Dean or Teen?

If it’s a question of power,

It’s just to help you raise the bar;

Out of sorts, it’ll surely make you feel,

For success requires the kindlin’ of a zeal!

This seems like an ‘Infinity War’, doesn’t it? Be it our 80% attendance mandate or the ‘begging for entry’ at the threshold of the classroom door, there was, is and will always be a tussle between the two parties and their respective qualms.

Let’s explore the ‘NMIMS Hacks’ to combat this tug of war, or rather, as we call it, The Endgame. Here are a few weapons we’ll need in our arsenal to help us gird our loins while putting our hand in the mouth of the tiger:

Dar-de D’Souza

It goes without saying that one needs some guts to be able to pick an argument with a teacher, run a confessions’ page, record a teacher dancing in an online class and most of all, to sit on a table in a college classroom. All these feats require some amount of tact which I would like to call ‘Dar-de D’Souza’. More often than not, the college personnel might just hurl bouncers at you for which you’re less prepared than your End-term examinations. At such instances, if you feel like acting brave enough to question authorities, you’ll need a plan of attack. Just a disclaimer, your degree, and more so, your attendance is at stake here!

Bhavesh Bhakti

A little upheaval with Mr. Barot, from time to time, is not uncommon at NMIMS. For Mr. Bhavesh, it’s more like all his mental agony is put to rest at the feet of the female high command. To be able to make our way to the Dean at her ‘earliest possible convenience’, let’s put on a façade of Bhakti towards the key to her gates and our qualms. Thus, it’s always good to lay your cards well with the duo to stand tall in such a brawl.

Poignant Politic

To be able to even open our mouths in front of the much respected honchos of the university, we all need to muster our courage, and furthermore, tinker up our suave. Without a mellow tone, irrespective of the situation, we will land up losing the plot. So, whether we are before them with a begging bowl for permission to give the End-Term exams (in spite of having 79.98% attendance) or for any other undoing on our end, a poised expression is the key. Always ‘agree’ before you refute any point they bring up! You might stand some ground in the argument, which will ‘inevitably’ slip away.

Ghadigaonkar Grit

Negotiating with Nikita Ma’am can always be a task, especially when confronted with her puppy-dog face depicting her helplessness in the matter. While we may get ‘cheap thrills’ disturbing the Admin Department staff during their much adored lunch-time, we do face the major adversity of the scantily available rooms for club meetings. Such pet peeved uprisings in the system need a tweaking of protocol with persistence, something I refer to as, ‘Ghadigaonkar Grit’.

If you’re ever chanced upon with a phone on your being during an exam, there’s a 95% chance you’ll be escorted to Nikita Ma’am who will relay you to the ever so occupied Dean. At this juncture, muster up all your ‘honest’ excuses with Plans A & B until the authorities say, “we’ll see”!

Captaining Lead-ugh-ship

Let’s introspect! Are the college personnel the only versions of Thanos we have to deal with? Have you forgotten your darling Admin Group Members? More often than not, you might come across them yourself facing trust issues with them too! All said and done, kudos to that one guy who displays ‘Captaining Lead-ugh-hip’ to get all the Nebulas working. This Captain Cool faces the grime from all and sundry, but projects are not projects without his Starky ideas, are they!? Assuming the forefront, at some point, we all have to take up this role in our respective groups at some point or the other. At this curb in the road, we expect our co-workers, better known as ‘followers’ to execute as we preach. So always be the flagbearer of your team - more for the wrong reasons than the right. Your rigorous projects need someone with some hands-on experience to hold the reigns. Of course, it needs to sink in that the Captain is Worthy!

Legion-dary Back-ups

It is not uncommon that some member or the other is a ‘late lateef’ or his/her work is pretty much ‘unworthy’ of a submission. It is either that they know head nor tail of the project and/or the subject or are merely amidst clouds of smoke. But someone needs to hold the reigns are helm projects and assignment together, right? That’s where Starky Legion-dary back-ups will have your back. So do save all your past project files, PPT templates. Why? Cos ‘dhaapna toh banta hai, left-right karke hi sahi’! Your language skills will also serve as a major asset to modify merely two words in a sentence to avoid the plague of a mark deduction due to a plagiarism check. But always remember the key – make every member work before you realise that their contribution is so insignificant that it warrants your expert Plan Bs.

Sakht Launda Skills

Last but not the least, as Zakir Khan would have it, every guy, and even every girl, would have to put up a ‘sakht’ broil against the various daggers thrown at us by our college. These daggers come in various forms other than mere glares from teachers if we doze off during their lectures. In an age where ‘depression is no longer a fashion’, we have to brave ourselves up against numerous assignments which have possibly doubled post the outbreak of the pandemic. Speaking of ‘braving’, we ought to battle cold windy mornings and hustle out of our beds to make it in time, not for a 7:30 a.m. lecture, but for a 7:35 a.m. door latch.

However, the ebb and flow of the tide at NMIMS is incomplete with a view of merely one side of the coin. Teachers also get tossed by the ‘Deemed To Be’ tempestuous seas, and more often than not, are sandwiched between the Dean & the Teen! Let’s taste their waters too. So let’s chime into a teacher’s qualms with a rhyme…

‘One shoe can’t fit every size’

Is something always lamented;

But that’s where a secret lies,

In a teacher’s grit, strongly cemented!

While they doled out tests at the drop of a hat,

The trying test of time stared them in the face;

Starting with blaring bawls of many a brat

To their pay scales, now, losing their pace!

These times haven’t been as kind as they seem,

Making them adapt, these trials to surmount;

Talking to a screen longing to see faces gleam,

As for our ‘technical issues’, they’ve just lost count!

So whenever we give your ‘pandemic’ excuse,

We gotta realise that they’re not our enemies;

Nonetheless, it’s for our success that they curate their recipes.

More often than not, teachers face hot waters where it comes to the high expectations of the higher authorities. They also face the unceasing demands of students crying for marks, attendance or even notes. Moreover, isn’t it unfair that students’ feedback is taken by the authorities but that of teachers is never sought? If your answer is yes, do be compassionate to everyone in this institution. All our working only towards our betterment.

So, with Nebula ‘dipping’ in for the Avengers of NMIMS, who will have the final snap – Dean or Teen??

*NMIMS Anthem fading in the background*