by the $7^{th}$ semester. I realize this is not the case for everyone. If I wanted, I could have graduated a semester early. But, I listened to a piece of bullshit advice at the time and decided to drop three courses.

It would have saved me a lot of time and reduced uncertainty. But, it is hard to predict the future so whatever happens, is okay. Had I graduated early, I would have had the chance to work for about 7 months before starting my MBA. Apart from the obvious benefit of knowing the corporate grind, it would have given me some financial cushion.

As of now, I’m going into business school without any work experience. While that is not the end of the world, I would have had some ideas about what happens at work. More importantly, I could have decided if I wanted to attend business school.

Interact more with people

Even though I met some fantastic people during my college days, I would have loved interacting with a more diverse set of people and understanding their points of view on important topics.

While like-minded people and people who work at the same org tend to develop bonds more quickly, I think reaching out to people helps.

I don’t have many regrets about what happened. Although, I would wish to get better at this in business school.

Get better at making critical decisions

I seriously need to get better at making crucial decisions. The sad truth is that even if I have several options, I can only do so many of them in one lifetime. So, the optimal way would be to get better at deciding what to do and sticking to them for a substantial period.

I don’t know about you, but my mind is chaotic when taking critical calls. I should have learned to take a step back when deciding on things. The way things are right now, I usually have sleepless nights. With some exceptions, I’ll usually settle on something instantly and then think about it later on. You know, the standard “we’ll see” attitude.

While those decisions are not bad per se, they do end up causing me anxiety more often than not¹. I think taking some time off from what you’re doing can help. The truth is that I had not taken a serious gap since I started school when I was about 6. I’m about to be 22 now. That’s a lot of time without a serious break. In my opinion, a break to work on something else would be life-changing. But I don’t see that happening for the next two years.

Last updated on May 11, 2022.

I was so clueless at one point I purchased an IAS course while at the same time dreaming about an MS and an MBA. Then argued with the company for a refund of fees. Yes, I won that argument, but it was unnecessary. ↩

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IIM Interview advice for people exactly like me

Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT

This essay is a collection of advice I would like to give to people for IIM interviews. As the essay’s title suggests, the advice is for people “exactly” like me. I believe no two persons are identical, and hence you should take everything I say in the essay with a pinch of salt (I don’t know why people say this, but it sounds pleasing to the ears - “pinch of salt.”)

I wrote another essay some time back titled “College advice for people who are exactly like me.” If you think that would be useful, you should read that. The link to the essay is here.

I’m a fresher, and hence certain parts of the essay might be more useful to someone with a similar background than, say, someone with work experience. Of course, it would be most useful to someone identical to me. But, my understanding is that none like that exists yet. So, yeah.

First of all, congratulations on your CAT success. It doesn’t matter how “well” you did; it’s just a score. However, IIMs do place some weight on CAT scores in shortlisting and admitting candidates. I won’t get into the mechanisms of how to do well in CAT or any competitive test for that matter. I also won’t get into how admission panels decide whom to admit, which is the best IIM, and other topics. You might ask, “Well, then what is the point of this essay?” And you would not get any concrete answers. You came looking for advice, so read on! This essay could prove mildly valuable for candidates who have a shortlist from any of the IIMs.

Full disclosure: I applied to IIMA, IIMB, FMS Delhi, IISc Bangalore’s Management Program, and IITB’s SJMSOM. Of that, I interviewed for IIMA and IIMB. I skipped the interviews of the other three. I also skipped final college placements, among other things. If you are interested in the rationale behind these stupid decisions, you should read this essay. With all the caveats and the boring stuff that I did out of the way, let’s get some useful advice. Shall we?

Hang in there

Once the schools start publishing shortlists, sending out emails inviting candidates for a personal interview, and submitting a statement of purpose, things can get crazy. I mean, crazy level crazy. You’d open numerous pdfs, web pages, etc., estimating your chances of getting in.

First things first, please stop doing that. If you got a call for PI, well and good. If not, don’t bother; it’s not the end of the world. I know, you’re probably saying, “Yeah, sure. It’s easy for you to say that because you’re already there.” And you’d be right but trust me; I’ve talked to enough people to reliably estimate that it’s not the end of the world. In fact, not getting into an IIM might be life-changing for you.

I guess what I am trying to say is whatever has happened has happened. Once you get an interview call, more or less everyone has a level playing field, and how you perform during the interview day counts a lot. I’m not saying that what you did previously does not matter, but if you do well in the PI, you would mostly get an admission offer. I suppose it now makes sense to talk about what to do during the PI.

Tips on doing well in the PI

If you Google for “IIMA PI Questions,” you’d find questions such as - Tell us something about yourself. Why MBA? Where do you see yourself in 5 years? And so on. I believe that having some sort of structure for answering these questions might be helpful. I’m not asking you to write down answers to them and memorize them. Although, if you can do that, I don’t think there is any harm. It’s just that when the interview panel interrupts you in between, you might be caught off guard. Hence, the optimal way is to have some structure in mind and then build on it.

Let me give a concrete example. I’ll try to elaborate on answering “Tell us something about yourself.” Why? Because I was asked the exact question during both IIMA and IIMB’s interviews and I think I did okay. So, here’s a structure that you can follow: your name → , what you did most recently → , your demographic background → your interests → conclude by tying these together. I know it sounds vague so let me elaborate a little more.

Most people would tell you that the panel already has your name, educational background, etc. and hence spending precious time on them is not worth it. That is not true all the time (like all advice). It is helpful to elaborate on your interests and how your background contributed/reduced these interests. Concretely, I told them that I love Taylor Swift and did not like Electrical Engineering at all. Instead, I said to them that because of IIT Kanpur’s flexible open electives policy, I could pursue my interests in Linguistics and Biology.

More often than not, you would get questions on what you did during your undergraduate studies. That may include questions on coursework (such as the best class and why) or any significant projects that you did. There is no standardized way of answering these questions. A rule of thumb is, to be honest in answering them. That way, if they choose to dig deeper, you have solid points and reasoning behind your answers.

Do they ask questions from previous coursework? Yes and no. You see, it totally depends on the interview panel. If a Professor who teaches quant is interviewing you and you are an engineer, they would most likely be interested in knowing more about your quant abilities. On the other hand, if someone who specializes in Organizational Behavior is asking you questions, they might be more interested in how you think under certain situations.

What about current affairs? If you know answers to the questions, just answer, else say you don’t know. A few people also start reading newspapers after they get interview calls. The effectiveness of this approach is questionable. For example, if you get asked about the current economic policies or the markets and have been reading news about them, you are more likely to answer the questions. However, it doesn’t hurt your chances if you just say you don’t know about them.

The panel is looking to admit you, not actively reject you. So, they are more interested in knowing how you think under certain situations and applying basic knowledge under complex scenarios. You need not know everything about the markets of the world. That’s why you work in a team. How much weight the panel places on you knowing vs. not knowing certain things is up to them leads me to my next argument.

Luck matters

I think most people would agree that how lucky you get during the PI day has a bearing on whether or not you get an offer. Let me try to explain. Once I told them that I did not like my undergraduate degree (which the Professor was very kind to accept), the panel quizzed me on my interests, i.e., Biology and Linguistics. DeepMind’s AlphaFold had essentially solved the protein-folding problem a few days before the interview day. I read up on it and was able to articulate well on why solving the protein-folding problem matters and so on. I was also quizzed on how languages can shape social and political discourse, and luckily I’d read up about a Barack Obama interview, which came in handy.

I was also fortunate that the panel asked me questions on my interests rather than grilling on why I did not like EE, why I spent four years doing something I did not like, etc. Hell, if they did not ask me why I love Taylor Swift and about the controversies, she got into, that interview could have gone in a wholly different direction. Suppose that happened; I might not be writing this essay at all.

Learn to ignore BS

I’m not sure if this essay counts as BS, but I’d like to ask you to ignore what you see online, with exceptions, of course. It does not help your mental health if you go online to estimate your chances of getting in, or if you stress yourself out by reading articles that mention nasty stuff such as “everyone at IIMA has $\geq 99.99\%$ ile”, “you won’t get in if you don’t have a $9+$ UG CGPA,” “IIMA is better than other IIMs” and so on. As I said before, once you have a PI call, everyone has more or less the same chance of getting in, and calculating or re-calculating figures would not change that probability. Once you are done with the PI, just forget about the whole CAT and IIMs fiasco and focus on doing useful things.

I’m sure you are also actively reaching out to alumni and your college seniors, asking for advice. That is not a bad thing, frankly. However, if you ask ten people for advice, you’d get ten different points of view. It is up to you to decide on a course of action. I’m not saying they are wrong. In fact, most of them want the best for you. But, what’s best for you may be very different from what they tell you. I know it’s getting a little philosophical here but bear with me.

If you ask seniors about “realistic” chances of getting in, they would tell you answers that they think are realistic. That can turn out to be right or wrong. It’s an opinion, after all. But, you’d have tough days if you ask someone about your chances of getting in, and they tell you that your chances are slim. Hence, it is best to avoid asking such questions and, in general, ignore whatever their estimates are.

Please be courteous enough to not berate these “advisors” by telling the world that you got in despite them telling you that you don’t have a chance. You reached out to them asking for their advice, they did not come to you. They gave their opinion when you asked. I think you need to respect that.

FAQs

This section contains a collection of a few questions that a few friends asked me. I called them FAQs, for lack of a better word.

How much do they ask about current affairs? The answer depends on whom you’re asking, honestly. Given my background and my interests (biology, linguistics), the IIMA panel asked me about current developments in the field of computational biology, more specifically about Deepmind’s Alpha Fold, DNA, proteins, etc. The IIMB panel asked me the name of the governor of Tripura, if Puducherry has a CM or not (the CM had just resigned a few days before the interview day), the names of ALL the founders of Twitter and LinkedIn, etc. So, you have a sense; it’s totally random, and as I said in the section about luck, it might or might not work in your favor.

A more helpful approach is to steer the interview towards your comfort zone. For example, if you read the news and know about the country’s macroeconomics, by all means, hint to them that you know about it, and they’d be happy to ask you questions on those. I talked to a few friends, and they told me they got questions about GST, fuel-price hikes, MSP relating to the farm laws, etc. All in all, try to get them to ask you what you know best.
What was the topic of the WAT/AWT? I don’t remember what the topic was. Depending on your fortune, it would be on a recent issue or could be completely abstract. If you have done some sort of writing in life, it should be pretty straightforward. Just remember to structure the essay logically and write grammatically correct sentences.
Why MBA? Luckily, IIMA did not ask me this. IIMB did ask me that question, though. The standard answer goes something like this - “I’ve been doing very well in XYZ, I also worked on PQR during my UG, internships, and blah blah. I would love to learn ABCD from your MBA program so that I can commercialize QWE.”

Another line of an answer can go like this - “I’ve dealt with numbers all my life. I wish to learn how to better interact with people and businesses, in addition to my technical skills as I aspire to be a business leader someday.”

Essentially, you can either choose to be honest (in which case think about why you really wish to do an MBA) or fake-it-till-you-make-it. Many people prefer the latter. I chose the former, even though I have no clue why I am doing an MBA. It’s totally up to you; both are equally good approaches.

To be honest, from what I remember, I think I told the IIMB panel that I don’t have a house to stay in, so doing an MBA would help me learn about the business side of things, as well as give me a decent house to stay till I find a nice job. I like to believe they bought it because they extended me an offer. You can also read about the IIMA interview here.

Thanks for reading till the end. I wish you all the best for your PI and whatever else that it is you’d do in life. If you get a chance to walk the hallways and yards of IIMA, I shall see you around! :v:

If you have other questions, please send them to hi at reangdeba dot xyz. I’ll try to update this essay with the answers. But, please don’t expect a personal email reply. Thank you.

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Review of 4th semester courses at WU

Sun, 19 Nov 2023 00:00:00 GMT

Imagine the walls squeezing me from both sides. That’s how writing the Master’s Thesis felt like. Lisbon, Portugal.

My university life came to an end on a random Monday morning. That is such a strange feeling. I have never been out of “school” — not since I can remember. Sure, “schools” changed — from dilapidated structure of bamboo walls and tin roofs to spaceship-looking library. It has been quite the journey.

I’m immensely grateful, and calm knowing better things will come my way. In this essay, I’ll review the courses I took during the $4^{th}$ semester at WU, in keeping up with the tradition. If you need context about what I just said, read my Review of 3rd Semester courses at WU.

I took only four courses during the $4{th}$ semester (Mar 2023 to Jun 2023). The difficulty level ( $1-5$ ) is quite subjective, and solely based on my experience. $1$ represents a straightforward course while $5$ represents a challenging course.

Courses

Personal Skills - I: Company Building

This short course aimed to teach how to build a company from the ground up. It focussed on rapid ideation, and seeing product-market fit rather than going in-depth about fundraising, and other aspects of company building. The course was rather informal, in that I did not even remember that we had a final presentation until the morning of the final class.

We had a group presentation, which meant it was super relaxed, with everyone contributing a bit of what they know, and that was it. Even though the course was relaxed, we had hands-on sessions where we explored a bit of the landscape, but I suspect by that point, almost everyone was waiting to be done with their Master’s thesis, and go for their sweet summer vacations.

The course wasn’t difficult at all; I had to take it because it was part of the list of courses I’m required to take. I wonder if I’d have taken it at all had I not been required to take it.

I did learn some things from the course — not every idea is worth pursuing, you need people rooting for you for your company to succeed, and PPTs can hide your weaknesses only until a certain extent.

Difficulty: 1

Managing the Cybersecurity Function

As the name of the course suggests — the course teaches cybersecurity through a mix of in-class presentations, case discussions, few written assignments and a final simulation game.

The assignments were fun. You could tell, right?

Only four people signed up for the course. So, instead of being run like a traditional course where the lecturer lectures, and the rest of the class participates, the course was run like a seminar, with free-flowing arguments, albeit with some structure. I loved it — I had to prepare for the classes, and got enough time to express my thoughts. Truth be told, I kind of started missing the case study method we had at IIMA.

I learnt quite a lot about cybersecurity, without getting too deep into the technical aspects. Executives who need a quick refresher on why they must invest in their cybersecurity infrastructure would find the course most useful. In fact, I felt that it was too watered down, given my technical background. The discussions were fruitful, however.

It was interesting to learn how disputes between sovereign nations play out in the cyber arena. For a moment I thought I’d enroll myself in an international relations degree and extend my stay in the EU, until I realized I was living on borrowed time. Needless to say, I loved the class.

Difficulty: 2 (does require some effort in the assignments but nothing one can’t get through)

Master’s Thesis

Truthfully, completing the master’s thesis might be the hardest thing I did in my academic journey thus far. Submitting the final draft, starting from a bunch of vague ideas, after months of getting nowhere felt like a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders. I had sleepless nights thinking I’ll have to drop out if I cannot hand in my thesis, thus losing everything I worked towards. In my doomsday nightmare, I only had a B.Tech from IIT Kanpur, while the MBA from IIMA, and the MSc from WU remained unfinished. That did not happen, fortunately.

I wrote my thesis on “Exploring the impact of internet access on education and poverty reduction: A case study of India.” In retrospect, I feel the scope of the thesis was too broad, as well as vague for the time I had in hand. However, I’m quite happy about how it turned out.

getting goosebumps writing the last few words for my thesis. i kinda know what it means: that India as a country has so much potential to do good for our people, and that my study is going to come to an end on a random afternoon and I’m going to cry about it.

I do think India has so much potential. I wish to contribute my part in building this beautiful place I call home. I do not know how or when. But, doing something worthwhile over my lifetime would be good feeling to die with.

Honestly, my advisor deserves a lot of credit for letting me work at my own pace. Turns out moving countries isn’t an easy thing to do. She understood this, and always supported me in completing the thesis. Any shortcomings, and errors are mine.

If my Electrical Engineering degree taught me never to go into Electrical Engineering again, writing this thesis taught me that the life of a PhD might be something worth skipping in this lifetime. However, as is the case with everything in life, you never know.

Difficulty: 5

Thesis Defence

Writing the thesis made me sleepless. Finishing the Thesis Defence brought so much sleep, I cannot possibly describe it here. I could see more clearly. Instead of dropping out, I’m going to have 3 respectable (by some yardstick) degrees to show for whatever I did since childhood.

The defense was rather easy. That is because I just had to describe what I did and present the relevant results. Seeing as I struggled over the last several months, it was quite easy for me to describe my work. I had to record a ten-minute video, answering two questions, and that was it.

If I recall correctly, I did the defense at around 5 or 6 in the morning, and went to sleep as the bird started chirping and people began their day. Completing the thesis defense also meant something else — that I did my part of the work. And now it was upto the grade Gods to grade it Pass/Fail. The rest of the paperwork such as credit transfer, processing of the graduation documents etc. was not on me.

Of course, you cannot pass the thesis without the defence, and you have nothing to defend if you did not finish writing your master’s thesis.

Difficulty: 1

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Review of every cafe I’ve been to in Vienna, so far

Tue, 27 Jun 2023 00:00:00 GMT

It’s okay. Life will be good.

Introduction

A friend from undergrad came to visit Vienna. It felt so great catching up with her — which batchmate is dating which other batchmate, who is doing what in life, who got married, etc. On our way from Cafe Central to the U-bahn stop, she said, “You must find everything beautiful now that you are leaving soon.” I did not have a good reply to that, but since I finally went to Cafe Central, let’s start there…in a bit.

This essay will be a comprehensive review of every cafe I’ve been to ¹ in Vienna so far. As of this writing, I’ve been to 30+ cafes, including Cafe Central. That is around the number I had in mind.

At this point, it seems pretty important to state that I had a fantastic time in Vienna as far as the coffee culture is concerned. You can walk around the city and will pretty much find a cafe on every street. If you are not feeling great or having a rough day, you can step outside, go to a cafe, have a cup of coffee, and start feeling better.

I will miss the city very much, for its coffee, if not for anything else. I should note that the reviews are subjective, and you should explore them independently. However, I’ll feel awesome if my silly reviews help you.

Anyway, with the disclaimer out of the way, let us finish the review.

You go to cafes a lot. — a classmate.

Methodology

I got a list of the cafe I’ve been to by going through photos of coffee. I searched for “coffee” on Google Photos. Since Google conveniently stores all location data, I could pinpoint the actual cafes I’ve been to using Google Maps and my memory. I might have missed a few cafes where I did not take a photo for whatever reason, but I think the current list pretty much has all the cafes I’ve been to. You should also regularly back up your photos.

For each cafe, I describe my general experience: what I liked, what I did not, and why I went there, depending on how much I could recall. And then finally provide a cafe score based on that.

The cafe score (CS) is a weighted average of three parameters: vibe $(v)$ , aesthetic $(a)$ , and price $(p)$ .

The cafe score (CS) is calculated using the following formula:

$CS = w_v * v + w_a * a + w_p * p * (-1)$

$w_v = 50\%$ : vibe is very important.
$w_a = 20\%$ : aesthetic is important, but if the vibes match, it’s secondary.
$w_p = 30\%$ : I’m price-conscious.
The $-1$ term is a penalty term. Very expensive coffee gets a lower score.

I shall assign a final cafe score for brevity and not disclose $v, a, p$ individually. That is left as a speculation exercise to the reader. (Yes, I have the Excel sheet where I made the calculations).

Cafes

Here is my verdict for each cafe I’ve been to, from the best to the worst.

Have fun reading on. I hope it helps you in some way.

Joseph Brot

Happiness in a cup.

Cafe score: 5.2

When I feel adventurous, I venture out, get off a random U-bahn or tram stop, and search for “Cafe near me” on Google Maps. That’s how I discovered this cafe. It did not disappoint.

I liked the vibe, looked at their food menu, and ordered just a cup of coffee. They gave me some sweetener other than sugar — it did not readily dissolve, so I had my coffee with bits of biscuit or something.

From what I could tell, the cafe is an excellent place to go on a date. Almost every table had some couple engaged in seemingly intimate conversation, except mine. Fantastic vibe and mad aesthetics.

Cafe LIEBEN WIR Coffee Concept Store

Best coffee shop! So inspirational.

Cafe score: 5.2

As much as I liked Barista Cats Cafe, this is my biggest inspiration for the cafe I will open in the future. I walked into this place and immediately fell in love with it.

The place had coffee books by James Hoffmann. I knew I had come to the right place when I saw them.

The cafe had the best vibe because it was utterly empty, looked beautiful, and served a great cup of coffee with cookies. It was a lovely rainy afternoon.

Vienna Bagels

I had salmon for the first time in my life.

Cafe score: 4.9

I had salmon for the first time ever. I loved the bagels, and the whole breakfast was wholesome. It’s a small business run by a family — the father and daughters seemed quite excited to serve food to hungry morning people.

The place is quite cozy, clean, and very aesthetic. It’s one of my favorite places in Vienna. Although I’ve visited the place only once, mainly because it’s far from my place, I’d recommend it.

