L’Attitude 13005’

Registration opens on 08th DEC.

DATE – 08th Jan 2010 to 09th Jan 2010

HOMEPAGE: http://lattitude1305.greatlakes.edu.in/

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL –

L’Attitude 130 05’ is one of the most awaited events of the academic year. The festival is a pot-pouri of events and competitions for both students and people from the industry. This mega happening encompasses events from various spheres of management education such as marketing, finance, operations ,strategy and H.R. These events tests participants – some of the brightest mgt minds and future business leaders on their intellect and thought leadership. The students intensely compete against one another on different aspects of the business world, creating a great learning opportunity for all.Participants come from the crème de la crème of Indian business schools.

This year’s events:

Arthvridhi: game of valuation

A game of valuation in a dog-eat-dog age of inorganic growth of corporates. You are expected to exhaustively cover various aspects of financial valuation of a company’s aquisition target.

Chanakyaniti: CEO conclave

The powerhouses of the business world come together to provide the best mix of perspectives on major challenges facing business and industry today.

Ranniti: strategy simulation game

A game to test your predatory skills. As part of a strategic consulting firm, you would need to identify an overseas acquisition target for an Indian company, develop an acquisition strategy and cross cultural negotiation tactics.

Rahasya: Online treasure hunt

A cryptic game designed to make you look at things laterally. A wide assortment of quizzes and puzzles linking “anything under the sun” that will question your knowledge, challenge your intellect and test your analytical abilities.

Samkara: HR strategy game

A game of confluence of people for greater value creation. You are expected to analyze and resolve a situation involving M&A activity while focusing on people management skills for the newer challenges posed by situations like this.

Kayakalp: branding challenge

Kayakalpa is about changing the face of brands. Participating teams are expected to come up with new strategies to reposition brands after M&A activity. The decisions involving such change in the brand spectrum is the challenge promised.

Jigyasa: corporate quiz

Curiosity that motivates investigation and study is the natural condition of one’s mind. Source knowledge from all avenues and be a part of a challenging quiz essentially based on happenings in the business world around us.

DEADLINES – Registration opens on 08th Dec 2009

By

L’Attitude 13005’ committee

Event site: http://lattitude1305.greatlakes.edu.in/

His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar at Great Lakes

On the 26th of November, 2009, His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ji blessed the green campus of the Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai, with his divine presence. The occasion was the inauguration of the MILK (Meditation and Inspiration Center for Living and Kindness).

While taking a look at the proposed plan of meditation centre at Great Lakes Institute of Management Guruji said,” We need to convert the square places into to quixotic places. It should be zigzag. Management is converting the squares into rounds and then again rounds back into squares.  Management is all about just going along with what exists. Not making something new but going along what is there already.”

Vishnu shakthi: Vishnu just rests on snakes doesn’t have to do much. Brahma takes care of the rest. Brahma does the creation. Vishnu does the maintenance whereas managers do both creation and maintenance.”

“Youth has great opportunity and can create a new world as the world is now looking for a paradigm shift. World is currently facing some kind of stagnation. A new paradigm shift is needed and will emerge only from India. “

“Life is enthusiasm. Life is love, life is compassion, life is creation and if these things die out in you then corpse would just come out of you.”

Guruji laid his emphasis on the need of innovation and creativity. He stressed upon inculcating creative ideas rather than confining ourselves to managing what already exits.

“Monetary prosperity is not actual prosperity. Inducing life, the spirit, spirit of enthusiasm, life what India gave to the world.”

“The whole world is a big family-Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. We never thought in those terms of being different. We believe in Viswamanav. We learned teamwork from Japan, Etiquette from British, Marketing from US, technical skills from German and India gave human values to the world. Americans are very good at Marketing. Americans can show the moon on full moon day and sell it- that’s their skill of marketing.”

