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SYMPHONY Symphony 2015

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2015

From the Director’s Desk From the Faculty Advisor From the Editorial Team The Symphonies of Insurgency Sumon Chaudhuri Karma Economy Ramanathan K Lost in Transition Bharati Das The Unfit Face Of Democracy Mohit Kumar Scotland of the East Tainted Textiles Bhagyashree Dhawan Fear Kasturi Guha Thakurta Leaders are a dying breed or are they ?

Peeush Goel A Pair of Chairs Siddharth Chaudhary Interview Mr. M. Ravichandran A Continuation: Working in Start-Ups and Mba’ing in IIM Shillong Siddharth Chaudhary

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IIM Shillong - The Seventh Heaven Yet She is Being Killled Chirag Tekriwal The Name is Right, Centre-Right Debarun Majumdar The Inevitable Shillonging !

Karanvir Gupta A Student’s Musings on Shillong Varsha Poddar When IIM Shillong Comes Together HR – In-House Money Monger but Outsourced Expert Eashwar Rajan Revelolution by Rhetoric Agnitra Ghosh You May Judge An Event But Judging a Person Is a Crime Gaurav Jain & Nishesh Bhasin Freud and his psychoanalytic approach Nandita Choudhury All the stage’s the world Garima Kumar All it takes is a click Brokers and Insurance Sector in India Shubhabh Rustagi The Entropic World Order Shubhang Srivastava

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Book Rules of the Game Sumit Chowdhury A tale of two Revolutionaries Navneet Kumar The Truth of our Existence Fear Parsita Kundu Art Window Sports Persons Sujoy De Relevance of Greek Literature in the Space Age (Mohammed Fahd) I’m Not an Atheist Pratik Chakrabarti The Space An unexpected Journey Rupam Thakar IIM Shillong Golf Cup Season 7 EmergE 2014 Podium Tedx 2014 Committees Clubs Students’ Achievements Faculty Speaks Alumni Speak Batch Picture PGP 2013-15

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FROM THE DIRECTOR’S DESK Dear Readers, With enormous pride, I introduce to you the sixth edition of Symphony, the annual magazine of IIM Shillong. The magazine aims at striking a harmonious chord with the readers and the NorthEastern region of this great nation. IIM Shillong has progressed immensely during these six years, bringing various laurels in both the academic and co-curricular fields and earning accolades from every quarter.

It is indeed heartening to see that the students leave no stone unturned in fulfilling every initiative they undertake and are constantly endeavouring to the best of their abilities to achieve our vision of becoming an internationally recognized management institute with a global outlook while remaining grounded in Indian values.

The sixth edition of Symphony is built around the theme ‘Revolutions’ and strives to drive home the inalienable fact that progress in any aspect, be it for an individual or a corporate entity or even a nation, can only be achieved if we are prepared to embrace the radical and the unknown.

Often, precursors to revolutions are viewed not in a good light, but looking closer one would see that the people who are unwilling to give up the present condition, however bad it may be for the vast majority of the remaining, are the ones who are most reluctantto usher change. The various articles and poems in this magazine touch upon this point and endeavour to showcase the need of looking forward and not being afraid of letting go of the present and past, however glorious they might be, in search of a better tomorrow.

Before concluding, I take this opportunity to congratulate ‘Team Symphony’ on conceptualizing and developing this edition of the magazine. I am sure that the students of IIM Shillong will always be able to carve out a niche for themselves, wherever they are in the world, not only as managers, but also as leaders.

Prof. Amitabha De Director IIM Shillong

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MESSAGE FROM THE FACULTY ADVISOR The world of business wasn’t always as liberal as it is today.

The modern world of business began only when a radical and profound change occurred in the economic relationships and technological conditions.This radical change was referred to as the industrial revolution. It could’ve easily been given some other name, but it was called a revolution. The reason for this apt naming was that those drastic changes in the economic and technological scenario, prevalent at that time, helped industrialists break the shackles of prohibition and take their business to soaring heights and unprecedented levels of success.

What we can infer from this short trip down the memory lane is the fact that breaking established structure can, at times, not only be a good thing, but also be extremely necessary. Our students have always been able to draw inspiration from significant things that affect our day to day lives and hence, the significance of revolution in our lives has been showcased in the current edition of Symphony.

I must congratulate and thank the dynamic team of Symphony for their vigour, perseverance and devotion in giving their best to shape the present edition. Without their relentless and sincere efforts for over last eight months, it would not have been possible to bring Symphony to its readers in its current form. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all the contributors for their active associationand valuable contributions.

I am confident that this year’s presentation will succeed inprovoking your thoughts and taking you to another level of percipience as you read along through this beautiful compilation.

Happy reading!

Tapas Kumar Giri Associate Professor IIM Shillong

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MESSAGE FROM THE EDITORIAL BOARD Dear Readers With the sixth edition of Symphony, we present to you our endeavour at taking stock of the academic year that swept by us. Snippets of the days that were spent in pursuit of goals and of the days that celebrated their achievement, of days that tested and changed us, of the mundane days, and most importantly, of the days that made us pause, think, express and take action are held in these pages.

We’ve done away with the idea of having a ‘cover

story’ this time and instead we present to you an eclectic blend of issues and topics that caught the fancy of the students of our institute and made them ponder. The article ‘Revolution by Rhetoric’ brings to you a tribute to some of the great speeches of our times, speeches that changed the course of history.

Yet other articles explore the relevance of Greek literature in current times, throw light on Freud and his theories, take a look at what it could mean to live in a ‘Karma Economy’, opine on various functions of management – such as HR, form personal memoirs

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of working in start-ups and living the ‘MBA life’. Also included in verse from the students are reflections on Shillong and the girl child. We hope that the variety we could not have included in a cover tag line has been included between these covers.

edition of flagship events – Golf Cup, Khlur-thma, EmergE, Podium and Tedx IIM Shillong have been covered and so have the student achievements. We also bring you word from a couple of our faculty members and from some of our alumni members.

And as is wont from an annual magazine, one can get a full picture of the institute’s interest groups, committees, activities and events from the concluding pages of the magazine. The 2014

With this, we leave it to our readers to cherish the year gone by and wish them luck with the years to come.

Regards Team Symphony

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THE SYMPHONIES OF INSURGENCY

By Sumon Chaudhuri

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There is not a soul on God’s green earth that would dare to claim that he has not listened to any form of music. In fact, many of us consider music to be the friend who tells us a soothing story when we need it the most. It understands what we are going through without us having to explain it. It is always there, by our side, like brothers in arms, ready to go to war, even if that war is something as simple as a maths test.

Over the years, music has played a pivotal role in igniting, as well as intensifying, the fire that burned within the revolutionaries who fought for the freedom of their motherlands. It gave them the courage to visualise a future when they would no longer be oppressed. It helped them resolve their differences and amalgamate themselves into an unstoppable force. Most importantly, it gave them the will to keep fighting when all hope would be lost.

The freedom songs sung during the American civil rights movement were aptly described by Martin Luther King, Jr., as “The soul of the movement”.

Throughout the course of this movement, a hymn, popularised during the labour struggles of the 1940s, became the tune that was sung by everyone and was heard by everyone. That song was titled “We Shall Overcome” and it is still considered to be a tune that personifies determination, courage and perseverance. To the oppressed AfricanAmericans, songs were more than just a couple of words clubbed with a melody. They were used as weapons. Student activists used to propagate their ideas among the masses with the help of traditional church music. They added a whole new dimension to the customary songs by showcasing the history of their sufferings and arming the freedom fighters with the vigour to lay their lives on the line and fight for what they believed was necessary. Songs also played a critical role in sustaining morale for those who were serving time in the county jails. It helped them feel optimistic and gave them a sense of reassurance that their sacrifice would not be in vain.

Much like in America, music played an integral part in India’s fight for sovereignty as well. Music and poetry acted as mediums of knowledge for the people. It helped them understand the value of independence, thereby motivating them to fight for the same as well. During those days of subordination, Indian government officials felt as though they were bound by shackles of captivity and music helped them get temporary respite from their regular trials and tribulations. It helped shape the mentality of numerous people during that time.

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It instilled in people the sense of urgency to do something for the greater good of the country. Even if one possessed the slightest bit of affinity towards poetry or music, that person could identify himself as a citizen of India and envision a future in which his countrymen would no longer remain enslaved.

Bengal produced five poets of considerable ability who could sing and were capable of setting the tune to the words they had written. These five poetcomposers were Rabindranath Tagore, Rajanikanta Sen, Dwijendra Lal Roy, Atul Prasad Sen and Kazi Nazrul Islam. Political songs were only a small fraction of their creative output. In these songs, a person’s motherland is given the esteem of divinity and it would be expected that men would do anything in order to preserve its dignity. When we listen to these very songs today, we may find it difficult to comprehend its context. However, we could definitely picture the warriors of yesteryears fighting for our freedom. It is these songs that help keep alive the memories of the martyrs who sacrificed everything so that we can enjoy privileges like freedom and democracy, which we have so easily taken for granted.

Music has thus proven time and again that it is one of the greatest tools that can be used to unite people towards a common goal. And one does not have to travel far back in time to search for instances where it has done so. Elton John’s rendition of Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven”, moved people and gave them that little push, so that they would become proactive and contribute towards the betterment of those who had suffered in Japan’s tsunami tragedy.

Michael Jackson’s “Heal the World”, tells people about the unrest in today’s world, highlighting instances such as the turmoil in Burundi. Another such famous example, was the USA for Africa initiative, orchestrated primarily by Lionel Ritchie.

Several renowned pop artists collaborated to make an album that would generate funds for the famine in Ethiopia. The song “We are the World” sold for more than 20 million copies, which showed everyone that despite all the cynicism and pessimism in the world, if someone takes a step forward to show some altruism, people will follow suit.

We often notice that the world around us is changing drastically. When we ask ourselves the question as to how and why these changes take place, we are confronted by one all-encompassing answer – Us. It is the people who kindle the flame of revolution and pass on that torch from one generation to the next.

This brings us to the next question as to why people

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we would come up with responses like logic and rationality, but very rarely does a man find it logical to sacrifice oneself for others. The answer that we are looking for lies in one essential trait that human beings possess, a characteristic that separates the, from inanimate objects. That trait is emotion, and nothing fuels human beings to carry out impactful actions more than sheer emotion. Music has fuelled such emotions since its very inception and will continue to do so long after we’re gone. Just like it can add a touch of excitement to our feelings of ecstasy, it can also fuel our rage and turn it into a fire

that can devour everything and leave nothing but ruins in its wake.

The beauty of music is that it is timelessly enthralling, yet dynamic and ever-changing. Its purpose keeps varying with the people who create it and the society that it is cultured in. Its creators may choose to use it as a device that can motivate and unite, or as a provision for entertainment that becomes the basis of their livelihoods. Either way, music will always be something that reaches out to everyone and that all can relate to.

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KARMA

ECONOMY

By Ramanathan K

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Karma in Sanskrit literally means to act. Citing the Oxford Dictionary’s definition, Karma means “sum of person’s actions in one of his successive states of existence, viewed as deciding his fate for the next.” Karma basically works on Newton’s third law that every action produces an equal and opposite reaction. It is believed that every single thought or action of ours will create an equal and opposite effect at some other point in time.

With that being said, one can of late observe that so many people are doing numerous things for free without expecting anything in reward. Be it contributing to Wikipedia or writing an answer in Quora or helping the projects shared with the world via Git Hub, people have started sharing their knowledge with the world for free which a few decades ago would have costa lot of money. For any question that you Google, a person sitting in another part of the world would have written an answer for that expecting nothing in return. Why are people who are getting nothing out of this answering our problems? Where does this motivation come from?

The answer to this gradual shift could be karma, and progressively we could be moving towards what we can call the ‘Karma Economy’.

Barter system of exchange is a very old method of exchange that dates back to 6000 BC and was in use before money was invented. In this, goods and services are directly exchanged for other goods and services without any medium of exchange.

The person willing to exchange goods or services expects something immediately in return. At around 1000 BC, we slowly started moving from barter system to a monetary system. Now we are gradually, yet silently, shifting to another system where people do work without expecting anything in return even at a later date. This is not to say that we will completely move away from the monetary system but just to emphasise the growth of Karma economy.

Being from a marketing background, I can find this trend spreading like fire here. Crowd sourcing is the buzzword today and it is generally defined as using inputs of those people external to the organisation to complete tasks that once were assigned to internal employees. Apart from opening new doors to a lot of fresh, new ideas, it also develops a sense of cocreation with customers. The famous example that I could recall is the Lay’s ‘Do us a Flavor’ where the company invited ideas from customers as to what

will be the next big potato chips flavor. One could say that the prize money could be the motivation here to participate in such an event but there are equally good number of examples where there is absolutely no reward. One example can be where Delhi Traffic police uses their Facebook page to invite crowd-clicked photos to identify and prosecute offending vehicles. Seeing the success, Mumbai and Pune police departments have implemented this.

Another example is of the voting system in reality shows which asks the audience to vote for their favourite contestants whom we would not have known personally. But still we vote, shelling out a few bucks, just because we believed that he/she deserved it. People are more than willing to work even for free to put forward their ideas and thoughts to the world without any incentive.

Darwin’s theory of natural selection and the survival of the fittest might not hold true for the bigger brained humans anymore. People have evolved and as a result society has evolved. Kickstarter, a famous global crowd funding platform based in United States has received over $1billion in pledges from more than 5 million donors to bring in 135,000 creative projects to life. One such person who benefited from this was Amanda Palmer, who once was working as living statue, got $1.2 million dollars via this crowd funding site to start her new album and kick start her music career (Do watch her TED Talk!). Examples will only keep coming as we move more and more towards this Karma economy.

People are willing to help and work for others for free. According to the Karma theory they might reap benefits, in due course of time but most of them might not even care about getting their due benefits as that was not the intention behind their act. The pure love for it makes them pursue what they believe in. If not this, then how could we have got all the product reviews which people write on online shopping sites? It is not just the physical self anymore. The self has expanded and the seven billion odd people waiting in their respective Maslow’s hierarchy pyramid levels have just sensed a good grip of their next higher level and are on the verge of climbing to the next level.

Welcome to the world of Karma Economy.

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Lost In Transition

By Bharati Das

There once lived a lonely child, With eyes as big as clouds and cheeks just as mild He’d sit at the corner seat of the trailing bus and wonder where he’d go, For he had no place to drive, and a boundless world to know.

He’d observe the world with his wide eyes and curious mind, Trying to pick up the things where others have left them behind Once I went up to him and asked: “What would you do if you could change hange the world?”

He gently lifted up his head and replied: “Nothing much but perhaps haps the swirl The people here spend their years trying to get back theirr youth, They keep making boxes and they’ll end up in one too, if they ey could.”

Awed by his negativity and mostly by his disappointment, ent, I started wondering if this is what we call ‘achievement’ nt’.

People kill each other, and the rest of them sell their souls, ouls, Children race like rats, and are broken into tiny molds. ds.

Who said they have to be perfect, or that they can’t go and play ay outside?

Because every time they cry, I die a little inside.

Innocence is last and lost, shattered and broken We are lost in translation, lost in transition.

We try to be who we are not, Devils we have awoken, for we forgot To switch on our souls and turn off our worries, And we are left with a few ‘thank you’s and ‘sorries’.

Perhaps we are like that lonely child, Always questioning things and finding some place to hide.

So let’s not be skeptical with our future anymore, Give wings to the children and let them soar.

For they are our future and they have every right to dream, eam, To be whoever they want to be, whatever it may seem. m.

And last but not the least, let’s change our own perception ption For it is not them, but us who are lost in transition.

Bharati Das 2014PGP059

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THE UNFIT FACE OF

DEMOCRACY

By Mohit Kumar

single person. This unfortunately should not be the case in a democracy.

While the nation is in dire need of politicians bearing intellect, sound education and incorruptible integrity, people are failing to elect them. While this certainly calls for awakening on the part of the voters, they too are not to be blamed completely.

There have been instances in history when educated people have been trusted and brought to power but they have failed to perform. We are talking about the likes of Mr. Kalmadi, an alumnus ofthe

The political scenario in India is changing and apparently it seems to be getting better. With improving lifestyle, growing expectations a changing geo-political scenario, depletion of resources and a desperate need for good governance, we need more of educated and responsible politicians like Naveen Jindal, Nandan Nilekani and Arvind Kejriwal.

reputed Fergusson college, Pune and ex-service man of Indian Airforce, now notorious for the CWG scam; Mr. Ashok Chavan, holding a Masters in Management and accused of the Adarsh scam; Mr. A. Raja, a Bachelors of Science and Bachelor of Law and a prime accused in the 2G scam and others like them.

These personalities have not only attained educational excellence envied by many but have also proved their mettle with other achievements.

To the consternation of many, these candidates lost their seats in the recent parliamentary elections.

These people not only created a trust deficit between the educated politicians and the voters but also decimated the political name of the Indian National Congress party to such an extent that people like Nandan Nilkani, Sachin Pilot were disfavoured on account of their association with these politicians.

The list does not end with the above mentioned names. Many of the candidates from the recently launched Aam Aadmi Party had distinguished profiles such as Adarsh Shastri, the grandson of former Indian Prime Minister Late Lal Bahadur Shastri who quit his plum corporate job as sales head at Apple to join the party; Ajit Joy, a retired IPS officer with an LLM degree from Harvard university; Mr. Anoop Nautiyal, Former COO for 108 Emergency Service, Uttarakhand and an alumnus of SRCC, Delhi University and NIFT, New Delhi and so on. But they were overpowered by the saffron wave led by a

This background brings us to evaluate a deeper question: Is India even fit to be a democracy?

At a juncture when leaders are not acting responsibly and people are not trusting responsible leaders, how is democracy even sustainable? What will be the future of a country where people vote not to elect but to evict? Should we really continue with a democratic system?

Well, we do not have many choices for ourselves.

Amongst the once available, it is the best. The

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populace certainly does not want autocracies or theocracies. We do crave for democracy, only in a better form. So let us examine where the fault lies in our democratic institution.

In my view, the problem lies in the distrust people have for themselves. They are afraid of further jeopardizing the state the country is in and so they take a conservative approach in choosing an experienced party over new political leaders. What they fail to understand is that democracy is all about the power the people possess. A nation’s political

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So we need to possess a sense of trust. Though we have fallen, though we have been cheated, we need to trust and choose the leaders we desire. The purpose of a democracy is to get the country run by the most capable people. We need not trust what the media says. We need not trust what the party speakers say. We just need to trust what we believe ourselves.

In the stinking political war, political speakers will point out minuscule issues like moving to a new government flat, the media will highlight faked rage

state is determined only through the actions of its people.

shown by the public but it is up to us to judge the veracity of the content circulated.

Ours is a democratic setup but consider what happened during the Arab spring in the Middle East.

It is hard to believe that a country would go down without the consent of its populace. It is a different matter that some economies had gone wrong but in those cases, the people of the country were to blame. They acted too capitalistic, displayed corrupt virtues and as a result faced the consequences. If we are willing to pay bribes, we should not demander addiction of corruption from any Political or administrative crisis. If we favor our near and dear ones, we cannot blame others of nepotism.

The times are not the same as earlier. We are no longer a closed economy. We need people who understand the dynamics of the new world order.

We need people who are from amongst us. We need a leader who fights against plutocracy, who is incorruptible, patriotic, empathetic and dares to come out openly in public to meet his or her people despite the risks involved. We need leaders who do not practice cheap politics or spend millions in marketing themselves when there are thousands dying due to hunger. We need someone who understands various political ideologies and is capable of integrating them under various scenarios.

We need someone who is not necessarily based out of a Gandhian state but understands Gandhian ideologies.

Time has given us a chance. Maybe there will be another one coming. But it will not happen over and over again endlessly. The sooner this realization dawns upon the people, the better would be the chances of a stable and prosperous future.

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SCOTLAND OF THE

EAST

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Tainted Textiles

By Bhagyashree Dhawan

It’s been almost two years since the Rana Plaza building collapse in Bangladesh killed more than 1,000 factory workers. The tragedy of the disaster is not that a building fell down. It is that thousands of people died when the management and the workers knew something was wrong.

Bangladesh has notoriously bad working conditions, sustained by low wages, lack of unions, corruption and poor labour laws. The wages are so low that they cannot even cover the basic necessities. Global fashion demands producing clothes extremely fast at very low costs.

Rana Plaza was owned by a member of the ruling political party who used to run a drug and extortion business. The upper four floors were built without a permit and yet no action was taken by the authorities. The factory owners had five garment factories and insisted the factories work in spite of the evacuation orders.

