On a Sporting Pilgrimmage

Gopichandar reports from Paris
After incessant threats from Media Cell, I have finally gotten down to writing something for the K Blog. I guess everyone knows that French cuisine is out of the world (some personal disagreement) and that French women are beautiful (no disagreements at all!!) but probably unknown is the fact that France boasts of the greatest sport lovers in the world. They hosted what is easily the best rugby world cup ever with matches like even Tonga vs. America filled with beer drinking French supporters dressed in costumes ranging from Asterix & Obelix to George Bush. Here is a rundown on my encounters with sports in Europe.

Venue: Parc De Princes
Match: PSG vs Bordeaux

It was my first soccer match and I landed up couple of hours early with a lot of expectation, and I wasn’t disappointed. Unlike the blessed souls in London which has ten clubs in the EPL, PSG is the only club in Paris and not surprisingly it is very well supported. The crowds had gathered early and were waiting patiently for the gates to be opened. I was wandering around after splurging 15 Euros on a PSG scarf, when I heard loud hooting and booing. I realized it was the away team supporters arriving completely cordoned with police protection. As a practice the away crowd assembles far away from the stadium and is escorted into a specific area in the stadium allocated to them. Though the PSG team boasted of stars like Rothen and Pauleta and had great crowd support but the away team walked away easy winners by a 2 goal margin. What was fascinating was how a neutral like me shouted my heart out rooting for PSG as if I was a lifelong fan. I guess that’s what soccer can do to you.



Venue: San Siro
Match: InterMilan vs Genoa
As any soccer fan would tell you, San Siro is one of the greatest sporting arenas in the world. Home to two famous clubs and a rich tradition of more than a century, it was a must see during our stop over at Milan. My enthusiasm rubbed off on our dear topper Venkat and Nakul (both of whom couldn’t spell soccer before ;) ) and the trio marched into the San Siro to watch Figo, Crespo and company. After watching the Paris crowd root for a losing cause, we were hoping for a home team win. And win they did! With style! - Knocking four past a brave Genova side. Figo was good but Estabian Cambiossa was brilliant. I had my doubts about central midfielders being hyped too much, but it was a scintillating performance from the Argentine veteran. By the end of the match Venky professed eternal support to Inter Milan and came out only after he had rendered the Nerrazuri song all by himself.


Venue: Bercy Indoor Stadium
Match: Paris Masters Semis and Finals
After buying tickets for the semis and finals of the Paris Masters, I was confident that I would be able to catch Federer and Nadal in action. But alas, another Argentine who goes by the name of David Nalbandian decided to play the tennis of his life at the most inappropriate time. He got past Federer in straight sets in the fourth round and left me cursing. With a heavy heart I landed up at the indoor stadium to catch up on the Nadal v Baghdatis match. After looking around unsuccessfully for Baghdatis’s girlfriend, I settled for the next best option - watching the match. Nadal did what he does best- make others make mistakes and pulled off another comeback victory. The other semifinal was a damp squib in terms of competitiveness as Nalbandian blasted past Gasquet in straight sets leaving the French crowd high and dry.
And in the finals Nalbandian took his game to a sublime level. The crowd was left gasping as he imperiously dumped Nadal for a 6-4, 6-0 victory. Federer has to wait another day; I am a Nalbandian fan for now! There’s something with these Argentines-they seem to be everywhere!!!

I finished off my sporting trip with a visit to the Nou camp (stadium of Barcelona) and Santiago Bernabau in Madrid. I also visited the Roland Garros. There is still so much to write about these arenas that will follow in another post. So all sports maniacs in PGP 11 - if you are looking for reasons to come on a student exchange program - look no further………

JIBS Sweden echoes Incredible India!

Prasanna Bora reports from Jonkoping (Pronounced as Yon-show-ping), Sweden on the International Day Celebrations planned for 13th November, 2007. Read on and enjoy!

International Day celebrations were planned for 13th November 2007. The exchange students from IIMs, who normally prefer to gallivant around Europe than participate actively in events on campus, seemed all excited and geared up to put up a good show. Was it good? Well, it was great !! Here's the story: On International Day, each team is required to put up a stall representing their country and presenting information about the art,culture, education, job opportunities, places to visit and much more. So we, seven students from different IIMs, decided to show the rest of the junta, what India was all about.

Preparation time was limited and so were the resources as we had no diyas or rangolis and had chosen not to get any traditional attire from home. However, Deepika used her strong networking skills and got lots of the above mentioned accessories from an Indian lady whom she met at the supermarket. (For the record, the lady invited Deepika to her place and she was treated to a good Indian brunch). Tasks were divided among the seven of us with each responsible to gather information about different topics and prepare one-pagers on each topic. We have come to know more about India during this exercise than ever before. With just 3 days in hand, we designed seven colourful posters showcasing Indian lifestyle,sports, music, dance, places to see apart from a factsheet about India and juggled around a few youtube videos to make one of our own. Assorted parathas (Alu, Gobi, mutter and paneer), gajar ka halwa and lassi was the menu planned for the guests who would visit our stall. On the eve of the celebrations, the kitchen defied what too many cooks do to the broth.


D Day : We got up early in the morning and carried bags full of stuff to the university all dressed in traditional attire. We could not miss our lectures, so we set up the stall much earlier. As Deepika and I tried our hand at rangoli, the other IIM guys set up the posters. When we were done, our stall looked colourful with lamps, chunnis, bangles, a tray full of food, aftermint and tidbits, notes and coins all finely arranged. But the USP of the stall was that we offered visitors a chance to wear Indian attire and get themselves clicked. We even offered to email them their snaps at the end of day. The ladies got to choose a bindi and a chunni of their choice while the men got to wear a turban and a stole with the traditional vermillion tilak. With 40 countries represented, the school entrance was full of colourful attire, informative posters, music, food and above all, a helluva lot of excitement.

Hardwork pays... it surely does as we were judged the best stall. Our excitement knew no bounds as we lived the moment, a moment that we would remember for a long time and so would everyone else at JIBS. It was a pleasure to meet Mr. Peter Hiton, the director of JIBS, who personally came over to our stall to invite us to collect our prizes and was kind enough to take pictures with us in traditional Indian attire! What followed in the evening was a party hosted by the organisers for all the participants. Thats about it ...our moment of pride at JIBS Sweden and maybe for India as well. Chak de!!!

Prasanna

P.S: Visit this link for more of the day's pictures.