The coffee — the main attraction is also pretty good.

phil

The no-screen policy is good for reading and writing.

Cafe score: 4.9

This is the place to go if you want to do some quiet reflection or read a book. They have a no-screen policy, meaning using laptops, tablets, etc., is discouraged.

I improved my handwriting here because I made quite a few journal entries. The vibes were so good; I could feel the words flowing through the pen onto the pages.

The coffee is excellent too, and the place is surrounded by books. I love books even though I haven’t been reading them lately. It’s like a vast bookstore where they serve coffee and drinks on the side.

If you’re in Vienna, then the place is worth a visit. If not for anything else, go for the aesthetic photos.

Cafe Eiles

See how empty it is.

Cafe score: 4.9

Going with the theme of procrastination, I boarded the bus a few minutes late, even though I had nothing better to do on the day I was supposed to go for a tour of the Austrian Parliament.

Unsurprisingly, the tour group had left when I got to the Parliament. So, to wash that pain away and save some sanity, I walked around, and went to this cafe.

The pot of tea that they offered was excellent. The place looked very fancy and super aesthetic, the chairs and tables were very fancy, and the place was very empty. I guess most people get intimidated and do not walk in, thinking it would be costly.

But, the tea was not expensive at all. It was nice having a whole part of a room all to myself. I could keep my jacket on one chair, my schoolbag on another, and my sunglasses on yet another and be left with one nice chair to sit on. The point is that there was so much space. I loved it.

Barista Cats

Cats!

Cafe score: 4.9

Someone in the “Indian Students in Austria” WhatsApp group texted about this cafe, so I had to go and check it out. Historically, I had always stayed away from animals, and for good reason.

I like cats. Anyway, I went to the cafe twice, thinking I’d play with the cats, but I did not because I could not find an empty table.

But the coffee here is great. As you can already tell, I really liked the cafe, and it is one of the inspirations for my own cafe (if I start one in the future).

GOTA Coffee Experts

Cafe score: 4.6

I stumbled onto this place one sunny wintry Sunday while walking along the Mariahilfer Strasse. As I often do, after walking a certain distance, I searched for “Cafe near me.” Google’s (ad) magic led me here and did not disappoint.

I ordered a salmon bagel and cappuccino if I recall. The bagel with the mashed avocado is one of the tastiest bagels I’ve ever had. The place is crowded on most good days, but one good thing about going to cafes alone is that you can find an empty space here and there and have an excellent time.

The vibe here is immaculate, I love the texture of the tables, and the whole place, with its coffee bags for sale and other stuff, is quite aesthetic. If I ever decide to run a cafe, I’m picking up an inspiration or two from here.

Jonas Reindl

I recommend this place.

Cafe score: 4.6

The first time I went here was to meet two Indians, almost immediately after I came to Vienna. Talking to them about the Residence Permit struggles over a great cup of coffee relieved some of my stress. The pain diminishes when people tell you they can relate to your struggles.

The place is flawless, and the vibes are unmatched, even though it is not very spacious. The coffee tastes amazing, and they have decent cakes too.

However, food isn’t the main attraction here. From what I could tell, people mainly go for the vibe and the coffee. They also have a large mirror outside, allowing you to peek inside your soul after a cup of coffee.

News Cafe

I’m going to miss going to this place.

Cafe Score: 4.3

This is one of my favorite cafes in Vienna, partly because it is close to where I live and because they play very good songs to listen to while having breakfast. I frequently visited the cafe, wrote essays, and reflected on the state of my life.

The cafe is quite spacious, and I’ve never found it crowded, which is nice. The coffee is excellent, and the prices are reasonable. I also love their breakfast menu, even though a little pricey. The freshly squeezed orange juice is my favorite part of the breakfast menu.

It’s worth a visit if you are in Vienna. And you can walk the entire length of Mariahilfer Strasse after a good cup of coffee and a hearty breakfast.

Starbucks Neubaugasse

I had Firefox browser then, for some reason.

Cafe score: 4.3

Like every other Starbucks, it has reliable WiFi, a standard menu across locations with a few seasonal variations, and a friendly vibe.

You cannot go wrong here. If you have been to a Starbucks before, you may feel nothing different except the crowd. You’d find old and young couples kissing, talking over a cup of coffee, and people working on their laptops.

It’s pretty incredible. There is a sense of ease — knowing that even if I’m running late for a call or a virtual date, I’ll get to have a decent coffee in a pleasant atmosphere.

Coffeepirates

That book is hilarious.

Cafe score: 4.2

This is one of those cafes where you walk by and think, “Let me go in and check what the commotion is about.” The place is almost always crowded because of the student population nearby.

They have good coffee and charging spots — student favorites. You can see a lot of students with their fancy laptops pretending to work (yes, I’m one of them).

The place has fantastic vibes; although it’s not aesthetic, it doesn’t look bad.

Weltcafe

I also recommend this place.

Cafe score: 3.9

I found this cafe by searching for “best cafe to study in Vienna” on Google. In fact, when I forgot the cafe’s name, I used the same search terms to re-discover the place.

I cannot tell you if it is the best place to study, but they have good food and coffee. My favorite thing to order here is a Dal bowl with bread. The bread is so good, probably the best thing they serve here.

The vibes are great, the place looks aesthetic, and they have good WiFi. The only downside is that you can’t pay using a card unless your order exceeds 15 euros.

Yeah, but it’s probably not the place to go if you want to study seriously. Go to a library or something.

illy Caffe

The coffee was good. The book is good too.

Cafe Score: 3.7

I stumbled onto this place one evening while walking around Stephensplatz. The coffee was excellent. It would start my tumultuous time with a cappuccino topped with whipped cream. Sipping through the whipped cream — tasting the sweetness of the cream and the bitterness of the espresso beneath gives a sensation to the taste buds that can only be matched by a few other feelings.

The cafe was also where I wrote in my journal for the first time after coming to Vienna. I wrote, “I ordered myself a cup of Cappuccino Viennese. Everything here works, and the weather is beautiful… I actually love winter; I don’t sweat profusely and my skin also relaxes…”

It’s a cozy place that you can visit. Since the cafe is far from the city center, you can get there on foot in a few minutes.

McDonald’s Messe Wien

Cake was meh, coffee was okay.

Cafe score: 3.7

An excellent place to pick up a decent cup of coffee before class, with good vibes and okay pricing. The aesthetics do not stand out — it’s like every other McD.

McCafe coffee is better than Anker, and this place is about 4 minutes walk from my classroom. I love that the university and the professors do not object to students drinking coffee in class. It makes the class so much more enjoyable.

The billing screen is quite the guilt trip. Whenever I order, it asks me whether I want to round up my bill and donate to charity. And every single time I press “Not Today.”

J. Hornig Kaffeebar

Don’t have signs on the floor!

Cafe score: 3.6

I discovered this cafe quite late in my stay in Vienna. The cafe has two sections — one no-screens section and another section where you can use your laptop.

I started using my laptop in the no-laptop section, and the lady was immensely annoyed. In my defense, they had the “no laptop” sign on the floor, so I did not see it. I mean, who even looks at the floor while walking? That’s such a 20th-century behavior.

The coffee is excellent here, and the place looks very aesthetic too. I love that it’s not very crowded and naturally well-lit.

Cafe Central

Signature Cafe Central coffee.

Cafe Score: 3

I almost ended up not going here, and for good reason. I always saw a long queue when I’ve been around this place. It is one of the most touristy places in all of Vienna, perhaps only behind the St. Stephens Cathedral at Stephensplatz. Besides, I looked up the menu and did not find anything spectacular.

But since I acted as a tour guide to the previously mentioned friend, we ended up there about 30 minutes before the cafe’s closing time. Surprisingly, the queue wasn’t that long, maybe because it rained and was closing for the day. Anyway, the interiors of the place did not disappoint. There was a live piano, and the whole vibe was amazing. The food was fine, and their signature espresso drink was excellent.

I would probably not go back to the place unless someone pays for me or if Mom decides to visit Vienna someday. Then, maybe I’ll reconsider. If you are in Vienna, and you know that you might not be here again for a long time, then I suggest you visit the cafe — you can tell other people that you’ve been to Cafe Central then.

ihana

The most beautiful coffee cup I’ve seen so far.

Cafe score: 2.9

To further prove the point ², I ordered a brownie with a cup of coffee here. The coffee cup is the most beautiful cup I’ve seen in Vienna. The coffee was good, too.

The place had okay vibes, it was aesthetic, and they had the most beautiful sachet of sugar. Needless to say, I was impressed.

I wonder why I did not revisit this place; perhaps it was the price of the coffee. Maybe I will, before leaving Vienna, now that I have written about it.

burg.ring1

Northeastern India. Full of character.

Cafe score: 2.9

A very aptly named cafe. I discovered it one day when I decided to hop on the bus, get off at the last stop (I had to), and then look for a cafe. I got on bus 57A, which goes to Burgring.

I was excited to see they had Assam Tea on the menu (or something about Northeast India), so I ordered a Lemon Tea. I thought it would be something fancy.

It was not; they just gave me a cup of boiling water, a tea bag, and some lemon juice. But it was good. I loved the drink. So much so that I decided to buy a few tea bags and lemons. Now, I brew great lemon tea at home at $1/10^{th}$ the price.

Tesla Coffee & Concept

I don’t know why the cafe is called that.

Cafe score: 2.8

No, as far as I know, the cafe is not owned by Tesla. But they have excellent breakfast options, and the coffee is good too. I went here for the first time to attend a call with a friend and had tea. Things are a bit pricey, though, and there’s not a lot of space and vibe going on.

I had a hard time finishing the pot of tea, but it was delicious (if that’s a word one can use for tea). In fact, I probably had tea more times here than coffee.

One day I decided to taste the honey they gave with tea as a sweetener. It’s the best thing I had here so far, by a large margin. I ended up licking the entire cup. If you’ve never tasted honey, you should.

Bakery Cafe Felzl

The croissant was good.

Cafe score: 2.6

I did not spend a long time here. I was on an evening walk, and then I craved some coffee, so I had some coffee with a croissant. Yeah, that was pretty much it — I went home after that.

There was nothing remarkable about the place, although it wasn’t bad per se. I’d say the vibe is pretty much similar to Anker. The cafe itself wasn’t aesthetic, but the surrounding buildings were.

You can see horse carts, couples happy around each other, and crowded restaurants walking to and from this place.

Library Cafe & Roastery WU Wien

This photo looks so good. Didn’t expect that.

Cafe score: 2.6

After the disappointments at Anker, I thought this on-campus cafe would be another disappointment. So, I did not have a lot of expectations going in. But it turned out to be a pleasant surprise.

The coffee was nice, although the vibes did not match, and the place is quite basic in aesthetics.

I visited this place a few times just because it is on campus. One time it started raining, so I walked in and ordered myself a cup of coffee, just not to seem rude — if I owned a cafe, and someone came in, I’d expect them to place an order. ²

Vapiano Herrengasse

I still wish they gave me the card.

Cafe score: 2.4

My friend wanted pizza, so we went to the nearest place that served decent pizza. Since this essay is not about pizza, and I’m not a pizza person, I will conveniently skip that part.

The coffee was okay, but the place was crowded, as you’d expect with restaurant chains. The story is similar to McDonald’s — the place did not have a character of its own, and the layouts are generic, but that is not to say that it looked terrible. And the place is expensive.

The best part about the place was the cards they handed out to us. Turns out that’s where they add your order, which you can tap and then pay when you’re leaving. I wish they had let me take the card, but they did not. ³

Zizis Cafe

Threatening scenes.

Cafe score: 1.9

I was waiting to collect my luggage from a friend and went here to pass the time. I did not have any expectations whatsoever.

Well, having low expectations worked brilliantly for me. The vibe felt threatening, even though none cared about me — people were pretty drunk and doing drunk people’s business.

The coffee was okay; I liked the whipped cream. The place was relatively small, so there was nothing you could call aesthetic. Or maybe it was late at night, so I could not see much.

Anker WU

Generic coffee.

Cafe Score: 1.8

The cafe is located on campus at my university. Hence, I often go to the place because it is convenient. Skipped my breakfast? Go to Anker. Hungry in between classes? Go to Anker. The coffee here is absolutely devastating, but I get it anyway. I don’t know why.

If you study at WU, you’ll inevitably end up going here. If you are a tourist or study at other universities, you won’t go here, most likely. In fact, if you’re a tourist, there are so many other lovely places. You can skip Anker everywhere.

An exception is the long bread that they serve. It’s filling, looks healthy, and you can have it quickly between classes. Yeah, that’s about it — you can do without Anker too.

Cafe Lorenz

I don’t recommend this place.

Cafe score: 1.6

I don’t remember much from here, other than that I went here after submitting my passport-sized-very-serious-looking photo for my health insurance card.

It was an average place by every measure. The vibes were off; the aesthetics can be described as couches and tables. The price was reasonable from what I remember.

Unless you wander around like me or are a local, chances are you’d never stumble upon this place, and that’s a good thing.

Zucchero

Cash issues.

Cafe score: 1.4

If you cannot find a place at GOTA Coffee Experts, this is the place you go. Or at least that is what I did. It is about a minute’s walk from GOTA and is never crowded.

And one can understand why. It is pretty tiny, nothing remarkable in terms of vibe and aesthetics. However, to be fair, the coffee is pretty good. I went here a few times — precisely because GOTA was overcrowded on those days.

The only annoying part is that they do not take card payments. And since I never carry cash, I had to go to the ATM a few times. Again, I should have asked them before drinking their coffee, but annoying nonetheless.

Waldemar - Tagesbar

Basic.

Cafe score: 1.3

After a long walk in the Schonnbrunn Palace Park, I went to this place. I could have gone to a better place because I could tell I wouldn’t like the vibe as soon as I walked in.

If I remember correctly, I had a burger, which wasn’t remarkable or anything. The coffee was okay; for some reason, the place was crowded. I imagine they were also tourists like me.

Anyway, Google might show a very high rating for the place, but I’m not sure if you should go there if you got other choices. The usefulness of Google reviews is a topic for another essay.

Johann Strauss VIE Airport

I don’t know why I got coffee here. But I also kind of know why I got coffee here.

Cafe score: 0.8

The place was very crowded, like any other airport shop. The best thing about the coffee here might be the cup, but that’s about it.

The vibe was meh at best, there’s no aesthetic whatsoever, but the items were pricey. But what else could one expect at the airport?

Anyway, I had their coffee because I did not sleep well the night before, packed until the last minute, and needed to stay up until I took my seat in the aircraft.

Compared to that, I loved the in-flight coffee. I’m going to be honest with you, I don’t care what anyone thinks; I love airplane coffee.

In fact, I liked the in-flight coffee so much that I opened my laptop and drafted the project proposal for a course — to “investigate the willingness to pay for a good cup of coffee on some international flights.” Fun times! ⁴

Cafe & Restaurant Coretto

That biscuit tasted amazing!

Cafe score: -0.7

I went to this place to celebrate that I finally managed to pick up the residence permit card, meaning I could continue studying in Austria legally. It meant a lot to me after going through the paperwork, emailing many people and offices, talking to countless people, sleepless nights, etc.

But the cafe was a disappointment. It was a rainy day, with quite a heavy snow. As I walked into the place, they gave me a look that said I did belong there. The coffee tasted generic, and the food was as bland as any food could be.

Perhaps the best part about the cafe was the fresh tap water that they offered with the coffee. If you’re in Vienna and are considering going to this place, DON’T.

Summary

I probably had the best year of my life, so far, in Vienna. But I’m not sad or anything. It has been a great learning experience. Once I turn in my MSc thesis, I’ll write about the learnings and all that later.

Thank you for reading till this point.

It includes every cafe I’ve been to, where I’ve taken a photo. ↩
I don’t know why I am like that. I keep telling myself that it’s okay not to get any side item with coffee, but almost always, I get something thinking, “They might think I’m being rude.” In reality, none probably cares. ↩ ↩²
I love credit card-sized objects; I don’t know why. ↩
The survey takers turned out to be quite rational. A high or low anchor did not affect the WTP much. People were unwilling to pay much for a coffee in-flight. So, it might just be me who enjoys airplane coffee. (To be clear, I also did not pay; it was included in my ticket, apparently. Who doesn’t like a surprise at 30,000+ ft?) ↩

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What I learnt from my first proper solo travel

Thu, 20 Apr 2023 00:00:00 GMT

The email I sent to a stranger. 6 Oct, 2019. IIT Kanpur, UP, India.

In 2019, I emailed a stranger after reading about their experience — of backpacking across Europe. As the email makes plentifully clear, I really wished to travel to other countries. Well, as much unreal as it feels to say this — I just traveled to other countries, quite a few of them. And now I have some thoughts.

Much of the inspiration for this essay came to me in the evening as I stood on the seashore overlooking the bridge below, letting the cold wind hit me. A sense of deep gratitude and sadness hit me - I got so lucky, and yet millions of people did not get this lucky, not even close.

Here I am, listening to Are You Bored Yet? in a hostel in Lisbon, Portugal trying to sum up my feelings in a few hundred words instead of doing something worthwhile.

I have a flight to catch very early in the morning tomorrow. I should ideally be sleeping, but as usual, I am up, having a late-night coffee, and doing something or the other — nothing in particular. Anyway, I think now is a good time to finish writing this essay so I can get to doing other things in life.

Why did I need to take a solo trip? I decided to take a trip for a couple of reasons. First, as I said in the email, traveling to other countries has always been a dream. Sure, the pandemic disrupted many events and lives, but somewhere in the back of my mind, there was always the motivation — to travel, explore the world and meet its people. Second, I am better off financially and in terms of social mobility now than I was a few years ago. That only contributed to my willingness to travel. Third, a sudden realization hit me — that I’m never going to be 23 again, and perhaps will never have so much free time as I have now. And finally, I was getting bored of waking up every day and doing nothing much in my room in Vienna. I needed a change of location and experience.

What did I do exactly? I decided to travel to new, unfamiliar places. Once I decided that I was going to travel, the next thing was deciding what I would carry with me. I decided buying new stuff would add to the mass on my eventual journey back to India, so we should get minimal stuff.

Anyway, a friend suggested that carrying a rucksack around was in my best interest, so I went to a Decathlon store in Vienna and got myself a backpack (I have come to like it, but I think I’m quite small to be carrying it around all the time) and a tiny bag that I use as a day bag. I had most things already, but I got sunscreen, a padlock, and a power bank ¹.

Walking is my favorite means of getting from A to B, but there are some practical issues in walking from Austria to Lisbon, so I got myself a Eurail pass to get around using trains.

I made a very elaborate plan initially but ditched it eventually, searching for “Things to do near me” along the way. I won’t claim that is the right way to travel. Maybe I missed so many things, but is there a right way? I am happy with my approach, which is all that matters.

Where did I travel? I went to Germany, France, Spain, and Portugal on this leg of the solo trip. If you are interested in the specific destinations and my many experiences, read on!

How did I travel? As I already said, I took trains to get around because of practical issues with walking across countries. Europe is an excellent place for taking trains. The connectivity, availability, and convenience are unparalleled. As you might have guessed, I traveled with minimal belongings, taking only what I could fit into my rucksack. I can still improve quite a bit on the packing front, but that is for the next trip.

I use the smaller backpack (mentioned before) to carry my electronics and ID stuff around. I have very little cash on me, and I try to use a card everywhere — it helps me keep track of my expenses, and most importantly, it lets me know how much money I have left, setting a threshold for myself — “if the balance falls below xyz, I’ll get on the next flight home, and just carry on life as usual.”

I carry a handkerchief stained with Lamb Korma from some days ago. In case someone was to pickpocket, at least they could have something. Avoiding crowded public transport has also worked in my favor thus far. I never get on a bus or train beyond its usual occupancy — I would just walk or wait for the next one. I did not take the famous Tram 28 in Lisbon, Portugal, because it was always crowded. I overheard a lady say, “Please go to the back of the queue; we’ve been standing here for over 2 hours” to someone. Not worth it, I decided. I’d rather watch the whole thing on YouTube than have someone take something from me on a crowded tram.

I stayed in cheap hostels, which I found using Hostelworld and Booking.com. To prevent myself from backing out of plans last minute, I booked non-refundable beds. Initially, I thought I was a genius for doing that, but it quickly backfired because I started getting a toothache immediately after starting the trip.

Now, I could either abandon the whole thing OR bear the pain for a few days, and go to the dentist once I return home. I chose the latter. I had planned to travel for a month, but I’m now re-evaluating that thought. Maybe I’ll travel again after I go to the dentist and have my tooth pulled out or something. ²

Ultimately, I also took some flights because sitting in the train for more than 12 hours, including multiple exchanges, seemed daunting — lonely, sleepy, and tiring.

When? I traveled for about two weeks beginning 1 Apr 2023.

