Pizzas, coke, audience prizes, star speakers etc-the perks of being an IIM Ahmedabad student

The caste system of Indian Bschools is starkly evident during pre placement talks, company organized events and competitions. While at Tier I schools like IIM Ahmedabad/Bangalore/Calcutta/XLRI, people come to campus and offer free food(company pre placement talks), giveaways(TAS, HUL LIME), cash prizes and exclusive campus level competitions(M&M, Pepsi, TAS etc) and competitions, that is not seen at other Bschools where students often attend interviews off campus, must plead for getting companies down, and are often excluded from certain events. Now, before comments lambast me for the 'elitism', let me clarify that I don't consider myself(or even most of my classmates) as a vastly superior breed. Rather, we all benefit from the brand that has been built over the ages, and that is why we have it somewhat easy. Every speaker is invariably awed by the honour of coming down, and most even pay their own way to speak on campus(let alone an appearance fee). And the profile of many of our guest speakers trumps that of many convocation key speakers at other Bschool convocations.

It does feel good to be chased by those companies/other speakers(albeit for their selfish interests), but at times it does lead to fatigue or indifference. For example, today, one of India's largest conglomerates is bringing its branding experts for a talk with the students. Most other students would jump at this but because of the forced group allocations by our Placement Committee, it is seen as an imposition. And surprisingly, not many students are really interested.  in this. And during the speaker sessions on campus, the attendance leaves much to be sought for. So when the pendulum is too much tilted towards students who do not perceive the value of those sesssions.