Diwali celebrations @ K

Diwali was celebrated with great fanfare and enthusiasm as the entire student community came together to give the celebration a familiar feeling of oneness. As part of the celebrations, Spicmacay organized Rangoli and inter-hostel diya lighting competitions. The enthusiasm shown by the students for these competitions was very much evident as every hostel came up with innovative ideas to impress the judge, Prof. S.S.S.Kumar who was floored by the decorations and had a tough time deciding the winner. And how can one forget the lip-smacking sumptuous dinner arranged by the Messcom which had people remarking 'Paet Bhar Gaya Par Man Nahin Bhara'

After these competitions it was time to light up the night with fireworks. And what a magnificent display it was! This was followed by a game of tambola, thus rounding off what had been a memorable diwali to all of us.

Day 3: The D-Day

The third instalment from Hitesh.. read and enjoy!

Almost all of us know the story behind the Festival of Lights. Ramanand Sagar and his tele-serial 'Ramayana' have ensured that our generation is knowledgeable about atleast the basic plot of the legend of Lord Rama (I suspect that the future will hail Ramanand Sagar as an incarnation of Valmiki/Tulsidas). For those who would still like a retelling of the eternal tale, I have something different - a video I found on the net. It uses scenes from the animated movie 'Ramayan - The Legend of Prince Ram'. It can be found at \\loki\public\hitesh10\diwali.avi
For those who like the video better than my drabbles, forget it - there is no escaping me! I will talk about the lesser known trivia about Diwali.

First, have you wondered, if Diwali is about Lord Rama's return, why do we worship Goddess Laxmi instead? Well the answer is simple really. Remember the churning-of-the-sea (Sagar Manthan) the Dhanteras post mentioned? As was mentioned in that post, Goddess Laxmi had appeared from the sea then. She 'later' married Lord Vishnu through a Swayamvara. You guessed right - the 'later' was 2 days after that - the evening of Diwali! This being her marriage anniversary, the Goddess is said to be in her best mood and willing to listen to all her devotees. Strange - in today's age if I were to disturb a kind lady on her marriage anniversary she would ask me to buzz off. Thats what makes them only human I guess.

But I digress. Sikhs also celebrate this day with great fervour. For them this day is 'Bandi Chhorh Diwas' - 'Release from Imprisonment Day'. It was on this day that the sixth Guru Hargobindji was released from prison by Emperor Jahangir. An interesting legend surrounding this is that the guru agreed to be released only if the 52 princes detaineed with him were limited too. Jahangir, to limit the number declared that any number of princes could leave, as long as they were holding the guru's cloak while leaving. The foolish emperor didnt realize that all the Guru had to do was wear a longer cloak. He did and the 52 princes left prison clutching onto one knot each on the guru's cloak. That left the emperor in knots. It is said that a few years later he had turned into a drunkard and invalid. I think he always was - this emperor was once known as Prince Salim (Anarkali's-royal-lover-fame).

I seem to have digressed again (its becoming a habit!). The Jains too have their own reason to celebrate Diwali. The24th (and last) tirthankara, Lord Mahavira attained Nirvana on this day in 527 BCE at Pavapuri. A freedom from the cycle of birth and death, this Nirvana is a reason for celebration. This day also marks the end of the Jain year (Veer Niravana Samvaat). Interestingly, the oldest historical reference of Diwali is in a, not Hindu, but Jain text dating around 700 CE. I do not wish to question the antiquity of the festival, for this would bring into question the historicity of Lord Rama itself - a debate that has bored many of us out of our wits in more ways than one!

Nepal calls the festival 'Tihar' :D (I wonder why India naming its maximum security prison by that name didn't cause a diplomatic standoff). While their celebrations also strech over 5 days, they worship cows on Dhanteras, dogs on Naraka Chaturthi, Goddess Lakshmi on Diwali, oxes on the day after that and on the last day brothers and sisters exchange pleasentaries. Cows, dogs, Lakshmi, oxes - I wonder why this hasn't caused the Goddess to unleash her fury. I have long given up understanding Goddesses!

Rest in the next instalment!

Day 2: Naraka Chaturdashi

Hitesh is back with the next instalment in his Diwali special:

Long long ago, there lived an king called Narakasura. He wasn't always evil, the son of Mother Earth and Lord Vishnu's incarnation Varaha the Boar, he was initially pious. He overthrew the last danava of earth to establish his rule over all of Kamrup (modern day Assam). He also built a new capital, Pragjyotishpur (said to be today's Guwahati). His initial benevelonce saw him getting a boon of a extraordinarily long life. He used this boon to plunder Swarga time and again, making Indra penniless for a zillionth time. While Indra was used to this 'regime change' the present situation was worse than before though. Earlier Indra would run to Lord Vishnu and the Lord would take an avataar and destroy the demon. But the that time avataar of the Lord, Krishna was as anti-Indra as Narakasura. Krishna had stopped the worship of Indra in households (remember the mountain lifting act? that was to protect Gokulwasis from Indra's reaction post this decision). Also Krishna had recently claimed that everything the Samudra Manthana produced (remember the cows, jewels, godesses, etc i mentioned yesterday) belonged to him. Indra was hardly in a position approach Lord Krishna.

But then Narakasura dug his own grave. He started plundering neighbouring kingdoms, not just for their wealth but also for their women. These kings, who had an ex-boy scout like bonhomie, approached the western-most (and thus one of the few as yet unaffected by the onslaughts of the first Assamese terrorist ever) of their club, Vasudeva Krishna. Always ready to uphold righteousness, he agreed. Thus the battle began.

Krishna being God-and-all, the battle was over soon. Krishna was at his impressive best, fully armed what with his weapon Sudarshana and mount Garuda. The Lord's 108 wives too turned up for moral support. After defeating Tamra, Antariksha, Sravana, Vibhavasu, Vasu, Nabhasvan, Aruna, Mura and finally Narakasura, Lord Vishnu proceeded to install Naraka's son as the next king (colonies separated by 100s of km can be very difficult to manage, something our not-so-friendly neighbour realised only in 1971). This event is celebrated every year as Naraka Chaturdashi. Yes thats the festival we have today!

He decided to return all the spoils of war to their rightful owners. These included strange trinkets like Aditi's ear-rings, a garland of vaijayanti, Varuna's umbrella and the rock that was the peak of Mount Mandara (now wasn't Narakasura weird to have collected all these?). But there was one problem when 16000 of the 'returns' were disowned. These were the women Narakasura had abducted; no one save the the 16000 and the Lord himself believed in their chastity. The Lord did the only thing an honourable man would - he married them all.

The Lord, his army and 16108 wives proceeded to hand deliver the stuff that belonged to Indra. Indra and his charming wife Sachi played the perfect hosts. They even showed the guests the grand courthouse Sudharma and the greatest of the Kalpavrikshas (wish-fulfilling trees) - Parijata. The Lord liked the former and his favourite wife (I know that sounds strange in today's monogamous world!) Satyabhama liked the later. They uprooted both and headed home. Indra, the fool that he is, decided to battle the Lord. He was, of course, defeated. He then famously declared that 'He always wanted to lose to Lord Krishna and it was an honour' - the most pathetic oneliner a loser ever gave. The courthouse and tree were then installed in Dwarka, where they remained till Krishna's death, when Dwarka itself got washed away.