Well, now that I am in the solo-travel market, backpacking and whatnot, I’ll tell you quite a bit about what I did, and how I am doing currently.

The reply to my email above. That was very kind. I did not spend anywhere close to that, but I also traveled for a fraction of the time.

Munich

The BMW Museum was one of the highlights of the trip.

The trip to Munich was not a solo trip, technically. My friend from undergrad let me stay at their place and showed me around the city. I ended up making new friends and had a lovely time. We stayed home, watched movies, and talked about random topics concerning India and countries worldwide — not very touristy, but okay. The rajma chawal we had on the last day of the trip was one of the highlights.

The first thing that struck me after getting to the train station was that it was very crowded, and the metro network was quite confusing. For some reason, my network provider decided not to connect to any network, so I had difficulty figuring out how to get to my friend’s place. Add to that the confusing metro system — due to some ongoing construction, the trains left from the wrong platform (at least that’s what I could figure out following the signs). It took me over an hour to get to a place probably just 15 minutes away. I’m far from being an Austrian, but I felt a sense of, “Vienna is so much better than this!”

I walked around the beautiful Nymphenburg Palace, letting the snowflakes slide all over my jacket, watched the ducks swimming around, and understood firsthand what “as graceful as a swan” means. Swans are indeed graceful — it’s impressive how smoothly they move around. I wish people were like that — move around gracefully, mind your business, and occasionally pose for photos.

I took an early morning train from Munich headed towards Zurich, making an interchange at St. Gallen. From there, I went to Geneva and then to Annecy, a “small town” in France. People say that Switzerland is beautiful and expensive. Having spent a few months in Vienna, I was fine with spending extra to see the Swiss countryside, but as fate would have it, they won’t accept my card so I’ll go to Switzerland another time, perhaps as a representative of the Government of India. ³

During the train ride, I saw beautiful natural rivers (not AI-generated) meandering in the Swiss/French Alps. It’s hard to describe that feeling — I mean, how can rivers be that beautiful? Did they dye it or something? No, I did not take any photos because I was too mesmerized by the rivers and the mini-waterfalls. Seeing them in magazines is one thing, and seeing them flow is another. I think I cried a little bit, to be honest.

Annecy

Over breakfast, a guy asked me, “Why Annecy of all places?” I did not have a concrete answer. Since I could not go to Switzerland, and a continuous train ride from Munich to Barcelona would be too much, I thought it would be nicer if I stayed a few days somewhere close to the Swiss-French border and then took a train to Barcelona from there. I opened Google Maps, clicked on a bunch of places, and found Annecy, the best-suited city for my purpose. After that, I went to TripAdvisor and checked reviews for Annecy, and that’s how I decided to go there.

Honestly, the place did not disappoint. I started getting a toothache out of nowhere and had a hard time opening my jaw. Owing to the city’s size and terrain, the city does not have a train network but has an extensive bus network. I stayed at a hostel a little outside the town square, which meant every night after dinner, I had to walk uphill for about 15 minutes. Annecy, in my opinion, is the perfect place to reset if you have a busy life. Most shops shut by 7PM, and you won’t find people on the streets apart from the couples who are on or returning from romantic dinners.

One day I just searched for why Annecy is popular (yes, only after reaching there). Apart from the usual paragliding, skiing, sightseeing, etc. I came across a post which said that the background in the poster for Kodaline’s first album was taken around Lake Annecy. The poster was shot in Plage municipale de Talloires. It helped that the beach wasn’t crowded at all when I went there.

Below is my attempt at recreating the poster for In A Perfect World. The song All I Want from the album is personal to me. I don’t know why, but I cried quite a lot when they played the music video in the auditorium during our Y17 Orientation at IIT Kanpur. I felt very good drawing a connection — I did not go to Annecy looking for it, yet everything fell into place somehow. I left Annecy with a whole heart, eating a hearty meal at McDonald’s, taking bus rides, and walking around Lake Annecy. I’d love to learn how to swim and take my kids there someday to swim together.

The album cover for In A Perfect World. Source.

My attempt to recreate the album cover.

This part of the trip also taught me that knowing what is happening around me is essential. As you must be aware, strikes are currently happening across France. Well, I wasn’t immune to these strikes either. My journey to Barcelona from Annecy was a mixed bag. On the one hand, I was so excited to travel on the high-speed train which felt very futuristic. The train just seemed to zoom past the sunny plains. On the other hand, due to the strikes, they canceled the onward journey, meaning they abandoned me in the middle of nowhere near the French-Spanish border.

Fortunately, I found the last seat on the bus leaving for Barcelona later that night. It was a surprisingly pleasant journey — the highway wasn’t congested, and the road conditions were probably the best one could ask for, so the bus just zoomed through. After we crossed over to Spain, we stopped for some snacks. I saw tasty-looking Mediterranean olive oil-flavored Lays; I almost bought a packet but realized immediately that I had a toothache, so I did not.

Barcelona

After the public transport confusion in Munich, I appreciated the clear signs of the Barcelona Metro. I think Barcelona is beautiful.

As with most cities, I looked up places where I could get another academic degree. I looked up the University of Barcelona, and it did not disappoint. The main university building is housed in an ancient but beautiful building. Unfortunately, it was closed as I went in the evening, so I walked to a nearby Indian restaurant and ate rice.

Seeing so many people soaking in the sun and breathing in the misty salt water of the Mediterranean Sea at Barceloneta Beach gave me a renewed sense that my life is going quite well. I was too nervous to ask strangers to take a photo of me but I got a few decent pictures of myself that I’ll remember for the rest of my life.

I saw a city full of life from a hilltop (second world war bunkers), yet it seemed very calm from up there, with only the overhead flights and the wind disturbing the silence. Here I learned that drinking in public is illegal in Spain. Looking into the distance, I could see familiar buildings that looked beautiful.

View of Barcelona from a hilltop.

Walking around the Olympic Stadium, I felt pretty small, in a literal sense. The stadium and the surrounding plazas are massive. It made me think about my limited, tiny role in the grand scheme of things. Standing there, I thought, “Do I even matter? I’m just a tiny, tiny being with a limited skill set who will walk on this Earth for a countable number of years.” A cold breeze hit me as I reflected on all these, and I headed back to the hostel.

I could not help but think about what must have happened all those years ago (The Barcelona Olympics took place in 1992). People from around the world must have gathered on that hilltop (where the Olympic park is) and competed for their country’s glory. The winning athletes must have proudly draped themselves in their country’s flag, and so many people must have walked the area I just strolled around one afternoon. Much of the original architecture is still intact, and I feel fortunate to have seen it in my lifetime. So many tall towers all around. Just look at the picture below for scale.

I’m so small.

On my way to Madrid, I had to walk up to an actual person and tell him that I wanted a ticket to Madrid. Sadly, one cannot book seat reservations online for the trains in Spain. You have to go to a station and make a purchase. That required so much mental energy — I went to the washroom (which had birds chirping music going on for some reason) and prepared myself mentally before approaching the gentleman for the ticket.

I did not mess up my lines and got a discounted ticket to Madrid. It was the best train journey of my life (so far). I think they were actually flexing, to be honest. There was no need to show us the live speedometer, but the train comfortably traveled at speeds north of 300 km/h. The train had onboard WiFi and a catalog of movies to choose from. They even had live TV broadcasting LaLiga games.

Madrid

During my undergrad, we stayed up countless nights for academics and to watch Real Madrid play. In a country where Cricket is a household sport, I found solace in football. I did not grow up watching football, but like billions of people, I found the game easy to understand, and as I watched several games, I got more and more into the beautiful game. I distinctly remember the 2010 FIFA World Cup final game, when during the dying minutes of the game, Mario Gotze scored the winning goal.

Before long, I cheered for Real Madrid, watching them play in the Champions League. We had our ups and downs, but nothing compared to the feeling of watching them score goals and win games. So, getting a tour of the Bernabeu Stadium was a dream come true for me. It was the happiest moment of my trip to Madrid. The city is lively and beautiful ⁴, but the stadium tour was the highlight.

The city transport card is also beautiful, but the metro is almost always crowded. Overall, I would say Madrid has a good transportation system. I also discovered that they have three free bus lines — 000, 001, 002.

I boarded one of the buses and tapped my transport card against the reader, and it said my card had expired. I was confused because I recharged the card “definitely” less than 24 hours ago. The driver did not speak any English, and I did not speak any Spanish, so he proceeded to give me a ticket that said EUR 0,00. Instead of counting 24 hours from the first validation, the transport system counts calendar days, meaning the card expires at 5 AM on the relevant calendar day. So, if you buy a ticket at 6 PM today for two days, the card expires at 5 AM the day after tomorrow instead of lasting till 6 PM the day after tomorrow.

Barcelona was so much better in this aspect. No matter when you buy the pass, you can use it for 48 hours (if you bought the 48-hour pass) from the time you first use it. That is much more convenient and cost-effective than the calendar days scheme. Imagine purchasing the transport pass at 10 PM — you will probably just get to use it once, and it expires when you’re asleep. You get the idea.

Dreams.

The high-speed train made it effortless to travel from Barcelona to Madrid. Unfortunately, no such options exist between Madrid and Lisbon. I did not feel very good anyway, and I decided sitting in the train for over 12 hours wasn’t worth it. So, I took the cheapest flight available from Madrid to Lisbon. Surprisingly, they did not ask anything about my rucksack, and I slept pretty peacefully on the flight until a baby decided to choose violence that evening.

Lisbon

Lisbon is the most beautiful city I’ve been to so far. The transportation is not great, but it is easy to get around on foot, and one can see many landmarks on foot. The metro is excellent, but other than that, the buses and trams are crowded and mostly not on time.

The highlight of the trip for me was going up to the Castle of St. George to see the city from above. It was a magnificent sight. I asked someone to take a photo of me, and he said, “I’m not a good photographer, but you can ask my girlfriend.” A few moments later, he returned with his girlfriend and asked her to take a photo of me.

I loved walking around the city. It was sunny, but it did not feel hot at all because of the sea breeze. The narrow streets, colorful houses, and lively atmosphere reminded me of those travel magazine photos.

Until then, I’ve mostly had Indian food (for me — rice and something), so I decided to try the traditional Portuguese dish of Pork with Clams. I should have stuck to rice and curry because I did not like the dish at all. The dish itself was fine but too oily for me, and I feared falling sick before returning home to Vienna.

But I had an excellent expensive coconut ice cream right after that, and it saved the day. After a disappointing food hunt, I decided to go and visit the Sanctuary of Christ the King on the other side of the bridge. Standing on the hilltop overlooking the Tagus River, I marveled at the feat of engineering. So many hours of painstaking labor and planning must have gone into realizing the 25th of April bridge. To think that I took a bus ride across the suspension bridge felt surreal.

The 25 de Abril Bridge (25th of April Bridge).

I set out to discover whether I liked to travel and what I might want in the long term. Spending extended periods with myself on this leg of the tour clarified a few things, or at least I have some thoughts about possible answers. My unique experiences perhaps contributed to my looking at the world a certain way, and I wish to share a few takeaways.

Takeaways

Growing up, I saw extreme poverty firsthand. I see it repeatedly every time I go back home to Tripura. Some might argue that things are better now, which is true, but it’s nowhere close to what people in rich countries get to enjoy. The idea that you could have a good or bad life depending on where you are born sounds pretty sad to me.

I am not claiming that it is all rosy for people living in rich countries or for those who move to rich countries. Sure, there are real issues that need solving, but on the whole, it seems that the quality of life — in terms of social structures, infrastructure, and frankly, just existing as a human being — is better here.

Strangely, I missed my student housing. I slept very well once I got home. I missed cooking and the familiar routine. When I returned, I cooked rice and curry for myself and had the best meal in weeks. As for traveling around the world — I can’t say whether I like solo travel.

I’m starting to feel like I prefer staying at home, having a nice cup of coffee, reading a book, and sleeping to traveling around the world. Maybe I’ll change my mind if my friends join me on these travels, for instance.

I got a “Used - Like New” Anker 325 power bank: It’s a 20,000 mAh power bank, and has served all my charging needs very well so far. It’s cheaper, better for the environment, and works as expected. ↩
I did not need to get any of my teeth pulled out ultimately. An Austrian dental surgeon casually suggested that they’re going to pull out a few teeth because in his words, “they are not serving their purpose.” I needed to come back to India, so I could not take an appointment. And that was the end of that particular episode. ↩
Let me have my daydreams, please. For those who don’t know, the UN has one of the four major offices in Geneva. I won’t mind working there some day. When, how, and why? Who knows? ↩
I had Indian food here a couple of times. The restaurants were run by Bangladeshis, who were surprised I could speak Bengali, and Hindi. On this trip, people mistook me for being a Filipino, a Taiwanese, and generally non-Indian. Kudos to that friend in Munich, who immediately said, “Nahin nahin, ye bhi humara hi bhai hai!” (No, no he’s also one of us!) ↩

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Review of 3rd Semester courses at WU

Tue, 14 Mar 2023 00:00:00 GMT

A horse cart racing, Vienna, Austria. 12 Mar, 2023.

Keeping up with the tradition, this essay is modeled after my Review of Term 4 courses at IIM Ahmedabad essay. I shall try to give you some background and then review each course, in addition to describing some unique aspects of my first-ever academic semester outside India.

Background

Some people asked me if I dropped out of IIM Ahmedabad, or switched fields, etc. I’ll first give some background, so that the choices don’t seem very random. I am in Vienna as a double-degree student. More specifically, I am pursuing an MSc in SIMC (Strategy, Innovation, & Management Control). But what is a double-degree? I am also enrolled at IIMA as a PGP student. I spent my first year at IIMA, and I’m spending the second year of the two-year program in Vienna. I’ll receive two degrees (an MBA, and an MSc) at the end of the two year period (sometime in 2023). So, instead of spending $(2+2 = 4)$ years to get these degrees, I’ll be done in $(1+1 = 2)$ years.

With that tiny background information out of the way, let’s now talk about the courses at WU. The courses are more of less pre-decided (with a few electives). You can have a look at the double-degree template here in case you are interested. You can also look at the courses I took here.

As you can see in the table of contents, I took five courses during the third semester (Oct 2022 - Jan 2023). The difficulty level ( $1-5$ ) is quite subjective, and solely based on my experience. $1$ represents a straightforward course while $5$ represents a challenging course.

I attended the first three weeks of classes online, owing to delays in my paperwork. Here you can read more about the lengths one has to go to get the paperwork. As a disclaimer, broadly, I found the academics in Austria to be less-intensive than the Indian system. I’m not implying anything by it, and you should not draw conclusions based on it.

Courses

Thesis Seminar: How to Write a Thesis

As the course title suggests, the course teaches how to write a thesis. Through combination of group work, and individual assignment, the professor tried to teach how to do research — conduct literature review, come up with research questions, form hypotheses, etc. The class did not meet very often during the semester — this I found quite opposite of what happens in India.

At IIMA, we had 10-20 lectures of 75 minutes each over the course of a term. However, here at WU, the classes usually last longer, and meet less often. So, instead of meeting for 15 times a semester, the class would meet only 6 times, but each meeting would be 3-5 hours long for instance.

Frankly, I did not like the paper I was assigned for the final assignment because it was from the Accounting area which is outside my interest. Okay, technically, I chose the paper myself but the papers in the option pool were more or less from the Accounting area since the professor belongs to that area. I believe my choice was the least Accounting-oriented paper.

The final feedback was very useful. The professor pointed out a few shortcomings in my write-up, we had an informal chat about my interests and my thesis topic (yes, I’m required to write a thesis to get that MSc). He informed me that I got a Pass grade (it’s a Pass/Fail course), and that’s it.

Difficulty: 2

Business Project

We got to work on practical problem with a real company in the course. The learning curve was quite steep with theory inputs, and as well as coaching sessions whenever we got stuck. It got quite boring in between but once we sort of cleared the roadblock, things got exciting again. Honestly, the course felt like a summer internship, it had everything — making PPTs, structuring an unstructured problem, talking to many people, and presenting the findings periodically.

They teach you some frameworks but more often than not they are not useful for directly applying to the problem at hand. However, the coaching time is quite useful, so are the interactions with various people. I usually prefer to work on my own, but the project kind of reinforced the idea that I need to start working with people. That has been the recurring theme ever since I started this MBA thing, and I’m getting quite good at it.

Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the course was the ability to package whatever little/too much work that we did, and present them as coherent useful solutions to the given problems. That is a skill that is hardly taught in the classrooms but quite useful in the real world.

Difficulty: 3

Machine Learning for Business Analytics

As the title of the course suggests, we used ML approaches to look at business problems such as forecasting. The class met only for 6 times during the semester but each meeting was about 5 hours long. Needless to say, I learnt a lot from the course. I do not know if I’m going to apply the skills acquired from the course in the future but the learning process was quite fun. The professor explained each concept patiently without using too much math.

I got to write code after quite sometime, and that is always welcome. I missed writing small snippets of code to do useful things. There was a final project in which we solved a real-business problem for a partner company. Even though the course covered quite a lot of ground, I felt as ease from the first session — maybe being an engineer helped, but I enjoyed the course. If you’re at WU, and get a chance to study the course, you should take it.

Difficulty: 1

Empirical Data Analysis

This course was focussed on statistical analysis of data. The course was originally supposed to be taught by a guest faculty but he could not for health reasons. After much delay, two other instructors taught the course. To be quite frank, the course was quite chill, and I’m happy that I have to do one elective less this semester.

In terms of coursework, the learning curve is quite steep, and someone who does not have a background in coding and statistics would have a hard time grasping the material. Perhaps, the highlight was writing and submitting the proposal for the final project on a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul to Delhi. It was so cool — I felt quite good on the flight, and it helped that the airline served me a nice cup of coffee on the flight. So, I decided I’m going to study the willingness to pay for a cup of coffee. The course was fun overall, but the timeline was quite rushed for obvious reasons.

Difficulty: 4

Value Creation and Value Capture in a Digital Age

The course is similar to Business Project, except that the partner company was from a different domain, and the domain of focus was also quite specific. The course was a mixed bag for me — there were some positives, as well as some negatives.

Speaking of the good things: the instructors appreciated whatever work we did and provided constructive feedback. I never felt like they were demeaning of our efforts, and they were honest when they felt we did not do a good job so that we can improve. On the negative side: I felt that the course can improve on the group formation aspect. Our group lacked cohesion from the start which affected the quality of our output.

I also realized that I really hated making PPTs, and populating slides just so that I can say something during the presentation. At one point I felt like the whole exercise was hollowing out my soul, but I’m so glad that it ended well. I remember telling a friend, “I’m never taking another PPT course in my life.” Sadly, the reality is probably that I’ll have to keep making PPTs to earn a living.

Difficulty: 1-4 (Depending on the group you’re assigned to)

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Life in Vienna: A Semester Review

Fri, 27 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMT

Exploring an exhibition at Museum Hundertwasser, Vienna, Austria. 5 Nov, 2022.

Music has a weird effect on me. Whenever I listen to a good song, it motivates me to write something. I’m currently listening to Nirbhau Nirvair from Qala, and I can feel the words flowing — so many feelings that I hope to summarize in this essay. I’m supposed to write a bunch of code, do a literature search for my master’s thesis, and, more importantly, sleep. Not tonight. I’m going to write a semester review tonight because today is my last day of classes, and I want this essay to mark the occasion.

I’m not writing the essay for a particular audience, but it might help my younger sister or my kids. Looking at the pace of life, I’m sure I’ll forget some of these aspects a few years later. “Why not write it for yourself in a journal?” you may ask. Since I do not have a permanent address, I’ll probably lose the journal entries. But, hopefully, the internet will stay on forever, so here goes nothing.

Living abroad is hard. Things seem pretty bleak at times, but not all is lost. In all fairness, I think I’m living through one of the happiest periods of my life thus far. I’ll explain what I mean in a later paragraph. I’ll also narrate other aspects of my stay here because my experiences are not isolated from each other; instead an amalgamation of various incidents and my upbringing.

Every time I sing the Indian national anthem, I get goosebumps without fail. I attended the Republic Day celebrations organized by the Indian Embassy in Vienna. I met a lady in a traditional Manipuri costume. She immediately reminded me of mom, and when I remarked, “mom would have put on something similar,” she asked me if I was from Manipur. We had a happy conversation.

It was a pleasant interaction all in all, which is something I did not expect when I left India — no, I expected friendly interactions, I just did not expect to meet people from the Northeast, so whenever I meet a few, it makes me quite happy. In fact, one of the highlights of my time here so far is meeting a family from Tripura. They were kind enough to invite me to their house for Christmas eve. They served me rice with chicken curry and fish, which is everything I could ever ask for.

These experiences were lovely but left me longing for “home.” I would love to take a break from eating spicy oily food and go back to eating boiled vegetables with rice. What would I not do to eat an eel boiled with onions? I met Indians from various walks of life; some moved here right after I was born. And they chose to settle down here and make a “home.” I won’t get into the more complicated questions, such as what I call home and whatnot. Families would not invite me every day of the year, and not everyone is free to hang out with me whenever I feel low.

