Asiatic Society Seminar on Emerging India

As Management students, it is imperative for us to have close interactions with the Industry and their leaders, outside the walls of the campus. Such events and interactions widen our scope of thought and allow us a glimpse of the real time changing world.

The PGPM batch at SPJIMR was invited to attend one such event solicited by the Asiatic Society, Mumbai chapter for the book inauguration of ‘India – The Emerging Giant’ by Prof. Arvind Panagariya, one of the leading Economic Professors of Columbia University, US.

The event was held at the Taj Palace, South Mumbai. The event was attended by a host of dignitaries and top notch executives of the Industry where there was a free exchange of Ideas and opinions about the state of the Indian Economy.

The event started with a speech by Prof. Panagariya about the changing economic climates of the world and India in particular. He spoke comprehensively on India and it indeed spoke volumes about the research he must have undertaken.
It was followed by a dialogue between Dr. Rakesh Mohan, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India and the Professor. The dialogue was in the form of an extremely candid conversation between the two discussing the problems facing the country. In the process, the audience was gifted with some insightful thoughts of two highly acclaimed economists with spurts of appreciative humour.

After this very interesting dialogue interlaced with open appreciation and critique, the house was open for questions. The students were also given a chance to interact with the Professor and it was indeed a humbling experience to discuss the macro economic conditions of the country with such a leading economist.

The evening came to an end but the students of PGPM, SPJIMR brought back with them some rich and insightful thinking from leading business circles and a fresh perspective on the Indian Economy. We all hope that the Giant can sustain its development on the path of growth and we can contribute to its story of success, so that more and more authors and economists get inspired to write about this great phenomenon of a country awakening from a deep slumber – I N D I A

- by Priya Sinha

11 MONTHS TRANSFORMATIONAL COURSE@SPJIMR

If you read the above heading, 9 out 10 times you must be thinking that’s it’s an ad for a spiritual learning school. But hey people hold on to your horses, it was supposed to be the punch line (talk about creativity ingenuity) that sums up our PGPM course.

And even after 2 months and 17 days of being subjected to gruelling transformation, the only difference I have found till know is that I have lost a bulk of my grey matter, and gained a lot of weight around my pot belly - the correlations between the two are very high, giving you a clue to where my grey matter has gone. Which makes me think “what the hell” am I doing in this 11 month transformational course?

As Peter Drucker once said after a few pegs, and I quote, “A B-School is just like any public loo, people on the outside are frantic to get in, and people on the inside are desperate to get out”.

I some how find this statement highly congenial to my present state of mind. But come to think of it, I’ve gained a lot (apart from weight) in the 6,825,600 seconds spent since I joined SPJIMR, or rather the PGPM407 batch. For starters I woke up one fine morning and behold, I could decipher the economic times! I also rediscovered my lost art of making PPTs, some of which have been quite received (if I may put it that way). On the extracurricular field I realized that I have a great knack for pulling people's pants down, the practical applications to which are still to be studied.

But on a more serious note, I must say that the last 79 days have been some of the best in my life ‘cause they have provided me the opportunity to mix with an incredible bunch of super talented men and women from whom I’ve had the good fortune to learn a lot, but most importantly make life long friends out of.

And hence to sum it up there is only one thing I can say, “To hell with the 11 months transformational course funda” more than any thing else PGPM407 ROCKS!

Regards,

A random Data

It Depends!

Well, I am amazed that I am writing this down. I thought I had no time to breathe. Well on second thoughts, that's how people like to think. It just makes you feel quite important .

Before you choose to think that I am a narcissist, I need to make my point. Just that everything in the surroundings that I am in now, happens so fast that it’s quite easy to confuse it with a dream.

There is always something or the other to do. Tasks always come with deadlines. Priority of work is never defined and hence a constant confusion. Sleep and socializing are science fiction here. And there is always a nagging question at the back of my mind. Why does it have to be like this? And all I get for an answer is the reiteration that, that's how an MBA is.

Well, I have no clue who started the concept and why it has to be like that. But people believe that surroundings like that of a B-school have the Midas touch and can somehow transform simple things into gold. Just follow the rules since you are on a treasure hunt and mind you, you chose to come for the hunt.

Now that the choice was mine, am I complaining? I am not sure and it really depends. The best thing about this place is that it all depends. That's the beautiful theory taught in almost all classes. The answer to everything is that it depends. So you never have to know the right answers. But for some weird reasons, it does not work in exams. And I think I know the answer to it. The working of the theory also depends.

Yours truly,
Preetidhara Mishra

AVACOM Launched – Long Live AVACOM!

Dear PGPM407 participants,

Finally its here - after about 2.5 months of dilly-dallying, the AVACOM is finally in place. For the uninitiated, AVACOM is the AC Vent Adjustment Committee.

Here are the details -

Vision: To make PGPM407 the “coolest” or the “hottest” class of our times (we are not decided yet on which way to go – my personal vote is on the “coolest” part).

Mission: To control the class temperature esp. in times of “cold” calling and “heated” discussions.