Who is at fault? Is it the owner of Rana Plaza or the factory owners? Is it the workers themselves? Or is it the Bangladeshi Government for its slack labour laws? It can be the brands too, who have absolutely no oversight of the various tiers of the supply chain.

The economy of Bangladesh is what it is today only because of the garment industry. The workers are forced to work for long hours and are subjected to harsh punishment if they commit a mistake. Work conditions are unsafe, cramped and extremely

hazardous. Women are also subject to sexual harassment. The workers are mostly women who live in a patriarchal society and have low skill and little education. Do they have a choice? I think not.

Bangladeshi Government does not enforce strong EU measures over factory deaths as that would hurt their country’s economy and millions would lose jobs. Yet several measures were taken after people from all around the world raised their voices.

Most retailers rejected the Bangladesh Factory Safety Accord. Some thought it wasn’t financially feasible and others didn’t want to be vulnerable to lawsuits. Some thought That just the Bangladeshi Government was at fault.

Garments are marked up almost sixty percent for the consumer to buy and the brands we are talking about have turnovers in billions of dollars. Can these brands not afford the cost of worker safety?

There is such lack of accountability when it comes to the garment industry that it is shocking. There are brands who uplift the communities who work for them. Brands like The Body Shop, Fabindia empower backward communities by giving them adequate share of the income from the consumers.

There has to be a redistribution of the pie by giving more share to the labours to ensure their safety.

Bangladeshi government has to make its labour laws stronger. They have to allow labour unions to form. International monitoring bodies who have their members as the richest countries of the world

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should step in. The power is in the hands of the rich and it is they who have to think beyond themselves.

Fashion Revolution Day was born to catalyse change in the industry and it was led by campaigners, press, academicians and industry leaders.

It brought to public attention the weakest cog in the garment supply chain. It showed the public that a change is possible and that the current business models have to change. It celebrated fashion as a positive influence and it aimed at educating the consumer about who made their clothes to build human relationships with them.

It is high time that we stop letting brands overpower us and we as consumers become aware of what goes on behind the scenes to be a part of the change that is urgently required.

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FEAR

By Kasturi Guha Thakurta

“Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dream” - Paulo Coelho It sucks our blood, it drains us, it reduces us to a skeleton and we lay still; oblivious to its effects.

When we are about to take a plunge into our dreams, it comes back, haunting us with an uneasy sense of foreboding. No, it’s not an evil spirit, but one that is its equivalent….it’s called fear.

We spend half of our lives fearing- fear of losing our loved ones, fear of failing, fear of competing, fear of death, and quite surprisingly fear of God. We don’t realize but fear acts as the biggest impediment of life, pulling us down when we are on the verge of winning. It destroys the austerity of life with its baleful motives. The conceited fear and the sagacious life are constantly at battle with each other. But the moment we let fear overcome our strong will, Life accepts defeat and fear overshadows it. We may eventually not realize how fear affects our life but in the long run, we realize that most of our failures have been ominously guided by fear.

We fear of dying without realizing that we die a thousand deaths before the actual one in the process of fearing it. Death is a universal truth. It’s an

inevitable part of mortals. So why fear death when we know there is nothing we can change about it.

Instead we should live as if there is no tomorrow.

Death will part us from our lives, but till then we are the master of it.

I have never been able to explain why we fear God. Religious preachers put fear inside us, making us believe that good deeds will lead us to a beautiful afterlife, to heaven; and evil deeds will land us in hell. If we harm anybody, god will harm us. They make god look like a monster who is deliberately looking for ways to punish us. I say, god is not there to punish us or to throw us in hell. god is there to forgive, to love, to protect and to show us the path.

Always do good deeds, not to go to heaven but only because it’s good. Never do evil deeds, not because you fear hell, but only because it’s bad.

We retract our steps fearing a facade of failure.

Everybody fears but few know how to conquer it.

We forget that our strong will is there to support us, like a veritable swarm of army against a hollow fear. From now on, we won’t let fear overpower our will. Instead, determination will become an indispensable part of our life, surmounting fear.

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… or are they Leaders are a dying breed

By Peeush Goel

I came across the above statement in an article and it provoked the writer and philosopher in me. The remark is so bold and strong that it prompts one to stop for a moment and ponder on his/her own skills as a leader. On conducting a successful market research, I found that immediately after hearing this line, most MBA graduates start thinking whether this line is applicable to them or not. This reflects upon the insecurities that MBA graduates have in today’s world and they begin to think whether the MBA degree is helping them become a leader or just a manager.

So now we have a person who is not a leader anymore because of changing times. Does this mean that the term “leader” itself has lost its meaning?

Do we need to redefine the word to make it more suited to present times? People today are striving to become leaders as per the old definition. Does it not seem similar to the concept of marketing myopia?

We seem to be only concerned about becoming a leader, when the term itself has changed in meaning.

We need to change the meaning of the word leader and then we would be in a better position to answer the question posed by this topic.

But what came to my mind immediately after reading this statement was if it was truly so? Are leaders actually a dying breed? I think not. Rather what is becoming obsolete is the very meaning of the term “leader” in today’s times. Let’s take the leaders from earlier times (when leaders were a growing breed) and put them in today’s scenario. Would they have been able to lead this new generation of people who are more aware about their surroundings, the world and themselves? I do not think so. As a consequence, what could happen is that it would completely shatter our belief that the person was a leader in the true sense. For example, the Ford Model T was successful in those times but would not be so in today’s world; similar conclusions can be drawn for a leader as well.

This piece of writing was not intended to give a particular answer to the stated question but raise further questions in the thinking minds of great people to come up with a new variable definition of leader as per the changing times and coming up with this new definition will definitely give us a better insight as to how a group of people just can lead effectively in order to become a true leader.

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A Pair of

Chairs

By Siddharth Chaudhary

Once there was a chair

People sitting did hurt a lot more

Who went to a shop and asked for a spare

The padding below too gave away & tore

The shopkeeper asked with a naughty stare

The back too wasn’t comforting like it used to be

“Why? Do you want to make yourself a part of a pair?”

The chair now had a dull look without any glee

The chair blushed, his wood already red

Alas, the master decided to send her away to the antique shop

He realized that he was treading on a thin thread

So the aging chair was sentenced to pick up and drop

He replied with full conviction “It’s for my master”

Unconcerned, ignorant she played along

And decreed the shopkeeper to work a little faster

Without her partner, life was nothing but a melancholic song

Finally he found his pair

Thus, she reached her new home

Even without an introduction he began to care

But as she entered the big dome,

Together they went to the master’s bar

She saw something that caught her attention

Legs and hands bound together in a carrier’s car

Her legs went numb due to a strange predilection

“Both of them are made of teak wood”

In the corner of the room she had seen a chair

Said their master proudly with his head under a hood

It glistened, it shone and it too, began to stare

Night and day they stood together

It looked so new yet it felt so dear

Slowly a new relationship began to tether

At last she realized who it was and shed a tear

People came, people sat, people went

The shine, comfort and the romance returned

They were happy as long as in their relationship there was no

The fire of love once again inside them burned

dent

The shopkeeper paired them & sold them together

Then one day came a sad guy

Post which they were a pair in every weather

He didn’t say it but he did wish to die

Nothing else did ever matter

Oblivious to their happiness he broke one of them

Since the former was always there with the latter.

The other one too broke due to the loss of her gem Life was still there but she was not In the vicious circle of solitude she was caught The days still went by But there wasn’t a moment she didn’t cry The tears usually got lost in rum and whisky The days were now long and not so frisky

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Interview I have no regrets for having joined the Insurance Industry and have been thoroughly enjoying the same.

2. In today’s world, IT is playing a major role in the growth of many industries. What are your views on the role of IT in the insurance industry in the near future in the Indian context?

Mr. M. Ravichandran President- Insurance TATA AIG General Insurance Co. Ltd.

1. Tell us a bit about what prompted you to join the insurance industry.

Like most insurers I must admit that I had no intention of joining the Insurance Industry and was keen to get into Banking. Whilst I was preparing to appear for the Bank’s entry level officer’s examination I was informed that the Insurance Industry’s entry level officers exam is akin to that of Bank’s and it would be good to appear for this exam so that I get used to the exam pattern.

As luck would have it the results of Insurance exam came out first and by the time the Bank exam results were announced I was into the third month of my 6 months training in Insurance. The fact that my father was working for an Insurance company also weighed on me and since I found the industry exciting I chose to stay in Insurance though a few of my colleagues had quit.

IT is a very important enabler for the insurance industry as well. While the advent of IT started very early on, I think we still have a long way to go before it is used in Insurance to the fullest extent. It can enhance various areas in an Insurance company’s operations such as Operations, Distribution Management, Claims, Underwriting and Analytics etc. In today’s day and age, IT cannot be seen at a standalone level and going forward has to form the backbone of each organization permeating the entire business process from end to end.

With a strong IT backbone in place, Insurance professionals would be able to focus on their core business areas and not have to spend valuable time on background tasks that a good IT implementation can fully automate.

IT can also be effectively used to monitor accumulations and thereby ensure that the Insurers have adequate back to back protection.

Digitization in Insurance like in most Industries would help in creating competitive advantage and help Insurers take science based decisions rather than by gut/feel.

In a nutshell, an insurance company cannot survive without a well thought out and high end IT platform.

3. The penetration of health insurance in India is as low as 15%, which is quite low as compared to developed countries. Do you think the tie-ups between healthcare centres and insurance companies would improve this percentage?

I think that people, especially those in the Metros and Tier II cities are awakening to the very important need of having adequate medical insurance for their own selves and their

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families. Additionally state governments along with insurance companies are embarking on State sponsored Health Insurance schemes to provide basic health insurance facilities to our large rural population. While there is still a long way to go, the path ahead is clearly favourable to health insurance services. Yes, tie ups between large and medium size health care and diagnostic centres and insurance companies would definitely help improve health insurance coverage to the extent of the patients they service. Having said that and given the rising costs of medical services, it is also paramount to educate the general populace of the extreme criticality and necessity of having proper health insurance coverage.

Accreditations and standardization of the tariff as far as possible for similar pattern of healthcare providers would simplify the entire process. TPAs should increase their network to hospitals in all areas, which will lead to increased competition and more bargaining power for TPAs. In Developed countries Health Insurance goes beyond Indemnity based products and more and more people are opting for wellness products and it would be no different in India in a few years from now.

4. Witnessing the rapid rise of e-tailing in the country, do you think more emphasis would be given on online channels to market insurance in the near future?

It has been proven time and time again in various industries that in the long run an online business channel is inevitable. Many people now swear by the ease of transacting online for all possible services including but not limited to electronics, banking, books, groceries, garments and of course insurance as well. On line provides access to a vast majority of people who are otherwise difficult to be touched for offering products/services.

With such a win-win emerging for both the service provider and the end customer, it is but a matter of time that online business makes its presence felt even in insurance and would coexist with the traditional distribution channels such as Agency , Broking or Bancassurance.

As customers continue to integrate the use of

the internet in their daily lives, this has become an attractive medium through which firms can advertise and distribute insurance products.

We are already witnessing a gradual change in the buying habits of customers as they make use of the internet in the decision making and product buying process. Insurance companies are also effectively using technology to meet customer demands by integrating technology with the whole policy sales cycle.

Of course the traditional channels would coexist with online channels and can ride the boom that increased awareness of Insurance products brought about by online activity.

Smart Insurers would invest in all channels and would let the market forces determine where the clients go. Having said this, for sophisticated products the traditional channels would continue to remain relevant and in fact grow stronger.

5. Mis-selling is still prevalent in the insurance industry in India. What steps should be taken to weed out this practice?

While mis-selling is prevalent in the insurance industry for a long time now, it is mainly a by-product of in-ordinate sales pressure on the distributor as well as incorrect need analysis done for the prospective customers.

The regulator (IRDA) has already laid down stringent processes (Policyholder Protection Committee) for weeding out instances of misselling and redressal of customer grievances and complaints that are closely adhered to by insurance companies. Additionally, most companies already have their own internal processes to identify such cases where possible and take action where needed. The next steps, which many insurance companies have already started moving towards would be to re-educate the front line sales force (agents, brokers, sales managers etc.) on the discipline of right selling and the concept of “customer first�. This would further help in reducing mis-selling to a large extent.

Some of the steps already taken by IRDA to curb mis-selling are: Strict Persistency norms for agents, guidelines for Distance marketing, online grievance management Portal, Regulations for Web Aggregators.

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This problem of mis-selling can only be eradicated by the combined efforts of Insurers, Regulators, Intermediaries and Customers as well.

6. What according to you is the future outlook of the insurance industry in India?

The Insurance industry in India has undergone transformational changes over the last 12 years.

The industry has witnessed phases of rapid growth along with spans of growth moderation, intensifying competition with both life and general insurance segments and significant expansion of the customer base. Changes in the regulatory environment had path-breaking impact on the development of the industry.

The strong fundamentals of the industry augur well for a road map to be drawn for sustainable long-term growth. Changes in the external environment would continue to present growth opportunities and insurance companies would be better equipped to exploit them based on market insights and internal capabilities developed over the period of time. In order to deliver on the shareholders’ expectations, the companies will be driven to strike a balance between growth, profitability and risk as they go forward. This would entail marked changes in the business strategy and operational decisions related to product design, pricing, channel monitoring, and operational effectiveness.

Micro Insurance has the potential to unlock India’s huge Insurance potential in the rural and social sector.

In a nutshell exciting times are in store for Insurance Industry and with increased awareness and right regulatory environment Insurance penetration would increase in the days to come.

7. Most management practices have been formulated from a Western point of view.

Do you find it easier to adapt them to Indian contexts or come up with new culture-specific practices? Can you cite any example?

In my view it is good to look at best practices and localise them so that they become relevant.

It would also be equally important to come

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up with best practices that are home grown and which in turn could be exported to other countries. The Indian market is a unique market in many ways and the practices that one adopts should be suited to the Indian sensitivities.

Having said this, with increased globalisation there would be convergence of practices and balancing act would have to be carried out.

Though like many countries, India is a price sensitive market. Indian tastes could be different as compared to other countries and thus you would see many examples of products that have been launched keeping Indian sensitivities in mind (for example Indian Veg food launched by many fast food MN companies).

8. What concluding advice would you give to our readers?

My only advice to readers who I assume would be young management students about to embark on their journey in the professional world would be to write your own story. It is very easy to fall into the rat race of power, career, money and fame and try to reach dizzy heights in the shortest time possible. But it is just as important to be clear about what you want in life and then work hard and diligently towards it. During this journey, you would meet many people and it is imperative that you leave these people with a sense of your worth. Do what is right and also do what gives you satisfaction. Hard work in the long run would yield success and it is important that in the formative years you spend time in understanding the fundamentals of business and remain inquisitive throughout your work career.

In conclusion, please remember that while fame and power are transitional, your good name is everlasting. All the best!

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A CONTINUATION: WORKING IN START-UPS AND MBA’ING IN IIM SHILLONG

By Siddharth Chaudhary

I had worked with 2 start-ups namely ambitionme and testfunda prior to joining IIM Shillong to pursue my MBA. Before joining, I came across a lot of people who warned me about how difficult the transition from work life to student life would be! After coming here though I am experiencing something that I had never thought of before. There are definitely a few (if not more) parallels between my lifestyles as a start-up guy and as a B-Schooler. To mention a few:

(i) The thinking cap is always on! : When you are working for a start-up the possibility of the “Eureka” moment minus the embarrassing part is always on.

Why? Because you tend to think everywhere and every time. There is so much to do every day that you are never out of work irrespective of where you physically are. After coming to IIM Shillong I have realized that the same is also applicable here.

Lectures, club/committee work, competitions,

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gaming, rendezvous with friends - there is so much to do and so much to think of prior to that! (ii) Definitely a jack of all trades! Well almost all!: While working for ambitionme I was cold calling in the morning, writing articles and making info graphics in the afternoon, managing social media in the evening and taking interviews at night! In IIM Shillong, what with club and committee selections, intra hostel competitions and fests going on almost all the time and of course, academic lectures being a daily affair, the ride seems even more topsy-turvy! (iii) Yes, I can fly!: Well when you are working for a start-up or doing an MBA, impossible is definitely a word not there in your dictionary. Things that appeared impossible yesterday soon convert to achievements! You find better solutions than you ever did before in situations which are much more demanding than you may have ever faced. Just to give an idea, getting ready for a formal occasion in 5 minutes (which includes shaving) becomes a habit!

In short you learn to fly like Superman without the fear of kryptonite! (iv) A separate training programme . blah!: As a boss in a start-up, one has to be a miser in terms of time and as an employee one has to optimize or perish.

I remember my first day in ambitionme where I was asked to make cold calls right from the beginning without any training. However my training was on the job and I was learning while working. Similarly

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in IIM Shillong we had to learn a lot of things like making & presenting Power Point presentations on the go. It is a true learning experience or to put it in a better way, learning by experience! (v) Deadlines are sacrosanct!: This couldn’t have been emphasized better at either of the two places concerned! Right from the first day in IIM Shillong we were made to realize the importance of the same as we embarked on our MBA journey. Similarly at ambitionme & testfunda there were time slots for everything and one had to finish all the work before the deadlines! (vi) The Party is always on! : No matter how hard we used to work, chilling out and partying was never off the schedule. At both my work places, “Work hard and party harder� was the anthem followed and we ensured this never went un-followed. With the kind of weather Shillong offers and the hip crowd in our Institute this habit of mine is bound to be amplified!

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IIM SHILLONG THE SEVENTH HEAVEN

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Yet She Is

BEING

By Chirag Tekriwal

KILLED She is the creator, next to GOD She is the one to beget, To beget this world with God’s desire; Making it a thing of beauty Yet she is being killed Being killed for no reason She is the one who gives birth, She is the one who suffers the nine pains, She is the one who suckles us; gives intimation of maturity, with ease, without complaining; Yet she is being killed Being killed for no reason She is the one who teaches us to live life, She is the one who makes bon better, She is the one without whom life isn’t possible Yet she is being killed Being killed for no reason Had she been given a chance, a chance to prove herself, Either being Kalpana Chawla, Sunita Williams Had she been given a chance, to become P.T. Usha, Sania Mirza Had she been given a chance, to become Indira Gandhi, Pratibha Patil, Rani Jhansi or Kiran Bedi She would bring laurels for this Nation, Help keep the name and fame of Mother Earth aloft So Why? Why? Why kill her?

Nurture her, nourish her and positively educate her!!!

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THE NAME

ISCENTRE-RIGHT RIGHT,

By Debarun Majumdar Economic reforms, by their mere definition, imply the state giving way to the market, thus indicating a reconsideration of the government’s roles and responsibilities. Governments need to do less or step out of those are as where markets can deliver.

Conversely, the state needs to do more and be proactive in those areas where markets alone cannot be relied upon. So, a lower quantity of government should lead to a higher quality of governance.

‘Minimum government, maximum governance’, Mr. Modi made this phrase his ‘takia-kalam’ in the summer of 2014 to take the simple yet complex message to the masses of India. For long the Indian masses have been fed left wing rhetoric by ‘pseudo’ welfare governments at the centre and at the states.

Mr. Modi’s message was refreshingly new for the Indian electorate.

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It is almost taboo in India’s mainstream thinking to carry the label of right-wing. It usually brings to mind images of religious fanatics who are out to penalize minorities and advocate moral policing for all and sundry. Now, to tell the truth, every label has its own fringe. The extreme right, usually identified with some form of extreme cultural nationalism or brute majoritarian instincts, has been a destructive force in history. But then so has the loony left. Adolf Hitler committed heinous crimes in the name of right-wing politics, just as Joseph Stalin slaughtered millions of innocent people and fellow countrymen under the guise of left wing politics. Fortunately, in democracies like India, there is very little scope for either extreme to prosper – the loony fringe is also the neglected and isolated fringe. Pluralistic and diverse societies like India inevitably tend to pull politics towards the centre. But there is however ample room to either lean left or right, while firmly being planted at the centre.

A centre-right vision of India’s future gives foremost importance to market forces and individual enterprise, rather than the state, in determining the country’s economic future. This vision does not obviate cultural liberalism. On the contrary, for a free market economy to thrive, the freedom of its participants is a vital necessity. The forces of the centre left (and the loony left to some extent) have long dominated the political and economic discourse in this country. On the economic front, the mixed up policies of Congress-style socialism have resulted in sluggish growth, inflationary spells and continuous poverty. Such policies lead to the infamous ‘Hindu’ rate of growth. Whereas, the ‘Asian Tigers’(S. Korea, Malaysia, Thailand) who were much economically worse off than India in the 1950’s are now much richer, because they embraced market forces whole heartedly.

