Sustainability – A Business Imperative

Sustainable development is the kind of development which satisfies the current needs without endangering the future generations to satisfy their own. Sustainable development is a complex and multidimensional issue, which combines efficiency, equity, and intergenerational equity based on economic, social, and environmental aspects. These three aspects are fundamental to the concept of sustainability and are closely linked. Businesses operate in these spheres simultaneously and hence most affected by the sustainability as a strategic and competitive force.

Sustainability is no more just an issue or a point of differentiation for the businesses. Sustainability has become megatrend which is sweeping the business world off the very foundations they were thriving on. It is no more about launching a campaign or a plan or a vision, it has to be much more deep rooted, much bigger force to reckon with. World over winds of change have already started blowing. Over the past 10 years environmental issues have steadily affected the way businesses are seen or supposed to function. Earlier the only function a business was supposed to carry out was to make profits for the owners. But now it is expected from businesses to create sustainable value for all the stakeholders in the value chain including society.

In this globalized era, workforces and worldwide suppliers are creating environmental pressures. The rise of emerging economies has fuelled the competition for scarce resources emphasising prudent use of available resources. Carbon emissions, water, energy are no more local issues of a nation; these have become global issues as actions of one country affect other nations too. Investors have started looking environmental issues central to firm’s performance and they seek information on sustainable initiatives a firm is taking up. Customers have started valuing those companies more which are genuinely concerned about environment and society. More over government concerns is ever growing over the issues of climate change, food security, energy security, industrial pollution, natural resources depletion among others. This is bound to change the regulatory environment of a business if not presently then in near future. More and more companies are now moulding their strategy and taking up investment in energy efficiency, pollution control, carbon footprint reduction, renewable power which is going to change the competitive landscape once and for all. Venture investing in clean technology reached a nearly $9 billion annually in 2008 and it is picking up again after slowdown in 2009. The private-sector investment into the clean technology marketplace has been estimated at more than $200 billion a year—with fast growth not just in the United States and Europe but in China, India, and the developing world. G20 governments have earmarked some $400 billion of their $2.6 trillion in stimulus funds for clean technology and sustainability programs.

Even if in short term businesses ignore sustainability but in long term it will not be just competitive advantage but a business imperative.

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The need for Eco-Cities: Sustainable living

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More people today live in the cities than villages. Countries like USA and UK are more than 75% urbanised. Cities combined consume 75% of the world’s energy and produce 80% of its greenhouse gas emissions apart from being heavy users of water and producers of waste. However, the disadvantages that cities have created can be reversed by making them a key part of the solution. In fact cities are critical to addressing the issue of climate change and sustainable living because of their nature of having dense urban concentrations of people, shorter supply chains and shorter commuter travel. Research in sustainable development has explored this phenomenon and has proposed Ecocities as the answer to solving migration and urbanization problems.

Eco-cities are designed according to certain principles. Reducing the scale is an important principle. The so-called green codes focus on maximising the efficiency of individual buildings whereas the real gains come from the overall design of the city. Cities should be dense rather than sprawled, with more of apartment blocks and public transport. Similarly, public transport systems do not work efficiently when the city is spread out and commuters cannot easily walk to the bus/metro stop. We need to design our cities based on urban densities rather than size. But at whatever population, the scale of material consumption and waste should be much smaller than in today's cities and villages.

Access by Proximity is another important principle of ecological city building. If enough diversity is close enough, one doesn’t need to travel a lot for life's basics like residence, job and school. The idea is to design maximum access right into the city structure aided by mixed use zoning. Proximity access policies could also include local hiring practices, renting apartments to people who don't own cars and who work nearby, making bank loans available in the neighborhoods from which the savings come and permitting increased residential construction in activity centers and prohibiting it in farther-out areas.

Diversity is healthy. This is perhaps the largest, broadest principle of all. It is no longer meaningful to design for separate “zones” for commercial and residential activity (except for hazardous industries).Our cities today are home to the ultra rich on one hand and the slum dwellers on the other. We need to have more inclusive growth. For example, slum re-development projects help to rehabilitate the poor in EWS housing while freeing up the land for other development. Singapore has created a successful network of hawker-centres across the city.

In the past, a common obstacle for ecocity advocates was the conventional wisdom that anything less than direct automobile access would be bad for business. The mere suggestion of replacing a parking space with a sidewalk cafe would be enough to draw the ire of merchants and chambers of commerce. Over the last decade or so this perception has been changing drastically. With more and more cities embarking on pilot projects to close streets for traffic, businesses are seeing the benefits of car-free commerce. Thus Instead of viewing integrated ecological design at odds with economic development, city planners worldwide are increasingly promoting urban density with a focus on community and people’s connection with nature as an automatic boost to small business and local commerce. This new urbanism combines the strengths of the market with the strengths of good planning and basic ecological and social principles.

Sab waqt ki hera pehri hai – Looming Currency War

“Currency war” (jargon made popular by Brazilian prime minister) has brought out three points very clearly:

1) Too much of everything is bad, even the money.

2) Hard hit every country has taken due to the recession and even the great USA, the most ardent proponent of free market now actually not interested in free market, ask President Obama.

3) With time everything changes including the needs and perception - earlier everybody was running behind capital but now no one wants it.

Third point is going to be the centre of attraction in the article.

The lines from the song “Sab waqt ki hera pheri hai” from the Bollywood movie Hera Pheri is becoming more and more apt with each passing day. These lines mean that with the time all needs and perception change. It were the emerging economies like Brazil, India etc which wanted to capital most in early 90s, and now they want none. Earlier emerging economies were running behind the capital. Now capital is running behind these economies. Who can forget the crisis India faced because of inadequate foreign exchange. It was blessing in disguise for sure because it caused India to open its market for the world and since then India has not looked back. The growth story is there for everybody to see. Clocking above 7% growth is no mean feat, ask USA but don’t ask China.

So suddenly what has happened that caused this war of currency. As usual whatever happens nowadays, it is because of recession root of this “war” is also in recession. Huge amount of money to the tune of 12 trillion dollars as per IMF estimates is pumped by the central governments in their respective economies to revive them. But as an old saying goes you can take horse up to lake to drink water, but you cannot make it drink. So even though money was pumped in the system, people and businesses were sceptical about the recovery and demand and hence demand for money didn’t increase in these economies. Returns nosedived in sync with dip in growth of the economy. The effect is two pronged. Manufactures have to search for market and hence exports become more and more important just not for China but also for every nation in the world as consumption in their economies is not reviving. Secondly investors (read speculators) started moving out of these economies looking for good returns and growth. Their search (Even Google was not required) landed them in developing economies market.