One anecdote: “I asked all my devotees, to do something creative as creativity is reflection of consciousness. Three months later, all came up with some great projects. One team came up with ice cream (Eggless) and started proving that that ice cream is the best in the world. Similarly, some other teams also started proving the same thing. One lady, who was very fragile, came with one project i.e. making handkerchiefs. She spoke about 17 points how it is best in the world. All points were logical.  You see Marketing skills are better in US than their products”

“We in India have great products but we lack marketing skills. “

He gave an example of tourism. Tourism – 12 Million go every year in Greece, only 3 Million in India. After looking at the pillars in US, people say, our country has much full worth pillars than these.  However we do not expose or market ourselves.

There are 7 points that India can be proud of and that have not been explored yet

Food: There are so many varieties of food in India. Tripura, a small place in India itself has more than 200 varieties of food. North Indians don’t know what different items of south Indian dishes are. And so do the south Indians. We don’t market ourselves properly. We have greatest varieties possible in the world, but we don’t project ourselves.

Tourism: We have great part of history which we don’t capitalize.

Music & Dance: So many types of dance and music which we haven’t even projected so far.

Dress & Jewelry: Appreciated world over. We have no proud of what we wear. Places like Thailand, Indonesia were very proud of their dress and jewelry. We are not. We don’t feel good about ourselves. Low self esteem, we are eating out our attitude and culture.

Information Technology: This will take India to new heights.

Ayurveda: 280 kinds of flora & fauna, not available in India which is not available anywhere in the world. We don’t pay any attention to that. These are going to be the future medicine of 21st century.

Triphla – formula taken from India and foreigners patented it. Similar things are happening all over the world.

Indian Spiritual Values: The market of Yoga is $ 27 Billion in United States itself. Ninety-nine of local US people dominate this market. They started preparing materials for yoga which is a product of India and our gift to the world. People are invited to do mantra and chanting in some building in New York. In India in temple if someone chanting, we don’t even bother to look at them.

Question & Answers:

Ques. Do we have to be interdependent and do we need to look for interdependency?

Ans. You don’t have to be interdependent. It is just that you need to realize it. The word independent is obsolete. It’s the nature that we are interdependent on. We have one nature, one ocean, one air, one earth where everyone is dependent upon it. People are one! We are interdependent!

Ques. Why do we meditate with our eyes closed though we have to live our life with our eyes open? Is it possible to do Meditation with eyes open?

Ans. It’s a second step. First step is where mind is involved (eyes closed meditation, once mind is centered) then you can go ahead with the other ways as well. There are different kinds of meditation like walking meditation. Your very action turns into meditative state.

Ques. Guruji you said Life is simple, but why it turns so complex. It is very difficult to make decisions. Why can’t we avoid things which are complicated?

Ans. Life is simple while people are complicated. Why can’t we avoid things which are complicated?  We have too much time in life so we make things complicated.

Life is very simple! Life is very complicated! Both exists depends on the circumstances and our perception at that point of time. Life is combination of both.

Ques. According to Raj Yoga it is said that practicing meditation is meant for people who are recluse and follow strict and definite approach to reach salvation. Meditation is difficult for a person with much responsibility in walks of life. You said everyone should meditate what are the implications of this on normal person.

Ans. There are different forms of Raja Yoga. In some they do practice Raja Yoga is Royal Yoga. To teach the prince how to do yoga as they have so many responsibilities to complete in such a short span of time. Meditation is useful for people in walks of life.

Ques. You have highlighted the importance of innovation and creativity, but with that comes a lot of risk and uncertainty. It’s only after numerous failures that a successful new technology/ product is evolved. So how should one manage the failures that come as a by-product of striving for innovation? How to rise up after each failure and restart the journey to discover something new?

Failure is part of the process. Meditation will help how to go ahead in spite of failures. Innovation without failure is possible if you are able to use your intuition perfectly. Both should act perfectly to achieve zero failure in innovation. If intuition is not in proportion then you fail more often.

Ques. In Bhagwad Gita, Lord Krishna says that one must not care about the result of his work. But if we do not think about the fruits that follow our hard work, then what will motivate us to do that hard work.

Ans. No control over fruit of action. No domain.  If the attention is only on the end result, then you can’t perform.

