Symphony 2013

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CONTENTS 2013

From the Director’s Desk From the Faculty Advisor From the Editorial Team Rise of the Chinese Dragon Debarun Majumdar Cherry Blossom Rutwik Phatak The Somersaulting Rupee and The See-Saws Anchal Khaneja Free Enterprise and Democracy Gautam Jain Hard Work Always Pays Neha Shashi The Seventh Heaven – IIM Shillong Indian Management Concept – Will it ever exist?

Karanvir Gupta In Conversation with Mr Sujan Roy and Mr Dipankar Ghosh Management Principles from Mahabharata Shubhang Srivastava

04 05 06

08 11

12 16 19 20

22 25

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My Muted Voice Jayaraman P Football Meri Jaan Vaibhav Annam Festivals – When IIM Shillong comes together Chasing Dreams Apoorvaa P and V.Nishanth Shouri Indeed...It’s Life Heena Motwani Ocean Acidification Lokesh Malviya Pragmatically Speaking Ramanathan K Art through Pencil If Only | Anish Agarwal She’s Gone Away | Rohan Modi Spoiling versus creating our own spoils Ayushi Rohira Perfect Picture of Our Imperfect World Prachi Agarwal Pen & Paper Varsha Poddar All it takes is a Click

32 33 36 38 43 44 46 48 49 50 52 55 56

The Glass Ceiling Bhagyashree Dhawan The History of Rock Agnitra Ghosh Scotland of the East – Truly So Light of My Life V. Nishanth Shouri In Conversation with Mr Arunachalam Muruganathan Wanderlust Gone Captive Sushree Tripathy Mama, I am coming home Siddhant Mirdha Golf Cup and Khlur Thma - 2013 EmergE – 2013 The Podium – 2013 Student Activities-Committees Student Activities-Clubs Students’ Achievements Faculty Speaks Alumni Speaks Batch Picture PGP 2012-14

58 60 64 66 67 69 72 73 76 79 82 86 92 95 97 98 3

From the Director’s Desk Dear Readers, It is with immense pride that I introduce to you the fifth edition of Symphony, the annual magazine of IIM Shillong.

Symphony not only aims to strike a harmonious chord with its readers but also with the North-Eastern part of India, where we are located. IIM Shillong has in its last five years achieved motley of laurels in academics as well as various extra-curricular events and scaled even greater heights.

It is my first year as the director of IIM Shillong and it is indeed heartening to see the level of effort being put in by the students in every initiative that is undertaken here. We, at IIM Shillong, aim to become a global Center of Excellence for the 21st Century Management Education and Research and become the leading B-school of the country.

talk and other creative sections. I am sure reading this magazine will be an enriching experience for you.

Amidst the present global economic scenario, corporates are looking for managers equipped with the requisite skills who will provide economic growth and stability to the bottom of the pyramid.

With such a foresight, we identified “Sustainability” as the basic foundation and inculcated the same as a part of curriculum in our flagship Post Graduate Programme. We aim to create responsible managers who can contribute to both the society and business equally.

Before concluding, I take this opportunity to congratulate Team Symphony on conceptualizing and making the fifth edition of our annual magazine. I am sure that students of IIM Shillong will make a mark wherever they are in the world as leaders and not just managers. I hope that they shall be harbingers of a positive d bring laurels to the change in India and tion at large. institute and the nation

The 5th edition of Symphony is based on the theme ‘Chasing Dreams’. Aptly so, we, at IIM Shillong, strive hard to encourage the spirit of entrepreneurship among the students. National level events like I wish all readers thee very best.

EmergE – The Entrepreneurship Summit, Golf Cup – Season 6, Khlur-Thma – The B-School Fest, The Podium – Guest Lecture Series, SusCon – International Conference Prof. Amitabha De g on Sustainability are among many other Director, IIM Shillong activities that we have organized and will remain as a testimony to this fact.This magazine comprises of an interesting mix of articles, poems, photographs, alumni 4

Message from the

Faculty Advisor Dream, dream and only dream-the mantras for life ! When the world is filled with dirt and debris, economy faced with crisis, development stand-still, equity mismatched, mutual trust eloped, value system eroded, intolerance heightened, mind pre-occupied with anxiety and suspicion, it has always been the silent faith, conviction and dreams of a few simple but noble souls, who championed over the crisis and moved the wheels of life forward. A common man could become the father of the nation, a nun could become the mother of all, a hawker could become an emperor, and a college dropout could become the richest man in the world - simply, by chasing their dreams.

Nothing could have been more appropriate than “Chasing Dreams� as the title theme of the current edition of Symphony - the annual magazine, conceptualized and made by the student community of IIM Shillong. Symphony has already established itself as the epitome of collective wisdom of the IIM Shillong student fraternity with its far reaching impact in academic and corporate parlance and beyond. Like previous years, this edition of Symphony unfurls the vistas of brilliance, thought provoking articles, reflections, analysis, interviews, arts and poems and many other achievements round the year by the most vibrant talents and minds.

for their all-out efforts, perseverance and devotion for giving their best to shape the present edition. Without their constant and sincere hard works for over last seven-eight months, it would not have been possible to bring Symphony to the lime light. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all those authors and contributors for their active association and valuable contributions.

I am sure the present edition will open up your mind and take you to different plain as you read along through this beautiful compilation.

Happy reading!

Prof. Tapas Kr. Giri IIM Shillong

I must congratulate and thank all the dynamic team members of Symphony 5 5

Message from Editorial Board Dear readers, We are back with the fifth edition of Symphony, the annual magazine of IIM Shillong. Symphony is a place where agglomerations of diverse opinions converge. It is a platform to voice your thoughts, a stage to air your views and a way to view contemplations with a vista –The fifth edition of Symphony promises it all and much more to increase your horizon and mesmerize you!

Anchal Khaneja

of entrepreneurship in the current world scenario, we have decided that the theme of this edition should be ‘Chasing dreams’ and through our cover story, we aim to convey the inexplicable need to follow our dearest desires and conquer theme explained via stories of four exceptional people. Struggles and turmoil give way to victory and successhappiness results after sustained sweat!

Apoorvaa P

We bring to you multifarious articles, poems, sketches and what not! A breezy travel through the life at IIM Shillong, a sneak peek into the perspective of great minds that we have gotten a chance to speak to, the beautiful landscape of Shillong captured behind the lens and the immense creativity that the students of IIM Shillong showcase - All these lay in store especially for you!

Karttik Mishra

Well, people do succeed and adorn the trophy of glory! Indian economy is going through turbulent times and managing these situations has become important more than ever. This edition has articles about the somersaulting Indian rupee and management concepts that could be used in such times. Some of our students have traced the history of rock music, ever-persistent menace of gender inequality and the parallels which can be With increasing emphasis on the spirit drawn between football and our life. We 6

also have exclusive perspectives of leaders from the corporate world and a person who has shown exemplary boldness in creating an enterprise out of adversity.

Through this magazine, we have tried to convey various dimensions of ideas of the students of IIM Shillong and covered different issues pertaining to our country in the present world.

To the Man Who Lives He was there, yeah he was‌ not now, but always. Karttik Mishra was an integral part of every little initiative taken up

by Team Symphony. He was the life of our committee; the vivacity in him was simply unparalleled. We would sit to conceptualize an event and he would just bombard us with quaint, yet amazing outof-the-box ideas; we would be stressed about the progress of a certain issue and then you would find him arrive and cheer

Sushree Tripathy

us all up. Sure, we miss him alright! Yes Karttik, we miss you man! We don’t wish to make all this sentimental, but, just be sure that whatever we are involved in now, would never have been possible without the support, without the liveliness of that one individual; we owe all of this to you Karttik. We hope that this effort from us through this magazine would justify all that you ever desired and hoped for. We hope that you live through the beautiful memories you shared with us and touched our lives in ways we simply fail to put in words. For us, Symphony is and will forever be a six-member committee.

Our voices in unison, Team Symphony

V. Nishanth Shouri

Vaibhav Annam

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Rise of the Chinese Dragon Debarun Majumdar Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon by Ang Lee was one of the greatest Chinese wuxia films ever made. The Academy award winning film was a global hit and it came to symbolize Chinese culture in the 21st century to the world. With China’s growing economic and political clout, the Chinese ‘Dragon’ is hidden no more but out in the open, blazing away in all its glory for all to see in terms of its size and reach. The same can’t be said about the Indian ‘Tiger’.

It was crouching for many years waiting to pounce and take its rightful place in the global order. But recent developments have forced the proverbial Indian ‘Tiger’ to go into hiding and recuperate some of its lost strength.

Chindia, the term coined by Union Cabinet Minister Jairam Ramesh, has come to signify the advent of the Asian century and the strategic shift of power from the West. But, in order to achieve the dream, both the countries have a long road ahead of them. Mutual cooperation between the two countries can go a long way in shaping the world in the 21st century. The common cultural links between the nations and people-topeople relations have been present for the past one and half millennia or more.

While in the ancient times, Buddhism was the common cord connecting the two countries, economic progress and trade can form the common ground for cooperation in today’s world. But dealing with a large and assertive neighbor is no cake walk. And in order to stand on an equal footing with China, India must firstly acknowledge the Chinese troika of 8

trade, military and territory.

Trade, Trade and even more Trade: The People’s Republic of China is India’s second largest trade partner. The bilateral trade between the two nations is the largest by a big margin in the South Asia region. Trade between the two neighbors reached $ 66 billion last year. It has grown from just a few billion dollars a decade ago.

But the bilateral trade is hugely skewed in favor of China. In 2012-13, India’s exports to China stood at $13 billion, while imports stood at $52 billion. The trade deficit was about $39 billion. This was against a deficit of $37 billion in 2011-12, even though in 2011-12 the bilateral trade stood at $73 billion. This only goes to show the decrease in the Indian exports to China.

India’s export to China mainly consists of commodities and primary products with iron ore and cotton taking the lion’s share.

The mining ban in Karnataka and Goa severely impacted iron ore exports. There was also a decrease in the demand of the commodity in China which peaked during the Beijing Olympics. But Chinese imports have maintained an almost steady stream into Indian markets, thanks to the now [in]famous, cheap finished goods. The Indian appetite for competitively priced Chinese goods keeps increasing every year because of the lack of indigenous alternatives to the consumer. Such a large trade deficit gives a huge leverage to China when it comes to bilateral relations. Even though there have been many delegation level talks between the two countries to address India’s concerns related to the

huge trade deficit, any solution is unlikely will be the order of the day and India must unless India shores up its manufacturing be prepared to constructively interact base. with it as well as maintain the status quo along the LAC and in the India Ocean PLA’s Military Might: region.

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of ‘Hundred Years of Shame, No More’: China has seemingly kept pace with the growth of the country’s economy. The The well-orchestrated succession in modern Chinese state is the 2nd largest leadership of Communist Party of China military spender in the world behind (CPC), which happens every ten years, the US with 4.4% of GDP being reserved marks the beginning of a new era for the for the defense budget. With the largest country. President Hu Jintao’s decade standing army of 1.7 million personnel, was all about the glittering success of the PLA is a force to reckon with. The China’s economic model and it’s ascent only chink in the Chinese armor was the as an economic superpower. It seems the quality and the state of the armament and new President, Xi Jingpin, is determined equipment used by the PLA. So for the past to put into practice the CPC doctrine decade the PLA has been on an overdrive which talks about avenging the ‘Hundred in order to upgrade its mechanized Years of Shame’ which the Chinese nation divisions, airplanes and naval vessels. The endured after they lost the Opium Wars in PLA Ground Forces have leveraged on the 19th century and during the Japanese their traditional strengths and shored up occupation during WW-II. With its growing their armored and mechanized divisions economic clout in the region and with into world class forces. It has also created an ever more assertive PLA, Chinese has extensive infrastructure along the 4,507 started a decade of ‘Island Shopping’. They km LAC to enhance troop movement have laid claim to numerous disputed and maintain all weather supply lines. islands and archipelagos across the The Chinese Air Force has undergone a South China Sea to increase their sphere massive modernization program which ofinfluence right up to the Straits of culminated with the induction of the Malacca. Its recent spats with neighboring indigenous J-31 advanced stealth fighter. countries like Japan over the Senkaku Even the PLA Naval Forces which was (Diayou) Islands and Vietnam over Spratly considered their Achilles heels by all Islands are few of the instances to note. their neighbors is progressing towards Access to the Straits of Malacca will bring a true ‘blue water’ navy. China now has with it numerous economic and strategic 79 major warships and 55 submarines, benefits. Most of the Chinese outbound five of them being the Jin class nuclear- and inbound cargo crosses through this powered submarines. The advent of narrow stretch of water. And the South the Chinese armed forces into one the China Sea has vast proven oil and gas strongest in the world is nothing new deposits with speculation of containing if one sees the development from a even bigger deep sea reserves. This historical perspective. Whenever a new assertive Chinese posturing has created superpower emerges on the world stage, some trouble for India. ONGC Videsh Ltd. the first thing that becomes evident to had to relinquish an oil and gas block in the the world is its military might. From sea South China Sea off the Vietnamese coast faring Spain, industrialized England and due to heightened tensions in the region the USA, Meiji’s Japan to Soviet Russia and China’s objection to the project. In the all these powers came all guns blazing future, other Indian projects with ASEAN to announce their arrival on world stage. countries could also be affected due to With the changing times the protocol the bad blood between China and its seems to have been altered a little and South East Asian neighbors. With a strong China has marked its arrival by invading economic backbone, China can afford our homes with the ubiquitous ‘Made in to indulge in ‘Revisionist Agenda’ in its China’ tag. A reaffirming and assertive PLA neighborhood and come out unscathed.

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A Pentagon report suggests that China and economic interests. Maintaining has settled eleven territorial disputes with status-quo along the LAC is imperative six of its neighbors since 1998. and should be given utmost importance.

Promoting a favorable and healthy trade But what do the ‘Chinese Whispers’ policy will bring unmatched prosperity to suggest? How do all these factors add the populace of both the nations. Indian up to shape neo India-China relations?

IT and pharmaceutical products can be Long gone are the days of the ‘Hindi-Chini the trump card in the short run but for bhai bhai’ euphoria or the acrimony of the long haul, Indian has to beef up its the Sino-Indian war of 1962. In today’s manufacturing sector. globalized world, India and China are two giant nations contesting for the same An assertive China and a confident India mantle on the world stage. The Chinese together can change the global order like see the dream of reviving the Middle none others can or ever have. With 37% Kingdom or Zhōngguó (Mandarin word of the global population residing in these for China). China is the bigger country two countries, they together can become

with a much larger economy and it will rightly stake claim to its place on the geo-political dinner table. But India must be assertive enough to carve out its own niche in the global arena. It should start playing a bigger role in South Asia and Indian Ocean region to consolidate its sphere of influence. The Indian state should also very craftily use the US ‘Pivot’ to Asia policy to further its own strategic 10

the engine of the global economy and drive it forward in the 21st century. With mutual cooperation backed by robust trade and secured by mutual respect for each other’s sovereignty, India and China can herald in the ‘Sino-Indian century’.

Cherry Blossom Rutwik Dilip Phatak It’s another brumal day Love is in the air, they say!

It’s another brumal day Love is in the air, they say!

The sky is blue, a lovely hue, And on this picturesque background There stands a tree, with branches free Of leaves, to one it does astound!

Inflorescence, or innocence Personified, I do not know!

But when I see the true fancy I envy that wonderful show...

It’s not yet spring but every twig Is full of blossoms cherry pink For what is worth upon the earth From heaven came fairies, I think

Inside the bloom, like bride and groom The stigma and the stamen kiss Oh, what a date! I wish my fate Had such an enviable bliss!

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THE SOMERSAULTING RUPEE AND THE SEE-SAWS Anchal Khaneja “We invented money and we use it, yet we the value of its currency. The South African cannot understand its laws or control its Rand and the Brazilian Real touched the actions. It has a life of its own.” respective four-year lows against the US Dollar in June 2013. Moreover, majority of - Lionel Trilling, American literary critic the Asian currencies, with the exception of The most concerning chapter in the the Chinese Yuan and Bangladeshi Taka, Indian history during the past two years, have witnessed a rapid decline since the and more so in the last two months, is the beginning of the year 2013. Nevertheless, mercurial nature of the Indian Rupee. The the rupee has been the worst performer Indian currency touched its lifetime low of of all, mainly because of its twin deficits.

68.85 against the US Dollar on 28th August Despite a modest recovery in rupee’s value 2013. Since January 2012, the rupee has in the month of September, investors are plunged by more than 20 per cent and has still wary of India’s dependence on the been the biggest loser amongst the Asian volatile ‘hot money’. currencies.

Let’s now delve deeper into the India is not the only emerging market that fascinating (though painful in this case) is experiencing an expeditious decline in phenomena of currency movements and

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try to understand the possible causes, waves. The global investors are speculating impacts and measures taken to minimize about the QE tapering by Federal Reserve and have started to withdraw their money the ill effects of such rapid movements. from Indian markets. This leads to a fear What caused the Great Fall? in the foreign exchange market and this At the fundamental level, the rupee in turn reinforces the fundamentals. The falls when the currency flight into the possibility of a further decline forces the economy is more than the flight out of importers to start buying dollars, whereas the economy. Ever since the US began its the exporters hold back their dollars for quantitative easing (QE) program after the future conversion. This aggravates the financial crisis of 2008, a lot of money has demand-supply gap. The second wave leaked into the emerging markets that flows domestically, from the RBI and the offered higher yields and better growth Government of India (GoI). The more the prospects. According to the International government and central bank emphasize Monetary Fund (IMF), there was an influx on the severity of gold imports, the more of nearly USD 4 trillion capital flows in the investors feel that the economy is the emerging markets since 2009. Many worsening and that the rupee slide cannot companies in India resorted to inexpensive be controlled. borrowing overseas. The huge capital Amidst all this, the role of offshore noninflows enabled to comfortably finance delivery forward (NDF) market in the India’s CAD rather than rectifying the determination of rupee’s value should structural problems of the CAD. However, not be overlooked. NDFs are over-thethis money will leave the country rapidly counter (OTC) derivatives that trade in once the QE tapering begins in the US. non-convertible currencies like the Indian Already, India is witnessing a huge outflow rupee and Korean won. No delivery of of dollars since the investors have started the underlying currency takes place on withdrawing money from the bond and maturity and the settlement is usually equity markets. QE tapering is likely to put done in US Dollars. The NDF markets even more pressure on rupee in the next for rupee, concentrated in Hong Kong 12 to 18 months. and Singapore, set the rupee price The second fundamental issue is the country’s trade deficit, which surged to its record high at 4.8 per cent of GDP in 2012-13. Gold and oil constitute about 45 per cent of India’s import bill, and with oil remaining almost steady, rising gold imports have upset the apple cart. With the global economy slowing down, the demand for Indian goods and services has taken a severe hit, which again adversely affects the balance of payments (BOP).

