Diary of a Rural Manager!

Sparsh: Development in a Trimester of rural management : John Stuart Mill is right here: there is no development, democratic or economic, without an educated citizenry. Hence with this statement, ...

14th Week --- 11th September to 17th September 11th September - OB and RDA exams are over. Hence, there is formal closure of first trimester with few assignments. There is a difference between fresher and experienced student in the college regarding money. While both of them know how to spend money cautiously, the experienced candidate know how to accumulate money little by little for desired product. A pearl of wisdom from Partha. 12th September - One more installment of fees paid with my hard earned money. Missed SRP presentation due to headache. Demand Draft for 2nd trimester is ready. A special Talk given by Mr. Anshu Gupta who is the CEO of GOONJ (http://goonj.org/). A brilliant and inquisitive mind, he studied journalism as well as Advertising & Public Relations from one of the premier Institute in India (Indian Institute of Mass Communication), and then went on to do a Masters in Economics. While still a graduate student in 1991, he traveled to Uttarkashi, Nort...

13th Week --- 4th September to 10th September 4th September - Sunday. A relaxed day in the life of a XIMB student in the whole weekend. A good video seen today on talent and merit, thanks to Namit Arora Sir (Shunya) 5th September - A holiday before exam... like a silence before storm. 6th September - FR quiz on this day. Talks by person from World Bank and NRLM on Rural Livelihoods: Challenges and Opportunities. I was selected in Kurukshetra  Expressions game whose committee was first launched in 1995. Hence, it has the distinction of being the first game committee of XIMB. Unlike other B schools which look to outsource the game committee framework to a professional third party, Kurukshetra is the brain child of XIMB's own systems genius Dr. Gopal Krishna Nayak. The sophisticated and solid structure of the game is its strength. 7th September - ME: A tough subject is over with an average exam. 8th September - LTB and COMM exams over. 9th September - SADA an...

12th Week --- 28th August to 3rd September 28th August - Sunday. No work and missed Envision organized by XSYS. SRP work finished today. 29th August - Thanks to Partha and AP that I landed up in the class for right time. 30th August - Every teacher is in hurry to finish the course. 31st August - Eid Holiday ! 1st September - Ganesh Pooja Holiday ! Lunch food had came from ISKCON. There are students who didn't know how to eat from their hands. It was hilarious to watch them eating from 2 fingers :P 2nd September - A long day to get tired. 5 classes a day. I was in the part of 2 team and one personal presentation. Goofed up in one slide and mistype "blind spot" as "blood spot"; 3rd September - ME test was done on the basis of pure chances. But QM presentation was superb. Happy with the positive feedback of sir and my team. Gave feedback of each subject and teacher. Indra Nooyi and Ela Bhatt were chosen as examples of woman leaders in LT...

11th Week --- 21th August to 27th August 21st August - Birthday. Sunday. Batch took me in the air from room to the hostel front. Love you RM 2011-2013 BATCH. 22nd August - Nothing special but exhaustive day in classes.Launch of Spardha was awesome. Theme waschosen from starting scene of Gulaal. Mashaal and Gulaal added the colour in the show. Literally, it stirred the sentiments of the people. 23rd August - Mother Teresa and remembered the book The missionary position by Christopher Hitchens that dealt with a frank expose of the Teresa cult. Learning about Financial sheet is quite good. Feeling happy with the content of FR course ; Shadow placement committee work.Website discussion. A form was float to know expectation of the batch internship and job expectations. Launch of LAXIM 1 ( lol !) 24th August - COMM classroom discussions were awesome : Ethical sensivity, whistle-blower in company, Is business a commercial or social activity, spiritualism, focus on deadlines an...

