Of all the things to be liked at ISB, one thing that stood out for me and inspired me to throw some more light upon- is the quad mates (aka quaddies). The boarding arrangements at ISB is such that each Student Village (there are 4) comprises of multiple blocks and each block comprises of 4-6 service apartments(quads). A quad, as the name suggests houses 4 students – 4 bedrooms with a common living room +modular kitchen. So, your quaddies are the people you spend most of your time with, outside of the academic block. I’m glad to be in a perfect mix of such people. As I look the last 50 days in retrospect, I realize they have played an important role in keeping me ticked throughout the hectic 1st term at ISB. When all of us come together, the dynamic is such that it literally creates a plot, something I’d like to compare with FRIENDS and SEINFELD.
So, here’s my depiction of the wonderful quaddies I came across in the last few weeks.
- The Clean freak – Lucky are those who have a quaddie resembling Monica from Friends– considering such people often get carried away and do more than their fair share. Also, you just find sticky notes all over in their room. Now, you just take pictures of them with their notes for your future memoir.
- The Party Animal– the famous guy across the window. So, whenever a party is held, your quad basically becomes the staging area and his quad becomes the main hosting area. You get invited to all such parties because 90% of the stuff has been borrowed from your place- from cheeni to chaipatti to beers. Such people are usually active on social media and it works to your advantage to stay close to them.
- The 5th quadmate- That person who enjoys your company more than the company of his own quadies and often pays you a visit to bitch about them. He/She is your adopted child. In all probability these are those people who chose ‘socially unlively’ category in filling up the accommodation form because their theory was to study in their own room while going to other peoples’ place for partying!
4. The Ghost – The people who are seldom visible in the quad. These species are typically spotted only once or twice in the day. Perks of being their quaddie is that they provide you with all the gossips/rumours running around in the campus.
5. The dean’s list target setter- this is the kind of quaddie you will take pride in. He is the one who ‘judgmental’ look- ‘tu dilli se hai?’ but rather whine with you about unavailability/ poor quality of chole bhature, momos, etc in the cafeteria.
6. Dilli/NCR wala homie – in no way do I endorse geography-based bonhomie. In fact, a campus life is a place which promotes cosmopolitan culture, but it’s just a pleasure to meet a dilliwala friend. A person who won’t ask with that ‘judgmental’ look- ‘tu dilli se hai?’ but rather whine with you about unavailability/ poor quality of chole bhature, momos, etc in the cafeteria.
7. The one with the significant other (outside campus)- The ones I find the most amusing. Their whiteboard is typically jotted with her birth date, her exam dates- typically all the important events in ‘his life’. Never ever use their whiteboard for doing the group case study. Your workings could jeopardize someone else’s exam!
-Naman Madan, PGP, Co’20