Before the historic mandate of May 2014, India stood on the cusp (of either sinking into stagnation, or rising from the dead) just like advanced economies like the USA and UK did in the late 1970s. Similar to India of 2014, the dramatic failure of centreleft regimes were partly responsible for the rise of Ronald Reagan and Margaret ‘Iron Lady’ Thatcher.

In the Indian context, there are other benefits to unleashing a market economy. Several old divisions based on religion, caste, region or language are continuously reinforced by the polity and the state.

Markets, which give preference to merit rather than value these historic prejudices can help in

eradicating these ills from Indian society. Markets can be a stronger force for more liberalism and tolerance in society than any political party or movement can ever be.

So we come back to the fundamental question. Does the state have a role to play in this centre-right vision of India? The answer would be a resounding YES. The state has to don the hat of an umpire. It ought to be an effective regulator of market forces so that wild excesses of the kind which were committed in the global financial sector before the onset of the global financial crisis of 2008 are avoided. In a developing economy like India the state must also play an active role in financing the creation of infrastructure of all kinds; physical infrastructure like roads, ports and irrigation; social infrastructure like education and health. But financing is not the same as delivery. Past records clearly show that the Government has been a poor deliverer of public services. There is, thus, a valid case to be made for public financing combined with private delivery. The government has to ensure that everyone has access to the basic facilities which are needed to participate in the market. We have to replace the political culture of dole with a political culture of productive investment in human capabilities. An efficient market comprised of skilled individuals with constitutionally guaranteed rights is India’s only path to economic prosperity and modern society. That’s a centre-right vision. It’s a vision whose time has truly and rightly come.

Did the summer of 2014 usher in India’s centre-right spring? It seems so.

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The Inevitable –

Shillonging!

Karanvir Gupta And then two years end in a blink of eyes and people stay there almost alive Shillonging for rest of their lives.

But then batches after batches, everyone takes with them this one question Is what makes Shillong stay alive in them and them alive in Shillong. And why this all hullabaloo!

Batches after batches, they [students] walk in With their dreams and ambitions held high But gradually they blend with the institute Sharing its ideals and philosophies, sigh!

The grey stone wall, which stands firm and upright keeps no count of moments which are woven beside has beautifully photo bombed and still most liked A location where get clicked the secluded and the socialites The first gathering after the supposedly torment days It’s the ramp that celebrates the forthcoming jubilant days And how can we forget the area where slightest of sound echoes The quadrangle, which is exhilaratingly every gossip mongers’ bay Unaware, non-cognizant of the days ahead, caught in present With the moonlit nights drawing the silhouettes of those coniferous trees There are walks to remember, cherish and rejoice in life Where blossomed the friendships and forgotten all the strife Scholars path till the fireplace, it’s the students “favorite” uphill For exams, assignments or professors; get mention for few stills NC, as it is popularly known, is reminder of what’s happening around Glass house, the much over-hyped; where anyone is rarely found Batches after batches, they [students] walk out Carrying plethora of memories which would then clout Making people go shillonging for life, and one fine day Fables meet their end and yet kept almost alive – forever!

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A STUDENT’S MUSINGS

ON SHILLONG

By Varsha Poddar

Shillong presents a surreal picture to tourists – not only does it offer an irresistible appeal peal which it shares with the rest of the North-East but also it oft, rolling is set in a terrain which is made up of soft, hills that are covered in fondant-smooth h greenery; often topped with cottony clouds, these hills overlook a vista of colours that are rarelyy visible in skies elsewhere and rightfully earn the place the hillong also sobriquet of the Scotland of the East. Shillong has much, in terms of sheer intrigue, to offer to any visitor – its reputation of being the rockk capital of India, of leading from the front in the arena na of Indian football, of carrying the unmistakable undertone dertone of being a fashion gateway of sorts into thee country – it is an exciting prospect to travellers looking king to live a gamut of experiences that would provide ide them a temporary reprieve from daily life, a hiatus us from the mundane.

There is a marked difference, however, er, in the manner in which it presents itself to students dents who come to know it neither as tourists do nor as the locals can.The distant hills that seem to all but drift into the classroom windows on hazy, rain-washed ain-washed afternoons present a yearning that is inescapable. escapable.

And under its spell when one decides to o go where his steps may lead him, Shillong opens up p to offer a glimpse into its personality that no tourist st package ever can and which everyone who has as lived in Shillong is immune to by the simple force ce of longstanding exposure.

The lanes and by-lanes of Shillong tell ell its true story. Little hutments covered by roofs made out of straightened tin boxes, rain-water harvesting systems fashioned out of mineral water er bottles, potted herb plants vying for space with broken toys in quaintly picketed backyards speak of the frugal

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yet ingenious ways in which the residents of notso-well-off localities deal with the travails of life.

They speak also, of the water woes that trouble the wet desert that most of Meghalaya is, and they also throw light on the demographics which appears to be constituted largely by young people and too many chubby, red-cheeked babies peeping out from the folds of rough tartan slings that women in this region carry with unbelievable marsupial confidence. Slowly, as one makes his way into more affluent localities, not much changes. True, the tin is replaced by concrete and the picket gives way to majestic wrought iron, but the distinct individuality that every house carries is a constant. This apparent persona that houses in Shillong possess points towards a dignity with which people lead their lives in Shillong that is absent elsewhere in the country.

This is better understood in the interactions one has with the people here. No matter what their station in life, or what background – both personal and professional, they come from, the people of Shillong carry themselves with an attitude that cannot be classified as anything but sheer happiness and contentment which, by its simple nature, defies any dovetailing with social status or wealth.

Night falls early in Shillong and the stores down their shutters at a time that seems outright strange to anyone from ‘the mainland’ as an editor of a leading Shillong daily once told me most people in

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the North-East are prone to thinking of rest of India as. Sour memories of the period of the Indo-China war still colour interactions between the region and the Centre to a certain extent but none of this is palpable in the form of any hostility towards students. The only signs of xenophobia are reflected in the prices at the trendy garment stores which get inflated and open to haggling every time someone who is not a North-Easterner walks in. But then that could easily be the tourist economy setting in. An explanation that one is not a tourist but a student and has thus been around for a longer time is a good way to lead the negotiations in such cases.

However, one soon begins to be thankful for the lights that go out early because it is then that the mesmerizing beauty of the stars in the night sky here can be witnessed in full. Unsettling at first for someone who is used to the small square of smoggy darkness as an excuse for a night sky outside their window, the stars demand to be gazed every night henceforth.

And then there’s the time to depart. Unlike a tourist one doesn’t simply dust it off as a memorable trip and cross it out on a bucket list. Neither is one assured of a return to Shillong in the future as one’s home. But as a student, when one finally leaves Shillong, one does know that a return, if it ever is, will be no less than a homecoming.

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When IIM Shillong Comes Together

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HR – In-House Money Monger but

Outsourced Expert

By Eashwar Rajan

Forbes says in a recent article of theirs, “The top reason why many companies are turning HR over to outsourced experts is that it frees them to concentrate on core competencies.”

consider HR to not be a core competency. So if it’s not really adding anything per se to the organization, then why invest money and more importantly time in them?

On the face of it, It seems Forbes is saying that companies want to outsource HR as experts aren’t generally hired in-house. But look closely and you’d see that the key part of that statement is that it allows them to concentrate on ‘core competencies’.

That says a lot. Perhaps Forbes feels most companies

An HR department spends most of its time on administrative and bureaucratic tasks and also looksafter the legalities of the company’s functioning. Thus when it comes into looking for loopholes, isn’t it better to give this job to experts who look into such needs on a constant basis for

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various organizations? For one, the company’s problem may be similar to another one’s which may have already been solved which corroborates one of the first laws of business: ‘Don’t reinvent the wheel’.

With this in mind, we can clearly see that it’s better to give it to an outsider who handles such problems many times a year rather than give it to one who is perhaps coming across such a situation for the first time. This is comparable to a fire-fighting situation.

Most managers know that fires are a potential hazard in factories. Most big organisations take safety steps and have fire engines ready in case of a fire. But do they go out and employ an entire department of fire fighters?

Thus, first and foremost, an in-house HR department in essence is a cost ineffective approach if we look at it from a simple business perspective.

Another argument that people have in favour of an in-house HR department is grievance redressal.

Look closely though and you’ll see that HR as a department has a tinted glass approach. This is due to a basic conflict of interest in two of their functions.

On one hand, they are supposed to provide support for employees but on the other, they are there to help the senior management in managing such situations. What happens when you’re against the very people who are your bosses who are the main decision makers when it comes to your future in the organisation? Yes, you got it right, more often than not, you’ll obviously side with the people who’re paying you. Thus the whole question of an unbiased redressal is thrown out of the window.

The next main function of an HR team is to help in talent acquisition. The only point they have going for them when it comes to this issue is that they help recruiting those people who’re in sync with the culture of the company. But apart from this, we can clearly say that outsourcing clearly makes more sense when it comes to recruitment. Firstly, an expert outside the organisation will have a much larger pool to select from. Secondly, the expert, in cases of recruitment for lower levels of management, would have already recruited people for similar positions in other organisations, and hence would have the necessary experience. Thirdly, looking from the culture point of view, if an outsider recruits, then it’s more likely that we’ll get different personalities within the company. Sometimes people with the same attitude and work culture will not offer the necessary variety in mind-sets and the ability to

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think out-of-the-box. Thus, a little bit of mixing of cultures is a necessary event which an in-house dedicated HR team may fail to realise. Thus we can clearly say that outsourcing HR makes more sense when it comes to talent acquisition.

Moving on, the next ‘basic’ function of an HR department is to provide for the learning and development of freshers when they’re integrated into an organisation. The kind of money that organisations spend on performing this function is around $130 billion worldwide (source: Delloite Bersin’s 2013 L&D report brief ). Is this really a necessary expenditure at a time when frequent change of jobs is more a norm than an exception?

Lastly, in-house HRs are supposed to perform and administer performance appraisals for employees and suggest a suitable reward and punishment model. But a Hay Group report has cited that only 41% of their surveyed employees felt that these appraisals were fair. Also, only 40% felt that companies kept hold of their best employees. These numbers (in a survey conducted majorly in the US where the expenditure on HR is the most amongst all countries) clearly suggest that something is wrong at the core of the functioning of the department.

Thus, whether as an administrative requirement or as a grievance redresser, whether as a talent recruiter or as a developer of freshers or finally as a performance appraiser, an in-house HR clearly comes short in all these functions as compared to an expert outside.

Thus it’s no wonder that organisations like Deloitte, Hay, PwC are thriving as HR consultants. Perhaps it’s time for the Indian companies to realise the same and start outsourcing a department that is clearly acting as a trophy wife.

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by Rhetoric

By Agnitra Ghosh

Words have always created impact. They are powerful instruments, and can be used to great advantage by those who know how to wield them.

Throughout history, words have effected great changes. They have shaped the outcome of events, brought people to their ruin and governments to their knees. Then they have been the very conveyors of these monumental changes for generations ahead.

The origins of oratory are not clear. Although ancient Greece was the place where oratory was studied and practised seriously, debating was a part of the ancient educational curriculum in the Gurukuls of India. But oratory is as much a product of preparation as it is of passion, and such passion is born of difficult times.

We are living in volatile times. Change is in the air and revolution is as commonplace as routine shelling. As protest marches and candle light vigils make news daily, let us look at some rhetoric from such other times that shaped history.

In this article, we will look at six speeches. The list is

in no way exhaustive, and the collection here may not do justice to the tall title of the article, but these are speeches that are etched in history, for reasons good or bad. These speeches stand out because of their content and their delivery, and of the situations that produced them. Revolution may not have followed immediately after these speeches, but it did, eventually.

1. “Tryst with destiny” People may well argue about the revolution that this much-discussed speech inspired. Amid the agony and bloodshed of Partition, India’s tryst with destiny seemed to be a cruel twist of Fate. At “the stroke of midnight hour”, when the world was sleeping, a nation awoke to “life and freedom”. It was a gory birth. The newly born nation would continue to bleed for years afterwards. But from that moment onward, it would ensure that the world would never again sleep to its activities. Not many gave India much of a chance as a democracy. Political scientists estimated that India, made of communities so

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diverse that Europe looked simpler in comparison, would disintegrate by 1950. Britons who had been in the Imperial Civil Service in India shared the idea with their wartime Prime Minister that Indians were incapable of self-government.

“The achievement we celebrate today is but a step, an opening of opportunity, to the greater triumphs and achievements that await us.”

Jawaharlal Nehru clung to the same dream of hope that many other speakers mentioned in the subsequent pages did, but against a backdrop that seemed downright hostile to the harbouring of such hope.

“Peace has been said to be indivisible; so is freedom, so is prosperity now, and so also is disaster in this one world that can no longer be split into isolated fragments.”

Sadly, secession would go on to haunt the country in future.

“This is no time for petty and destructive criticism, no time for ill-will or blaming others. We have to build the noble mansion of free India where all her children may dwell.”

Nehru was right. The repressed soul of the nation did find “utterance”. It came in the form of riots, and petty criticism threatened to ruin Congress.

But proving all its detractors wrong, India lived.

And thrived. The nation might have been just the outcome of an experiment with democracy, but it was a revolution in itself, from the war-ravaged peaks of Kashmir to the sea-kissed rocks of Kanyakumari.

2. “History will absolve me.”

On July 26th, 1953, Fidel Castro led a band of 120 rebels and attacked the Moncada Barracks in Santiago De Cuba, while another 40 attacked the barracks at Bayamo. This armed uprising was aimed at toppling the then President Fulgencio Batista.

However, this attack on the second largest military garrison in Cuba was poorly planned, and the rebels did not have sufficient arms. Many of them were killed, while Castro, along with a few other rebels, managed to flee to the countryside. They were caught soon after, and Castro was produced in the court. He was sentenced to fifteen years of imprisonment. It was his defence speech in the courtroom that did more damage than the attack

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on the barracks could ever have done. Not provided a lawyer to argue for him, Castro began his speech with the lines: “If I have had to assume my own defence before this Court it is for two reasons. First: because I have been denied legal aid almost entirely, and second: only one who has been so deeply wounded, who has seen his country so forsaken and its justice trampled so, can speak at a moment like this with words that spring from the blood of his heart and the truth of his very gut.”

And spring from his heart the words did. From then on, in the riveting speech lasting for about four hours, Castro brought out the grave violations of law and human rights that the Cuban population had been subjected to under the Batista regime.

He talked about his attack, its conception, and its fallacies and then justified his actions.

He talked about the announcement of the “revolutionary laws” that they would have made, that would have bettered the condition of the farmers living in dire poverty. Little by little, he brought out all the problems prevalent in the Cuban society, and his solutions to counter the same. He knew that the opportunity to defend himself was a golden chance- one that gave him a national audience already dissatisfied with the ruling party.

He turned those embers of discontentment into blazing flames.

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Jumping from one problem to another, from unemployment and housing to education, he built a solid foundation, from where he launched a vicious attack on Batista, glorifying the sacrifice of the “priceless” lives of the revolutionaries at the altar of freedom.

“This is how people fight when they want to win their freedom; they throw stones at airplanes and overturn tanks!”

He dabbled with history, with the Declaration of Independence, the French Declaration of the Rights of Man to corroborate his reasoning and drew parallels of the present government with the Nazi regime. The speech was brilliantly constructed, with solid logic and appeals of patriotism weaved into it.

jewellery and hold it in trust for your countrymen in India”, to the assembled noblemen. He then proceeded to call the people who took up armed struggle against the British Raj “anarchists”. It was at this point that Mrs. Besant asked him to stop, but asking for permission to continue, he went on. With his “but let us not abuse” the British rule, he gave a hint of the passive resistance that he would lead and that was to become the hallmark of the Indian Freedom Struggle.

“Condemn me. It does not matter. History will absolve me.”

This speech was a rather uninspired one. In the rich and bloody history of India’s Freedom Struggle, there are many other speeches that are more inciting, more touching and better remembered.

But this speech is significant for a variety of reasons.

It was in this speech that M.K. Gandhi made his ideas (and future plans) about the path to freedom known. He preached little tolerance for armed resistance and more importantly, said it was the fault of the Indians that they could not get selfgovernment for themselves. Standing before an army of impressionable youth, he wondered aloud:

Twenty months later from the date of this speech, he was released from prison due to public pressure.

And six years later, he marched into Havana triumphantly at the head of the Cuban Revolution.

“Shall our temples be abodes of holiness, cleanliness and peace as soon as the English have retired from India, either of their own pleasure or by compulsion, bag and baggage?”

3. “There is no salvation for India”

M.K. Gandhi could not complete his speech. But 31 years later, the British did leave India, however, we know not if it was of their own pleasure or by compulsion, due to anarchy or passive resistance.

He ended his speech with a remarkable show of arrogance, with words that smacked of fierce and burning pride:

When Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya invited a man in a coarse dhoti, Kathiawadi cloak and turban to speak on the occasion of the opening of the Benaras Hindu University, there were many distinguished people in the audience including Lord Haringe, the Maharaja of Darbhanga and princes from various states. The speech that followed was not particularly rousing.

It had an abrupt ending, and many interruptions, including one from Annie Besant, who happened to be in the audience as well. The speaker, however, stayed true to his claim of wanting to think aloud rather than giving a speech. He began solemnly, apologising for the delay. Trouble started brewing when he suggested students of the University should receive instructions in their vernacular languages as well. He brought out the difference in living standards of the people, of the dire conditions in the railways and inequitable distribution of wealth. Things started getting a little out of hand when he breached the idea of “self-government”, and came to a head when he declared, “There is no salvation for India unless you strip yourselves of this

4. “The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our ways - I to die, and you to live.”

Socrates was condemned to death for corrupting the Athenian youth. He was required to make an appeal to a jury and beg forgiveness. Instead, he spoke. And that speech stands even today as one of the finest ever made by man. Among the many accusations heaped upon him were those of ignoring the gods and questioning their divinity. Before the sentence, in a methodical manner, Socrates had taken apart each argument that his prosecutors put forward, first by saying that he made enemies because he revealed that their knowledge was superficial and then by telling them that he lived his life by way of God, as prophesised by the Oracle at Delphi.

He refused to admit that questioning people was wrong, and went on to assert that death would be a preferable option to him than to accept the untruth.

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With brilliant arguments and cross-questioning, techniques that later became the cornerstones of philosophy and many a fierce courtroom battle, he tried to convince the hostile and biased jury of his innocence. On being sentenced, he spoke to his supporters, few in number as they were, not to waver from the path of righteousness and not to fear death. Defiant to the last and convinced of his own innocence, he brought the curtains down on his defence speech and therefore on his own life with these words: “The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our ways - I to die, and you to live. Which is better God only knows. ” His parting words were acerbic and proud, and his speech spurned his followers to take up his methods rigorously. What followed was revolution, in philosophy, politics and science, by his disciples, primarily a rich young man named Plato.

His speech could not save Socrates from the hemlock, but it did make him immortal. And it made oratory as we know it today.

5. “We shall fight on the beaches” Winston Churchill is known for many great wartime speeches. He is associated with phrases and lines that have become part of the war-lore: “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat” and the rousing “Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves, that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, this was their finest hour.”

In 1940, England faced the imminent danger of a Nazi invasion. Churchill had replaced Neville Chamberlain as the Prime Minister. In a speech made in the House of Commons on the 4th of June, he had to convince the ministers to let Britain go to war. It was a tall task. Victory was not sure. Hitler’s forces had already pulverized Poland, Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. A combined army of French and British forces was stranded and cornered in Belgium by the Germans. Britain was hardly in a position to win the war and halt the German juggernaut, even if they persisted in walking the “long and hard” road.

It was under these circumstances that the speech was made. Churchill used his eloquence and called forth all his reserves of passionate oratory to deliver what many consider to be his finest piece. Using repetition to great effect, he declared Britain would

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never fall to the Nazi forces.

“We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender…”

The ministers were convinced, more by the power of the speech than by reasons actual. Britain did go to war, but it needed help, desperately. Even in this speech that called on British patriotism and doggedness not to bow down to unjust forces, Churchill ended with a note of caution that Britain “would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.”

The New World eventually played a more decisive hand in the war than Britain did, but on that day, Churchill had inspired a nation to take the fight to the Germans.

6. “I have a dream” Abraham Lincoln delivered the “Gettysburg Address” on 19th November, 1863, hailing the “new birth of freedom” and promising to bring equality to all the citizens of the United States. About 100 years later, on August 28, a man called upon the bright promise once made in the ‘Emancipation Proclamation’ and lamented that equality for all was still a dream for the Black Americans. What makes this speech special is that at the end of it, the speaker departed from the prepared text and spoke from his heart.

And history listened.

