Everything ManDevIan!

Hello, prospective ManDevIans. The following are the links to the mentee-mentor list. Make the most of it.

http://mandevian.com/images/fbfiles/files/Mentor_Details_2010.pdf
http://mandevian.com/images/fbfiles/files/GD_PI_Mentor_List_2010.pdf

For all queries and doubts, contact your respective mentor.

Do Well

So TC sir finally decided to take a class. Though I have not opted for the subject I had heard that TC sir’s last class is legendary. So there I was, first time in my life at MDI witnessing a classroom full. There were no empty chairs… not even in the front rows!

On popular demand, specially by Ram Sharma, Debjit Mukherji and Kartikeya Vatsa, here’s a summary of yesterday’s TC sir’s lecture full of wisdom pearls:
Do not stop reading. The globe is a very dynamic place. What you learn today will be outdated tomorrow. If you stop reading, the world will leave you behind.
Have someone as an inspiration. You’ll not grow without inspiration. And your father cannot be your ideal. If everyone wants to become like his father, all progress will stop and society will stagnate.
Dream. It gives a meaning and purpose to life. Think positive. The power of positive thinking is often neglected.
Never think you’re stuck in an industry. You have the power to move to any field you want.
Remember you are managers and not workers. Its work that you are managing and it can be any kind of work. You can hire people who know the work, you just have to manage them. You will not get manager’s work immediately but eventually you will. Try and become a manager as soon as possible. Remember, the word manager contains ‘man’ which means it is people you will have to deal with in your professions.
In 5 years’ time, you will be earning more and will have more knowledge than any of the professors here because they will keep on teaching the same thing but you will evolve with the industry.
If you have any kind of problem, call TC sir at least once. But do not stay in touch if you don’t have any problem. He will try to help whether you have academic problems, marriage problems, you banged your car, committed a murder or are caught in a cross fire in the Czech republic. Even if he may not be able to solve your problem, you will not lose anything by telling him. But for God’s sake do not stay in touch with him if you don’t have any problems. Do not drop in to tell that you’re happy with your job, got married and have two kids. It is expected from you. Moreover, he would not know how to react to social pleasantries so get in touch only when you have a problem.
There was also some stuff about income and its classification and how taxation can be used to channelise investments in a country but I’m sure people are not interested in knowing that stuff. Moreover I don’t remember all that

So that’s it folks. Let me know if I missed something.

Cheers
Aalok

Disclaimer: All the characters mentioned are purely fictional and bear no resemblance whatsoever to any person living or dead

I wake up on a winter day,
While many others on their beds still lay..
I am jealous but I have to bear,
Coz half a dozen docks I wouldnt dare..

And so I enter the class half awake,
But my insides invoke a dreary scream..
Where someone something puzzling speaks,
And so I go into.. so into a hazy dream..

In my dream, there goes an alarm..
I wake up to see on my bench the somebody’s arm..
Says he - Sleeping in class you are,
U think you are ‘IN-fashion’ but the institute’s reputation you guys mar..
Say I - Neither cool nor ‘IN-fashion’ am I,
All I am is ummm.. a little sleepy.. sigh..!!

Two days of frenzy, chaos and then it ends! Delphique ’09 for me has been 10 months full of activities, chaos, celebrations, disappointments and now that it has ended, I feel a strange lacunae in my life.

Since the day the team was formed, our only concern was to find the best Knowledge partners and best panelists on board. But from there on, the roller coaster ride started and ended right on the day of the event when we could actually finalize the Schedule! Waking up the team at 5 AM after they managed to sleep at 3AM, getting frantic calls from team members to know that there is no person to put up the banners at Audi, the printer getting calls from his wife at 3 AM as he prints our posters … I think thats what is known as Just-in-Time!

The valedictory function was the most amazing moment when even with droopy eyes and aching body, there was a childish joy in every one of us that smelled of success. Getting snaps clicked at every banner with the Chief Guests gave such a high that made us forget all that we had sacrificed. And then the party happened, and then came that strong feeling of void! Wish it wasn’t over so soon! But as they say, maybe its time to move on!

