54th Week@XIMB

54th Week@XIMB - 17th June to 23rd June, 2012

17th June - I started traveling for Bhubaneswar from home. Traveling in the various compartments of the train makes our interaction different class emerging and present in India. A 8 hour journey in jam pack general compartment of the train makes one tough and bares grim reality of poor infrastructure of this developing country. Yet if we can choose, we can live in the world of comforting illusion.

18th June - The train was late in the arrival just by 2 hours. Rain and storm welcomed me back to the educational institute of east India. There was new batch roaming around in XIMB. A new group of budding rural managers were going to start their journey.

In my opinion nearly all students who enter this prgramme with a certain amount of idealism and desire to serve the public, but after two years of competition and loan.
And slowly everybody care for nothing but the right job with the right company where we all can get in top level management in coming years and earn big bucks. May be this is required for our own sustainability.

19th June - There was first lecture of CM (Cooperative Management)in which history of the cooperative movement were discussed. The modern cooperative movement can be said to have started in 1844, with the creation of the Rochdale Principles.

Cooperative Credit Societies Act, 1904 was the first Incorporation that later lead to the development of Cooperative Societies Act, 1912. Post Independence, the Committee on Cooperative Law under the chairmanship of Shri S.T.Raja in 1956 recommended a Model Bill for consideration of State Governments. In 1990, an Expert Committee, under the chairmanship of Choudhary Brahm Perkash, was appointed by the Planning Commission to make a rapid review of the broad status of the cooperative movement, suggest future directions and finalize a Model Cooperatives Act. The Committee submitted its report in 1991. Report of the High Powered Committee on Cooperatives can be studies in much details.

20th June - I came to know about Mousetrap Fallacy theory that is held in high esteem in marketing. The additional sophistication may increase measuring ability and effectiveness yet may be unusable at such cost. This was taught interestingly in the 2nd lecture of QRM.

The video aims at explaining the foundation of sustainable development planning, i.e., each policy and investment decision must take into equal consideration its economic, social and environmental impacts.

The Future We Want


21st June - I didn't attend the first lecture of ESM (Ecosystem and Sustainability Management) where there was screening of the movie 'The call of Bhagirathi' that was winner of the national award as the best investigative film in 1992. It revolves around the big costs of big dams, a film by Anwar Jamal.

A trailer -The call of Bhagirathi



There was kick off start of the official interaction (viva) session with the PGPRM 2012-2014 batch since has arrived in the campus.

22nd June - RM Knowledge depository was restored on the XSYS-server. Thanks to seniors and XSYS team for this feat.

CM - ICA provided the information about co-operatives worldwide that is the apex organization. UN proclaims 2012 International Year of Co-operatives: "Co-operative enterprises build a better world"

There were five acts necessary for managers working in India. They are - Indian Trust Act, Indian Societies Registration Act, Trade Unions Act, The Companies Act and The Co- Operative Societies Act.

FAQ - A Non Profit Organisation can be registered in India as a Society, under the Registrar of Societies or as a Trust, by making a Trust deed. A third option is registration as a section-25 Company under the Companies Act, 1956.
Whether a trust, society or section-25 company, the Income Tax Act, 1961 gives all categories equal treatment, in terms of exempting their income and granting 80G certificates, whereby donors to non-profit organisations may claim a rebate against donations made.

23rd June - Placement Batchmeet was held for the placement season coming soon this year. In this depressing economy, there is challenge

A mail was floated for the suggestions by Team Placecom. There was a bottom line in the mail that inspired me. That ended week on the high note. "Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success".

53rd Week@XIMB

53rd Week@XIMB - 10th June to 16th June, 2012

Arbeit macht frei is a German phrase, literally "labour makes (you) free" . The slogan “Arbeit macht frei” was placed at the entrances to a number of Nazi concentration camps. These last 52 weeks were not tedious labour yet occupied me with several assignments.

This was full vacation week away at home from anything related to academics. I visited to Varanasi for a retrospective tour. I celebrated one year of satisfied student life.

13th June 2011 was the last working day and I was out of the front gate of CSC. Within two minutes of final settlement, the mental pain of incompetency in the software arena sublimed. Bye bye team meetings, bye bye security pass, bye bye management. I posted an awesome resignation email to all my team mates.

The sun has never shone so bright, the air has never tasted so sweet, I have never felt lighter, than that moment. I was free. I was free. I was so ecstatically free I could smell the trip to new adventure!