Martin Luther King, Jr was a civil rights activist. He had led the movement against racism on the basis of Gandhi’s principle of civil disobedience. This speech in discussion was made at the Washington D.C. Civil Rights March. It was a gathering planned as a show of support to the legislation proposed by John F. Kennedy that sought to promote equality irrespective of colour. Towards the end of the speech, singer Mahalia Jackson shouted “Tell them about the dream, Martin.” So he did.

“Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

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And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.”

The speech has been analysed thoroughly using rhetorical lenses and all other tools of the language available. But what can never be analysed is the power in the words, and the burning agony and hope that they came out with on that day to a 250000 strong audience.

Each repetition of “I have a dream” was cheered wildly, enthusiastically and as King’s booming voice quivered and rolled on to the audience from the steps of Lincoln Memorial, the effect created was akin to magic. For at that moment, those gathered there had a flicker of hope, a glimmer of belief, that America will one day live as one, and true to the

high principles that it was founded with.

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.”

The imagery was vivid, from the “red hills of Georgia” to the “beautiful symphony of brotherhood”.

He neared the very end of his speech with the resounding cry of “Let freedom ring”. With immaculate modulation and pace, he ended on a crescendo: “Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last” And the area near the Washington Monument, brimming with hope, exploded in applause.

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You May Judge An Event But Judging a Person Is a Crime

By Gaurav Jain & Nishesh Bhasin

We have a weird habit of putting labels on people.

These labels are not that prominent when they are positive, but are highlighted when they are negative, and the negative label is usually, in some form, almost equivalent to calling a person a criminal.

We tag such people as thieves, robbers, rapists, and murderers not only in the courts of law, but also in our minds. Doing the latter – labelling people (and not their actions) in our minds – is a crime in itself; a crime more severe than the ones committed by the offenders of law.

Why does a person commit a crime? Is the crime committed out of ill-will, or is it situational? Is the crime a desperate measure, a last resort, or is it the fruit of plotting and planning, with an intent to repeat the offence again and again? Do not misunderstand us when we say that there are no so-called “career criminals”, who are introduced to the life of a criminal with the intent of being the best in it. But what happens when we call and treat a situational criminal as a criminal all the time?

To that, the answer is evident – he will become a criminal with the intent of repeating the offence, not because he chose to be that initially, but because

the label that we put on him forced him to believe that was who he was, and that is how he is expected to be all the time.

What you have done then is push that man into an abyss of darkness. No court can prosecute you for making this judgement, nor for proliferating your opinion, but according to us, there can be no graver crime.

We strongly believe that it is the society which creates criminals and leaders. While we will happily take credit for the latter, we refrain from taking responsibility for the former.

To make our belief clear, let us begin with mythology.

In Indian epics, there is no single story where a person was judged. Judgement was limited to events, and responses to events were given. We, however, have been judgemental about many people. One critical example (which also happens to be one of the most misunderstood) is Raavan from the epic, ‘Ramayan’.

What is the penalty that the law of the land imposes on a person for kidnapping a woman in today’s scenario? The Indian Penal Code says that a

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kidnapper ‘shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine. ’Raavan, however, was killed for it. In a time when the culture allowed kings to marry by force, what Raavan did, even though it was looked down upon, wasn’t considered a grave crime. He, however, was killed, even though he did not touch Sita, but instead kept her with all the comforts that he could give her, and tried to convince her to his cause. Despite all this, the world today, has created an image of him, which is widely considered as ‘evil’. What people forget is that he was also one of the most learned humans in the history of the world at the time, that he was a Brahmin by birth and a maestro of the Veena, a great scholar, and a capable ruler. Yes, he did kidnap Sita, but wasn’t it un-criminal like for him to give her all the comforts of life and not even touch her, despite knowing that he might be killed for it? While even Lord Ram himself did not judge him as a person and gave him all due respect even as his rival, we have condemned him for eternity by simply highlighting one act in a manner we wanted.

Most of us do not commit crimes due to the fear of the society, but we judge everyone, just like we judge Raavan, without any fear or thought. We say that when Ram killed Raavan, it was the victory of Good over Evil; we burn his effigy, but we forget what we symbolize by burning his effigy. Instead of understanding that we are burning the symbolic arrogance in our hearts, we label the burning of Raavan’s effigies as the burning of a criminal for his crimes.

We believe that Indian laws are better than us Indians in this context. Our laws always see the possibility of change in a criminal, and gives him

the opportunity to rectify himself and his ways.

Unfortunately, society doesn’t. According to law, once a person has served his due punishment, he is to return to society as an ordinary citizen with the same rights and opportunities as everyone else, and is absolved of his crimes. But the society does not absolve him of his crimes. It continues to label him as a criminal, without any proof of relapse and without any opportunity to rebuild his life. This attitude of the society is defensive and like a safety tool. We have created a fear of what our image in the society can be and how it can affect our lives. Thus possibly, we try to, by force of that fear, curb the temptation for normal people to commit a crime, but we forget that judging that person who has already paid for his crimes by labelling him as such is a crime too and that is a crime that all of us are guilty of.

Judge the events that take place, but not the person.

What would you want others to do to you? Judge your actions and circumstances, or judge you?

*The references to any religious texts and their interpretations are our own opinions, and we do not mean to offend any person, group, institution, organisation, or religion.*

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Freud and his psychoanalytic approach

By Nandita Choudhury

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Love him or hate him, but there’s hardly any denying the fact that Freud was a giant in the field of psychology. He revolutionized how psychology is looked at by the layperson. Born in 1856, Freud studied medicine at the University of Vienna and gained respect as a noted physician.

Even though he’s been gone for decades now, Freud’s provocative theories continue to influence psychology, neuroscience and the way society and its cultures are viewed. In true terms, Freud was and is the poster boy of his field, his legacy permeating deep into western culture, impacting the world in a profound and long lasting manner.

Sigmund Freud was the first to propagate the psychoanalytic approach to personality. He emphasized the role of unconscious motivations directing our behaviours and strongly asserted how one’s conscious thoughts and desires are only the “tip of the iceberg”, the rest remaining outside the purview of daily consciousness.

The reasons for this residual unconscious stem from our survival instincts. Being social animals and followers of the norms that civilization sets upon us, it’s not acceptable to act on baser instincts that harm others for direct personal gains. Thus, they are shoved away into the unconscious. However, these instincts do not just lie there. The unconscious mind actually plays an active role in directing behaviour and thought, affecting our daily functioning, just not as transparently.

Freud believed that the unconscious expresses itself in the form of dreams and ‘slips of tongue’, which are not really coincidental or accidents, but are indications of subconscious feelings that emerge in everyday life. He considered dreams to be windows into our unconscious. Fears, desires and emotions that we are unaware of emerge in our dreams. Freud believed dreams were about wish fulfilment. However, even though they contain these messages, they are encoded. The unconscious mind doesn’t speak any verbal language therefore it must communicate with us via symbols. Some of these symbols are almost universal, while others are more personal to us and our individual life experiences.

Freud broke personality down into three elements – the Id, the ego and the superego. Together these direct behaviour. It’s the scuffle between the three that causes the fundamental psychological battles that we face.

The Id is the component of personality that the infant is born with. A baby’s mind is full of wants, want’s and wants. This is precisely why Id is said to function on a “pleasure principle”, not caring about the consequences and conflicts that may arise from instinctual instantaneous behaviours as long as the need is met. It wants no delay in gratification and demands appeasement here and now, of innate desires, pleasures, aggressive and sexual impulses.

It has no regard for social rules and conventions.

The Id, to an extent, is kept in check by the ego. This is the rational part of the mind which understands that everything one wants cannot be attained in the real world, and one often has to settle for or give up on whims. Its primary goal is to try and gain what the Id wants, but in a socially appropriate manner.

If Freud was right, the reason we don’t snatch that ice cream from a stranger’s hand is because the ego forbids us from doing so. The ego vouches for rational manners of getting what one wants, avoiding both instantaneous gratifications as well as pious delaying.

Lastly, comes into the picture, the superego. The moral and ethical part of all of us. It’s formed through socialization, with family often being the first to instill the superego’s nascent seeds into ones psyche, and later the larger society and its social norms play its part. Freud talked about two parts into which superego breaks up- the ego ideal, which includes standards of appropriate behavior, approved by the figures of reverence and authority around the individual. Second is the conscience, which includes thoughts and actions that are disapproved of by the person’s societal set up.

Perhaps one of the most controversial of Freudian assertions is that of the “Oedipal Complex” in the growing male child, towards the ages of three to six years. The term “Oedipal” was taken from the Greek mythological story of Oedipus, a prince separated from his parents at birth, who later unknowingly ends up killing his father and marrying his mother.

This stage is referred to as the phallic stage of psychosexual development and is characterized by sexual attraction towards the mother, and hostility as well as fears of “castration” at the hands of the father. It ends with identification with the male role model and subsequent learning of masculine ways of behaviours. Later, Carl Jung, a former follower of Freud gave the female counterpart for the oedipal “the Electra complex”, referring to the psychosexual

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competition between a daughter and her mother for the “possession” of the father.

Out of all Freudian theories, the one that is most accepted by the scientific world is that of defence mechanisms. The premise is that we are prone to instincts and desires that go against the ego, super ego and our social and personal ideals. These lead to intra-psychic conflicts and anxiety. This is where defence mechanisms come into play. Defences may distort, falsify or deny one’s reality, but at a subconscious level, carrying a certain level of damage control.

To state a few, Projection is the association of one’s own flaws, say in terms of unacceptable thoughts and impulses, onto another person or group. An instance of this could be an overtly masculine man with repressed homosexual tendencies beating up another person perceived as being too “feminine”, in a way projecting and evading his own homosexuality.

Next, Rationalization, which is giving oneself excuses to justify thoughts and behaviours which are unacceptable. One may have been mean and unfair towards a person, and could justify the guilt

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away by exaggerating how the person deserved it for some past actions. Rationalization is often used to create a self-serving bias, exaggerating to oneself the credit for success and discounting the blame and diverting it to others in case of a failure.

Also, Displacement is an ego defence mechanism where sexual and aggressive impulses originally directed to a threatening object is “displaced” to a less threatening one. An instance could be a child facing abuse or bullying, who directs his aggression to say a pet or an even younger sibling.

Freudian theories have been criticized for being reductionist and lacking a more holistic approach, paying focused attention to the human mind and not enough to the environment in which it functions. Also, his theories were not based on strong empirical data and the methods used lacked strong reliability, they were criticised often for being a subject of his own whims and biases. Thus, Freud’s work, though makes for an interesting read, must be taken with a pinch of salt!

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All the stage’s the world

By Garima Kumar

If only William Shakespeare knew that his words could be slightly twisted to conclude what the stage means for a dancer.

There are many things we do in life that yield a sense of liberation for ourselves. For me, dancing is one of those things. It is true what they say: dancing is ironically about finding your self as well as losing yourself, because only an ardent dancer will know the exhilaration stemming from this form of art.

The joy we girls feel after purchasing a pretty dress or the euphoria felt by a football player upon scoring a goal is equivalent or on the same lines for me, as the joy of learning a new dance step, a new dance form or the adrenaline rush I get when the movement of my arms and legs are in sync with the rhythm of the music.

Dancing is about shedding inhibitions. Getting ‘cold feet’ is natural only until I step on the stage, after which it’s just me and the music. I’m sure all the things above are true for anyone who is passionate about any form of art.

Having said all that, I firmly believe that one doesn’t need to have a particular type of body to dance.

The famous tag line of Shiamak Davar’s dance academy,”have feet, will dance”, holds true in this context. I have witnessed people with healthier bodies being more flexible and graceful than the ones who are skinny and in shape; because I think it’s the technique and the passion that decides the quality of the dancer.

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I have often been asked in personal interviews about the difference between Bharatnatyam and Salsa. Since I have trained in both, that question is always a cakewalk. These two forms are poles apart.

Bharatnatyam is the classical Indian dance form that originated in the temples of Tamil Nadu while Salsa is the Latin ballroom dance style that originated in various parts of America, both define their own cultural richness. Although these forms are technically and culturally very different, yet I derive the same kind of contentment and tranquility from them. I find them equally invigorating.

There are many who underestimate the physical demands of ballroom dancing. The various forms and variations it comprises like Salsa, Tango, Foxtrot, Waltz, Jive, Rumba, etc. might seem easy to an onlooker at social dance parties. However for competitions at the international level, it is a totally different story.

There are national and international dance organizations that have been trying to get dance sport (competitive ballroom dancing) an Olympic recognition. Owing to the level of energy expended and the rigorous training one has to go through to be able to perform on such a platform, the World Dance Sport Federation (WDSF), was recognized by the International Olympic Committee as the only representative body for Dance Sport. However, Dance Sport has not been included as an official event at the Olympics even after its recognition, and there are many who doubt that it ever will but it does no harm to hope that one day this will indeed come true.

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There are still other forms of dance that have been vying for Olympic recognition like vertical dancing.

Vertical dancing, commonly known as Pole dancing which has been historically associated with strip/ night clubs in Las Vegas and Thailand is now aiming to shed its sordid background and emerge onto the world’s biggest athletic stage. Officials of the International Pole Dance Fitness Association strongly believe that it meets the Olympic criteria for athletics and athletic competition. It takes agility, balance, poise, choreography, rhythm, physical fitness, upper and lower body strength, core strength, stamina, style and so much more to excel at this form. This form of dance has been appreciated so much for it’s ability to tone the upper body that there are a few dance schools even in India that have started training courses in Pole dancing.

Probably the only regrets I’ll have in life is not starting out early in this field and taking a long gap in training due to academic reasons. There is so much to learn in this field that one lifetime seems too short for it,although that’s true for anything that can be learnt.

So, to all the people out there who have an equally obsessive passion towards dance, ‘why walk through life when you can dance?’

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all it takes

is a click

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Brokers and Insurance Sector

in India

By Shubhabh Rustagi

The Indian insurance market has been open for insurance brokers for many years now. More than 200 brokers are licensed by the regulator, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) in direct, reinsurance and composite segments.

A broker is an insurance intermediary, who represents the clients, unlike the insurance agent, who represents the insurance company. Brokers are, to an extent, bringing sophistication into the industry and some of the multinational brokers are as big as many insurers in terms of the scale of their operations.

Insurance brokers basically help their client plan their insurance needs, identify the most suitable insurance company as per the coverage, negotiate prices and place the risk. They also provide post sales services like endorsements i.e. changes in policies, negotiations with insurers and surveyors in case of claims and policy renewals. Apart from these, a very significant service provided by insurance brokers is

‘Risk Management’. The broker looks at the client’s business in totality and identifies risks, plans out mitigating steps and recommends suitable steps for handling contingencies such as accidents, fire, etc.

Internationally most brokers work in the non-life segment, mainly in the corporate sector.

In India, most of the brokers are in their development stage and are looking for an independent identity, differing from that of an agent. Most brokers start small, usually as entrepreneurs, eyeing both the general and life insurance sectors. The job of the broker is to bring value to the clients which is beyond just the best price. It needs to inform the client of the technicalities of the insurance scheme and act as an efficient consultant to the client. They aim to arrange a policy with adequate coverage for the client so that there is no problem at the time of making a claim, if required.

In the life insurance sector, many insurers favor an agency channel over brokers for retail life insurance

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products. Infact, the insurer prefers that the broker bring business from semi-urban and rural markets where their agency channel has comparatively less penetration. Brokers, on the other hand, look for corporate clients, where they can propose group life products instead of retail products. Many brokers now have their own retail wing, which targets individual audiences for life, health, personal accident and related retail policies.

One of the short comings in the Indian scenario is that the brokers may pass on some of the commission to the client, directly or indirectly, in order to seal the deal in their favour. But this practice is unethical and against the rules set by the IRDA. On the flip side, in some countries, it is perfectly legal to give up a portion of the commission thereby increasing the value for the client. Greater transparency is required so as to control such unethical practices.

Another fee-based service is ‘Risk Inspection’.

However, most insurers and brokers now provide this service for free to their corporate clients because of stiff competition. Brokers follow many risk modelling techniques and are actively creating awareness about the superiority of ‘Planned Risk Management’ over ad-hoc insurance placements.

More focus is being laid on ‘360 Degree Analysis’ of the client’s portfolio, ‘Risk Matrix’ and ‘Audit Reports’, which are presented to the client for better risk management.

The insurance industry will reach its zenith in the coming years. As the market develops further, brokers should come up with exciting opportunities for their clients. They can develop contingency planning mechanisms, post-loss surveys, design tailored employee benefit plans for corporates and develop alternate risk management tools. In doing so, they may even face stiff competition from consultancy firms and investment bankers.

Nevertheless, this is necessary for the insurance sector to grow in India and reach the next level.

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THE ENTROPIC

WORLD ORDER

By Shubhang Srivastava

India’s place in the future of a world with diffused power

v;afut % ijksosfrx.kuky?kqpsrlke~ A mnkjpfjrjukarqolq/kSodqVqEcde~ AA Humanity’s greatest strength is having a sense of its own weakness. Reading the Bhagwat Gita left me wondering why Lord Krisna would enunciate Ahimsa Parmo Dharma before urging Arjuna to fight the biggest battle of the times. Today I understand that in essence it wasn’t about materialistic kings, hostile brothers, disrespected queens or disowned princes; it was about World Order. Before the entropy of time destroyed everything, humanity needed to be recreated, its architecture reestablished and a framework constructed. Hence Lord Krsna said, “Fight not for yourself, but for Dharma”.

Social scientists, anthropologists and historians agree that the last decades have been the longest period of relative peace witnessed by this world.

This is good news, but for us in the punctuations lies the foreboding of the future.

The U.S., with the Novus ordoseclorum created a New World Order post the Cold war with the collaboration of a phalanx of pro west regimes. It is widely accepted that the age of a U.S. led global hegemony is at its sunset, but the question is, who would take its place? Everyone is betting on the Chinese dragon with unease, or making projections far out into the future. Let us begin with a basic question, will one single nation rise to be the monarch that dictates its power throughout the world?

The making of this uncertain state began post the Second World War, with nuclear weapons and globalization making conventional warfare

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unthinkable. The apparent peace was a boon, but at a great cost. In the absence of war we lost the power of creative destruction, and instead there set in a lethargic world refusing to come to terms with change.

Prior to the present, in almost every century a challenger rose up against the might of the extant power and created a clean slate where the new monarch set in a new world order,. Post the Second World War, for the first time the world was truly global and connected. What followed was an era of unprecedented human growth..

Post the fall of Soviet, U.S. alone chiseled the way it decided the world should look like. It had power much beyond it bargained for. It redrew boundaries, championed democracy while installing monarchs and despots. It designe da world economy with its institutions, philosophy and practices that dictated the way countries should do business.

The world today is nebulous and what was essentially a chess model of power games between the established and its allies versus the challenger, is now a multivariate game: the states, the non-state players and People. Digital revolution has given a strange power to the people. Ancients must have assumed that with information at our disposal we would finally arrive at a truly utopian world with free flow of knowledge and equitable distribution of wealth and power. But alas! Twitter, Facebook, Google, e-Mails have given this strange power where people deter decisions, topple governments but cannot enact agendas. This leads to a general sense of banality, where wealth of information creates a poverty of attention. Modern society suffers from a collective attention deficit disorder, which has to do with our obsession with the present moment.

Where are we?

A debt ridden, war exhausted, economically weak U.S. is reluctant to act as the world’s policeman.

China brought the locus of power back to the east with Russian sabre gaining more prominence. EU remains in the shadows of the U.S., mirroring its economic problems under the collective umbrella of NATO. War never left the shores of Middle East where democracy has been planted and supplanted, the Arab spring followed by the autumn of sectarianism and radicalization. Asia often throws a regional champion to counter the west, Japan, Korea and now China, adamant to leave its mark, even if only as a scar. India in the hopes of its own greatness

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awaits the world to recognize its true potential.

The remnants of this world order will not be drastically overhauled but will fall like little titbits of tobacco ash from an old cigar.

India’s power locus in the Entropy Nehru pointed out that India was home to all that is truly disgusting as well as truly noble in the human condition. Contemporary India is home to pluralists and democrats, fanatics and secretariats, capitalists and socialists, selfless workers and greedy politicians, honest and corrupt officials, glamorous wealth and repugnant poverty. India is a nation where everything and its opposite is true.

While the world recognizes our power and importance, our nuclear weapons, triad of military might, a thriving space programme and bustling economy, they are uncertain at best of our role in the world order.

India can be the nation which overcomes the distance between the inadequacy of its people and the power of the nations. Intending not to create history but to write reality. This might seem farfetched, unreal even but what the world needs today is not the cynicism of the naysayers who believe that history will crash hopes of the future, it needs a vision, a hope so illustrious that the pains of present become the struggles for its achievement.