Apart from this, the rupee also remains sensitive to geo-political turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa. If the US-led war against Syria materialises, oil prices will see an upward movement which will further increase India’s import bill and make it all the more difficult to control CAD.

movements even before the markets open for trading in India. The foreign banks and the institutional investors, present in both the onshore and offshore markets, engage in arbitrage and book huge profits by buying the rupee-dollar forwards in Indian markets and sell them in the offshore markets.The NDF markets do not fall under the regulatory powers of the Indian authorities and therefore, not much can be done to control the rupee movements there.

What does it translate into?

A weak currency worsens the already stressed CAD. The rupee is not the only Asian currency that is depreciating and hence the fall does not really translate into export competitiveness at a time when the global economy is still struggling with Further, investor sentiment is another the slowdown. factor that plays a critical role in the currency’s accelerated slide, and this The rapid decline in rupee’s value evolves from both domestic and global offsets the benefits arising from lower 13

commodity prices. In case of fuel, it directly translates into higher retail prices and also puts an upward pressure on the cost of imported raw materials for the manufacturing sector. This leads to inflation in the economy and restrains the central bank from cutting interest rates and finally affects the growth adversely.

The rupee’s weakness may also deter the foreign investors from investing in the Indian markets due to negative sentiment which leads to further depreciation. The interest burden increases on the foreign currency denominated debt and as these loans mature, the cash flows are

rate limits for NRI deposits have been liberalized. Also, newer restrictions have been imposed on residents looking to buy property overseas.

The banks have been barred from indulging in proprietor trading in domestic currency futures and options.

They are only allowed to trade on behalf of their clients. There has been an increase in the margin requirement for the dollarrupee forward trade to 100 per cent. The state-owned Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) can now trade only with one state-owned bank to buy dollars in order to pay for their imports.

also affected. To sum up, a currency’s Although the above measures were accelerated fall hampers the growth of implemented, it is surprising that the economy and affects the household they failed to stem the sliding rupee. and industrial sectors severely.

However, the RBI made a sensible move by announcing a foreign exchange swap The Laggard Policy Response window for the OMCs wherein they can The RBI announced a series of measures meet their daily dollar requirements (of during July-August 2013 to curb the over USD 400 million) through a particular depreciation of rupee and to manage the designated bank. They are required to CAD. There was a 10 per cent increase in return the dollars at a later date to the the duties for importing gold, platinum RBI. This facility helped in removing a and silver. The foreign direct investment substantial demand of dollars (USD 9 (FDI) norms have been relaxed for various billion) from the currency markets and sectors such as insurance, telecom, had an immediate impact in taming the broadcasting, aviation. The interest pressure on rupee.

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How to stem the slide?

A number of financial crisis during 1990s have brought out the critical role of CAD in stimulating a currency crisis. An economic boom that has been fuelled by hot capital inflows and a debt-driven consumption is a sure-shot recipe for an impending disaster. Same is the case with India at present. The major indicators of the economy’s vulnerability have deteriorated but the policymakers seldom pay heed to them and defend India’s growth story. They must understand that there are no quick fixes to a country’s structural problems.

with offshore regulatory authorities for information sharing and establishing common standards. India, being a member of the G20, should engage itself in the ongoing international initiatives (under the US Dodd-Frank Act and European Market Infrastructure Regulation in Europe) that are meant to increase transparency and reduce the systematic risk in the derivatives market.

And finally, Indian regulatory authorities should not hesitate to impose capital controls in order to protect the economy from rapid capital flight. These initiatives, if implemented in their true spirit, can definitely alleviate the structural problems It’s important that the policymakers take plaguing the economy and make it less firm steps to curb inessential imports. vulnerable to similar issues in future.

Increasing exports is a gradual process and meanwhile it’s necessary to impose more restrictions on import of gold, silver and other non-essential items.

The government can also look at having higher duties on the consumer electronic goods that are not covered under the Information Technology Agreement of WTO. Such a policy regime can lead to smuggling and therefore the government must put processes in place to check for these issues.

Further, since oil forms the majority share in India’s import bill, India should give serious consideration to accepting Iran’s offer to sell crude oil in rupees at concessional terms. This move will help save USD 8.5 billion in foreign exchange.

Moreover, India should now work out modalities that will enable it to trade in local currencies with the Asian countries.

It should be noted that issuing dollardenominated bonds in a crisis situation may be a risky proposition since India will be required to offer higher interest rates in order to attract investors and this will further enhance the economy’s external liabilities.

Another area of concern is taming the speculator activities in the NDF market.

The RBI should work out agreements

Indian Politics & The Fall of Rupee.

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Free enterprise and Democracy Gautam Jain cabinets, to serve vested interests and then create policies which serve the powerful rather than the common man, the very fundamental basis of democracy and free enterprise, which is fairness and The concerns and criticisms of Plato and transparency, erodes.

Aristotle with regards to democracy is as fresh an idea as a free enterprise or “laissez Francis Fukuyama in his book “The End faire” state in today’s competitive world. of history and the last man” states that Free enterprise and democracy ensure liberal democracy is the ultimate state participation of each and every one and of evolution of a state but provided it thus have the same point of convergence remains ‘liberal”. Corporatocracy has i.e., a fair and transparent system which taken its course into the present day will certainly benefit the common man. systems. Today, the problem is often the In science while modelling the behaviour very opposite of the one that Schumpeter of gas, we encounter deviations from imagined: not the marginalisation of ideal conditions. They might be positive business but its excessive influence. In the or negative. Also, in economics there name of “Public-private partnerships”, the are deviations from ideal structure of state grants franchisees to well-connected democracy which great philosophers like business people. Many of India’s Plato and Aristotle envisaged long time billionaires made fortunes in industries ago. If we look around the globe, we see such as mining and infrastructure that are middle-east evolving or “catching up” prone to rent-seeking. Even countries like its present day structure of governance America have this problem. The family of to democracy after the birth of colour Mr. Bush is a business family from one lens and political from other. In this way crony revolution. capitalism evolves in the garb of managed As democracy is flourishing as the ultimate, capitalism. refined social and political structure, so is free enterprise in the business world Despite all this, we are in favour of which is quite evident from the fact that democracy because it is the best available autocratic countries like China are opening option at present. When inefficiencies of doors to free-enterprises and still serving system are apparent, common people their socialistic agenda of governance. It turn hostile against capitalism and is said that in this so called competitive stand against the sanguine free market world one needs to know how to manage approach which is even more detrimental. systems rather than manage enterprise to Public should be aware enough to succeed in the competitive world created understand the benefits of free-market by free market economy. When power of and democracy (which favours equal money is used to influence voters and opportunities without bias). Hidden gain power, to change ministers across agendas in populistic policies of the “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time”- Winston Churchill

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government which favours transfer of payments, loan waivers and other such schemes which are often announced at the time of election should be conceived by the public. Development of irrigation systems, supply chain infrastructure, food processing infrastructure etc. which are the need of the hour are never the first priority of the government. Governments of certain countries like France have sometimes gone too far with populism by taxing the super - rich heavily and gathering vote share from the poor and they have paid the price for this.

At present, in India, only 42,800 people have admitted to taxable income exceeding 10 million rupees per year. In the Budget speech by the Finance minister, income tax of 34% after adding all other surcharges and cess which is much less than tax rates in western countries having tax rates of up to 60% is something of a great concern especially for low GDP growth of India which is hovering around 4.5%-5%. The fundamental problem arose when Ben Bernanke, chairman of Federal Reserve announced that they “might” roll back their quantitative easing, monetary stimulus, in the United States of America.

Countries like India, South Africa and Brazil found themselves in real trouble when they saw capital moving out of the system back to the west, thus widening their current account deficits. Now, the question arises why that “might” have such a powerful impact on the Indian economy. The role of the state is to build conducive environment for growth. Even Indian domestic companies like Birla group are planning to invest abroad because of low energy prices in America.

The problem is not only with the FDI cap

but also with the business and the social environment. The Government needs to address these problems urgently.

It is said that the State knows better than the country men what is good for them. Why is this notion so true in Indian context? The answer is simple. People were cheated before and were fooled in the name of development. Their lands were acquired at throw away prices. So, there ought to be an abhorrence and hatred among common public towards capitalists. Thus the nation cannot enjoy the benefits of free-enterprise if it does not treat the common people fairly.

Politics has become business in the present day scenario which is quite evident from the list of scams that have happened in the UPA-II regime reflecting the side effects of democracy. Who knows whether the rupee got depreciated or it was made to depreciate deliberately to bring back black money which is in dollars, since the elections are coming. This is one of the side effects of democracy and the chain effect of this is that people lose faith in the establishment.

Theoretically, it is believed that high growth requires high inflation and in long term both these targets cannot be achieved (Philips curve). But with the changing times, factors have changed; business climate and motivation have changed to innovation. Free market governs the long term view of investment, not inflation. Business environment can be built by keeping the long term objective in plan which the Government has to understand and it has to take actions prudently by powering the right people.

Abraham Lincoln rightly said “Nearly all

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men can stand adversity, but if you want In this complex socio-economic structure to test a man’s character, give him power”. of world where no fixed theories apply and where economists have divided Growth without a healthy nation is opinions, it is right to take the “middle nothing less than a sunken Titanic. Indian path”. The state can use capitalists for government which is spending heavily creating a better environment for society (near about $7-8 billion every year) on and increase the living standards of rural the food subsidy programme has not India not only by facilitating compulsory achieved satisfactory results. The scheme CSR activities but also by connecting is so inefficient that half the children in capitalists to rural India to create a “winthe nation are undernourished. In future win” situation for both. Social Darwinismwhen these children grow up and join the Survival of the fittest is not the theme of Indian work force, one can imagine how Free State but its duty is to protect people weak the Indian labour will be. Today 70% by providing them with proper nutrition, people below the poverty line ($1.25) live health-care facilities and basic education in villages and rural India and 55% of the so that tomorrow they are not dependent rural economy is based on agriculture. on subsidies but are able to create wealth We are far behind food processing which and contribute towards the growth of ranges from 2% in fruits and vegetables nation, thus creating a self-sustaining to maximum 34% in milk whereas it is 60model. By doing this, competition will 75% in developed countries.This, in turn, evolve and will give equal opportunities to decreases our export competitiveness. all to achieve success not just because one For a developing democratic country, was born in an affluent family but because education plays a key role. In fact, if we one is the best, thus creating fairness and examine the recent housing bubble burst transparency in the system which are in America, one of fault lines points toward fundamental pillars of democracy and education as stated by the present day free-enterprise.

RBI governor Raghuram Rajan. Everyone should get a fair chance to educate themselves. Government has taken some actions by bringing Right to education, mid-day meal scheme but this will not solve the whole problem. Government schools have gone to dogs. First of all, there are countable teachers who are willing to teach and from among these, most spend less timeteaching and more time on state duties (elections). It’s the students who pay the price of democracy and the poor parents vote in a hope that the new government will change their lives.

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Hard work always pays....

Neha Shashi Upadhyay In the journey of life, We all want to fly like a kite, Sometimes, we soar so high, That we start telling ourselves a lie, A lie, that we can never fall down, A lie, that no one else can ever get the crown, A lie, that no hard work is ever needed, A lie, that no one else ever guided, A lie, that we didn’t make it step by step, A lie, that we wouldn’t lose it all if we open the tap.

Sometimes, when it is difficult to fly at once, We give up, saying that our chances are none, For there are so many people in the race, “How will I ever be able to meet their pace?”

But then we forget to realize, That working hard always earns a prize, That we should never in life, ever give up our zeal, For all wounds in life, our passion can heal.

So, whether or not, you fly too high, “I’ll never give up!” you should always sigh, Because a continuous hard work always pays, Whether to attain glory or success, Or to merely maintain its place.

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“IIM Shillong - The Seventh Heaven” 20

21

Indian Management Concept: Will it ever exist?

Karanvir Gupta You must be wondering why we suddenly need to contemplate and deliberate upon an issue which looks so out of place, “Indian Management Concept, Will it ever exist?” Though you might talk about the ongoing economic crisis and the tatters that our country seems to be in right now in, the fact remains that we are still one of the fastest growing economies among the emerging countries. And this unfortunately adds to the problem and the intensity of concern over the aforesaid issue. Adding on, the atmosphere of uncertainty that has been casting its

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shadow over the country, is quite a reflection that something is wrong deep down in the roots. But what is it? Is there something that is being overlooked or not being paid appropriate attention to?

Probably, a ‘Yes’ again. When the world is looking up to India, to where the center of power is expected to shift, the place which would be the epicenter of important decisions being taken across the globe, then why is it so that we take refuge in the practices that are neither devised by us nor fit-in well with our socio-cultural milieu.

Is it so that we are just so blinded by the magnanimity of the western world? From the fashion we have adopted, the way we eat and live, our changing purchasing patterns to the point we manage ourselves in and outside homes, in the corporate world, we have given it up to the Western style. These signal toward our old time tendency of not taking pride in our own culture and system and being smitten by the “fairer” world sans weighing the pros and cons of it. No offense to the communists and the socialists, but the fact is that we are moving towards a capitalist way of living. And with triggers like liberalization and globalization, we are bound to unify than ever before. We would be seemingly be more alike than different. And in this world of business, all corporates (companies, organizations, and industries) would try their level best to maintain uniformity across the markets and they would like this uniformity to be brought into the management styles too.

Now this is something I object to!

As quoted by ‘The Art of Japanese Management’, “Management is not an absolute; rather it is socially and culturally determined. Across all cultures and societies, people coming together to perform certain collective acts encounter common problems having to do with establishing direction, co-ordination and motivation. Culture affects how these problems are perceived and resolved.”

It clearly lays emphasis on the sociocultural environment which would then be the deciding factor of what style of management practices need to be followed.

Management like Arthashastra (covered in our last edition), Chanakyaneeti, the works which deal in people’s management have been the work of an Indian, Chanakya, the person who helped Chandragupta Maurya establish his empire. So why don’t we take lessons from our past? Just because we need to make quick bucks and stay alive in the market, we seem to have chosen the easiest path possible.

The first thing is, we have started taking management as a universally similar process which is not the case. The concept of management in its wider ambit may remain same but when it comes to application it differs a lot. The difference arises out of the norms and expectations of the people in the society. Secondly, we intend to forget that western management itself is undergoing the state of confusion with Japanese management style being proved to be more effective, so it just adds on to our confusion. Hence, there is dualism existing in all aspects of Indian management with policies being mentioned using western management concept and being implemented in our own conventional ways. Thirdly, the courses in management are formulated on western literature and then an Indian manager applies them in Indian context.

A perfect mismatch!

The management techniques like scientific techniques can’t be transferred from one country to another as it is. What needs to be taken care of, is what works in India and what doesn’t. There has been lot of research going on in adapting certain management practices that are best suited and in the recent past, many such practices have been adopted such as Management by Objective, Business Process Re-engineering, Total Quality Management, Just in Time, 360 Degree Appraisal system, etc. but then it is found that these management “fads” fade away in sometime or just remain on paper.

Why? It is because the cultural element is not taken into purview while devising these strategies.

We forget in the process of imitating that the management concept in the west developed as an evolutionary process based on the changing social, cultural and political scenarios. However, we never tried to conceptualize any such concept keeping ‘Indian-ness’ in view. However, the irony is Harappa and MohenjoDaro civilizations (supposedly the most planned civilizations) existed here. The concept of zero (by Aryabhatta) was an So the question is what can be done?

Indian invention, the oldest language has In Indian context, it is important that been of Indian origin and the concepts of

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dynamics of Indian environment and culture are not segregated by the dictates of management principles. The old values and traditions should be considered.

Rather than concentrating on short term profitability, we need to focus on long term institution building. Since we have a familial culture in organizations too where seniors act parental, such traits should not be taken as a way to tag Indians as emotional but rather as a system where we care for each other. So our organizations should have systematic career planning system for the employees.

With organizations becoming particular about environmental issues, gender issues, socio-equity issues, it is high time when Indian system can be the precursor towards modern methodology of management since Indian scheme of life takes in a holistic approach. What makes us stand apart is that Indian management is rooted in the philosophy of life.

Howsoever, American Management is rooted in the idea of corporation. And with changing time from the era of Scientific Management in early 1900s to Human side of management in 1960s to the latest Value Based Management, we, Indians, stand a fair chance to shift the gears towards Indian Management Concept that is as holistic as possible and 2 24

thus can be accepted as a universal norm.

We do not intend to build organizations being led by superior bosses but we need organizations that sustain themselves even after the leaders are gone. We do not want situations like Chrysler where companies collapse after top management (Lee I Coca) leaves. Indian management should concentrate on institutionalization and standardization of practices across organizations. And the endeavor should be to overcome the weakness of the existing systems of management. The traits like internal democratization, caring paternalism, primacy of the institution should be kept intact. We should become trend setters rather than trend followers and set in new stage for holistic way of management.

And B-Schools are the places where these changes can start happening from.

Though we learn from western authors, the western style of management, we should be smart enough to blend it appropriately with respect to Indian context keeping the Indian-ness alive. After years and years of vibrant history and strength of values, it is time we capitalize upon the same and work towards a uniform system that is very much Indian in nature. And then surely ‘Indian Management Concept’ will exist!

Interview

Mr Sujan Roy: Head – Marketing Services and Product Planning Mr Dipankar Ghosh: Head HR (Supply Chain and Quality) Tata Motors Limited

You have had a vast experience in Product Planning, Sales Planning, Consumer Research, CRM, Advertising, PR and Corporate Identity and Image. Which role has been your favourite one and why?

Sujan: Product Planning. Product is what excites me and also the customer. A person does not go to buy your advertisement, but he goes to buy your product. I am not talking solely about the product, but also about the entire experience which goes into the purchase of a product. According to me, the best of the products have not required to be heavily advertised. A great product has its own feet. Thus, working in the product planning division has been the most favourite role I have played.

In view of the slackening economic situation and the forthcoming elections of 2014, what do you think are the prospects of employment in the perspective of both functional and management level?

Dipankar: I believe that the export oriented companies of India Inc. will hire aggressively given the fact that the US economy is quite stable. IT/ITES, trading organizations would be hiring. There would not be a great impact on the macro level hiring opportunities at both the functional and management level.

Automobile sector, on the other hand, will take some hit in the next financial year.

Blue collar employees will have a tough time but white collar employees will continue to be in demand. Big automobile firms in India are just waiting for a sign of recovery.

Your career has spanned through almost the entire breadth of automobile industry.

According to you, how prepared is the automobile sector in absorbing the shock from the current economic downturn (Given that global sales of Tata Motors itself has slumped by 16%)?

Sujan: Generally talking, in any industry, you will observe a gap between demand and supply. Capacities for a product mostly come up once the demand starts declining. In a cyclical industry like the automobile, now that the capacities have gone up, demand is beginning to go down. It is not just the Indian industry but also the European, the American automobile industries which are facing a similar phenomenon. Good companies know how to weather the storm. This time the pinch is particularly strong owing to multiple factors: the commercial vehicles are down, the passenger vehicles are down, fuel prices are up and interest rates are up. However I believe the industry will eventually get back on its feet again. There is nothing the industry hasn’t seen. This is the reason where experience comes in handy. Also, you as bright young minds need to see these depressions in order to know what it really takes to survive in the world outside.

