  Changing Times Scene 1 Neighbour: “Hey wake up Man, time to go to class! !” Rohit: “ Abey OSI, abhi to utha diya dobara matt uthaiyo ” Neighbour: “Abey, don’t you have a class?” Rohit: “We are in 2nd year man. Chillax!! I would suggest you also sleep (Alone, I mean)” Neighbour: “ Haan isiliye to class mein ja raha hoon . I can’t sleep in the room yaar.” Rohit: “You seem to have developed a bad habit of sleeping in a group. Anyway, you attend your class; I have better things to do.” Cut to Scene 2 GM1: “ Hey bugger, Aaj ke din uthega ke nahin ?” Rohit: (rubbing his eyes) “What’s the time man?” GM2: “It’s already 10:35 am” Rohit: “Ohh shit..Why did you wake me up so early?” GM1: “Early? Which world are you in man!! We have already had a quiz in SFM today and you got a zuk in that. So it is not early for you to wake up and smell the coffee.” GM2: “ Abey Prof. ne evening class ke liye case assignment bhee diya hai ” Rohit: “Is it so? Prof. quality is going down yaar. Apnee in-house faculty hee achhee thee .” GM1: “Get up now man.
We need to make a prez as well. Hardly have 5-6 hours left. Fin ke cases to waise hee samajh mein nahin aate.” Rohit: “ Theek hai aata hoon. Tum chalo .” After an hour or so – Scene 3 GM1 shouts: “ Abey fir se so gaya kya? Aaja topper ke room mein Case karna hai .” Rohit: “I still haven’t read the case man” GM1: “Whyyyy?” Rohit: “I just realized that I have lost my SFM spiral” *GM1, GM2: Two of my group members Still wondering why the title says what it says?
Well do not, as you will soon find out this is an article written by a body that is PGP2 but soul that is still PGP1 and this soul is trying to understand why the body is behaving the way it is. I am tempted to write this literary piece because of the transformation I’ve seen in myself from being a somewhat regular “participant” in PGP1 to not even remotely regular “participant” in PGP2.
Though I’m still a participant my allegiances have shifted more to sundry activities and academics seem nowhere in sight. Attending all the sessions, going through readings, participating / initiating group meetings and studying before the exams were the activities that took most of my time in PGP1. Contrast this with - skipping classes (now that we have the 75% attendance rule we are encouraged all the more to skip classes), leaving the readings alone (it increases their resale value), group meetings are as rare as Haley’s sightings, and studying after the exams to find out how good you are at guesswork and peeping.
From the look of it, it would appear to be quite a daunting task to undergo such a transformation but believe me it couldn’t have been easier. It is similar to flow of fluid from high pressure zone to low pressure zone. It is not tough but natural.
Not to mention I am writing this sitting in the class (of course the class is going on at this moment) and my conscience doesn’t pinch me at all. After a grueling year called PGP1, having maraoed in all kinds of stinking courses having built a decent CGPA (which is necessary for placements, as the seniors gyaaned ), it is time for payback. Along the line you realize that it is the most ironical thing to take courses of your own choice and then sleep through them. Initially, I thought I was the only proponent of the Payback Theory, but lately I realized that almost the entire batch of theorists had flourished here. This was evident during the recent SFM class when Prof. asked who all have analyzed (not just read) the case there were only as many hands that were raised as there were all-rounders in the Indian team.
Prof. was more than pleased to seize the opportunity to get the class vacated which he actually did by asking who had not analyzed the case to leave. This triggered a thought-process in me - Earlier we were expected to just read the case, now they expect us to analyze it as well. That’s what I call raising the bar, which I would have appreciated in most cases, but here when I see my bar dropping like the Mercury does in Delhi winters, all I can request is “Bar the raise, for this music I can’t face.
Cut to the chase - it is too fast to keep pace” Everyone would agree strategic planning is one thing and strategic management another. Though I had all the plans they wouldn’t have been successful if I hadn’t received help from expected quarters - the group members. I have been lucky enough to have a group that allows me to indulge in my new found interests. I must say it was a good strategy on my part to choose members who didn’t share the same views as I do or even if they did not to the same extent as I did. Well, many would say this is what free riders do and it may be true. All I would say in the end is that I am finally getting to taste the forbidden fruit called “free-ride” and till now I haven’t been left with a bad taste in the mouth. Others may choose to differ. 