Reality is but a question of perspective, the past seems concrete but the present appears incredible.

It is the tomorrow that we need to carve out. It took us decades to recognize Israel, which is one of our important defense and intelligence partner, we did the same with Myanmar and East Asia. We need not shy away from strategic partnerships with nations out of fear of China, neither allow Pakistan to obstruct us from doing what we do best, help nations, like rebuilding Afghanistan. ISRO, one of the most efficient space programmes in the world can be a reason for nations to bond. As information becomes more digital we become more vulnerable.

As the third largest energy consumer, India needs to pioneer the energy area on a warlike scale. Its diverse topography and climates offer and call for developments in diverse areas of energy generation.

The next generation will belong to nations who are energy sufficient. Only when a nation is prepared for war can it dream of peace.

On the national front the ‘idea of India’ as a nation has to be a force to be reckoned with. Welfare

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schemes must work with a purpose of upliftment and not be the fodder of democracy, people must be proud of the nation and its traditions and must create a knowledge economy that drives the world and not be a growth engine of consumption. More importantly we must go back to our roots and the process of invention and discovery must go hand in hand. Only a nation that is content with its past can reach out to the future. Going forward it’s our Indianess that will define us, as it has with the Indian diaspora.

And it is after this process, this man than that we will discover that within this land lies the future light of the world and that in our unread scriptures lies the answers that have baffled humanity for years. In the verses of our Mahop an is had lies the text which is the utopia of foreign affairs namely Vasudhaiva Kutumbkam. A simple translation says that the world is a single family but its connotations are much deeper. India has a long tradition of pluralistic cultures and values in our society. The predominant religion of the region, Hinduism is a mosaic of many beliefs and faiths, different cultures and myriad traditions. Equivalent to the population of the region are the Gods we worship, different names, different days. For the uninitiated travelling across the country they would find it difficult to reconcile to the idea of a single faith. Then take into account

the religion of Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism along with numerous others. The reason to discuss faith at this juncture is that it is faith that will herald us into the utopic age. To achieve what is seemingly impossible in this state of entropy you do not need hope to walk through fire but faith to jump over it.

The next age of the world has to be tempered to the same scenario. Religion fanaticism of who was first and who is right needs to be replaced by the appreciation of different forms of realizing our own destiny. As the power diffuses across states and to people, what they do with this power will determine the future of the world.. It is the onus upon this land of Bharata to constitute the next world order, not as a leader but as a guide, as a friend, not as a warrior but as a charioteer, as Krsna.

It will be a battle, so let it be, for battlefield is where glory lies. India has to do the right things, the things no nation is doing. Endeavors that scare us, undertakings that make us wonder how much longer we can hold on. These are the ventures that define us, the struggles that differentiate a life of mediocrity and that of extraordinary success. And success to the individual comes when the family succeeds.

For a man is fashioned from his faith and what he believes in.

We must believe it as our destiny and work towards the cause.

“When you are inspired… dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be greater person, by far than you ever dreamt of.”

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Book

RULES OF THE GAME Author - Sumit Chowdhury President, Head of Enterprise Business, Reliance Jio As management students we come across a lot of career oriented books, what is it about your book that makes it unique?

The first thing that makes it unique is that it is not a prescriptive book at all. It doesn’t say that you do these three things and you’ll be successful because there’s no shortcut to success. At the end of the day, you’ll have to work hard. You’ll have to go out and learn your own rules. Though the book is named ‘Rules of the Game’, right from the beginning I state that there are no rules which will apply for everybody. You have to find and discover your own rules. You have to invent your own rules. It’s only when you invent and discover your own rules that you’ll be successful. So I guide the reader to discover themselves. The other thing that is very relevant in this book is that the language is very simple and it does not look down upon anybody. I play along with the reader as a mentor and a coach. Therefore its language is different and it’s simple to read. The interviews are different too. Most of these people haven’t been interviewed in other books.

Is the book meant for budding MBA graduates or is it for the people who are already in their career and planning to move ahead?

It is for both actually. The target audience for the book are people between 20 to 35 years. That’s my target market. But what I’ve also found from people

who are older is that they are finding themselves again. They are realizing the things that they should have done. I’ve met people who’re very old, who were saying ‘I wish I had this book when I was young.’

I got the same feedback from the editor of Reader’s Digest, which published my book in a condensed format as cover story in August. He’s 64 and he wished He had this book before.

What strategy did you use to arrive at the Rules of the Game? What is the process you’ve followed to formulate this book?

The book incidentally wrote itself in the sense that the rules I’ve written about are the same rules I’ve applied to write, create and market the book. I’ve rediscovered some of the rules while writing these rules also. The examples are from people who are real. A lot of books are written about successful people. If you only look at successful people you areneglecting 95% of people who’ll never be that successful. Why won’t they be so successful? So, I have looked at both successful people as well as people who are mediocre. So, I’ve tried to find out why and what they defined as success. And whether they, in their own definition, met or exceeded their own expectations. To reiterate, a lot of the books are on positive space. They’ll look at the three successful people and hope you learn from them.

But for every three there are three million who’ve

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In a lot of interviews you’ve focused on what the person wish they had known when they were 22 years old. So what about you? What do you wish you had known when you were 22 years old?

The book is a pure reflection of a lot of those things.

I’ve written it because I wish I knew them. There are few things I knew which has helped me. There are few things I didn’t know that I came to know only later. The book contains either things that helped me or those I didn’t know. To validate the contents I asked other successful CEOs and other renowned successful people. That’s how I got validation of my thoughts about my own life. The content of the book is my philosophy though I have not talked about my own life in the book.

What advice would you like to give to the emerging leaders of tomorrow? You’ve talked about the startup culture or getting a job. What do you think they should do to make their career worthy?

not been successful. What about them?

This book is about finding yourself. If you find yourself, you’ll extract yourself in a different way.

And you’ll find yourself through the book. That much is a guarantee.

The thing that I talked about most in the book is finding yourself. If leaders find themselves first, then they’ll be better leaders. They’ll know how to engage with people. They’ll know how to manage people because they know their own strengths and weaknesses.

My one mantra is to try to find yourself from the day to day activities and try to find your likes and dislikes.

Choosing not to like or dislikes anything is also a choice. If somebody asks what’s your favorite food. I would say I don’t know and I don’t care. It opens up a great space for me if I don’t have to think about food anymore. 40% of lot of people’s life go away thinking about food. I don’t think about food, I just eat and love eating. I love good food. Similarly with people, I generally don’t say whether I like or dislike anybody. I be with them. That’s what it’s about. If you want to engage. If you want to engineer the two hours or three hours extra in your life remove the list of things you like or dislike. You’ll find extra time in your life to be better.

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A tale of two

REVOLUTIONARIES

By Navneet Kumar

A revolution is not merely a protest or a revolt aimed at fulfilling immediate aims. It is a radical, disruptive and larger occurrence, demanding fundamental changes in the significance, disposition and identity of the entities in existence at a particular point in time,thereby leading to the establishment of a new order in place. It is always accompanied by an ideology and a broad vision. The early aggressive

reactions to an undesirable order of things are often a prelude to an impending revolution. In an unjust situation, there are many resistors, rebels or revolters but only a few revolutionaries who cause exceptional changes worthy of being noted in the inspiring pages of history. Two such personalities who played a pivotal role in the struggle for freedom of India are Mahatma Gandhi and Bhagat Singh.

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Both these men are two of the most talked about revolutionaries from the pre independence era of India, inspiring a huge collection of literature, acclaiming as well as criticizing their ideologies and practices. While Gandhi has received overwhelming appreciation from some of the greatest men of all times such as Albert Einstein, Nelson Mandela, Steve Jobs, Rabindra Nath Tagore and Martin Luther King, Bhagat Singh has been an inspiring presence in the minds of youth even till now, with his courage, sacrifice and intellect, admired by anyone who has known his story. The criticism of Gandhi is often linked to the partition, his alleged inclination towards Congress and making it a power centre, and his own ideological supremacy amongst others. Bhagat Singh, on the other hand had been criticised for the very same thing which has brought him reverence from certain segments, which is his belief in the necessity of ‘force’. However, what is unfortunate is that most of such writings position these two at polar opposites often presenting one as a rival to the other. The idea of nationalism, at times results in the alignment of one’s thought with a particular approach or methodology to fulfil the nationalist agenda and it is generally the subscribed view which people tend to justify by quoting acts of such revolutionaries. Although Bhagat Singh is often associated with the use of violence, he never advocated the aggression in violence and called it “morally unjustifiable”. He believed that only a legitimate cause would justify violence morally.

But despite the difference in the means adopted during their fight for freedom, Gandhi and the Bhagat Singh shared similar thoughts on the futility of an aggressive armed resistance, importance of involvement of masses in the revolution and a larger vision for the post-independence phase of India, aiming at the social and economic prosperity of the nation.

Gandhi clearly outlined right from the beginning how non-violence was much stronger than violence, since it revealed the evil resting within the oppressor or could stir his conscience terminating a chain reaction of violence, thereby resulting in a much deeper impact. He was successful in mobilizing the masses and uniting them in the struggle for freedom. His methods delivered a severe blow to the international reputation and strategies of the imperial regime. It became increasingly difficult for them to justify their “disciplinary and correctional laws and actions”, externally in the face

of a peaceful protest. On the other hand, Bhagat Singh considered adopting forceful means when he was convinced that it is a necessity looking at the attitude of British rulers. However, his methods only received support from some of the Indian youth which was demonstrated by sporadic occurrences of violence in the country but it failed to take the shape of a mass movement like that of Gandhi’s.

He realized how these forceful means would only result in aggravation of the existing situation and were destined to fail. In his own admission, he said, “Terrorism is a confession that the Revolutionary mentality has not penetrated down into the masses.

It is thus a confession of our failure. In the initial stages it had its use; it shook the torpor out of body politic, enkindled the imagination of young intelligentsia, fired their spirit of self-sacrifice and demonstrated before the world and before our enemies the truth and the strength of the movement. But by itself it is not enough. Its history is a history of failure in every land –in France, in Russia, in Balkan countries, in Germany, in Spain, everywhere. It bears the germ of defeat within itself.” In another communication with the youth of the nation, Bhagat Singh said, “Let me announce with all the strength at my command, that I am not a terrorist and I never was, except perhaps in the beginning of my revolutionary career. And I am convinced that we cannot gain anything through these methods.”

Something which was central to the ideas conceived by these two great men was a vision for the revolutionary struggle and the future of the nation after the sacrifices of the freedom fighters bore fruits of success. The plans during the revolutionary phase differed, but the end objective remained the same. They envisaged an egalitarian society where class struggle and discrimination could be put to an end. They were looking at the revolution with not just the perspective of natives who were fighting invaders but human oppressors versus human victims. This generalised perspective helped them understand that it is not simply the independence from the British Empire which could liberate the populace, but a sense of unity and benevolence towards all the castes and communities present in India, which would result in a prosperous state.

Their plan to generate active participation of masses from all segments of the society in the struggle for freedom was somewhat aimed at achieving this objective, for nothing unites people like the tough times faced together. Gandhi’s displeasure after the Chauri-Chaura incident compelled him to make an

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oft criticized remark where he said that “India is not ready for independence.”This statement was made by him because he saw what could happen if primeval human nature continued to exist in the hearts of Indians and they were handed over the control of the country. His clear understanding was that with the persistence of such an attitude, still further violent internal conflicts could arise. Although Gandhi’s withdrawal of non-cooperation movement was the very reason that the young Bhagat Singh decided to go on a separate path, but as outlined earlier here, he never advocated blind aggression. He is widely acknowledged as the foremost socialist, democratic and rational thinkers of his time. His last message from jail testifies this fact quite lucidly. His message to his fellow revolutionaries and countrymen was - “the struggle in India would continue so long as a handful of exploiters go on exploiting the labour of the common people for their own ends.

It matters little whether these exploiters are purely British capitalists, or British and Indians in alliance, or even purely Indians.” He was convinced that independence wouldn’t mean much if the prevalent white rule was replaced by a brown rule in India.

Often appearing in contrasting light to each other publicly, these men shared a common enlightened radiance and no matter how desperately we attempt to present them as rivals, there existed a genuine mutual concern, admiration and reverence.

None of them believed in being openly vocal about it because the need for that was obviated by the understanding they possessed of each other’s position. Mahatma Gandhi made this fact quite evident when he made one final public remark on the great martyr saying “Bhagat Singh was not a devotee of non-violence, but he did not subscribe to the religion of violence. He took to violence due to helplessness and to defend his homeland. These heroes had conquered the fear of death. Let us bow to them a thousand times for their heroism.”

Revolution creates a churn in the current order which is accompanied by a plan and an ideology guiding the revolutionaries. Mahatma Gandhi and Bhagat Singh shared their intellect with the nation but unfortunately, their vision seems to

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have obscured. The engagement with the debate about whose ideas were inherently better seems to be attracting greater attention, resulting in the ignorance of the premise that alignment with either of the philosophies would result in a better and stronger nation. The intention behind this article is not to outline the similarities or dissimilarities between the two ideologues, rather reemphasizing their long term visions. We are lagging too far behind in achieving the social, economic and political standard these heroes envisioned for our country.

The profound wisdom and intellect propagated by these men approaches the zenith of an ideal social and political structure. It is virtually undebatable that their presence after independence would have resulted in shaping the nation in an entirely different way. Their revolutionary thoughts transcend eras and thus even after more than six decades of independence in India, remain equally inspiring and relevant. Therefore, it would be in our best interest to preserve and practice the precious knowledge that has been gifted to the subsequent generations by these legends.

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THE TRUTH OF OUR EXISTENCE

FEAR

By Parsita Kundu

“Fear” is an integral part of any living being’s existence. From single-celled organisms to giant whales, every creature on this planet is frightened of one thing or another. Be it the terror of the inability to escape from enemies and getting killed, or the thought of losing habitat to advanced “homo sapiens” or nature’s wrath, fear engulfs all. Charles Darwin had explained that the organisms which have the highest probability of progressing are the ones who can adapt to the changing environment as fast as it alters. But he had skipped one important element, the primal instinct of experiencing fear and the various measures adopted by living beings to overcome the same which eventually lead to the success of evolution.

Fear is ingrained in our mind even by our parents.

Come to think of it, every fairy tale has a dark side and all the heroes in our imagination are incomplete

without the evil intentions of a monster. Babies are tutored to stop crying, with every whisper in their ears that threatens them about the arrival of monsters - cultivating the feeling of fear. The fear of the unknown is the worst foe of the human race.

With no disrespect to religion, the different Gods that we have created as Supreme Lord are nothing else but the mere manifestation of our anxiety. Out of our fear for the future and anything that defies our understanding, we have created an entity who promises to protect us from dangers and show us the right direction. Therefore, one is in constant search of facts and theories which confirms his opinion. A religious mind can rest with the consolation that one will be able to conquer their fear with the help of the omnipresent superior power. Fear can be seen as an equalizer on this earth.

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I am not saying that being fearful or a phobic is bad. When a kid is scared of getting scolded for not completing his/her home assignment, it acts as a catalyst to be more hard working and disciplined.

Or when a child keeps away from the fire in the fear of getting hurt, it is good for his own safety. Fear can be seen as nature’s way of preventing us from doing something which might have a high risk or probability of injury.

At other instances, fear can also drag humans to fatal ends. Put it in better words, they decide to end their lives by succumbing to their fears. Fear of non-acceptance by a loved one or the fear of isolation by the society cripples the rationale of a person and he develops a fear and a feeling which he cannot escape. It suffocates and kills like a cancer which spreads slowly but once it matures, there is no looking back. It pains me the most to see that some of our loved ones chose to conquer their fears by hurting themselves. Then I started to think, is there any solution to this never-ending disturbing feeling? Perhaps yes - if we try.

As a child, I dreaded darkness. Going into a dark room or even climbing a dark staircase sent a chill down my spine. My cousins used to bully me by switching off the lights in my room while I was studying. Now I trivialize the experience, and have a good laugh about it, but the experiences did cause mild trauma back then. Gradually, courage built up within me, to help me walk a step or two alone in the dark during power outage, or opening my eyes in a dark room, for a couple of seconds waking up from sleep. Slowly, I came to the realization of my naivety, and all the monstrous images of devils in my figments of imagination faded away. It would be a lie to say that I can fearlessly walk in darkness, but nonetheless I have learnt to handle it in a better way.

The truth of our existence is fear and it is fear which keeps us alive and going. Those who are able to handle it, they are the courageous and lucky ones to ride the adventurous journey of life in the way they want to and others just have to make peace with it for the rest of their lives by carrying the burden of anxiousness.

You might find it amusing enough to know that human beings are so weird to be afraid of something

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which is very trivial, something that you might laugh at. For example, a few people on this planet are frightened by the number 13 as it is supposed to bring bad luck and do harm. Superstition is the other side of the fear. Being born in the land of superstitions where even looking at the eyes of black cat is considered inauspicious, one is tied with the chains of fear with its roots embedded in religion or rituals. Every failure is attributed to one of our fears viz. fear of God or the fear of not listening to the signs (as the people say it) that had foreseen the disaster. Human beings are haunted by one form of fear or the other from their cradle and it stays with them till they rest their bodies in a coffin.

But the ‘success’ lies in conquering the fear. Come to think of it, if the human race was too scared to venture out, civilization would not have taken birth. Even Christopher Columbus could never have gathered the courage to discover America if he had dreaded the unknown. Fear comes from insecurity and instability and to avoid the feeling, most of us choose the safest path of following the herd and end up as loyal followers. However, there are a few brave hearted who have the at uda city to overcome their anxiety and walk into the unknown to chase their dreams. Not all taste success. Nevertheless, there are a chosen few known as “entrepreneurs” or “true leaders” who are bold enough to step out from the shell of fear which leads to their victory or in the words of Robert Frost,” Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.”

And I believe that the only way to master fear is to face it till the moment it breaks down the walls of uncertainty surrounding us. Dare the fear inside you and I am sure that a change will take place. But whether the change will be good or bad, is again the fear.

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Art Window

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2015

Sports

PERSONS Sujoy De

Envy resides deep inside of me, Jealousy strikes and takes over me, But above them all for you Reverence exudes out of me.

You flex your muscles, You practice; I wonder Who is living his life!

You exhaust yourself, You practice; I wonder Who is being honest with himself!

Envy resides deep inside of me, Jealousy strikes and takes over me, But above them all An opportunity of learning shows itself.

You dedicate yourself to one cause, You practice; I wonder Whom can I learn from!

You have a purpose to breathe for, And you practice, And I wonder Whom do I go to for wisdom!

Envy resides deep inside of me because You know the secret of life; Jealousy strikes and takes over me because You have your purpose of life.

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Relevance of Greek Literature in the

Space Age

By Mohammed Fahd

Change is supposed to be the unequivocal truth of humanity. The one rule of life that must be heeded regardless of how much men may fidget and fight against it and yet there are some aspects of life that remain immutable. The core ideologies derived over an age by the greatest minds of a civilisation are almost always relevant regardless of the period man has progressed to. The fundamental aspects of human nature in one civilisation or another have roughly remained the same. If one were to scrutinize the cultures that flowered throughout the history of mankind, they would find an indelible similarity between each of them and it is through this scrutiny of the greatest civilisations that mankind has progressed, as the core knowledge derived from any one about the human species is applicable to all. The Ancient Greek kingdom is one such example. The study of Ancient Greece, its culture and mythology has been exceptionally relevant for psychology and medicine. In fact, the teachings of the Ancient Greeks continue to be or prime importance even today.

The Ancient Greek Empire, which existed between the 8th century BC and AD 600 displays remarkable similarities with the modern day. The eagle is still the symbol of the most powerful nation in the world and the columns in British architecture are inspired by the Greeks. Two important psychological complexes have originated from Greek fables: The Oedipus complex and the Electra complex.

Moreover, many terms such as Achilles heel, mentor,

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tantalising, Pandora’s Box, arachnid and even the phrase “a Herculean task” owe their existence to Greek literature and mythology. The disciplines of astronomy and astrology are hugely endowed to Greek literature as each of the 12 zodiac signs are derived from a character in Greek mythology. In fact, the Orion’s belt constellation was discovered by the Greeks and has a dedicated tale detailing how it came into existence. According to Greek mythology, Orion was a great hunter and a friend of Artemis, the Greek goddess of the moon who had also taken the pledge of chastity. Orion’s proximity aroused the suspicion of Apollo, the sun god and twin brother of Artemis, who believed that Orion was attracted to his sister’s immense beauty and intended to spoil her chastity. As a result, Apollo murdered Orion.