उम्मीद वक्त का सबसे बड़ा सहारा है, गर हौसला है तो हर मौज में किनारा है। -'साहिर' लुधियानवी 10th Week --- 14th August to 20th August 14th August - Bike came to Bhubaneswar ! SRC cordially invited everyone for the candle march tonight in honour of country's Independence Day. 15th August - First Holiday of the Trimester ! Not attended flag hosting ceremony due to sleep. Spent time with children at orphanage for SRP project. That was much better way of celebrating independence. 16th August - Summer Internship Process started today. I was busy man today as a shadow Placecom member. Literally run 100m for a cup of coffee to HR. Gaurav Anand, Joslin Jose, Abhijeet and Anshul were finally selected in this agri input company. 17th August - Not much happening day. Sportscom Applicants were invited and most ; Yogesh Joshi was finally selected in any committee. 18th August - Robert Mulhal of Lucca Leadership gives a brilliant interactive session. He pointed out abou...

9th Week --- 7th August to 13th August 7th August - I opened my eyes in Jharkhand. And our train reached at Jamshedpur in the morning. I remembered Udaan movie. 8th August - Returned from XLRI,Jamshedpur in the afternoon. Mr. Inir Pinheiro an alumnus of XIMB RM addressed us tonight. He is a Social Entrepreneur, Founder of Grassroutes. His emphasis on dreams, networking and sharing ideas with role models was the core of the talk. Yes, he told about the sacrifices made in personal and professional life throughout this 5 years. MBA schools are over hyped placement agencies. That line completely knocked me down. 9th August - Biresh Sahoo is an awesome person and definitely an outlier . Today, he compared h index of the research papers in the microeconomics class. None of the teacher stands near to him in XIMB. He unveiled the mask of sophistication in the research field of many eminent names in XIMB.Research gives one frustration while teaching gives money. Only conclusion t...

8th Week --- 31st July to 6th August 31st July - "Teach for India" came for a Presentation at XIM, Bhubaneswar. Sunday Morning was good. SAMBANDH 2011 kicked started in the evening. वो इंतजार था जिसका ये वो सहर तो नहीं, ये वो सहर तो नहीं जिसकी आरजू लेकर. I remembered this line today. The batch is doing awesome in dance, song, games and every extra curricular activities. Yet no body is uttering a single word either about B Plan or Social Entrepreneurship. What a batch of under performers. Anyone's role model define the horizon of his/her aspirations. Our batch is choosing wrong role models for rural management programme. 1st Aug - SADA class was good today because there was discussion on Ideology. I loved one quote mentioned in slide. "When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why are they poor, they call me a Communist." Pandit Shri Hari Prasad Chaurasia conducted a Hindustani Classical Flute Recital today. It was mesmerizin...

7th Week --- 24th July to 30th July 24th July - Sunday. Derek Sivers: Keep your goals to yourself After hitting on a brilliant new life plan, our first instinct is to tell someone, but Derek Sivers says it's better to keep goals secret ! Ted Video 25th July - Leadership & Team Building (LTB) Mid term paper at 6:00 PM 26th July - Managerial Economics (ME) Mid term paper at 3:00 PM 27th July - Rural Financial Institutions & Markets (RFIM) Mid term paper at 3:00 PM 28th July - Quantitative Methods (QM)Mid term paper at 3:00 PM. 29th July - A day started with quiz and further class of Individuals in Organisation (OB-I); There was meet of Placecom committee and discussion is classified secret, not to come in the public blog. A special Talk delivered by Dr. Kundan Kumar (Assistant Professor, Dept. of Geography & Centre for Environment, University of Toronto, Canada), on "Climate Justice" at 3:45 PM A guest lecture by Dr Dindo Campila...

6th Week --- 17th July to 23rd July 17th July - Sunday. I was selected in shadow Placecom committee of 11 members. SANIDHYA opened us an insight into diverse talents of our seniors in the evening. Almost negligible presence of faculty was above my head. 18th July - I become a default member of RMAX by securing admission in PGP-RM course at XIMB. Rural Manager's Association of XIMB (RMAX) is a registered student body which caters to the specific needs of a rural management student. Rural Managers Association of XIMB (RMAX) was started in 2003. Gramotsava, the rural marketing fair started in 2006. "The real source of market promise is not the wealthy few in the developing world, or even the emerging middle-income consumers. It is the billions of aspiring poor who are joining the market economy for the first time." - C.K.Prahalad (Author of 'The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid') Whole day was gone in COMM presentation. I really understand today why t...