More tomorrow!

The Saga of Diwali: Day1 - Dhanteras

Hitesh the Storyteller is back with a vengence. Having last surfaced during Onam, he wishes to make up for the lost time by using the 5-day festival of Diwali to the hilt. Today is the first of these 5 days, Dhanteras. Following is Hitesh's take on the mythological origins of Dhanteras:

Also called Yamadeepadan, Dhanteras is celebrated on the 13th day of the wanning moon of the Hindu lunar month of Ashwin. Simply put, two days before Diwali. The story goes that the sixteen-year-old son of King Hima was fated to breathe his last, owing to snakebite, on the fourth day of his marriage. On the D-day his wife illuminated the house with numerous lamps and placed a heap of gold and silver coins and ornaments in front of their living quarters. All through the night she sang songs and told stories. It is said that the lights of the lamps, and the dazzle of the coins and ornaments blinded the god of death, Yamaraj (the one who goes around on a cool buffalo). Thus, the wife succeeded in saving the life of her husband. In memory of this event, the women of the house choose this day to purchase gold and silver ornaments ( going by the number of jewellery stores in this state, something chechis of Kerala seem to particularly love).

Another name for this festival is Dhanavantri Triyodashi. The legend behind that is even grander. The devas and asuras once collaborated to undertake a great mission, that of churning the 'Ksheera-Sagara' (the ocean of milk) so as to obtain its valuable treasures. This mission called 'Sagara Manthana' took days and required frequent interventions by Lord Vishnu (who took three avataars Kurma the Tortoise, Ajita the Unvanquishable and Mohini the Enchantress) and Lord Shiva (who gulped down the toxin halahala to become Neelakanthan - no relation to a PGP11er of the same name). Many treasures came out of the ocean, including Kamadhenu (a forty-jersey-cows-in-one cow), Ucchaisrava (the white-green horse), Airavata (the multi-trunked mutant white elephant only Indra liked), Kaustabhamani (a diamond that was offered to Lord Vishnu), Kalpavriksha (the wish fulfilling tree; more about it tomorrow), Laxmi (the goddess of wealth, who soon after married Lord Vishnu through a swayamwara), Varuni (the goddess of wine and intoxication - the world was never the same again). Next came the apsaras, beautiful dancing girls. There almost was a battle for their ownership, till one of the apsaras pointed out that they have free will and prefer to go to the devas (Apsaras and Varuni, now thats what caused the downfall of Indra!). At last, Dhanvantari (the divine physician) appeared with a pot of amrita (nectar of immortality) in his hands. A free for all ensued, with the asuras and devas both wanting all of it. Dhanvantari, having only just entered the real world panicked and ran for his life. The clumsy guy that he was he spilled some of the nectar in Nasik, Haridwar, Ujjain and Allahabad. Every 12 years these cities see millions converge from all over the Hindu world to celebrate Dhanvantari's clumsiness! Yup thats the story behind the Kumbh Mela!
But I digress. Sensing that Dhanvantari would soon be too tired to keep up, Lord Vishnu decided to intervene. A keen observer of the chauvanistic Asura male, he saw that the only way to control them would be to appear before them as a beautiful maiden named Mohini. So enchanting was Mohini that asuras agreed to share the nectar with the devas as long as Mohini served the same. Mohini used this 'trust' to the hilt, she gave devas all the nectar and asuras plain water. There were complications, but by and large the divine plan succeeded. Dhanvantari, now jobless, seeked some employment that would use his knowledge of medicine. Indra appointed him the Physician of the Devas. Grand title, little work - having become immortal the devas didn't need a physician. Dhanvantari utilized all the free time he had to write an appendix to the Rgveda called - u guessed it right - Ayurveda!

So how do u celebrate this day? You could, of course, buy loads of gold and silver in honour of Hima's son. Knowing the poor economic conditions of people here, I think we would be better of honouring Dhanavantari. How do we do that? Well honour doctors and physicians. Run to your nearest doctor (whether near the supermarket or in Hostel C) and pay your respects. The latter of the two doctors may end up blushing, but tradition doctor-madam, is tradition!

The Summers Story

Summer Placements season for PGP-11 ended in grand style, with the participating batch of 193 students, including participants of the Fellow Program in Management (FPM), assured of a rich learning environment at some of the top corporate houses from India and abroad. IIMK’s performance this year outshone last year’s record-breaking placements season comfortably, setting new benchmarks along the way.

Summer Placements 2008 saw participation from 66 top recruiters from India and abroad, with 22 new recruiting partners participated in placements at IIMK for the first time. Some of the new names added to our increasingly impressive roster included: Google, Freudenberg, Accenture Business Consulting, Citibank, Bank of America, KPMG, Coca Cola, PepsiCo and Hewitt Associates, amongst others.

Freudenberg, the diversified German conglomerate that offers its customers technically challenging products and services in a wide variety of businesses ranging from chemicals to IT services, across the world, initiated a relationship with IIMK this year. Freudenberg was one of the most coveted recruiters on campus, and recruited students for positions in Germany and Hong Kong. Freudenberg, as an exclusive recruiter, recruits only from very select business school campuses in India, and its participation at Summer Placements 2008 speaks volumes about IIMK’s perception as the preferred destination for top-drawer managerial talent.

Other prominent names that participated at Summer Placements 2008 included: YES BANK, Johnson & Johnson, HUL, Yahoo!, Edelweiss, HSBC, JP Morgan Chase, Ocwen, American Express, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Boston Analytics, Marico, CHAINalytics, Standard Chartered Bank, Deloitte Consulting, Colgate-Palmolive, ITC, Asian Paints, and Tata Motors, amongst others.

The average stipend on campus zoomed 25% as compared to last year, to be pegged at Rs 25,000 per month. Accenture Business Consulting and Boston Analytics offered the highest domestic stipend at Summer Placements 2008 – Rs 50,000 per month. The offers saw an even distribution across verticals, with 28% of the batch choosing internships in the finance domain, 22% of the batch selecting marketing profiles and 20% of the batch showing their preference for Systems. Consulting internships were chosen by 16% of the batch, while the other 14% was evenly split across Operations, HR and Others.

Accenture Business Consulting extended its relationship with IIMK to summer placements this year, after making the highest number of offers across top campuses at IIMK during Final Placements 2007. Technology giants Google and Yahoo! were amongst the most coveted recruiters on campus; both offered roles in Internet Sales & Marketing that were extremely sought after at Summer Placements 2008.

