If you want students of Delhi University's Faculty of Management Studies to skulk away from a discussion, start making 'campus' comparisons, B-school to B-school. By way of institutional premises, they have all of one red brick building to themselves, distinguished mostly by the canteen to its right and a well-kept lawn (devoid, though, of any instructions to keep on or off the grass).
"But you got it all wrong!" thunders Bikram Bindra, a second-year student, "The entire university area is our campus." So there.
FMS students are no pushovers in matters of intellectual aggression. And come to think of it, Bindra may not be too off the mark either, given how frequently these students stray from 'campus' bounds.
Slipping off to Delhi College of Economics' canteen is especially popular. "And we can take non-credit courses at several colleges on the campus," adds Bindra, giving a studious edge to such intellectual philandering.
The faculty tends to look at the campus issue in problem-solution terms. "Our students get the same jobs as those in other B-schools with a bigger campus. I don't think we have a problem there," says Dr K Mamkoottam, who has been with FMS since 1984 and teaches HR management, industry relations and technological change. "Yes, we'd like to have an integrated campus and all that," he adds, in reassurance, "and we are moving in that direction."
And if problem busting is what FMS grads are so well known for in the corporate world, there's a good reason for it. "It's our students," smiles Mamkoottam, "they are the brightest you can find."
The students, of course, need not even be asked to voice their opinion on that. But they too have a specific reason to opt for FMS over other B-schools. Most of them offer a 'diploma' in management, while FMS awards you a 'degree'. This carries weight in academia (if not always corporate India), and brings with it all the advantages of being part of the university system.
The 'univ' tag works with faculty too. "Being in a university structure has made me unfit for any other B-school," jokes A S Narag, who has been teaching at FMS since 1969. "And where else do teachers get as much freedom, flexibility and dignity as here?"
Agrees Vijay Kapoor, an FMS grad who has taught at the University of South Carolina, but prefers his alma mater. "I could not refuse the offer," he says. "Money is not the only important thing."
The academic orientation is evident in the student-teacher ratio as well. At 1:3, FMS compares very favourably with most other B-schools (the typical ratio is 1:6). "That's also the male-female ratio here, the best compared to any other management school," laughs Rohit Mantry, a second year finance student.
And if all that is still not enough of a draw, FMS is located in North Delhi -- a minimal experience of which is considered a must for anyone trying to grasp a wide slice of life in India. It's here that reading the world's best ever selling novel ("Some of us are still reading The Da Vinci Code," discloses Lijo Isac, secretary, media relations) is not incongruous with swaying to the latest cinema chartbusters. If the market pulse moves things, it matters.
"Some songs catch on, some don't," offers Rajpreet Singh philosophically.
"You need to constantly keep abreast of what is happening in the real world," says Narag, referring to the need for heightened interaction with professionals from a wide spectrum of professions.
The management development programmes and part-time courses are at least partly designed to foster such interaction. And it's important. The academic curriculum is all very good, but there's no alternative to exposure.