Appalled at the actions of her brother Artemis threw the spirit of Orion into the night sky so as to immortalise him through the constellation of three stars that came to be known as Orion’s belt.

Similarly, there are many tales in Greek mythology that remind humans time and again about the hazards of human nature.

However, the importance of the ancient Greeks in today’s world is not just restricted to grammar, architecture or astronomy. There are many tales within Greek literature that warn us against the basic flaws of human nature and their repercussions.

These myths or stories are of crucial importance in the modern world where it is all too easy for an individual to indulge in an emotion to the point of catastrophe. The tales of Icarus and Narcissus are two such instances that serve to mentor us in this regard. Narcissus, who was the son of a river god named Cephissus, was an incredibly handsome man who fell in love with his own reflection while staring into a pond. Due to his passionate attraction to the image Narcissus sat and stared at the pond for many a day. Unable to leave his reflection Narcissus drowned in the pond. Thus, the story warns against too much fascination with oneself, an all too common occurrence in the modern world and also led to the spawning of the term narcissism.

The story of Icarus warns against vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself and falls on the other. Icarus was the son of Daedalus, the chief engineer of King Minos of Crete. In order to let his son fly, Daedalus invented a flying apparatus that employed wax wings which empowered his son to fly. Icarus used that apparatus to achieve the desired flight however in his desire to fly higher than the highest eagle Icarus flew too close to the sun which resulted

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in the wax wings melting and Icarus falling down to his demise. The fable of Icarus also gave birth to the neologism of the Icarus paradox, a phenomenon where a business suddenly wanes after a period of extraordinary success.

The teachings of Greek mythology are not just restricted to warning us against the follies of human nature either, but also aim to inculcate salubrious values. The tales of Theseus and Prometheus strive to achieve this objective. Prometheus was a Titan who had sided with the Greek gods in their war against the Titans. Following the war, Prometheus was deeply disturbed by the effect the war had had on the humans. In order, to help them he stole fire from Mount Olympus and presented it to the humans. Prometheus knew that this was a crime of the highest order, however in order to achieve the greater good he submitted himself to Zeus’ punishment of eternal torture thus becoming an epitome of self-sacrifice for all ages. The tale of Theseus highlights the importance of wisdom and composure even while facing one’s demons.

Theseus was dropped into a never-ending labyrinth to kill the monstrous Minotaur, a half-bull-half-man creature that used to kill anyone who entered the labyrinth. In order to ensure that he didn’t get lost in the labyrinth, The seus tracked his path using a ball of wool and when he came upon the monster, he waited for it to sleep and then executed it. Thereafter he used the ball of wool to track his way back to the entrance and safety.

Thus, the ancient Greek civilisation grants a plethora of knowledge and enlightenment for anyone inquisitive enough to wade into the texts of their most brilliant scholars. Almost every discipline currently known to mankind owes the Greek culture gratitude for its overwhelming presence in all arts and sciences. In fact, not just the Greeks but almost every major culture in the history of mankind possesses this ability and therefore continue to be of great relevance even in today’s space age.

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I’m Not An

ATHEIST Pratik Chakrabarti

Don’t call yourself an atheist.

Religion pervades all. Gods abound. We live on a planet where every culture follows some or the other faith system. Social systems and norms, national and international laws, value systems and morals are defined along the lines of ancient religious writings.

It stands alongside sex and war as the major shapers of human civilization.

There is a disturbing trend being seen nowadays.

More and more people are identifying themselves as irreligious, or even worse, atheists. Globally, the figure stands at 16% of the world’s population who do not identify themselves with any religion according to a study published in 2012 by the Pew Research Centre. The CIA World Facebook estimates

that 2.01% of the overall population are explicitly atheists. This number has significantly grown from around 100 years ago when a very small percentage of the population would have thought it fit to label themselves atheists.

What could make rational humans take so drastic a step as to forsake that great binder of humanity and provider of faith that we call religion? After all, don’t the majority of people celebrate festivals, leave aside their normal routine to worship in mosques and churches and temples, draw strength from their belief in a God or Gods, who would make their wrongs right, tell them what the correct thing to do is? Don’t the atheists need this belief system? That would imply they are unlike normal human beings.

How would people ever trust them?

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In the first place, why would anyone even think of rejecting religion? Look at the world around you.

It is so beautiful and so perfectly in sync. Atheists say that this universe came to be the way it is now purely by chance. That sounds absurd. Indeed, the odds of the universe just coming together the way it is now is comparable to a gust of wind blowing through an airport and assembling an airplane from its components strewn around the airport. It is an impossible event. You need a Creator to create, just as you need a human to assemble the airplane.

Look at the long list of experiences and revelations that people have had. There have been well documented instances of people receiving messages from God or even catching a glimpse of Him. Paul of Tarsus, an initial critic of Christianity, became a complete convert on a journey to Damascus. The Buddha likewise attained Nirvana under a peepal tree near Gaya. God has even communicated his doctrines to humans from time to time. The Quran and the Ten Commandments are glorious examples.

There have also been instances of miracles and other supernatural events reported all around the world beginning from ancient times. The Parting of the Seas during the Exodus led by Moses, Jesus’ resurrection have all been certified as miracles by the Christian establishment. Closer home and our time, the Milk Miracle that occurred on September 21st, 1995 in many Hindu temples around the world was officially called a miracle by the Vishva Hindu Parishad.

Atheists are a queer breed. They refute such overwhelming arguments in favour of the existence of God. They say they go about it logically. What difference could that possibly make?

Let’s apply some logic to the first argument. Allowing for the existence of a Creator God straight away serves up a counter argument: Who created the Creator? And if you then provide for the existence of a creator for the Creator, you fall into an infinite regress. Thomas Aquinas tried to address this anomaly by providing for a First Cause which did not require anything to cause it. This argument naturally sounds hollow. It brings into the picture an arbitrary first causer, which is contrary to the very thought process followed in arriving at the conclusion.

So that argument doesn’t work. What about all those spiritual experiences and revelations that people have, those moments of clarity, when they feel God’s touch or presence? Surely, they must be

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definite proof that God does exist. Maybe not. The human brain works in weird ways. Its basic function is to make sense of the inputs it receives from the sense organs. It does that by trying to interpret the signals into forms it has already experienced. Many a time, and I am sure this has happened with all of us, we perceive shadows, silhouettes as persons or monsters and construe naturally occurring sounds as artificial and sinister. Studies have shown that by applying magnetic fields to particular areas of the brain, it can be coaxed into seeing or hearing things that are not actually present. Now, those of a religious turn may be quick to construe that these misinterpretations are actually divine interactions.

This argument rings hollow too.

Consider the question of miracles. People talk about ancient examples, cite modern examples and offer them up as definitive evidence that God does exist, else how could such supernatural events come to be? There have been examples of miracles witnessed by thousands of people, such as the Milk Miracle and the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima, Portugal on October 13, 1917. The event was witnessed by between 30,000 to 100,000 people and corroborated by news reporters actually present at the sight. How does one explain that?

This word, physics, comes to mind. Can there be a physical explanation? It turns out that there can be one. In the case of the Milk Miracle, a spoonful of milk mixed with food colouring was offered to a Ganesha idol. As the level of the liquid dropped, it was noticed that the statue was coated with colour.

This was a prime example of capillary action. The liquid was being pulled into the porous material that these idols are usually made of because of surface tension before dribbling down the sides of the statue.

At Fatima, the people were present at the spot in such large numbers as three kids had claimed that they had seen visions of the Lady Fatima and at noon the Sun would perform a miracle. The crowd, being quite impressionable, duly saw what they expected to see when the sun began to dance around in the sky and change colours. This can be related to the Orson Wells incident when the residents of New Jersey went into mass hysteria due to a staged broadcast of H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds. The Fatima event was explained by scientists by taking into consideration atmospheric conditions at the site which sometimes can cause the Sun to change shape and act in different ways. None of the sun

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observatories around the world could corroborate the event which would obviously have been expected had such an event actually occurred.

The belief in miracles is contrary to one of the greatest principles ever promulgated by a human, namely Occam’s razor, devised by William of Ockham in the 14th century. It states that when considering multiple alternative hypotheses, we should choose the one that makes the fewest number of assumptions. When explaining events that seem supernatural, we first need to examine whether every scientific principle fails to explain the phenomenon. Only then can we consider the assumption that the miracle was caused by a supernatural entity. Applying this principle results in many “miracles” falling by the wayside as they are explained through scientific concepts. Even if they can’t, before fixing on a supernatural concept, we should wait for our scientific knowledge to grow and come up with new explanations.

Considering the evidence which directly contradicts almost all instances of Divine Intervention by a God, it seems almost redundant to actually believe in a God. The God most believe in is an Interventionist God, one who is concerned with human affairs, answers to prayers and generally looks after

humans. Throughout history this unfortunate tendency of humans has been exploited to the hilt by organized religions, to control the masses, wage wars to capture territory, poison the minds of people to ensure its continued supremacy. Occam’s razor tells us that God is rarely, if ever, needed to explain any occurring or event that has any effect on us. The scientific laws are quite enough for that.

Taking this argument further, the burden of proof of existence of God now lies on the believer. It is their prerogative to offer definitive evidence that there indeed is a God (or Gods, for that matter).

This brings me back to my original statement. We do not usually call believers Theists; instead we call non-believers Atheists. It should be the other way around. The burden of proof being on the believers, calling them Theists makes sense. Calling the rest of the rational folk as Atheists does not. They should take it as an insult. Wonder why they don’t?

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The Space An unexpected Journey

By Rupam Thakar

The world isn’t in your book or atlases, it’s out there…

2014 was a pretty exciting year for space enthusiasts.

Not only did we witness two great movies – ‘Interstellar’ and ‘The Theory of Everything’, but for the first time, humanity has landed something on a comet. Though the probe Philae didn’t land perfectly, the idea of having a robot collecting data on a celestial body,containing materials dating from the origins of the Solar System, is fascinating. The curiosity to explore and unravel the secrets has led us to successfully put the ISRO’s Mangalyaan and NASA’s MAVEN into Mars Orbit in 2014.

Democratization of access to space NASA’s space shuttle fleet retired in 2011 after 30 years of spaceflight and more than 130 breathtaking missions. It now relies on Russia for access to low earth orbit. But that’s about to change with private players like Boeing and SpaceX bidding for NASA contracts to taxi cargo and humans to and from the International Space Station (ISS). Orbital Sciences, another such company, secured a $1.9 billion contract from NASA to ferry cargo to the ISS. The

founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos’s space company, ‘Blue Origin’, too became a part of NASA’s commercial crew development program. Other players in this space are Armadillo Aerospace, XCOR Aerospace and Masten Space Systems. It thus signifies a new era for commercial space transportation.

The number of private companies continues to grow. Most of the companies are private players passionate about exploring space for adventure as well as for profit. The competition thus is intense but there’s ample ‘space’ for the players to grow. This decade can thus play out in a manner similar to what the late 1990s and early 2000s were for Internet.

Billion Galaxies, Billion Dollars The spur in competition is bound to produce cost effective, innovative and practical solutions to venture into space. It’ll end the monopolistic space business run by Governments and Space Agencies through taxpayer money. SpaceX for instance has already reduced the launch price, in some cases by as much as half.

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Up until now rockets were designed to be used only once and then they were dumped into the sea.

Fishing out the used rocket was a time consuming and complicated operation. But not any longer! The next-gen rockets and capsules won’t get wasted in the oceans but will vertically soft land on precise landing pads. These rockets will then be refueled and reused again. SpaceX recently unveiled the reusable Dragon Capsule that would be able tol and anywhere on Earth and ocean-based launching pads for its Falcon rockets to soft land without any danger of sinking. Such initiatives are changing the economics of getting into earth orbit by saving the cost of building a new rocket (around $300 Million) for every mission.

The final frontier – To boldly go where no one has gone before Currently, ISS serves as the only permanent manned outpost in space. That’s about to change too.

Bigelow Aerospace is planning to put inflatable space habitats in earth orbit. These commercial space stations can then serve as scientific outposts and can be leased to government agencies or private players. Or they can be converted into space-hotels which would allow space tourists to spend time away from home, in orbit around Earth! If everything works out, these hotels would pose a serious threat to royal palaces in Rajasthan as the most favorable marriage destinations for Hollywood stars and the like. Such stations however would require supplies and shuttling of tourists, staff and researchers to and from orbit. These services could then be provided by low cost solutions devised by private space firms.

Home is now behind you, the World ahead.

Space travel has long been the fantasy of sci-fi writers and futurists. Not any longer. With just $250,000 you can get a reservation with Virgin Galactic for the journey in space. Celebrities like Justin Bieber, Paris Hilton, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have already registered. It might seem a tad bit exorbitant but it surely would be more enthralling than watching an IPL match of the team you own. For most of the eccentric billionaires from Dubai to China, Space travel would qualify as the craziest thing they have ever done. No wonder 700 tickets have already been sold. Afterall, there’s nothing like a few minutes of weightlessness and why should only astronauts have all the fun?

Fasten your seatbelts, we’re about to land on Mars Amid criticism, ‘Mars One’ has unveiled an ambitious plan to establish a human settlement on the red planet by 2024. 200,000 people had signed up for this mission, aimed at colonizing the planet, out of whom a few would be chosen for the mission.

Those fortunate enough to make it through (or unfortunate, as one might think of them) will have to live their entire lives on Mars as it’s not feasible to develop a fully functional rocket on Mars to carry the crew back to Earth. From 2018 the process of sending cargo to Mars would begin. This would ensure that life-support systems for the crew would already be present when they start arriving on Mars from 2024 onwards on SpaceX Mars Transit Vehicles.

The mission isn’t sponsored by the government.

Mars One plans to cover costs by creating a media event around the project. It surely would be more exciting to watch 24x7 coverage of astronauts, researchers and scientists struggling to survive on Mars under unimaginable conditions in a bid to expand humanity’s frontiers, rather than watching a bunch of celebrities carrying on with their daily routines on ‘Big Boss’. ”I’d like to die on Mars, just not on impact” - Elon Musk Though several frontiers in space have opened up in the recent past, the rockets that take us there are still risky to operate. Orbital Sciences unmanned rocket recently exploded seconds after liftoff in Virginia. It was meant to carry supplies to the ISS. Within a few days, Virgin Galactic’s space plane, meant to house passengers for space travel, exploded during a test flight killing one pilot. These incidents underline the hurdles facing private companies in their bid to enter space. But there’s a great incentive for the private sector to get things right. Thorough investigations would provide lessons for the future. Sometimes we learn by accident.

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IIM Shillong Golf Cup Season 7

Khlur-Thma Khlur-Thma is the annual B-School fest of IIM Shillong that is usually scheduled in the first two weeks of October. It got conceptualized and was first organized in 2012 and literally means the War of Stars in Khasi, the local language of Shillong. What started off as a case study competition became a full-fledged two month extravaganza this year. The launch of the event was done on 15th August with a flash mob performed by the students of the institute and an online event. It marked the onset of the two months of online events before the main event that took place on 10th and 11th October 2014.

The Shillong Times, Jabong.com, ShopClues.com, the Central Bank of India, Meghalaya Institute of

Governance and the Woodland Hospital, Shillong were some of the major partners of the event. This season, the event saw participation of students from more than 80 institutes and colleges from all over the country totaling 4500 plus teams. Prizes worth INR 5 lakh were distributed to the winning and the runner-up teams. Khlur-Thma is a one of a kind competition across all B-Schools in the country where the participants walk out to the golf course on the concluding day, where the results are declared.

With the kind of response and participation that has been received, Khlur-thma is expected to touch new heights year on year and carve a niche place for itself in the years to come.

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Golf Cup The Golf Cup is the flagship event of IIM Shillong.

In its 7th year of inception, the Golf Cup has been expanding year by year both in terms of exclusivity and grandeur. The Golf Cup is a two day event that was held this year on the 11th and 12th October 2014. It acts as a platform where corporates from various sectors, people from political circles and avid golfers from varied backgrounds interact in a relaxed atmosphere. IIM Shillong takes this privilege to be a host to such stalwarts in their own arena and provide them a holiday like experience away from their busy routines while they mingle with people with similar interests. At the same time, students get to interact with these people and learn from their experiences and the stories they have to share.

Season 7 of the Golf Cup was inaugurated by Mr A.L. Hek, Cabinet Minister, Govt. of Meghalaya. The sponsors for the Golf Cup Season 7 comprised of Meghalaya Tourism, State Bank of India, Business Standard, Ballantine, mbaSKOOL, TNT Magazine, and others.

The Honourable Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Dr. Mukul Sangma, was the chief guest for the valedictory function where he shared his vision of seeing the Golf Cup grow to become a bigger platform for exchange of ideas and ways to facilitate the development of the north-east. His vision of having a Business Conclave was brought to fruition by the institute and the first chapter was held in consonance with the Golf Cup this year.

This year the 3 Day Annual Fest was flagged off by a Marathon – Run For Shillong, in order to show solidarity to preserve the culture and heritage of the place and at the same time to pave the path for growth and development. The event concluded with a cultural programme and a grand luncheon at the Shillong Golf links thereby already raising expectations for the event next year.

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Udaan – The Business Conclave Last year, the Honourable Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Dr. Mukul Sangma envisioned the Business Conclave to be held in conjunction with the flagship event of IIM Shillong, the Golf Cup. After months of brainstorming and contemplation, the students of the institute came up with the idea of Udaan – The Business Conclave: Wings to a Better Tomorrow. This will be conducted as an annual event wherein a theme and areas of interest will be selected in context.

This year the business conclave was conducted on 11th October 2014 with the theme ‘The Way Forward: Transforming Opportunities into Reality’. It focused on two important aspects of economic development: Finance and Agriculture & Agribusiness, with a focus on the food processing industry.

The food processing Conclave saw participation from distinguished and successful entrepreneurs, local industrialists, multinational corporations and members of the government. The panel discussed the challenges and opportunities in the Food Processing industry in India, with a specific focus on the Northeast. It witnessed a discussion by Mr. Vivek Chowdhary, Divisional Manager - Dairy Project, ITC;

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Mr. Mudit Agarwal, Founder, We-Agri; Mr. Vibhor Laddha, Manager - Projects, Archer Daniel Midlands; Mr. Samrat Deka, CMD, SRD Group; Mr. Avni Bader, Director, Nezone Industries; Ms. Bandita Banerjee, State Coordinator, NERAMAC; Dr. Arnab Sen, Virologist, ICAR and two fellows from the PMRDF, Mr. Nyatum Doke and Ms. Rinchui Raman.

The Finance Conclave was themed ‘Indian Banking Sector: Driver of the Indian Economy’ and the panel included Mr. Ashvini Bakshi, VP, Credit & Risk Analytics, Credit Suisse; Mr. Sanjiv Bhuyan, SVP, HDFC Bank and Mr. Dipak Kumar Lalla, GM, SBI. The panel covered a number of topics that covered the future scope of finance in rural and semi urban areas and the challenges faced by the Indian banking system in today’s scenario.

The institute intends to take Udaan to greater heights and project it as a platform of interaction for tomorrow’s businesses and entrepreneurs. It will pave the way for ideators and industrialists to come together and plant the flag of economic and social progress in the north-east.

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EmergE 2014 Envision. Engage. Evolve. The three words that epitomize the annual Entrepreneurship Summit of IIM Shillong. Aimed at promoting entrepreneurship – both as a career option as well as a way of thinking – among the students of IIM Shillong, EmergE involves a number of interactions of the student community with entrepreneurs from across India.

These interactions take the form of a number of conclaves, expert talks as well as competitions and their evaluation mechanisms.

EmergE 2014 was conducted successfully on the 13th and 14th of September 2014. This year, it was organized around the central theme- “Take Risks and Conquer Fears”. Dr. Amitabh De, Director, IIM Shillong started the event with the opening remarks “We need a transition from being job-seekers to job-creators”. The focus was on igniting the fire of entrepreneurship among many and inspiring them to start something of their own. The Honourable Governor of Meghalaya. Dr K. K. Paul, inaugurated EmergE 2014 with the remarks “Entrepreneurs can drive India to the top of the Global Innovation Index in today’s knowledge economy.” i-Cube greatly values the efforts of entrepreneurs towards the betterment of the economy and the society of the north-eastern region of India. We were honoured to felicitate their years of service.

Prof Dr Helen Giri, Founder of La-Riti Foundation at Mawroh, Shillong was felicitated by the Honourable Governor of Meghalaya, along with Mr. John Marbaniang, the promoter of Sharawn Tea and Readington M. Marwein, the proprietor of Mawphor Khasi Daily Newspaper.