PepsiCo, AIG, RPG Enterprises, IBM Business Consulting, YES BANK and Reliance Industries Ltd were amongst the many recruiters who made the highest number of offers across business schools at IIMK this year, during Summer Placements 2008. Impressed by the quality of talent, PricewaterhouseCoopers offered roles with the Performance Improvement division for the first time at IIMK. Deloitte Strategy & Operations and Deloitte Financial Advisory Services continued to strengthen their relationship with us; IIMK being the only campus where both Deloitte S&O and Deloitte FAS participate in placements processes.

A distinct trend at Summer Placements 2008 was the wide variety of exclusive roles on offer, even from traditional recruiters. American Express offered risk management profiles in their prestigious WWRIM division. AIG, impressed with the students’ knowledge in the financial domain offered roles in asset management, with the AMC division.

In a statement reflective of IIMK’s rapidly growing stature amongst premier recruiters, Senior Vice President & Regional Head (South) – Corporate and Institutional Banking, YES BANK, Mr. Nakul Beri said, “The response and enthusiasm to YES BANK on campus was terrific, with a professionally organized process. We look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship with IIM Kozhikode that spans beyond just placements.”

Students chose to intern with organizations offering some of the most exotic and unique profiles across top business school campuses, thus underlining the diversity that sets us apart. Students were offered roles in Carbon Credit Trading and Environmental Consulting, while TCS offered unique roles in Entrepreneurship Marketing. SET made five offers in the Media Management and Media Marketing roles.

As an institute, we have been growing at a rapid pace. The last two years have seen the student intake increase by no less than 25%. That said, the growth of key placement parameters more than kept pace with the pace of growth of the institute.

Chairperson-Placements, Prof. Kulbhushan Balooni remarked “IIMK’s placements have consistently bettered the records the institute has set for itself. In spite of IIMK setting an aggressive pace of growth, placements performance has consistently exceeded all expectations. This augurs well for the next decade of excellence for IIMK.”

Every placement season, we set new benchmarks, easily surpassing its past records. Never one to rest on its past laurels, and driven by its motto of ‘Dream. Innovate. Achieve.’ we continue to march ahead, poised to challenge new frontiers in the next decade of its existence.

IIMK AIMS to be the best

On the 17th and 18th of November, IIM Kozhikode will host its annual Technology Summit, AIMS.

Every year since its inception in 2003, AIMS has been widely recognized as the place to be to witness how Technology is transforming Business. Over two days of discussions, talks, breakout sessions and networking dinners, attendees have forged partnerships, showcased new products, engaged customers and found inspiration.

The theme for the year is "A Nation Online". The AIMS weekend will see a range of speakers unparalleled in their industry reputation, depth of expertise, and clarity of thought and vision. Visit the Speakers page at the AIMS website for more.

The highlight of AIMS is Brainstorm, the Panel Discussion. This year, Brainstorm features

* Mr. Murugavel Janakiraman, CEO of Bharatmatrimony.com

* Mr. Hitesh Oberoi,Co-promoter and COO of Naukri.com

* Mr. Manoj Gupta, Vice President, Nexus India Capital

The panel discussion will be moderated by Kiruba Shankar, one of the country's finest and most influential bloggers. More on the Brainstorm page.

Cypress Semiconductors and SAP Labs will conduct two workshops on campus, on Strategic Marketing and Careers in ERP respectively. Last year's workshops were sold-out before the event began.

Here's looking forward to the biggest Technology Business Summit getting ever bigger. Write to abakus@iimk.ac.in to register or visit www.aims2007.com.

IIMK storms ahead into BT Acumen finals!

Konquest reports:

It was an amazing performance by IIMK in BT Acumen South Zone finals. Shamanth and Chinmay, both from PGP11, stormed into the all-India finals by winning the South Zone quiz finals very comfortably. They finished on 230 points, while the other finalists (IIMB, TAPMI and BIM) were on 60, 30 and 20 respectively. Quizmaster Harsha Bhogle called it 'the most convincing victory I have seen in years'.

IIMK's debate team(Vikram and Kaustubh) did well too - losing narrowly in the semifinals. Great show guys, you've done K extremely proud. All the very best to Shamanth and Chinmay for the All-India finals!

A tryst with higher mortals

Prof. Sunil Handa visited the IIMK campus last week. Kumar Vivek, PGP 11, reports:

He mesmerizes you the very first time. Sixty minutes – and it’s enough for him to convince a packed IIM Kozhikode classroom that servitude is the worst nightmare which can happen in the career of an IIM graduate.

Sunil Handa, the 53-something pioneer of Laboratory in Entrepreneurial Motivation (LEM) and a visiting faculty across IIMs puts himself at ease with students from the very beginning – communicating in “their” language! Shattering all myths about the “riskiness” of entrepreneurial ventures and “cushiness” of fixed-income jobs, his arguments flawlessly describle the limited growth potential in an employee setup. Coming from a man who has experimented with 7 businesses after graduating from an IIM in 1979, the realities of the corporate world and its ‘job’ nature embed themselves on the minds of every listener. “Each one of you has the capabilities to make it big” – his advice reverberates with numerous live examples of his students in his rich teaching career, spanning a little over one and half decades.

“Be an employer – Be the Superman!” is the theme of a poster he circulates. Augmenting the effect is his “box-theory” – you cannot be contented when you are “contained” – whether its salary growth, career growth, or service to the nation; to be effective requires being on your own.

Discussing the importance of an MBA curriculum, he repeatedly drives his point of how the course structure and case discussions can shape the entire personality of the participants and the students should, well, study! Further, to top everything, his motto is - giving back to the society. Millions of dollars of his personal wealth were contributed to Eklavya, the educational foundation he established. The man, with his uncanny ability to connect, is not only a teacher but an amazing inspiration.

Life is short, “Ab nahin to kab?”!! – If not now, then when?

Prof Sunil Handa also spent 3 days with the senior students, 3 days packed with intense intellectual stimulation and inspiring anecdotes. We hope to see many more visits from you, Sir.


Update: Prof Sunil Handa mailed in the LEM slogan, that he had not discussed so far but planned to bring up in his next visit. In his own words: "It's a bit of funny hindi-english mix, basically says there is no tomorrow, there is no yesterday, there is only HERE and NOW :

not to kab, not to tab, but to ab,

not to kahan, not to wahan, but to yahan!!

Mesmerized!

Pundit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, a recipient of the Padmashree and a Grammy award winner performed on 23 October, 2007 at IIM Kozhikode, in a concert organized by IIMK’s sub-chapter of SPIC MACAY. A renowned Hindustani music exponent and disciple of Pt. Ravi Shankar, Pt. Bhatt is also the inventor of the Mohan Veena – a fretless, 19-stringed instrument played like a slide guitar. He was joined by Pundit Ram Kumar Mishra, renowned for his mastery of the Tabla and a scion of the ‘Benaras Gharana’.