In today’s world, definition of ethics changes from one book to another and moulded from one situation to another.

In the trade-off, “how much would be gained” is usually chosen over “how it would be done”. Kindly elaborate on the importance and relevance of ethics in the professional world of today.

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Dipankar: If you have a look at any organization that has lasted for a long time, one value you will always find in it, is that of ethics. If you compromise on ethics, you might win small battles but in order to win the war, you simply need to stand by strong ethics. More the organizations become global, more is the need to stick to ethics. Take the recent example of Walmart stating clearly that it would refrain from lobbying in India.

Some organizations inherit ethics from the existing work culture, while some are working hard towards achieving them.

Because India’s economic scenario has been quite dicey in recent past, there seems to be a lot of confusion about almost everything among the students.

Given this situation, what advice would you give to all the budding managers out there?

Sujan: I tell this to all the young people I meet. In the next 10 to 15 years, there will be thousands of millionaires and billionaires who will be created in India.

You can take it in writing that more than 90% of them would be people who are entrepreneurs, those who start off on their own. They wouldn’t be file pushers like me or Dipankar sitting here.

Now, what holds you back to start your own firm? You are the guys with an IQ that is much more than the average IQ. Who needs jobs? Why are you worried at all?

A wise man once told me, “You are not insecure because you are middle class but rather you are middleclass because you are insecure”. Get beyond that insecurity.

One strong recommendation I would give is to read the book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”

by Robert Kiyosaki. The book tells you why you should not get into employment.

I should have read that book when I was young. Go ahead and create employment.

The tragedy of India is the smartest of people look for jobs. Start something out of your interest and you will realize that even working 24 hours a day for the same will not tire you out.

How do you think graduates like us would be better equipped to manage employees 26

in manufacturing once we enter the professional world?

Dipankar: The first part would be to create an interest in employee relation activities rather than waiting for a highflying HR team to intervene. For graduates like you, try to develop a connect with blue-collared employees. You need to understand that even they have aspirations, they need an engagement plan. In the near future, I see that organizations would be spending heavily on understanding and retaining bluecollared employees.

What is your take on the long-term and short-term economic outlook of India?

Sujan: One of the wisest opinions I have received about this topic was from a cab driver. He said, “Sir, all these politicians who have parked money abroad are waiting for the rupee to depreciate. And with elections due next year, the money will be brought back and spent mercilessly in the name of election campaigns. This will in turn appreciate the value of rupee and thus there is nothing to worry about”. A very good conspiracy this seems but now that the rupee is coming back, it might actually be true. But again, unless there is some policy stability, there will not be a return to those hay days of growth. If I were to be a conservative, I would say that the next 18 to 36 months are going to be tough. Tighten your belts and prepare for the worst. It is good for young students like you because in the very beginning of your career, you would be exposed to a bad patch. But eventually, things will better out for you.

What is your view on two of the most recent instances of labour unrest, one in Maruti and the other in Bajaj?

Dipankar: From a very Human Resource perspective, we have been going up and down. There was no concept of a HR manager back in 1940s, 50s and 60s. Coming to 1980s and 90s, owing to tighter regulations, protection laws and opening of Indian economy to the world, voice of labour became more prominent

but owing to presence of a lot of options, unrests were uncommon. But in recent years, a lot of factors have contributed to the rising discontent among workers.

Plants in Manesar (Gurgaon) employ mostly contract workers. On one hand, the place is lavishly developed with malls and amenities. While on the other, the money earned by workers continues to remain low. The expectation level of people, in general is increasing. The knowledge level among blue collar employees is increasing. And a very unprecedented behaviour is that of attrition among this section of employees. Thus, we need to look at the labour policies in a better way by taking cue from the way international firms like Ford and GM treat their labour.

Though the issues in Maruti and Bajaj appear different, on scratching the surface you will find that in essence, the reasons for unrests are the same.

executers. Learn to own it up. Because if you do so, you will feel more happy and be successful wherever you are.

Sujan: Also, if you ask yourself the question “Whose problem is it?” and you find that your answer is “It is that guy’s problem” but it is creating a ripple in your pool, then it is your problem. Take ownership, solve it and push it away. Initially, you will find that a lot of problems will come your way because of this attitude. But trust me, eventually you will learn to handle these problems so deftly that your span of control increases phenomenally. “The buck stops here” must be your motto even if you are the youngest person in the organization. This will ensure that once you start rising in the hierarchy, you are batting way over your peers. Learn to “own up”.

What would be your concluding advice to the people reading this interview?

Dipankar: Whether you become an entrepreneur or a naukar, make sure that the entrepreneurship in you is always present. Even when you work for someone, the spirit must be there in you.

That is what differentiates a leader from others. A leader owns things and takes complete responsibility of everything on the table. He never looks up to somebody.

Wherever you go, think that you are the CEO of the place. Do not simply be

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Management Principles from Mahabharata Shubhang Srivastava The essence of Mahabharata is not in dharma or war but in time. The Hindu literature classifies Mahabharata as Itihasa, not history; but account of life ‘as it was, is and always will be’. From this timeless tale one can account for everything in the world today, like some of these management principles:

Dristadymna was the commander-inchief and also commander of one of the seven divisions (akshouhini), as six others were for theirs’.

The sharing of responsibility, and power, thus leads to a democracy in the management and reduced reliance on one individual, further reducing risk.

1. Work on your weakness, improve 3. Teamwork succeeds: your skills and constantly learn: During their exile, the Pandavas, having The Kauravas had the number advantage had lost their kingdom and honour, (11 divisons Vs. 7 of Pandava)their generals utilized their time to acquire new skills. fought their individual battles: Arjuna, the most skilful archer in the • Bhisma: because of the vow to protect world set out to acquire new weapons. the throne of Hastinapur Yudhisthira acquired teachings from various wise rishis and learnt the game • Drona and Kripa: allegiance to the throne of dice, learnt about his nemesis, and became undefeatable in the game. It was • Karna: his friendship to Duryodhana these skillset that gave them an edge in and to prove his mettle against Arjuna the final war.

• Shalya: a Pandav ally to demoralise In the modern times, the principles of the Kaurava management/technology learnt, would be archaic in the future. Thus we have the They were a group of brilliant individuals need to constantly improve, especially in which made a terrible team.They are often times when career is at ebb. described as bees, hornets and mosquitos put in a jar with clash of egos (Bhisma2. Share responsibility: Karna, Bhisma-Shakuni, Karna-Shalya) The Kauravas had a centralised leadership On the other hand, the Pandavas fought with one head of the army at a time who with one goal, setting aside personal had the control of the entire 11 divisions beliefs like Yudhisthira lying to Drona or (akshouhini). Bhisma, Drona, Karna, Shalya Arjuna killing Karna. Again, all of them and Aswathamma pass the command as were a part of decision making process. they fall and for a brief period the army is leaderless. Despite the commanders, Teamwork succeeds where individual Duryodhana is in de facto control. This fails, but the team formed must have the dichotomy in leadership often results in same vision, goal and passion. clashes.

4. Commitment over competence: The Pandavas on the other hand, have a modern management structure to their The Panadavas used trickery of some army. Arjuna was the chief commander sort or the other to overpower the of the army, with Krsna as his counsellor. Kaurava commanders: Bhisma, Drona 28

and Karna show that the Kauravas had the greatest commitment. highly competent people with them. It was the difference in the commitment of 5. Take calculated risks, but always have dynamic strategies: the people on both sides that made the difference.

In the beginning of the war, Yudhisthira • Bhisma: gave away his secret to went to ask for blessings of the elders, die and did not attempt to kill the who invariably revealed the secret of their defeat. This was a master plan executed Pandavas finely for levelling up the moral or the • Drona: indirectly gave away his secret dharma cause, which bound together his army.

• Karna: only humiliated but did not kill Yudhisthira and Bhima He took the calculated risk and offered all the people to change sides if they wanted On the other hand, the Pandava army to. In reality, he was exploiting the lack showed extraordinary commitment: of cohesiveness of the enemy but it may • Abhimanyu, a 16 year old lad have backfired. The competence of the underwent a suicide mission in the warriors and the strength of the divisions chakravyuh. It took the combined were skewed towards the Kauravas which effort of 7 competent warriors to could have precipitated defection from his side, though it actually played in his overcome this committed soldier favour when Yuyutsu crossed over to the • Ghatotkach deliberately fell on the Pandav side. army ranks causing damage even in Any venture in the real world comes with death associated risk and all the decisions require • Yudhisthira went to face Karna us to take decisions after evaluation knowing fully well that he would be of these risks. Pandavas and Kauravas defeated both took risks but while Duryodhana’s When selecting a team, it is always better decisions were whimsical and egoist, to have people who are passionate and the Pandavas took calculated risks which committed, rather than people who excel mostly paid off. But again, the various individually. The best man for the job is decision making of the two armies teach not the one with the best skills, but with us one thing: there are no perfect plans.

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6. Women Empowerment: Mahabharata, and by extension Hinduism, is probably the oldest and the only one to recognize the importance of women in all realms of the societal working.

Some suggest that woman is indicative of the world we surround and man of the people in it and that when Draupadi is dishonoured; it suggests the exploitation of the world by its inhabitants.

like Bhisma, a celibate who could not consider a woman’s perspective.

Pandavas relied on the involvement of women and their thoughts. Kunti, their mother, was the supreme authority, and her word was dharma for Yudhistira.

Draupadi was a companion to the Pandavas, and had it not been for her motivation the Pandavas would have reclined to the forest forever.

In the epic, the Kauravas had a total In any decision making structure, women patriarchal structure, with commanders always bring in a holistic view of the Drupada

Virata Krisna (Counselor) Shikhandi

Arjuna (Supreme Commander)

Satyaki

Chekitana Drishtadyumna (Commander-in-chief) Bhima

Dhristadymna

Yudhisthira

Other Commanders

Draupadi

Decisions Bhima

Kunti

Nakula/ Sahadeva 30

situation. The aggressive and dominative masculine traits are balanced by harmonic and sustainable traits of a woman. It is only a team that is able to have this balance and that which is able to sustain in the long term.

7. Krsna: the best crisis manager of the world A discussion of any aspect of Mahabharata is incomplete without the mention of Krsna. His divinity scintillates throughout the tale and Pandavas would have had a hard time winning but for him. For a moment, let us set aside his divinity and view him in the scope of a manager.

not be myopic to the future needs for present wants. He is the first preceptor of sustainability.

Then again is his coolness in the midst of battle, probably because he is not involved in conflict. A question arises in my mind that He, being God, could have stepped in and stopped the massacre to punish the wrongdoers. Is he justified in his decision of not taking up arms? And it turns out that he is. Not engaged in battle himself he is able have a different view of the situation and can offer ingenious alternatives. The leader, who monitors, thus comes up with solutions that escape the team on real time work.

Stages: Extending the discussion, the avatars of Vishnu, (who is a householderworldly God) defines the stages of a manger in an industry: 1.

2.

3.

4.

Each of his actions when viewed from different perspectives yields a new outlook. Everytime I read the epic, his genius as a manager dawns Parasurama: is a rule follower, and upon me whose understanding and leads the organization in its very early implementation is a life long journey. phase when discipline is paramount The timelessness of Mahabharata and the Rama: sets an example even by derived is a subject of immense research. sacrifice and his ideals drive the Timeless and holistic, thus complex as the text is, it truly offers a direction towards organization the solution of all problems.

Krsna: the ultimate coach, who develops and instils a sense of A very subtle teaching of the epic responsibility in his pupils. He is a crisis is sustainability. The Goddess earth manager who never gets involved (Draupadi), comes as a cow to Vishnu to complain of her over-exploitation, and directly but through ideas God as a cowherd wipes out a generation Buddha/Kalki: depending on the of these people, (the princes dishonouring success of the system, either detaches Draupadi). He promises to return again himself or ends the system if it is to establish order, unless we become unsustainable sustainable.

The managing principle of Krsna is complex, especially since at times they seem to be full of trickery, deceit and in conflict of Dharma. He used all methods of negotiations to avoid a conflict but on battlefield, it is winning that matters. On pondering, you discover that no one but Krsna knows his exact purpose on the battlefield. Duryodhana is fighting for the letter of the law and Pandavas on the spirit of the law. Krnsa is there to uphold principles.

9

8

His actions teach us something very important-recognize the larger purpose. Is it to surpass the rival? No, he said. Take into account the larger view to mirror your actions. Do

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10

1 2

Chief Commander (Bhishma/ Drona/Karna/Shalya/ Aswatthama)

3

Duryodhana

7

4 6

5 31

My Muted Voice Jayaraman P There I go, deep into the darkness, into the well,

I am the holy mankind, naked and shameless as such.

Just that I have the freedom, I have my respect to sell.

Piercing the naval, I severed my link.

Part of me is starving, Part of me is obese dying, I perish the pathetic way, Only that I don’t dare crying.

My hands don’t defend, My legs neither tread, My eyes water, desperate of lust blinded only to the colour red.

I wish I had never existed, wanting to live forever, Tracing the fireflies, through the darkest path with fun and fear.

I am the man, I am the woman and I am the eunuch,

With the mighty motherhood in a blink.

Oh! I scream aloud, but my ears are empty, Enjoying the melody of the parody, the sensual bounty.

Part of me prays, Oh deity! Save me from the self, From my terrifying figure of the tall and standing dwarf.

Pyromaniac, that I am, fire up the towers, Set myself ablaze, with an adamant prowess.

I light up the opium rolls, Oh my Lord!

Redeem my life, before I rot.

Redeem my life, before I rot.

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Football Meri Jaan Vaibhav Annam “You will be nearer to heaven playing in an extremely beautiful and convincing football than studying the Bhagavad- manner. Football is a team game. No matter how talented an individual player Gita” - Swami Vivekananda. is, the team will not win if all players do Since my childhood, my parents made it a not perform collectively. Well, four time point to go on a family vacation once every Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi is a living year. Lucky I consider myself to have got a testimony to this fact. He might arguably chance to visit some of the most beautiful be the best football player on the planet places in India on this pretext. It was in the but his records for his club and his country summer of 2007 that we planned a trip to have completely contrary tales to tell.

Darjeeling. The resplendent hill station is While Barcelona has won almost every a visual treat in every sense. After visiting championship, every cup, Argentina the famous tea gardens and taking a ride struggles to make it even to the semiin the Toy Train (a World Heritage Site), the finals of World Cup. The reason is that next place on our list was Tibetan Refugee Barcelona play as one unit where everyone Self Help Centre. Behind the building, contributes almost equally in the game. amidst a thin blanket of fog, I could hear But Argentina, till recent years, saw sole the familiar sound of an occasional thud. dependence on only one player. Likewise, To quench my curiosity, I went closer to in our lives, we do not function in silos. the place and to my utter surprise; I saw Just like our heart or brain cannot solely a bunch of kids kicking an old football perform every function in our body, one around on a small clearing of land. We are outstanding individual cannot complete talking about a place that is around 2150 all the work. The need for teamwork meters above sea level. About a place that is increasingly being felt across all is not complaining about being oblivious organizations so much to the extent that to the outside world. “Football is the only employers are giving higher weightage medium which connects these kids to the to an individual’s ability of gelling well in outside world”, said an old woman who a team over personal skills. Teamwork is noticed me queerly observing the football exactly what a game like football teaches match. As I was searching for a reply, she you. A football team requires every player walked away by saying, “It’s a way of life to put his/her personal agenda after the for us now”. team’s. One learns that unless each player Ever since that day I have been, sometimes fulfils his/her role of offense, defence and subconsciously, trying to draw an analogy assist, the entire team will suffer. Selfbetween life and the game of football. Yes, centeredness must give way to serving I know that back then, those kids were the team. playing just for the fun of the game but as A football, as most of us visualize is a ball I grew up, I found immense satisfaction by with alternate black and white patches. discovering that my favourite game can Doesn’t it ring a bell? Isn’t that pretty much indeed help me define what life is, and a symbolic of any person’s life? Everyone 33

goes through a period of smooth and rough patches. Ups and downs, success and failure, acceptance and failure, they are all but an integral part of our lives. We should not feel let down when things do not go our way. Just like there is a white patch adjacent to a black patch on a football, a period of lows is an indication of forthcoming highs. We should only ensure that we completely enjoy even the smallest of happy times in our lives because ‘life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but rather by the number of moments which take our breath away’.

fulfilled is to win the football match. Every individual has a certain passion which stays with him come what may till the very end. Sometimes, it only gets buried under the weight of other responsibilities which keep accumulating over time. In our lives too, our ultimate objective is fulfilled only when we are able to pursue our respective passions with gusto and accomplish our dream.

Goal posts change and you now have to score on completely the opposite side.

Life is not very different in the sense that over the course of time, our objectives change and we tend to achieve different goals at different points in our life. As kids, probably we wanted to master a nursery rhyme for that toffee which our class teacher would give; in school, probably we wanted to score well in the examinations to impress our parents; in college, probably we wanted to get into the best organization which came for recruitment; and while at work, we wanted to reach to the highest level in the hierarchy. But the ultimate objective which needs to be

the most prominent ones. According to some more estimates, Christianity has the highest number of followers in the world with around 2.1 billion people. Football is viewed and followed by over 3.5 billion people in the world. This number is more than even the total number Christians and Hindus put together. Is this not evidence of the fact that football unites more people and is a much bigger way of life than any other religion?

For many, religion is a way of life. No one can be sure of this, but according to some estimates, there are over 4200 religions in the world. Ten among these, which include Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, After half the game is played, teams Sikhism, Taoism, Judaism, Shinto, Jainism change the side from where they score. and Confucianism, are considered to be

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One of the biggest sources of inspiration to any football player is the support he receives while playing. Fans form a very integral part of the game. Their undeterred cheer, their humming of the team anthem

and their belief in the team creates an ambience unseen anywhere else. A very special team I want to mention over here is Borussia Dortmund. Their fan base is regarded as the most loyal fan base across the world, away teams have a nightmare when they come to play at Signal Iduna Park, their home stadium. Even in our lives, there are many people who support us, who stay with us no matter what. It could be our parents, our friends, our brothers, our sisters, our teachers or our colleagues. They know that we are capable of doing something, achieving something and at times believe more in us than we do in ourselves. Life is too long a journey to be voyaged alone. Knowing the fact that there is someone out there for you is probably the biggest comfort which a man can ever experience.

team might have only one coach, we are lucky that in our lives we can have as many coaches as we want. They might be in the form of our parents or our school teachers or our college professors or our friends or absolutely anyone who advices us in dire times of ours. Almost every scripture agrees on the importance of having a guru in a person’s life.