3 AM: The sleepy guard outside the girls hostel is disturbed by the sound of footsteps, despite my CAT-like (no pun intended! I have my share of the agony too!) footsteps. The red-eyed guard seemed shocked at seeing what looked like a pathetic imitation of a yellow teletubby sneaking around at night. I wouldn’t blame him though; my ‘Illuminating’ adventures continue to contribute to my already comical life. Today’s attire sought the attention of even the dogs on campus, who of course convinced me that apart from barking; they run about and bite people too. What work would I have outside a girls hostel in anycase? Of course, I’d speak/rant/crib/cry like a baby about my un-interesting <roommate stares> – ahem! Right! Let’s call it – non-existent love life, some other time. Today, I ventured out of the bright (sorry, I’m pathetic with synonyms; besides, illuminate is a difficult word!) basement to satisfy a sudden mid-night craving for a drink. I open the fridge, and voila! Murphy does it again. As is the case with my romantic encounters at school, college and now even my b-school, all the good ones are already taken! This, boys and girls, is the close encounter of the worst kind. I move on to the night canteen, which predictably in my case, is out of stock too. Next stop – Nescafe. Closed! Now now, I’m starting to believe I’m jinxed!

So now, I had a nice little night walk, made a joke of myself, and didn’t even get a drink for all the effort. I walk back to the basement and am stopped right at the hostel gate, where a group of enthusiastic classmates whack the hell out of my backside because Arpit turned 23 today! (Happy Birthday Arpit. I see, and feel, the happiness!). Now now, what is the moral of the story? My mom always told me – never venture out at night alone. Old is gold, my reader!

Cheerio!

It’s 2.30 AM as I write this post, and I’ve just returned from what I’d call a rather ‘Illuminating’ experience. Yes, I will sleep, but only once I’m done with the 25-page case monster that has to be analysed over 15 slides. When I joined MDI for the PGPM programme, I expected it to be taxing, but not to the extend that I’d hang out wearing what seems like war paint as I walk out of the basement at 2.30 AM! My vacations seem nightmarish, as my mother gasps at the astronomic change in her Herculean J son’s lifestyle; I now stay awake till 5 AM, and am up by 8.30 by default.

The bio-clock that goes cuckoo at 8.30 has a certain meaning to it. One shouldn’t miss the first class of the morning due to its innate scope for pure, unadulterated, and vastly original entertainment. Sample these for early morning classroom discussions:

Prof: If you lent money to your girlfriend at 6% on compound interest for 4 years and at the same rate for simple interest, how much interest would you gain in the first case?

Student ‘X’: In four years sir, one would actually start losing interest. J J

Prof: We have a coin with an 80% chance of a head. We now apply the binomial distribution to 100 such coins.. blah blah.

Student: (15 minutes later) Pardon me sir, but I have a very technical doubt. If the probability of a head is 80%, does that mean that the coin is biased? J

So you see, classic comedy of this sort, truly is priceless. It’s been just one term, and I’m starting to feel a sudden nostalgia already! An MBA Actually also teaches one to handle contingencies. Logistics such as compiling PPTs after finishing individual portions, maintaining a whiff of order and consistency within the compiled presentations, and of course, remembering who presents which portion, are effectively managed while other groups present to a rather engaged audience. Oh yes, the effective manager also correctly remembers the order of presentation with names such as Untitled, Untitled1 and Untitled2 for presentations on HRM, Marketing and Communication. I plus MANAC (short for management accounting) has always amounted to MANIAC! Which reminds me. I need to create an Untitled for my Marketing lecture tomorrow. Toodles for now readers, more to come soon!

23^rd September ‘09

Marquity, the marketing club of MDI, have set the ball rolling on Marq-O-Mania with the first Marq-Talk that took place yesterday, 22^nd September. Marq-O-Mania is a competitive event which aims to extract creative research papers from the students of MDI on various academic yet out-of-the-book Marketing topics. Marq-Talks are a series of interactions with the eminent faculty of MDI that facilitate the better understanding of the scope of the chosen topics. Prof Mukul Gupta and Prof Jaydeep Mukherjee graced us with their insightful and illuminating arguments. The topic for the talk was ‘Masquerade’ – Surrogate Advertising and Implicit Marketing.