Problem arising out of excess capital inflow is also twofold. As money inflow increased, the country in which it started flowing in, its currency started appreciating making exports more and more uncompetitive. Cost of sterilization kept rising. Secondly markets started becoming more and more speculative and volatility increased as most the capital inflow is portfolio investment. Hence to tackle these problems governments started taking measures to stop appreciation of their currency. Like Brazil’s doubling of transaction tax on fixed income flows. These kinds of measures are being taken by China for years and it is able to keep its currency down artificially to keep up its export competitiveness. Problem now is that these kinds of measures are being taken by every other government. So if all government start taking steps to depreciate their currencies, it will trigger a downward spiral which may be detrimental for the growth revival in the world and everybody will be worse off. Question is in this game who will blink first.

Soon it will be Rime of an Investor – Money money everywhere not a penny to invest.

Dushyant Chaturvedi

Sustainability: Investing in a better future

“Nothing in excess” goes the maxim often heard and taught. But in practice, we have exploited Earth’s resources like there’s no tomorrow. As a result, we are facing the consequences of our excesses manifested in Global warming, water scarcity and ruined ecosystems. Our cities have grown inorganically with huge asymmetries in their development. Just to put a figure to that; 30% of India’s 1.1 billion population lives in urban areas. Of that more than 70% resides in just 10% of the cities. Not only have the resources depleted at alarming rates, they have been grossly polluted.

‘Sustainability’ is the need of the hour. Sustainability is defined as “Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” It’s all about using living in a way that resources serve us in perpetuity. So what do we need to do to live in a sustainable manner? We must reduce our ‘Ecological Footprint’. Ecological footprint a measure of humanity’s demand on nature and measures amount of land and water a given population needs to produce the resources it consumes and to absorb the wastes, using prevailing technology. A lot of green standards abound that tell us how to design our buildings in an environment friendly way. But what we actually need is better planning of our cities.

I refer to an article on building new cities in the 21^st century that compared two cities viz. Barcelona and Atlanta. Both are former Olympic hosts with populations of around 2.8 million and with roughly the same standard of living. Yet, the per capita ecological footprint of Atlanta is four times that of Barcelona! Indeed, Barcelona’s per capita environmental impact is lower than even that of many rural areas of Europe. In India the large cities are already bursting at the seams and every day newspapers are full of problems faced due to rampant in-migration. We cannot stop people from choosing where they want to live and work. The answer lies in creating sensible templates for urban planning.

So what should be our strategy for a sustainable future? We need to design compact cities and stop creating flat urban sprawls. Our Cities should have an optimized circulation plan alongwith an efficient Public transport built into the urban design. Studies suggest that reducing the sprawl and better public transport alone can bring in a 30% reduction in energy usage. Building sustainable cities would involve significant costs in modifications to existing city structures and building new cities. However, sustainable development must be treated as investment and not consumption. Only in this way will capital including our natural capital be available for future re-investment.

Neerad Swaroop

Dr. Kiran Bedi at IIM Lucknow

Dr. Kiran Bedi

Last month, we had the privilege to listen to Dr Kiran Bedi, as part of our Leadership talk series. Being the first woman IPS officer, Dr Bedi has been a role model and an icon to many of us and we all were waiting for her lecture with much anticipation. And boy, did she deliver!!

For my part I was really curious to know how a career Police woman would talk to us about the finer nuances of management. To say that it was a real enlightening experience would not be an exaggeration.


She shared her experiences on her tenure as IG Prisons of Tihar Jail - how she brought about reforms in the management of the prison, and initiated number of measures such as detoxification programs, yoga, redressing of complaints by prisoners and even literacy programs. In just about two years she took up a sick organization (if a jail can be so called) and turned it around into a self sustaining and humane organization.

When she took over as IG prisons the prison was a stinking place, literally, as MCD had stopped its cleaning operations in lieu of unpaid bills. An ingenious idea to treat this waste to make manure not only solved the problem of waste disposal but also helped in growing fresh vegetables for the prison Kitchen. This was one of the many measures which she brought about to transform an apathetic government enterprise to a well run professional organization. Leading by example, she started taking rounds of the prison facilities regularly, pointing out the deficiencies and problems in notices pasted on information boards. Her active interest forced her subordinates to emulate her and to take up corrective actions so that on the next round the highlighted issues were taken care of. She started complaint redressing programs, literacy and counselling programs for the prisoners. This was aimed at gaining the prisoners confidence and to make them shun the path of crime once free. Because according to Dr Bedi, the purpose of the prison is not just to house and punish the criminals but to reform them and make them better citizens. Though she admitted the process was not that easy or simple but it had really started showing results and a number of criminals on leaving prison were reformed, law abiding citizens.

As a good leader she also developed second rung leaders, giving them autonomy, appreciation and due credit, so that 15 years after her leaving her position, the good work is continuing and Tihar prison is still citied as a case-study for prison reforms.

Apart from her stint as IG, Tihar she shared other experiences as well and stressed a lot on “sharpening ones axe” continuously and to always be in touch with lowest level of execution as mantras for success. She also impressed on the importance of keeping a balance between ones professional and personal life.

Her experiences brought forth a number of things to us. She proved that innovative thinking can help to overcome seemingly insurmountable barriers. Also it is possible to have a humane side to management and still be immensely successful and profitable. If one has the will and the determination then the so called “chalta hai” attitude prevailing in lots of walks of our lives can also be tackled. By the time Dr Bedi finished her talk, I am sure there was not a single one of us who was not motivated and inspired by her incredible zeal and positivity to become not only inspirational mangers but above that better human beings.

Posted on behalf of Neha Saxena

Infrastructure in India - An opportunity

It takes just few minutes on a railway station in India to understand what it means when somebody says India lacks Infrastructure. No doubt India has to go a long way as far as achieving infrastructure revolution. The path will be very difficult and will require commitment not only from government but from every citizen of India. What citizens have to do with it? Isn’t building infrastructure government’s job? I think we the people of India now have to come out of this mould of leaving our issues to be resolved by some unknown hand of God. It has to be the society and people of India to come out and build the nation. It will be a painful process and the worst part of it is that those who are going to build it will not be able to enjoy its fruits. Every generation builds for the future generations and that is how nations are built.