The concert began with a brief introduction of Pt. Bhatt and Pt. Mishra followed by the lighting of the ceremonial lamp by PGP Chairman, Professor Unnikrishnan. Pt. Bhatt started by telling how music is also a science and how a musician needs to divide every second down to fractions, mentally and play to them.What followed was the most mesmerizing performance, many people in the audience had ever witnessed. Pt. Bhatt started out with Raag Poorvi and went on to play a mélange of Raagas, enthralling everyone with the variety and complexity of notes he played while Pt. Mishra, won the hearts of the people with his skills on the Tabla. The timing of the two together was so perfect that the audience often spontaneously broke into applause. ‘Jugalbandi’ and ‘Sawaal-Jawaab’ were kept to the end when both the masters, in a display of perfect coordination and mastery of their arts teased and tantalized the audience, who wanted more and more.

At the request of everyone present to play more, Pt. Bhatt went on to play his composition, ‘A Meeting By the River’, part of an album he made with slide guitarist Ry Cooder which won the Grammy award for ‘Best World Music Album’ in 1994. At the end of the song, the masters were given a befitting standing ovation.

The concert ended with Professor Unnikrishnan presenting the artists with mementos and a vote of thanks on behalf of IIM Kozhikode for an evening so memorable.

Achtung Komrades!

Following is an account of Sandeep Bhattacharjee's tryst with Deutchland, which beckoned him and three other Komrades for Rubicon, an International B-School competition.

Rubicon, for us, kicked off with a mad scramble for the cheapest air tickets to Frankfurt. This occupied us the first couple of days post the mundane August afternoon when the news first came in. Our team “Thought Architects” had crossed the first hurdle to Rubicon 2007; an international BSchool contest. We were destined for a German trip subject of course to Visa clearances. That the clearances almost killed our euphoria is another story!

We finally settled for the Sri Lankan Airlines which took us directly from Kozhikode to Frankfurt with a little halt at Colombo, at 32K a piece. It was a sweet deal given that we had to pay the fares ourselves. Getting the German visa isn’t a headache, at least that’s what I thought. Little did I know that I’d have to make 3 exhausting trips to Chennai to get my passport stamped. To my utter anguish however, all my other three teammates got it done in a single day from Kolkata!

We landed in Frankfurt post a 13 hour jet trip from Colombo but it was our ride in a BMW to our destination at a blinding 180 Km/Hr that truly satisfied our need for speed. This was however after the long hassle with the immigration officer at Calicut airport who refused to see reason behind us flying from Calicut without any permanent residency in Kerela. It took us multiple rounds of been cross-questioned and repeated display of IIMK I-cards before being let through. A really bad experience which left a bitter taste(We found the German & Sri-Lankan immigration dept much friendlier!).

Germany was like a picture postcard! Cologne with all its history and old buildings and Frankfurt, the heart of German capitalism with all its sky-scrapers were worlds apart, each charming in its own way. What connected the two was the serene river Rhine; the beauty of which can’t really be put in words. The European autumn can be particularly beautiful with colored leaves decorating trees and an electrifying chill in the air. Navneet was packed, all the while, in his Jumbo red sweater under a jacket which kept him cozy and smiling all along, while I wasn’t too happy with what felt like a layer of ice on my face! The four of us trotted across the pristine countryside, taking our time through the various cathedrals, looking out for McDonald’s outlets all the while! Alas,Spending too many of those Euros never seemed a good idea...

The German delicacies aren’t particularly appealing to Indian taste buds as we discovered at the various formal and informal dinner parties that were held during the week. I barely survived, on bland tasteless sandwiches most of the time, while substituting juice, coke, beer and wine for drinking water. I’ve never enjoyed the mess food back at K as I did for a whole week after my return!

It was surely “Crossing the Rubicon” in every sense, for us. It began with a nice ‘free’ accommodation at a beach resort for half a day at Colombo and ended on that chilly night at the Frankfurt station, with a heck of a time in between. However it was probably Soubhagya who had more than his fair share of memorable moments making the rest of us go a trifle green!;)

Parisian Tales

Bonjour dear Komrades,

Its been more than a month at the ESCP-EAP Paris and it's been great. The city is beautiful with its boulevards, cafes, bistros and most importantly, the fashion conscious Parisians. The 35 hour work week ensures that Parisians have time for everything art, music and the numerous museums the city is so famous for. People truly enjoy life and can hardly be seen running around, they do things at their own sweet pace.

The French education system ( well, we had a 2 hour session on it) is highly competitive and only the best can make it to the elite Schools of excellence called the Grand Ecoles (ESCP-EAP is one of the better known Grand Ecoles). And successful people in every sphere are from Grand Ecoles System. To get into even the least famous Grand Ecole is more prestigious than getting into the best university. And we've had firsthand experience of the respect people give you after knowing that you are a student of a Grand Ecole!

The International exchange programme attracts about 150 students from 21 countries including Members of EU, US, Mexico, Russia, Israel, Argentina, China, Japan amongst others and this really makes it a International Exchange programme. It is quite an experience to just listen to different accents of English.

The professors are also on international exchange or so it would seem. We have French, Irish, American, British Professors. These professors do a lot of consulting for corporates and have a rich working experience which adds a very practical dimension to their teaching. Another interesting thing is that most of the professors think very highly about Indian students and attribute computer-like mathematical abilities to Indian brains. Guess we need to thank our seniors for that but it surely is a very, very positive image to live up to.

For the exchange students, courses offered in both English and French. Although, Indian students have taken courses in English. We initially had a course that place of France in European and world affairs. Most of us have taken regular courses while a few have taken some very exotic courses like Working of the Human Mind and Evolution of the American Cinema. The lectures are usually of 3 hours with a fifteen minute break after a 1.5 hours and as usual, there's some intelligent CP and some crappy CP. People walk in and out as they feel. Students are treated as equals. Professors encourage students to go in for research and are always ready for writing papers with their students.

Elections are a funny affair here - there are Campus parties and these parties nominate candidates to contest against each other. These candidates distribute cakes, chocolates, candies and juices early in the morning. There are parties to get votes with free alcohol and food, not to mention dancers from famous bars, quite unimaginable in IIMK! All these affairs are sponsored by corporates. In fact there was such a party last night sponsored by some energy drink company (of course everyone was more interested in the alcohol than the energy drink!) It's been quite an experience so far... c'mon junies, work hard; then come and party in Europe! J

That was Aruna Nayak reporting from Paris. The others too sent in their two bits:

Gopi told us how he was 3 hours late for a presentation at school due to the transportation strike that has now hit France. The bike service (that allows you to pick up and drop bikes at stations), was the main means of transport while some Parisians hit the streets with roller-skates and skateboards!