5th Week --- 10th July to 16th July 10th July- Walked out in the night before Viva session for SADA group assignment work. Kudos and Thanks to Prateek Singh and Parthasarthy CR for supporting me in this tough situation. 20 people boycotted while rest of the batch enjoyed entertaining time till 5 AM with seniors. I am still proud of my decision as they say in English : A Man Do What He Has to Do ! 11th July - Necessity for me to improve in verbal English became exposed in front of whole class. Got two valuable lessons that rational acts depend on emotional memories and assumption is the mother of all fuckups. 12th July - Missed Jogging today. I was literally scared in ME class due to the questions of Biresh Sir. Attended Student Executive Council (SEC) and Place-com meeting. I have to write SOP and prepare Resume for this. Seniors have lot of energy in them; Hats off to them :) 13th July - The Bhaina Song was mailed to us; Presentation of IRC, Alcom and Illuminatix in the...

4th Week --- 3rd July to 9th July 3rd July: What a grand start of the week. Birthday of Kasturi Lal celebrated among great enthusiasm and pleasure. I was lucky one selected for accepting the fake proposal scene. Feeling lucky :) It was followed by Cricket Match at 1:00 AM at Lawn Tennis Court. I also started jogging from today with Parthsarthy CR to improve fitness. 4th July: Class of Societal Analysis & Development Alternatives (SADA) with the topic Power of Imagination was innovative and entertaining in its approach. I saw the infinite possibilities of the words that can change the world in a blank page. I learned about Concept of Interbeing by Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh and Technology With A Human Face by E. F. Schumacher. There was a special talk arranged by XIMB administration on biodiversity and conservation. The most absurd part was that only Rural management students were invited.  Does the responsibility for conservation of nature and awareness about...

3rd Week --- 26th June to 2 July : A hectic schedule of classes, assignments and projects. Watched Manthan . A must watch movie for RM students on White Revolution and luckily was available on xsysserver. Movie is based on a story written jointly by Verghese Kurien (the Father of the White Revolution in India) and director Shyam Benegal. Nandankanan Trip missed. Election for Cultural Representative takes place. Gaurish's decision to stay back was a moral boost for me. Courier arrived finally with all stuffs. I am liking XIMB now !!! Thanks to Mriganka Mondal for this beautiful protest song.

2nd Week --- 19th June to 25th June : This week was indulged in studying, meetings and alumni talks. Room no. 219 was named as General Headquarters Rawalpandi and Room no. 216 Incubation center for RM 2011-2013 batch ! Library Card was issued but no books taken by me! Laptop was repaired but no further use in Education ! Courier of the Bags and accessories was delayed for 3 more days ! SRP ( Socially Relevant Projects): kicked off. A visit to the field changes the thinking pattern of people. Looking forward towards it. Communication Class : What a class and a fantastic teacher. Loved the video recording session. The feedback was a learning experience of lifetime. Rural Development and Administration Class : So much of pre-read material helping me this time. Other subjects are quite interesting. But the high point is pedagogy of the teaching. Never have experience of such an open environment and teachers acting as facilitators. Pitched for fist time in an election but ...

1st Week --- 14th June to 18th June 14th June : In XIMB at Bhubaneswar. Hostel allotted at Fr. Bogaert Residence. 15th June : Purchasing accessories for room and interaction with new people. 16th June : Orientation program was like warning session of upcoming storms. Briefing on Library was also given. Hostel Briefing looks like ethics preaching. 17th June : Missed Information Technology Briefing. Ice Breaking and Living in XIMB session rocked. I was in Group C : Catch us if you can. Elephant drawn by team looks like on steroid in one body part and malnourished in another. Truly X- elephant.  Men's Hostel Dining Room No.2 started with good meal. First time girls come up in our hostel! Briefing of Conduct and discipline, course feedback and mentors were precise and seemed strict. Given an inspiration for pursuing constructive criticism. 18th June : Case discussion over "Questioning to Learn" was interesting. Watched four videos of XIMB alumni. One Video o...