Diary of a Rural Manager!

Household final consumption expenditure constitute India's 59.5 percent of GDP in 2008-2012 as per world bank data. Household final consumption expenditure (formerly private consumption) is the market value of all goods and services, including durable products (such as cars, washing machines, and home computers), purchased by households. Consumption shows utilization of wealth but the question runs deeper than figures. Is wealth creation enough ? Is wealth reaching the poor household even with the above 5% GDP growth rate? Lop sided nature of Indian capitalism promotes few entrepreneurs, mostly as an employees and almost all as a consumers. This is well reflected in our quest to create jobs rather than suitable ecosystem for a new venture. I am seeking attention towards our socio-economic environment where masses are looked as consumers rather than producers. By focusing only on profit making, even BOP reduces the concept of wealth to just money, and the rest – i.e., the commun...

“Small changes can produce big results – but the areas of highest leverage are often the least obvious.” – Peter Senge XIMB hosted 1st National Symposium on Rural Management on November 9th-10th 2012 [ Photo Album ]. The event brought together institutions, academics, professionals, key client groups and other stakeholders to deliberate on the issues, pool experiences and develop strategies and designs for expansion, institutionalization and better domain engagement. Papers / presentations were invited on five aspects of the Rural Management field listed here - 1. Rural Management in the Next Decade – Tasks, Organizations and Professional Needs 2. Rural Management – Defining the Field 3. Programs in Rural Management – Intent, Design, Content and Issues 4. Praxis in Rural Management 5. Strengthening Rural Management NSoRM Welcome Flash Video I attended few of the lectures/presentation and it was worth attending them. Eminent personalities like Dr. Mihir Shah, K V Raju, M S...

Thanks to Nikhil Akhouri for that pic !!! Indeed hearing everyone go gaga about 'Sustainable Development' sometimes gives the same feeling!!! "Sustainable development is like teenage sex - everybody claims they are doing it but most people aren't, and those that are, are doing it very badly.”

Prof. Shambu Prasad , Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar, is the strict choice of the Villgro Awards' jury for Academic Contribution in 2013. It is so nice to hear and feel lucky to be taught by our own professor who is getting recognized for his works. Such achievements help in positioning XIMB as an institute with a difference.

We realized that the important thing was not the film itself but that which the film provoked. —Fernando Solanas ("Cinema as Gun") The purpose of nearly all films/ documentaries is to communicate. People want to communicate to an outside world with hidden portrayals and interpretations of society. There will be no solution but a simplistic view of this world through the eyes of cinema. What good is cinema if it trails behind literature? Just as in literature, as the taste has moved from fiction to nonfiction, this happens in the film as well. There is a need for an individual to engage with harder issues such as poverty, gender discrimination, sex trade, class struggle, prostitution, environmental damage, terrorism, ethnic and religious riots. We unknowingly or knowingly form opinions on them very fast. But such complex issues require the further probe to see the complete picture. A film or documentary is a naive effort to increase our knowledge base before making any jud...

The philosophy of the former Nation editor Victor Navasky, “to question the conventional wisdom, to be suspicious of all orthodoxies, to provide a home for dissent and dissenters, and to be corny about it, to hold forth a vision of a better world,” still holds true for these times now. We are all living in an era where rising comforts and a growing economy have conditioned many individuals with good education to shirk all political responsibilities and even a basic understanding of political matters. There is a rapid increase in the mindless content of entertainment, news, films, and books; hence, we have to seek knowledge in a very mature and intelligent manner. In the era of instant judgment, careful analysis and patience are required. By looking through the complexity enough, one needs to find the real cause of the sufferings of many. Curiosity is the most powerful thing you own. There is a pleasure in finding things out. The starting point of any education is giving us an ...

Inir Pinheiro is a MBA in Rural Management from XIMB of 2004 – 2006 batch. He skipped placement offers to start up his own company, Grassroutes. Grassroutes is based on the concept of responsible rural tourism wherein tourism is run, managed and owned by local village communities. Today, it is a sustainable and profit making venture transforming unknown small villages, near the metros, into viable tourist destinations; sustainable for him and giving livelihood opportunities to the villagers. There is enough Media Coverage of this rural tourism venture. The best part in his story that he is a "typical city boy", born and brought up in Mumbai. Inir learnt about the realities of village India much later. Inir proves that one need not to belong to villages to work in rural areas. He described once his work in the words of Regina Spektor - “It started out as a feeling, Which then grew into a hope, Which then turned into a quiet thought, Which then turned into a qu...