After traveling to around 40 countries and sailing for more than 56 months, I came to SIBM Pune to pursue my MBA, and the journey thus far has been nothing less than my sailing experience. The roller coaster first semester has been like a rough, angry ocean across which I’ve had to navigate. It’s had its days of calm seas but those days were far and few. Assignments became akin to consignment. Deadlines brought back memories of ports with strict orders of discharging more than one lakh tons of crude oil in less than 24 hours. Committee events, sports competitions, event launches were like donning several hats to ensure that the ship was seaworthy with a force of 20 men. Seeing the city from the hilltop reminded me of seeing populated islands from the sea and wishing to go there and explore the culture and people. But it has been equally good too, in fact, better. The diversity at SIBM Pune is like sailing the world for six months and meeting all sorts of people across the globe. My batchmates are from all across India and from various other countries. The exposure this place has given me, the learnings that have gotten instilled, the tough times I’ve gone through, and the mental toughness I had to build to cope up with all these challenges is something the ships I’ve sailed on couldn’t give.

It’s been a little less than five months into the course but I already that know I’ve made friends for life. Competing in good spirit, helping and empathizing with others, peer learning, and respecting everyone is the mantra here. There is a lot more to come as I have embarked upon this ship called SIBM Pune and the voyage has only just begun

– Garvit Bhandari, MBA 1

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