Ok, so picking the threads from where we left last time (lagta hai jaise koi sweater bana raha hoon :)), once the reception activities were over, we all settled in Dome-2 for the fun to begin. And it was truly fun-filled and at the same time informative evening.
We had participants from PGPM105, PGPM206, and PGPM306 batches, apart from the current PGPM407 batch. PGPM306 – you were sorely missed, with lot of people not being able to make it for various reasons. We hope to see more of you in MILAN 2009. From the faculty side, we had Prof. Sawant and Prof. Siddiqui.
DC did the compeering for the first part of the event. The event started with a ragging session – ragging with a difference. PGPM being a one-year course, there is very little overlap between two consecutive batches. As a result, senior-junior interaction (read ragging) is very limited. Hence, we took advantage of this Alumni meet (sorry, what was it, oh yeah ‘senior interaction’, remember the tabooed words) for the ragging sessions. But, then where was the difference. Well, here the juniors got to rag the seniors! :) So, we had some participants from different PGPM batches get called upon the dais and perform for the entertainment of the class.
From the seniors’ side, Harish and Sudhir spoke, and they spoke brilliantly – showing all signs of a true MBA… some really inspiring stuff. From PGPM407, we had DC, Munish, Padma and AriD getting ragged. AriD was the rock-star as usual. Padma was graceful as ever, Munish got trapped in his own mayajaal when he was asked to speak on ‘Marriage – Before or After MBA’. DC was good, but then when is he not? So no lines for him; plus he also didn’t allow me to send my CV for Accenture, so he doesn’t get a line here.
After all this began the serious stuff, or supposedly serious stuff. Tarun took over the compeering from DC; thank you Tarun for that :P. Kaustubh, from 206 batch, was called on dias to talk about ‘Brand PGPM’. Just to add some weight to the blog, Kaustubh is the Deputy Director at Frost & Sullivan. He appears on the Economic Times almost every other day. Well again, he is not some “Most Wanted” guy. He just happens to offer very thoughtful and insightful suggestions to various industries which gets published. Haan, abhi kaan khade ho gaye na, ab suno :). Yeah, so where were we, Kaustubh, yes, oh man, you had to be there to hear the uproar when Kaustubh got up to speak. The man had some weight, I thought (and saw also, big man he is, you see). Then Kaustubh started, and we listened, and he spoke more and we all just listened. Wow, what oratory skills. Readers, buy Frost & Sullivan stocks if it is a listed company, the company is in absolutely safe hands and has a great future! :)
Next to arrive was M. S. Sudhir from SAP India. He was to talk to us about the Emerging opportunities from the IM perspective. That was a difficult topic to speak on, given the current state of the market. Sab kuch to doob raha hai, Emerging kahan se kuch hoga. But, Sudhir spoke exceptionally well. And that’s the learning from these guys, the clarity of thought that they have, and the way they put it forward. All I can say is that these guys are blessed!
Devendra Kumar, Associate Vice-President from HSBC (PGPM105 participant) was the next on stage. Yeah, yeah, I am flaunting the designation. And why not, these are the people who have done us proud. Devendra - an OM guy, rather a proud OM guy, spoke about the markets from the OM perspective. He did give a big hope to all our friends who want to barge the financial domain and make a name (and a little bit of money) for themselves. The good part of listening to guys like Devendra is that you get to know the latest things in the industry, and more importantly the practical aspects of such issues. After all, who asks you about Porter’s five forces, when you are trying to sell a new product to a customer.
Next man on was the most queerest and talented entertainer of the evening. He did not speak on any topic in particular; was invited to talk since our next speaker was running late. The man is Vishal Jain, PGPM206 guy, at ATOS Origin right now. The ‘right now’ bit in the previous sentence is important:P. Despite other better orators at the event, if there is one person I’d like to emulate, Vishal would be it. He delivers each line with a punch. And by each line, I am not exaggerating. Without sounding repetitive at all, he delivered a punch in EVERY SINGLE LINE he spoke. I think he can join the boxing ring some day if only boxing were done with words! Sigh! Extremely talented man, he had people laughing and applauding all through. Sitcom guys, here’s your next superstar. Jerry (Seinfield) goodbye!
Before leaving Vishal gave a prelude of things to come. But, we never thought he was serious about our next speaker. But, when Pradeep Mishra arrived, all doubts in our minds were cleared. Pradeep comes from the second batch, and is currently working with Reliance Retail and I am sure he knows more about retail then any of those guys at Reliance, or for that matter any other Retail store. Power-packed retail session; even our own retail guru – Akshat – was impressed. Whether we understood everything he spoke about or not, he definitely had us thinking and by the time he finished we were starving (for real food)
With dinner time just minutes away, we had the ceremonial event closure talks. Prof. Sawant came on stage to conclude the proceedings, and smart to sense our hungry looks. He came, he spoke and he conquered, all in 90 seconds. To everyone’s delight, here was a Prof who sounded like he was one amongst us! He’s a youngster after all :)
Thanking time came and everyone expected DC to deliver. But we saw Prof. Siddiqqui walking up to the dias. Surprise package we thought. And, what a surprise it was. He won many a heart, and deservingly so. He didn’t miss out any name, made special mention of each and everyone who was directly or indirectly part of the event. Sir, you were truly awesome! Thank you for the thank you speech.
The event came to a closure with a well-served dinner.
The end of MILAN 2008 marked the beginning of a completely new chapter in the PGPM story – the MILAN story. And we are more than grateful to the authors of this new chapter. Thanks again Ram, Karthik, Vaibhav, Manish, Mittal, Hemant, Tarun and DC. Miles to go before we hit our respective beds, I guess!
Love,
Baldi
PS: There is a small note on MILAN that needs to be published; will be out in a couple of days time, group works permitting!
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