I live 4.5 hours behind most people I know. That results in so many misalignments. Long conversations over dinner or after a good game of badminton turned to, “bhai kya chal raha hai?” “bas chal raha hai.” and “gyaan” sessions with my sister turned to “Why do you not call me more often, I always have to call you? You’ve changed so much since you went abroad.” Weekly catchups with friends turned to “see you soon when you’re in India.”

4.5 hours does not seem like a lot initially, given that humans are not very good with estimates. But try staying up 4.5 hours after everyone you know are asleep — it’s the world against you. India may have awakened to life and freedom when the world slept, but this boy definitely does not have a great time when India sleeps. My sister would be in class when I’m asleep, I would be in class when she calls, and when I come back from class and call her, more often than not, she’d be asleep. Similar stories go with friends. I would reply to spontaneous texts only hours later, and vice-versa. And I hate voice calls so much.

“Why did you go abroad at all?” some might question. Did you not bring all these on yourself? People have “dreams,” you see. One of the prime ones for me was “to get to all these places my ancestors never even dreamt of.” I’m happy to report we are slowly getting there. Hopefully, I’ll be a more resourceful ancestor for the upcoming generations. Whenever someone asks me if I miss my village life, my first response usually is, “do you know how hard I worked not to ever go back to that life again?” “Farming/agriculture seems pretty exciting, have you ever done it?”

“Do you know how hard I worked so that I don’t ever have to go farming? I want next-day delivery service from Amazon, that’s why I’m worked so hard.”

Despite these apparent hardships, I’m pretty happy at this point. I love the city, the weather is incredible, and cooking for myself feels like an accomplishment. Cleaning the utensils seems dreadful sometimes, but I generally love washing dishes, so we’re good.

I made pork curry, chicken curry, and chicken biryani for the first time in my life, and they turned out exactly how I expected them to. I have mastered the art of boiling rice, and my onion-chopping skills are unparalleled. I’ll be a top applicant if there is a job interview where they judge your rice-boiling skills. The few months here taught me to be more independent, self-reliant and grounded. I always thought I was above human feelings. Turns out I’m just an ordinary 23-year-old, after all, who feels myriad emotions and gets annoyed by silly things at times.

I’m pretty proud of myself for getting all the paperwork in order and continuing my studies here (legally). Previously, I’d have just given up and chosen the most convenient option. Talking to public officials doesn’t scare me anymore, nor does reaching out for help. Most importantly, I learned that people value my skills and respect me for what I am. What?! It turns out people expect a lot of things from someone who is an IIT-IIM graduate, and they also show respect for them.

Reading the feedback for one of the courses, I felt like I know some things, and all hope is not lost. Speaking of academics, it is pretty different from the ones I’ve experienced. The classes happen in a block format. That is, instead of having 3 sessions of 75 minutes each over the week, I might just have one session which lasts for 5 hours with some breaks in between. I’m free to do whatever I wish during the rest of the week. Of course, I am expected to work on assignments, but I can spread them out and get them done.

The Professors and colleagues understand and value input from everyone instead of discounting your opinion just because you said something different. They know that as adults, other things going on in life. Everywhere I went, I’ve been treated with kindness, perhaps the aspect I appreciate the most. I’ve been here only for a semester, but the city and the university have started to grow on me. If you’re interested in the actual courses that I took, you can check this out.

In closing, sometimes things seem pretty hard, but when things seem like they are at the breaking point, more often than not, things work out in my favor, and I’m genuinely grateful for what I have. I’ll also be in Vienna next semester, so if you’re here, feel free to say hi! I have intentionally left out the coffee story from this essay — Vienna has a great coffee culture. Soon I’ll write a review of every coffee house I’ve been to (so far) in Vienna.

Thank you so much if you have read to this point. Click on the links, and browse around.

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Studying legally in Vienna

Mon, 19 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMT

Stephensplatz at night.

I recently (finally) collected all documents required to continue staying in Austria as a student, legally. Getting the paperwork in order took me months and caused a lot of anxiety, with some sleepless nights in between. Some events unfolded due to my limited foresight, and some were for factors beyond my control. But it feels so good to receive everything finally; I feel a sense of achievement.

Reading this article might overwhelm you, which is okay because it is a lot to deal with. However, I am writing the essay hoping you have it easier than I did. I wished for a similar article when I was going through the process myself, but I could not find any or maybe I just did not look for them carefully enough.

For some context, I am in Vienna as a double-degree student from IIM Ahmedabad. I spent the first year of the two-year MBA program at IIMA and am spending my second year here as an MSc student in the SIMC program at WU. Once I meet the academic requirements set out here, I will receive degrees from both IIMA and WU; an MBA from IIMA, and an MSc from WU. I won’t get into why I chose to come here instead of spending my second year at IIMA.

That will be the subject of another essay, perhaps. Since IIMA nominated me to come and study here, I did not have to apply to WU. Thus, this essay does not go into the application process to various universities in Austria. Nonetheless, once you get accepted to a university, the words in the article may prove useful. Also, I am a citizen of India 🇮🇳, and hence whatever I say here would be most relevant for Indian students. I use the words “Austria” and “Vienna” interchangably.

Disclaimer. Please conduct your research, and follow the instructions applicable to your case. In particular, read every email you receive about the process very carefully, and do not expect exceptions. I hope whatever I say here helps you to an extent, but if you follow all of it blindly, it will end up hurting you more than doing good.

So, yes, follow some of what I say but ultimately use your judgment. I made a few errors and would not wish for you to repeat them. It just makes life easier for everyone. For the final time, this is not legal advice, and I assume no responsibility if things go wrong. In addition, the regulations change from time to time, so you should follow official sites and channels for the most reliable and authoritative source of information and not an essay by some random boy such as this.

I wrote everything to the best of my recollection and knowledge. Please send me an email in case you spot any errors.

What to do while you are in India

Letter of acceptance

Once the university offers you a place of study, you will get a letter with your student ID number (Matrikelnummer) and other important information, such as registration dates. Getting into a university is one thing, and moving to a new country to study at that university is something else. To continue your studies in Austria (legally), you need to get a residence permit. It is a daunting task (at least I felt so), but hopefully, this essay will ease some of the pain. Read on.

Place of residence/accommodation

You should start looking for a place to stay as soon as you are sure you are coming to Vienna to study. A few options are listed here. Go to the linked websites, and conclude a residence contract of at least three months — follow whatever steps the websites asked, send emails if need be, make some payments, and get the residence contract.

You should have a formal contract by this point. That means you should have a document stating the monthly rent, contract duration, various amenities, etc. I suggest staying at a place commonly preferred by students, such as OeAD, STUWO, etc. The authorities would recognize the contracts more easily. You can always move out after a semester if you find better options. By then, you will also be more acquainted with the place.

Residence permit

Perhaps the residence permit is the most crucial document you need to collect. For stays longer than six months (which is most likely the case if you are pursuing a full-time degree), you must obtain a residence permit to continue your studies. As soon as you receive your university acceptance letter, you should email the Austrian Embassy in New Delhi seeking an appointment to submit your residence permit application.

You can find their email address here. Remember to send an email to the Consular section and not the Embassy.

What is the difference between the Consular section and Embassy? Embassies are the representation of one nation in another, while consulates represent the public administration of the country in some sense. The Austrian Embassy would take up bilateral issues with India, and the consulate would handle processes such as letting people into Austria, for instance.

Once you provide the required documents (they would ask for these in reply to the email you sent), they will inform you about the dates and times you can submit your residence permit application and the required documents. Choose a reasonable slot — so that you don’t delay getting into Austria while also not giving yourself undue stress by trying to get your documents in order within a very short period.

The slot you choose is the deadline before which you must get all the documents in order. Give yourself enough time because several things can go wrong. You and only you will have a lot to lose if things go wrong, and none else loses anything. Please don’t wait until you have all the documents to seek an appointment. You might not get a slot for weeks or even months into the future. I made that mistake, which caused me a lot of stress later.

By emailing very early and choosing a reasonable slot, you are in control — you can get the documents in order. You will also have enough time to get to Austria before your classes start. Now comes to more challenging part — getting your documents in order and submitting an application.

The exact documents required would vary from case to case. Go to this website, and choose the case that applies to you. It will show you the list of documents required. You need to fill out this application form (the form is in German) submit it in person in the Austrian Embassy, New Delhi. You can find the accompanying explanation in English here. As I already said, the exact documents will depend on your case. But, in general, a few required documents are:

Valid travel document — Passport

Double-check your passport’s validity. If it is expiring soon, it might be a good idea to renew the passport first to prevent a hassle later.

Passport-sized photograph

Go to any photo shop, and ask them for a visa photo. The official photo dimensions are 3.5 cm $\times$ 4.5 cm.

Proof of sufficient financial means

This is perhaps the most tricky thing of all. Depending on your situation, you may be required to prove that you have the living expenses for a year or the entire study duration. Refer to the website above because the various amounts keep changing yearly. Proof of sufficient financial means to cover the living costs [as of 2022]:

Students under 24 years of age: EUR 569.11/month
Students as of the age of 24: EUR 1,030.49/month
Couples: EUR 1,625.71/month for both
For each child additionally: EUR 159/month

The following example is handy in understanding the amount you need to show to the authorities (as of 2022). You are 23 years old. You are staying (or have a contract for) in a student dorm, with a monthly rent of EUR 605.00. The health insurance costs EUR 65 per month. And you plan to stay here for 12 months. In this case, you need to show proof for

$(\underbrace{569.11}_\text{min based on age group} + \underbrace{605.00}_\text{monthly rent} - \underbrace{309.92}_\text{min rent} + \underbrace{65.00}_\text{monthly insurance}) \times \overbrace{12}^\text{stay in Vienna, in months} = \text{EUR } 11,150.16$

It’ll be helpful to hand in the proof for more than EUR 12,000 so that they know you have sufficient means to support your stay here. Also, only the amount above the minimum monthly rent is added to the rent component.

You need to show that amount when submitting your application. You can show your bank statement for the last six months containing the amount in INR and ask the bank to give you a certificate stating the equivalent amount in EUR. Then fill up this form. Write clearly in English where your money comes from.

Declaration of regular expenses. You need to fill this form. In case you do not have any liabilities, you can write 0 in all the fields, and sign the form.

A money note

This was most tricky part in my experience. Most likely, they would have questions about where you get your living expenses from, and if you have financial obligations such as paying off a loan or mortgage and so on. After you hand in your application, you might receive emails for additional documents or explanations. While disheartening, by that point, you know that they have looked at your application.
Answer all the questions in detail, and provide supporting documents. Even though your bank documents might be clear to you, they might not be to someone else. So, explain in detail whatever documents you sent at this point. For example, they did not understand the document that said when I would start repaying my student loan even after providing the documents from the bank. I wrote a long email explaining each statement, and they accepted it.
Do not lose heart, be patient, and explain things clearly whenever asked.

Proof of accommodation. You must show an accommodation contract for at least three months. If you have a contract with OeaD, you will have received the contract via email. Print that, and take it on the day of application submission.

Proof of health insurance covering all risks

You need to get monthly insurance once you get to Austria. But, for the authorities to even consider your application (so that you can get to Austria), they require that you submit proof of health insurance. You can buy travel insurance from providers such as Feelsafe or Bajaj Allianz. Go to their website, and purchase the insurance that applies to you. You will need some time before taking out insurance after arriving in Vienna, so make sure to buy travel insurance for about two months.

Birth certificate

If you are applying for the first time, you need to provide them a copy of the legalized birth certificate. You can find what it means here. Essentially, you need someone to say that your documents are legitimate. For Indians, the Ministry of External Affairs issues Apostille. But, the catch is that you cannot submit the documents to the ministry directly for Apostille. Instead, you need to submit it via one of the agents. You can find the complete list here.

Another issue is that the officials in your home state would not know what Apostille means. So, you take your birth certificate (which is most likely laminated), remove the lamination and ask the SDM in your sub-division or someone in the state secretariat (you would be lucky if the officials mentioned in the above documents respond), and ask them to sign and stamp on the back of the original birth certificate.

After that, you take the attestation of a notary person, again on the back of the certificate. By this point, you should have two attestations on the back of the certificate (notary + government official). Once that is done, you can send the documents to some lawyer based in New Delhi, who can submit the documents to MEA for them to issue the Apostille (it looks like a sticker, usually pasted on the back of your certificate).

Now, your document is legalized. You might need to translate the documents to English if the original is in another Indian language. I did not need to translate the English document into German. But it might be required in your case. Hence, you should apply quite early to sort things out when things go wrong.

Police clearance certificate

As far as I am aware, there are two ways of getting a Police clearance certificate — by applying online and visiting a PSK (Passport Seva Kendra) or by applying to a police station near you. The PSK website has instructions on how one can apply for a PCC. If you choose to get it from a police station, you make an application on a plain sheet and fill out the form.

The concerned police station would go to your residence, ask a few questions and verify that you have no cases pending against you in a court of law. Once you get the stamped and signed letter, you get the attestations (notary + government official), send it to New Delhi, and get the Apostille. You might need to translate the document if the PCC is not in English. If you got your PCC from PSK, getting the SDM/HRD attestation is not necessary. You must get the PCC apostilled from MEA.¹ Make sure the PCC is not older than three months — that means get the PCC no earlier than three months from when you submit your residence permit application.

Once you have collected all the documents and filled out the application form, you are ready to hand in the application. You must go to the Austrian Embassy in New Delhi and hand in the documents. If you go on time, the submission process usually takes about 20-30 minutes, depending on how much you need to wait. Carry cash of about INR 12,000/- (this might vary from year to year) to pay the application fees. They waived my Visa D fees because I paid the fees during the residence permit application.

The person at the reception will collect the documents from you and hand you a payment/acknowledgment receipt. Keep the receipt safe; it will come in handy later.

Once you have made the residence permit application, you wait. The authority (called MA35) aims to decide on your application within 90 days. And it might take them 90 days if you are unlucky, you messed up your application, or they need additional information/documents from you.

Once the authority (MA35) decides positively on your application, that is, they approve your residence permit application, the Austrian Embassy in New Delhi will reach out to you inviting you to make an application for Visa D. It allows you to fly to Austria, and collect your residence permit card. You have to collect the residence permit card (it looks like a credit card) in person in Vienna.

Next, I’ll tell you how to get a Visa D.

Visa D

The Austrian Embassy in New Delhi will inform you about the application procedure and the required documents. You fill out the application form, book an appointment with VFS, go to a VFS center, submit your application, and wait.

Application form

The Embassy will email you the blank application form you can print out. You can also find the application form for Visa D here. The email sent to you will also have the documents you are required to submit.

VFS

After receiving the Austrian Embassy email inviting you to make an application, go to the VFS website, create an account, and book an appointment. It is pretty simple: sign up by providing your details, log in to the portal, choose the available slots based on your case, make the payment, and wait for the appointment confirmation. Now, to get to Vienna — you fly, of course. So, you book your tickets. I usually use Skyscanner to search for flights.

Book the ticket such that the Embassy has at least 15 working days (excluding weekends and Indian and Austrian holidays) to process your application. That means, from the day of your VFS appointment to when you go to the airport to fly to Vienna, you should ensure at least 15 working days. You can use a calculator such as this or actually call VFS and ask which date after your appointment would count as 15th working day. Book your ticket to Vienna for that date or later.

In practice, it means about three weeks or, in some cases, even a month. Getting your VFS appointment about a month before your departure date is safer. It does not mean the embassy would necessarily take 15 days to decide on your visa application. Mine was decided in about 3 working days. But you cannot just fly to Vienna as soon as you get your visa. Read on to find out why.

Some additional documents might be required in addition to what the email asked for. You can find the complete list here. The VFS center usually has the forms mentioned on the website, but you might want to print and take them just in case.

On your appointment day, go to the center before the scheduled time. Follow the staff’s instructions at the center, and ask if you have the slightest doubts. They are pretty nice and help you fill out forms in case you are confused. A pro tip is to leave fields blank if you are unsure what to write. You can always ask the person assisting you at the counter. Keep the receipt from when you submitted the residence permit application. Show it to the VFS person, and you would not need to pay the Visa application fees.

You would still end up paying them money — such as the ridiculous SMS charges and money for the wrongly formatted, non-HTTPS emails that just says they sent your application (I mean I would hope they sent it, lol), and for the courier person to come to your house and return your passport. You just tell yourself, it won’t matter much when you get employed — so you sign on the forms, pay a hefty amount for an SMS that you might or might not receive and move on.

Assuming you submitted the required documents, and they lodge your application successfully. You wait again.

After the Embassy decides on your Visa D application, the courier person will come and deliver your passport to you. You would not know whether they granted you the Visa or not until you open the packet, and check your passport pages. You are ready to fly to Vienna if you got a Visa (good thing you already booked your ticket).

Do not show up to the airport before the entry date mentioned on your Visa sticker. It is the same date as on your flight ticket to Vienna. You should not re-book another ticket and try to fly-in early. They would not let you board the plane. If they let you board the plane by some stroke of luck, the officials in Vienna airport won’t let you into the EU. Check that the every detail (name, date of entry etc.) on the Visa sticker/stamp and on your flight ticket match. I saw a girl getting denied boarding because she showed up a month earlier — her flight ticket was valid, but her visa didn’t allow her to enter the EU until after a month.

What to do after you get to Vienna

Ask a friend to pick you up from the airport

Most universities have a buddy program where you can ask very helpful souls for all kinds of help. If they are free on the day you arrive in Vienna, you can ask someone to pick you up from the airport. It would be much easier for you to get to your place of residence. My buddy even picked up the keys to my room, and I am so grateful to him. Once you get to your accommodation, you should register your place of residence within three days. Since you would not have the Semester pass or other passes before you get the Meldezettel done, you might have to buy single-journey tickets a few times.

SIM card

You should get a local SIM card as soon as you are in Vienna. It will help you stay connected to the internet, which would prove invaluable in getting around the place and finding out about various required documents. Get a SIM from any provider at a reasonable rate. I use an educom SIM card.

Meldezettel

Find the form given here. If you have an accommodation agreement with OeaD student housing they would give you the printed form when you move in. You can use Google Translate or ask a friend who knows German and fill out the form. Once filled out, go to one of these offices and submit the form. You might also need to submit a copy of your passport and the letter of acceptance from the university.

You would get a document called “Meldebest,” which is the confirmation of registration of your place of residence.

Get yourself enrolled in the university

Once you register your residence and get a SIM card to connect to the internet, you should enroll at the university. That means paying the fees, and completing other documentation so that you are officially registered as a student. The international office (or whoever reached out to you) can help you with this.

You should receive your student ID card after this. You should also receive an “Enrolment Confirmation” and “Enrolment Information Sheet.” Get printouts of these documents; they will come in handy later.

As soon as you receive your Meldebest (the confirmation of residence registration) and the Enrolment Confirmation, reply to the email stating that your residence permit application has been approved and ask them about the next steps. They will mention the exact required documents in that email.

Once I emailed them the documents, they gave me an appointment to pick up my residence permit card (it looks like a credit card) and a few more documents to take to the appointment. Please read every email carefully and arrange to take the required documentation.

Get a transport pass

At this point, you should also buy a pass for getting around the city. It is more economical to purchase periodic tickets than pay for each trip. You can find them here. I purchased the Semester ticket. It is possible to buy it online, which is the better option since you can’t lose it. But if you are unlucky like me and can’t buy it online, don’t worry.

Just go to the Praterstern U station (on U1 & U2), and walk into the Wiener Linien shop, and tell them you want to buy the Semester ticket. They asked for Meldezettel and Enrolment Confirmation if I remember correctly. That’s it, you can pay in cash or using a card. Keep the pass carefully because it would cost you to get a duplicate pass. You need not necessarily go to Praterstern to buy the Semester ticket, I believe any Wiener Linien shop sells it. Just look out for their shop in major stations.

The Semester ticket is advantageous for getting around the city since you might have to visit multiple offices in the beginning. It would cost you a lot if you buy a ticket for every trip, and random ticket checks happen. I don’t know what happens if you get caught traveling without a ticket because I did not travel without a ticket.

Bank account

Walk into any bank and ask them to make a “student account” for you. The receptionists speak English, so you should not have any communication barriers. I opened an account with Erste Bank, and some of my friends use Bank Austria. You can do your research to find out which bank has better offers. But, if you are like me (23 years old and need an account to just pay for his coffee and health insurance), then any “free student account” should be fine.

Depending on your case, you would need to provide your passport, your student ID card, the Meldezettel, and a few more documents. Once they make an account for you, you will receive the debit card within a few weeks or instantly depending on the bank. You can deposit some money in your new account to set up auto-debit of your health insurance premium.