Now after philosophy it is time for business. Economics sense says any rational investor will not take up that venture, which cannot provide economic returns. So is there profit in this market? Actually how big is the market? Is there really an opportunity? Well to answer these question just consider this fact that Indian’s eleventh five year plan envisaged Rs 20,00,000 crore requirement for infrastructure development in 5 years completing in 2012. So we are talking about a market which requires investment of tune to 9% of India’s GDP in five years. So at modest 10% return we are talking about Rs 2,00,000 crore profits over the five years i.e. 40,000 crore per year. There are not many industries who can boast of such returns. But are these returns sustainable? Definitely so if we consider the fact that above requirement is expected to remain so in the years to come with growing urban areas, development of rural areas and increasing population.

A back of the envelope analysis of the sector tells us that there are very favourable government policies to encourage investment. There is demand, which is heading north. Competition is yet not fierce. Users are too many and need the services. Suppliers are too eager to cater. So it seems that it is one of the most profitable sectors in India. But then the big question why investments are not coming up. Why it is still lagging?

Infrastructure projects generally require huge investment and generally affect large no. of people while implementation. Risk increases more so when we consider that generally these are long duration projects and for getting the returns investor may have to wait for years. The very nature and structure of this sector makes it a difficult sector to enter.

There are 2 major challenges in infrastructure projects at the moment:

1. Long term sustainable financing for these mega projects

           - It is easier to get the initial funding, but getting a sustained funding in long term is a challenge,

             which causes stoppage or delays in projects.
           - Sources of funds should be increased within the Indian economy. Currently, Banks are a major 

             source of funding. They themselves face liquidity issues in long term. Apart from Banks, other 

             financial institutions such as insurance companies should also come forward for financing.
           - Government issues infrastructure bonds for raising funds. Banks and other FIs can also look for 

             this option, though ICICI already follows this practice.
           - It is important to start generating some cash flows after some time, so as to keep the interest of 

             debtors in long term

       2. Execution Challenges

           - Land acquisition
           - Environment policies very confusing for the companies right now
           - Delays in approvals from government side

It is critical for the success of ventures to take care of above issues and create better models for implementation, models that achieve participation and support from public also. That will be most critical factor above all.

Otherwise years after years we will be standing on the same railways stations wondering why trains get late. And while waiting for the train we will be wondering why India lacks Infrastructure.

- Dushyant Chaturvedi and Rishi Khanna

My Experience In France

The intention of this article is to objectively record my personal observations during my stay in Paris as part of my international module at IIM Lucknow, and in no way to generalize or criticize any specific country or its practices.

I landed at the Paris International airport with tons of excitement, however, my first experience was not very pleasant as we had to wait over an hour to go through the immigration process because there was only one counter for non European citizens (who were around 80% of total present people) as opposed to a couple for EU citizens. It made me think whether the world has really become global in the true sense? I was not able to solve the puzzle of such inefficiency in one of the most developed & powerful nations of the world.

During our trip to the hotel, I saw lots of bikes all across the city. Initially, I was a bit surprised, however, with some discussions and reading, I figured out how by ensuring availability of bikes all across the city, the French Government is really serious about reducing the carbon foot prints of the country. The volume of bikes available for rent itself speaks for the seriousness of the Government about the initiative. We have grown up in India seeing people using bikes extensively, however, with time we gradually started moving towards other personal vehicles such as scooters, motorcycles and cars. I would really love to see the Indian Government’s focus to promote the usage of bikes in key areas of all metro cities. It would not only help in keeping the environment clean but also help in solving the traffic congestion problem. Moreover, it would also help us in reducing our trade deficit by reducing the import of fossil fuels.

My first experience with Paris’s public transit system, which is one of the most comprehensive metro networks in the world, with more than 200 stations spread over 40 sq mi, was just amazing. After having experienced some other big public transit systems e.g. that of New York and Toronto, I could say that it is the one of the best. After roaming around Paris using various Metros, RERs, Trams and Buses, I can comfortably say that this is the way to explore Paris. In India, although we have started a Metro in Delhi, however, we have a long way to go to have its presence in other Indian metros and also in term of cross connectivity with other transportation modes such as buses, trams and rail.

I was highly impressed, after moving around the city and seeing the way the city of Paris has been preserved. The French Government’s efforts to preserve all its monuments are just amazing. The way 3-4 hundred year old buildings are maintained is commendable. It really made me think, “Why couldn’t we do similar thing in India?” The condition’s of some of India’s finest monuments is abysmal. I would love to see a similar passion to preserve our own heritage. The way the whole of Paris is presented as one of the best tourist places is commendable. I feel deeply hurt to see, even though we have so many good culturally rich places in India, we don’t present it in the best possible way to the world.

Finally, my experience with the customer service at various places in Paris has not been very pleasant. After having lived for over six years in North America (US & Canada) and having experienced excellent service there, I was a disappointed to see such dismal customer service in France. However, my experience in Paris made me think, “Why, in spite of being a developed country, is there no focus on customer service in France?” I thought that my ignorance of the language could be a cause. However, after visiting places like Brussels, Bruges and Amsterdam, I knew this is not exactly the reason. I found people in Belgium and Netherlands friendlier and more open to Non EU tourists. Even though people did not understand English, they did put-in their best efforts to understand and help the tourists. I would definitely not like to have the French way of customer service in India.

A fortnight in Paris - IIM Lucknow students' international module

I got a chance recently, to go to the land of pretty girls, tall towers, large palaces and elaborately embellished places of worship. Partly because I haven't seen too many foreign countries and I was excited to do so, and partly because it was part of my curriculum at IPMX (1 year MBA program at IIM Lucknow) and I didn't have too much of a choice, I grabbed the opportunity with both hands.

Now, statistics suggest that it takes an alert person approximately 2 weeks to assimilate an alien culture, and co-incidentally, my visit was scheduled to last exactly 14 days. (Of course, like most other statistics you've come across, this one too, has been concocted on-the-spot, entirely with the intention of sounding convincing and knowledgeable about the point just made.)


So anyway, in the little time I was there, I came to know a lot about the people there. For example, the general impression about people from this part of the world is that they have w-a-y too many holidays and that they never get any real work done. Well, that is slightly true, but only slightly. The new generation is very task-oriented and is changing the work-culture dramatically, getting the job done inspite of all the holidays/ frequent strikes and closures of work. Even though the customer-service is quite literally, pathetic, the general public itself is a pretty helpful lot (which is to say that if a certain individual is paid to be helpful, he won't be; its only when you establish a momentary bond with him/ her, preferably in his/ her mother tongue, that you can hope to receive any assistance).

The country spends a good amount of time preening its history and reminiscing about the "good old days when we used to be a power to reckon with". Indeed, the country does have a fabulous military past, and judging by its considerable number of architectural masterpieces, a better-than-fair cultural heritage. There are a good number of sites of historical significance scattered in the national capital region alone.

