A fortnight ago, I and my friends went on a three-day trip to Bangalore. The Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore was organising an entrepreneurship summit over the weekend. It was one of those rare occasions when even the most hodophobic person amongst us was excited about the trip. Though I must mention that I and my friends took this trip to savour two different career paths. My friends were excited to visit their dream institute whereas I was keen about interacting with various entrepreneurs there.

We reached the Bus Station at dawn and the moment we stepped into the city, we were greeted by the drizzling rain which is one of the most delightful elements of the city’s adorable weather. As soon as the cab dropped us at the arching gate of the IIMB campus, a slew of iconic scenes from ‘3 idiots’ flew in! What followed was a spectacular campus, capturing our awe. In the afternoon, we went to visit the beautiful Bannerghatta National Park. While in the evening, I had a chance to visit a corporate world with colossal structures and posh interiors, thanks to my wonderful sister. Our cousin joined for the dinner and I had a really good conversation with him spanning corporate, career and coding. Although, by midnight, as usual, life was at the centre stage of chitchat.

I spent the next two days at the campus attending the summit. On the first day of the event, I was aghast to see the sorry state of management at the institute of management. We stood in huge lines cluttering up the corridors. Very few people got the chance to attend the talks. Nonetheless, it was in these corridors that I got the opportunity to interact with people from various fields, different age groups, and diverse backgrounds. Each person I interacted with had a unique and out of ordinary tale to tell. Most of them were either running a start-up or wanted to start one. One group, I found a little amusing were that of students from other management schools. All of them had an extraordinary zeal for exchanging their usual set of introductory words and business cards.

As soon as we entered the auditorium, we felt a sense of familiarity. In no time we realised that it was the same hall that witnessed the iconic speech by Mr Chatur Ramalingam (worded by the permanent librarian of that time). Expectations were skyrocketed, but we weren’t disappointed. The first monologue that we attended was given by Mr Kris Gopalakrishnan, founder of Infosys. Actually, the very first line felt theatrical, when he quoted research and said: “97% of start-ups germinate from engineering colleges, only 3% from management colleges”. He said this from the dais of the most prestigious management institute in India. He went on to mention why it was the most exciting time to be alive, especially in India and rightly so.

In the evening, we participated in a fun quiz competition and enjoyed the company of encouraging and jovial seniors of IIM Bangalore. Later we attended the cultural night, essentially a concert by recently launched local band ‘the local train’. Even this band closely resembled the entrepreneurial spirit of the city. Post that we had a soft music jamming session of our own that went on until almost dawn. As if that wasn’t enough, I went on to fulfil my innate desire for a run around the lush green campus by the light of dawn.

On the final day, I was lucky to attend the panel discussions by some of the eminent start-up founders of the country including Mr Vipul Parekh of Big Basket, Mr Amarendra Sahu of NestAway, Mr Nagaraja of Naga farms, Mr Sanjiv Singhal of Scripbox, Mr Sanjay Suri from Nykaa and many more. Apart from usual pontification, they shared some real gems from their journey. Few anecdotes that I remember:

“Initially, innovation is not sustainable, sales and revenue are important. Largest profit is in the Largest of markets. Competition is a myth. With time increasing, acquiring customer should be easier. Find a pressing need, get customers first, figure out business over a period of time.”

The day was concluded by a motivating speech by Padma Shri Kalpana Saroj, CEO of Kamani tubes, where she relayed her story of rag to riches and revealed to us the secret of what keeps entrepreneurs motivated. Finally, if you reached till here, you will realise you are standing at the opposite end of the bus station, exactly where our journey started! Guess what? it is drizzling again.

As I saw the city saying goodbye with rain droplets on my windowpane, I pondered. It is certainly a miracle that a single city can house colossal corporates, budding as well as billion-dollar start-ups, diverse wildlife, eminent institutes of management and sciences, a stupendous space agency, wooing weather, a fine local band, and a billion dreams. If I were to describe it in the words of Mr Chatur, it was no less than a ‘chamatkar’.

An entrepreneurial journey has always spawned countless aspirations. A part of India has woken up from the reminiscences of its past glory. Indeed, it is the most exciting time to be alive.