Core Responsibility:
• Switching on and switching off of the AC
• Increasing / reducing AC temperature
• Adjusting, re-adjusting AC vents

Additional Responsibility:
• Switching on and switching off of fan
• Regulating air-flow from the fan using the regulator (not working currently)

Road Ahead:
• Automate the process of vent adjustment, so that AVACOM members don’t have to get up from their seats

Team:
• Central zone – Vivek Parmar & Hemant Mittal
• Left zone – Ahsan Manzar & Pritam Parija
• Right zone – Mridul Baldi & Arindam Dutta
• Back zone – Rajesh Kumar & Kaushal Kumar

Given the kind of responsibilities, I am sure that you’ll appreciate the fact that what lies ahead of AVACOM is an uphill task (given the kind of temperature variations required by our class). However, I am convinced that AVACOM is in absolutely safe hands, and will grow with increased participation from all of you.

Let’s together make AVACOM a success. Come, be a part of the change!

Regards,
Mridul Baldi
AVACOM,
Right zone, PGPM407

Holi Hai

It all began on a pleasant Saturday evening.

While enjoying the “French toast” at canteen…we realized that some people were burning something and shouting…and then it suddenly dawned upon our tormented souls that its holi tomorrow! (In retrospect coming to think about it we had been receiving mails for last 2-3 days regarding the preparation for holi, but what the heck when you receive about 70 mails in your Inbox every day, who gives a damn thought in registering spam mails in our overloaded minds!!!).

Then as usual…I started hearing comments…like “yaar I can’t believe it…kal holi hai and we are supposed to attend the classes and then some flash backs on “how nicely we used to prepare & play for holi before!!!” and then intellects like me started wondering on how much global warming we cause by unnecessarily burning so much…just to have fun!!!

Anyways, next morning…we braced ourselves to attend the three hours of FM lectures …and as expected the lecture was grueling and we did not have slightest of the enthusiasm to even think of holi. But after all we are PGPMiites…nothing can dampen our spirits.

Pratik lead us from the front…he somehow managed to get a pack of gulal and caught some of the guys at vrindi’s…and that’s it…we all started!!! Holi hai Holi hai…

Then we all gathered at boys' hostel and got each one of us out from their room...initially we played with gulal and then…who cares. Someone then got the idea of tearing of T-shirts and that’s it!!! all of us found ourselves…checking out the six packs of each other . And then we were just shouting and shouting and some more shouting….It was just amazing!!!

Yours truly,
Akshat Agarwal

MBA – Master of BusYness Administration

Are we here to learn a thing or two about business administration or busyness administration? The way things have been over the last few weeks, the later seems more apt.

Busyness is defined as “the state of being or appearing to be actively engaged in an activity”. At any B-School, busyness is the norm, and SPJIMR is no different; even more so a 1-year crash course. If busyness of students was one of the parameters in accessing B-School rankings, I am pretty sure that SPJIMR would have bettered its already high rank by at least a couple of notches ;-).

Come to think of it, busyness management is the same as time management - looked at from the other side. The more effectively one manages his / her time, the less busy (s)he is. And it’s a no-brainer that one of the key aspects of any “business” is time management.

So, is the institute consciously trying to instill a way of better time management in our way of working? Will the ability to manage our busyness levels better make better managers of us? The answer to both the questions is “yes”. Because, when you have hazaar things lined up, when the entire wall next to your working table becomes your “ToDo” list - you got to manage your time effectively. You got to prioritize tasks better. In short, you got to administer your busyness levels to stay in business.

In short, there exists a strong link between business administration and busyness administration.

Enough of gyan, I better get back to work; you see I am extremely busy! ;-)

Yours Truly,
Mridul Baldi

Welcome to MBA!!!

Do you seriously think that the title is a welcome message???

It is NOT.

It is the expression used by everyone around (faculty, seniors, friends who have been to other B-Schools, even your own classmates) to tell you that - you better pull up your socks and get ready for the action.

Two months into the course, and we still get to hear these three golden words at least once every day (okay, I exaggerated a little). Every other conversation seems to end in a “Welcome to MBA” message.

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Me: Ma’am, I feel that you are going too fast with certain concepts in class. I am not able to digest things at this rate. Can you slow down a bit?

Faculty: I can understand your problem, but this is how it works in the MBA world – “Welcome to MBA”.

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Committee Member: Please update your profile latest by 11:59:59 pm today.

Me: Yaar, I got to prepare for another test tomorrow.

Committee Member: Yes, I know. But this is equally important. You got to manage your time dude – “Welcome to MBA”.

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Me (to a senior): Yaar, my biggest problem is that I am not able to manage time effectively.

Senior: Aha (smirks) – “Welcome to MBA”.

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Blog Publisher: Hey man, you are not part of any committee, so you must be relatively free.

Me: (Scratching head) mm..aann..no..haan!!

Blog Publisher: Great, then why don’t you write something for our blog?

Me: (Scratching head vigorously by now) But where is the time to write anything other than those freaking assignments :-/

Blog Publisher: “Welcome to MBA”, my friend.

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Me (to canteen boy): Yaar, jaldi 1 chai de yaar, got to go for class.

Canteen boy: Hehe .. sir .. you always seem to be in a hurry .. “Bhelcome to MBA” :)

Yours Truly,
Mridul Baldi