If you take a runner, if he starts looking behind who is running, and not looking at the path he need to run, then ultimately he will lose out , how much good the runner may be.  You have to follow your own track, to complete the run whether you lose or win. Lord Krishna is utterly practical in his advises. Krishna says to Arjuna: This is complex, but these are the ways to do it.

Ques. There are so many practices, so many paths which one to choose.

Ans. Yoga is everything together. Everything comes along. Which path to choose?

Which path is the best: Answer: My path

Sudarshan Kriya will help. This suits today’s young minds that are very busy with schedules all around, and can’t work with too many conditions. In short time with deep experiences and no side effects.

Ques. Is it good to practice religious practices as now I am on the path of meditation and sometimes don’t feel like practicing them.

Ans. It’s a matter of culture. It creates an atmosphere with a sense of joy. There is nothing wrong in celebration, fire crackers etc. Traditional practices help and bring a sense to family and children.

Moaists: Their house lacks pictures, no lamps, when children grew up they grew with lot of emptiness.

In Russia, there was no religion for 40 years. There was a destruction of cathedral and they built swimming pool on that and now after that catastrophe they again built church.  If people don’t practice religion, they start feeling the vacuum. And finally religion helps them understand this.

For spirituality – there is no need of religious practices.  Cultural practices always help in traditional practices and help young minds.

Ques. Guruji why is that Sanskrit language that originated in India finds its second reference in Chicago. This is still the case.

Ans. You are asking my question! Sanskrit – giving away ownership.

You know Dr.B.R. Ambedkar : Asked that Sanskrit should  be our national language after 15 years. It was seconded by Nasiruddhin Ahmed.

Malayalam contains 80% of Sanskrit, Telugu 70%, Kannada 70%, Tamil 30% , Hindi 80% . And even foreign languages also similar to Sanskrit like Swasa – Sister , Duhita – Daughter . However, we have lost the link somewhere and lost to establish the reputation of Sanskrit.  You know what rain is called in Italian. Rain – Piyorja(Italian) – Panjanya (Sanskrit).  They are so similar in many aspects.

Ques. There are some schools of thoughts that say that you must always be aware of what your competitors are doing. Because if you don’t see you competitors you will be like a bridled horse. You will end up making the best calculator of the world when the world has moved to computers. So how do you reconcile the two schools of thoughts?

Ans. Challenge to manage two contradictions is the job of the youth.

Looking at competitor, one should be aware of the competitors at same time one should have an eye of Arjuna. Be Aware of what’s happening around you and one-pointedness towards the goal.

Over ambitiousness will not lead to anything.  Improve your intuitive ability, enthusiasm, relaxation. It will give you everything that you need to.

Courtesy: Mr. Gurava Reddy, Patriots, Class of 2010

Visited Godrej Sara Lee Limited

 

It was just today early morning at 1AM when we returned to our campus after having the best two days as a part of Great Lakes. It is not often that you as students are treated so well by a corporate industry and that too by one which is among the best in the country.

We arrived in Mumbai on Oct 22 and were handed over two Innovas which were to be used by the nine of us to go around Mumbai on a sight-seeing trip. Quite a few of us had not visited Mumbai earlier and we made the best use of the vehicles and covered as much as we could from the Gateway of India to Queen’s necklace to the new suspension bridge. All this included a lunch at a Mexican restaurant which just added flavour to the trip. Lots of photos were clicked at various points, most of them being close to the beach area which presented a scenic view.

All exhausted we made our way to the Godrej guest house at Vikhroli by 7PM. The Godrej housing colony at Vikhroli is a huge campus and seems like a town in itself. All the people freshened up and moved out again at 7:30PM to go on to the next leg of our journey, to a new mall pretty close to the Godrej campus.

