A New Beginning - Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIMK)

Kunnamangalam is all set to share mindspace with Vastrapur, Cambridge and Ithaca. This may seem pretty indulgent to some, but try saying that to the students and staff of IIM Kozhikode. The shift to the new campus, though not creating waves keeping in tone with the low-profile the institute seeks to maintain, has generated a lot of excitement - the infectious kind that hasn't dipped a bit a month post. The author is one of those (romantics) who get up to a high, not unlike the kind the first settlers in Israel must have felt. In short, "It's great to be here!"

So what's all the fuss about? Fair enough for a neutral participant to inquire, and that's what this article seeks to answer.

With architecture as unique to itself as many other Business Schools, the campus can be thought of as the marriage of nature and technology. Spread over 97 acres of verdant highland adjoining the Kozhikode-Mysore highway, the entire campus sits atop two hills. The entry plaza is reached after a climbing drive of 2 kms through a road built into the hills, part of 5 kms of road carved out. Traditional Kerala architecture, typified by tiled ceilings greets one everywhere. Designed to merge with the undulation of the ground, the buildings are at different levels. The eco-friendly campus boasts of an advanced rainwater harvesting system and a water-treatment plant ensures a self-sufficient water supply.

Some statistics:

20,000 sq. mts. of built-up area, the library and computer-center taking up a mammoth 7200 sq. mt. of that (one of the largest in the country), a seminar hall to seat 250, an amphitheater for an audience of 1000, 4 mini bull-pits for classrooms, a 3000 sq. mt. auditorium, 3 hostels with 132 rooms covering 3435 sq. mts. And that's just phase one. The campus is entirely wired, with LAN nodes in the faculty block, classrooms and the hostels connected to a 2 Mbps link-up.

What is hard to quantify though is the sheer exhilaration one feels while being here. You are constantly left amazed by the breathtaking view offered of the adjoining valleys from wherever you are - be it the hostel balconies or the overhang in the classrooms or the dining hall. If you find yourself hard-pressed to believe you are at a B-school and not a holiday resort - relax, you are not alone.

The second phase of construction would add 4 more hostels, accommodation for married students, separate faculty and staff quarters, a guest-house, dispensary and a shopping center. The academic year 2003 will see the student intake doubling to 120 fortunate, quality managers in the making.

So this is the new residence of IIM Kozhikode - worth the fuss.

Contributed by -
Piyush Swain,
Media Cell,
IIM Kozhikode.