Health Insurance

Once you register your residence, enroll at the university, and have a bank account, you should enroll for Austrian Health insurance. Go to this website and find out how you can register yourself. Or you can also go to their main office and ask them how you might enroll.

The people at the counters are very helpful and would give you a list of documents you need to take as applicable in your case. On your next visit, you take those documents and then fill out the form they give you. And that is it. You should be done in about 30 minutes on your second visit. Since you already have a bank account, tell them also to set up auto-debit of the monthly premium so that you don’t miss out on paying the premium and lose health coverage.

Travel health insurance is the insurance you get while applying for Visa D and a residence permit. You need to get local insurance to pick up your residence permit card.

e-card. After you enrol yourself for the health insurance, you will receive a card, it’s called an e-card, which you need to make hospital visits. Depending on whether or not they have your photo in their database, you might need to provide them with a passport-sized photograph. That photo is printed on the health card (e-card). In case they don’t already have your photo in their database, you will need to submit a passport photo.

You can find out more about how to submit your photo here. Essentially, you make an appointment in the portal, go on the day of the appointment with your passport, the photograph, and additional documents, if any (the appointment confirmation letter will have this info), and submit the photograph.

You should receive your health card via the postal mail a few weeks later. You don’t need the physical e-card to pick up the residence permit card, just the confirmation letter (they will give this to you when you enrol for the health insurance) is enough.

By then, or at least a few weeks after that, you will have heard back from the authorities — when you have to go to the office to pick up your residence permit card. Just take all the documents with you, and the required cash. They will give you your residence permit card if everything is in order. That is it. At least for now. The paperwork would not end here, unfortunately. But, you can celebrate the small victory. Enjoy your stay in Vienna!

Tips & Tricks

Please start the process very early. When they say they would decide within $N$ days, they actually might take $N$ days. You might need to delay the start of your studies if the worst happens.
If you have doubts while filling out forms, leave them blank! You can ask them right before you submit it. I am not saying that you go in with a blank form; fill out whatever you know and leave the doubtful ones untouched.
Take a lot of printouts before leaving India. Make multiple copies of the front and back of your passport. Get multiple copies of the passport-sized photo. Print the Letter of acceptance and other documents the university sent to you. Make photocopies of all original documents, and keep scanned copies too. Most modern smartphones can scan documents at a reasonable resolution.
Carry a few hundred EUR in cash. Not much, but not too little either.
If you live in one of the Northeastern states, your SIM card will not work after you leave India. Please make sure your port it to circles outside the NE. You can recharge using the basic plan to receive essential SMS like OTPs. I don’t know the reason behind the TRAI guideline of disabling NE SIM cards for international roaming. Maybe I’ll ask someone when I become an IFS or IAS or something. I am from Tripura, hello!
Do not staple your documents. It is not required.
You are not required to bribe anyone to get through the entire thing.
Write everything legibly, preferably in BLOCK LETTERS.
Go on LinkedIn and find Indians studying in the same university. They would prove invaluable and would make your life easier. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, sign up for one right now! If you have an account but do not know how to find such people, you should Google about it and learn. It’s a valuable skill to have.
Read emails very carefully. When sending emails, schedule them instead of sending them right after you finish drafting them — schedule for the emails to arrive sometime around 10:30 or 11:00 in the morning on a working day in the relevant timezone.
The odds of someone reading your email at 11:00 on a Tuesday are much better than at 17:00 on a Saturday. By Monday morning (when they are actually at their desks working), your email would have drowned among hundreds of similar emails.
Smile wherever you are not required to keep your masks on. Saying hello with a broad smile and thanking people with a wide smile after they helped you out goes a long way. Even if there is a mask mandate, you should smile through it. Trust me; people are happier to help a happy person.
Be kind. Often, during the process, you might feel like people are not responding to your queries, and the temptation of writing a strongly-worded email would come to you. Don’t give in to such temptations. Understand that people might be having a bad day at work; most people are trying to do their best despite everything, just like you are. If in doubt, refer to the above tip.
Your effort will be worth it once you get here. The city is beautiful, the air is clean, the people are lovely, and they serve good coffee. The public transportation is fantastic too. Good luck!

Acknowledgements

So many people helped me out on my way here. From strangers to family members to friends, I troubled almost everyone. I lost all hope of ever making it to Vienna. It actually turned out okay.

My cousin helped me with the notary work and encouraged me to go and talk to the SDM to get the required signatures. He’s a significant reason why I got to where I am.

A couple of strangers (who later became friends) listened to all my questions and answered everything patiently. It felt daunting, and things worked out when I was about to leave it all; I am so happy to be here. Thank you so much, everyone!

And thanks, Gary, for picking me up from the airport and buying me a cup of coffee. I shall not forget your kindness.

If my essay helped you in any way, please leave a comment or write to me. It means a lot to me. If you still have questions, send me an email. I’ll try my best to answer them (if I have one), or maybe the others can help you. Most importantly, if you notice any errors, please point it out. Thank you!

An earlier version of this essay wrongly stated that “PCC from PSK do not need Apostille.” That is incorrect. You need to get the PCC apostilled irrespective of where you get it from, Police Station or PSK. I regret the error. Thank you to the folks in “Indian Students in Austria” WhatsApp group for pointing it out. ↩

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What my IITK-IIMA journey taught me about India, the world, and myself

Tue, 25 Oct 2022 00:00:00 GMT

IIMA Old Campus Gate.

When Prof. Carolyn R. Bertozzi won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, I thought, “Well, there might not be many of them, but I am glad they exist. Countless girls like my sister have a role model to look up to.” Not so long ago, I also had a few dreams as a boy in an unknown village in a remote corner of India. Every evening post-dinner, I would sit on the ground and look up at the sky to spot airplanes flying by. Their blinking lights would make me very happy.

I thought, “I would one day learn to fly one of those.” It is quite hard to spot one these days because of pollution or maybe because they changed the routes, but I dreamt of taking an airplane journey ever since I can remember. I am flying halfway across the world, in a few hours to continue my academic pursuits. I could not be more grateful.

I have been waiting to write this essay for quite some time. It seems like we are at that right juncture now.

I left the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur in April 2021. Since then, many things happened: cousins got married, I met my Electrical Engineering degree requirements, and got my degree, and perhaps, most importantly, I got into the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad. If you had asked me a few years ago if I planned on coming to IIMA, the answer would have been an unequivocal NO.

But, as is common in life, circumstances change; some things you control, and some you don’t. I am thrilled that IIMA happened to me. Even though it is not what I originally envisioned, I do not regret my experience, not in the slightest.

Disclaimer: I studied Electrical Engineering at IIT Kanpur. I am pursuing an MBA at IIMA. The following account is solely based on my personal experience and observations. It is not a critical examination of the failure or success of various bodies, nor is it an exhaustive account of events. Hence, everything I say in this essay should be taken with a pinch of salt.

This essay discusses the circumstances that led to a few of my choices and who I am. So, please bear with me, for the article is long. I originally titled the essay “IITK vs. IIMA: A comprehensive review.” But, it seemed that merely comparing these institutions would not do justice to the reader. So I added background material to inform them why I made certain choices. If you are interested in the numbers, statistics, and comparisons based on them, plenty of other websites do it better.

Growing up, I did not know what IITs were or what engineers did. I just knew that one has to either be an engineer or a doctor in life. Since a close cousin (whose marriage I briefly alluded to earlier) already chose the medical profession, I decided I would be an engineer. Obviously, I did not know about IIMs. I first heard about “consulting” in the third year of my undergraduate degree.

I did well in school, mainly because my parents were strict. I am still quite fearful of mom, who ensured I knew everything there was to know and that I did not mess up. I remember an instance from Class 6 or 7: I did not inform her that I had forgotten to note down the half-yearly exam routine. Instead, I studied for both History and Geography exams. It was a Geography exam that day, and I mainly studied History. Fortunately, I did reasonably well in the exam, and my mom never found out (perhaps until now).

Thinking about the past sometimes makes me wonder, “What went wrong with me?” By some stroke of good fortune, I ranked $2^{nd}$ among the Scheduled Tribe (ST) students in the state in Class 10 board exams. I remember receiving a cheque and then stressing out about it because I did not know how to cash it in. I was timid back then and would let mom speak everywhere to everyone on my behalf. It is as if she was my interpreter. It was simpler times - I did not know that there was something other than ST and SC because those two categories covered almost everyone I knew. I definitely did not know that people look down on you because of the category you belong to. I would find out the harsh reality some years later. More on that shortly.

Due to my test scores, I got admission to a pretty good school in Guwahati, Assam. That is where I first came across the three magical letters- “IIT.” I distinctly remember my Organic Chemistry teacher telling us about various IITs. “There are the old IITs, and then there are newer IITs,” he said. Someone asked which ones were better, and he said the older ones were better because they’re “more established.” So, I decided I was going to an older IIT. I did not even know the names of all the older IITs by then.

I joined a CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) school after a few intense years of writing state board exams (TBSE - Tripura Board of Secondary Education, in my case). It was common for students of one education board to look down on students of other education boards. During our first week of JEE prep course, they taught us trigonometry. The CBSE students were supposed to be “just introduced” to the concept, but I studied it in my state curriculum for two years. So, I breezed past the chapter. I thought, “If this is how things stay, I am going to one of the older IITs.” I did not at all anticipate what life had in store for me. Days passed, weeks passed, months passed, and we continued solving sheets, DPP (daily practice problems), and HCV (Concepts of Physics by Prof. HC Verma). Some of us fell behind, while others climbed the class rankings. Those two years were one of my life’s most hectic yet rewarding periods. It made me who I am today.

I did well (I think I actually answered almost all the questions) in some random school assembly quiz. The principal appreciated my skills and thus chose me to speak in public a few times. By the end of schooling, my fear of public speaking had more or less vanished, and I could talk to strangers without mom’s help. I was confident enough to hold a “JEE motivation session” for my fellow boarding students. I had a great time in school in terms of academics, as well as the hostel life. I would look forward to the weekly movie screenings and the canteen day. We would stock up on snacks during canteen day to munch on them while watching a movie during movie night. The whole thing required careful planning and trading of canteen coupons and favors because we were not allowed to keep cash. Deals were made on the hostel corridors and on playgrounds. Reflecting on this period of my life makes me very teary-eyed. What a time that was!

Time passed, and we wrote more exams. More interactions happened, and I learned that girls valued tall boys. To some, a beard seemed to matter a lot too. I would realize the same thing over and over again later on; until there came a time when it did not seem to matter to anyone anymore. Week in and week out, we solved the DPPs, analyzed our exam performance, and had parent-teacher meetings (PTMs). I mostly did well in exams because my biggest fear at the time was having my parents called to the principal’s office for something terrible. They lived in a different state, so that was never an option. I stayed within bounds and went on about my business.

Around that time, I learned about this great institution in the US called the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. I dug deeper and discovered that they require the SAT and recommendation letters. So, it was not going to be just test scores. So, in the middle of JEE preparation, I registered for the test and started filling out my application. I found out that the test accepts the passport as the only valid ID proof. Now, that was something that I did not have yet.

A cousin volunteered to help me get my passport. I eventually got the passport, but it was not an easy process at all. We had to travel to Kolkata (twice, if I recall correctly) to get the passport. Years later, when the Honorable External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar, during his interaction at IIMA, mentioned that they have streamlined the process and that Indians could get a passport quickly now, I thought to myself, “It was not easy for me at all.” Maybe things have changed because what are we doing as a country if we are not making good progress on all fronts?

I took the SAT, submitted my application to MIT (look at the audacity), and got rejected. I was a little disheartened that I did not get in, but I still had many options open, so it did not bother me much. I took the JEE Mains and then the JEE Advanced. Along the way, I also applied to IISc Bangalore using the JEE Mains scores and surprisingly got in. I also got the option of filling in my choices for departments at various IITs. As I mentioned before, I was pretty sure about going to an old IIT, so I filled in my options during the counseling accordingly. Like every other JEE candidate, I filled “CSE, IIT Bombay” as my top choice even though I knew I would not get an admission offer.

Finally, the counseling system froze EE, IIT Kanpur, for me (it was my fifth choice, if I recall correctly). The four other choices were (CSE IITB, CSE IITD, CSE IITM, and CSE IITK, in that order). I filled in just eight or nine choices (I think I filled in CSE IITKGP, EE IITB, EE IITD after that). I do not know what would have happened if I did not get any of the choices, but I don’t think it would have been pleasant. It was unwise; I should have carefully filled in a few more choices. I would repeat the same mistake when filling out the CAT application form four years later when I had just applied to IIMA and IIMB. I don’t seem to learn from my silly mistakes.

By then, I had admission offers from IISc and IITK. I was in a dilemma about where to finally head to. Both programs were some of the best in the country. The fees were comparable (that is to say, almost negligible), and both places were far from home (this was one of the primary criteria). The teachers, the newspapers, and the internet had only lovely things to say about both. I lost my sleep over it. Talking to my cousins did not help. They kept on telling me to “follow my passion.” Finally, I got in touch with a third-year EE senior at IITK, who was kind enough to walk me through the pros and cons of the B.Tech. EE program at IITK. It seemed like a nice place to go to.

My math coaching teacher was very clear on what I should do. According to him, I should go to IITK because the program is quite old and established compared to the one at IISc (which is true), that IISc might be better for post-graduate because that is their focus (which is also perhaps true), and IITK has a broader alum base (which is also true, I think). And frankly, I prepared for engineering, so why pivot to pure-Science? I considered all the options and arguments and decided to go to IITK.

Before I finally headed to IITK for classes, we had a farewell ceremony at the school. It was one of the best days of my life so far. I got many certificates (which came in handy later on, if you know you know), a trophy (that seemed to impress the airline’s lady), and a laptop (that was my first laptop, I spent an entire night playing with it). We said our final goodbyes, which was the end of school life as I knew it. I also jokingly told a classmate from the commerce stream that we would meet at IIMA someday after our undergraduate. I clearly did not mean it at the time. I did not actually think about IIMA for years while at IITK. It’s funny how life happens at times.

So, we packed our bags and headed to Lucknow. We took a cab from there to Kanpur. The journey to Lucknow was an adventure in itself. A political party had called for a state-wide strike in Tripura on our travel day. So there was a looming uncertainty about whether we will be able to make it to the airport on the scheduled day. Unwilling to take risks, we reached Agartala, the capital city, the day before, thinking that even if the worst happens, at least the capital won’t come to a standstill. We should be able to get to the airport even if we walk. Once we made it to our flight, things would be alright. As a 17-year-old, that thought never came to me. Thanks to the foresight of my cousin, who saw through a better part of my struggles. I wonder how many people missed their flights and appointments because of circumstances like that.

That is one of the things about Tripura and the Northeast in general that I dislike the most. Some skirmishes happen, the internet gets shut down, and parties call for strikes, leading the state to a standstill. I know it is crucial to get things under control, and the right to peaceful protest should be allowed. Still, they should not cause discomfort to innocent students like me. Imagine if something went down and the internet was cut off; I won’t be able to attend my online classes. That is the kind of disruption that the country as a whole should strive to avoid.

We headed towards Kanpur from Lucknow after a quiet night there. A few things stood out to us. Sure, we have a lot of poor people back from where I come, but the level of inequity that I saw was a first. We saw people living under the flyover, and a few blocks later, we saw high-rise buildings and fancy shopping malls. Sadly, that sight was not going to be the last one. I would witness the same a few years later in Gujarat, on my way from the airport to the IIMA campus.

I went to IIT Guwahati for my JEE counseling because that is the closest IIT to my hometown. I won’t lie here; IITG has a beautiful sprawling campus overlooking the Brahmaputra. It is nestled between hills, and it’s so beautiful. They also have a vast entrance gate that creates the illusion that every old IIT must have a similar gate. In contrast, after we got to Kalyanpur, we crossed a railway track, entered a small gate, and were told by the guards on duty that it was the IITK gate. I was very disappointed, honestly. It has been like that ever since - disappointment after disappointment. No, no. I am kidding.

I sat on my first flight in 2015 on my way to Guwahati to take admission for Class 11-12. I stayed at home for most of my early years, except for paying an occasional visit to my maternal grandmother. One has to walk about an hour from the nearest market to reach the village. I am told that small cars now take passengers to the village during non-monsoon seasons. Clean running water, a reliable electrical connection, and proper sanitation is still a distant dream for them and the dozens of children growing up there. It is pretty hard to wrap my mind around it at times. I can order food to my doorstep like an emperor; powercuts are unheard of here. In fact, to the best of my recollection, the longest powercut that we had during my four years stay at IITK lasted for about 2 minutes. It is a new world that I did not know existed before I walked the lawns and hallways there.

I loved campus life during my undergraduate. The freedom that you get at IITK is unparalleled. We could go out to cycle at 4 AM, and nobody cared. The Wi-Fi network is so fast you can stream 4K videos without lag. There seemed to be people from about every state (it is worth noting that the Northeast representation is quite bad in old IITs and IIMs). The lecture halls were the size of a large movie theatre, and the library had all the books you might need. Occasionally you also ran into people like HC Verma. If you went through the IITJEE journey, you can’t not know who he is.

With Prof. HC Verma. Circa 2017.

Every professor at IITK, in fact, seemed to be on a novel pursuit, and teaching is just a secondary part of their job. The whole place reeks of smartness. The labs were second to none. Looking back, it was a wholesome experience, even though I was not too fond of it at the time. You can Read “Courses that I took at IIT Kanpur”. The most memorable lab session was when we asked a friend to hammer the table top very hard, telling him that flattening the spot was a required part of the experiment. He had not been paying attention, so he went hammering until the whole lab stared at our table, and we burst out laughing. The faculty at IIMA is top-class as well. Even though we did not have labs, they taught me to be more human, and to think more about the humane aspects of my solutions and not just focus on technical solution to problems. I did not like every course that I took but I genuinely enjoyed a few courses, and will remember the lifelong lessons. Read “Courses that I took at IIM Ahmedabad”.

IITK was a great equalizer in some sense. It did not matter if your parents were wealthy; if you did not solve that derivation, you could not write it on the test. The institute provided access to resources that most universities worldwide could only dream of. The only thing that was required was the will to learn new things. It did not matter how niche a skill was; there was always someone; a senior, a wingie, a club, or a professor to teach you. Of course, factors such as stable financial support mattered a lot, too, but IITK has been more generous to me than I could ever hope for.

Education, I realized, has immense power. It would take my parents multiple trips to various government offices to get a document or other. Bank staff would look at us with suspicious eyes or flat-out deny service. Once people knew that I have a degree from IITK and am pursuing an MBA at IIMA, things seemed to flip on their heads. Suddenly, I was in the office of a senior state bureaucrat, discussing the state’s policies. As for the banks, the manager(s) would personally take care of my issues and resolve them. Opening a bank account and availing of services went from days to minutes. All I needed to do was to sign at the right places, and everything just worked out. They even assigned me someone called a “relationship manager” after I deposited my IIMA internship stipend into my account. He would occasionally call me and inform me about the latest offers. When I politely declined the recommendations, they would ask me to call them back in case I had any queries. It is amazing!

I wrote many essays on “Unity in diversity” while in school. The conclusion was always along the lines of, “Yes, we are a diverse country, speaking various languages, with different food habits, and unique facial features, but therein lies the beauty of India. We are united as one, and that is our strength.” As I am growing up, I am not sure if this is precisely the case. Do we really appreciate diversity in our institutions? If yes, why is there a sense of hatred against people from the reserved categories?

Despite the constant messaging about unity in diversity, appearances matter. More often than not, the guards would ask for my ID when I entered the campus. They would not bother asking for ID from my Hindi-speaking friends unless we entered or exited the campus during odd hours. I am not crying foul play here but am pointing to more extensive changes required for us to be a more robust and “more perfect Union.” I often get asked if I am from Nepal or Bhutan. When I tell them that I am from Tripura, they would ask if that is in India. I almost always tell them that it is near Assam, and they understand. And more often than not, the follow-up question would be, “Do you work somewhere here?” That is the kind of attitude that leads to selective ID checks, in my opinion. If you suspect someone might be a worker and not a student of who belongs to the campus, you will check their ID to make sure they are one of you.

To be clear, I have no issues presenting my ID whenever asked. However, I wish that did not happen selectively. We need to do a better job at changing the mindset of people and their perceptions about people from different parts of the country. There are various ways of doing that, but I shall propose two ways that might help. First, the mainstream media needs to better cover the Northeast’s events, not just Assam. I do not expect everyone to know everything about the Northeast. Still, they should at least be aware. Second, school textbooks also need to include more lessons on the Northeast region. I learned what I know about “mainland” India from books. I don’t see why more kids outside the Northeast cannot be taught about the region when it is an integral part of the country.

Identity issues did not come up while I was in the Northeast. A lot of people, if not all, looked like me. For reference: here is a photo of me.

My (designated) classroom during first-year at IIMA.

