FPM 2005

An almost five year short journey culminated with the convocation today. The time may seem long but it was like those hours of exam, which pass the fastest. In the May of 2005, 28 of us entered the famed heritage campus of IIMA for the Fellowship Programme in Management - the doctoral program of IIMA. We started with a month-long preparatory program, followed by two years of course work, a qualifier exam, a proposal seminar, a thesis seminar, a defense exam, a dissertation submission, and finally, the convocation.


However, today, not all of us were there on the stage to receive the title - some dropped within first term, some more during the first year. Two left after completing the first year and three completed their thesis just in time to convocate last year. But we were and we remain the most special batch - not only because I was there :D but also for many other reasons.

Till date, we remain the largest batch of FPMs and the only batch to have at least one candidate in each of the ten areas of specialization. And yes, at least one from each area has completed (or soon will complete) their thesis. We had the best gender ratio as well - 6 ladies in 28 total. We were the first batch to attend lectures in the new campus of IIMA and the only one to attend our first year in both, old and new campus classrooms. Ours was the first batch to gain visibility for the program - not merely because of the large number but more so because of the sheer talent.

The strong profiles, high class and frequent CPs (class participation), and in-class as well as outside performance was really a never before (and perhaps not yet) show. The FPM 2005 batch had IITians, scientists, toppers, and even, gazetted officers. The victory of Talent-Nite (an inter-section competition) was attributed to an FPM and that was the trendsetter for the coming batches. For the first time, an FPM was chosen a dorm-representative by common vote and for the first time (and the last, so far), an FPM won a POTY (Person Of The Year) award too. Today, as I close the last day of my student life, I really want to get nostalgic - to sift through all those learnings and unlearnings, highs and lows, nights and days, joys and frustrations...

As my job would be in Ahmedabad only, I will stay on campus till May 31, 2010. Exactly five years ago, we had our first preparatory lecture on this day and five years later, I will have to move. We all will move eventually... but deep down inside, all of us will always remain FPM 2005 (the Greatest Batch ever).