Sheetal's been finding the language and pronounciations very funny, because the French turn rs into h sounds and the frequently used 'pardon' turns into 'pah-do' (with a soft d) that when translated into Hindi, makes it a strange thing to say to someone you meet in the street :D Having Moroccans and Sri Lankans in their neighbourhood has also led to some interesting experiences for these guys.

Ananya wrote on her blog, "The first look at the Seine and a cruise on it is something that I dare not attempt to describe in words, I have neither the prowess nor the imagination to convey to the reader the beauty of the experience. The only guarantee is that it lifts your spirits and gives you a high that not the strongest alcohol can".

She also lists some 'Highlights' from the early days of their stay -

1.Tushar being asked by a fellow Indian student - 'Excuse Me! Which country are you from?'

2. Our unsuccessful attempts at using the Euro Latino telephone calling card.

3. Tomato Puree being misunderstood for Tomato Ketchup (Yeah! Yeah! We can't read French).

4. The daily effort at comprehending the food items in the Mess.

5. The shower system (You need to keep pressing a button to keep the water flowing).

6. Gopi asking a man on the station for directions in Tamil.(And actually getting the answers)

All of them have been having a very frustrating time with the French calling card system which explains Venky's gestures in the picture below.

The picture below should tell us why the guys just don't want to come back :)

(Photo credits: Gopi)

Raas-dandiya!!

What happens when hot jalebis and gujju music come together? A great evening! Spicmacay and messcom came together to organize the mother of all festivals, as navrathri was celebrated joyously at IIMK with the Dandiya Nite. The event witnessed a record turnout as students postponed all their other priorities to come and participate in the spectacle.




And to make sure that no one was caught on the wrong foot, Neha Solanki of PGP-10 took a special class for all the dandiya enthusiasts, the day before the event. Dressed in ethnic wear and quick to learn (as always), the students glid and danced to the music effortlessly. The foodies also had a nice time as hot jalebis, chats and other food items kept them entertained. All in all, it was a night to remember as the dance party extended to the early hours of the morning.

Horizons '07 - An invaluable learning experience

Horizons '07 - IIMK's Annual Management Conclave, was held during this weekend, from 5th - 7th October 2007. The overarching theme was 'Bharat - Ek Khoj' with three sub-themes 'Unleashing India Inc.', 'Rediscovering Rural India' and 'Unlocking the Human Potential'. IIMK students benefited greatly from the knowledge and insights that were shared by Horizons' eminent speakers.The Horizons blog has been updated with some of the speakers' speeches. They're definitely worth a read. Looking forward to a bigger and better Horizons next year!

Summer Placements – Time to get into the ‘K Army’

The much anticipated summer placements for PGP11 is going to start and the battle to get placed in the companies of your choice will start to heat up. But along with the jostle for roles, stipends, locations and brands there will also be a keenly fought side-battle to get into the ‘K Army’!

Now most of you, including PGP10, must be wondering what the K Army is all about. This post will reveal the secret behind the K Army. You are inducted into the K Army if you get shortlisted for a GD but fail to clear it and reach the interview. Each time you do this you accumulate a ‘star’. But once you clear a GD and get into an interview process you are ‘honorably discharged’ from the K Army and join the civilians. You are given a rank according to the number of stars that you collect, starting from the Second Lieutenant right up to the General (10 stars)

1	General	**********
2	Lieutenant General	*********
3	Major General	********
4	Brigadier	*******
5	Colonel	******
6	Lieutenant Colonel	*****
7	Major	****
8	Captain	***
9	Lieutenant	**
10	Second Lieutenant	*

At the end of the summer process, the person with the maximum amount of stars will be crowned the ‘Commander-in-Chief’ of the K Army. Intelligence reports are still not conclusive and we don’t know who in PGP10 achieved such an exalted position. (But rumor has it that one of the writers of this post might have been that ‘special one’!)

From the data collected in the last couple of years we have come to a conclusion. The K Army has been unable to recruit ‘pretty dames’. This is not to say that the K Army has a discriminatory recruitment policy. Actually on the contrary a study revealed that soldiers of the K Army would indeed like to have atleast a few members of the fairer sex as colleagues. But alas, that is unlikely to happen as long as company HRs……..

Another thing that happens is that as the soldiers become more and more experienced stress levels too start to increase and the soldiers yearn to get back into civilian life. This is a common phenomenon reported in armies across the world. The US Army is facing a similar situation in Iraq. But unlike the American soldiers, the K soldiers know that worst comes to worst they will only have to wait till Day 1 of summer placements to be discharged from the trenches.

Here is wishing PGP11 all the best for their summers! And may the best man be the Commander-in-Chief!

Chakde India!

What could be the best way to start its second term for PGP-11? No prizes for guessing! The obvious answer is Cricket(T-20) world cup final between India and Pakistan. The stage for an amazing rollercoaster ride was set and the only thing in everyone's mind was 5:30 pm.

With herculean efforts, the setup to screen the match in the Audi was completed. The match started with India batting first and PGP guys clapping and shouting with every boundary scored by the team. Though India couldn't stand up to the expectations of its over-enthusiastic fans, it ended up securing a decent total which finally helped it become the world champion. The PGP10/11 students worked equally hard as they kept running from the audi to the mess to counter the interruptions caused due to network issues. The attendance at Audi and Mess surpassed all the previous records at IIMK.

Kudos to Gautam Gambhir and Irfan Pathan who both played beautifully and brought India back everytime it was under pressure. Some of the PGP guys are waiting for Sreesanth to come back to Kerala to honour him for his breathtaking bowling during the final overs. :-)

As the last Pakistani wicket fell, the scene at the IIMK mess suddenly started resembling a festival. People went wild congratulating each other and many of them went live on their mobiles sharing the excitement with their distant loved ones. Hats off to the men in blue who thrashed the attacks of big names like Australia, South Africa, Pakistan and England even without their top three batsmen. With this historic win, we have once again proved that we are second to none in the cricketing world.

The end of a killer term... and a killer on campus?

The pall on Kampus has lifted. The specter of the end terms now well and truly vanquished, it’s time for PGP11 to kick back and enjoy some quiet time before they return for the massacre that is Term 2. As goodbyes are waved, bags packed and books gladly shoved away (after what seems like years), the atmosphere here positively reeks of joy or something stronger. Loud Punjabi songs and rock anthems jostle in a weird jugalbandi as PGP11 finds a musical outlet for its pent-up frustration.

But has the realization that they have now finished 1/6^th of their time here finally sunk in? Or are they just glad that the term from hell has finally ended? Now that the End-Terms have given way to the term’s end, the K-files talked to a few PGP11-ites to find out their thoughts on their first term at K.