Foodwise, the country is a gastronomer's paradise. You can hardly ever go wrong with anything you pick on the menu. And the chef's there love to compare everything with the creations of their brethren in Great Britain. Seriously, if you want to tick someone off, make a mention of the British. "I dare you to. No, I IMPLORE you to", said our professor.

People love to speak, and appear intellegent at the same time (two traits which force them to be helpful on the street, 'coz they'd hate to say "I don't know" to anything).

There's a strong sense of the family, and although it is slowly eroding, it's not quite dead. People love to engage in mind-games, speak without really saying anything of value, haggle... hmmmm..... now that I've started to write about my experience, this could easily be an account of a visit to India by a Frenchman. We aren't too different after all.

Nawabs of IPMX

 

Prof. Archana, Chairperson IPMX

Nawabs of Lucknow and Nizams of Hyderabad are long gone but they have left behind a legacy which still throbs in many parts of India. One living and soaring example of this legacy is ‘Kite flying’. Historians believe that Kite-Flying was brought in India by Chinese and was popularized by the Nawabs and the Nizams (thanks to exponentially more idle time than they knew what to do with J).

Now, why I am talking about Kite-Flying and Nawabs is because it seems that students of IPMX batch have also got some traces of this hobby of Nawabs, lurking somewhere deep down in their hearts.

On the eve of Independence Day, the idea of kite-flying fidgeted, wriggled and kicked inside some of us and manifested itself in the decision that we would celebrate Independence Day by flying kites.

No sooner was the decision taken than helter-skelter kites, spools and maanjha were arranged and at 10 am a battalion of pseudo Nawabs, equipped with shades and cameras, marched towards basketball court. Those who were adept in the art of kite flying took to the strings and those who have tried everything from applying Bernoullie’s theorem to aerodynamic analysis in order to fly a kite but still cannot fathom the secret formula to get it up in the air contented themselves with just holding spools.

Those of you who have tried their hands at kite-flying would know that the real fun is in penchbaazi. My personal theory regarding penchbaazi is that it is an amicable transaction between two parties which follows the double entry system – at the end of the transaction the frustration on one side is exactly matched by the satisfaction on the other side. Oh boy, is it too much Corporate Finance doing some chemical locha in my brain?

After one and half hour of fierce battle among kites for domination of the sky, the Big J (Gaurav Jalote) emerged victorious with team of Santosh Rout and Saurabh close behind him. Batch topper Dushi couldn’t replicate his success story on the front of kite-flying and ended up losing again and again… and again and again …to anybody and everybody. Poor Dushi!

Well, that’s all I have for now.

Manish K

Power of Rural India- Talk by Mr Pradeep Kashyap- CEO and Founder, MART

Mr. Pradeep Kashyap, CEO and Founder, MART

We got amazing insights this Tuesday, when Mr. Pradeep Kashyap, CEO and Founder, MART, also considered father of rural India, delivered an informative lecture on the power of rural India and its role in the growth of Indian Economy. The Q&A session went on as long as the session itself, continuing well into the high tea whereby Mr Kashyap managed to evoke enthusiastic curiosity amongst a normally urban smitten audience. We were all taken by the sheer power of rural India and its role in the growth of Indian Economy over the last decade and the potential for future. Clearly, it is a BIG asset today as opposed to a liability that we had grown up thinking.

We are realizing the potential of the vast market that had been untapped so far. About 70% of the Indian population resides in our villages and they account for 60% of FMCG market, 57% consumer durables and 40% two-wheelers. As the transportation is improving, the villages are becoming electrified and the literacy rate is improving due to heavy investment and focus by the Indian Government, the scene of Rural India is undergoing an image transformation over past 7-10 years

One of the biggest advantages is that rural sector was instrumental in guarding India from the Global Economic meltdown. During the last 1-2 year recession period, there has been no growth in urban sector, but all the growth that occurred in Indian economy is solely due to rural sector. 600,000 villages saved the 5136 odd towns and cities that together make up our country. There was no wealth erosion simply because all the impacted sectors (IT, real estate and stock market) did not have a role to play in the rural market! People construct houses to live, not for investments and of course there are no IT companies or stock markets to bother here.

Going back to statistics, rural India accounts for 0.5 Trillion USD today (this has been the growth until now i.e. in 60 years) and it is expected to cross 1 Trillion USD in the next 10 years i.e. by 2020. This is the total economy for Canada.
In 50 years (1950-2000) we managed to have road connectivity to 50% villages. In the next 10 years (2000- 2010) another 30% villages have been connected! 21% teledensity with 0-> 180 million connections has been accomplished over last 5 years. On an average each family in rural India has a mobile phone today! Could we ever envisage this?

Everything's seem to be going well on rural marketing front whereby domestic as well as Multinationals have recognized the market potential due to sheer volume of population. The only jarring note is agriculture as the farmers are still the poorest with their per capita income less than half of those in any other sector. The service people are definitely the best off. Fortunately the Rain God and Government God ( yes, Mr Kashyap used these two terms ;)) have been very kind over last 10 years and we had 8 out of 10 good monsoon seasons as opposed to an average of 5 out of 10. Toda, the people in villages spend about 43% of their income on food as opposed to 58% back in 2000. This number is projected to further reduce to 33% by year 2020 that is the amount invested by urban man on food today! The needs to the village man are clearly becoming more and more urbanized giving cues to all the companies out there to reach out to this new market with customized products.

The growth rate of Rural India is at an all time high of 13.5% and some of the projections are as follows:
Healthcare: 24.4% today to 55.6% by 2020
Education: 24.4% today to 55.6% by 2020
Transportation: 44.4% today to 80% by 2020
Communication: 3.3% today to 8.9% by 2020

We can comfortably look up to Rural India for leading Indian Economic growth. The only factors that can possibly go wrong are failure of monsoons or a shift in the priority of Government. The latter is unlikely , therefore, we should gear up to a rural economy led growth and here's a message to all the companies out there....come and explore, rather explode the potential of our rural market to reap benefits for one and all !

Unfulfilled demand

In the growing telecom market, we are currently witnessing intense price war among leading operators. The competition in the telecom space initially was about access to large customer base and later on it switched to providing wide varieties of VAS. This was then followed by price war when new player pitched in to the battle. Some of these players timed their entry just before 3G/4G spectrum allocation. Giants like Bharti Airtel, reliance, Tata Tel and Vodafone focused heavily on winning spectrum in their planned network circle, while new players started eating up their market share in every possible way. These biggies in fact were in no mood to get into price war, however, they don’t have any option as they want to retain their market share. It is very much essential to retain customers since they want to launch 3G/ 4G services to this customer base first. They have paid huge license fee and are under high pressure to start earning from the first year itself. In fact, the spending on 3G/ 4G and impact of price war has made Vodafone group to cut the value of its Indian arm by $3.2 billion.