Yes, I was neck deep involved in packaging for XIMB. Work Experience taught me other than discipline and career planning familiarity with the words such as competency, change management, paradigm, bell curve, KRA etc. I strongly suggest a newbie wanna be joining MBA program to mandatory serve a stint in operations to get hang of the business.

Any positive or negative employment experience help in our learning curve. With all sort of the questions, comments, concerns, appraise, complaints, feedback, frustrations, irritations, aggravations, allegations, accusations and inputs has mad me tough and more open to new challenges.

I was not knowing whether my decision to XIMB was right or wrong. We can only analyze the forces shaping the future, but not the way it will turn out. I read a great line that gave me solace : ‎"I don't believe in taking right decisions. I take decisions and then make them right" - Ratan Tata.>

52nd Week@XIMB

52nd Week@XIMB - 3rd June to 9nd June, 2012

03rd June - I reached to Bhopal early in the morning. In the whole journey, I was thinking about Bhind district from socio-cultural perspective. Growing up in the cities like Varanasi, Hyderabad, Lucknow and Kanpur is a completely different than Bhind. The people here are more simple yet rigid in their world view. The religious and caste bias runs deep down than one city boy can imagine. Politics at grass-root level is caste dominated, bullet-ridden and blood soaked. The more unjust and arbitrary a system is, the greater the impression that one has to fight for one's own survival. Hence, one can think of bullying of upper caste with violence. A society without a caste system does not and cannot exist – especially when it is free, heterogeneous, and complex. When a highly respected institution like caste and religion that’s a powerful player in cultural life rewards a representative for intolerance, there’s reason for concern.

04th June - A day of the rest after a long travel. I traveled in non AC compartments in the last few weeks. I met and talked with people. We talked about importance of Entrepreneurship spirit even of pan shop vendor to Education qualification of the children of the political leader. There was growing concern that income inequality had grew rapidly in the last decade, but consumption of public goods inequality did not. Whatever economic philosophy, the public deserves an accurate presentation of the reasons for the change in income distribution. And people are asking for it.

05 June - My stint with the MP government is nearly finished. Only few administrative and financial formalities have to be finalized. The disconnect between official rhetoric and lived realities is vast.

Working with the government was altogether different. Hope for this nation lies in the fact that tomorrow it may be run by individuals who know what they will do and they have a clear idea of what they want to say and whom they are addressing it.

06th June - Allama Muhmmad Iqbal - Words, without power, is mere philosophy. The threat of consultant to extend our internship without backing of MP govt backfired with our dissents. I was applauded for searching by consultant for District level Health Facility GIS Maps and Indices. I also came to knwoe through Nafees about Madhya Pradesh Education portal In end, everything was sorted with the cool head.

07th June - I submitted a copy of the Disaster management plan to the Technical consultants. I started journey back to Lucknow that night. With the end of these two months it was reconfirmed that to err is human, to blame it on somebody else shows management potential.

08th June - I mailed one more edited version of the final report. That was the end of my attachment to the district Bhind who is named after the mythological Hindu saint Vibhandak Rishi. There was a long talk with my father about development and government. We agreed at few but mostly disagreed. I kept silent to control the outburst of emotions.

09th June - I downloaded episodes of Business Sutra. Here is first episode for preview.

Business Sutra EP#1 Seg 1(Is there an Indian way of doing)



Business Sutra EP#1 Seg 2(Purpose of a Corporation)



Business Sutra EP#1 Seg 3(Short Term Vs Long Term)

51st Week@XIMB

51st Week@XIMB - 27th May to 2nd June, 2012

27th May - I find one more good articles on MPWPCL in Business Standard :- MP women`s poultry co-op to up production.

One more website was explored : BELL Teaching Case Studies - BELL teaching cases explore sustainability related business challenges and capture business decisions that identify environmental challenges as business development opportunities. They are now freely available via the catalog below.

Navjyoti is a community based-paced-managed-owned enterprise system in Padmapur Block, Rayagada district. XIMB is one of the patron of this enterprise. Navajyoti as a Community Enterprise System is a Producer’s Company that is being assisted by NABARD-XIMB-Sustainability Trust.

Fasal is an easy to use yet sophisticated SMS based platform which gives actionable information on price, potential buyer info, weather to the farmers make more money.

28th May - NGOBOX and SAMS Jobsonline are good website for recruiter of the Development sector. That I discovered in one more sleepy day at Bhopal.

29th May - The mid term review came quite late. I was applauded for having good understanding about the subject(disaster management), still the report needs focus on the missing data. I like the part of conceptual clarity mentioned in the mail.