Media Conclave The theme of the conclave was “Evolution of mediasharing jurisdiction and power to influence masses with the masses”. The discussion primarily revolved around the challenges faced by the Media industry in the present era, how social media has to lead to

a rapid change in the way Media communicates with people, whether the Indian ecosystem is in need of a regulatory body to oversee the content and/or the ownership of all the media platforms, should government control content through censor boards or should there be self-control exercised by viewers towards the content that is being shown on television.

SPEAKERS •

Ms. Harini Calamur – Digital Content, Zee Media Corporation

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Mr. Samir Chaudhary – Co-Founder, The Media Ant

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Mr. Aditya Gupta – Co-Founder, Social Samosa

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Mr. Anshul Tewari – Founder, Youth Ki Awaaz

MODERATOR •

Dr. Sanjeeb Kakoty – Historian, Writer, Documentary Film Maker, Founder (North East Data Bank)

Edupreneurship Conclave There was a discussion on the speakers’ views on what is lacking in the current education system and the way of teaching that would motivate students for developing an entrepreneurial mindset. The speakers for the conclave were:

SPEAKERS: •

Mr. Arun Raveendran, CMO – India, Foradian Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

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Mrs. Uma Shanker, Founder Uma’s Academy & EduConTra

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Mr. Jagdish Repaswal, Founder and CEO, Mango Reader

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Dr Deep Lodhari, CEO, Mytestbuddy.com

MODERATOR •

Mr. Rohit Dwivedi – Associate Professor, IIM Shillong, Behavioural Scientist

Investors’ Conclave The discussion was on the investment scenario for social enterprises. The speakers highlighted the need for socially responsible investors who are more concerned about directing their money to make a social impact rather than solely looking for profit. There was brainstorming on the different aspects of Indian start-ups in the Information and Communication Technology sector and how these start-ups can make a mark in the global arena through innovative products or services.

SPEAKERS •

Mr Ashwin Raghuraman

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Mr Sanjay Anandaram

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Mr Soumyajit Ghosh

MODERATOR •

Mr Abhishek Mishra- Founder, Xeopia Solutions, Second year participant, IIM Shillong

Competitions: Various competitions studded EmergE 2014.

R€VO£U$N, the B-Plan Competition, saw participation from more than 50 B-Schools.

Judged by the panelists of the Investors’ Conclave, the final round of the B-Plan competition saw some impressive plans. REVEAL, the case study competition, involved a live case study provided by the Royal Wahingdoh Football Club of Shillong.

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Pre Events EmergE 2014 was preceded by a number of pre-events that heralded the summit. i-Cube, in association with various clubs of IIM Shillong, organized a number of online competitions. Ace 3.0, the One Slide Challenge organized in association with the Marketing Club, saw some very interesting submissions and was a huge success. Apprentice 3.0, conducted with the Finance Club, was a case study competition that was very well received. Ops Merge, an online quiz and case study competition, was organized in association with the Operations Club.

Antra-Prerna was organized in association with the Consulting Club. i-Cube itself conducted Blog FEAST 3.0, an inter-college blog-making competition.

INCUBATOR, the annual entrepreneurship magazine of IIM Shillong was also launched during EmergE 2014.

At EmergE, i-Cube has always promoted local talent.

This year was no different, as they engaged Mr. Shanborlang Kharbudon, a local artist to make sketches of all the esteemed speakers and presented those sketches as mementos to them.

EmergE 2014 was a grand success and EmergE is now a well-established event in IIM Shillong’s annual calendar and we look forward to it being a success for years to come.

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Podium Benjamin Franklin once said, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest”, with this very ideology at heart, IIM Shillong first started its Podium Seasons.

The Podium is an initiative to invite corporate leaders to interact with students and share their views, ideas and experiences, and in this process spark a desire for innovation and intellectual revolution, inspiring the future change makers of the country.

The first season of Podium was inaugurated on the 23rd of July, 2012 and was a huge success. Many eminent and inspirational speakers graced the event, and saw the likes of Prof Anil K. Gupta, IIM Ahmedabad, Ms Judy Manners Executive Director, Asset Management, JP Morgan and Mr. Chandra Balijee, CMD, Royal Orchids Hotels and many more.

After 2013, 2014 saw the third successful Podium season, which kicked off on the 23rd of July, 2014 and continued till 21st August, 2014. The speakers who were part of this year’s season were Manager Cisco Systems

1.

Sumanta Ray, CMO Narayana Health Group of Hospitals

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Sujan Roy, Head, Marketing & Product Planning Tata Motors

12. Anil Goel, VP - Media and Intertainment Accenture

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Chaitanya Aggarwal, Founder & CEO Juvalia & You

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Rishab Gupta, Co-Founder & CEO LetsIntern

13. Deepak Malhotra, VP - HR, IL & FS Group Environmental Infrastructure & Services Ltd.

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Swapnil Kamat, Founder Work Better

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Abhimanyu Sahu, Head - Business Development Schneider Electric

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8.

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Arup Gupta, Sr. VP, HR, Mohit Gupta, Manager, HR Reliance Communication Arun Khetan, Regional Head, Fin & Commercial Birla Carbon R. Suresh, VP, Sales Ultra Tech Cement Ltd.

14. Yogi Sriram, SVP, Corporate Human Resources L&T 15. Sridhar Iyer, Director, E-Business Citibank 16. Samyak Chakraborty, Chief Youth Marketer (DDB Mudra Group ) Co-Founder (Social Quotient ) 17. Ashutosh Chadha, Director - Corporate Affairs South Asia Intel Technology India Pvt. Ltd. 18. Sumit D. Chowdhury, President, Head of Enterprise Business Reliance Jio

10. Sajith Chakkingal, Director, IT PTC

19. Ramkumar R, Founder & Managing Director Pears Capital

11. Akshat Sharma, Technical Marketing Engineer, NOSTG Pavan, H.S., Business Operations

20. Ashutosh Tiwari EVP & Head, International Marketing & Inovation Godrej Consumer Products Ltd

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Dr. Sumit Chowdhury initiated his talk with a discussion about the dilemma of choosing between entrepreneurship and a corporate job. He put forth the similarities between both career choices, highlighting how challenges and success tricks which apply to both choices, are identical. He shared with the audience, a number of aspects from his book like the ART - Action, Reaction, and Thought - cycle which talks about controlling your actions, reactions and thoughts and channelizing them in a positive way to create an impact. He ended his talk by motivating the participants to set high targets for themselves, and reiterating the significance of focus, determination and putting heart into everything one does.

Mr. Rishab Gupta shared his journey from the conceptualization to the establishment of LetsIntern. LetsIntern is a Pre-Linkedin for students to connect to organizations, career services and each other. By drawing references to his own success story which saw both ups and downs, he motivated the participants to adopt entrepreneurship as a possible career choice. He tried to drive away the preconceived notions and mental blocks that are generally associated with building up a start-up.

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Through the discussion, Mr. Yogi Sriram encouraged participants to develop competencies in accordance with the future business trends. He suggested that the structure of the corporate world remains feudal with strong existence of referral power and knowledge power and emphasized the importance of practicing egalitarianism with a compressed hierarchy. Mr. Sriram also laid focus on development of risk management skills, especially in domain of talent management, for potential strategy managers. He stressed on the relevance of equipping oneself with knowledge of global issues and own culture.

Mr. Sumanta Ray started the discussion with the vision of Narayana Healthcare which incorporates three leaves of Belief of the group: Compassion, Quality and Affordability. He then introduced the topic for discussion “Customer Experience (CX): The Heart of Today’s Organizational Strategy�. He spoke on the evolution of Customer Experience, as the essence of management, from Marketing and Branding. He stressed upon the importance of CX by explaining how it builds brand preference through a differentiated experience which in turn allows the organisation to charge a premium and results in incremental revenue for the same volume of business. He also reiterated the essence of CX by elaborating how it generates word of mouth and gets new consumers.

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2014 IIM Shillong hosted its second TEDx event on 15th February 2014. The event had nine esteemed speakers sharing their ideas and experiences on the theme “Riding the Eclectic Bandwagon”. The event saw enthusiastic participation from the students and faculty of IIM Shillong, students from other local institutions and government officials from the Government of Meghalaya. The wheels for this event had been put into motion months back. Several promotional activities, such as ‘Know Your Speakers’ contest and ‘ECLECTICLICK’ generated great enthusiasm among the students, that culminated in the event held on Saturday at Pinewood Hotel.

Nine speakers, from a variety of fields like science, social service, food & travel, business, entertainment and music, shared their experiences on how they charted their own paths on grounds thought to be familiar. The first speaker Dr. B.N. Suresh, Director of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC), explained through his own experiences at the IIST, how to face challenges and create opportunities from them. The second speaker to take the stage was Mr. Sridhar Rangayan, a filmmaker and LGBT activist. In a powerful and thought-provoking talk, Mr. Rangayan shared with the rapt audience the social taboos and problems faced by people with different sexual orientations. He talked about laws and societal norms that impose perceptions and challenge the freedom of individuals.

Prukalpa Sankar, founder of Social Corps, took the stage next and charmed the house with the tale of her journey, from being a concerned citizen to becoming a founder of a technology social enterprise. She urged the audience to challenge themselves in the ‘Game of Life’ and defy the conventional rulebook. The next speaker, M. Robert Lyngdoh, analysed the reasons for the alienation faced by the people of the North-East with the rest of India, and the possible remedial measures for that.

He pointed out Eco-tourism and inclusive tourism were the way forward for the North-East states.

Later, the hall at Pinewood Hotel burst into melody.

All the attendees were literally on song, as Ms. Pauline Warjri, freelance musician and founder of

the Aroha choir, weaved magic with music as she talked about the power of music educators. Next up on stage was the duo of Rocky Singh and Mayur Sharma, hosts of ‘Highway On My Plate’. They talked about Indian food and eating habits-‘from evolution to revolution’. The talk was eclecticism personifiedfor the palate! Dr. Dinabandhu Sahoo, inventor of the “Carbon Dioxide Capture Box”, was the next speaker, and talked about ‘farming the sea’, using the algae for a greener and better world and fostering a ‘Blue Revolution’ in the process.

The last speaker of the day was Mr. Roshan Abbas.

He talked about an often discussed term, although in a different way. Talking about the ‘Roadless’ travel instead of the road less travelled, Mr. Abbas emphasised on the need to ‘fail fast’ but ‘learn faster’ and to aim high all the time. He captivated the audience, urging them to look for newer goals to conquer every time, using instances from his own life.

The talks were powerful, evocative and in line with the theme of ‘Riding the Eclectic Bandwagon’.

Speakers, from fields as different as food and music, gave talks that somehow seamlessly fused into one another. Notes found their way to taste, freedom of expression to concern and the need for action, as the audience soaked in the questions raised and the answers offered. The event ended on a resounding note of success, with a promise for the TEDxIIMShillong of the next year to do the samebring people together to share their ideas-albeit on a larger scale.

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Committees Alumni Association IIM Shillong The Alumni Association of IIM Shilling intends to be the permanent chord connecting the institute with the global alumni-base of the institute, in order to ensure an engaging, enriching and mutually beneficial relationship among all past, present and future stakeholders of the institute, and to derive the maximum synergy, networking, camaraderie and success out of it.

The committee handles all communication between the alumni and the institute. The committee conducts an annual Alumni Meet – Mélange, which sees participation of alumni, the Director and members of the committee. The meet intends to increase the interaction within the alumni as well as to gather important feedback for the development of the institute. Mélange 2014 was organized in Bangalore on 2nd February, 2014 and was a huge success. The committee arranges for alumni interaction sessions

with the current batches so as to provide a platform for the alumni to share their industry experience either through video-conferencing or campus visits.

To leverage the industry exposure of the alumni, the Alumni Association assigns mentor(s) to every student of the junior batch. Along with the PR Cell, the association organizes ‘Nexus’, the meet between the current and incoming batch which is conducted in all metro cities. The committee constantly keeps the alumni updated and well informed about the happenings in the institute.

The committee comes out with a yearbook for the outgoing batch that contains briefings of all the events conducted during that academic year along with the details of the outgoing batch. Apart from this, the committee also comes out with a newsletter every quarter with the highlights of all important activities and events held during the period. The Alumni Association plans to revamp its Web Portal to enable the alumnus for networking with their batch mates better.

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Cultural Committee The Cultural Committee of IIM Shillong aims to attract and motivate the student community to explore and exhibit their creative and artistic sensibilities through talent shows, sessions, workshops and competitions. The students find a reason to relax and enjoy campus life amidst rigorous academics and the hectic work of different clubs, committees, competitions and other activities.

The committee celebrates the differences, as well as common interests. Starting with Janmashtmi celebrations with Matki in August, which unites the entire batch in celebration, in October, it organizes the Dandiya night and Waltzzz dance workshop that energizes everyone after the examinations.

In November, the greatest festival of India, Diwali, is celebrated, where the campus is lit up with lights and diyas. The engaging events make the Hostel Committee The Hostel Committee of IIM Shillong makes sure that all the participants of IIM Shillong feel as comfortable as they would at their home during their stay here. The committee looks into the day to day operations of the hostel, from the basic necessities including food, clothing and shelter in the form of mess, laundry and room facilities to the recreational facilities like sports, gymnasium, television room, etc. The club also organizes “Rann Bhoomi: The Annual Sports Fest of IIM Shillong” with participation from all stakeholders of the institute.

The committee had their hands full throughout the year, allocating rooms for the increased batch size;

HOSTEL COMMITTEE

students feel at home, with rangolis providing a touch of colour in the lives of the students and the Bonfire night, heralding the arrival of the winter.

Christmas spreads enthusiasm in the air as it is the most auspicious festival of Shillong. After the winter break, Lohri euphoria takes over, engaging everyone in the tradition of flying kites. Colours are splashed on everyone’s faces and hearts during Holi celebrations in February and March, followed by the grandeur of Dasvidandiya, the farewell event of the senior batch.

The committee understands the importance of cultural sensitivity and celebrations, given everyone’s hectic schedule, and it aims to brings people together and bind them in a cultural relationship, creating a home away from home. It brings out the talents of an individual, weaving all into a colourful thread of unity.

maintaining and improving the laundry system, gymnasium, revamping the volleyball, basketball and badminton courts and organizing the grand and exciting “Rann Bhoomi’14”. In addition, the Hostel Committee made sure that none of the participants missed their home too much especially during the festivals with special festive menus and other initiatives.

The ambitious future plans of the committee include revamping the hostels with improved and new facilities for the coming batches, making their life at IIM Shillong even more comfortable. The committee is here to make the stay at IIM Shillong a memorable experience.

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PLACEMENT COMMITTEE The Placement Committee at IIM Shillong strives to provide the students with the opportunity to interact with the doyens of the corporate world and at the same time showcase to the corporates the immense capabilities of students here. On top of its agenda is acting as an effective interface between the students and the companies and building long lasting corporate relationships.

To promote a mutually beneficial and symbiotic working environment for all is the main endeavor

of the committee. The committee realizes the immense potential that corporate interactions have in augmenting the knowledge quotient of the students and thus aid and promote The Podium: A guest lecture series at IIM Shillong, along with many more corporate interactions. Through avenues like live projects, summer internships and final placements, it provides the companies with the best of talent available and to the students the opportunity to realize their dreams and shape their careers.

PUBLIC RELATIONS CELL, IIM SHILLONG The Public Relations Cell of IIM Shillong acts as the interface between the institute and external entities such as corporates, other business schools and the media. It aims at creating, fostering and managing professional relations with these entities.

It is responsible for providing guidance and mentorship to MBA aspirants seeking admissions to IIM Shillong on popular forums like PagalGuy.com and MBAUniverse.com. On these lines, it conducted the sixth edition of Synapse, the mentorship program for the incoming batch. Working in collaboration with the Alumni Committee, it organized Nexus, the annual Senior-Junior meet across various cities in India. Along with the Student Council of the institute, it played an instrumental role in welcoming

the seventh batch of IIM Shillong.

The mandate of the PR Cell is to boost the visibility of IIM Shillong among corporates and educational institutions nationally and globally. In this regard, it organized the second edition of TEDx IIM Shillong an independently organized TED event. The event featured prominent speakers from various domains like Mr. Roshan Abbas and Ms. Prukalpa Sankar among others. The event received global recognition and one of the members, Ms. Prachi Agarwal,was selected to participate in the TED Global event held in Brazil in October 2014. Notably, TEDx IIM Shillong was also appointed as the mentor for TEDx IIM Lucknow.

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The Public Relations Cell, in association with the Placement Committee, played a vital role in organizing The Podium Season 3, the Annual Corporate Lecture Series at IIM Shillong, which featured 22 corporates from various established companies like Tata Motors, Schneider Electric, and Cisco. The PR Cell also conducts video conferencing sessions to interact with corporates from various business domains.

Other activities that fall under the purview of the Public Relations Cell include expanding the presence of IIM Shillong on social media platforms (like Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin); publishing articles on prominent forums such as Inside IIM; and other events like the annual candle light march in the memory of Manjunath Shanmugam, an alumnus of IIM Lucknow, in collaboration with the Manjunath Shanmugam Trust.

STUDENT COUNCIL The Student Council works under the slogan “Take the Lead”. As the apex student body of the institute, the Student Council has the responsibility to integrate the academic and co-curricular spheres of all participants. Office bearers of this nonhierarchical team act as an interface between the student community and the administration. They play a key role as a channel of communication between the institute and external parties as and when required. Members of the Student Council are elected by the students themselves and are responsible for addressing and resolving student grievances as well as managing conflicts, if any, within other student bodies of the institute. The mission of the Student Council is to enhance the reputation of the Institute not only among other management institutes but in the corporate world as well as in society. It also monitors the activities on campus and ensures that they are in line with the Institute’s goal of becoming a world renowned centre for management education.

The Student Council organizes the annual fest of the institute that comprises of the flagship event, the IIM Shillong Golf Cup; Khlur-Thma, the Annual B-School Fest and Udaan, The Business Conclave that saw its inception this year. The flagship event provides a great platform for corporates and B Schools to battle it out on the greens and provides a handson experience to the students on management, who learn nuances of management by organizing an event of such grandeur. In its seventh year in a row, the Student Council has been instrumental in transforming the event into a magnum opus eagerly

awaited by corporates and participants alike. The Annual B-School Fest, Khlur-Thma, which means “War of Stars” witnessed participation from over 80 colleges comprising some 4500 teams and prizes worth INR 5 lakh being distributed to the winners.

The response to the event has been overwhelming and in only 2 years the event has captured the imaginations of students and created a place for itself in the annual calendar of B-school activities across institutes. The Student Council nurtures the spirit of partnership and co-operation between all the stakeholders and ensures that entrenched values as well as pillars of institute are strengthened with every passing year.

SYMPHONY What’s in a word? Quite a bit and then some, would be the answer of this committee. Symphony, the Literary Committee of IIM Shillong, serves to provide the students of the institute a platform to wield this awesome power that the written word contains and mesmerise its readers. It aims to bring together various views on myriad topics and create a harmony among these apparently disparate elements.

The primary function of the committee is the design, development and publishing of the annual magazine of IIM Shillong, which is the committee’s namesake. The magazine serves to showcase the keen writing acumen of the participants of the institute on various subjects related to management and otherwise. The magazine is distributed to management schools throughout the nation to offer readers a feel of the outstanding quality of participants that the institute harbours.

Apart from the magazine, the club also conducts various events that aim to bring out the creative personas of the participants. These include Terribly Tiny Tales, wherein participants have to come up with stories around a central theme within an astoundingly small character limit, photography, sketching and the like. This past year it has also conducted screenings of critically acclaimed movies for the students of the institute to inculcate in them a healthy appreciation of the cinematic medium. The screenings also serve to offer the students a short break from the rigours of the draining management curriculum.

Symphony also maintains a healthy online presence on various social networking portals on which creative contests are conducted year round. It also comes up with an informal yearbook that preserves the memories of the outgoing batch of the institute.

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IT Committee The IT infrastructure of a reputed B-school, that too an IIM for that matter is presumed to be robust and unfailing in its nature. The responsibility for ensuring this falls squarely on the shoulders of the IT Committee.

The IT committee sees to it that every student across the campus has access to the IT infrastructure they are entitled to. They also ensure the timely setup and availability of infrastructure for conducting the various student-organised activities across the year.

The members of this committee will ensure that adequate setup is in place for the various Podium sessions, Video-conferencing sessions, guestlectures and Placement related activities so that the participants are spared the hassles.

The Committee had its hands full this year catering to the increased requirements of comparatively larger batch. Be it handling the timely repairs of the LAN network across the hostels, setting up the Active-Boards in classrooms or configuring the audio-video system for the various events held on campus, you may always count on the IT committee to extract the best out of the available infrastructure.