Once number portability starts then customers will find it easier to switch from one operator to another. Customer retention is very important for all of these operators. Under 3G/4G spectrum it is data service which is a major source of income to operators. Operators are crafting their strategy to roll out high end data based VAS to their customer base.
On the other hand the voice communication need of the consumers is not fully met by most of the operators. When we did a survey for our academic project, we found that still basic voice communication plays an important role because of huge potential rural market. According to Gartner India at present have more than 660 million subscribers and estimate that it should grow to 993 million by 2010 with penetration reaching 82%. So there is a clear gap in what people want and what firms in the industry perceive to be important for consumers.
But according to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ analysis aggregate EBITDA margin for core voice services is decreasing. It dropped from 33.3% in year 2003 to 29.5% in year 2009. It is largely because of drastic fall in the call services price due to tight competition. In spite of growing market in to rural area operators are still targeting some of the lucrative circles and making every effort to snatch the share from competitors through price cut.
So it is important for operators to equally focus on voice services even after commercial launch of 3G/4G specific services for three reasons. First it ensures a critical mass of consumer base to launch 3G/4G specific service in a cost effective way. Secondly, call service is the basic feature sought after by every individual so focus into growing part of the market is important. Last but not least, consumers are willing to switch to better serving operator once number portability is in place this helps operators to gain market with least effort.

Source: http://www.gartner.com, http://www.dot.gov.in/, http://www.pwc.com

The Government Business - Talk from Dr. Jaijit Bhattacharya, Director, Hewlett Packard

In the recent edition of Leadership Talk Series, we got opportunity to interact with Dr. Jaijit Bhattacharya, Director, Government Advisory at Hewlett Packard. We all found the session to be quite an eye opener in terms of opportunities that are available for private sector in doing business with government and also typical challenges that are there in this area. Businesses today definitely can’t afford to overlook tremendous potential that is there in providing goods and services to government given the fact that government is largest procurer in the country. 

Dr. Bhattacharya highlighted the need for businesses to be impartial and neutral towards political establishments so that change in government doesn’t put you out of business. Another interesting point that I noted was how can we factor in typical challenges like delayed payments, beaurocracy etc. in our business model itself so as to ensure a successful execution. 

Dr. Bhattacharya also shared his experiences regarding how Brazil chose to deliver cable TV through standardized CAS set top boxes and provided internet services as well through same boxes with the strategy to increase internet penetration as well as to deploy the resources efficiently within the country. He talked about open source revolution and how businesses today are leveraging it in government sector by providing services around open source solutions. He ended the session with food for thought for all of us: ‘Can India develop its own Microprocessor one day?’ 

An Evening with Dr. Rana Mehta, VP Healthcare, Technopak

Dr. Rana Mehta, VP Healthcare, Technopak, was at the Noida campus of IIM Lucknow yesterday (29^th July 2010) as a speaker in their Leadership Talk Series.

Dr. Mehta dwelled on the future of healthcare and emphasized the role of genomics towards the same, saying that a one-size-fits-all drug could make way for drugs customized according to an individual’s genetic makeup, as the science of genomics enters its ‘plateau of productivity’.

Costs of healthcare in the US, he also observed, have risen from 5% of the national GDP in 1960 to about 15% in 2005, but only 65% of the increase has been due to the technology; the rest has been absorbed by the insurance-premiums. Consequently, people from the US (and other developed countries) have started to prefer to immigrate into Asian countries for their major healthcare needs, making for a huge driver of growth for the industry in these parts of the world.

He also talked about the growth of healthcare sector in india. He discussed the various segments of the industry and how these segments are likely to shape up in the coming decade. He also talked about the PPP model for healthcare industry in India.

The students used the platform of the Leadership Talk Series to become aware of the challenges facing the healthcare sector, and the opportunities inherent in it. Students had a wonderful discussion on low cost healthcare in India with Dr. Rana.

The Sound of Indian Ocean

>IPMX is not just only studies but also about experiencing the rich life style that NCR offers. So, a bunch of music enthusiasts within our batch were pretty much up for it when we heard that Indian Ocean, possibly India's most original and cherished band, is going to perform at Hard Rock Cafe, New Delhi. 
And boy.. what a show! I could not fail to observe that there was such a wide mix of audience with quite a few foreigners as well; all simply worshiping and applauding the band. It just proves one point. When music is honest and soulful, people will love it, no matter what the language and style is.

Indian Ocean are continuously evolving, their sounds getting more deeper and soulful then ever. So, when they played song 'Des mera rangrej' (they composed it for Peepli Live), it just blowed away the audience. The song "Bande" (which they composed for Black Friday) also received tremendous applause and even the band was impressed by the quality with which audience did sing-along. Rahul Ram on bass guitar, Amit Kilam on Drums and Sushmit Sen on Guitar are truly rocking. The 2 hour long show ended with their biggest hit "Kandisa" and left all of us wanting for more. 
Being management students, we just can't stop being analytical about trends. So, when Rahul Ram announced that songs from their latest album '16/330 Khajoor Road' are going to be available for free download at their website, I just marveled at the speed at which digital marketing is making its inroad and how it is getting so important for even artists to ensure a comprehensive digital marketing strategy to target prospective customers. Especially for music industry, the only way to beat music piracy seems to be stop trying to beat it and think about innovative ways in which you can offer music to the consumers. So, Indian Ocean will release one song every month on their website for free download and at last will release whole album as CD. Indian Ocean definitely are looking at internet as the way to promote music and reach out to their ever growing fan base. They know the numbers and hence they are confidently claiming that it is live shows that gets them going and not the royalty for the music. So, it makes pretty much a business sense to give away the music for free and let it get popular on its own. Way to go!

Biz, Buzz and Buzy

>Whenever I think of Harry Potter movie Prisoner of Azkaban, I feel jealous of Hermione, the one who knew each and every charm. Reason is that she had Time Turner and I don’t. It helped her in reversing the time and did whatever she wanted. I can’t. The only thing which I wish at IPMX-IIML is to have a time turner or more time.
Now question is when God has already given 24 hours why I need more. The answer goes back to information I read on IPMX site. It said program is rigorous and all the activities at IPMX-IIML are student driven. After nearly 3 months into the program, I had finally understood that it meant a few hours sleep that too with a guilt feeling of going to sleep with so much balance to do. Biz is what at the centre of the universe for us and we all students buzz around it with plethora of activities.

