"Sleep" In the air tonight!

Just came out of the most gruelling and demanding term, since my entry into IIM. It was a real nightmare this time, I hardly slept in the last 10 days or so. The highlights of this phase was the excellent marketing funda's that came from marketing prof. But with limited time, we could hardly digest what was being told in the class, in one of the most classic style of teaching I have witnessed. There was a video session on intricacies of marketing plan given by none another then Prof Peter Doyle, Professor of Marketing and Strategic Management at the University of Warwick. The HRM classes were also quite good, we came across lots of ingenuity from the Prof. when it came to deliver the lecture. We even played a "duster game" in the class, which was great fun. Apart from that the term made me crazy! The late night classes and then submissions and finally the exams, which literally drove everyone to nuts! I had never imagined that one can sit in the class till 9.00 PM in the night and the very next day at 8.30 am, he is supposed to write his exam of all what was taught in the last 16 lectures or so ,including what was taught last evening ! And that is not the end, I had to appear in other exam ( Corporate Finance) after a gap of 15 mins.So effectively I had 11 hours to prepare for both my exams the very next day ( I had already appeared in two other exam on friday and saturday.The Operations management exam was brutal, that is all I can say about it). I really do not know what I wrote in all the 4 exams this time. My half of the mind was dreaming and rest half was trying to help me writing so called answers. Make no mistake, all is not over! I have still to submit 3 projects by the middle of the next month, to ensure that I move into the 4th term. I am feeling as if my whole energy has been sapped out of my body! Its an erring feeling! I had thought, that I would be able to write blog everyday this time but the moment I finished my last blog, heavens fell on me and rest is history! I still was able to snap some photographs this time but it was all done early morning or late nights! Life is getting tougher here with each passing day and I just expressed doubt to my friend Navneet in Bangalore, whether I will be able to survive this ordeal till Feb 2009! On the other side, my friend Mirnal at ISB Hyderabad just called up and he has started feeling the heat of the course. Today was his first day at class and he could understand what I have been undergoing since last 6 months! I think he is better prepared then I was, as far as facing MBA course is concerned! I am feeling a little drowsy..More later..

Summers and the third term - part 1

Landed in Indore on the night of 17th April. It was unusually hot! I was surprised to find that, I had expected Indore to be cooler then Delhi. On the way to the campus the thermometer in the metro taxi showed 31 degrees, which came down to 29 degrees at the campus. The campus looked deserted, including the MDC our abode at the IIM I campus. Early morning, when I went out for a jog along the famed winding hill road, the signs of the summers were evident all around. The lush green grass had turned golden in colour and it looked as if the grass was just managing to stick to the soil. The trees were either without leaves or looked burnt out. This was the first summer for me at the campus and in all probability the last one, unless some teacher decide to extend my stay at the campus for any reason! The famous fountain infront of the admin block was deserted. I was surprised to see that and the usually well tended lawns were also not in great shape. Just 15-20 days back it was so different. We were having our convocation for the 2008 pass out and everything was its best, including the weather. I expected Indore nights to be cooler but I was wrong! The much famous evening wind " Shab e Malwa" was there, but it was far from the cooler side that I always felt ! Moving towards the hostel block, they had no signs of any human activity. The PGP folks are away for their summers and will be back only in June, I was told. That was the reason why things were in such a shape apart from the heat, that bakes central and northern India during this part of the year. This was holiday time at IIM Indore for most of the staff and the likes !
I hoped that once the EPGP guys start arriving from the next day the things will change at least in our part of the campus i.e the MDC and the classrooms andyes it did! The first thing that changed was the quality of the food at the mess! With few people in the MDC during the summers, the kitchen was operating at its minimum capacity, with guys coming in , it saw dramatic improvement.
We have had 2 days of classes including today's and the work load at present is minimal! I am expecting it to overshoot any day! Till, it happens I am with my camera and trying to find interesting things which have not become part of my photo collection in last 6 months at the campus.With the kind of work culture we are used to here, I may not get another chance to capture the campus in the heat of the summer!

Retail As I Saw!