The next day after a hearty breakfast at the guest house mess, we all got ready to visit the Godrej Sara Lee office which was five minutes drive from the guest house area. We went straight into a meeting with the top managers of GSLL – Executive Vice President (PSO), K.Somanathan and Associate Vice President (Manufacturing H&BC North East) – R.S. Gopalakrishnan who explained to us about the processes within Godrej Sara Lee. This was followed by a meeting with the Deputy General Manager (Marketing) – Vinod Salvi who threw some light on critical marketing concepts in a manufacturing industry. After this we had a session with the HR Manager – Pooja Sharma. It was good to interact with the top notch managers of a top company. We then proceeded to have our lunch at the Godrej cafeteria. After lunch we were escorted to the R&D centre where the R & D Head – Dr. Sreedharwe showed us how the products in GSLL are created and tested, we then actually got to see the R&D centre and its practices; it was a very insightful trip across the R&D centre. Next was our meeting with Mr. Mahendran, the MD of Godrej Sara Lee wherein all of us shared our two day experience with him and also got to talk exclusively about Godrej Sara Lee as a company and its future plans. It’s always good to listen to person of his stature. It was 4:30PM and two Innovas were waiting to drop us back to the airport for our flight back to Chennai.

We reached Chennai at 11PM due to a delay in flight and reached the campus by 1AM. It was a trip which will be remembered very dearly by all the nine of us, for it was a trip which showed us why Godrej Sara Lee is a leader in quite a few segments of the market!

By

Syed Zoheb [syed.zoheb@mail.greatlakes.edu.in]

 

Pics from our picturesque green campus

By

-Harshdeep Singh Rapal [harshdeep.rapal@greatlakes.edu.in]

Stockholm syndrome in Great Lakes

After the first three terms putting my nerves stretched to their epitome, the first few weeks of the fourth terms seem to be a quite relaxed. I now have the luxury of sleeping for up to 7 Long hours, something which was merely a dream in the previous terms. Wow!  My eyes no longer look drooping and I look fresh the entire day.

Hey! But what is happening to me- I am not liking it. This reminds me of a famous poem in Urdu about a bird that is caged. Initially the bird is worried and doesn’t like the small cage. It is dying to be freed and hates the person who caught him. But as time passes, the bird slowly starts liking the surroundings and starts loving the captor. Now when the bird is freed, it says that it has developed so much affinity towards the surrounding and the captor that it would die if freed.

Stockholm syndrome, as Nils Bejerot calls it, refers to an incident in Stockholm in 1973 when some robbers kept the bank employees hostage for about 6 days. During the period, the victims developed so much affinity towards the captors that they defended the latter when released from the hostage. The emotional attachment that human beings develop sometimes does not depend on whether the person does good or bad to you.

Same is the story of the Great Lakers here in Chennai. Tough Love as they call it, the mind boggling work load has made us so used to it, that we miss it. And nothing can be better then a situation when you start to miss the challenges. The fact that tough love makes you really a tough person and a business ready manager prepared for any challenge has indeed been proven.

And I can feel the Stockholm syndrome ticking within me from today.
-Tabish Maqsood

September: The fun-filled jam packed month!

September! A month that had everything that could possibly have happened in thirty days. Ganesh chaturthi had just gone by and people were under its euphoria when Sanghamitra took place, our bi-annual college festival. The hostel came alive during this period, there were practices for dance, singing, fashion show, skits etc in every nook and corner, much before the event was supposed to take place. So when the actual event arrived, everyone was very well prepared and executed their part to perfection. This day saw the whole set of 260 come to the newly inaugurated India Cements amphitheatre and enjoy every part of the show which ranged from singing, dancing, skits, fashion show, miming and the in house rock show. Moreover everyone hit the dance floor at the end of the whole event, and that was the time when everyone let their hair down and had a blast. A day which captured everyone’s imagination and brought in some fun, in the otherwise hectic work schedule of a Great Laker.

Two days after Sanghamitra was the much awaited event, the HR Conclave which saw almost 300 HR executives visiting our campus from various parts of the country. The preparation for HR Conclave was on from the time the new session began, and this day saw people getting ready from 4am in the morning to receive guests to until about 11pm in the night when the guests left the campus after a successful event.
Just a couple of days more and the event called Mr and Miss Dillogical was organized by the BIG FM group, needless to say all the participants were heavily geared up for the event! Big FM had organized a host of competitions for all the participants from blowing balloons, to selling items and performing a stage show, which was not only an exhilarating experience for them but for the audience as well. Mr and Miss Dillogical were selected from the all the set of participants.