Activities are many starting from studies, projects, assignments, discussions, finance club, consulting club, strategy club, committees, events , terms kick off get together and many more. Now question is how you see this, as a problem or as an opportunity. Edward De Bono the six hat thinker has said, “Sometimes the situation is only a problem because it is looked at in a certain way. Looked at in another way, the right course of action may be so obvious that the problem no longer exists.” And that is what I learn here. It is all about managing, expanding your horizons, think beyond the limits and stretch (Another buzzword from Management Guru C K Prahlad.) So what drive us here at IPMX? Our drive is strong sense of learning, taking the program forward, building expertise on our experiences and achieving our goals.
The rigor is just not culture over here; it is cult at IPMX-IIML.
Biz, Buzz and Buzy are here to stay may be with small doses of booze.

-Dushyant Chaturvedi

Peer Learning and Interactivity

Well, I had heard about the concept of peer learning in B- schools. What I did not know however, was the sheer strength and impact of the same, especially in a case based pedagogy! What we have here is a pool of 48 students with work experience ranging from 6 years to 23 years across diverse sectors and industries, each carrying an enormous knowledge base. An average work experience of around 9.5 years makes it 450 years of experience and wisdom to be assimilated within a short span of 1 year!

We all have sat in classrooms before, but the learning that happens here goes three steps beyond that:

First, we are expected to read the text as well as the relevant case before coming to the class. This is good enough considering that we may have already experienced this or familiar with/ can relate to/ understand such a situation.

Then, there is a group based discussion (typically 6 members in a team) to literally dissect the case apart and leave no page unturned or concept/idea/meaning/reasoning/ strategy that is not understood. Wow, we are at a different level of learning already, one that we had not envisaged or expected to achieve.

Finally, the subject is taken up in class, the discussion/ learning facilitated by a superb faculty, and it just hits you! There is so much more in there........Why, your entire thought process may be required to be turned around. Well, you may be perfectly aligned and start feeling so pleased with yourself at having hit the nail and understanding what management really is. There is so much excitement around... to listen, to share and to enhance the knowledge levels spilling over any boundary that you may have considered.

We may not know it consciously, but we are getting there. The level of emotions due to attachment to particular beliefs runs really high, but the passion to learn surpasses everything as we get absorbed, yet stand out!

At this point in time, I would not trade this year of mine with anything else, more so now after experiencing the sheer delight of being present amidst a brilliant pool of comrades and teachers. Thank you God, for giving me this opportunity at this juncture of my life, and thank you my family, for completely supporting me.

- Parul Agrawal

Hay and Sunshine

>Make hay while the sun shines. Extract the spirit of this saying and one can come up with one's own flavors of it. For instance - 'Cheat in the quiz while the professor is not looking your way'. Though these days you can do better than just make hay in sun and use sunshine to produce what is called clean energy. Last week we performed the rites and rituals which are preconditions for entering a new term.

We had a term-2 kick-off bash. You must be wondering what term kick-off bash has got to do with hay and sun shine. If you are looking for a direct relation, there is none. If you are looking for an indirect relation, there are all the chances of there never being any chances. However, now that I have used it I have to somehow justify it.... let's see... how about -'Celebrate the start of new term while the marks of previous term are not out yet'. There seems to be some disconnect but I think I would leave the pain of living with it to my readers than to take it upon myself to make it more connected.

The bash was inaugurated with treasure hunt. The hunters went around rummaging through water tank to shrubs around the hostel in search of the treasure. This was followed by karaoke and Ad Mad. Thinking this was the moment they had been born for, the besuras like Dushyant (alias topper), Santosh (alias Jordan), Mehul (alias Professor) and many more jumped at the opportunity of karaoke. Ankur also didn't let the chance go by without showing off his tun-tuna (guitar) and singing skills.

Ad Mad saw Vamsi, Sanjeev, Preeti, Sandeep, Parul and Abhishek selling basic commodities/services such as air, railway platform and taxi service from Noida to Delhi via USA. It's not for nothing that one popular expansion of MBA is 'Maal Bechke Aa'. People did get creative and almost sold air and railway platform to us.

Everybody here is an MBA student but some of us have got more of what it takes to be an MBA. For the first time in the history of history and the geography of geography, a quiz competition was conducted to choose ‘The One’. Kaun Banega MBA. To give you a feel of formidability of the challenge, here is a sample question for you-

What is a balance sheet?

a) Something that is always in a state of imbalance

b) Something that throws your mind off balance

c) Something that you can’t balance even with both hands

d) All of the above

Notwithstanding the toughness of quiz, it was made even more strenuous by the serious prize money involved in the game. A sum total of Rs 10 for first correct answer, Rs 50 for second correct answer and grand sum of full 100 Rs for third correct answer is big enough to make anybody lose his poise. Santosh and Neha played well but failed to win any amount. The event reached its culmination with Sachin being the lucky winner who took home a 10 rupee note.

That’s all for this post. Will be back soon with another inside story from IPMX batch. Till then… ciao.

-Manish K

Is MBA “Master of Baby Affairs”?

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It happened all of a sudden!!! I don’t know from where and when I got the idea of MBA.

Obviously, it was a tough decision to come out of the family-oriented routine and look at life differently. The “mother guilt” which every working woman faces right from the day when she joins back to work after maternity leave was haunting me throughout.

After a term at Indian Institute of Management, I have started realizing that it was not that bad a decision. The new perspective that I am getting about the world around me is definitely helping me. I know that the courses that I do here are going to help me to be a better manager, and that was the prime reason why I joined the country’s most aspired B-school for my management education. But, more importantly, I feel that I am becoming a better mother and a better person as a whole. Or am I seeing things around me a bit differently?

Being a mother for the past two and a half years, I feel a baby touch in everything that I learn here. When we got introduced to the case methodology on Day 1, I was delighted to realize that I have already used case methodology to teach my son how to wait for his turn for a swing-ride in the park. As our Prof rightly said, it is our age-old theme/value-based story telling methodology which is in the blood of each and every Indian, thanks to Ramayana and Mahabharata.

The personality theories in Organization behavior sessions are very relevant to all of us, both from professional and personal perspective. We need not think of only workplaces as organizations. I strongly feel that we should have such courses from school days. I believe that our basic character gets moulded during school days and our value system gets a shape in those divine premises. Instead of conducting interviews for parents during school admission, schools can plan for such behavioral sessions for parents (frankly I feel so tensed about my interview for my kid’s admission next year). This will possible facilitate a constructive environment in the family, “the second school” for a kid.