The talks elicited enthusiastic response and after the very dynamic discussion of about an hour, the participants were enlightened and impressed. Prof Gupta and Prof Mukherjee appealed to many a brain with their awesome points of view.

The next Marq-Talk is scheduled for 28^th September. Prof A. P. Arora is going to be present for the talk on ‘Is ‘Brand’ becoming less important today?’ We hope to have a bigger and opinionated turnout!

It is 1900 hours at Management Development Institute, Gurgaon on the day which witnessed the end of the first midterm exams for the junior batch at MDI. The zeal and vigour to score handsome and shine out brighter than the rest of the batch were witnessed across the batch and the same has impressed the professors and the senior batch alike.

Weary of the sleepless nights and the 2-exams-a-day schedule, every ManDevIan is relieved that the week has finally come to an end. But, it sure was an exciting experience for each of them as these exams were way trickier than which they have appeared for till date. “It was a great experience, the sleepless nights, the anxiety and the hourly trips to arcus (the night canteen at campus) were fun while the exams were way too different from the ones we had at school and graduation and were far more challenging”, says Parsva Saikia. But Manan Nagori, who has a different opinion about it, says “It was all a chill and actually easier as we did not have the long classes in the meanwhile.” No wonder he claims to have watched the whole of the series ‘Entourage’ in the past 4 days. Hitesh Kyal believes it was fun studying in groups. “We studied together as a unit even with the grading being relative. Before I came here, I believed it would be a rat race with everyone competing for grades at the cost of their batch mates. But, clearly, that wasn’t the case!

Regarding the agenda now, Ronojoy says “Celebration is the call of the hour. It’s time for malls and movies and discs”. And, why not? It’s the same old hectic story for the poor souls starting tomorrow onwards.

“Proud to be a ManDevIan”.

It is a clichéd phrase, I agree, but there must be a reason, why it has become clichéd. The line pretty much sums up what I really feel about MDI. Some people might ask, “ManDevIan?? Now what’s that?” If you start digging at the roots of the word you’d realize that it’s

Takshashila-MDI

just a clubbing of the initial three letters of Management Development Institute.

It is just that and a much more.

A ManDevIan dwells on the ground and still knows how to soar high in the sky.

A ManDevIan knows how to reach other people and still hasn’t forgotten to touch his own soul.

Change Masters…we call ourselves.

Yes, we have mastered change. We have been mastering it since our inception. Since then MDI has come a long way. Starting from scratch, it has become a premier B-school in a span of just 15 years. Now that means something. And the meteoric rise hasn’t come about with sheer luck. Just a glance at the campus, a conversation with a ManDevIan or a lecture from one of its faculty member would be enough to prove it.

The day I got selected for the college, I was on cloud nine. Well, I was on all the clouds present in the sky. I knew that day that my life was changed forever. Brand MDI would be there with me, for me, wherever I go, whatever I do in my life. And now I know, I will be there with it too, in whatever it achieves and whatever it doesn’t.

And that’s what we as an institute and we as individuals have given each other…

The freedom to fly and the freedom to fall…

Together we have painted the sky and together we will conquer it.

'Gyaan Grih' - MDI

MDI

Likes and dislikes we have them all here

On some we differ, other we share

Respect the authorities or are we afraid of the Chair?

Yes we shall miss the moments when we didn’t care and when we did dare

Leg-pulling and sarcasm, made it a part of our life

Clubs and committees, all have had their share of strife

Innumerable issues, have they left behind any trails?

Don’t think so, coz when we leave, shall only remember the congratulation chain mails…

Nick names out of love…mostly for fun

We don’t believe in number games—who cares if we are #5 or #1?

Exams so unlike CAT… fed up with faff and learning by rote,

And yet when we leave we shall only miss the cab sharing to airport J

Boring Gyaan session inside CM (sorry even at CMA)

Placement pressures—RG coming in the way

Holding grudges and behaving like immature teens

And yet when we leave we’ll only recall walking around MDI greens

Taking our chances with our crushes and love and see them happen!

Facing the demoralizing policies—spirits haven’t dampened

We’ll miss the birthdays at the Dome and the alma mater giving us the step up towards fame

And the last stint at college life and the last few months of the same…