Two days more and the college witnessed a sports event which was to go on for about a month with events like badminton, basketball, volleyball and football; what made it more exciting was that all the four sections were vying for the top spot which made it tremendously competitive. The ‘finals’ of the volleyball matches was the night to look out for. Despite having three assignments to complete the following day, almost half of the college was on the ground to cheer for their respective teams.

Meanwhile there was a Chinese skit which was supposed to be performed by everyone, and boy oh boy what professional skits, it was mind-blowing to say the least. The CII conference followed next, it was a two day event and our college was invited for its participation. A few students got a chance to share the space with the industry big wigs including the Minister of State for Communications and IT, Sachin Pilot.

It was the month of Ramzan, and an iftaar party was organized for the whole college with a few goodies meant for the occasion. Not to mention it drew a lot of participation from the college folks. This was followed by Eid where the students were presented with the traditional sweet meant for the festival, ‘Sewaiayan’. All these festivals reinforce the ethos and values that Great Lakes stands for where-in all the national festivals are celebrated by one and all with equal fervour and enthusiasm.

The fun session was still in progress when we had the daunting task of completing seven exams in about 50 hrs. There was hardly anyone who slept for the two nights during the exams. The hour that followed the last exam cannot be mentioned in words; it was the time when students were to get back home after a gap of more than 5 months, and everyone’s faces were cheerful and bright despite the sleepless nights and hard work which went while preparing for the exams.

Meanwhile a set of students were preparing to leave for the International study tour to Malaysia and Singapore. This tour would facilitate the students to view the world with a broader perspective and would include university visits as also the local sight-seeing, a trip not many would want to miss.
A barrage of events and activities makes this month by far the most eventful month till date!

-Syed Zoheb

Our Campus; Our life

 I was watching her unleash her full force upon the campus… I was amazed at the strength which she possesses. I was amazed at her creation, her sustenance, her charm and her beauty. Flashes of lightning illuminated the sky. I was holding an ‘advanced microprocessor’ camera that boasted of image stabilization, face recognition and such other advanced features. But even the finest inventions of mankind were inadequate to capture those intricate moments of nature of which we are part. Those moments that turned the pitch dark horizon into daylight. Those moments when the ghost like trees turned into a painter’s imagination captured on a canvas with beautiful fields at the foreground. Those moments that made me muse about how trivial human beings were against the power of nature. The rain was beating down like hell. Raindrops were illuminated against the backdrop of the lights that shone upon the pathway at the campus. Millions of water droplets stolen from the earth by the process of evaporation were being gifted back to the ground in the purest of form. The roar of thunder that was heard after lightning struck confirmed that light travels faster than sound. All the laws of physics were being proven one after the other… The physics of light… the physics of sound… the physics of nature. It was the best display of mother nature’s elegance. The elegance that captured the imagination of many a scientist, many a geologist, many an anthropologist – all captivated by her beauty,beauty that encouraged those great men to unravel the secrets that she holds. I stood before her, humbled by her power, humbled by her beauty, a beauty that held me in her grip ever since I knew that I existed.

 

At Great Lakes Institute of Management, it is not uncommon for folks to stay up late. Those who do revel, in the beauty that night brings in… the mysteries that it unlocks before us. With a rare opportunity of a day off, many of us were roaming around aimlessly on the corridors of the hostels late at the night. The sudden downpour of rain brought about a dramatic change in the atmosphere. The eerie sound of wind blowing through the corridors threatening to dislodge the clothes from their mounts, coupled with the spray of water droplets that were caressing the exposed portions of our skin. It was a feeling of liberalization, the feeling of freedom, a feeling of pride. Pride for the institution, for its founder, for all the things that we could do because of one man who simply would put his heart and soul into building this institute, his child. Of the man who is so fast paced that very few of the 25yr olds could match. The future that lay ahead of us, the opportunities that this 1 year of education would provide, the rewards that we would reap. All this made possible by the one man who had a vision, a vision of liberalization for the youth of the nation, a vision of the ultimate freedom for this country. He dreamt of an institute that boasted the best of faculties and facilities combined. A campus that would be the cynosure for all who visit it. A campus that is built not by bricks, but by hearts and souls of the students and staff who are headed ably by the man himself.

