A dome,a cannon and a Management Institute: A day at Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies

Nothing can stop you from taking a pause at the dome of Symbiosis Institute of Management (SIMS), look up and say a few words in its praise. The colored stripes intercepted with translucent ones create a semi luminescent environment below which is as close to serene as it gets. No wonder it is prohibited to talk underneath. Well, you can dare.

Cannons, used as early as in the Kargil war greet you when you step inside the gates of SIMS and introduce you quite early to its defense connection. The discipline of the students and their behavior make that connection even stronger. The institute is almost totally run by the students, with each and every department run by student committees comprising of senior and junior students. What strikes you is not the novelty of the concept, but the efficiency with which it is executed. Students run some committees and are members of the others. In short, they have quite a lot on their plates and they seem to enjoy it.

Perhaps the one thing that remains with every student at SIMS is their Induction Program. It is a fifteen day ritual that every new joinee undergoes at SIMS. The day starts at 5:30 am (yes! 5:30 am) with brisk physical exercise; the exercise is only deemed effective if the junior boys can wake up their seniors with their war cries (after the jog, the junior boys assemble under the senior boys hostel). After that the itinerary of the day includes seminars and (whacky?) assignments in areas important for students aspiring to be managers. Most of the students get so addicted to the induction schedule that they adopt it even after the induction is over. According to them, the discipline of that schedule makes them grow to become better managers.

The SIMS campus, compact as it is, is a very technology friendly campus. Even the attendance is taken online and is send to the admin department within first five minutes of class (So yes, the institute is not a place for proxy attendance lovers). This is also a step towards the campus to become an eco friendly one by using as less paper as possible. The students are also working towards putting up an online assignment submission system which will save paper used for assignments. An online system called synapse is already in place in the placement committee which has replaced almost all the paper work needed during the placement process. I am more than average concerned for the environment and I find these efforts commendable. It sure is a lesson to each one of us to contribute in our capacities towards the well being of the earth. Makes you an ethical MBA too; better than an oath right?

There is a lot going on at SIMS at a particular time and the students are constantly simulated in an actual corporate environment before they get their degree. Sharon Chandy, a first year student at SIMS quotes The Guardian while summing it all up. He says Water is where you have been called to serve, and water is where you will be tested.

The analogy is crystal water.

I don’t think I need to say more.