I have grown up with football and the game will remain the closest to my heart till the end. This possibly explains my biasedness towards the game. On a personal note, yes it has been disappointing observing that India, as a nation, has been obsessed with only one game – Cricket. No matter how beautiful Cricket is, I always felt it led to a gradual decline of other games in our country. With all attention on Cricket, we probably became too busy to even consider hockey, badminton, football, tennis, volleyball, squash, and table tennis among others as games. But eventually, I believe other games will find their rightful place as well. Meanwhile, I shall continue to unravel the mysterious link between football and life and find solace in the thought that meaning of life can be found in the mesmerizing game of football.

Every game has a coach. Football is no different. The coach/manager of team is solely responsible for formulating strategies for the team against opponents.

These strategies would obviously change from match to match. Coaches like Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola will be remembered in history as people solely responsible for transforming the clubs they were responsible for. We, in our Seven billion people in the world, yet one lives, also need a coach who would guide language to unite us all – Football!! us on the right path. Though a football

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“Festivals-When IIM Shillong comes together�

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Chasing Dreams Apoorvaa P and V. Nishanth Shouri Chasing Dreams - this pretty much extrapolates the theme of this edition and this article will revolve around the world of actualization of dreams. We attempt to take a leaf (or maybe more) out of the lives of certain individuals who have impacted humanity in a marked manner. Let’s delve deep!

Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty

Well, how many people in this world sympathize, let alone empathize? Does posing such a straight forward question seem a bit too brusque? Huh, huh… No! Placing ourselves in the other person’s shoes is rare. To see it demonstrated, not just a tiny bit, but as far as the stretch of imagination could carry you, is nonetheless, highly appreciable.

Healthcare is a boon, a wish bestowed to life in this mundane, yet treacherous earth and the healers are seraphim sent to swerve sickness back to strength. How spectacular it would be, if a person, who is capacitated to provide the service of healthcare, can also extend it to cater to bottom of the pyramid? - Can penury drag a person to emaciation and strip him of a secure life? Most certainly not! To validate this, Devi Prasad Shetty founded Narayana Hrudayalaya - envisioning affordable healthcare to the masses.

Affiliated with his names are umpteen awards, yes! But, the mission of his life deliver less-aggrieved sleep to the is tto od population in jijjingling-purse-deprived n lilin ng n India Indi In ndia diia and a other developing nations. was I w It a a vision embedded since His childhood (forgive me for capitalizing ch hilildh dh dh ‘his’‘h his is’- tthis is restricted only to the person is’who w wh ho put the ticker to our cardiac muscle- God, but readers would agree whole-‘heart’edly that this messiah, is analogous to God himself ) to mend hearts and as a consequence, he won a multitude of the four-

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chambered-houses. An institution in Bangalore, primarily specialized to cater to cardiology, nevertheless, pertains to other branches of medicine too. The foundation is made of brick and mortar, but Devi Shetty generates vivacity into walls and instills life into individuals by his exuberant presence. Music reverberates in the everyday routine without which the doctor asserts that nothing works in the foundation. His schedule traverses the standards defined by ordinary peoplehis avatar dons the attire, which is most conducive to step into an operation theatre at any time of the day. His objective is to utilize economies of scale, thereby mitigating the cost of healthcare as much as possible- this is what he specifically terms as ‘process innovation’.

Inching towards his grand vision, he holds a 75 percent stake in the hospital - not to call it his own, but to preserve the goal of lending a hand to the under-privileged.

The stupendous service of neonatal heart surgery in India was triggered by him.

The hospital joined hands with ISRO for a Telemedicine Project, which enables patients incapacitated to travel from afar to seek assistance from the comfort of their places. ‘Yeshasvini’, the health insurance scheme, launched in association with the Karnataka Government, witnesses the restoration of welfare to needy individuals to the extent, that it also offers expensive consultations pro bono. The management engages in an innovative modus operandi of letting manufacturers ‘park’ their equipment for use by the hospital, instead of buying them. This actually works wonders by alleviating humungous costs involved in going forward with a one-time purchase and also helps manufacturers gain visibility for their machines. The replication of his inimitable success in other cities, making them health-cities is something we should essentially wait and watch with bated breath. But, I am convinced (and I am certain that you would also be) that replication is feasible with the unimaginable dedication that

this man with the ability to regulate palpitations has!

Christopher Gardner ‘You never know how strong you are, until being strong is the only option you have’, goes an anonymous saying. This was analyzed, implemented and proven right to the T in an example which sent strengthening impulses up the spine, not shivers down it - Christopher Gardner.

Name strikes a chord? We had once dedicated our eyeballs (and desired for more) to the screen when we had an opportunity to see the movie ‘Pursuit of Happyness’, which featured Will Smith and his adorable son. We argued with his wife, we ran across the road to retrieve his stolen scanner, we didn’t just shrug our shoulders, we wept uncontrollably when Gardner spent a night in a washroom with his son, having no place to go for and finally, we cherished his success and thrust our fist in the air when he succeeded.

Didn’t we see our own battles conquered when he decimated his barriers and splintered them into indiscernible bits?

For those who don’t relate to what I am saying, this article, this specific part, is going to be a treasure and for those who have goose bumps at the reminiscing memories, well, you will love it even more!

Milwaukee, Wisconsin welcomed Gardner in the year 1954 and thus history began!

Trouble and turmoil would have probably tested his strengths, carved him into what he eventually became- a role model for individuals aspiring to make it big, 39 9

an inspirational book that has a flag in every other page that we end up flipping.

Brought up by his mother, he grew up watching one of the strongest women, he would ever see in his life..One of the significant teachings from his mother that he practiced throughout his life was ‘the cavalry ain’t comin’ son; it’s just me and you’. So he pressed on, surpassing every hurdle reminding him of this fact.

Even when he had to wander in search of shelter every now and then, nobody acquainted with him had an inkling of what exactly he was going through- he juggled between things, possessing a single-minded determination to trudge on and on. Something lucrative and satisfying was his need, not even a want.

He had a son to support and crises in life to deal with. Phew! To even cast our thought process to all this shrouds our thinking ability. Would he give up? What?

Did you say something?

Finance attracted him, drew him near and tied its destiny to him-yeah, you read it right! Even though his interest was not backed by his education, he wished to defy odds. He was a trainee in Dean Witter Reynolds, where he learnt the nuances that would propel him in this domain and spell success wherever he went.

Man! Did he want to be a stockbroker!

As Swami Vivekananda had so famously stated, “Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life- think of it, dream of it, and live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea and just leave every other idea alone”, Gardner breathed this in every cell of his. His stint was fruitful; Gardner Rich & Co, a brokerage firm was founded by him- after his success, did he give a thought to the path he travelled? Yes he did! Has he forgotten the nook and cranny that he stayed in dark times? No, he most definitely hasn’t! He engages in philanthropic endeavors that would help people when push comes to shove. Oh...

Yeah! I almost forgot! This part of his life, this little part, where he chased success and attained it, was called ‘Happyness’. So, 40 4 0

Happiness is chasing dreams!

Amar Gopal Bose – Bose Just think…. What can an electrical engineer who is passionate about acoustics do when he is dissatisfied with the output of a high-end stereo speaker he has bought? He can create a $2.28 billion company that has state of the art excellence in its audio systems ranging from car radio to military applications.

Mr. Amar Gopal Bose, an Indian American, was born in Philadelphia, U.S.A in 1929 to Noni Gopal Bose and Charlotte. The

entrepreneurial skills in Mr. Bose sprung forth at the age of thirteen. During World War II, his father’s business faced restrictions from the British. To supplement his family’s income, he started repairing radios which helped them live through the war years and then after the war ended. This passion in electronics built a solid foundation during his graduation at MIT. After his doctoral thesis, he started off as an assistant professor at MIT and during this time, he had found his work of the lifetime. He bought a set of speakers and was unable to reproduce the realism of live performance even though the company had mentioned impressive technical specifications.

His passion for acoustics led to the invention of a stereo loudspeaker that could produce dominant sound field in a concert hall at a domestic setting.

He was enchanted by the concept of psychoacoustics which became the foundation for incorporation of BOSE CORPORATION. Mr. Bose made

breakthroughs in an astonishingly broad range of disciplines, including acoustics, aviation, defense and even nuclear physics.. His pedagogy was considered unique. He became so famous for this that his classes attracted mathematicians, physicists, biologists and students from all disciplines at the university.

Phil Knight – Nike

Philip Hampson “Phil” Knight was born in 1938 in Portland, Oregon, U.S.A. He is the son of a newspaper publisher, William W. Knight. When his father rejected him a summer job at his newspaper, he joined the rival newspaper for which he had to run seven miles every morning. He In an interview with the legendary graduated from Oregon and was a middleacademician for Popular Science distance runner at his school. He enlisted Magazine, we can succinctly get the in Army for one year active service and persona of the visionary – “Amar Bose is just incredibly eager to get to the future.”

And this statement tells how Mr. Bose dreamt of experiencing a clear and robust audio system and made it into a reality for millions with his products. Mr. Bose states that he could have been fired a hundred times by a company run by MBAs because he was constantly keeping his company at risk for the pursuit of a single idea. But, isn’t this the case with every visionary in all generations…? From Edison to Steve Jobs… They had the intrinsic character of taking risks and had a long term vision of adding inexplicable value to the customer they served. This, they have succeeded on a large scale while realizing that dream.

Mr. Bose strategically maintained his worked for seven years in Army reserve. company as a private company because He enlisted for Stanford Graduate School of the sole fact that the decisions his of Business and it was during this period management takes about R&D can rest that he conceived the idea of Nike Inc. with them.

In those days, there were American shoes He had not only built a company which which were offshoots of tire companies focuses on acoustics but also imbibed and used to cost $5. These wore out after his diversification skills by choosing a 5 mile run. And then there were German products which excite his interests. His imported shoes, which were around $30. interests range from finding out the roots It was this gap that brought about the idea of a problem (example of car wipers for Phil Knight to have quality running during rain) to the long term vision of shoes at a lower cost. In a class called a completely new product (example “Small Business” where he was asked to of having suspension system using give a business idea, he presented his electromagnetic motors). His visionary paper – “Can Japanese Sports Shoes Do statement will forever define goals for entrepreneurs– “The future isn’t in solving to German Sports Shoes What Japanese the problems to which we already know Cameras Did to German Cameras?” He the answers. It’s in learning how to work prepared a master blueprint for utilizing through the problems you’ll experience in cheap Japanese labor for this plan. But, due to family pressure, he had to take an life.” accountant’s job after graduation.

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In spite of this setback, he did not give up this idea. He went to Japan and became enamored of Japanese culture and business practices. There he saw how Adidas knockoffs called Tigers were made in a factory. Highly impressed by the quality efficiency at the low cost, he was sure that he could implement his business model. He became a dealer for Adidas shoes. He started a company “Blue Ribbon Sports” with the help of Bill Bowerman, the legendary track coach. In 1969 during the jogging boom, he sold a million bucks of Onitsuka shoes under this label. In 1971, he decided it was high time to transform it into the big league and so, he gave up his accountant job and started “NIKE” with the swoosh as its symbol. His first shoe was debuted during the 1972 Olympic trials in Ore. Phil understood the symbolic power and attractiveness of sports and leveraged on it.

In 1972, Nike had sold around $3.2 million worth of shoes and its profits doubled every year for the next 10 years. It surpassed Adidas to become the biggest sports company in 1980, the same year that it went public. And from then on, it grew at an exhilarating pace. Nike was known to endorse young talent, who would grow to be celebrities and bank on the idolatry of that celebrity for all its promotions. Few notable examples were Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods. Both were drawn into Nike’s fold when they were 20 years old. Phil made Nike famous for its pop culture advertisements. “Sports are like rock ‘n’ roll,” he says. “Both are dominant cultural forces, both speaking an international language, and both are all about emotions.”

Over the years, Phil Knight has transformed into a shy philanthropist.

Even in philanthropy, he had kept up his passion for athletics. In 2000, he donated around $230 million to the University of Oregon for the management of athletics.

In 2006, he donated $106 million to Stanford Business School. His advice to 42

start-ups perfectly surmises his ability and outlook towards life – “Play by the rules, but be ferocious.”

People like those considered in the article have one specific thing that makes them sparkle like a million stars in cluster- their conviction to say ‘No’ to inertia and move against the toughest of torpedoes and tornadoes. They advanced through adversities and crusaded through crumbles- ordinary people with extraordinary acumen- they raised the bar and the bar kept on incrementally risingthey chased after their dreams, or was it the other way round? Well, eventually their dreams caught up with them!

Indeed It’s Life...

Heena Motwani

Indeed it’s Life..!

Full of surprises, happiness & cheerful moments, Hopes, expectations & realities…

Life’s all about facing the actualities, Love, laughter and moments to cherish…

It’s up to you to choose the ways to embellish, Your life & your destiny depend on you…

The way you choose & the path you take, Decisions are not that hard to make…

You may face difficult times, The moments when there’s no one with you…

No one to understand, no one to trust, But you have to keep your faith as hard as Earth’s crust…

Keeping that lovely smile always is a must, It’s not about how to adjust, It’s about being robust…

Indeed life is not that obtuse, If you are really sure of the path you choose…

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Ocean Acidification Lokesh Malviya We adore Mother Nature and Her about the smog of London that claimed beautiful creations and from these, we thousands of lives. This situation came as draw inspiration to create anything by a direct consequence of this new practice. ourselves. We are part of all that surrounds us. Now, keeping this point in mind, it is our right to question ourselves whether we ought to damage this serenity of flora      and fauna through our reckless activities.



 

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Think about the first response that comes to your mind after asking this question to yourself. Then, go through the facts presented below: The pH of the oceans on Earth has remained relatively stable for the past few millennia, which has helped in the sustenance of different marine species.

But, in the last two centuries, increased emission of Carbon Dioxide (CO2), mainly because of burning of fossil fuels, has led to drastic changes in the carbon cycle resulting in higher level of absorption of this gas in the water of the oceans around the world. These CO2 molecules react  with water to create extra Hydronium ions which, in turn, leads to a decrease in the The CO2 released in the process has been pH of the oceans and wherefore, poses a absorbed by the oceans over time and great threat to the marine biodiversity. gradually, acidification started.



It all started with the onset of the Industrial Revolution when our species, in an attempt to outmanoeuvre each other, constructed factories and pollutants-emitting devices emanating huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. We have heard

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Generally, species such as corals and planktons, use the calcium dissolved in the ocean water and the carbonate ions to form calcium carbonate that is used in the formation of their structures. But, with extra molecules of CO2 , the reaction





proceeds a step further to dissociate Calcium Carbonate into Calcium and Bicarbonate ions. Therefore, the existence of these species comes into question as one of the integral parts of their skeleton is taken away like this. As of now, 50% of the coral reefs around the world is gone.

These underwater colonies sustain the livelihood of 500 million people. Further, the increasing level of absorption and acidity also causes a host of problems for other species like reduced metabolic rates in jumbo squid. Change of pH of water may lead to changes in its properties.

For example, high levels of absorption

 



 

   

  

ocean water used to be 8.2 for the past 300 million years, but currently it is 8.1.

Statistics show that oceans absorb one – third of emissions created by humans and projections based on this data show that one can expect even drastic decrease in the pH levels (up to 0.5 units) by 2100. The situation is well-nigh critical.

Moreover, after a certain limit, the oceans will stop absorbing the CO2 emitted and hence, much of it will remain in the atmosphere creating troubles. Many steps have been proposed to counter this aggravating situation, one of them being Geoengineering – the sustainability of which is in question.

We, as responsible citizens, can do our bit by taking actions which can, collectively, have a huge impact on the reduction of Carbon Dioxide emission. Little steps, like boarding a public transport instead of private cars, can go a long way in ensuring our sustenance.



 changes the acoustic properties of water leading to increased ocean noise and changes in the behaviour of fish that may prove to be deleterious.

The levels of acidification are alarming in the Polar Regions because of the fact that cooler water absorbs higher levels of CO2. On a pH scale, the acidity of

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Pragmatically Speaking Ramanathan K India, as far as the history dates, is a country that has never invaded any other country, has always been looked upon with honour and is known to abide by the most ethical and moral ways. Or is it just ‘known’? A closer comparison between the Indian foreign policy right after Independence and Post-liberalization will reveal yet another side of India. Euphemistically, I will term it as the Pragmatic side.

The most startling shift can be observed in India’s views, what were once unswerving, on Israel-Palestinian battle.

Our great forefather, Mahatma Gandhi, wrote, “My sympathies are all with the Jews…But my sympathy does not blind me to the requirements of justice. The cry for national home for Jews does not appeal to me... It is wrong and inhuman to impose the Jews on Arabs.” So, that was India’s view on this and it maintained a low key affair with Israel for four decades after Independence. Post 1991, after the economic liberalization, India’s need for defence products and services shot up and betrothal with Israel soon followed up. Even though, till date, India verbally condemns the attacks on Palestinians, an ECG of the relationship between Israel and India will reveal occasional Himalayan peaks at times when India is in a need to

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fatten up its military services to threaten its strategic rivals.

India’s relationship with Myanmar (Burma) seems even more indigestible. Till that magical year, India was all green signals for pro- democratic Burma, condemning its military regime. India even honoured Mrs. Aung San Suu Kyi with the most prestigious foreign award, the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding.

By that time, both China and Pakistan had developed a hand in hand relationship with the regime and were enjoying the large natural gas deposits spread throughout Burma. Suddenly, India felt its pressing energy demands and did an unpardonable 180 degree flip. The rapport with the regime ballooned and all ethical and moral values took a rest on the sidewalk as India marched ahead with its own economic interests. After fifteen odd years, Myanmar has only now felt its initial warmth of democracy and if at all it becomes a purely democratic country, I don’t foresee a problem in India changing its jersey accordingly.

Every relationship has a hidden sugar coating underneath. For instance, India’s camaraderie with Iran to meet its oil demands does not fetch a positive

signal from USA, which considers Iran as a potential nuclear threat. India, weary of USA’s importance, is wavering and balancing the see-saw and simultaneously catering to its own needs.

India decided to project to the world that it has the necessary armour both in form of population and capabilities and for that seat in the top heavyweight league, she would now go to any end to meet this objective. Not only India, but also every country wanting to signal its global presence,is acting like a chameleon.

China’s relation with Pakistan to keep India at bay, US relation with Pakistan to have an easy eye on Afghanistan, China’s relation with North Korea (Huh!) are all just proving this growing insidious trend.

Families are a microcosm of a nation.

How a family regards its neighbour is analogous (though to a lesser degree) to how a nation regards its neighbour.

Everywhere, individual needs to take centre stage. It has now become a situation, where the moral and ethical righteousness comes into the picture only after all the needs are taken care of. More and more “pragmatism” seeps through our reasoning brain. Nations aren’t the only entities to be blamed.

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Art through pencil

Bhagyashree Dhawan, Agnitra Ghosh, Ramanathan K, Saurabh Sanjay Joshi 48

If Only

She’s Gone Away

Anish Agarwal

Rohan Modi

If only I had eyes, I could see you.

I have never seen skies, They said it is blue.