The dedication of Professors out here is amazing. I feel like I am in a Gurukula, where I am very much part of the Guru’s family. Teachers feel free to discuss everything with us, and the level of intimacy is very high. I have to admit that IIM is a place where you feel so proud about India and its culture. The level of intimacy is directly proportional to the depth and width of learning and I am experiencing it! When learning happens around the clock, it emphasizes the importance of time management. Any working mother will admit that time is the most precious gem that she needs. If I can improve my time management skills during this 1 year, that is the most important takeaway for me.

Am I here for Master of Business Administration or Master of Baby Affairs? After Term 1, my take is that both are complementary. The “mother guilt” is reducing day-by-day, though the emotional pull is always there. I am adding value to the manager in me, and more importantly to the mother in me. As an MBA mother, I know that life is going to be stressful, but I am sure after this 1 year of value-based education, it would be eustress, not distress.

- Sreelakshmy G

It Depends

>“It Depends” were the first words I learnt when I entered the IIML- IPMX-03. At that time I didn’t understand the significance of the words, nor the context. I just took them on the face value, that these are the part of the lingo and culture of IPMX. But as second semester is stating its life and studies, curriculum and world cup football is catching with all of us, no other words were getting more pronounced than “It depends” and more and more these words are catching upon me.
Whenever we ask a question to Prof, reply begins with It Depends. Even when the groups start discussing something it starts with Holy words It Depends. Yes somebody can say it is very appropriate way to not to give concrete reply. But I ask are there any concrete replies. As usual Answer is “It Depends”. Life is not a program that works on binary digit system of 1 or 0 but a lot many machines do work. Alas! Homo Sapiens are not machines. Every living specimen of this species is the epitome of complexity with loads of perceptions and beliefs. Hence “It Depends” gains significance.


So what do these two words signify? An apt word to describe it is Possibilities. It Depends simply means that there are possibilities. In one week, mind you just one week my perceptions are getting changed to include more and more possibilities. I think what IPMX is giving us the attitude and knowledge to appreciate the various possibilities. With so much diverse people around having such wonderful experiences and capabilities, the whole viewpoint starts changing. When I was about to join the IPMX, I read in program brochure that one of the highlights of the course was interaction and learning with set of people having varied experiences and backgrounds. At that time I didn’t understand the significance. But now I think I understand it and had become open to explore the possibilities.


I have start believing that it is very much the way life goes. There are no right or wrongs answers. There are no truths and lies. It Depends.


- Dushyant Chaturvedi

What I sacrificed at the altar of efficiency

>Its official - I lack creativity!
Of course I knew that. Anyone who knew me knew that. Anyone who didn't know me but was unfortunate enough to spend a few moments with me knew that. But now, I have something that definitely, conclusively, puts the issue beyond any measure of doubt. I couldn't do my 'creativity' assignment!

It's not that I wasn't up to the stratospheresque standards expected of an IIML detainee, or even up to my personal strictly-middle-of-the-pack kind of mediocre ones, or that I absolutely sucked. I-just-couldn't-do-it!



"The above 5 sentences to be included in any kind of write-up, as long as at least one is innovatively used" is not really a tough assignment. You can pick-up a word and play on it. You can armtwist a phrase into meaning something else by interpreting it in an altogether irrelevant context. Heck, in a pinch, you can look to compulsive perverts like Shakespeare for inspiration on how to intentionally molest something into meaning it should never do.

Unfortunately, 4 hours of sitting and staring at my laptop, sometimes gently coaxing my brain to release its creative juices, sometimes letting it just have its way and in occassional moments of madness, threatening to pull it out of miserable habitat and feeding it to slavering dogs, produced nothing. Nada. Zilch!
The sentences just wouldn't make any sense other than what they did. Words obstinately stayed true to their intended meaning, and any alternate contexts simply refused to materialize.

Then it hit me! Its not me. Its what has been drilled into me over the past few decades of my life. Standardization. Uniformity. Sameness. First by way of school-uniforms, then by the rote of faithfully reproducing textbook knowledge into reams of answer-sheets, and subsequently through subjection to the grindstones of efficiency, optimization and refinement (all similar words, I know; thank you for making my point), my brain has developed a bleeding edge matched by few, but that creative stream of innovation... ideation if you will, has lost its way in the sands.

Oh well, goodbye Marketing; hello Operations!

Busy, busy day

>June 5th, although scoring comparatively low on the acads-meter of IPMX, was one of the busiest days we’ve had this year.

After assignments and various other commitments had kept us awake for the better part of last night, the day started pretty early for most of us. Dragging your reluctant bodies out of the coziness of your sheets becomes far more easier when it is for a social cause, as evident from events today. Roughly 30 of the 48 enrolled were up, about and done with an early breakfast by 0600 hours, a time at which nary a soul stirs on any other day. From that point on, the day took two distinct routes for us, to converge at a well-deserved celebration in the evening.

Let’s Do It, Delhi – We Came, We Saw, We Cleaned





20-odd students decided to spend their Saturday morning practising something recently discussed in class – Social Responsibility. Armed with our indomitable spirit to make a difference, we landed at the Red Fort, to do our small bit to clean the city. The clean-up started with the lanes of Chandni Chowk. Not an eye flinched as former executives from sophisticated backgrounds rummaged around and picked garbage from around the shops. Some curious onlookers were bewildered - IIM Lucknow students in Delhi! picking trash! Is this a unique Prof. B punishment for not submitting your assignments in time?
Chandni Chowk done, it was the turn of the Red Fort lawns. Over 2 hours of back-bending, finger-numbing, sweatwork later, Red Fort was clean enough to be rechristened the White Fort (copyright violation alert!).
Everyone, though, was left with the thought that this is only the beginning, and we have miles to go before we sweep... er, sleep.

Sustainable Transport Rally – 9 kms of ‘no big deal’

A handful of souls were representing the batch at a bicycle rally near Jantar Mantar, organized to mark the celebration of World Environment Day, ahead of the Commonwealth Games to be held in a little while. Our method of transport was bicycles, in line with the preferred transport of the majority populace (a few drove electric cars). There were some initial apprehensions about how bodies accustomed to years of settling into comfortable bucket-seats of their cars would react on being subjected to a 9 km journey on no more than a triangular piece of hard foam. As it turned out, though, we don’t give the human body enough credit where it is due, as everyone reached the end-camp comfortably.

