Diary of a Rural Manager!

23rd Week - 13th November to 19th November 13th November : Sunday evening with Lucky Ali. A happening end of the leisure day. 14th November : "A person's a person, no matter how small" - Dr. Seuss, author . I learned this lesson today but don't remember where. 15th November : We presented CCD (CAFE COFFEE DAY) in marketing class and comes unscathed of any negative criticism. ADM lecture was good. Most stupid questions are those that are never asked. It was a really good quote from Gaurish Manerkar. 16th November : People don't know how to use mail. That can only I say now on public forum. Otherwise a regular day. 17th November : It was last class of ITM and PROJM. A happy end of trimester is coming soon. Learned about Brian Wasnik and Duncan J. Watts. Duncan J. Watts (born 1971) is a principal research scientist at Yahoo! Researcher and the author of the book Six Degrees: The Science of a Connected Age. I am producing here his famous article in ...

22nd Week - 6th November to 12th November 6th November - Sunday. SRM lecture is missed . There was good news that I am shortlisted for interview of MSME. There was election for core place-com committee in the evening. 5 hours of marathon and participatory process was over with 22 candidates (14 Voluntary and 8 at the moment). Politics inside the branch has started officially. 7th November - Interview for MSME was not much satisfactory. But I studied a lot about Clusters of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and livelihood generation through Cluster Development . M S Swaminathan Research Foundation is doing good work in the area of hunger and food security. As per there Vision : A society where everyone has access to food and nutrition security. And Mission : Ensuring food and nutrition security of vulnerable sections by empowering them, by promotion of focused interventions, by capacity building of various stakeholders, and by research and advocacy. The ‘ Rep...

21st Week - 30th October to 5th November 30th October:  The Mid-term exam is over and the whole day has passed in watching movies and roaming around. I read a good quote today from C K Prahalad that states: Executives are constrained not by resources, but by their imagination. All Aboard The Slave Ship : An open letter to Young India, callous and comfy in its cocoon. 31st October: Winters and studies post mid-term have started. I have been allotted Meghalaya for RLLE (Rural living and learning experience) and hoping to see the true picture of BHARAT vis a vis India. My CV was also not shortlisted for a summer internship at TERI, hence, I was quite disappointed today. Hoping for a new start. Gaurish, Partha, and AP give much moral support to overcome this grief. An old Interview with students of PGDM-RM students (Future Rural Managers) 1st November: Apple's Think Different advertising campaign. 1997-2002 re-consolidated my conclusion that thinking differently a...

20th Week- 23rd October to 29th October 23rd October:  Learned about TSCR (Trend, Seasonality, Cyclicity and Random) 24th October:   An Introduction to Livelihood Promotion : Traditionally the solution to the problems of poverty was conceived as an increase in income levels through the generation of employment. However this vision has changed in the last two decades. This publication shows how it is possible to promote livelihoods as a means for poverty reduction. One cannot feed the hungry on statistics - David Lloyd George MEARS- 85 % of savings accounts and 60 % of current accounts act as fixed deposit. RPLS- Muhammad Yunus : Poverty was not created by the poor. There is nothing wrong with these people. They are just as capable and inventive and have as much potential as others. The system simply never gave them a chance to grow. If you really want to solve poverty you should enable people to take matters into their own hands. 25th October: Didn't recall ev...

19th Week- 16th October to 22nd October 16th October : One fine day is Sunday. Still post Gramotsava, there was 2 hour session on EQ & Leadership. I learned that there is always lack in abundance. 17th October : The whole day just passed away. I did't think any productive work was done today. Still I was able to read one good article :- Ph.D. Thesis Research: Where do I Start? Notes by Don Davis, Columbia University. 18th October : FSA quiz was a disaster. Missed Kuru meeting and slept quite early at night. Since, I was roaming out in the morning, soft skill training session was also missed. Rediscovered Facebook Page of India - Rural Livelihoods.  For implementing the inclusive growth agenda, it is crucial to prop up agriculture, the soft underbelly of our economy.  The National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) should take charge of dry-land farming now by Ramesh S Arunachalam . 19th October : Alumni Talk was given by Mr.Patnaik. He is a rural managem...

18th Week- 9th October to 15th October 9th October:   I returned to the hostel yesterday. This week is mostly dedicated to Gramotsava 2011. Today, I checked a newspaper article on Gramotsava 2011 today. XIMB reaches out to masses through fair - Rural management students create a marketing base in nearly 50 villages. Gramotsava-2011, a rural marketing fair, is organised every year by the Rural Managers' Association of XIMB (RMAX). Thus, rural management students who engage in on-field marketing and data collection supplement theoretical lessons with practical experience. The uniqueness of the event in the rural management course offered in any college Gramotsava 2011 fair UPDATE Venue I: Mandarbasta, Khurda, Friday,14th Oct. Venue II: Chasakhanda, Cuttack, Saturday,15th Oct 10th October: On request of Shruti Thomas, I liked " Sustainable Housing ". Suddenly, a moral dilemma arose inside me. Do I like/support the product/service/community because it was made by ...

17th Week- 2nd October to 8th October It was a week that I spent completely at home. I was on the offline mode regarding XIMB. Hence, I will put down some videos for learning purpose for rural managers. Rural Development - The Challenge of Livelihood and Poverty Although there appears to be an enduring concern with India's poor within the policy circle and in public discourse, is this debate leading to new and innovative ideas on how to pull millions of Indians out of grinding poverty? What is the way forward? Should the emphasis be on skills development, agricultural development, microfinance, market access etc? What other models of rural development do we need to examine? How to avoid the pitfalls of rural marketing? PART1 PART2 PART4 PART5 PART6 PART7