Sun, moon and stars I do not know what they mean, It is only the color of grass That I have heard is green.

Filled with emotion, I cannot see my reflection.

To me nothing is clear, All I have is a drop of tear.

Tonight there’s something warm flowing through my eyes, I remember our verses; indifferent to any worldly ties, The promises that you made; the suggestions that I laid; Were not all but blatant lies?

I tuned my strings to you; and you considered it a raid, We never parted; we never had goodbyes, A flash and relationship dies, I thought we were made for each other; I never knew I was just another; Work was never a priority; I always wanted you by my side, But Your Highness was a person who wanted the world kneeling before her eyes.

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Spoiling versus creating our own spoils Ayushi Rohira their happiness on many occasions for the purpose of my luxury. Would I have turned out any better if my mother hadn’t toiled away those numerous mornings tutoring soggy-eyed 6-year olds (guys, tuitions in Class 1, seriously what is the world coming to?) just so that she could redirect her earnings as fees for my Math classes? May be. May be not. When I look back at all that my mother has done for my brother and myself, along with the At 24, I feel highly underprivileged for great sense of reverence and appreciation having lived such a cushioned life – also comes the realization that I will never where my parents provided many pillows be like her. of comfort, ensured I had the best of education and lifestyle and even sacrificed When I become a mother, I probably We may be among the most hardworking employees in the world, but when it comes to being ‘independent’ in the true sense of the term, Indians fare quite poorly. This could be attributed to reasons like the age-old culture of living with our parents, and the undying “maa ka pyaar” that we feel are our birthrights and by harping on which, everything else is taken for granted by us.

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won’t spoil my kids the way my mother has pampered us. It’s a ravenous world out there, and I’ll box up my motherly instincts to make my children realize the true drain that this world is – and show them why they need to stand on their own feet, however little they may be. Yes, love them I will, but I’ll let them stand on their own – to walk on their own, towards their dreams, step-by-step and I’ll be there when they’re about to fall.

Thank you, dear Mom, for all the ‘ghar ka khana’, the handsome amounts of badam

that you stuffed into my mouth – to make me ‘smarter’, for those extra bucks you gave me to spend at the movies, for buying me my favourite dress, for being my never-failing alarm clock and for being my doctor, my friend and my guide. But I may not be as good as you were. Ever. Not because I can’t, but because I shan’t. I’d hate to see my child feel helpless, like me.

To feel sorely lonely, to miss comforting bedtime stories, to fumble hymns at festivals (that resound in my ears in your voice), to depend on the mobile phone’s alarm, to crib about early mornings and to wish there wasn’t so much work to do all the time.

My child and I will be partners. I’ll tie one shoelace; she’ll tie the other on her own.

One plait of her hair will be perfectly braided, the other – she’ll struggle to tighten on her own. She’ll miss school, and then some important tests – and may be a best friend’s birthday or an early morning show at the movies. But she’ll wake up ONCE – and forever after that, to waking up on her own. He’ll save up his own money, my son, to buy his sister a paltry box of Cadbury Celebrations on Raksha Bandhan, instead of that pretty, expensive

pink handbag she would have otherwise wanted. But that’s how they’ll learn not to measure love by give and take, not to put a price on their relationship but rather to cherish its pricelessness.

And someday, somewhere, my children shall be 24. And they’ll write. Or post or tweet – to thank me, their mother. For teaching them how to thank themselves and for not being spoilt, but for being able to bear the fruit of their own spoils.

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Perfect picture of our Imperfect World Prachi Agarwal Princess culture is everywhere. It has influenced our perception of women and also defined the rules of how they are supposed to behave. It inspires movies, advertisements and all forms of public media. It portrays women as elegant, beautiful, forgiving, friendly, caring, sacrificing and pious beings who would never think of ‘crossing the line’ set by the society. And yet the damsel in distress is always hopeful of meeting a prince charming who will come and rescue her and they will live happily ever after. It emphasizes physical beauty and saintly nature. The society expects ‘good girls’ to be stoic of everything happening to them and still appear happy and beautiful at all times. Movies always show the virtuous and beautiful heroine being kidnapped or being ill-treated by the villain after which the hero comes to save her.

Advertisements sell products based on our insecurities and the craving to look beautiful, like characters in the fairy talesbe it fairness creams, shampoos or oils.

Every product claims to make a princess out of an ordinary lass. Everything makes us believe in fairy tales and also happy endings, but is it really true? Should a woman always be expected to look good?

The feminist movement will never support the princess culture. Feminism is the way of women saying to the world to give them equal rights and accept them as they are. And that is the true essence of freedom of an individual. An ideal fairy tale would be where an ordinary girl succeeds on her own terms, fulfils her dreams and is never forced to find a crutch 52

in a man. A woman should not always be identified as someone’s daughter, wife or mother- every woman should have her own identity.

Certain photographs use the princess culture to convey the same message.

These are interpretations of famous fairy tales in the modern century. The princesses see a different aspect of life which was unimaginable before. These pictures strongly convey the needs and demands of a woman, identify with her problems and pose a question to every viewer. Though there are many photographers working on this theme, I have chosen to present and discuss works of Dina Goldstein. She has received appreciation and criticism alike for her photographs of Disney princesses and her works still remain a topic of controversy in many places. I leave it with the reader to interpret and either agree or disagree with my interpretation of the photographs.

Dina Goldstein’s Photography Theme: The fallen princesses This picture shows Snow White in

frustration, caring for four kids while her prince is indifferent to her problems. This is a portrayal of many marriages: while the lady of the house has to take care of everything, the man is indifferent to her problems having done his share by earning bread. This stereotype has not been relaxed even for working women.

One more point to be noted is that the picture still carries the princess trademarkthe princess is still in full make-up and not a strand is out of place. She reminds me of the story of Mumtaz Mahal (Shah Jahan’s wife) who died giving birth to her fourteenth child. What kind of husband could claim to dearly love his wife after subjecting her to pain of child birth fourteen times?

This picture shows Rapunzel after chemotherapy. Rapunzel has been known for her long, thick and beautiful hair which helps her to meet her prince. The fairytale assumes a perfect life (minus a villain) but reality is not the same. People do suffer from diseases which have a deep emotional and physical impact on the patient. Beauty should not be defined in the conventional way, it is much more.

Words like ‘patient, like’, ‘sickly’, ‘pale’ are nowhere wrong to describe a patient; but when used to describe a healthy person, these words connote ugly looks. Is it right to be concerned about looks of a patient who is fighting for life? This has been inspired by Dina’s mother’s illness.

This shows Pocahontas lonely in a room, with lot of cats. A lonely lady with lot of cats is a general way to describe a middleaged, bitter spinster. Pocahontas though, nowhere looks aged, surely looks lost and perhaps disillusioned. She loved a foreigner (whose photo is kept on the side table) who was not accepted by her tribe and subsequently she had to sacrifice her love for the sake of her tribe.

This addresses the issue of marrying under the constraints of caste, creed or religion. The notion of women upholding the honor of the family even through personal sacrifices is ridiculous and should be discouraged. Love knows no boundaries and should not be bound by such ridiculous facts. When such sacrifices are made they usually destroy more than two lives.

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This picture shows Jasmine ready to protect her motherland. She does not wait for Alladin but is self-sufficient and determined to fight on her own. She is not a damsel in distress but a warrior who wants to protect her territory. She is clad in army uniform tailored in her trademark design. She is fully armed and keeps a sharp eye for any enemy around. She is fearless and courageous. This picture warns of changing circumstances and conveys that women do not need protectors now. It is also a call for women to be fearless in this age of terrorism and uncertainty. They need to fight for themselves and protect their rights and selves.

This picture shows Ariel in an aquarium. A child is looking at her with no curiosity- he might be used to seeing creatures like her.

She gazes pleadingly, perhaps to free her of this captivity. In the story Ariel always wanted to explore more and make new friends; she also wanted to become a human so that she could marry the love of her life. This picture shows an alternative outcome. She has been separated from her friends and family and has been put in a show case. Perhaps the supposed love has sold her to the aquarium and did not love her because she was different anatomically from other women. We tend to trust people blinded by love, but it is essential to not be fooled by someone.

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This is the picture of Belle getting a plastic surgery. I see a victim of domestic violence trying to hide the wounds. Bruises under her eyes and a drip being administered to her are reminders of the cruel reality she has to live with. She marries a Beast whom she changes with her love but in reality such beasts may not always change.

He treats her cruelly and beats her. She doesn’t want people to know of it and hence seeks medical help which is the case for most of the women subjected to domestic violence. It is a reminder to the women that love may not always change what is the inherent nature of a man.

Pen and Paper Varsha Poddar I wish to thank Pen and Paper For the times They’ve cradled My silences In their arms Of bold, resilient ink.

I wish to thank Pen and Paper For the times I’ve overwritten Their wisdom, With reckless, Unruly pencils.

I wish to thank Pen and Paper For the times When in storms Of regret, I tried to separate The scars that Bound them and me, All of us, Each to the other.

I wish to thank Pen and Paper For leaking Their inks Like fuel Into my innumerable, Dwindling fires; For at times Stoking these With their Own arms and limbs.

I wish to thank Pen and Paper For blotting My tears Before they fell, By sending up Wisps of words That encouraged And held me well.

I wish to thank Pen and Paper For keeping vigil By my side On nights When I was consumed With fears And dreaded That the light Of dawn Would pierce, And not guide The little Left of me inside. e.

I wish to thank Pen and Paper For nurturing My fingers Into us usefulness, u seful efulne ef ulness ul ness ne s , For helping My mind With its exercise,, And for Providing enough gh h Open space For my heart To just let fly.

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All it takes is a Click !!!

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The Glass Ceiling Bhagyashree Dhawan This is a story from ancient times about a woman, a very special one. Her name was Raziyya al-din and she was the daughter of Sultan Iltutmish, the consolidator of the Sultanate. Iltutmish defeated Qutubud-din Aibak’s son to usurp the throne from the Mamluk Dynasty. The nobles and governors of many cities revolted against him and claimed to be independent kings.

Infuriated, he began butchering them.

Excluding his controversial succession, Iltutmish was an intelligent ruler and he even averted attacks by the Mongols, supposedly the greatest martial force of those times. His happiness was short lived as he fell upon the tragic news of the death of his elder son, who was supposed to be his heir.

the throne as he deemed his other sons unfit for the throne. The nobles were too masculine to bow down to a woman and accept her as their ruler. They disregarded the Sultan’s wish and raised his son Rukn ud din Firuz to be the king. To their despair, Rukn ud din abandoned himself in debauchery and the pursuit of personal pleasures while the Sultan’s widow, Shah Turkaan ran the government. Both of them were murdered within six months owing to their carelessness and cruelty.

Raziyya took this the opportunity to woo the nobles and take over the throne.

Raziyya was not a typical Muslim girl of those times as she didn’t spend much time with women of the ‘Harem’. Instead, she had a penchant for administration The Sultan ruled for a few more years with and politics. She was a wonderful archer grief but with hope that his beloved and and an accomplished horse rider who more than capable daughter will take over would frequently accompany her father in

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military expeditions. She would show her face when she later rode an elephant into battle at the head of her army, which was uncustomary for a Muslim woman and brought her disrespect from the nobility. A shrewd politician, Raziyya kept the nobles in check and won over the rebels. She was destined to become one of the greatest rulers of the Sultanate. She was respected and looked up to. Governors were so awed by Raziyya that they surrendered to her authority and agreed to pay annual tributes.

Though strong and determined, Raziyya had a sensitive side. Unlike any other ruler

of that era, Raziyya sought to abolish the tax on non-Muslims. She also pointed out that it wasn’t right to overburden nonMuslims. She was obviously opposed by the nobles. On another occasion, she tried to appoint an Indian Muslim convert from Hinduism to an official position but again ran into opposition from the nobles. Raziyya established schools, public libraries, academies and centers for research that included teachings primarily from the holy Quran. Apart from this Hindu works in the sciences, philosophy, astronomy, and literature were reportedly studied in schools and colleges. She was a great ruler and also a considerate one.

She did what she was good at. Iltutmish would often say, “This daughter of mine

is far better than the many sons of mine”.

The men of discernment could find no defect in her except that she was created in the form of a woman. It is true that Raziyya was a victim of the prejudices but she proved that as a ruler she was far more capable than the men who succeeded or preceded her.

Women of today also face these prejudices.

Raziyya surpassed these boundaries and moved forward, but unfortunately many women succumb to these preconceived notions and are not able to reach top management positions to show their talent. Our society and culture took a long time to let women be free and fly on their own, but even today the glass ceiling exists. It is a general belief that women do not devote longer hours, so they are deemed as unfit for senior management roles. The reasoning runs in the purview of poor negotiating skills to blatant misogyny to the uncomfortable notion that women just don’t work as hard as men. It is assumed that they are deemed fit only for roles like those of attending parent-teacher meetings and giving birth to babies. On one hand, there is a great deal of goodwill and sympathy towards women. Male managers want more women in their ranks. But then the same men also have deep-seated reservations justifying why women can’t actually occupy top positions. It is depressing to know that the pay gap between men and women is on a rise in this twenty first century of ours.

The pressing need of the hour is to look beyond these prejudices and hire or promote people solely on the basis of the qualities they possess and not on the basis of gender. Companies need to tap the power that ambitious young women possess. A woman is a womb plus a man.

The qualities of loving, caring and sharing in a woman will help in the upliftment of an organization. There is no difference in terms of ability, or what she can achieve.

Sheryl Sandberg says in her book, “A truly equal world would be one where women ran half our countries and companies and men ran half our homes”.

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A Brief History Of Rock Agnitra Ghosh The West 28th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenue in Manhattan, New York, used to be known by the name of Tin Pan Alley. The music publishers and song writers in this street dominated the music scene in the early 1900s. Tin Pan Alley was active in mainstream pop, and gave rise to a national audience through radio and the advent of television. This era, before rock came into being, gave rise to stars such as Frank Sinatra, Patti Page and Mary Ford. This was a time when country music was popular and Nashville was the hub of music.This era laid the foundation for the rise of rock. The birth of rock also owes a lot to the rise of jazz and among other musical forms, the blues.

followed a set script. In fact, improvisation on spot was considered to be an essential part of jazz. Since jazz, in its formative years, grew up in late night pubs, artists often had to change their playing styles according to the prevalent mood. All this would later go on to define the ‘live’ music scene of rock and roll, where artists often changed their own compositions to the screams of thousands of fans. Jazz was the first step towards ‘rebel music’, where classically trained musicians, like Bill Evans, moved away from following strict notations to playing for the public, and at a bigger level, for themselves. As Miles Davis put it, “Jazz is the big brother of revolution. Revolution follows it around.”

Jazz incorporated the characteristic Jazz originated in the early 20th century, ‘swing’ note, and was rooted in blues. among the Afro-American community in the United States. Jazz was notable in Blues was another musical form the the fact that it broke away from popular world is indebted to the Afro-American music. It was, as J.J. Johnson put in years community for. As the story goes, later, “restless”. It was spontaneous, fresh; when these people worked in cotton most jazz players put in impromptu plantations in the South, before the Civil performances.

Classical musicians War, they used to sing wistfully of home. sneered at jazz, because jazz players rarely This wistfulness, this longing for home,

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found vent in the soulful voices that would become an integral part of rock many years later. Music at this time was dominated by the use of acoustic guitar.

At the end of World War II, a curious thing began to happen. A man named Les Paul came out with something called an electric guitar, and a new style of music emerged in the cities of Chicago, Detroit, Mississippi and most notably, Memphis, called electric blues.

Jimi Hendrix would go on to say, years later, “I wish they’d had electric guitars in cotton fields back in the good old days.

A whole lot of things would’ve been straightened out.” Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon played important roles in the propagation of electric blues. Blues used to be the forte of the Afro-Americans in the United States, until Sam Phillips, whose Sun Records Company recorded B.B. King and Howlin’ Wolf, discovered a white boy with a voice only thought to be found in the black community. Sam, reportedly, was on the lookout of a white man “who had the Negro sound and the Negro feel” and on the night of an unfruitful recording session, he suddenly found the sound he had been looking for, in a voice that would change the world of music forever. Arthur Cudrup’s “That’s all right” was aired on the Memphis radio, sung by a fresh voice, who by his own admission, sounded “like nobody” and the world discovered Elvis Presley.

a wave at “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom”, appearing alongside folk queen Joan Baez. The audience, at first, did not take too kindly to the raspy voice with the strong nasal sound beside the stirring vibrato of Joan Baez but the young man, “the original vagabond”, gained immense popularity with “Blowin’ in the wind”.

By the time ‘The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan’ came out in 1963, he had come to be acknowledged as a great singer and songwriter. Bob Dylan’s style was steeped in traditional folks forms and blues and his lyrics were fiery, sometimes scathing, and nearly always challenged things as they were. Bob Dylan defined song writing for an entire generation of musicians. With songs like “The times they are a-changin’”, “Like a rolling stone” and “Lay lady lay”, Bob Dylan would go on to cement his reputation in the pantheon of greats in the arena of rock but in his early days, he was inspired by Elvis Presley and a certain band from Liverpool, that in turn was influenced by him. This band, initially called The Quarrymen, who changed their name as a tribute to Buddy Holly and The Crickets, came to public attention after their first major hit, in late 1962. It was released on a disc, with the track “Love Me Do” on the A-side and “P.S. I love You” on the B-side.

What followed and defined the rest of the decade came to known by a phenomenon

The ‘King of Rock and Roll’ grew up in an African-American neighbourhood and derived as much inspiration from ballads, church music as from ‘hillbilly’ and country music. Bono wrote in a Rolling Stones article as a tribute to one of the greatest cultural icons of the 20th century, “This was revolt. Elvis changed everything — musically, sexually, politically.” Elvis, with his flashy suits, insane fan following and a voice that would go on to inspire musicians for decades brought rock and roll to the world. Elvis once lamented that he could not write songs like Chuck Berry. Indeed, songwriting had become an integral part of rock. Lyrics became more personal and graver issues were addressed in songs. At this time, Robert Allen Zimmerman, a student who dropped out of college after the first year and assumed a stage name, made quite 61

called the ‘Beatlemania’. The four lads, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr went on to record 20 number one hits, win 7 Grammy Awards an Academy Award and, get a following unmatched in the history of music. They built styles and broke them and doled out more music in one album than other artists struggled to do in their lifetime. They experimented vastly with styles, from lyrics to sound, album covers to clothes, hair styles to drugs and revolutionised studio recording.

The Beatles went through a gradual change and their discography presents a study of the birth of rock in itself. The Beatles covered everything during the time they were active, from psychedelic music to use of feedback, from what would eventually become ‘hard rock’ to soft ballads.The band went from popular musicians to artists, starting from their meeting with Bob Dylan in New York who introduced them to marijuana to the last studio album- Abbey Road, a fitting swansong to the greatest act in the history of rock and roll.

Watts and the vocals of Mick Jaggers. The Rolling Stones made blues an integral part of rock and produced music that would easily endure the passage of time.

