7:15 AM:
I am starting my day with a quick glance at the newspaper, while trying to link the latest CRR hike to the theories that our economic professor taught us. We had a long debate in the middle of case discussion last night. Anyway, this day we start a new course of financial markets. The weekend had been mostly taken up by the book reading and review we had to do as a part of the strategy course. We were glad we had put together a rather neat critique that reflects our elicitations well. My wife is getting ready to go to work as I step out for breakfast at the PGPX dining hall.

8:37 AM:
Quickly done with the breakfast, I am at the class looking at the work done on the first case discussion of the day. Corporate finance case discussions are more subjective than I had imagined. Before the Professor walks in, I quickly go over the case analysis our group mostly agreed upon. A couple of guys behind me are discussing the new movie they snuck out to watch last night. (I learn a tip that Sunday night shows here are less crowded than Saturday night; should try that next time.) The Corporate Finance lecture has several confusing moments followed by few slow-nod-of-the-head insightful moments. But you never get it fully right on your own do you?

1:10 PM:
The last class of the day is over now. I enjoyed the marketing management class thoroughly. Can’t believe that one airline company made the newspapers carry their story for free like that with their PR! Anyway, it’s lunch time now. As I think back on the Delhi sweets (the wife of one of our classmates had a baby over the weekend and hence the celebration) from the second class break, I am more hungry. My study syndicate is already huddling as I join them. I can hear assertions being made over how we should plan the case discussions later in the night. We finally make a plan of action and proceed to lunch.

4:35 PM:

An hour-long nap and a few minutes of news on TV later, I am ready to look at how I should plan the evening. Three case discussions, one report and one presentation are due. A quick look at the required reading tells me that I have just over a hundred pages of reading to do before I meet my group at 9:30 PM. Sounds manageable; couple of them are soft reads! Time to pack for the gym, got to start work in under an hour! On the way back, I meet the football gang that looks like had run a hundred miles in the afternoon.

 

9:35 PM:
The work does not start for another 13 minutes. One of the guys had gone out to dinner with a friend who was visiting him from outside town. He was showing the pictures of the dinner on his iPhone.  Another was late because his Special Interest Group was visiting the chair of Entrepreneurship Center in the campus. Interspersed by discussion of how the weekend group dinner should be planned (along with families), we crunch the numbers on the operations case till they start making sense and we can draw conclusions that on their own intuitively make sense. There are a couple of surprising results that launch a tirade of opinions. A couple of hours later this, one of the ‘family guys’ in our group steps out to check on one of his twins who has developed a mild throat illness. Turns out the little one will be fine.

12:06 AM:...
The ‘thanda’ we ordered from one of the campus stalls is late. ‘Too many orders’ says the man Friday when he opens the bottles of Mazaa and Cola! Ten minutes later we resume, not satisfied the way the report is coming along. In the middle of this, suddenly one guy shoots up! ‘What the...My HR individual report is due tomorrow 8 AM and I have not finished it!’ This reminds me that I have to start working on the Press Release for the media event we have planned with a few students from our batch. Thankfully we are able to wrap the report in the next thirty minutes and disperse.

2:05 AM:
After checking my emails, catching up with friends over social websites, as I am about to retire, I remember that our report and presentation had to be mailed out before the class started. I ping my group mate on Messenger to check if he had already done that. He responds 3 minutes later saying he indeed had and realises he has forgotten to CC the group. I remember the media event, the afternoon Guest lecture, and the late evening class meeting with the Director of the Institute. “Hmm... tomorrow will be a long day”, I think. Then I correct myself “Tomorrow?”