After attending my marketing class, I was curious to visit and observe how the new brand retail stores and the local retailer in neighbourhoods are doing. Though, many of us have observed such things earlier as well, but this time with something at the back of mind, I wanted to really observe how the two things are working in India. With that in mind, I just happened to drop in the Reliance Retail store, which recently got inagurated close to my neighbourhood in Delhi. Surprisingly, Reliance chose a village on the National Highway called Mahipalpur to open this store. The first one in this part of area, as far as my information goes. This village is known for seconds showrooms of leading brands in India and as a warehouse for all the major courier companies ,as it is very close to the airport. The store is not big in size, much smaller then the departmental stores we find in malls . Reliance has tried to package it quiet well and I think it has a well laid out interiors and shelves, which gives good exposure of the kind of products available to the consumers. The staff is quite young and most of them try their level best to speak in English, albeit for many its first time in their lives! As far as the shoppers are concerned, I found two types of consumers. The first variety is the middle class and upper middle class office goers who stop enroute to their office or home to get their supplies! Such people are always in hurry and they come in and go out as soon as they are done! I found high level of awarness among this bunch of people, because they know where they would find things that they are looking for . They seem to be sort of regulars here.
The other bunch comes from the village.They form the majority here. The villagers here have good amount of cash with them, but for them this store is sort of disney land! I observed many come and move around the store, pick up things, ask the price and go back! This bunch's behaviour makes one amused! I found one elderly villager talking to the store keeper, about why the apples here are costly and what if he takes apple without the packing that is available in the store. He was surprised that he could not bargain as he could do with the vendor on the street! He probably thought, that the packaging is responsible for the higher price or the apples look clean and polished that is reason for the premium. There was another group of ladies who were just moving from one shelf to another and in the end ended up buying nothing! This reminded me of an article, I read on retail in India. It simply talked that Indian consumer is still confused and really does not know, what he wants, when he visits such type of retail stores! He is still evolving. Considering the fact the majority of Indian consumers are like the villagers I saw and enjoyed, I can agree with that statement. Retail such as this are new pheonmeonea and one finds many interesting people trying to come to terms with what is the "new shopping experience".For one , Indians are used to shopping everyday, that is why the neighbourhood retailers sells so well! He is always a call away and home delivery is always free ,moreover he gives goods for credit. Talking about the neighbourhood retailer or the bania, I was surprised to know that my neighbourhood chap knows that I am at studying at Indore and he knows when I am visiting and when I am not! Every evening, I find many people sitting and talking to him just to pass time and this fellow is trying to entertain all. The buyers and "time passers" ! One lady came back and returned a packet of rice saying that she does not find it good, the chap simply took it back and offered her many other varieties. No wonder, such things are impossible at the retail store such as the Reliance's. He also asked her ,about her inlaws health and when her niece is coming back from abroad. I believe this is his USP! The community feeling that this chap is offering is unsurpassable and I can now understand what my prof at IIM said that no matter what happens ,the neighbourhood bania and the retail stores both have great future in India!

Oh Assignments and projects !

This week had been very hectic. I believe everyone was and is extremely busy with completing assignments and projects ,which needed to be submitted before the start of classes on 19th. This assignments and project submission has become an integral part of the life. No single day passes when one is not engrossed in doing one or the other. There seems to be no end to this ,at least till we graduate next year. I just spoke with my friend Harpreet, who is also doing his MBA at Lyon Business School in France and he was also working on one of his assignments . Most of the cases that we are doing at IIM and he is doing at Lyon B School are common. They all have their origin at the mother of B schools " The Harvard Business School".Working on cases is always easy when done in groups. Other thing on which I worked this week was the next issue of "i CANvas". We have got little delayed this time with the issue, probably by few days. My friend and editor Chandan has been spending sleepless nights working with designers and printers in Bangalore for this. Hats off to him! The pressure on me this time has been relatively less then what it was at the time of inaguration. But, I think I will have quite a work once the material starts coming to me for editing and proof reading.
Yesterday, my dear friend Mrinal started his B school life at ISB Hyderabad. Infact, I knew he would really love that place. When we planned for going back to B school, we thought it would be great if we could become classmates. But destiny had planned otherwise. I landed up at IIM I and he at ISB Hyderabad. We may not be together, but I know we will be working closely on many things in the coming year. My best wishes go out to him for his future at ISB and beyond!I also look forward to visit him at ISB in the near future may be for participating in an event or for just a party!!

The "i CANvas" story!