“I finally understand what Einstein meant when he said time is relative” says Chaitanya. “Time at K can crawl as slow as it can fly fast. A minute in normal time might seem like an eon when you are waiting for the results of a Markstrat session and a day of sessions and movies of Dr. Mathew might seem to be over before you can blink. Sometimes it seems like it was ages ago when I entered the campus dumbfounded at its awesome beauty and sometimes it seems like the term just flew by. The experience however only got better, getting to know all the awesome people here, joining committees and getting through the 8-exams-in-4-days ordeal. One thing that I'll take home is a sense of belonging which will bring me back here, term after term with more zeal and enthusiasm than before.”

Perky Punekar, Aniket Kute, agrees with Chaitanya, “The entire process of volunteering for various committees and finally being chosen was a great feeling. The camaraderie developed while preparing for Roobaroo was a highlight of the term. But undoubtedly”, he said, “Markstrat had to be the best 2 days we spent on campus. When else would you find people waking up voluntarily at 7.30 in the morning and discussing marketing and distribution budgets?”

Stringy Srinivasan or Gokul as he’s better known had this to say, “Term 1 was a blur. Too many things were happening around me and I wanted to be a part of everything! I guess the enthusiasm in our batch is infectious. And the best course of the term was STI - no doubts on that front and I am sure the whole batch has a similar take on it. But somewhere down the line, there was discontent brewing within us... of having been deprived of girls. With the academic load increasing, frustration set in; people became homesick; but slowly, we have been brought into the folds of the K culture and we’re enjoying every minute of it – be it the long hours of BCing at the NC or the mad frenzy of messages on IP - the initiation into the Kult. We’ve become a part of K.”

Gokul wasn’t the only one who felt that term 1 had sped away. As Puneet Nagi puts it “Like a 10 minute quiz, it ended before it started. But it sure was good fun while it lasted! In this of state of being overwhelmed by the feeling that it's over, I can’t really recall any of the cool things that happened. Perhaps there were just too many of them! All I can think of at the moment, is putting the closing entries on my burgeoning sleep debt account. Debit sleep, credit sleep debt. Or whatever. Accounts sucks!”

Rishi Tandon wrapped it all up nicely saying, “A blink of the eye, and already we are 1/6 MBAs. The term started deceptively slowly, with a starry eyed moi walking wonderstruck into this hilltop paradise. Welcomed by a score of activities, and a happy reconnection with the academic life, I've lived life to the fullest this one term- courses, parties, assignments, field visits, crazy deadlines, infinite all night gyan sessions with a bevy of new friends. This is just how I'd imagined being at an IIM to be. The term break is welcome and I leave for home feeling that all this it’s over all too quickly. I know that I'm returning soon, rejuvenated and wanting more of the IIMK life.”

One down. Five to go.

PS: It wasn’t just PGP11 that was running free on Thursday afternoon. Joining them was this little cobra that for a brief while became the star of the most downloaded video on campus. Think twice before sitting on your bike the next time! Our mallu protectors though did a magnificent job of catching it and here it is in all its innocent glory. Here is a video capturing the same, with MessCom Rohit Arya's commentary.

All's well that ends well!

There’s a strange hush over the campus these days. The NC’s empty and the library full. Harried faces hurry along lugging huge books. Hushed discussions, barely concealed distress and palpable tension seem to be the norm of the day. So what has turned the PGP-11ites (who love to party and watch movies in entertaining modules masquerading as courses) into bewildered zombies? Ah… it’s endterm time -the time for the final knockout after the ever increasing load of quizzes and assignments. The printers in the CC protest wearily under the scramble for last minute printouts. Chips and biscuit packets fly off the NC shelves as students stock up for long nightouts ahead. With three more days to go, before the blessed comfort of term-break, we wish PGP-11 all the best for their end terms. May there be many Venkys and Jaidevs in your batch. And for the less ambitious, may your gradesheets never be marred by Ds, Is or Fs.

Old enemies unite us again ;-)

Photo credits: Manish Harodia (manish.harodia@gmail.com)

Sahil Goyal (sahilgoyal2002@gmail.com) reports from the mess:


From 3-1 down to levelling the series at 3-3, the 5th of September brought with it, a nail-biter of a match between two evenly matched sides. Surely, the whole of India danced to the tunes of the evergreen opening pair of Tendua/Dada and towards the end - the bench strength of Robin Uthappa (or Uthappatha as Atherton put it during the presentation ceremony).

The scene in the IIM K mess was no different. Never in the history of IIMK, has the mess been able to attract such a huge crowd. No, not even the Sunday special lunch. For the record, even the Ghissu Kelkars were right there clapping for each and every run scored. The atmosphere was simply electrifying. Cheering every Chinese cut by Dhoni and the Douglas Mariller scoops by Robin Uthappa formed the course for the post-dinner Mess audience.

As the Indian chase became more and more improbable, one could see Harodia getting frustrated pointing fingers at Collingwood and not just the index finger. The best gestures however were threats of bumps that some of the emotional fans at K threw at Suresh and Harodia in case India lost the match. And what has that to do with the India loss? Both of them belong to Jharkhand and with 8 runs required from every over, poor Dhoni could only play out a few dot balls. :D

Come 8th of September, India and England will battle it out in the series decider... let's see who gets kicked in the mess this time around ;)

Prasanna Bora reports from Jonkoping!

Hi All,

Greetings from Jonkoping (Pronounced as Jon-show-ping), Sweden! It is been about 10 days since we reached this place. It has been great so far. At my school, Jonkoping International Business School (JIBS), we have exchange students from IIMC and IIML as well, apart from students from over 100 different Schools. Yes, you read that right. JIBS' uniqueness is its diversity. There are people from over 50 countries here and more than 250 exchange students. I think having students from so many different countries is truly something unique.

Courses: The school is really big on entrepreneurship. It’s known for its entrepreneurship programs but isn’t very great for Finance. If you ask me how the courses are, I’ll say – it depends. ;) It truly does depend on what courses you take. We are free to take courses at bachelor level (there are 4 categories of courses: A,B,C,D in the ascending order of difficulty). So if you take an A level course in finance and you are an Indian, who is naturally better at numbers, then you got nothing to learn. Bottom-line, if you wanna make most of the academic experience, take the courses that the university is known for.

We are supposed to take 2 courses per quarter (4 for the sem). For this quarter I have taken Entrepreneurship and Business Planning (EBP) and International Financial Management (IFM). EBP classes are amazing. The course has an enrollment of 375 to 400 i think, which implies we have to have lectures in the auditorium. Yet the lectures are interactive and do not get boring one bit. It is an experience to sit in a class of 400! But of course, for seminars, sessions where there are group activities and presentations to compliment the lectures, we are split into classes of 40. We have been given a loan of 200 SEK (read Swedish kroner or krown) to start our new venture and we got to be profitable during the duration of the course. Besides, we get to make visits to a company and analyze how that company started as an entrepreneurial venture. Perfect combination of theory and practice. A very well designed course. IFM isn’t very exciting and we as fin majors and students of a master's program feel the pace is too slow and the learning limited.