With songs like “Sympathy for the Devil” and “Honky Tonk Woman”, they moulded rock, along with the Beatles. The late 1960s saw the rise of the wild child of rock as well, who played a right handed guitar left handed and used the feedback from the amplifier to do things musicians had never imagined. Jimi Hendrix’s presence in the scene of rock was like that of a meteor. He came, he played and he conquered. The famous burning of the guitar, which he claimed was a sacrifice of something he loved, remains an iconic image from the 1969 Woodstock Festival.

His untimely death only furthered the legacy of the “Voodoo child”. Jimi Hendrix did something no one ever did, he made the guitar cry. “Little wing”, to this day, remains one of the most beautiful songs.

The Woodstock Festival, along with Crossroads, became an annual celebration of rock. Around this time, a close friend of George Harrison was also making Reinforcing the British invasion in music, waves in England, with his fans going there appeared another band, built on so far as to graffiti “Clapton is God” on the sound of Keith Richards and Charlie a London sub-way wall. Eric Clapton’s 62

playing was different from Jimi Hendrix’s.

It was relatively quaint, built on a strong foundation of blues but was soulful in a way unheard before. America was not far behind, producing a band in 1965 that took its name from Aldous Huxley’s book “The Doors of Perception”. Jim Morrison’s poetic lyrics and his antics on stage drew the band as much attention as did Robby Krieger’s guitar playing, especially on “ Riders on the Storm” and “The End”.

At the time the Beatles were recording their last album in Abbey Roads, another upcoming band had come to record there, then containing, for the first and last time, all the members. This same band had performed as a supporting act to Jimi Hendrix in one of the shows. Syd Barrett’s illness and eventual exclusion from the band formed the Pink Floyd most of us are familiar with.

Till 1994, this band, often wrought with internal troubles and band mates leaving, defined progressive and psychedelic music. David Gilmour’s use of echo and his unconventional guitar playing gave birth to a whole new sound that was carried on from there by other bands such as Porcupine Tree. In the 1970s, a guitarist from the Yardbirds and a man who would become one of the greatest rock vocalists, formed a band with two others under a name that was “the perfect combination of heavy and light, combustibility and grace”. Led Zeppelin was an outrageous act, creating music and walking the scene

of music like giants for an entire decade, until the death of their drummer John Bonham. Jimmy Page popularised the two-necked guitar and Robert Plant’s voice, to the melody of John Paul Jones, was at once seductive and sharp, smooth and heavy. The late 1980s saw the birth of punk, through Nirvana in the United States and The Smiths in the United Kingdom.

The birth of Brit-pop created Oasis and a band from Ireland with a singer whose name meant ‘beautiful voice’ carried on the legacy of rock. U2 moved seamlessly from the 1980s into the new millennium, modifying their sound suitably.

Today, rock is a huge umbrella, comprising many divisions such as progressive, psychedelic, soft and classical rock. This humble article tried to document the birth of rock in these pages. The article would end with the quotes of two artists that sum up the impact of this form of music. Bono once said that “As a rock star, I have two instincts, I want to have fun, and I want to change the world. I have a chance to do both.” The last quote belongs to another eccentric character from the world of rock, who, along with David Bowie, produced amazing music in the 1970s and was one of the greatest vocalists of all time. With rock-star becoming an oft and mis-used word, Freddie Mercury of Queen had declared, “I won’t be a rock star. I will be a legend.”

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Scotland of the East-Truly so

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Light of My Life V. Nishanth Shouri look ok on your face which Too many faces in the crowd…. Still, I can That satisfying loo sense you, Always beside me…Always has made me ttest est my limits…Those approving words which filled my heart within me. with lightness…And made me realize that Too many voices to hear… Still, I can I cannot live without you…I ask again & separate yours from them, To help me again… Is it so easy? out when needed… To pat my back when Has it always been so easy? needed.

When I am jumping with joy…. Or I am sitting in a corner-all alone, You are there for me, To hear me out… To clear away my tears… To hug me & to comfort me.

How can I ever repay this kind gesture from God…Is it by embracing all the love and care you shower on me…And trying to reciprocate all that…I say “try” because I know for sure…

I ask you… “Is there anything in this world..That I can ever get for you… That That a Mother’s love can never be substituted or compared with anything can make you feel happy and content?” else in this world…How should I ever tell But, All you ever ask is my happiness… you, Ma…You are the most important Which, by the way, is completely in my thing in my life… hands..By the choices I make and chances You are my biggest strength and my most I take…Is it so easy, I ask myself… dreaded weakness…You are the “Light” To give you that and see that angelic smile which guides me through thick and thin… on you. That beautiful smile which has You are the “Light” which, ignites the zeal made me achieve everything in life… in me to achieve bigger things…You are the “Light” which, has built that “Nevergive-up” attitude in me…

You are the “Light” which, inspired me to become the “Light” of someone else…

Thank you Ma, for every little thing that you have done for me…

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An Interview with Mr. Arunachalam Muruganantham Somewhere in a small village in Tamil Nadu, there was a man leading a revolution single-handedly, braving social abandonment and humiliation.

With a vision of providing women in rural India with ‘Affordability, Availability and Awareness’ in personal hygiene, Arunachalam Muruganantham went on to build a model for producing inexpensive sanitary napkins. Despite being shunned by family and society at large, he never gave up and continued a long body of research and finally created and patented a machine that could manufacture sanitary pads at one-third the cost of commercial pads. He didn’t stop there. He founded a company ‘Jayashree Industries’, which distributes these machines to rural women, provides them employment and ensures their wellness. Despite offers from private entities to commercialize his venture, he has refused to sell his patent and continues to provide these machines to women self-help groups. With over 600 machines sold across 23 states in India, Muruganantham is exploring international markets and aims to bring the second White Revolution in India. We caught up with this great man after an edifying discussion at our institute and here is what he had to say..

manage their big businesses. They can afford the high level of fees that these institutes demand but what about the common man? We hear so many stories of students from lower classes of society having to drop their studies because of this difference. We have to choose our friends wisely during these formation years. One wrong step can ruin your whole career.

Ridiculed by society and mocked by people, what is the single point of motivation that kept you going?

I have always said in my interviews that I attempted a trial and error method. Once we say we have employed something, we can assume that the probability of failure is high. So, whenever I fail in any of my attempts, I have a conscious feeling as to I am nearing success. I always in the mindset that I am nearing success. I don’t speculate much. I am not in the process of winning a lottery which accounts to speculation of whether I will win or lose. I am developing a product of engineering.

I have a machine which is not working as per expectations. Tomorrow, I will change the angle of the blade or the material or something and it will work. This way, I always keep myself motivated by telling that there is a better tomorrow. By being positive in whatever I am trying, I always Your views on visiting IIM Shillong? feel I am closer to God or rather in the lap Students come from different groups. of God. High class people want their younger generations to get into IITs & IIMs to 67

How far do you think Corporate R&D is What is your take on the typical MBA contributing to the welfare of masses? life?

Companies spend millions of rupees on R&D and that too, it is done by learned people. In some way, we can say that they do their experiments by trial and error. But they term it fancily as research and development. I feel that now-adays all products that are an outcome of such intense R&D are over-engineered products. These smartphones and water purifiers, more emphasis is given on design rather than usability for the masses.

I have talked about this to various professors also. Why should students be kept in classes for the whole day? Let them roam around the city for half day every day. Do not make IIMs like schools.

Leave them to venture outside. Every day ask them what they have learnt the previous day by going out in the society.

Purposefully send them out and let them get few learnings from what they see.

Let every student visit IIMs in other cities and learn something from there. Few What has been your aim in life? months here, few months there and so on will enhance their knowledge to greater When someone asks me what the aim heights. Every institute is ultimately of my life is, I simply answer that it is teaching management, isn’t it? Let the nothing but to gain happiness. And this students get inputs from various regions. happiness is not sold in malls. It is built inside each one of us. Entrepreneurship What do you think is the role of IIMs is something which is inbuilt. Happiness in producing leaders as compared to is inbuilt. Knowledge is inbuilt. But, what managers? is happening is that we are forgetting this simple mantra. All these big universities B-schools across the country are and colleges are there just to re-polish producing more middle level managers, the knowledge that is inbuilt within us. not even executives. I have had talks with All the natural things in this world and the policy supervisors at IIT Chennai about immaculate architecture of temples were this. We discussed at length about how all present much before such institutes people immediately after graduation were built. That only means that we forget start standing in queues outside US about our own inner strengths. embassy for visas. There are not enough opportunities in India and that is why A “Keep Smiling” philosophy.. brain drain is happening.

To address the issue of regaining what we have lost, we have to learn to love.

Always try to bring a smile on your face.

Start putting on that smile for one minute each hour. Then increase it gradually to five minutes each hour. And so on and so forth. You can see immense change in the environment around you once you start doing this. Maybe, initially it will be a fake one. But slowly it will enter into your heart. It will completely change the way you respond to anything in your life. It is another simple way for enlightenment.

Once you are happy, that radiation will affect everyone who will touch your life.

Whenever you are in trouble, laugh more than when you are happy. It is not easy, but it will change your life.

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A few words of advice, sir?

Drop the fear about future. If you are not able to do it, admit yourself to finding ways to overcome the fear about future. That should be the ultimate aim of education.

Reach out to others like your parents, cousins, friends, faculty or anyone who you think can give you that support to bring you out of that fear. With that fear, you can’t do anything.

Wanderlust Gone Captive Sushree Tripathy I’ve always loved writing travelogues.

It’s one of those trivial things that make travelling all the more exciting. The queasiness while packing the backpack, the hurried first step out in the sun, the wind in your hair and those chilling misadventures with nature once in a while; that and writing travelogues. These pieces put together keep the wanderlust in me burning alive. For someone like me, whose eyes want to see it all- all that makes up the surface of this planet- travelling is a privilege I wish to convert into a ritual one day. So much to see and so little time!

When I moved to Shillong, the capital city of Meghalaya, to pursue my postgraduation, this persistent desire came to a standstill. Or so I thought. As every MBA lad secretly loves to brag- I was caught up in the rigor the system puts one through and the only life I lived for over a year got confined within the four walls of my campus and a small stretch beyond. Yet,

as if in one moment of epiphany, I realized this has been one enduring trip in itself.

As I managed to sulk over not being able to explore the realms beyond for so long, I had failed to notice how I had been an unsuspecting, traveler here all along.And so I offer my hand and attempt to guide you into this enigmatic land, through an admittedly imperfect account. For I am somewhere between neither a local of the land nor a complete foreigner.

The belligerent heavens, the majestic skies are probably the only intimidating elements of this land, hard to predict, harder to take your eyes off. Blessed with a room that has a window overlooking the horizon and owing to the erratic sleep cycles of a B-school, I have spent uncountable mornings lying on my bed watching the clouds drift, sketching patterns as they moved, and nights just wondering how futile an attempt to count all the stars would be. The blues above don’t live by their name, changing colors in seconds as if sparked by a chemical reaction of sorts. One moment they are clear and calm, the next moment angered, growling and dark. And oh! The rains!

They have to be the most beautiful here because of the package they come along with. The unrelenting shower, the noise of it slashing against the omnipresent trees, umbrellas in colors aplenty and those ‘perfectly round kids’ (as my friend likes to describe them) clad in school uniforms hopping back home drenched almost every afternoon. You have to experience the rains here- romantic, candid and serendipitous.

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A color kaleidoscope our institute stands on the pillars of sustainability and they say if campuses had colors, ours would be green. The color of balance, of nature and life is what surrounds us throughout the length and breadth of this land. It’s a trivial thing to say, but in retrospect it’s amazing how the landscape here is overwhelmed by this one color to an extent you would only have to see in order to believe.

Equally amazing is how people try to add color to every other aspect of their surroundings. I am amazed by how tiny, dilapidated houses are painted in bright hues, windows and verandahs decorated with vibrant flowers and embellishments, as if each house cries out its distinct identity, how people dress with so much vigor and even bury their loved ones under gravestones of myriad hues.

The paans and the old ladies- they are everywhere. ‘Kong’ we call her, the woman who is the counterpart of our ever-pervasive ‘bhaiyas’ in most other parts of the country. Empowered by a matrilineal society, it is the women and their businesses that keep the city running and alive. Every time you walk into a store, chances are you will be greeted by a smiling old woman, chewing her paan, whose eyes then brighten up in an attempt to decipher every word you say and help get your job done. They are symbols of strength, a source of inspiration, taking on

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their own individual battles behind that disarming betel-stained smile.

Taxis, Music & Football- My mind makes these connections instantly. The primary mode of commute here is the ubiquitous black and yellow Maruti 800 taxi. Once past the haggling, you take a seat inside with friends, packed beyond capacity. The stereo resumes and this epic song from that old-school crazy metal band takes you by surprise. So many times have I taken a bow at the common man’s taste in music here! It’s not without a reason they call Shillong the ‘Rock Capital of India’. How did I get to football, you ask? The way in which the seats, steering and dashboard are decked with football memorabilia only pays testimony to the degree of football madness among people in Shillong. It really is an experience to see the energy of the crazy crowd echoing all through the stadium as their home-based Shillong Lajong (meaning ‘Our Own’) Football Club battle it out on the field.

Food and its fetish- with a tourism based economy, this city has no dearth of good places to eat out in. Besides a wide variety of cuisine and exceptional settings, what is common to all these eat-outs, big or small, is the bustling young crowd and the friendly chatter. The city holds a true amalgamation of food cultures from all parts of India, from Rajasthani chat corners

to Delhi sweets, Marwari meal junctions to Madras Dosa centers, parathas & omelettes fried on the streets to the rich, local Khasi and Chinese cuisine- you just need to know where to look for what. And then there are these small, cozy places located at nondescript junctions where a beautiful young lady works in the kitchen you can look across, cooking passionately without a care in the world. That serving of fresh-baked garlic bread and spaghetti with meatballs will go down as one of the best I have ever had and that feeling of content shall always remain unmatched.

Fashion, bold & inimitable- I remember the first time I drove into Shillong. Along the outskirts, we were fascinated by mountains, lakes and waterfalls. But as we drove into the heart of the city, I was taken aback by the sight of a crowded street on the way to a marketplace. There were swarms of girls and boys, effortlessly fashionable, pacing along with a brazen confidence. Girls flaunting the boldest trends in fashion with such audacity, and boys making their distinct statements through adventurous hairstyles! Theirs is a style that’s hard to ignore and probably impossible to imitate without that kind of originality. I may not be able to dress

like them by the end of my stay here, but I will certainly take away a part of that confidence to display one’s individuality without fear as well as a sense of respect for all things progressive, bold and inimitable.

Often while travelling through the city, even after a year now, I gasp at unbelievable sights of its scenic beauty.

I consider this place as God’s most beautiful painting come alive.Every day, I warm up more to the humility of the locals and their slow paced, content lifestyle. I pick up things in passing that I know will remain etched in my memory forever.

Memories of Shillong, as a traveler and as a native.The time spent here has been that of constant discovery of novelty, of inculcating tolerance and respect for all things different and of unearthing the dots that connect cultures together.

If I were to write a travelogue for every day that I spent here, neither would I ever run out of things to admire nor would this place cease to surprise me, time after time.

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Mama I am coming home Siddhant Mirdha

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Yes, I can remember

I am afraid of the dusk and not the dawn

When I said

But I kept moving on

I have dreams to conquer

On and on and on

World to fight

And now when I can see that

Mom I am not coming home tonight

You were right and I can’t fight

And you told me

I want to rest in your arms and say

Son it’s not the way you see

Let me sleep I am tired

It’s not a spree

You give me supper and I wish

Let it be, Come with me

you goodnight Yes mamma I

It’s very dark outside even in the morn

am coming home tonight!!

IIM Shillong Golf Cup Season-6 Golf Cup Season 6, the flagship event of Indian Institute of Management Shillong, got off to a spectacular start at the Shillong Golf Course on Saturday morning. Shri A.L. Hek, honorable Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Department of IT, Government of Meghalaya, declared the tournament open with the ceremonial tee off at 6:30 am. Day 1 saw an active participation by officials of government,

army personnel and local golf enthusiasts in Shillong.

Meghalaya tourism was the title sponsor for the event. With Meghalaya Tourism being the title sponsor for the event, IIM Shillong looks forward to strengthen its relationship with Meghalaya tourism by organizing events to provide visibility to Shillong for the growth and development

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of the tourism industry. Mahindra Rise, Budweiser, State Bank of India, Star Cement, Golf Lounge and Ballantine were the event sponsors among others. The event was widely covered by its media partners DY365 and Golf Plus Magazine.

The day also saw the presence of Secretary, Ministry of HRD, honorable Shri Ashok Thakur enjoying a day of golf at IIM Shillong Golf Cup. The tournament follows “Stableford” format in the 18 hole Shillong Golf Course, which is one of the oldest golf courses in the world apart from being the largest in Asia. For evaluation of the players, the tournament uses Peoria scoring system.

Khlur-Thma: Annual Management Fest of IIM Shillong Khlur-thma, the annual management fest of IIM Shillong, commenced on the first day of the IIM Shillong Golf Cup Season 6. This time Khlur-Thma was fortified with a series of events. There were four oncampus events namely Professional Golf –The India story- a case study, VainQueur, Touchstone, and Vishleshan. In addition to these there were two video conferencing 74

events named, Shrinkhala, De-Crypt and online events DecipHR, Samuchit, Envisage and Ariadne’s Thread.

VainQuer, ‘From battleground to the boardroom’ is the annual consulting event that saw tremendous participation from premier B-schools like ISB Mohali, MDI Gurgaon, IIM Shillong and VGSOM, IIT Kharagpur. Presenters came up with ebullient ideas that held tremendous business potential. The event was sponsored by ONGC and supported by the online knowledge partner, MBA Skool. The second event that simultaneously shot off with VainQueur was “Touchstone” the annual marketing event that saw extremely competitive participation from premier B-schools like IIM Indore, IIM Shillong and SIBM Bangalore. Shillong Lajong FC supported the event by sponsoring it. To follow suit was “Vishleshan” the annual finance event that gives an individual the opportunity to step into the shoes of a banker. The event was sponsored by NTPC and saw voluminous participation from institutes like SPJIMR, ISB Mohali, VGSOM, IIM Shillong and Goa Institute of Management. The Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), the controlling body

for professional golf in India, sponsored the ‘Professional Golf - The India Story’ an engaging case study competition for the best brains in the country to compete for.

This marked participation from B schools namely, ISB, MDI Gurgaon, IIM Ranchi and IIM Shillong. Shrinkhala, a supply chain case challenge, presented an apt platform for all operations enthusiasts to showcase their skills. This event was carried off in association with SC Next. In addition to this, De-Crypt brought out the technical expertise from amongst all technical enthusiasts.

Ariadne’s Thread, a 24-hour online quiz, instigated the knowledge quotient of all quizzing enthusiasts through a plethora of challenging questions spread across all domains. Samuchit, one of its kind green business plan event, provided a scope to differentiate an individual from the rest by providing innovative solutions to convert a real-time problem into a business opportunity via a path of righteousness.

