Students Corner
Student’s corner is an exclusive section of Lsquare that brings to you the literary creations, pen-craft, and creative content contributed by students.
A Trade of Colours
A Key day it was
When He began the sale
To colour the world,
The Heaven and hell
Down came the Overrated sun to buy
Red and yellow and a mixture
Of both to make it whole
As a reward of his Sunshine-pride
He offered him some black holes.
Then bowed before Him the Quiet oceanic waters
Accompanied by playful rivers tripping
PHe said “Oh! Mavourneen”
And fulfilled her Dreams
With shades of blue and green.
P”Oh my child” He cried,
As He saw earth panting
The earth bowed adown
Pleased deep down, He gifted
His dear child with Spectacular shades of brown.
He then had the Instinct of wind approaching,
Embracing Him to content
With its selfless assent.
And then came the creatures
Crowding all the room
To begin the Magic- a stock clearing sale
Of violet, indigo, blue, green
And yellow, orange and red
And all the possible blends
With some dark ones, tints and some pale.
He then called the skies
To give some black and white; blue and azure
To clear the left over
And to groom His child He rendered
Perfect portions of gold and silver.
Happy faces to Circle all around
A merry feeling to surround
Ending the trade, in His
Armchair he lay composed
And the gates of Paradise read
Shop ‘Closed’.
– Dodia Vinit Anil Kumar
PGP 2021-23
Fitting In: Is it worth it?
“Human tragedies:
We all want to be extraordinary
and we all just want to fit in.
Unfortunately, extraordinary people rarely fit in.”
― Sebastyne Young
How many of you have looked at well-formed groups in your schools or colleges and thought to yourself, “I wish I could be one of them”. Though people’s mature brains indicate that all these groups, friends, and conforming to social norms are childish and totally not worth it. But, doesn’t the child in them still want to be a part of that famous school group, which was unnecessarily adored by teachers?
Studying in one of the most prominent B schools in India, a thing that has made its home in my mind is that people feel left out. Even though they don’t like the company they are in, they still want to be surrounded by people.
So let’s talk about society and fitting in.
“Plants are more courageous than almost all human beings: an orange tree would rather die than produce
lemons, whereas instead of dying the average person would rather be someone they are not.”
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana
We, as humans, are as different as our fingerprints and as similar as the thoughts that go inside our
heads. Being the social animals we are, we look for similarities and try to find people who can understand
us, empathize with us and just be there for us. To find those, we often end up changing ourselves.
Sometimes, we do get some friends who are exactly what we need or even more. But, many a times,
people don’t meet our expectations and a whirlwind of feelings ensues.
There are also times when we feel like we want to be a part of something great. A good friend circle, that
secret poker match group, a gym bro gang and what not, but can’t gather enough courage to approach
these close knit fraternities. The thought that most probably runs in our minds is, “What if I don’t fit in?”
“What if they don’t accept me?” “What if they accept me but don’t like me enough?”
To answer these questions, allow me to take you through a beautiful anecdote I read about, when I was
struggling with these questions.
“Roman men wore togas for formal occasions. The togas were white in color. To stand out, the officials
wore white togas with a 2-3 inch wide purple border. The color of position and royalty, at that time, purple
was considered to be extraordinary. Epictetus, a slave and later a philosopher in ancient Rome, lived a
simple life. He believed in self-knowledge, logic and reason.
It is his words that resonated so strongly with me that I wrote this piece. He said:
“For he who has once brought himself to deliberate about such matters, and to calculate the value of
external things, comes very near to those who have forgotten their own character.
For why do you ask me the question, whether death is preferable or life? I say “life.”
“Pain or pleasure?” I say “pleasure.”
But if I do not take a part in the tragic acting, I shall have my head struck off. Go then and take a part, but I will not.
“Why?”
Because you consider yourself to be only one thread of those which are in the tunic. Well then it was
fitting for you to take care how you should be like the rest of men, just as the thread has no design to be
anything superior to the other threads. But I wish to be purple, that small part which is bright, and makes
all the rest appear graceful and beautiful. Why then do you tell me to make myself like the many? and if I
do, how shall I still be purple?”
(He was asked by the emperor to attend one of his grand meetings. Epictetus should’ve worn a white
toga, but he chose to wear the purple one because how else would he stand out. It was a matter of
principle that drove him to choose the risk of death instead of fitting in.)
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest
accomplishment.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
This story is a great example that makes us realize the importance of individuality. Although fitting in
seems like the good and logical thing to do, it might alter our thought process and principles. Fitting in
provides us with a circle of comfort, which might be happy when we’re happy and may support you when
you fail. But at the same time, if we are an extraordinary individual, changing ourselves, just to be
accepted in society as a part of a construct, is not justifiable.
So, instead of being a part of a group, be the one who stands out, the one who stands strong on their
principle and says what they feel is right, the purple thread in a white toga.
Be it a group, a table at lunch, a meeting or a cult, if you go in with your principles and individuality,
people will like you. And you might even better the group, who knows?
So, don’t try to fit in, be yourself and see how the world changes around you. Do remember always:
“Why are you trying so hard to fit in when you were born to stand out?”
― Ian Wallace
– Vani Dayal Sharma
PGP 2021-23
Life at IIMB
As a new term begins at IIM Bangalore the stone walls bring back all the old memories for some and mark a new beginning for some others. The past three weeks at the campus have been filled with love, laughter, and joy. The second-year students, having, completed their summer internships are back to campus a little wiser than the last time they entered these stone walls one year back and the new batch of IIMB PGP 2022-2024 has commenced with a complete offline experience exactly the way it’s meant to be.
The term for PGP1s started with the inauguration week where they were put into a rigorous pre-planned routine to give them a taste of what is to come in the near future. With academic programs scheduled in the morning and group activities and event deadlines at night, it was a busy week for the fresh MBA aspirants as they started their journey at IIMB.
An orientation program is an essential event for the PGP1 where they are introduced to the rules and regulations of the college and get an opportunity to interact with college alums. One such event was hosted by the student alumni committee Alumcom. Eminent alumni like Shivram Vernekar, Prasanta Sil, Subir Roy, Prasanna Kasinathan, Gaurav Pradhan, Prejith Narayan, Manasi Prasad, Himanshu Singh, Pritam Saha and Shashank Kothi graced the occasion and shared their experiences with the new batch.
Arambh the first event that the batch of PGP1 hosted for the batch of PGP2 was held on 26th June 2022. The event was a beautiful amalgamation of dance, music, theatre play and much more. Starting with the inaugural address and lamp ceremony at 5:30 what continued was a beautiful evening with dance, music, theatre play and much more—an amalgamation of cultures and traditions. The event happened for the first time in two years in an offline format and was complemented by a scrumptious dinner.
For the PGP2 Batch on campus, it’s a new beginning and a fresh page of their fully offline MBA experience where they can rewrite their journey with a lot more wisdom and clarity. As the campus opens for outstation visitors we see proud families and friends taking a campus tour of the beautiful campus at IIMB, truly a home away from home!
– Kaustubh Shenai
PGP 2021-23
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