Although the committee does not have any flagship event of its own it is almost always an unflinching presence backstage for the events conducted by any other club or committee throughout the year

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Clubs bITeSys The Systems Club of IIM Shillong, has a vision to provide a platform for the seamless dissemination of knowledge between the corporates and students and to provide professional opportunities beyond the traditional avenues, in the fields of technology and systems management. The primary purpose of the club is to engage the systems enthusiasts of IIM Shillong and enhance their knowledge regarding the domain in the process. bITeSys progresses towards the aforementioned vision by organising various activities throughout the course of the year. It helps in building a bridge between IIM Shillong and corporate, as well as, government organisations by acquiring live projects for the participants on a regular basis. Such live projects give them the opportunity to apply the theoretical knowledge learnt within the confines of the classroom, to real world business scenarios. The club is currently working in collaboration with NIC, Meghalaya. bITeSys also hosts a number of events, such as SosIT and Decrypt, wherein contestants ideate an app that addresses a social issue and provide the solution to a systems based case study, respectively.

Furthermore, the Qubit magazine and Knowledge Bytes, give participants an exposure to global information technology trends and current industry developments.

ConQuest ConQuest, the Consulting Club of IIM Shillong was founded in 2008 with a vision to be a Centre of Excellence in delivering sustainable solutions to society by acting as a forum for information sharing between the industry and students passionate about strategy and consulting. It strives to equip the students with knowledge and skills to help them assimilate classroom learning and solve reallife industry problems.

The club has activities round the year attracting student participants from over 65- B-schools pan India. ConQuest reached greater heights last year with its annual magazine Collector’s Edition inaugurated by honourable Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. Besides this the monthly newsletter- Ezine, received articles from both students and corporates like Infosys, Accenture, etc. We had eminent personalities like Ms. Rama Bijapurkar (Leading thought leader on market strategy and consumer economy), Munish Chawla (Founder Director, NRVESTIN & Virtuoso Sales Solution), Mr. Sandip Biswas (Director, TMT, Strategy and Operation, Deloitte Consulting) sharing their thoughts with our students. ConQuest successfully completed live projects for Airtel, Deloitte, Knowledge Faber, Biz Research Lab & Zenesys consulting through which the students imbibed tremendous learning. The tri-annual event Battleground 2.0, received huge response with over 400 participants and more than 1300 likes on Facebook. Consulting Club’s flagship event “VainQueur”, in annual management festival of IIM Shillong, was sponsored by ONGC and received participation from 350 teams.

In future, ConQuest aims to grow bigger with more reach and initiatives, facilitating greater interaction between corporate stalwarts and students building a long term symbiotic relationship.

ECoBiZ ECoBiZ Club is a student body at IIM Shillong that aims for societal development through sustainable social and business practices. It’s vision is to become leaders in the field of sustain ability through thoughts and actions. During the past years it has been involved in several activities like Youth Leadership Summit, Prayas, Chetna, Ecoweek, Ecotrek, Blood Donation camps, Live projects and the like. One of the major milestones achieved in its journey last year is conducting the Pioneer Leadership Summit along with the Environmentalist Foundation of India. For it’s continuous efforts towards bringing out societal

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development through sustainable practices, the club was felicitated by Meghalaya Aids Control Society (MACS) for its Annual Voluntary Blood Donation Camp. The club has actively participated in the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, right from its launch, with the support of participants of IIM Shillong.

Its near future plans include closely studying the investment opportunities in North East India and documenting its work in the form of a magazine dedicated to its mission of achieving sustainability.

The club also plans to undertake live projects with local enterprises and the government of Meghalaya.

Finance Club

The past year proved to be bigger and better for the club, as it organized various events like Celebratio, Findrishti, Apprentice and Dalal Street, to facilitate the learning of the students in the domain of finance and economics. In Khlur-Thma, the annual management fest of IIM Shillong, the club conducted a national level finance case study competition called Vishleshan, a multi-stage event that saw participation from a large number of teams from across the country.

Established in 2008, the Finance Club of IIM Shillong has progressively evolved into a strong platform for building long-standing and mutually beneficial relationships between corporates and the student community. The primary activity of the club is to publish ”Niveshak” – a monthly finance magazine, which is highly respected for its innovative style and offbeat articles. It is a student driven magazine and is widely circulated to all the major B-schools, organizations and finance enthusiasts from the industry.

Finance Club also manages a diversified equity portfolio, the “Niveshak Investment Fund (NIF),” that aims for growth through a focused and optimally diversified portfolio strategy. The fund aims to optimize the risk-adjusted return by building a portfolio of large and mid-cap stocks across sectors, selected as per the “Sector Choice Methodology” developed by the club.

Finance Club

In association with ICICI Direct, the club conducted a Virtual Trading Contest – StockMind, which encouraged students to learn the nuances of the stock market. The club also partners with various online training academies to encourage students in grooming their knowledge by registering for finance certification courses like Flip Challenge, Corporate Bridge, YMO etc.

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I-CUBE: ENTREPRENEURSHIP CELL i-Cube is the Entrepreneurship Cell of IIM Shillong.

Conceived as a club, i-Cube exists for the sole purpose of fostering and encouraging entrepreneurship among the students of IIM Shillong and in the local community. i-Cube conducts the annual entrepreneurship summit of IIM Shillong – EmergE – in September.

EmergE 2014, the third edition of the E-summit was a grand success. A number of entrepreneurs and investors spoke in the various conclaves conducted and in individual talks. The students got invaluable insights into the challenges that entrepreneurs face as well as the things that investors look for in the business plans that come to them. The competitions were also very successful as well with participation

from more than 50 B-Schools in the Case Study and Business Plan competitions.

This year also saw the publication of the second edition of INCUBATOR, the annual entrepreneurship magazine of IIM Shillong, developed by i-Cube, featuring a number of sections, including a number of entrepreneurs writing about their experiences of running start-ups in India.

On the cards for the future is the goal of setting up a functional incubation center to provide support to local entrepreneurs and to our own students during the initial critical years of their entrepreneurial ventures. Improving participation of local entrepreneurs and students from local colleges in EmergE is also another goal.

I-Cube: Entrepreneurship Cell

IIM SHILLONG AMATEUR GOLF CLUB After its inception in 2012, the IIM Shillong Amateur Golf Club (IIMSAGC) took it up as its mission to increase the interest of students, the faculty members, and the administrative staff in the game of golf and make the IIM Shillong Golf Cup, being held since 2009, a bigger success in the coming years.

In addition to holding regular practice sessions for the students of the college, the Golf Club, along with the Student Council of IIM Shillong, was responsible this year for the organization of the annual Golf Cup, which was an even bigger success than its predecessors. Several corporate houses took part

in the event, along with many dignitaries from the Government of Meghalaya and the Armed Forces.

IIMSAGC organized a poster-making competition related to Golf in ‘Khlur-thma’, the annual Management Festival of IIM Shillong, under the name ‘Saksham’, which saw great participation from B-schools all over the country.

The club also released the second edition of its annual golf magazine ‘Albatross’, which included inspiring words from Col. Divakar Nagarajan, in addition to tit-bits about Golf Cup Season 6 and the sport of golf. It showcased many updates from

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the world of golf and contained tips for learning and improving one’s game juxtaposed with the connection of golf with life in general and business in specific.

In the near future the club plans to host the second edition of “Anubhav” - an intra-college golf tournament and “Paganica”- an online golf event for participants of all B-school across India, as well as many smaller pre-events. The 1st edition of ‘Anubhav’ saw some real talent come out among the students of IIM Shillong, and was full of fun and follow-throughs on the course.

All in all, IIMSAGC has come a long way from its humble beginning, and it continues to strive to reach new heights by way of promoting the sport of golf among B-school participants.

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The Facebook page of the club is widely followed by students and quizzing clubs of other management institutions. On top of that, with the recent stellar performance of two members of Koutuhal in the TATA Crucible Campus Quiz, the visibility of the Institute, through the Club, has grown. Its flagship event, Ariadne’s Thread, sees participation by students from b-schools all over the country.

With ambitious plans to take more competitions national, Koutuhal is the mouthpiece of the institution when it wants to showcase to the world what a treasure trove of knowledge this college on a hill-top is. So far, it has not disappointed. And we well hope Koutuhal and IIM Shillong will be known far and wide for celebrating the most striking characteristic of the human mind: curiosity.

IIM Shillong Amateur Golf Club

KOUTUHAL

OPERA- THE OPERATIONS CLUB

Koutuhal used to be the Quizzing and Debating Club of IIM Shillong, until it was rechristened as the Activities Club. The activities under Koutuhal, from Konclave to various quizzes, from discussion forums to knowledge transfer sessions, all aim for the same thing: to aid the growth of knowledge through peer to peer learning. A management institute honing the leaders of tomorrow needs a club which can ignite minds. Koutuhal does that, and a lot more.

The Operations Club of IIM Shillong is at its core a special interest group comprising of individuals committed towards promoting the academic disciplines of Operations Management and Operations Research. The members of this Club, through their publications and activities round the year, try to spread awareness and ignite interest in the various advancements and trends in the field of Operations. They organise a host of competitions

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and other exciting events both online and offline to this effect.

Some of the major activities undertaken by this club during the course of this academic year were Oper8: A fun filled week long series of events consisting of various Operations related competitions that both entertain and educate participants about the plethora of concepts used in the domain of operations and their practical applications.

Optimus: This was held multiple times throughout the year and was basically simple easy-to-participate online Operations related event.

Pravaha: The biannual magazine that is a treasure trove of interesting insights and editorials by students from across all the premier B-schools across the country.

Various live projects that help students gain valuable and real-time insights into the working of industries and the application of concepts.

The club strives to convert the domain of Operations Management often perceived to be of very technical and sombre nature by students of Business Management, into a very fun-filled, practical-applications based subject.

summit of IIM Shillong. In the event participants had to propose a marketing solution to a given problem in only one slide. The Club organized ‘Touchstone’ (its flagship case study competition) in association with Shillong Lajong FC During Khlur Thma 2013 (the annual B-School fest of IIM Shillong). Another popular event by the club is God Sellers. It is designed to test the selling skills of students in a real market simulation. War of Brands is another amazing event, organized by the club in February. It requires teams to come up with an advertisement concept, in the form of print advertisement presentation or TVCs for various brands.

The club is driven towards achieving its goal of infusing and sustaining the spirit of marketing and encouraging students at IIM Shillong to be innovative marketers through knowledge sharing, hands-on projects and networking opportunities. usHR, the HR club: usHR, the HR club of IIM Shillong stands for Union of Students for Human Resources.

It focuses on: •

Bringing IIM Shillong to the forefront in the field of Human Resource Management

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Developing an atmosphere conducive to interaction between corporate and academia

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Keeping HR enthusiasts engaged with the contemporary trends and best practices in the industry

THE MARKETING CLUB The Marketing Club of IIM Shillong comprises of marketing enthusiasts and is driven to expand knowledge about the marketing function beyond classrooms and thereby aid students’ interest in shaping a successful career in the field.

As part of its activities, it releases a monthly marketing magazine - MARKATHON, which caters to a subscriber base of over 5000, with readers from premier B-schools and corporates. Its exclusive section Vartalaap has featured interviews of eminent personalities like Mr. M S Nageshwar Rao (Chairman and MD, Real eT Matrix), Mr. R. Suresh (Vice President - Sales Ultra tech Cement Ltd.) and Mr. Ashutosh Tiwari (Executive Vice President and Head, International Marketing and Innovation Godrej) among others.

The Club also organizes various competitions to hone the marketing acumen of the students. Ace - The One Slide Challenge was conducted during EmergE 2014, the third annual entrepreneurship

It publishes a bimonthly magazine named ‘TogetHR’, which focuses on recent trends in the domain of HR and includes articles from intellectuals all over the country. Interviews of eminent personalities feature in the magazine and it constantly stays in tune with progress in the field of human resources.

It also organizes events such as: ‘Winner takes it all’, an event where teams experience the different facets of management and human resources, ‘HR ADDA’, where debates and discussions were carried out on important issues ranging from the political to the business world, the Podium, the annual corporate interaction session of the institute and the HR conclave with eminent speakers gracing the occasion. A poster designing contest - ‘EntHRal-us’ was organized to stimulate creativity in the minds of the students about different facets of the domain.

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For the annual management fest of IIM Shillong, the club had organized ‘DecipHR’- an event with two engrossing rounds for HR enthusiasts from all management institutes in the country. It is also

usHR, the HR club:

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engaged in bringing in live projects and lectures from renowned organizations and speakers to keep the interest in the field of human resources flourishing.

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Students’ Achievements L’Oreal Brandstorm

From TEDxIIMShillong to TEDGlobal

A team comprising of Balakrishnan M, Ninad Shukla and Ramanathan K were declared the winners of the flagship international marketing game - L’Oreal Brandstorm 2014. The team went on to compete against teams from 44 countries at the international finals held in Paris. L’OréalBrandstorm 2014 partnered with Kiehl’s, one of the top brand’s in the world. Teams had to keep in mind the brand’s growth in the men’s category and also focus on the brand’s 3 pillars of charities : HIV/AIDS research, Children’s Causes and the Environment. Team IIM Shillong won the finals for their out of the box creativity, excellent team work and innovative product ideas. Panel consisted of experts from L’Oréal India comprising of Jean-Christophe Letellier - Managing Director, Mohit James - Director-HR, Marco Riggio - Director - Luxe Division, Anurag Tyagi - General Manager - Kiehl’s, L’Oréal India and Anuradha Sengupta Broadcast Journalist & Producer.

TEDxIIMShillong was listed among top 15 TEDx events across the world. It was an event shortlisted from lakhs of TEDx events organized across the globe. Prachi Agarwal, a second year student of IIM Shillong bagged the scholarship to attend TEDGlobal 2014, a week long conference consisting of talks by speakers from varied fields. She was the only University Event organizer from India and among the 2 Indians who had bagged the scholarship this year. The focus of the conference was culture and it was aptly depicted by the theme ‘South!’ where it was interpreted in as many ways as possible. A scholars dinner was also organized by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation where the executives from the foundation and TED explained the reason for starting the scholarship, its purpose and a scholar’s role in making an impact on his/her community. “It was opportunity of a lifetime and I am proud to have represented IIM Shillong and my country at TEDGlobal 2014 in Rio” says Prachi.

Aditya Birla Scholarship Gaurav Jain, a first year PGDM student at IIM Shillong, has been awarded the Aditya Birla Scholarship. IIM Shillong bagged the scholarship for the 4th consecutive year. The 16th Aditya Birla Group Scholarships program was held at ITC Grand in Mumbai from September 19, 2014 to September

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CFA Institute Research Challenge A team comprising Gaurav Bhardwaj, JatinSethi, Gautam Jain, Saket Hawelia and Gaurav Pilania of the PGP 2015 batch was declared to be the winner of East Zone finals of CFA Institute research challenge. The competition was held on January 4, 2015 at Hyatt Regency Kolkata. The achievement became much more special as IIM Shillong won the competition for the 5th time.

21, 2014. This year only 15 students were awarded the scholarship among a few elite students studying in premier educational institutes like IIMs, XLRI, IITs and BITS Pilani. The selection process for Aditya Birla scholars is quite rigorous but well structured. These students had to submit a write up of their academic and extra-curricular achievements. The shortlisted students from Round 1 were interviewed in Mumbai.

The panel of judges comprised of Ms. Chitra Ramkrishna, MD & CEO, National Stock Exchange of India Limited, Mrs. Kaku Nakhate, President & Country Head of Bank of America, India, Mr. Rajat Gupta, Director, McKinsey and Company and Mr. N. Ravi, Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu. The award was presented by Mrs. Rajashree Birla.

IIM Shillong blazes a fiery trail at TATA Campus Crucible Giving a fillip to the growing prominence of quizzing in the institute, two students of the second year batch of IIM Shillong stood first in the Tata Crucible Campus Quiz 2014 for the Guwahati edition, held on March 8. Ks Rahul Gupta and Debarun Majumdar then went on to qualify for the National Finals in the Eastern Zone Qualifiers held in Kolkata, garnering even greater laurels for the institute. All the quizzes were conducted by Giri Balasubramaniam, popularly known as Pickbrain, a prominent quizmaster, who has conducted quizzes all over the world. The performance of the two students has served to put IIM Shillong’s quizzing culture on the map.

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Faculty Speaks Sharad Nath Bhattacharya (Finance Department) Assistant Professor Faculty in Finance and Accounting Indian Institute of Management, Shillong Joining IIM Shillong has been an enriching experience. The Institute’s community is really unique: the campus was a summer palace of the Mayurbhanj Kings and is both beautiful and varied. To work here is an opportunity to be a part of a community that is passionate about what they do with a turn towards sustain ability. We are fortunate to straddle the worlds of academia and business, in the abode of clouds, the so called Scotland of the East. From clouds to water falls, deep gorges and other virgin places of the wonderful state of Meghalaya, the curiosity to experience them is possibly the greatest motivation of living and working here.

My silence above about my students is just because they deserve a special paragraph. Excited by the possibilities that these two years can provide, they really work round the clock juggling both class learnings and co-curricular work, winning laurels at various competitions and finally rewarding themselves with a decent job. I am especially happy with the intellectual curiosity exhibited in my elective classes. I feel that there is a continuous demand from the student community to improve the postgraduate programme which provide a fillip to the research activity on campus. Our community events, including the prestigious Golf Cup, are conceptualized, coordinated and organized really well by the students. Kudos to all of them!

On the personal front, my choice of joining IIM Shillong was primarily for addressing professional needs of joining an Institute that had an open system of functioning with a minimal level of bureaucracy and hierarchy and an environment that is conducive for teaching and research. The Institute has done commendably well on those counts and continual efforts are being made by every stakeholder towards taking the institution to higher levels of excellence. The new campus, slated to come up shortly, would certainly enhance the overall experience and we eagerly look forward to this progress.

Neeti Shukla OB & HR Department “Every individual nature has its own beauty” – Ralph Waldo Emerson Management education aims to shape individuals to become the leaders of enterprises. Amidst rigorous training and grooming, the beauty of individualism should not get lost or compromised. It is easy to create prototypes but nurturing an individual’s unique capacity becomes challenging for the institute and the educators.

It has been an overwhelming experience with IIM Shillong in just a few months of my association. The level of enthusiasm and commitment displayed by students inside the classrooms and during activities is admirable. It is unbelievable to observe the level of support provided by the institute to nurture the unique capabilities of students, faculty and staff despite several limitations and challenges. Creation of a high performance work environment that supports a climate of autonomy and team work in just a few years of establishment of the institute is certainly an achievement.

We all are chasing some dreams and these dreams evolve as we evolve professionally and personally.

IIM Shillong is providing all possible support to facilitate achievement of our goals. However, it would be an achievement in true sense only if we are able to attain excellence and maintain our individualism.

Let’s grow in our unique capacities!

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Alumni Speak Nishanth Shourie Almost a year passed by from the moment we left IIM Shillong, but not a single day passes without thinking about the beautiful two years that I have spent there. From being a hardcore hater to becoming an extravagant proponent, I have had the extreme level of transition possible about the campus. Not with standing the all-year-round competitions, classes, assignments, group work and what not… Now, when I look back all of that hectic lifestyle that I had just passes on as a blur and makes me want more of it. Being in a company of people with such diverse backgrounds and getting to know the nitty-gritties of management has added a lot of personal and professional perspectives. From having a late night cup of tea with friends at the quadrangle to getting the opportunity to see and meet Mr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, I heartily cherish each and every moment that I have lived there.

Vaibhav Annam A thought of Shillong is always accompanied by a wave of nostalgia. Playing in Bamboo Cup, BPL and Ranbhoomi; working for Markathon and Symphony; trips to Mawphlang, Cherrapunjee, Kyllang, Living Root Bridge, Pobitora and Sikkim; cycling in the hills; capturing the beauty that Shillong is in a lens; getting to know peers; giving and taking treats in the Center Points and Ri Kinjais; rooting for SLFC in JLN Stadium; getting used to a “nickname” my batch so “lovingly” presented to me; representing the college in numerous events; interacting with residents of nearby villages for a live project; breakfast sessions in the “Jhopris”; dancing in a “special attire” to “special songs” during the farewell; fond conversations with Kong and Momo Mama - are some things I would crave to do over and over again. Every memory about the place that flashes past my mind feels like a throwback to a bygone halcyon era.

IIM Shillong has been an experience which most certainly cannot completely be expressed in words. It is this institute that gave me a platform to perform, it is this institute that taught me to think differently and it is this institute that I owe a lot to.

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