While in college, I read stories about people from the Northeast getting mistreated. It made me feel bad. I came to realize the privilege that I have. IITK and IIMA are perhaps the two places where most Indian parents would want their children to be in. I am beyond grateful to have walked the lawns and hallways of these institutions. Every time I think about that, I choke up with emotions. There are no words to express what I feel. So, I did not face many of the issues my people encountered on the mainland. My experiences were at worst, minor (perhaps ignorant) incidents. Through classes and accounts of other people, I came to know about the various issues we need to work out as a society. At times it is scary: because I have grown up in these protective bubbles, where everything worked as expected, I wonder if I am ready for the real world yet. I suppose only time could tell me that.

A classmate replied to one of my stories, “You guys got the benefits of reservation; what else do you want? Some families have used reservations to their advantage for two or three generations. 16-17 year old kids who thought they were equal citizens feel otherwise when they see four separate columns when taking admission in colleges.” Other replies had a similar tone to them. There is a whole “influencer movement” around the subject of reservation. Some of you might disagree with what I say here, which is okay.

The notion of equality that the reply talks about is a flawed one. First, the mere idea of these kids dreaming about equality is a massive thing. Think about the kids who do not have such audacity because they are always made to feel like second-class citizens. You cannot possibly think about uplifting a whole section of a population that had a very late start without affirmative action. Of course, the argument for equality would make sense when everyone in India had the same status and access to opportunities as everyone else, just as we got independence. Sadly, that is not the reality. This is the kind of argument one gets when you take the definition of equality out of context.

I am sorry, but you cannot possibly claim that because somebody’s father availed the so-called “benefits” of reservation, their children should not be given reservation. You cannot treat affirmative action as a one-time coupon. It is not about the economic upliftment of a family but rather about a section of the population having a seat at the decision-making table that has long been denied to us.

Another common but shallow argument is about a particular generation suffering because of the actions of their ancestors. I am sorry, how are you suffering exactly? I don’t think you have a problem with the reservation system; your problem is that you did not get into your preferred college or profession. In fact, I have not seen people fretting about affirmative action outside of college admissions or job offers. Can you get rid of the discrimination before talking about abolishing reservations?

People seem to value my opinion or hate me for them. In most cases, I found that people genuinely care about what I say. One of the things I came to understand as I was growing up is that people’s actions and opinions are based on their own experiences and, in most cases, not out of the wickedness of their hearts. Then there are days where you go, “They are so dumb; how can they think like that?!”

Speaking someone else’s language is the key to their heart. My Hindi improved considerably after speaking it for years at IITK. I don’t think it is close to how a native speaker would say, but I manage to get by pretty well. I did not speak Hindi all that extensively before going to Kanpur. I understood what people said, though. I mostly learned Hindi from watching the hit cartoon show Doraemon.

Before that, I spoke some Hindi during my high school years in Assam and to CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) jawans returning from patrol duty. When we lived in the village, we would watch them walk back to their base camp every evening after the day’s patrol. We would often salute them, and in the rare case that they asked us, “Kya chal Raha hai? Sab theek?” I would reply, “Saheb, kuch nahin chal raha hai. Haan sab thik hai.” That was the most Hindi that I spoke. Growing up, I mostly conversed in my mother tongue (Tripuri and Kaubru) and Bangla. They had scary long guns, and we village boys would ensure we were on our best behavior. To their credit, we never faced any interruptions in our day-to-day lives. Later on, in B-School, I would learn about the circumstances of their deployment and the legal provisions under which they function. You may read about The Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958 (AFSPA). ¹

Classes at IIMA gave me a lot of freedom to discuss various issues facing our country. In a time of intense polarization worldwide, we must come together as a society and talk to each other. I think we can resolve a lot of differences if we just have a reasonable dialogue. One of the most striking differences I found between IITK and IIMA is precisely that. IIMA allowed me to think beyond equations, machines, and lab manuals. It let me be a little bit more human. In that regard, coming to IIMA was one of the best decisions of my life. I am still unsure if I dislike engineering, even after what I said about it in this essay. I have immense respect for engineers. I might go back to get a Ph.D. in one of the engineering disciplines; who knows.

I tried various things while at IITK. I dabbled in research projects, quizzing, writing, and even dance. The first version of this blog was set up while I was at IITK (a night before an end-semester exam for MTH102A, I think). I fell in love with cycling and often wandered mindlessly around the campus with my best friend. Campus life represented an escape to me - away from whatever was happening in real life. Everyone seemed to be doing something all the time. There is a sense of life that I did not come across anywhere else. I would run into people on the hostel corridors and spend hours hatching an idea or talking about life events. There was some event or the other almost every day of the year. If I could, I would do IITK all over again. There was a sense of excitement in the eyes of that 18-year-old. I felt as if I could be anyone that I wanted to be.

In contrast, I found IIMA quite focused and settled. Most students here seemed focussed on crafting the perfect resume for their dream employer. Everything happens for a CV point. Even the hostel life is quiet here. Running into people on the corridor and spending time with them chatting about various things is a rare possibility. That does not mean that people here don’t socialize at all. We do, but it is very different from IITK. Maybe this is all by design, and I would come to appreciate various aspects of the B-School life a few years later. Campus-wide events happen but not with a similar enthusiasm as that during UG. People participate in competitions and events to write their achievements on their resumes. Most people do not bother participating in sports or other competitions if they cannot get a CV point. If IITK was a maze where most people did not know how to get out, IIMA is more like a highway where people seem to know exactly where they want to go and how many lanes they have to change to get there.

I found the IIMA campus much more empathetic. It might be because people here are older on average and have the emotional maturity to deal with other people. Or it might be the curriculum that molds people into sensible people, but whatever the cause, if there is something that I love about the campus, it is its people. In contrast, I found most students at IITK quite indifferent toward the feelings of others. If there are issues, most people resort to ignoring them and carrying on with their lives. I know they are training engineers, but I wish the curriculum offered more courses from the social sciences and humanities so that the students are not disconnected from reality. Both institutions have a pretty similar attitude towards women, though. Remarks such as, “she got that job or that role because she is a girl,” are common. I wonder if that is because most IIMA students are engineers or if that is the general attitude towards women in Indian institutions.

Both IITK and IIMA have world-class libraries. The PK Kelkar Library at IITK is one of my favorite spots on campus (after my room and the CCD outlet). Its collection probably is one of the best scholarly collections in the country. You could find almost every book that you might need for your academics. The collection of non-academic books is minimal, however. They even have a fountain now. That would make for an excellent Instagram photo background. The Vikram Sarabhai Library at IIMA goes a few steps further. It is arguably one of the best libraries in the country. Name a book, and you will probably find it there. If they don’t have the books that you want in their catalog, they are happy to order them for you. I asked them to order At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop, Anna Moschovakis, How the World Really Works: A Scientist’s Guide to Our Past, Present and Future by Vaclav Smil, Both/and: a life in many worlds by Huma Abedin. And they did.

The only aspect of IIMA campus life that I did not like was its management of animals inside the campus. I got a dog bite, and now I fear going for a solo walk. I almost always never carry food with me and prefer ordering everything to my room. I could roam around freely at night at IITK because they somehow figured out how to manage the animals on campus. No, I am not proposing that the institute eliminate all the animals on campus. However, there needs to be a productive conversation around the issue and at least implement some measures. Writing to the internal email list is not enough, apparently.

A scholarship offered by the Government of India helped me buy a laptop of my choice. Their generous stipend supported my monthly expenses. Contrary to LinkedIn wisdom, money actually matters a lot. Poor people are not dumb; they lack cash. The additional support from the government helped me experience my college life fully. I would have hesitated to get that cup of coffee or go out with friends for networking (which is invaluable) if I had not had the financial cushion. I am also forever indebted to my parents, who probably skipped countless meals just so they could save up for me and send me to the best schools. Without the support of my family and the government, I don’t think I’ll be writing this essay today. It’s amazing what a little help during crucial periods of one’s life can do to that person’s life.

My life trajectory would have been very different without people’s help. So, as I write this essay, I feel nothing but gratitude, and a deep sense of “How did I get this lucky? What did I do to deserve so much kindness?”

My IIT-IIM journey went smoothly for the most part. I fell ill several times at IITK, but the institute cared for me well. I found the campus very well managed; everything seemed to work. My time at IIMA passed by smoothly as well. I was hospitalized because of dengue fever, but the soup and coffee they provided at the hospital were excellent. Of course, I would never wish to go back there, but the doctor and the staff were extra friendly after finding out that I came from the opposite end of the country.

Falling ill away from home was probably the worst few days on my IIT-IIM journey. During my second year at IITK, I fell pretty sick and had to spend four days in the ICU. I fell ill once more towards the end of my UG degree, but that was not as bad as the previous one. The first time I fell sick, I worried about the massive medical bill. To my surprise, the doctor or the hospital staff did not ask me for money. Everyone seemed extra nice to me when they came to know I am from Tripura (near Assam) and IIT. The institute footed the entire bill, and the whole process was seamless. My parents and I were equally surprised. I would be astonished about medical bills again in the future - this time at IIMA.

The surprise turned out to be an unpleasant one, unfortunately. Let me explain. I was hospitalized with a dengue fever about two months after coming to IIMA. Since my platelet count was decreasing rapidly, I decided to go to a nearby hospital. As expected, the hospital bill was significant. But unlike at IITK, IIMA’s group health insurance did not pay the entire bill, and I had to pay a substantial portion of the bill out of my pocket. My friend had a long discussion with the insurance provider and other authorities, but that did not help. I learned a lot about health insurance and the institute’s medical insurance policy after the experience. IIMA really needs to step up its medical insurance/healthcare cover game. If IITK can do it, you can do it too. Perhaps, you can even manage it better. If you are at IIMA: talk to SAO and figure out the details of your institute’s medical policy. Find out what is covered and to what extent. If you feel the coverage is insufficient, you should perhaps buy health insurance from another provider. Things such as medical insurance were unheard of where I come from.

I learned a lot about myself during my post-high school years. It has resulted in strains in a few relationships. I stopped talking to a few members of my family because they could not appreciate me for who I was. Standing up for women in the family earned me irk from other family members and relatives. I sometimes wonder if whatever I am doing is worth it. When sleep does not come, I often think about what went wrong. How can those who encouraged me to succeed academically turn on me? My exposure to the outside world has also clashed with the society I come from. When I pointed out that some practices are probably too inhumane to carry on, the villagers would laugh at me or whisper behind my back. When I took a stand for what I thought was right, they said, “How can he do that, being all that educated and all?” More often than not, I find our value systems conflicting, and I can’t seem to find a way out.

I am fortunate to receive so much love and kindness from strangers wherever I go. Except for the few instances I pointed out, people treated me fairly and kindly, stepping up for me whenever I asked for help. I am grateful for that. I tell my friends and family that I believe in the goodness of people’s hearts. I know change will not happen overnight, but I am optimistic about India and its people. I hope people will learn more about the Northeast and eliminate their presumptions and stereotypes. If that happens in my lifetime, I would be a happy man on my deathbed.

What’s next? At least in the immediate future, I am going to continue my academic pursuits. I am heading to the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration (WU) to pursue an M.Sc., in Strategy, Innovation, and Management Control. No, I did not drop out of IIMA. I am joining WU as a double degree student. You can view the curriculum here.

AFSPA was withdrawn from Tripura in 2015. ↩

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Review of Term 4 courses at IIM Ahmedabad

Wed, 31 Aug 2022 00:00:00 GMT

Somewhere in the old campus, IIMA.

This article is modeled after Review of EE courses I studied at IITK and Review of every first-year course at IIM Ahmedabad. The review is very subjective. You should also know that I am working on three final submissions (one each for EPI, BEE, and CIW) as I write this essay.

The difficulty level, out of $5$ , is subjective and based on my impression of the material, the academic associate, and the Professor. $1$ represents a straightforward course, while $5$ represents a very challenging course.

Glossary of words

The meaning of these words would come in handy in understanding the reviews that follow:

Globe: Any concept based on random verbiage that does not merit the time spent on learning and can be derived by the user based on his own life experience and can be presented in a obfuscated manner to appear as intelligent. ¹

DCP: Desperate Class Participation. An attempt by the participant(s) to participate in class discussions on trivial matters and vocalize viewpoints that do not merit any consideration but help them complete their participation quota.

CCP: Challenge Class Participation. Vocalizing viewpoints in class without context, just because friends challenged the speaker. In specific contexts, the friends provide the requisite material for vocalization. This may or may not result in the participant getting barred from the class.

Courses

BEE: Behavioral and Experimental Economics

Overall, a pretty good course. The Professor is quite nice, and the course content is comprehensive. In other words, if you get a chance, you should take the course. The bidding points for the course go very high, though. I am unsure if the course is worth that many bidding points, but the Professor thinks it is not. In his own words, “BEE is hugely overrated.” So make an informed choice.

An important thing that I learned from the course is the importance of joining/forming a good group. I had a frustrating experience in the group project because the group dynamics did not work out. The course also demonstrated several use cases of a random number generator. I wish the instructor used a random group generator as well. It would level the playing field much more.

Difficulty: 4

CIW: Contemporary Indian Workplaces

I signed up for the course at the last minute, but it turned out to be quite okay. I did not like the first few lectures on labor markets, but besides that, I liked the course. The course discusses various aspects of Indian workplaces and workplaces worldwide.

The highlight of the course was a field trip to the Blind People’s Association near the campus, which I did not know existed. I ate Dhokla for the first time and really liked it. Perhaps, the setting contributed to some of the taste: they served it in a pitch-black room as part of a tour. I learned quite a lot during that visit: simple things that we take for granted are so much harder for people who have lost their eyesight, the world is much harder to navigate, and it does not help if ordinary people do not understand their plight.

I also learned about casteism in Silicon Valley. I felt pretty sad after reading about the Cisco case (just Google Cisco casteism) and watching a BBC video on casteism in the UK.

Difficulty: 2

This is the other course I signed up for at the last minute. It did not disappoint me at all. We studied cases about how various companies use social media to their advantage.

We also learned how ineffective social media strategies can sometimes backfire. The highlight of the course was the case about Stoli vodka and how some misdirected person’s call for a boycott on social media can impact the businesses of a firm.

The course instructor happened to have read my review on MGRCMP, where I complained about having to use Excel for everything. Happy to report that I used Python for the group project for this course. It generated beautiful plots, and I am very happy.

Overall, a great course, and I am so happy that I signed up for it, thanks to my friends.

Difficulty: 2

AIDP: Privacy Paradox: Artificial Intelligence and Digital Platforms

I was most excited about the course, and it did not disappoint. The course delivered on all of my expectations. It talked about: AADHAAR for various schemes, police surveillance, etc. It also helped that I got good group mates. We submitted the group assignments as best as possible, and it went well. Boys played well. If you can spare enough bidding points, you should take the course.

The highlight of the course were the guest lectures. We had guest lecturers from Google Research, McKinsey & Co., and MIT Sloan, among others. I thoroughly enjoyed these sessions and would encourage other instructors to do something similar for their courses. Sadly, these lectures also reminded me of where I could have been had I chosen to continue engineering. The cutting-edge research happening at the intersection of AI and various other fields is exciting. Maybe, I’ll get back to academia soon; who knows?

Difficulty: 2

“You really come to life in these kinds of courses,” a batchmate told me about my enthusiasm for the Public Systems Group courses at IIMA. I can’t blame him because such courses really excite me a lot. People talk very little about my state of Tripura and the North-Eastern India region in the national discourse. So, whenever I get a chance to bring NE up in any course, I do. Hence the enthusiasm.

The course instructor started the course by telling us the number of times he got arrested. The highlight of the course for me was the individual in-class presentations. My presentation was on the demand for a Greater Tipraland. I wore my traditional attire for the presentation, mainly because I could not find other occasions to put it on.

If there is one thing I took away from the course, it is that — “The liberties and freedom that we enjoy are the results of the tireless efforts of several people. One can’t take anything for granted. To continue enjoying these liberties, you must defend them with your life.”

Difficulty: 1

EPI: Education Policy in India

I knew I would like the course when I signed up for it. And I did. The course does not have a set structure, but the lectures are informative and full of discussions. There were a couple of guest lectures that I enjoyed (except the ones where there were internet connectivity issues).

Perhaps the most crucial piece of information that I learned in the course is — government teachers get paid much more than private school teachers. I thought it was the other way around.

For some reason, not many people signed up for the course, and I feared it would get dropped/not be offered ², but I am so happy that I signed up for it because it is a fantastic course. Things are pretty intuitive, and you can guess where the problems might be, but the enormity of the “learning problem” would baffle you.

I thought I should join the civil services after attending a few sessions, but the temptation of traveling around the world is much more than anything. We shall see what happens. I will keep you posted.

I am working on the final course project as I write this. The project seems exciting, except for a few roadblocks.

Difficulty: 2

RGG: The Indian State, Democracy and Accountability Institutions: Rethinking Good Governance

I regret dropping BLCA (Business Leadership and Corporate Accountability)³, taught by the same Professor. That should hint at how much I enjoyed the RGG course. The course slides are one of the best-researched slides that I have seen at IIMA and trust me, I have seen quite a lot of PPTs during my time here. Every slide seemed to have a purpose, a story behind it, and all slides weaved beautifully into tragic stories of corruption, mishandling, and misconduct.

We examined various accountability (public) institutions slide after slide. Seeing the class getting divided on multiple issues and presenting polar opposite viewpoints was fun. No topic was off-limits, and I loved it. Discussions about the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, hit home. AFSPA was withdrawn from Tripura only in 2015.

The instructor really meant what he said, and we would have long discussions on various topics. He would defend his points voraciously, though. I liked that aspect of the course. The bid points for both BLCA and RGG are pretty high, but you should take the courses because the instructor is fantastic.

Difficulty: 2

SC: Strategy Capstone

The course had 8 rounds of business simulation and a final exam with 4 rounds. Most variables were pre-defined, but how other groups performed mattered for our relative standings. This is a mandatory course that every PGP2 has to take, so I did not have much choice in terms of signing up for it.

I did not like it all that much. It felt very mechanical and mundane. Round after round, we would make projections, input a few things, and get the results after 11:30 PM on the day the game ends.

I found it quite hard to grasp for the initial few rounds, but the later rounds were more calculated and fun in some sense because we incurred huge losses initially. On the bright side, I made a few new friends during the discussions for the simulation. That’s more or less it.

Difficulty: 4

Key learnings from Term 4

Form a decent group for group projects or you would have a very hard time. This is very very important!
I am not as dumb as I thought I was. Things tend to work out on their own.
Don’t underestimate the workload and overload course credits.

Definition sourced from https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-IIM-lingo-words ↩
There is some rule at IIMA that says a course would not be offered if $<20$ people sign up for it. ↩
In my defense, the classes started at 8:45 in the morning. I do not have that kind of morning energy. Dropping the course allowed me to start my day at 10:20 AM, so I did. Besides, it was not a mandatory academic requirement since I met the credit requirements anyway. ↩

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Review of every first-year course at IIM Ahmedabad

Sat, 30 Jul 2022 00:00:00 GMT

Photo on Unsplash

Disclaimer: I started writing the draft of this essay on 3 Jul, 2022. Today is 30 Jul, 2022. It took me a few days to complete, mostly because I’m lazy.
On the flip side, you know that the content of the essay spans several days and even a wider range of moods while writing these words.
Be mindful of that fact before drawing any conclusions. Have fun. And, if you’re a PGP1, all the best!

Another important disclaimer is that this essay is purely based on my personal experience with the courses. Just be mindful of this disclaimer before drawing any inferences.

So, you have collected your coursemat? Are you beginning your classes tomorrow? Now what? Well, I don’t know! Only you would know what you intend to do next. In this essay, I attempt to review all the courses that were offered to me during the first year of IIM Ahmedabad’s (flagship ¹) MBA program.

This article is modeled after my Review of EE courses I studied at IITK essay. The review is very subjective. I cannot guarantee that my thoughts would help/hurt you. But since you are here, you might read the entire thing.

Glossary of words

The meaning of these words would come in handy in understanding the reviews that follow:

Term 1

HRM-I: Human Resource Management-I

The course is relatively straightforward and introduces a few HR concepts and issues that organizations face when they grow in size. Interestingly, this course’s first case was the first one we got at IIMA ³.

I’m not going to lie; I had big expectations from the case method after watching Professor Tsedal Neeley of HBS. However, nothing that was discussed in the class met my expectations. The expectation and reality were not even close by any measure. It has been like that ever since. So, maybe don’t have too high of an expectation for your first class?

Difficulty: 1

ME: Microeconomics

Professor Tarun Jain was one of the best instructors we got in the first year. Plus, I liked that the slides were made using $\LaTeX$ , which I missed terribly post-engineering. The exams were fun; some questions were challenging but tested what was taught in class. I liked the last class, where the Professor talked about various research directions, and for the first time felt like whatever I was learning could have a real-world impact. Overall, it’s a great course.