Lectures here are scheduled for 2 hours, but as the profs say, an "academic hour" is only 45 mins. So we get a 15 min break at the end of 45 mins and lectures get over 15 mins early. Is that a piece of advice for someone who talks of market fundas esp paaanetration with complete disregard to the clock ;)

I work in a group of 10 for my new venture project, and we have 6 countries represented among the 10. Beat that for diversity.

Professors: Even for a disinteresting course like IFM, the effort put in by the professor is tremendous. There is no 'free-riding' by the professor. Lecture slides, handouts, course outlines, etc are managed very professionally. The EBP professor has like an entire team of faculty members and PhD candidates working for him, nearly 8 of them handling that one course. The prof is very charismatic and walks in with his expensive business suit on, is a smooth talker and teaches very well.

Professors here are pretty cool. Mobiles ring in class, people come in late, surf during classes, eat, drink coffee and it’s all accepted. But most students are serious and want to make most of the lectures. Also attendance is not mandatory in most cases. Probably explains why professors are not paranoid about things like laptop, mobiles,etc.

Infrastructure: It’s an unfair comparison but cant help it. A classroom here is at least 10 times better than the best facility we have. One of the most amazing things in classrooms that grabbed my attention was movable marker boards. There are multiple movable marker boards that slide across and over. So the prof writes on a board, does not clear it, slides the board up, pulls another one down and writes on the second. Amazing!! The intranet is very well used resource. IIMK needs to put in serious thought on using its intranet well. VC and moodle are the most under-utilized and the professors need to be educated about the effective use of an intranet. Squirrel mail is not intranet!

The country: We have struggled with Swedish. Most people do speak English, but the problem is that everything is written in Swedish. So when you go to a super market, you read a pack and you cant make out whether its sugar, salt or something else. We can’t read the newspapers, the brochures, the notices and more. People pay a lot in taxes. A cleaning company charges 300 SEK (conversion rate Rs 6) per hour. A doctor's appointment costs 1600 SEK. It is a very expensive place to stay. Sweden seems to be devoid of the Walmarts and the Tesco’s. Most chains seem to be Swedish. That may explain the emphasis on entrepreneurship. Volvo and Scania are Swedish icons, if I may say so. It is truly breathtaking to see one of those huge Scania trucks.

Women: A lot of guys would be keen to know about this. There are quite a few pretty looking ones, esp the French. Some do hold you breathless. Also makes me wonder how some manage to dress up scantily in the biting cold. Snaps up here.

Prasanna Bora can be contacted at his gmail id: bora.prasanna

Ciao Professore!

Yesterday, PGP-11 bid goodbye to one of its most beloved professors - Dr. Mathew, when the course "Social Transformation of India" was wrapped up with the screening of the Italian film, "Ciao Professore!" (translates to Goodbye Professor) The film - a light hearted comedy, highlights the social situation prevailing in Southern Italy in the early '90s. Sounds like serious stuff, but throw in a dozen 8-year olds who swear imaginatively and yet retain their innocence, and an honest North Italian Professor and voila! you've an entertaining fare on your hands. Everything said and done, this movie was a befitting finale to a string of foreign movies that were shown as part of the course curriculum.

Before the screening of the movie began, StudCon members felicitated Dr. Mathew for having enlightened us during the course by raising a lot of questions, most of them very uncomfortable and probing ones. After the students gave him a standing ovation, he took over the mike and spoke about how he was skeptical before coming here about the way the course would be received by the students. In a speech peppered with Mathewisms, he added that he was very happy to have had a chance to teach us and hoped to come back to teach at IIMK. We'd love to meet you again, Sir. Ciao!

The list of movies that were shown during the course:

Colors of Paradise (Iranian)
Two women (Iranian)
Grave of the fireflies (Japanese)
All About My Mother (Spanish)

In the name of the father (English)
Central Station (Brazilian)
Ciao Professore! (Italian)

IIMK turns 11!

IIMK celebrated its completion of eleven years of excellence by organising a host of events on 21st August . The evening began with a performance of “puli kali” (roughly translated into "tiger dance"), a local art form. The audience – comprising of the faculty and the staff, their families, and the students looked thrilled as the artists performed daring feats. After the event, Prof. Rameshan promised to conduct the same event at a much larger scale. He added that many more artists will be invited to perform various other local art forms.


The function moved on to the auditorium where Prof. R.P.Suresh, one of the senior most faculties, gave a small speech as he took a trip down the memory lane. He spoke about how much progress we’ve achieved in these 11 years and expressed hope at continuing at the same fervent pace. After that Dr Krishna Kumar, the director, addressed the audience, speaking about the importance of celebrating the foundation day, and maintaining our distinctness as we continue to grow in size. This speech, peppered with anecdotes, was followed by a function where the administrative officers were felicitated.

The evening ended on a high note with an excellent performance by the orchestra.

PGP11 works hard and parties harder!!

They were 69. And all of them had one single responsibility for the evening: Bring out the party animal in PGP 11. The PGP11 bash, thrown for the batch by all the committee members, started as soon as the first bus left for the venue at 6 in the evening. The thirty kilometers to Kadavu resort, our venue for the evening, were spent singing, dancing to and enjoying some of the best Tamil and Malayalam songs (that the bus driver had). Excitement was in the air as our bus rolled into the resort.

Set quaintly along a river, Kadavu is quite a beautiful place. The vast expanse of space and beautiful traditional architecture didn’t really have the calming effect that it normally would. The junies were raring to swing and even the fruit punch (which looked unbelievably like Absinthe!) and toothsome starters couldn’t stop them from getting onto the floor. [The place was too big to qualify as a dance floor, it was ‘a lot of floor’ where you could dance, walk, eat or run a half marathon...]













With D (Deepak Oram for the uninitiated) taking over as the DJ, the music went popular, the lights went off, the crowd went crazy, and the entire floor went dance. Our big little family resort was now neither family, nor resort. The heady mix of amazing music, Saturday night relief and green fruit punch resulted in some remarkable performances on the floor. Some of these have been caught on camera but some others are etched in time.













Dinner followed the dance extravaganza, and it was pan-Indian and yummy. The music and the green fruit punch kept flowing in the meanwhile.

The crowd started to dwindle at about 10:30 in the evening as the first set of buses drove off back to the campus. As the night progressed, a ‘deep thought and philosophy’ group began to emerge – true to traditions of occasions such as this. Deep contemplation and debate went on till midnight, when it was time for the last bus, and culminated with some Bappi-da numbers from the golden 80’s.

It certainly wasn’t the first party of the season, the Mess party took that honour, but it was certainly an extremely memorable one - Something that the batch of 2009 won’t forget in a hurry.