i CANvas, is a B school magazine, which was launched on 1st of Jan 2008. The idea for the magazine came from a very lean and simple chap , we call him Narasimham! Well, the qualities portrayed by the word "Narasimham" are not there in this chap, at least look wise! Each one in our class will remember this guy not only for i CANvas, but also because he is one of the pillars on which our finance universe stands. The other pillar is Prof. VK Gupta! Whenever, we miss out on anything in accounting, we just remind ourselves of Narsimham and Gupta umbrella and things become clear and simple as any thing!The magazine idea came from him and others took over from there. The idea was debated heatedly over and over again for almost a month. Why we need it and what will happen to it after we are gone ? What will be format? etc etc.I do not remember the number of emails exchanged on this topic day and night, and most of them heated in nature! Ultimately, it was decided that we will have a quarterly magazine from the house of EPGP at IIM Indore.Our creative director and born cartoonist from Bangalore, Chandan was chosen as the first editor! This chap spends more time drawing cartoons in class of professors then listening to them! But his cartoons are amazing! The name i CANvas came from him. He gave a long logical story about how "I can" can be transformed into Canvas of the world and so on and so forth, but yes, this name was accepted instantenously! Then started emails to prospective writers and sponsors. Chandan came out to be very thorough professional and he made each one of us work extremely hard for articles and fillers and sponsors and what not.. Myself and Anupam were cursing the day, when we decided to launch this magazine. Chandan was particulary very harsh on both of us.Days and nights went by in the month of December 2007 and ultimately we could see a rough draft of the magazine. It looked awesome, after all it was culmination of our hardwork of last few months and I do not remember keeping awake all the night ,but for this magazine in last 10 years. Director's permission was required for its launch and when we went to see him he was literally filled with awe. I think, he never expected, that we would be coming out with such a magazine, which was not only designed well, but the quality of articles and the theme etc were truly world class! Infact, we were also left speechless! It really came out very well! The launch date was the new year day of 2008! What could we want more! I think the kind of media coverage we had on the launch day was amazing ! Chandan and Narasimham were proud parents of a baby called 'i CANvas". This magazine has received amazing reviews from the readers from the corporate world. We have tried to distribute this magazine to as many corporate leaders in India as possible, through whatever means we could !
The next issue is coming out in April 2008 and I hope its much more exiciting then the inagural issue! And finally its a joint effort of the class which made this possible. There are many who contributed articles, money ,logistics and most important moral support!!Our professors especially Prof Gupta, Prof Ganesh and Prof Rizvi gave us support in form of articles and motivated us to complete this task! A big thanks to them as well!

Third Term and Life at the planet i !

The first phase of the term 3 is currently going on. Looking back, it seems that time has just flown by! We came here in end of Sept 2007 and two terms have gone. I believe it is a fantastic experience for each one of us here. Sitting in classes from 9 am to 7 pm and then rushing back to MDC to work on case submissions, group studies, late night outs etc. all have become part and parcel of life. I believe when we are at the campus, we know we will not be sleeping for more than 2-3 hours at night, so we are sort of mentally prepared for that. Sometimes it becomes too hectic, that you start wondering that what these guys want to teach us by putting us under so much pressure. If it was not the breaks between the terms when we go home, life would have been gone for a toss!

The third term started of well and I was expecting the first phase to be a little easier then earlier. But alas! Slowly and gradually momentum picked up and we found ourselves in the same situation as during earlier two terms. One night each one of us had to finish off 5 cases of different subjects. Few teachers gave us respite by allowing us to work in groups; however the marketing case was to be done all alone. It was a nightmarish experience; I could only complete the marketing case and left the other cases to other guys in my group. The submission took place on time but no one had clue what the other chap had submitted in the same group because he was too busy finishing off his assigned case apart from his personal submission for marketing.
The term also saw the convocation for the 2008 pass out. Watching the lights for the convocation, reminded me that with each passing day ,the day is coming nearer when I will also be part of the convocation black gowns and procession, waiting for that IIM tag to be officially fixed to my name. The ceremony was good with usual speeches from the director and the guest. I wish I could see the entire ceremony but for the case submissions that were hanging on my head! The dinner party after the convocation was good, lots of new and good faces around but the same cannot be said about the food! Anyways, we had a great time mixing with the passing out batch and talking amongst ourselves. I also met my dear friend Pranav from PGP 2008 batch for the last time at the IIM I campus. It is always great talking to him and this was a special occasion. He was an IIM grad now! Sitting with him and talking in the hostel mess, I could feel that this young man is feeling nostalgic about leaving the I planet behind. He was part and parcel of this enchanting place for 2 years and tomorrow he will be leaving to start a new life as an IIM grad. My friendship with Pranav is a story in itself. I will write more on that later.
I really wanted to share the beauty of this place. The campus is over a hill, which recently has been named as "Management Hill", if translated into English literally.The view from around the campus is simply awesome. Miles and miles of greenery and I believe you can see up to 5-6 miles around the campus and even more, which for a person coming from a place like Delhi is unbelievable. The weather here is simply great but nights are unforgettable. There is a breeze which is tender and cool, which flows past this place or rather this city, which you tend to find only in the mountains. Combined with the view at night from any point on the hill, it seems like sky and earth looks all the same. It cannot be described in words only felt and enjoyed. The point on the hill which we had named "Anupam point" has been officially named as Sun Set point. This is an awesome place to enjoy the view of surrounding countryside at any part of the day or night. We named it after the most bulky chap in our class, who happens to be our Class rep as well. This chap has the tendency to walk up to that point, with either a book or binocular in hand and sit on the bench under the tree and either read or watch the views of the surroundings. I sincerely believe with binoculars in hand he was only trying to see the countryside around not anything else!!