Controlling one’s ecstasy is tough, particularly when you are in situations which demand a specific code of conduct. I was in the middle of a client conference call when the first of the two emails from the admission team of IIM Bangalore showed up on my mobile phone screen. I could never forget the next few minutes, which, by the way, felt like an eternity! I clearly recall how I kept myself composed, excused myself from that meeting just to read and re-read the offer of the admission. I was…
05 February, 2019, Bengaluru: Imagine, you are nineteen years old. One morning, you wake up and realize that you cannot see. You are in a state of disbelief and people tell you that the blind can only make cane furniture or be telephone operators. But you refuse to be corralled. You believe you can do much more, and you actually do. This is the story of Divyanshu Ganatra, for whom achieving firsts and setting records is par for the course. He is the first blind Indian to paraglide solo, the…
28 January, 2019: It was an unusually cold Republic Day morning in 2013. At 3:00 am, a Dhrupad concert was in progress, and some of my friends and I settled in eagerly awaiting Bombay Jayashree who had just then been nominated for the Oscars for her rendition in the movie – Life of Pi. Her concert was short due to the severity of the weather, but there was something about the experience that morning which left a profound impression. The initial push to attend Yamini was an opportunity to visit…
Dark above the world, under this scenic sky, We feel the frostiness of snow, with moonlight as a spy. We finished our mission, and assembled as a group, Warming our hands, cherishing a cup of soup. Came our trek leader, who was a local host, Frightening us all, with his tale of ghosts. Every mountain has its story, he said with a smile, This landscape creates memories, with every passing mile. Away from home, with phones free from network, This nature-imposed isolation acted as a perk. Little did…
07 January, 2019, Bengaluru: I am a student of the 2017-19 batch of the Post Graduate Programme in Enterprise Management (PGPEM) at IIM Bangalore. Like most of the PGPEM aspirants, I joined the programme to keep career plateau at bay. I perceived that IIMB is a big brand and creating a career pivot based on an IIMB education would be smooth sailing. Although I did not know the destination (my next career move), I was confident that I would figure that out during the two-year journey at IIMB. At the…
27 December, 2018, Bengaluru: When I joined the Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management (EPGP) at IIM Bangalore, I was sure of two things – I wanted to earn my MBA and I wanted to win a national competition, something that I had missed out during my undergraduate days. Little did I know that my exploits would take me out of India! The journey began when Abhishek, a classmate, was on the lookout for teammates to participate in the Global Marketing Competition, organized by ESIC Business & Marketing School, Spain.…
21 December, 2018, Bengaluru: As a child I used to long for adventures in cool, faraway lands. As I grew older, I felt drawn towards the Himalayan mountains. So, when I got the opportunity as a student of the Post Graduate Programme in Enterprise Management (PGPEM) at IIM Bangalore for the Himalayan Mountain Challenge (HMC) course, I was delighted. The Himalayan Mountain Challenge (HMC) coursework, designed for practical learning, had a calming effect and we surrendered to the pristine beauty of the mountains. Yes…still loads of waste may remain on…
“Israel – a country of 7.1 million, only 60 years old, surrounded by enemies, in a constant state of war since its founding, with no natural resources – produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada, and the UK.” IIM Bangalore’s EPGP (Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management) provided me with a unique opportunity to learn and appreciate the complementary strengths of India and Israel in the world of business and technology, through a field trip that took place from November 27 to…
22 October, 2018, Bengaluru: “It doesn’t matter if a cat is black or white; as long as it catches mice, it’s a good cat” – Deng Xiaoping. I murmured the above lines by visionary politician Deng Xiaoping to myself as I began my return journey by the maglev train to the Shanghai airport. As a student of business, I was very eager to know more about China and its impact on the world economy. I wanted to experience China close up and IIMB, being the only Indian member school of…
22 October, 2018, Bengaluru: The land of Karl Marx and Albert Einstein – Germany, at first mention, might be conceived as a region of phenomenal engineering capabilities with organized labor unions, but it is slowly trying to outgrow this reputation and be the torchbearer of the new economic realm. The classroom was perfectly set with 40 candidates from 12 top universities of the world including Yale, IE, and EGADE, to discuss the rather complex topic, ‘Germany 4.0: ‘Mittelstand’ and Entrepreneurship’. A city which brought down the Berlin Wall has once…