30th May - And as they say ‘politics knows no logic'. There was good news for XIMB regarding media front. The survey puts the B-Schools in 14 hierarchical categories and XIMB was placed in Business Standard's top B-school bracket of SUPER LEAGUE 1. Many elite colleges have not participated in this ranking and it is based on analysis of data collected through a questionnaire.

31st May - I started for Bhind district for the last time. While heat waves were making the jorney tougher and Bharat Bhand was providing relief with less crowded buses and trains.

1st June - There was a imaginary pressure on me for planning a review meet on plan with District Magistrate. There was even visit of Prabhari Mantri on the same day. If one don't panic, one can think better. This is where experience helped me. With some talking tactics and a little bit of discourse, everything was done perfectly. I even reviewed the plan with the nodal officer. The day was hot and I even lost temper on a rude peon.

2nd June - I meet with Area commander Homegaurd who was mine nodal officer for first few days. Yet the gossip level of the place was a bit too much for mine temper. I started for Bhopal in the afternoon.Working days in the land of Bhindak Rishi was over. I only reached to the conclusion : Deference to elders and authority is so deeply ingrained in the administrative hierarchy that an outsider has a little chance of modifying the behaviour.

50th Week@XIMB

50th Week@XIMB - 20th May to 26th May, 2012

20th May - I came to know the concept of Producer Company. A Producer Company is a means to bring together the small and marginal farmers and other small producers in the village level to build their own business enterprise that will be managed by professionals. In addition, to regular and sustainable source of income, a PC can give the rural producer (a) Identity, (b) Capacity or competence, (c) Brand, (d) Empowerment, (e) Equity, and (f) Dignity.

I heard two good quotes from Ashish that inspired him. Sharing those quote with an anecdote to all....

Service can have no meaning unless one takes pleasure in it. When it is done for show or for fear, it stunts the man and crushes his spirit. - Mahatma Gandhi

IRMAns will go where they are most needed not where they are most rewarded. - Dr. Verghese Kurien

When a journalist asked him what made Dr. Kurien settle down in a small village like Anand, when he had a Masters degree from a US university. With a gentle smile he replied, “True development is the development of men and women, and this idea made me stay in this little town for more than 50 years as an employee of farmers, and I was never able to give this up for what many call a better life. I hope to enthuse young women and men to adopt my passion as theirs”.

As a member on the board of management of IIM, Ahmedabad, Dr Verghese Kurien suggested IIM–A students should serve the nation for at least three years before going in search of greener pastures. Upon hearing this, one of the members on the board, who was a top industrialist from Ahmedabad, took his cigar out of his mouth and said, “So, Dr Kurien, you want our graduates to go and milk cows?” Dr Kurien stood up and replied: “No, you continue to teach them how to suck on cigars”, and then resigned from the board. This event led to the birth of a unique institution — Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA).

21st May - I visited retail shop of Sukhtawa chicken and assessed business of retail outlet. There is a famous idiom that If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys hold true for every company. Any company that pays less than market standard will eventually get crooks and thieves as their employees.

22nd May - Working as an intern for government project, I closely observed that you need privileges to prosper in India. Otherwise, you're simply lost in burecratic and political hurdles. While in power one need only will power and independent mind to get things done. While not in power you need guts to challenge system with awareness, strong social network and information in India today. Even then they can survive but not prospser except in few metro cities...

I had collected almost all data available, hence there is no usage of going back to Bhind. Many people see this as unethical but I had a different view. If stretching 1 day work to 7 days and playing solitaire at office comes under the definition of work, then I am much ready to spare time at Bhind.

23rd May - I read an old article Flying in the Face of Flu that focused on Tribal and Dalit women make a success story out of a poultry co-operative and fight the bird flu scare. The story was based on the work of MPWPCL.

24th May - A waste day ! Yet, there is lot of cribbing on the facebook due to petrol price rise. There is a nice article that comments on the differential price policy pursued by the government vis a vis petrol and diesel.

It Takes a Village to Raise an Entrepreneur : In the first large-scale, quantitative study of nascent social entrepreneurs, researchers from Harvard Business School and Echoing Green examine the rise of hybrid organizations that combine aspects of nonprofits and for-profits and the challenges hybrids face as they attempt to integrate traditionally separate organizational models.

25th May - It could have been another waste day. I used this day to learn a little about break even analysis.

There was mail from consultants inquiring for an urgent information from all about the final DDMP review date fixed in the distt, with DC Office and nodal authorities. I am planning to finish the report and finalize it with DC office.

26th May - On this auspicious day, I observed as neutral third party final presentation of interns of MPWPCL. They have done a fair job and had a good knowledge of chicken market.