Noted environmentalist R.K. Pachauri was there to address the rally, and left us convinced that he would make an excellent speaker at our Leadership Summit planned later this year (more news on this in a little while).
Catching up on some well-deserved shut-eye, we reconvened to lend energy and enthusiasm to the Leadership Talk session w/ Mr. Ashis Sanyal, Director e-Governance and Sr. Director, Ministry of Communications and Technology, who shared his vision of how India will succeed despite its inefficient bureaucracy.

Finally, the day ended with a party, courtesy new daddies GJ and Mehul. Anand's partyhouse, fitted with a refrigerator, was selected to play host as music blared, drinks flowed and pizzas were more talked-over than eaten, all amidst the familiar background of a mini-storm and the now-off-now-on electricity-supply.

Day's done, though, and the next week beckons with more assignments and projects. Noses back into the grindstone, guys!

Campus round up-1 month at IIML

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Time Flies. I have been experiencing the same, since the day i joined IIML on 1st April. I look back and realize that i am already 10% MBA without knowing. 1 month has passed at a lightening speed bringing along with it various experiences,highs and lows…..
There are new friends, new bonds are being formed, new aspects being discovered about one’s personality, interests,strengths and weaknesses…..The evergrowing pressure of studies, case studies, assignments and quizzes needs to be balanced out by drinking binges and entertainment unlimited. Sports is always the saviour specially playing tennis under the floodlights or sweating it out on the treadmill and weight training…
Elections are the norm of the curriculum with the class voting for the candidates electing the Class Representative, Events Committee, Industrial Interaction committee…and now Placement Committee in a couple of days( Yours truly is vying for a place in the placecom)
The Mess committee is working hard to ensure that the food is of top quality and the students are fit and fine to take on the rigour of the program. Mailbox is overflowing with flow of information.
The results of the quiz ( Management Accounting and Marketing) have also been revealed, with Mixed emotions for the class. Some have really gone into a shell and are slogging it hard to maintain the grades, and some have become relaxed and think they have figured out ways to manage the grades. The poor souls ( including me) dont know that the smart professors always have a card up their sleeve to fox us, ensuring that we never relax and the rigour is maintained.
On a personal front it was satisfying to get good grades both in MAN-AC and MKTG.Hope the trend continues. I have rediscoverd my passion for Table Tennis and tend to play a game or two whenever there is an opportunity. The New found love of hiiting the GYM is intoxicating. Pumping up iron and sweating on the treadmill is very satisfying..The late nights have come back and am always trying to find time to catch up on sleep.
All in all the experience has been very enriching.Just waiting for our IIML Tshirts ( designed by yours truly in tandem with a Friend) before we can proudly wear them to various occasions. The Leadership Talk series would start very soon and it would get even more difficult to find time beyond classes, but as they say Live life to the fullest.Thats what am doing, soaking in pressure and improving my time management skills. Hope by the end of the year i would be a Readymade MANAGER, rearing to get back to the industry with renewed skills and weapons…unleashing the knowledge learnt at this Mecca of Management- IIML

Why 1 Yr MBA at IIML..???

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Many say it would have been a tough decision for me forgoing admission to Dual Degree MBA from Hong Kong University & London Business School ( Ranked No 1 in the world) and Singapore in favour of IIM Lucknow, but i guess the decision was very simple. I have grown up in a family where education is of paramount importance, and for any middle class boy there are no names bigger than IIT & IIM, so when i got the coveted seat at IIM Lucknow ( i am born and brought up in Lucknow) it was a dream come true. Also apart from the dream coming true, there are various merits in choosing Lucknow.

The 1 year Program ( IPMX) is basically an International Management program and is covered at various locations.

1/ Lucknow Campus
2/ Newly established satellite campus at Noida
3/ International Immersion -which would be in Europe this year. Prior batches had gone to McGill university Canada.

There are various advantages of studying at various locations. The Noida/NCR chapter brings us closer to the industry and leverages the Delhi advantage. CEO conclave, HR summits, Leadership Talk series, Guest lectures by eminent faculty and industry people really add value to the curriculum. The Lucknow chapter instills the rigour and knowledge base in the students, and the International chapter brings cross cultural skills and international exposure for the batch. Though 80% of the batch has international exposure, collective learning internationally would be an add on advantage, not to forget the fun element.

The faculty have thought deeply about the program and have made all the possible efforts to make this program truly International, in line with the name- International Program in Management.

I am glad i made the choice, and now i am a proud student at IIML and would be an IIML alumni for life. I hope i would be able to make seizable contributions to my alma mater in future..!!!

Ab Bas!

>The post having been selected for NewsLetter consideration (competition) has been removed from public consumption; Sorry about that...anurag

Already Nostalgic

>IMPX 2010-11 results started trickling in couple of days back. Moments of ecstasy for some, of agony for others, but what's in it for me? Plenty, I realize! Time flew by at IIM Lucknow Noida Campus and it never dawned upon me that my time here is almost over. A wave of nostalgia hits me, hits me hard!
Around this time in 09, I was on PG trying to seek guidance from IPMX01, fellow admits and a few I-know-all-kinda-puys. Here I am in Jan '10, the enthusiastic IPMX03 admits.That I wanted to join L was crystal clear to me; however, the last moment butterflies-in-stomach syndrome troubles even a Tendulkar when he nears a century :=)
How wrong I was to visualize myself hitting a century when I received an admit- admission was actually taking fresh guard. Coming months of Feb n' March will reveal if I score a big century or not (alignment of dream job to actual offer).
2/Feb/09 it was when my resignation was deemed to have been submitted, although I sent my mail on 31/Jan (no credits for reasoning why). April Fools' day was my last day at office. The events are so fresh, the people then are so very part of my today's life, Pune still is the home for my children who believe they're on a vacation, my (ex) landlord just chatted with me yesterday......hey, come on, that 1 year has gone by ain't possible!

Sadly, the year has flown by...How we try hold on to happy associations...listening to 'Puraani Jeans aur Guitar' over and over does not introduce a 'Ctrl-Z' in life.
There shall be no case preparations, no group projects, no Prof's taking sessions, no preparation for exams, no pattey-shattey, no late night binges, no more student driven activities, no Tot mall, no Winsor street-Shipra mall, no more travel hassles to Delhi-Gurgaon, no Gulab Jamuns in mess, certainly no Non-Veg 4 times a week....certainly not in the IIM L Noida campus settings.
Anurag, it is time to move on; time to get your dream job; time to say goodbye to all; time to packup here and unpack somewhere else; and do not forget that time waits for none.

Thank You IPMX...you've transformed my life...you are now a part of me, try as much as this world to separate us...
...Three cheers for IPMX...Ready yourself to conquer the big bad corporate world...