DecipHR, an HR case study competition,

demanded individuals to don the mask of an HR manager and address pertinent yet challenging dilemma’s thrown at them.

Overall Khlur-Thma presented a series of tantalizing and yet challenging events that brought in an array of diversity and excellence into the event.

Later in the evening, a business summit was organized which comprised two conclaves: the Finance Conclave and the North East Conclave. The topic for the Finance Conclave was ‘Financial Markets: Issues, Developments and Regulatory Aspects’ while the topic for the North East Conclave was ‘Balanced development of North East: Issues and Reforms’. The panels gave insights into the root of the problems and suggested solutions for the same.

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EmergE 2013 Envision. Engage. Evolve. The three words that epitomize the annual Entrepreneurship Summit of IIM Shillong.

Aimed at promoting entrepreneurship – both as a career option as well as a way of thinking – among the students of IIM Shillong, EmergE involves a number of interactions of the student community with entrepreneurs from across India.

Social Entrepreneurship Conclave:

The importance of being responsible – to society and to the environment – while doing business is very close to the hearts of everyone at IIM Shillong. Therefore, as part of EmergE 2013, we conducted a Social Entrepreneurship Conclave that had speakers who had started up companies that look at social welfare first EmergE 2013 was conducted on the and profits second, if at all. The Social 14th and 15th of September 2013. It Entrepreneurship Conclave had three consisted of a Social Entrepreneurship speakers: Conclave, an E-Commerce Conclave, an Investors’ Conclave, Expert Talks, a B-Plan Dr. Parag Mankeekar, Founder Director, Competition, Reveal - the Case Study Neeti Solutions Competition, Blog FEAST 2.0 and various Mr. Arun Krishnamurthy, Founder, other events organized by the Clubs of IIM Environmentalist Foundation of India Shillong.

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Mr. Arunachalam Muruganantham, Founder, Jayashree Industries

E-Commerce Conclave:

of EmergE in both 2012 and 2013. The Investors’ Conclave is aimed at providing an opportunity to the students of IIM Shillong to pick the brains of venture capitalists and angel investors. It offers a unique platform for budding entrepreneurs to know what an investor is looking for.

E-commerce has been a very fast-growing sector in the Indian business environment.

However, with an existing internet user base of 137 million, e-commerce faces a huge growth challenge in the The Investors’ Conclave in EmergE 2013 coming decade. Government support featured four distinguished speakers: for e-commerce is almost non-existent.

EmergE 2013, therefore, organized Mr. Prajakt Raut, VP, Indian Angel Network

an E-Commerce Conclave. It brought Mr. Kunal Upadhyay, CEO, Center Innovation Incubation and together three people who were uniquely for placed to talk about the e-commerce Entrepreneurship, IIM Ahmedabad sector in India: Mr. Shyam Menon, Investment Director, Mr. Anaggh Desai, Advisor, Retailers’ Infuse Ventures Association of India and Former CEO, The Mr. Abhijit Ray, MD, Unitus Capital Bombay Store

Experts’ Talk:

Ms. Rubia Braun, Chief Innovations Officer, Metro Brava Entrepreneurship is perceived as one of the most difficult careers, since one is both Mr. Parikshit Borkotoky, Founder, KraftInn the employer and the employee. One has to overcome every possible roadblock Investors’ Conclave: (and by Murphy’s famous law, every An EmergE staple, the Investors’ Conclave possible roadblock does show its ugly has been organized under the auspices face!) and this is what makes the journey 77

of an entrepreneur an amazingly exciting one. All the guests at EmergE 2013 have had experiences which have made them stronger human beings. Two of those who shared their views were: Ms. Rubia Braun, Chief Innovations Officer, Metro Brava Dr. Parag Mankeekar, Founder Director, Neeti Solutions

Competitions: Various competitions studded EmergE 2013. R€VO£U$N, the B-Plan Competition, saw participation from more than 50 B-Schools. Judged by the panelists of the Investors’ Conclave, the final round of the B-Plan competition saw some impressive plans. REVEAL, the case study competition, involved a live case study provided by Polaris Financial Technology.

Dr. Anbu Rathinavel, Chief Learning Officer of Polaris FT and Mr. Rajesh Kuppuswamy, Chief Design Officer, judged the final presentation round at IIM Shillong and gave a talk on Design Thinking.

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Pre-Events: EmergE 2013 was preceded by a number of pre-events that heralded the E-summit. i-Cube, in association with various clubs of IIM Shillong, organized a number of online competitions. Ace 2.0, the One Slide Challenge organized in association with the Marketing Club, saw some very interesting submissions and was a huge success. Apprentice 2.0, conducted with the Finance Club, was a five-day stock trading competition that was very wellreceived. Optimus 4.0 was an online quiz that was organized in association with the Operations Club. i-Cube itself conducted BlogFEAST 2.0, an intra-college blogmaking competition.

INCUBATOR, the annual entrepreneurship magazine of IIM Shillong was also launched in EmergE 2013.

EmergE 2013 was a grand success and EmergE is now a well-established event in IIM Shillong’s annual calendar and we look forward to it being a success for years to come.

The Podium “Education is the most powerful Royal Orchids Hotels and many more. weapon which you can use to change The Podium Season 2 kicked off on the the world.”

23rd of July, 2013 and continued till 21st August, 2013.The speakers who were part “Nelson Mandela” of this year’s season were These words have only gained more relevance in current times. In today’s era of 1. Mr. Deepak Goel, CEO, Founder, Drizzlin Media competition, the need to be informed and to have a broad perspective has become 2. Mr. Gaurav Mehndiratta, Partner, Tax imperative for survival. and Regulatory Services, KPMG The Podium is an initiative in this direction to invite corporates and change leaders 3. Mr. Sachin Gaur, Founder, CEO, Mobile Harvest Solutions to interact with students and share their views, ideas and experiences and in this process, spark a sense of curiosity and 4. Mr. Mark Driscoll, National Lead human Resource, PWC India inspiration in the aspiring managers of IIM Shillong.

5. Mr. Dharmarajan, VP , HR, Larsen & Toubro The First Season of The Podium was inaugurated on 23rd July, 2012 and was 6. Mr. Sandeep Tyagi VP - HR, Videocon a huge success. Some eminent speakers Industries Ltd. who graced The Podium were Prof. Anil K. Gupta, IIM Ahmedabad, Ms. Judy Manners, 7. Mr. V.K Sharma, AVP, Sales and Executive Director, Asset Management, Marketing, Alkem Pharmaceuticals JP Morgan and Mr. Chandra Baljee, CMD,

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8.

Mr. Satya Poddar, Partner, Ernst & Young

9.

Mr. R. Sundar, Director, Times Of India Group

10. Mr. Deepak Jolly, VP, Communications, Coca Cola 11. Mr. Sharad Gupta, GM and Head, Marketing, Xerox 12. Mr. Rahul Ramchandani, Head, Internet Marketing, Airtel 13. Mr. Jacob John, VP, Branding, Louis Philippe 14. Mr. Lal Sudhakaran, Manufacturing Head, Madura Garments 15. Mr. Kedar Lele, GM, Hindustan Unilever 16. Mr. Kamal Bafna, AVP, Deutsche Bank 17. Mr. Ashok Pandey, Chief Strategy Officer - Airports, GMR India 18. Mr. Lalit Kumar Pahwa, CEO - Auto Products, Escorts Limited

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Mr. Mehndiratta’s session focused on India’s growth story and the impact of liberalization and globalization on the Indian economy. He elaborated on the existing regulations regarding FDI and the way the Indian Government is tweaking rules to put forward a positive image about India in the international market.

He also talked about the potential career opportunities that foreign investments would offer to management graduates and the entire workforce of India.

The interaction with Mr. Poddar revolved around the problems faced by the government & consultants for the implementation of any new tax regime in a country with existing structures and political pressures.

The discussion with Mr. Lele was centered on how to dominate the market through customer development. He conceptualized sales as an art while explaining distribution as a science. He explained the success of project ‘Shakti’, which Hindustan Unilever Limited modelled to empower rural women and capture the untapped rural market.

Mr. Lele also explained the distribution

system of Hindustan Unilever Limited in and experiences and provided insights rural areas that has made them a market into some of the pertinent issues of their domains. leader.

Mr. Driscoll spoke about the changing trends in the work force. According to him, employees are now broadly segmented into the Gen X and the Gen Y categories, and they differ not only in age but also in opinion and approach. The challenge for most organizations today is to bring out the best from both these groups and have a cohesive unit. He also stated that maintaining gender diversity is essential as it adds to the thought process and brings different perspectives to the fore.

The HR Conclave:

Mr. Jolly spoke about the difference between shareholder value and stakeholder value in the context of organisations and how the trend has been shifting towards co-creating with consumers. He introduced ‘the Genius of ‘&’’ which signifies the timeless yet relevant and the modern yet traditional spirit of Coca Cola that has been aptly captured in the company’s recent advertising campaigns.

The Marketing Conclave:

This year, IIM Shillong extended this corporate platform to engage several business experts, to create a confluence of ideas in the form of ‘Conclaves’. Renowned speakers from their respective domains came together and shared their views

The first was the HR Conclave which had Mr. Mark Driscoll, National Lead human Resource, PWC India, Mr. Dharmarajan, VP, HR, Larsen & Toubro and Mr. Sandeep Tyagi VP - HR, Videocon Industries Ltd debated on the significance of HR Consulting in the corporate world. They discussed about the benefits as well as the challenges faced while incorporating HR Consulting in organizations.

The Marketing Conclave had Mr. R.Sundar, Director, Times Of India Group, Mr. Deepak Jolly, VP, Communications, Coca Cola, Mr. Sharad Gupta, GM and Head, Marketing, Xerox and Mr. Rahul Ramchandani, Head, Internet Marketing, Airtel. And they focused on how mammoth businesses keep reinventing themselves with changing times. The discussion revolved around three dimensions: the change in positioning and evolving identity of the brands, how distribution has been leveraged through the years and the role of marketing communication in delivering value proposition to customers.

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Committees Alumni Committee The alumni Committee of IIM Shillong is responsible for strengthening the alumni – Institute relationship and generating synergies from the association. The committee connects the alumni through a self-maintained portal as well as via social networking groups on Facebook through which the alumni can stay connected and be informed about the latest happenings in the campus. This also serves as a platform for the alumni to share the job-openings and refer other interested alumni in various companies that they work in.

The committee actively organizes interaction sessions between the alumni and the participants on campus so that the participants are kept aware about the latest trends and expectations in the industry. The alumni committee took up another unique initiative this year where it facilitated the interaction of alumni of with the current batch via Google+ Hangouts. The committee also warmly welcomes and facilitates the visits of alumni who visit the campus.

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On February 16th, 2013 the committee organized the first alumni Meet of IIM Shillong at Hilton International Hotel, Mumbai for the alumni, which was a huge success. This also helped in leveraging their knowledge and experience for the growth of the institute. Five generations of IIM Shillong gathered under one roof and had a great time! Recently, the committee also started a mentorship program where the first year participants on campus have been assigned two Alumni each, to guide them in their domain of interest. From time to time, the Alumni committee also designs merchandise and sends them across as souvenirs to the Alumni.

Cultural Committee The Cultural Committee at IIM Shillong is dedicated to provide the much needed break that a participant looks for, after endless hours of hard work.

The Cultural committee brings to life celebration of festivals like Deepawali, Holi, Janmashtami, Makar Sakranti & Dandiya in addition to conducting competitions and events. While music and dance prevails during festivals to

Alumni Committee

keep up with the values and cultures of Indian tradition; dance parties, games and bonfires round the year ensure there is no compromise on fun and frolic during the course. Salsa, Hip-Hop and Jazz dance workshop help in unwinding oneself and provide an opportunity for dancelovers to learn different forms of dance.

The self-development programs lend another dimension to one’s personality by developing talents and renewing identity.

The Cultural Committee thus provides an atmosphere of fun and excitement to bring about an all-round development amidst the rigors.

Hostel Committee “A home away from home”, is the caption for our hostel and the Hostel Committee of IIM Shillong makes sure that every resident feels the same way. The committee is responsible for all the day to day operations of hostel, right from the basic needs like food, clothing and shelter in the form of mess, laundry and of course hostel, to recreational facilities like sports, gymnasium and televisions. It is also responsible for organizing “RannBhoomi”, guaranteeing that there is no dearth of days that make you feel very special on campus.

The entire committee had their hands full throughout last year, right from arranging “Ranbhoomi-12” to changing the mess menu every now and then, room allocation for increased batch

size, restoration of laundry system and maintenance of gymnasium. A temporary volleyball court has also been made in the make-shift campus. Also, during the entire academic session, there were several festivities in which, the hostel committee along with interested volunteers, ensured special eatables and other necessary arrangements. The Academic Year 201314 saw the Hostel Committee of PGP 13 being inducted in the month of August.

Seven highly enthusiastic students joined the committee with a zeal to serve both the batches.

Our ambitious plans include revamping of the gymnasium facilities with new equipment, building another recreational room with TT table, carom board and television along with a small library, renovation of volleyball court and new facilities for coming batches. The committee is always committed to make the stay at IIM Shillong a relishing experience, a stay to remember.

Placement Committee The Placement Committee at IIM Shillong strives to provide the students with the opportunity to interact with the doyens of the corporate world and at the same time showcase to the corporates, the immense capabilities of students here. On top of our agenda is acting as an effective interface between the students and the companies and building long lasting corporate relationships.

Hostel Committee

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Placement Committee

To promote a mutually beneficial and symbiotic working environment for all, is the main endeavor of the committee.

We realize the immense potential that corporate interactions have in augmenting the knowledge quotient of the students and thus aid and promote The Podium: A guest lecture series at IIM Shillong, along with many more corporate interactions. Through avenues like live projects, summer internships and final placements, we provide the companies with the best of talent available and to the students the opportunity to realize their dreams and shape their careers.

Public Relations Cell The Public Relations cell of IIM Shillong is the interface of the institute with the outside world and makes sustained efforts towards creating, developing and managing professional relations with all external entities. It is the point of contact for interaction with corporates, other business schools and the media.

It is the responsibility of the PR Cell to organize various events that elevate the visibility of IIM Shillong among corporates and educational institutions. In this regard, the committee organized the first edition of TEDx IIMShillong- an independently organized TED event operated under 84

license from TED. The event showcased some eminent speakers from different spheres of life like Mr. Franz Gastler, Ms. Anna M.M. Vetticad, Mr. Satish Jha etc. They shared their unique ideas and experiences which ignited discussions among the attendees.

It also conducted the fifth edition of Synapse, a mentorship program for the incoming batch of the institute. Along with the Alumni Committee, it organized Nexus, the Annual Senior-Junior meet in various cities across India. Along with the Student Council, the PR Cell was also instrumental in planning and carrying out activities related to welcoming the incoming batch starting from the registration. It played a pivotal role in organizing The Podium Season 2, the Annual Corporate Lecture Series at IIM Shillong, in association with the Placement Committee. This year, The Podium had seventeen guest lectures and two conclaves and had corporates from the likes of Coca Cola, HUL, Deutsche Bank, KPMG, etc. The committee also conducts interactions through video conferencing with corporates from different business domains. Other programs organized by the committee include the annual candle light march in the memory of Shanmugam Manjunath, an alumnus of IIM Lucknow, in collaboration with Manjunath Shanmugam Trust.

Symphony

Student Council

Symphony, the editorial committee of the annual magazine of IIM Shillong also christened as ‘Symphony’, is responsible for striking a harmonious chord with the readers through the medium of words.

The Student Council is the apex student body in charge of the student affairs at IIM Shillong. Office bearers of this nonhierarchical team act as an interface between the student community and the administration. They play a key role between the institute and external parties as and when required. Being the only elected body on campus, they are responsible for addressing and resolving student grievances as well as managing conflicts, if any, within other student bodies of the institute. The Student Council is also responsible for framing processes and activities that will have a long term impact on the reputation of the institute. It also monitors the activities on campus and ensures that they are in line with the institute’s goal of becoming a world renowned centre for management education.

The major activity of this committee is to publish ‘Symphony’, the annual magazine of IIM Shillong. This involves activities starting from sourcing articles from the entire student community of IIM Shillong, developing the content and editing it, designing the magazine as well as publishing it to the outside community.

The committee is also responsible for the promotion and publicity of the magazine among the corporate domain and the management institutions in the country.

The magazine is a platform for budding managers to pen down their thoughts on contemporary issues and management trends, and reflects the passion and zeal with which they seek to address these issues through their learning and experiences. Further, the magazine also gives a glimpse into the life and interests of the vibrant student community in Shillong and their contribution to the country and social community. In addition, the magazine incorporates articles across domains and functions with an aim to provide a holistic perspective on current world issues.

The committee also maintains an active presence on various social media and uses these platform to host a number of exciting contests all-round the year. One such event that stood out was “People’s Poem”, in which the participants had to pen down a poem in which each line started with consecutive alphabets of the participant’s name. The winners of the contests are rewarded deservingly.

Apart from this we also come up with an informal yearbook preserving the memories of the outgoing batch and their life and times at IIM Shillong.

Every year, the Student Council heads the organizing team of the institute’s flagship event, IIM Shillong Golf Cup. It is an unparalleled event that brings corporates and B-Schools on a common platform to battle it out on the green. In its sixth year now, the Student Council has been instrumental in transforming the event into a Magnum Opus eagerly awaited by Corporates and Students alike. This year Student Council has marked the onset of ‘Khlur-Thma’ – War of the Stars – The National Level Management Fest of IIM Shillong. In association with all student clubs Khlur-Thma ‘13 set the stage for 4 on-campus 2 Video Conferencing and 4 online events which witnessed participation from over 75 colleges with more than 3000 teams competing for a prize money worth Rs. 5 lakh. It saw an overwhelming response in the first year of its inception and the intent is to make it one of the most sought after events amongst the students of other B-Schools.

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Clubs bITeSys

bITe Sysis a regular organizer of a potpourri b o of events such as quizzes, contests, a daily bITeSys, the Systems Club of IIM Shillong diary of technology knowhow via our has a vision to provide a platform for digITal diary and live projects. seamless dissemination of knowledge between the corporate and students and The Club provides opportunities to IIM to provide professional opportunities Shillong students to apply their academic beyond the traditional avenues in the field learning to real-world business problems through projects from large government of technology & systems management. entities and corporates. In the past, Further, our mission is to engage the corporates have acknowledged our work systems enthusiasts of IIM Shillong in and appreciated the innovative solution activities that focus on the following key provided by us. areas:

bITeSys

• Maintaining industry connectivity

• bITeSys is working with IBM to help it to venture into new areas in the areas of IT • Gaining exposure to the current & Analytics, Leadership Development & industry developments Subject matter expertise.

• Providing insights into career • bITeSys with the NIC, Meghalaya is opportunities pertaining to the field working on the improvement of the existing Public Distribution systems.