I thought I would get a Ph.D. in Economics until I saw the end-term scores.

Difficulty: 3

LAB: Legal Aspects of Business

If I had to use a word to describe the course, it would be “boring.” The instructor is a terrific research scholar who would discuss the latest court rulings in class. However, I did not like the way it was delivered. The end-term paper repeated what was asked in the previous year, making matters worse. If you looked up previous years’ papers, congrats, you did well, or else you’ve been screwed. I’ll leave it to the reader to guess which category I belong to.

Difficulty: 1

FRA: Financial Reporting and Analysis

Oh, how I wish I had completed the HBS course on financial accounting. I should have listened to a senior who suggested I start studying accounting after getting B-School offers. If you have not previously studied accounting, you might struggle a bit. I don’t think the material itself was hard, but the pace at which everything was delivered and the surprise quizzes were definitely very unsettling.

Naively, I thought my tryst with financial accounting would end once the course gets over. It did not, not at all. So, you should learn accounting while you can because it would bother you till Term 3 (and maybe beyond, who knows). Good luck.

Difficulty: 5

ID: Individual Dynamics

If you have good writing skills and are good at recalling mnemonics, you should breeze past the course. The course talks about how different dynamics play out between individuals. Most things would be obvious, but looking at concrete theories behind everyday observations is always nice. Some helpful souls will share various frameworks and theories when the exam comes around. I only had to make mnemonics of those about 15 minutes before exams and explain them well in the test, incorporating the situation presented in the question.

Difficulty: 1

MGRCMP: Managerial Computing

Microsoft Excel and MBA is a match made in heaven. The course is sold to us by saying, “It would come in very handy during your internships,” and showing a few statistics and comments by seniors about the course’s usefulness. I learned a few useful formulae and started to appreciate Excel as a tool by the end of the course.

I still believe in Python supremacy, though. We did complex things such as splitting full names into firstname, middle, and surname. The course taught me ways to complicate simple things - what could be done in one line in Python could be done in $10^{32}$ steps in Excel. Okay, that is an exaggeration, but you get the point.

Difficulty: 4

QM-1a: Quantitative Methods-1a

The course taught the Probability part of “Probability & Statistics.” The Professor was very enthusiastic about teaching us Probability. Overall, a useful course. Plus, the board work was neat.

Difficulty: 1-4, depending on how intuitive Probability is for you!

FM: Financial Markets

This is a very useful course. It talks about various financial instruments and the pros and cons of each. The course started out harmless but a few sessions into the course, I felt like I’d hit a wall. It was painful to Zoom through the course. I got pretty lucky in the end term because they tested us on stuff that I knew from solving previous papers. I mean, half the class probably scored full marks, but yeah, I got lucky.

Difficulty: 5

MGRCMN: Managerial Communication

This is a submit the last assignment from Goa kind of course. Assuming you maintain attendance in the class, speak in the class, and write well, you should have no problems in the course.

Difficulty: 1

MKT-I: Marketing I

In terms of difficulty, this is a very easy course. However, there is a group project component that can screw your grades because grades in globe group projects mostly depend on the mood of the AA (Academic Associate). I decided that Marketing is not something that I would want to do after studying this course, although I revised that opinion after taking MKT-II & MKT-III.

The highlight of the course must be the reel that the section made on the last day of classes. LOL.

Difficulty: 1

OM-I: Operations Management I

I don’t remember much about what happened in the course except that every class got extended by 15-20 minutes. We would request the Professor to consider our plight after every class, but he did not listen at all. The classes were totally globe for an hour, after which the Professor realized that there was material to cover, so then he would rush through the PPT for the remaining $15+15$ minutes.

Difficulty: 5

QM-1b: Quantitative Methods-1b

The course taught the Statistics part of “Probablity & Statistics.” The Professor was very enthusiastic about teaching us using different real-world examples. Overall, a very useful course. Plus, the coursemat was neat. The coursemat had blanks that the Professor filled out in class. That is both neat and cute. It also helped that he discussed dogbite in class.

Difficulty: 3-5, depending on how well you are able to interpret fine prints.

Term 2

CCS: Costing and Control Systems

CCS is a very simple course. There are a bunch of formulae that you need to commit to memory and solve previous years’ questions. The kind of questions that you get tested on is pretty much fixed from year-to-year. The Professor tried to make the course interesting, but I think the material itself was boring, so (almost) nobody got excited about the course.

Difficulty: 2

HRM-II: Human Resources Management II

This is the second of the three HR courses that one is required to take during the first year. The course was probably the most eventful one. The Professor said quite a few things that landed very badly with some students, and so the classes would get extended almost every day. The post-class discussions were very intense! I wonder if anyone learned anything from that experience.

I thought the course was the purest definition of globe.

Difficulty: 1

IGP: Interpersonal Group Processes

IGP was one of the most useful and humorous courses that I took last year. I could totally relate to the Professor’s existential jokes, and I also learned a thing or two about negotiations from the class. The course talks about how different dynamics play out in group settings.

One of the best aspects of the course is the group game component that exposes how selfish (or snake in popular parlance) everyone is. It is unsurprising given that we are in an MBA program. Everyone is looking to double-cross someone else. People would pretend to be your friends and then say mean things about you behind your back as soon as you leave the scene xD.

Difficulty: 2

TBIT: Transforming Business through Information Technology

A pretty basic course. The course talks about various technologies and tools used by businesses to grow. It also introduces a few frameworks that are useful from a grades point of view. Although, if the course AA does not like your answers, you might get screwed a bit.

Difficulty: 1

MEP: Macroeconomics and Policy

I loved the course, even though it can be a little overwhelming in terms of the course content. The Professor explained most things pretty well, although the exams upset me a little. I would look forward to the class and do most pre-reads out of sheer interest in the subject.

Difficulty: 3

MKT-II: Marketing II

Honestly, I don’t remember much about what happened in this course. There are a few cases to read and a few globe points to make. But, it was not difficult in terms of the content.

Difficulty: 1

OM-II: Operations Management II

If there is one thing that I could note about the course, it would be the neat (digital) board work ⁴ that the Professor did. The instructor explained the concepts (there are only a few) very well. In fact, he explained things so well that some people got bored saying some explanations were very basic, but I loved it. I did not at all feel that I could not understand concepts.

Difficulty: 5

PCE: Personal and Corporate Ethics

In practical terms, this is a course that most people would consider “timepass.” The course talks about ethical dilemmas through various cases and scenarios, but the highlight of the course is the final assignment that you need to submit to pass the course. I’m really interested in seeing what most students “cook up” for their final submission. Pretty relaxed course, overall. Nothing much to do. Just attend the required lectures, submit the final assignment, and you are done.

Difficulty: 1

QM-2: Quantitative Methods 2

I had a hard time understanding whatever was taught in this course. And that is coming from someone who claims to have gone through four years of engineering. The video lectures uploaded by the Professor were life savers. In fact, I got to scoring pretty decent grades by the end, thanks to the awesome video explanations. It might be controversial to say this, but I think the course could have been a set of 16-20 short video lectures explaining the core concepts instead of 75-minute lectures. Most students would gain more this way.

Difficulty: 5

This is one of my favorite first-year courses. The course talks about how businesses can impact society and shape or destroy entire cultures. The course also talks a fair bit about how maximizing profits might not be the best course of action. The Professor facilitated one of the most honest conversations around affirmative action in the class. I suspect that I have lost a few friends because of what I said in class, but I don’t mind that at all. I loved the course, and the course loved me back ⁵. LOL.

Difficulty: 1

WIP: Workshop on Interviews and Presentations

Another one of those “timepass” courses. I don’t remember learning much from the course. Just show up to class and do whatever is asked of you. It’s a pass/fail course.

Difficulty: 1

WAC-I: Written Analysis and Communication I

This is one of those “globe” courses that you would encounter at IIMA. I think I’m being very kind when I call it “globe.” Nothing against the instructor(s), but the way the course is taught would make you question your life choices. The grading is very random, and the feedback on your assignments is even more random. The essence of the feedback is, “Well, we read your assignment and did not like it, so here is a C. Oh, how to improve, you ask? We don’t know how you can improve. Maybe the vibes don’t match. You should try putting the IIMA logo on the cover next time. Oh, baccha you want a template? Sorry, we don’t do that in WAC-I.”

Difficulty: “Hey, Google! Generate a random number between 1 and 5.”

Term 3

BES: Business, Environment and Sustainability

If you read the previous section, then you would already know that I’ll have a favorable review of this course. The course content is pretty evident from the course title. I loved the course. The Professor made the class engaging, and it helped that the last few sessions of the course were held entirely in person. I usually have a lot of views about these topics, and I’m glad that the class gave me an outlet to express my feelings.

The highlight of the course has to be the ad for KitKat. TW: It has graphic content; if you don’t like seeing blood skip the video.

Difficulty: 2

BRM: Business Research Methods

The course is a 2-credit course disguised as a 0.5-credit course. There is a fair bit of work involved in conducting primary research and writing the final report. The highlight of the course for me was staying up all night in the library, re-formatting a 100-page long document so that it looked like a magazine at the end. It was worth it, I think.

Difficulty: 4

CF: Corporate Finance

I don’t remember much from the course, except feeling very dumb after every lecture. I did fairly well in the end term, though. I followed the instructions quite well and solved the questions. Whoever prepared the notes was a savior. Thanks, stranger.

Difficulty: 5

GSP: Government Systems and Policy Process

If you read my reviews about SCEB and BES, then you already know that I loved this course. The Professor let me speak about my ideas freely, and we discussed a broad range of issues about why government works and why it does not function as expected at times. We also discussed various government schemes and projects and their merits and demerits. Overall, it was a useful course about various things I’m interested in: government, public policy, and society.

Difficulty: 1

IEB: Internet-Enabled Businesses

The course talks about a score of businesses that have come about because of the internet. The material is pretty straightforward but how well you do in the course depends on the course Academic Associate. In my case, they did not like the answers I wrote, and unfortunately, my grades tanked. Otherwise, it is a useful course to understand businesses from a different lens. The instructor is pretty cool too, and the board work is quite neat as well.

Difficulty: 2

MKT-III: Marketing III

I don’t think I’m a marketing person. ⁶ I would never be able to recall the various frameworks and how to force fit them. I’m not saying I’ve given up on marketing, not yet. Anyway, the highlight of the course was the 4.5 hours long end-term exam. I wrapped it up pretty quickly and got on with my life. I got a decent grade too, so it was fine. The material is not hard to grasp; it’s pretty straightforward.

Difficulty: 1

ODY: Organizational Dynamics

I don’t remember anything about this course. But I’m guessing it’s not difficult. Just read the course title.

Difficulty: 1

SM: Strategic Management

This was one of the best-taught courses in the first year. At least the first half of the course was taught quite well. I almost got in trouble for making a reference to Wonder Woman in one of the lectures. In my defense, the instructor misunderstood my point. To her credit, she heard me out and said it was okay. There are a few frameworks to learn and apply to various cases in the exam. I loved the overall flow of the course. It was useful and had me think instead of filling up words in the answer sheet.

Difficulty: 2

WAC-II: Written Analysis and Communication-II

This is a downgraded version of WAC-I. The grading here was very random as well, but the feedback was quite useful in contrast to WAC-I. I would not go so far as saying the course was useful. Though, the course gave me a reality check - that whether I or II, WAC is still WAC, and you can get whacked in all kinds of ways.

Difficulty: “Generate a random number between 1 and 5.”

SOM: Service Operations Management

The instructor who taught us OM-II took the course, and as usual, I liked it. I’ll admit that I was really surprised by the surprise quiz and did terribly. The end-term performance was more predictable, and if I recall correctly, I did okay in that. However, like OM-II, the highlight of the course for me was the neat board work that the Professor did. There was a lecture on shortest paths towards the end, and the way it was taught reminded me of my engineering days.

Difficulty: 5

SHRM: Strategic Human Resource Management

I did not like the course at all. I did not like the way it was taught. I did not like the course content. The only reason I picked this over TCM was that TCM had a role play component in it. I thought I’ll hit the individual assignments of SHRM out of the park. I was very wrong. It was so over before it even started. Sitting through the fifteen 75 minutes lectures was perhaps the most painful few hours that I experienced in life. Four ICU days in 2018 seemed more pleasant than sitting through the course. If not anything else, I learned a great deal about being patient from the course.

This is a personal opinion, but please pick TCM over SHRM if given a choice. I should state that many people liked SHRM and the way it was taught, so maybe it’s me and not the course, but I hope I’ve made my feelings plenty clear.

Difficulty: 5

Some generic advice

If you don’t have space constraints or a cap on the number of words, try to fill as many pages as possible in exams. There are exceptions to this heuristic, of course. Don’t do that for “numbers exams.” But, as a rule of thumb, writing more usually translates to better scores.
You should have a look at How to Globe.
You’ll lose some and win some. Try to focus on your strengths and maximize grades in the courses that interest you. Obviously, don’t ignore the courses that don’t interest you.
CP points can boost your performance greatly. I did not “participate” much during Term 1. I started speaking a little from Term 2, and by Term 3, I would take part in most classes that interested me. You can already guess the term-wise contributions to my overall CGPA.
I found that the Professors here are very approachable (compared to my UG), and so have fun while also learning a few frameworks. Maybe, B-School Professors are just more human!

Read “Review of Term 4 courses at IIM Ahmedabad”.

I don’t know why people say “flagship.” I’ve heard people saying it multiple times in videos, as well as seen it on LinkedIn posts. So, I’m using it as well. Now, I sound very cool, don’t I? ↩
Definition sourced from https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-IIM-lingo-words ↩
I’m not counting the mock case study introduced during the orientation. ↩
Smiles in Zoom ↩
Yeah, I got a 4.33 in the course. One of the proudest moments. Don’t ask me how! ↩
This is so funny because my first job post-MBA was in marketing. ↩

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Review of EE courses I studied at IITK

Wed, 11 May 2022 00:00:00 GMT

I’m a Bachelor of Technology in Electrical Engineering. Yes, officially. I got my degree certificate along with the final gradesheet in December of last year. It’s been a year since I have officially met the “B.Tech. in EE” degree requirements.

This article is an attempt to summarize my thoughts on the Electrical Engineering courses that I studied. The review is very subjective and would apply only to me. So, please don’t assume anything.

I’m reviewing courses taught by faculty affiliated with the Department of Electrical Engineering or are listed under the EE department. The Electrical Engineering curriculum consists of many other courses in addition to the ones listed here. If you’re interested, you can have a look at the course template here. If you wish to know what courses I took at IITK, you can check this out.

Spoiler alert: I hated Electrical Engineering courses, so the reviews will probably be negative for most courses. The reviews are very subjective, and you should not rely on them while choosing courses. (To be fair, most of them will be just thrown at you. You’ll have no choice.)

The difficulty level, out of $5$ , is subjective and based on my impression of the material and the professor. $1$ represents a straightforward course, while $5$ represents a very challenging course.

Courses

EE200A - Signals, Systems & Networks

This is the first true EE course that you’ll encounter on campus. The instructor is one of the best instructors on campus. Like the name suggests, the course deals with signals and their representations, how these signals might be transmitted by a system, their Fourier representations, and how networks can be useful in the real world. There is some graph theory as well.

Notes are not provided, and that is painful. You have to write notes in class. To add to that misery, the assignments are lengthy, and usually something different gets asked in the tests. Past papers are a great way to practice, but solutions are hard to find, so you don’t even know if what you solved is right or wrong!

Difficulty: 4

ESC201A - Introduction to Electronics

As the name suggests, this course intends to introduce you to electronics. There is a lab component as well. The labs are messy but fun. Even when you wire your circuits properly, the chance of it working as intended the first time is almost nil. The theory part of the course is pretty elementary, although the portion is huge, so a lot to study.

The instructor during our semester was excellent. He provided solutions, notes, and everything. The tests were usually easy, except the end-semester exam! Grading was fine.

Difficulty: 2

ESO203A - Introduction to Electrical Engineering

This is probably one of the worst courses that I had to take on campus. I did not learn a single thing from the course. There was a lab component which was fine, but the theory part of the course was horrible. I don’t know how anything can be that bad. The slides were ancient-looking, the instruction terrible.

I knew I did not like my degree curriculum even before this course, but this course reinforced that EE isn’t something that I would ever want to pursue again.

Difficulty: 5

EE210A - Microelectronics I

Another terribly taught course. Thankfully, old slides of the same course taught by another outstanding professor came to the rescue. I don’t know how I managed to pass this class. The highest total during my semester was about 55 out of 100. The end-semester exam questions seemed like they were out of the blue. Unsurprisingly, most ended up with terrible scores.

I would argue that this was one of the most demanding courses I ever studied. Maybe that’s because of the terrible instruction or my lack of understanding of the material, or both.

Difficulty: 5

EE250A - Control Systems Analysis

This was by far the best EE course that was offered to me. The instructor was really fantastic and managed to teach core concepts without hurrying. In fact, he watered down the concepts so much that many would find it boring. Solving previous years’ papers was immensely helpful. I actually felt like I learned something from this course.

Difficulty: 1

EE301A - Digital Signal Processing

Commonly known as DSP. Supposedly an easy course. But, the instructor taught horribly during the semester I took it. I don’t recall much of what was introduced in the class other than about Fourier transforms. The course content isn’t complex, but as you know, it is hard to learn something you’re not interested in.

The evaluation was okay. Nothing fancy, and solving the assignments and studying class notes were sufficient. Also, the course had to be cut short because of the pandemic.

Difficulty: 1

EE311A - Microelectronics II

I don’t know why I took this course. That was probably the worst decision of my academic life at IIT Kanpur. I did not understand a single thing that was taught. There is just so much physics and notation that gets thrown around. On top of that, I was also going through some personal issues at the time and did not really study for it.

The instructor is impressive, though. He tried his best to teach the material well. Although, the exams were challenging. I dropped the course right after the midterm, without any regrets at all. However, the pandemic started, and the course could not be completed.

Difficulty: 5

EE320A - Principles of Communication

By far the worst course I had to take. Yeah, worse than ESO203A. In that course, at least the instructor was audible. I understand that the professor is an excellent researcher, but some people are just bad teachers. The only good thing about the course was that notes were provided. That’s all.

The tutor of my section was even worse. He would murmur something to himself, scribble something on the board, and that’s it. I don’t know how I passed the course or what I learned, but I’m so glad that I passed it on the first attempt. I’d have had a nightmare if I was made to take the course a second time.

Difficulty: 3

EE330A - Power Systems

The aim of this course is to introduce how our grids and various electrical appliances work. I found it super boring. However, the instructor was good and provided well-typeset notes. That made learning the material more accessible.

The grading was lenient as far as I could tell. However, like all EE courses, I did not bother about anything other than passing the courses. At the time, it all seemed overwhelming, but ultimately things turned out well.

Difficulty: 2

EE340A - Electromagnetic Theory

This course is one of the best-taught courses on campus. The professor during my term was absolutely fantastic. The course does have a learning curve to it because many new concepts are covered. However, with regular attendance in classes (an impossible proposition) and attempting the assignments, one could score pretty decently in tests.

The grading wasn’t as lenient as expected, and the end-term exam’s marking scheme was kind of weird.

Difficulty: 4

EE370A - Digital Electronics

This was one of the more interesting courses. The professor was great at teaching. Although, he did not provide notes and that made things harder. The tests were quite hard, so I tanked.

I wish the professor had provided written notes. No matter how good you are in the classroom, one can only recall so many things later on. There wasn’t enough support either, but that’s not surprising at IIT Kanpur.

Difficulty: 3

EE380A - Electrical Engineering Lab I

This is a compulsory lab course that everyone has to take. Broadly, it’s divided into three parts - microelectronics, control systems, and power electronics. Yeah, all three labs are in this course. The labs are fun, even though I did not understand or learn a single thing from them. I had a hard time in the class, frankly.

But I got very lucky. The experiment that I was asked to perform during the end-term was the only one that I knew well, so I rocked the endsem. You can guess - my grade was excellent. However, had I gotten some other experiment, I would have had a hard time.

Difficulty: 3

EE381A - Electrical Engineering Lab II

Like the name suggests, this lab is supposed to be the advanced version of the previous one. The pandemic hit just as we were at the midpoint of the course, so everyone just got passing grades. I think the last lab was more interesting than this one, but again I learned nothing.

Maybe it’s me, but I have a feeling that not many people learn from these labs. As long as you write beautiful lab reports, you should be good. That makes me wanna ask, “Are these labs worth keeping in the curriculum?” But, it is what it is.

Difficulty: 3

EE390A - Electrical Engineering Communication Skills

Why does this course even exist? Mostly timepass, to be honest. It’s a pass/fail course. The passing criteria were ridiculous - something like you need to pass 10/13 assignments or so. I gave 11 assignments and skipped the other classes. The class hours used to be the worst two hours of my week.