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• The Club is also involved in a SAP e-governance program. In Shillong, we worked with SAP to deploy a cloudbased e-governance solution in Mawlai, a town in Meghalaya. It also involved coordinating with the local area authorities for master data collection and finalized the citizen charter for the solution

ConQuest – The Consulting Club

(Leading thought leader on market strategy & consumer economy), Munish Chawla (Founder Director, NRVESTIN & Virtuoso Sales Solution) , Mr. Sandip Biswas (Director, TMT, Strategy & Operation, Deloitte Consulting) sharing their thoughts with our students. ConQuest successfully completed live projects for Airtel, Deloitte, Knowledge Faber, Biz Research Lab & Zenesys Consulting through which the students imbibed tremendous learning. The tri-annual event, Battleground 2.0, received huge response with over 400 participants & more than 1300 likes on Facebook. Consulting Club’s flagship event “VainQueur”, in annual management festival of IIM Shillong, was sponsored by ONGC & received participation from 350 teams.

ConQuest, the Consulting Club of IIM Shillong was founded in 2008 with a vision to be a Centre of Excellence in delivering sustainable solutions to society by acting as a forum for information sharing between the industry & students passionate about strategy & consulting. It strives to equip the students with knowledge & skills to help them assimilate classroom learning In future, ConQuest aims to grow bigger & solve real-life industry problems. with more reach & initiatives, facilitating greater interaction between corporate The club has activities round the year stalwarts & students building a long term attracting student participation from over symbiotic relationship.

65 elite B–schools pan India. ConQuest reached greater heights last year with EcoBiz its annual magazine Collector’s Edition inaugurated by honorable Dr. APJ ECoBiZ Club is a student body at IIM Abdul Kalam. Besides this, the monthly Shillong that aims at societal development newsletter-Ezine, received articles through sustainable social and business from both students & corporates like practices. In order to bring better clarity Infosys, Accenture etc. We had eminent while deciding which activities this personalities like Ms. Rama Bijapurkar

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club must take up we articulated our thoughts in the form of a vision and mission statement. Our Vision: To become leaders in the field of sustainability through thoughts and actions. Our Mission: Promoting, practicing, studying, commenting on and communicating about sustainable business & social practices for the development of the society. We look at ECoBiZ as a movementa consciousness that must reflect in every activity we do. Our club has been involved in several regular activities like Chetna i.e. spreading awareness about ecologically or socially important topics through posters; Prayaas- an on-campus activity for teaching the mess and security workers and blood donation camp etc.

This year we launched our newsletter.

We will be releasing a newsletter every month to comment on different topics as per our mission. The next important task is to practice sustainability starting from our institute campus. We will be launching the ‘Say No To Plastic Bags’ campaign soon. Some other ‘re-structuring’ activities regarding food and water wastage etc. are likely to be taken up soon. Another important event would be involving the school going kids of Shillong in this movement. They will be learning about sustainability through a workshop that is likely to take place at IIM Shillong during the month of November. We hope to become successful in making a difference.

Finance Club

fest at IIM Shillong, the club conducted a national level finance case study competition called Vishleshan, a multistage event that saw participation from a large number of teams across the country.

Also, there were a series of guest lectures on the current economic and financial affairs of India by senior officials of the RBI. During the Golf Cup Season-6, Finance Club moderated a business conclave on “Financial Markets, Issues, developments and regulations”. Delegates from RBI, Yen Capital etc. participated in this conclave.

In association with ICICI, the club conducted a workshop “Pillars of Equity” that covered topics like the essentials of Equity, Derivatives and Foundation of Technical and Fundamental Analysis.

Further, the Club partners with FLIP every year to organize the FLIP National Challenge in IIM Shillong.

All the above activities have facilitated the students to understand the nuances in the domain of finance and economics and make them better prepared to face the competitive business world.

i-Cube: The Entrepreneurship Cell i-Cube is the Entrepreneurship Cell of IIM Shillong. Conceived as a club, i-Cube exists for the sole purpose of fostering and encouraging entrepreneurship among the students of IIM Shillong and in the local community.

i-Cube conducts the annual entrepreneurship summit of IIM Shillong – EmergE – in September. EmergE2013, the second edition of the E-summit was a grand success. A number of entrepreneurs and investors spoke in the various conclaves and in individual expert talks.

The students got invaluable insight into the challenges that entrepreneurs face as well as the things that investors look for in the business plans that come to them.

The competitions were successful as well For the 5th anniversary edition of with participation from more than 50 Niveshak, a National-level series of quizzes, B-Schools in the Case Study and Business Celebratio, was organized. As a part of Plan competitions.

Khlur-Thma, the annual management Finance Club of IIM Shillong is a student driven initiative that focuses on creating learning opportunity for students outside the classroom and maintaining industry connectivity. The primary activity of the club is to publish a monthly finance magazine, ‘Niveshak’, which comes loaded with quizzes and contests throughout the year. This year the club reached new heights with various new events in its kitty.

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This year also saw the publication of the first edition of INCUBATOR, the annual entrepreneurship magazine of IIM Shillong by i-Cube, featuring a number of sections, including a number of entrepreneurs writing about their experiences of running start-ups in India.

Each year, Koutuhal organizes quizzes and debates on various burning topics, which have succeeded in evoking enthusiastic response from the participants.

Marketing Club The Marketing Club of IIM Shillong comprises of marketing enthusiasts and is driven to expand knowledge about the marketing function beyond classrooms and thereby aid student’s interest in shaping a successful career in the field.

On the cards for the future is the goal of setting up a functional incubation center to provide support to local entrepreneurs and to our own students during the initial critical years of their entrepreneurial ventures. Improving participation of local entrepreneurs and students from local As part of its activities, it releases a monthly marketing magazine - MARKATHON, colleges in EmergE is also another goal. which caters to a subscriber base of over 5000, with readers from premier B-schools Koutuhal and corporates. In its exclusive section The essence of Koutuhal is to provide a ‘Vartalaap’, it has featured interviews of fillip to the power of human expression. eminent personalities like Mr. Al Ries The accomplishment of full-fledged (Author and Chairman, Ries Consulting), managerial skills requires cerebrating, Mr. Harsha Bhogle (Cricket Commentator), coordinating and effective commutation. Mr. Peter Kronschnabl (President, BMW The club endeavours to envisage all these India) and Ms. Nadia Chauhan (Director, virtues, simultaneously taking education Parle Agro) among others. beyond the confines of the classroom.

Besides coming out with an acclaimed The Club organizes various competitions annual business journal, the club is a to hone the marketing acumen of forum to organize debates and quizzes. students. In EmergE 2013, the second The idea is to improve student learning, annual entrepreneurship summit of IIM imbibe a competitive setting and hone Shillong, Ace - The One Slide Challenge the facilities of IIM Shillong participants. was conducted wherein participants had

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to propose a marketing solution to the given problem in only one slide. During KhlurThma 2013 (the annual B-School fest of IIM Shillong), the Club organized “Touchstone” (its flagship case study competition) in association with Shillong Lajong FC. Another popular event by the club is ‘GodSellers’, which is designed to test the selling skills of students in a real market simulation. ‘War of Brands’, organized by the club in October, requires teams to come up with an advertisement concept, in the form of print ads, presentation or TVCs, for various brands.

The club is driven towards achieving its goal of infusing and sustaining the spirit of Marketing and encouraging students at IIM Shillong to be innovative marketers through knowledge sharing, hands-on projects & networking opportunities.

IIM Shillong Amateur Golf Club IIM Shillong Amateur Golf Club is the first of its kind in any IIM. The club which was formally inaugurated by Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam during the Sustainability Conference in March, 2013 has taken forward the association of IIM Shillong with Golf. The Shillong Golf Course where the club activities are conducted is one of the largest golf courses in Asia and enjoys the distinction of being among the few natural courses in the world. It provides a unique opportunity to the students of IIM Shillong in terms of availability of infrastructure to learn and practice the sport that would help them in their corporate life since Golf is considered as a networking tool by the corporates.

association with golf. A major achievement for the club is the Case Study competition held during KhlurThma (B-school fest) sponsored by PGTI, the highest governing body of Golf in India. It has also been actively involved in the organization of IIM Shillong Golf Cup Season 6 which is the flagship event of the institute. With intra college golf events lined up, the club has slowly started making its presence felt and strives to reach newer heights in the coming future!

Opera – The Operations Club The operations club of IIM Shillong, OpEra, is formed of individuals who take a keen interest in the domain of operations management. The members dedicate themselves towards spreading awareness about the recent and prevalent trends of operations management through new and intriguing channels. The club organizes interactive activities, both online and on-campus to generate and increase enthusiasm about the subject and answers queries regarding the same through various online and social media platforms.

The main activities of the club in the past year are: Oper8 – An intra-college flagship operations week event involving participants in various fun filled learning activities was pioneered in February 2013 that saw participation from PGP and PGPEx students. Another initiative undertaken by the club in the past year was the immensely successful Opsopedia – the Audio-visual encyclopedia of basic concepts of Operations and Supply Chain Management to demystify the Operations jargon and making this particular domain of management more appealing to students of management education.

Pravaha- the biannual magazine was also conceptualized and published in the past year that saw overwhelming participation from students of premier management institutes of the nation.

The club being the youngest among all the other clubs has already started creating milestones for itself. The club has been able to arrange regular training sessions for golf enthusiasts (from both senior and junior batches) at the Shillong Golf course where a dedicated trainer teaches them the finer nuances of the game. It has come out with a coffee table book titled ‘Albatross’ where one can find The club also intends to expand its many aspects about the game and also activities in near future by providing live go back into the history of IIM Shillong’s project opportunities to the students of 90

the institute to establish the corporate and academic interface in this domain of business management. It also plans to increase the number of interactions with corporate stalwarts and the students to keep them updated with the latest happenings and gather invaluable insights.

usHR – The HR Club usHR, the HR club of IIM Shillong stands for Union of Students for Human Resources.

We focus on: • Bringing IIM Shillong to the forefront in the field of Human Resource Management • Inculcating atmosphere conducive between corporate and academia • Keeping HR enthusiasts engaged with the contemporary trends and best practices in the industry We publish a bimonthly magazine ‘TogetHR’, which focusses on the recent trends in the domain of HR and includes articles from intellectuals all over the

country. Interviews from eminent personalities feature in the magazine and it constantly keeps the progression of human resources ticking within the institute and outside as well. We had organized events initiating from ‘Pick-aPic’, an online event in association with Google+, which witnessed participation from students from several institutes. It was followed by an intra-college event called ‘Winner takes it all V2.0’, which was an amalgamation of different group building activities that instilled the drive of HR into the participating teams. Podium, the annual corporate interaction session of the institute beheld the HR conclave with eminent speakers gracing the occasion. A poster designing contest- ‘EntHRal-us V2.0’ was organized to stimulate creativity in the minds of the students about facets of the domain. For the annual management fest of IIM Shillong, the club had organized ‘DecipHR’- an event with two meticulous rounds for the HR enthusiasts from the institutes in the country. We plan on having live projects and lectures from renowned speakers to keep the interest in the field of human resources thriving.

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Students’ Achievements 1. Aditya Birla Scholarship Apurva Jain, a first year student at IIM Shillong, has been awarded the prestigious Aditya Birla Scholarship.

The Awards were announced at the ITC Grand Chola in Mumbai on September 21, 2013 in a ceremony attended by top dignitaries from industry and academia.

The Aditya Birla Group headed by Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla, has traditionally been awarding the scholarships to the best of the brightest minds in the field of engineering, management and law. For this year, Aditya Birla Scholarships were

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awarded to the top few elite students studying in premier educational institutes like the IITs, IIMs, XLRI and BITS Pilani.

Among the IIMs, only the top 20 students from IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Bangalore, IIM Calcutta, IIM Lucknow, IIM Shillong, IIM Indore and IIM Kozhikode are eligible to apply. The selection process for Aditya Birla scholars is very structured and rigorous. The participants had to submit a write up of their academic and co-curricular achievements in the first round. The shortlisted participants from Round 1 were invited for interviews .The distinguished panel of judges included

Mr. Janmejaya Sinha, Ms. Sunita Narain and Ms. Vineeta Rai, (IAS) from the management stream. The entire selection process laid significant emphasis on the clarity of thought and the diverse domain expertise of the participants. IIM Shillong in its short span of existence has evolved to etch its mark in the field of management education by winning the esteemed Aditya Birla Scholarship for the third time in row.

2. IIM Shillong student a part of a unique initiative by Grey Parrot Publishers Stories of successful entrepreneurs never fail to inspire us. Be it their humble beginnings or the countless hardships they undergo before tasting success, there is always something that we can learn from their lives. Nitin Srinivas, a second year student, was bestowed with an opportunity to interview a woman entrepreneur par excellence. The joy of hearing a success story right from the horse’s mouth and documenting it for the world to read, has been pleasurable to him. The opportunity came his way when he was chosen by Grey Parrot Publishers as a student-writer from IIM Shillong to co-author a book.

“The proposed book is in the nonfiction genre on entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs spread across states, in big and small cities who made it big with their vision, hard work and perseverance. The book, which will showcase the inspiring story of 30 such die-hard entrepreneurs across the country, is being co-authored by 25 students from 13 IIMs in the country (one from IIM Shillong). “The book” is expected to hit the bookstores by early 2014”, says a proud Nitin.

3. Tata Business Leadership Awards Business As Usual, the team from IIM Shillong comprising Abhishek Sinha, Animesh Agarwal, Sharmin Chowdhury and Sourabh Kothari finished runners-up in 11th edition of Tata Business Leadership Awards, an annual business case competition. The team won a handsome Rs 1,00,000 in prize money. The Chairman of Tata Sons, Cyrus P Mistry, presented the awards to the winners.

‘Synergizing Business Opportunities: Expanding Horizons in Africa’ was the theme of the competition this year. Participants had to identify significant business opportunities and

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suggest an entry plan for any two Tata group businesses yet to set foot in Africa, harnessing synergies between themselves. The cases were evaluated by a jury comprising renowned academicians and Tata leaders.

cash prize, they also won internships offer from YES bank and HDBFS bank. A total of four students from IIM Shillong registered their place in the FLIP’s Hall of Fame. IIM Shillong already in its sixth year of existence, has managed to prove itself time and again with its consistent TBLA is conducted across premier exemplary performance. business schools (campus track) and Tata companies (internal track), to engage 5. Benchmark Sig Sigma with bright young minds and provide them with a platform to showcase their A team comprising Ankit Narsaria, Tushar leadership and entrepreneurial spirit.

Jain, Satyavir Singh, Vivekanand Tyagi and Agnitra Ghosh of the PGP 2015 batch 4. FLIP was declared to be the Campus Winners and qualified for the national round of Gaurav Pilania and Gaurav Kala, first year Benchmark Trailblaze, the national level students of IIM Shillong brought accolades case study competition organised by to the institute by securing All India first Benchmark Six Sigma. The various rounds and second ranks in Finitiatives Learning spanning five days tested the participant’s India Pvt. Ltd. (FLIP)’s finance and banking after technical knowledge and practical fundamentals certification program. application about six sigma and their They scored an all-time high 95.6% and rational decision making capabilities.

94.27% respectively. Apart from a hefty

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Faculty Speaks Dr APJ Abdul Kalam’s (Visiting be given only by three people Faculty) views on converting for children, father, mother and economic growth to social benefit a spiritual environment. Primary

school teacher is another one.

Upto 20 years it is possible to build righteousness in the heart.

After that it is not possible. So, it is very very important for the nation to have righteousness in the heart irrespective of economic development. I am pushing the idea of righteousness in the heart as a part of national The starting point is development. India 2020 vision righteousness in the heart. It can develops good citizens also and not only economic development. “When there is righteousness in the heart, there is beauty in the character. When there is beauty in the character there is harmony in the home. When there is harmony in the home there is order in the Nation. When there is order in the Nation, there is peace in the World.�

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Anurag Dugar

then everything is still calm.

Marketing Department

Students manage the show and they do it in a great way. Through this they learn ‘management’ hands on. This also triggers discussions and debates. The level of interaction is very high, in general and such activities take it to a different level altogether. When best of minds interact with a purpose, it becomes even more enlightening and enriching for everyone.

“It’s been a few months since I have been in Shillong and it feels wonderful. The first thing that hits you is the tranquillity and serenity of this place. I believe it has a very positive impact on the learning process.

Interestingly, there is a sense of peace that prevails here despite all the action that goes on 24X7. From Emerge, the entrepreneurship based event to Golf Cup, the flagship event of IIM Shillong to Rannbhoomi, the sports extravaganza of college, there is so much that happens here, but even

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The dedication and commitment of students towards their careers and the institute is remarkable. It reflects their power and energy which is contagious.

It’s great to be here at IIM-S!!”

Alumni Speaks Jeeva Somasundaram (PGP 2009-11) IIM Shillong was the place where I rediscovered myself. I had no idea why I wanted to do MBA or what I wanted to do after MBA, when I joined IIM Shillong. I chose IIM Shillong almost by accident. However I don’t have the slightest tinge of regret for choosing this amazing institution. Coming from a second tier city in Tamil Nadu, I was suddenly amidst the best students in the country. I would say the competitions and collaborations I had with my fellow classmates was the best part of my experience at IIM Shillong. It not only helped me learn more but it also helped me understand myself better. I was able to understand my strength, passion and weakness. The 2 year experience transformed me from being a shy, timid guy to a confident go-getter. I am now able to do cutting edge research and teach MBAs at one of the best business schools in the world (INSEAD) just because of the confidence IIM Shillong gave me.

Aritra Nayak (PGP 2011-13) Two years of IIM Shillong was just like a dream you want to live over again and again.

The natural beauty of the place is not the only thing that is always in your memory but the way every festival is celebrated with both the batches, the unending set of lectures and the walks to the barracks. Looking back, everything seems to be amazing, the way we learnt and taught each other, the late night canteen and maggi sessions, the thrill of Kopda! Personally I feel the two years taught you a lot more than just books could have and enriched me with a lot of wisdom for life.

Sowmya Ramanathan (PGP 2011-13)

So does a two year PGDM course from a premier B-school make you master business?

Maybe not, but it sure does show you what masters are made of. For one, they don’t do different things, they do the same things differently.

From day one, I realized IIM Shillong was different. Be it its emphasis on sustainability, diverse batch mix that paves the way for fruitful peer - learning and industry as well as academia interfaces.

One year after graduating from IIM-S, I look back fondly at the many experiences that my alma mater gave me- a term we have come to know as “shillonging”. The sleepless working -nights, the looming deadlines, the club/committee activities, the challenging competitions or the many adventures in the lap of nature, and most of all the wonderful friends have been and will be integral parts of what we are today. My biggest takeaway?

Make every moment count!

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Rajiv Gandhi Indian Institute of Management Mayurbhanj Complex, Nongthymmai, Shillong – 793 014 Phone: 0364 - 2308000 www.iimshillong.in

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