Difficulty: 1

EE604A - Image Processing

The syllabus is pretty outdated because it does not involve fancy Deep Learning concepts and others. Just like in EE200A, the instructor did not provide notes. However, the assignments were fun to solve. The tests, as expected, were nothing like the assignments.

I would say that the course covers a lot of breath, so it is complex in that sense. However, the exam is open-book to much relief.

Difficulty: 5

EE698V - Machine Learning for Signal Processing

This is probably the best EE course that I took during my degree. The course is pretty elementary, and the instructor was okay as well. The course curriculum shot for the stars but missed very severely. In the end, things were very much hurried and watered down. However, the class slides were good, and because the field is exploding, notes on various concepts were effortless to find.

If you took a Machine Learning course before, the course should be a piece of cake. In terms of the depth, the course does not really go into the various algorithms in depth. Instead, it introduces you to the algorithms and how they might be used in the context of Signal Processing.

Difficulty: 1

Summary

I did not like the EE courses, at all. I know, that sounds absurd because I majored in EE. But, I had no idea what I was signing up for at the age of 18. I hope I find something that I like soon. Let me know what other EE courses you took and how you liked them.

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I’m Going to IIM Ahmedabad

Wed, 28 Jul 2021 00:00:00 GMT

A few weeks ago, I wrote an essay saying I’m Going to IIM Bangalore. I also wrote a LinkedIn post announcing my excitement about going to Bangalore. So, what changed? Quite a few things, actually. This article is an attempt to summarize the thought process behind the switch. I’ll also try to include some fun experiences that I had along the way.

Like I said in a previous post, I applied to IIMA and IIMB only during CAT 2020. I’m happy to inform you that I got accepted into both ¹ by some stroke of good fortune. Over the last few weeks, I have talked to quite a few people about choosing IIMB over IIMA and vice-versa. This includes people who have left IIMA and decided to enroll at IIMB this year and seniors who studied at IIMA. Everyone had a few points for preferring one over the other. Of course, it is up to me to choose what works best for me at the end of the day. I’ll list a few points for both the institutes ².

For IIMB.

The climate is mild and pleasant overall.
The academics is not as academically rigorous as IIMA.
A decent work-life balance (per above).
IIM Bangalore has a better city life than IIM Ahmedabad.

For IIMA.

Has more number of collaborations for double-degree program.
The PGP program is academically rigorous, but so was the B.Tech. in EE.
The alumni network is more extensive than IIMB’s.
Policies regarding placements, fee refunds, etc., are more liberal.

I could probably list a few more points for and against both the institutes. But, in terms of opportunities, there are virtually no differences between the two. Both are some of the best institutes in the country and even the world. Weirdly, that makes choosing one over the other even harder.

So, why did I decide to leave IIMB for IIMA? If you have read the previous post, you would know how I think or at least have some sense of it. I had virtually no preference for one over the other; that’s why I applied to them both. But, a few different factors affected my decision:

Double degree. If I end up not going abroad for an MS in CS, I would love to do a double-degree with an IIMA partner institution. Update. I’m actually going on a dual-degree exchange to WU Vienna!
Taylor Swift. The interview of IIMA was much more fun than that of IIMB’s.

Read: My IIM Ahmedabad Interview Experience.

I was initially waitlisted at IIMA, hence this late post. ↩
These are very subjective and by no means should be the significant factors in choosing colleges if you are in a similar position. ↩

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My IIM Ahmedabad Interview Experience

Tue, 06 Jul 2021 00:00:00 GMT

Author’s note: I’ve been procrastinating a lot lately. I started writing the draft of this essay on July 6th, 2021. Ideally, it should have taken me only a few hours to write it, but many things got in the way, and I had to keep postponing. Anyway, it seems guilt finally triumphed over my laziness. So, enjoy the essay.

I turned 22 today. Getting into IIMA is probably one of the achievements that I’ll cherish for the rest of my life. So, I thought I’ll put my interview experience into words. Besides, I’m bored and have a few hundred pages to read for tomorrow’s classes. But, whatever. We’ll see what happens.

Just to be clear, I don’t want this to sound like one of those highly motivational Quora posts. Please let me know if the article sounds like one of those by the end. I’ll be happy to delete this entry. Reading this article will not help you get into IIMA or do well in other interviews. However, I believe that it might help some aspirants understand what happens on the day. Besides, it makes for good content.

Disclaimer. The views presented here are my own and in no way reflects the views/values of the organizations and institutions that I’ve been/am a part of. I tried my best to recollect what happened on the interview day. A few things are exaggerated for dramatic effect.

The day before the interview. After back and forth emailing, spamming student reps’ DMs, and much anxiety and precautions, I managed to get the requisite permission to leave IITK to attend the interview. At the back of my mind, I had this thought constantly, “What if I test positive for COVID-19 and am not allowed to leave the campus?” The interview was scheduled the next day at a massive mall in Gurugram.

I travelled to New Delhi in the evening and reached my friends’ place at around 23:00. By the time I had dinner, it was close to 02:00, and I was supposed to report for the interview early next morning. I felt I was not prepared enough and pondered staying up the whole night and sleep only after the interview. A friend advised me to sleep instead. I’m so happy I listened to him because the interview process lasted much longer than I had expected.

Day of interview. I woke up to a pretty intense vibration on my wrist. I’ve set alarms on multiple devices, but the watch was the most effective. My friends were still deep asleep by the time I left for the interview centre in Gurugram. I was nervous about being late for the interview, which was quite frankly the first proper interview of my life. Fortunately, I made it to the interview very well ahead of time.

Once the standard documentations were done, we started with the AWT process. We had to write a one-page essay on a topic. The topic seemed easy to me, so I finished writing within a short time. Others were still writing, and I thought if I should have thought better. It was either that, or my writing speed is faster relative to the others. I guess I’d never know.

Fast forward to the interview room: I was the last person to be interviewed that morning. My impression was that the organizers and the professors must be bored by then. Contrary to this assumption of mine, the professors were interested in what I had to say. I’ll narrate the rest of the interview in Q&A format.

Professor A. Okay, tell us something about yourself.

I answered something along these lines, “My name is Debashish Reang. I am from a small-town called Ambassa in Tripura. I study Electrical Engineering at IIT Kanpur, and am interested in reading, writing, and riding bicycles. I love chocolates…and oh! I also love Taylor Swift.”

Professor A. Interesting. Tell me something about Taylor Swift, about the recent controversy.

I told the Professor about the Taylor-Kanye controversy. To my surprise, she knew about a more recent controversy and wanted me to say to them about it. So, I narrated about this, and how eventually her endorsement did not matter, but that was her first foray into popular politics.

Professor A. What’s your favourite Taylor Swift song, and why?

My favourite Taylor Swift song is 22. It seems being 22 is a great position to be in. It is neither too old nor very inexperienced. You know about certain things, but you’re pretty unsure of the others. And so, it is balanced in a sense. And frankly, the music is excellent! (I’m 22 too.)

Professor B. Tell us something about what you are studying, your undergrad degree.

Takes a deep breath. “Okay, so this might sound pretty weird to you but I did not like my undergrad degree. Hopefully, I’ll love MBA courses. But, I enjoyed studying Bioinformatics & Computational Biology, and Linguistics.”

Professor B. That’s okay. It’s perfectly normal to dislike a UG major. Nothing weird about it. Tell me what did you like in Bioinformatics?

I explained how with increasing compute power, we can now process and analyze more data than ever before and are on the verge of solving some of Biology’s biggest challenges. I also mentioned about AlphaFold, and Angelina Jolie.

Professor B. Asked me more about AlphaFold and how protein folding is a significant problem to solve.

I answered along the lines of how proteins regulate almost everything in our body, so accurately predicting how a protein will fold could help us diagnose diseases earlier and so on. It is important to note that they are not experts in Biology. Still, they could have Googled “Protein folding,” so you should be able to roughly explain the concepts in simple terms.

Professor B. Asked about DNA and junk DNA.

I wasn’t sure about what junk DNA is, but I correctly guessed that it must be that strand of DNA that does not code for any amino acid, and in turn, do not account for any protein. (More or less)

Professor B seemed impressed about my knowledge of basic Bioinformatics and Biology in general.

Professor A. What in Linguistics do you find interesting?

I explained how languages have the power to affect society and shape cultures.

Professor A. Give an example where the way language is used affects the end message.

I guess I told them about how the way a campaign is promoted can shape its end results. For example, end up cancelling someone instead of engaging with them fruitfully. It might be detrimental and so on. How you get your message across is important. I think I was inspired by this.

Prof. A seemed happy with my explanations. I was pleased by this point.

Switching gears.
So tell us where you would like to retire - Goa or Manali.

I told them I am from a hilly state and would always prefer Manali over Goa. In addition, I love cold weather, so if access to resources is the same in both places, I’ll pick Manali. In the end, I added, “Moreover, if places starts getting submerged because of Climate Change, Goa would go down sooner than Manali.”

Frankly, I don’t know what the point of the question was, but they smiled after I said the last line, so I guess it was okay anyway.

Do you have any questions for us?

I was too excited because I got to talk to Taylor Swift with them. I ended up asking them if they’re on campus, how they are doing, and how the lockdown is treating them. We had a solid conversation about that.

Take a toffee. (They left the call) I picked up a handful and stuffed it in my coat pocket. Then the maintenance people came in, and it got bizarre. Anyway, I stuffed a few more toffees.

Verdict: I’m at IIM Ahmedabad. See you around!

A few key takeaways:

“Fake it till you make it.” That is what the usual mantra is. However, I tried my best to stick to the truth in the interview, and I’d argue it worked out okay for me.
If you don’t know something, just tell the panel that you don’t know about it. Sure, you can take a guess but try to make a sensible guess. Getting close to the correct answer is as good as a perfect answer.
Enjoy the interview and try to bring in some humour in it. This is strictly a personal opinion. Some people prefer to be serious all the time, and that is okay too. It’s just that I don’t vibe with very serious people.

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I’m Going to IIM Bangalore

Fri, 21 May 2021 00:00:00 GMT

UPDATE

Actually, I’m Going to IIM Ahmedabad.

I’m spending the next two years at IIM Bangalore. Yes, I never thought I’ll do an MBA, but here we are. It is still technically unsafe to travel to campus considering the COVID-19 situation in the country. I’ll probably spend the next few months at home but when it is possible and safe to travel to IIMB, I’m taking the first flight. This essay is an attempt to let you in on the thought process behind a few decisions that I made which eventually led to the decision to attend IIMB.

Background. I studied Electrical Engineering at IIT Kanpur, and hated every bit of the academic curriculum with some exceptions. Therefore, I needed a way to get out of that terrible position and do something else. You might ask, “Well then why not take up a job and be done with it?” I’ve thought about this option, but frankly I’m an academia sort of person and I wanted to study a few more years before going into the corporate grind. There were many options - an MS, an MBA, M.Tech., and so on. To be honest, I had considered all the three options simultaneously and even worked towards them.

Master of Science. I had applied to the University of Auckland for a masters in Computer Science. I got accepted into the program, but I have not yet arranged for the finances. I had applied to a scholarship, and even interviewed for it but the results have not been declared yet ¹. This is still my preferred path, and if I get the scholarship before IIMB start date, I think I’m going to withdraw from the PGP program.

MBA. I applied to IIMA and IIMB while registering for CAT 2020. This post on LinkedIn sheds some light on why I did what I did. In summary, I should have applied to as many IIMs as I could, interviewed for them and then decide where to go. But, I did the complete opposite. If for some reason I did not get into either IIMA or IIMB, I would have had a hard time. So, please don’t do what I did.

Placements. I skipped final placements at IITK. My reasoning at the time was, “Since I’m going for further studies come next summer, what’s the point of prepping for placements, and then leaving the job?” That seemed like a perfect line of reasoning at the time. There are quite a few flaws in that line of reasoning, though:

The obvious one is that if I did not get into the MBA or the MS program, I would have had nothing to look forward to once I graduate from IITK.
The preparation for placements, and interviews would have been a valuable lesson for me. To add to that, I would have had something to say during the IIMB interview when they asked me if I had a job offer. Having a backup plan is not a bad thing.
Knowing that in the worst case, I’ll have a well paying job would have saved me from a lot of stress and anxiety that came later on. I’m absolutely sure that the number of sleepless nights would have reduced a lot.

M.Tech. I really think the M.Tech. in AI program at IISc is a good one. But, for personal reasons I could not prepare for and write GATE 2021, so this option had to be ruled out.

So, yeah. As things stands, I’m more or less spending the next two years at IIMB. Although, if the finances work out I’m going to NZ.

Anyway, I guess all is well, that ends well. I am looking forward to a few things during my MBA:

Graduate with as little debt as possible.
Get a well paying job that aligns with my interests at the end of two years.
Do a double degree in Europe (Assuming I do well enough academically, and COVID-19 restrictions are lifted).
Do better academically.
Meet a lot of new people. I mean a lot!
And so on.

Thanks for reading. If there’s one thing you should take away from this essay, it is that you should not do what I did and apply to two IIMs only. Have a backup plan in case things don’t work out. That way you’ll have a much relaxed time. Take care!

What happened to academia? I don’t know. Honestly, I do not have the financial luxury to pursue whatever I wish right now. So, if things work out well, and I still have to will to do a PhD after spending some years in a corporate job post my MBA, I’ll probably go back to academia. But, that’s still a long time into the future.

2026 update: I got selected for a fully-funded scholarship. 1 of 15 people or so. But, life’s circumstances changed and I chose to attend IIMA instead. Zero regrets to this day. ↩

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“What are you doing after graduation?”

Mon, 30 Nov 2020 00:00:00 GMT

UPDATE

9 Feb 2025: It seems like many things can be done in this lifetime. I can see possibilities now. Hopefully it’ll all work out.

When talking to friends and acquaintances these days, I often get asked, “What are your plans after graduation?” This post is an attempt to address that.

I did not sit for placements, nor for the third-year internships. ¹ Why? No reason, in particular, I just did not feel like doing them. Instead, I worked with a professor on campus. While the work did not result in a publication or a significant recognition, I learned about how research is done and if I’d like it in the future. Consequently, if you’re a junior tempted to ask about the whole placement and internship deal, I’m not the right person.

So, what’s the plan? I don’t know. I just wish people stopped asking me that. I don’t know of many people who graduated from college without a plan or a job in hand. Of course, there would be a few, but I do not know them.

That said, I do have a few long term goals. In fact, there are way too many wishes. I don’t think one lifetime would be enough to do them all. I might do an MBA, work for a few years, pay bills, and bring some stability in life. Then go for an MSc in CS ², and eventually a Ph.D. Then write the UPSC CSE exam, be an IAS or IFS, and work for the country and its people.

I also want to start a not-for-profit like the incredible Khan Academy and provide access to quality education to more folks ³. I’m sick of rising education costs and education being inaccessible to millions of people.

I want to do them all, but I got only one lifetime. So, I’m sure I’ll eventually narrow down my focus on a few things. I’m 21, and I believe I’ve got many years ahead of me to make concrete choices. I don’t think spending half a decade on an MBA and a corporate job before going ahead to get Ph.D. matters much in the grand scheme of things, assuming I live too a hundred years, of course.

Yeah, so in conclusion, I don’t have solid plans for what to do after graduation. “We’ll see.” That’s what I keep telling myself and others. I don’t know how it’ll turn out. I’ll update this post sometime in the future if I remember. I wish the best for everyone sitting for placements and congrats to those already placed!

I technically sat for internships, if you count it that way. I registered for the internship drive, applied to a few companies, but withdrew after a week. ↩
As of 19 July 2024, I don’t see myself pursuing an MS in CS. I have an MSc in Strategy, Innovation, and Management Control. I still might get a PhD in some field but an MS in CS seems far fetched now. ↩
I make silly YouTube lessons now and then. You can check them out here. ↩

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Semester Update

Tue, 29 Sep 2020 00:00:00 GMT

UPDATE

9 Feb 2025: Things turned out alright afterall.

Hi, there! I hope you are doing well. So, it’s official. I filled out the form for CAT 2020, hoping to try my hand at admission to IIM A or B. Yeah, right; I filled only those two options. I looked at other institutes, and none of the other cities appealed to me. God save me.

Siri tells me that there are 61 days until November 29, 2020. That’s the D-Day, the day of CAT 2020. I’ve been preparing for it for the last few weeks, and while I’m confident about it, there are hundreds of thousands of others competing for the few hundred seats ¹. So, we’ll see what happens.

I don’t know what an MBA is like and what it has in store for me, but I wish to explore it and see it for myself. Honestly, I’m not very sure about what it is that I want from life. I hope I get a sense of what I genuinely wish to do by the time I’m 30 or so so that I can spend the next 20-30 years working on it.

Thanks for reading! Take care. Stay well. And be awesome.

2.3 lakh candidates registered for CAT 2020 ↩

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Honest Feedback Form

Mon, 10 Feb 2020 00:00:00 GMT

Are you well too familiar with the feedback forms that you get to fill at the end of the semester? I filled one of those towards the end of the semester for a course some time ago. A few days ago the class received an email from the Professor concerned. This post will hopefully exponentially reduce the amount of regret I felt after seeing the message from him. I am sure you can relate to it as well.

You can have a look at the feedback here.

As soon as I read the email, I felt that I should have done a better job at filling the feedback form despite my mood that day. I am sure you can tell I wasn’t in the best of moods by looking at the form. I hope by the end of this article, I will have convinced you to fill out the form honestly (I was honest, though; may be not so rational). In particular, here is how the feedback system at IITK works:

Instructors and tutors who get high scores in the feedback forms are appreciated for teaching well. The director also gives them a letter of commendation.
In recent years, awards have been instituted during teachers’ day which are based on the feedback (started last year).
If any instructor gets lower ratings or strong adverse comments, the head and sometimes the director also calls him/her up. Especially for new faculty members who are trying to get settled in the system, these feedbacks can have a ‘make or break’ effect. I just hope I did not break anybody’s feedback cycle.
The department Head in many cases goes over the feedback of different instructors, especially of young faculty members to see if they are teaching well. Only after that does the dept. Head hand over the feedback to the faculty concerned.
Most importantly. For many instructors, the feedback is a valuable source to know how the course went and how they can improve it in the future.

In summary. If given a chance please fill in the feedback form or any sort of review form honestly. If you are not in the right mood like I was, please just politely refuse to fill it, you might save someone.

I’m sorry for not doing my part.

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Debashish Reang

Lines from some of my favorite books that shaped my thinking

Educated by Tara Westover

Bitter Wormwood by Easterine Kire

Born A Crime by Trevor Noah

I read what I read

I have an MA in Political Science now

First year courses

MPS1 - Political Theory

MPS2 - International Relations: Theory and Problems

MPS3 - India: Democracy and Development

MPS4 - Comparative Politics: Issues and Trends

Second year courses

MPSE1 - India and the World

MED8 - Globalization and Environment

MPSE7 - Social Movements and Politics in India

MPSE8 - State Politics in India

MED2 - Sustainable Development: Issues and Challenges

MPSE3 - Western Political Thought

MPSE4 - Social and Political Thought in Modern India

MGPE13 - Civil Society, Political Regimes and Conflict

Demystifying the IIMA-WU Double Degree Program

Footnotes

Review of every cafe I’ve been to in Kolkata, so far

Introduction

Methodology

Cafes

Potboiler, Salt Lake

Craft Coffee Experience Centre, Ballygunge

Craft Coffee Experience Centre, Salt Lake

Sienna

Artsy - Coffee & Culture

Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters, Southern Avenue

Blue Tokai Coffee Roasters, Salt Lake

Bunosilo Estate Coffee Roasters, Ballygunge

Flurry’s, Park Street

Roastery Coffee House, Kolkata

8th8^{th}8th Day Cafe & Bakery, Salt Lake

Cafe Coffee Day, Behala

Indian Coffee House

Starbucks, Park Street

Starbucks, Newtown

8th8^{th}8th Day Cafe & Bakery, Jatin Bagchi Road

Summary

Footnotes

Jaipur

The IIMA Convocation (Reang’s Version)

Footnotes

What my double-degree taught me about the world, my identity, and myself

Footnotes

My IIM Bangalore Interview

Some reflections

SOP

Footnotes

College advice for people who are exactly like me

Plan ahead

Take care of your health

Ignore bullshit

Academics matter

Screwing up is okay

Graduate early

Interact more with people

Get better at making critical decisions

Footnotes

IIM Interview advice for people exactly like me

Hang in there

Tips on doing well in the PI

Luck matters

Learn to ignore BS

FAQs

Review of 4th semester courses at WU

Courses

Personal Skills - I: Company Building

Managing the Cybersecurity Function

Master’s Thesis

Thesis Defence

Review of every cafe I’ve been to in Vienna, so far

Introduction

Methodology

Cafes

$8^{th}$ Day Cafe & Bakery, Salt Lake

$8^{th}$ Day Cafe & Bakery, Jatin Bagchi Road