 

Avinash CR [mailto:avinash.ramanathan@greatlakes.edu.in]

 

 

 

 

Swine, Sweeney and Tsunami

The last couple of days could not have been more exciting and adventurous. The time table read loud and clear ”11-08-09-END TERM EXAM, QUANTITAVIVE MANAGEMENT, 9:30-10:30 A.M.” Being the 20-20 version of life we are in, all of us, the Ramta Jogis, huddled in the adda at 12 (read as 12 A.M, 11-08-09). We were all excited, because for the first time after having got into Great Lakes instead of one teaching us all, all were going to teach all. We had in the evening prepared a schedule, where in we split the 900 odd page Sweeney into 8 sections, each of the jogis and a jogan covering one portion. The mammoth book would be conquered in 3 hours flat!

The first chapter just got done and it started pouring. A couple of us badly felt like getting drenched in the undemanding rain. We contained ourselves and started the second one, when the news came in, “the Andaman Islands just had a 7.8 earthquake and 5 nation states were put on alert for Tsunami”. Dude…we just realized we were on the scenic ECR, a stone’s throw from the beach!!. The wise cracks started flowing in. We thought of all the things we wanted to do before heading up and decided unanimously that we wanted to go for maggi. I quickly grabbed the patriots’ cup, headed to the closest hot water dispenser and drained every bit of the instant vegetarian maggi packet into it. 2 minutes of steaming and it was all ready and so were the 8 souls. All this hungama and we get a spoon each but it was the most filling treat we have had in sometime. Interrupted with the frequent power cuts, yet determined to do the last exam well, before we take the longest journey, we pull out our mobiles for the screen light. Imagine the Sweeney and tsunami hangover we were on.

If that was not enough, there was a mail from admin on how important it was for us to take precaution on our travel outside the campus to the Mahabs. Yaaaaaaaaar, put any restrictions but not on mahabs. But this was serious, serious enough for getting us all think. In the last couple of days, India as a whole had reported a dozen and still counting fatalities and there seemed to be no logical way to contain the deadly Swine flu H1N1 virus. Soon ppts, pdfs, doc files and almost just about all other formats of newsletters started flowing in. As a group of conscious and rational people, we have been considerate, while making choices for weekend parties.

Now that I told you about Swine, Sweeney and Tsunami, one question which has still left me pondering is: what is it that has transformed us into this close-knit group who are just raring to take on anything which comes along.

Harsh Ratan Mehta

Away from the Mundane..

 

Today after the flag hoisting in Greatlakes, I was just sitting on a rock looking at our beloved Uncle Bala speaking with a few students. Just a few minutes ago he told us the story of a 4 year kid blessed to be sitting on the lap of the Father of our Nation, Mahatma. Gandhi asked him “son what will you do for our country?”, and this small kid with all his innocence replied -“I will give my life for India”. Listening to such powerful words from a small kid, Gandhi’s eyes filled with tears. You know, that kid was none other than our Uncle Bala.

 Then my mind took me back to the inauguration event yesterday. It was such a pleasure to listen to prestigious industrialists like Mr. Rahul Bajaj Chairman of Bajaj Auto, Mr. Madhur Bajaj, VP of Bajaj Auto as well as academicians like  Dr. Donald P Jacobs, (Dean Emeritus, Kellogg School of Management) and Mr. Dipak Jain, Dean Kellogg School of Management. All of them are eminent speakers and shared their life experiences with us. Each had a different flavor to add to the event. They had experiences which I am sure each one of us aspires to have in our life journey.

 Mr Rahul Bajaj spoke about the importance and need of entrepreneurship to build our nation, to create employment for people who will need it in coming years.  He is someone who spoke straight from his heart. The passion he has for India is unmatchable. He inspired us to think big and make our nation independent in true sense, a nation free from poverty, unemployment, corruption. He truly said that if someone is taking money then one of us is offering that money. He emphasized that “Moral anchor is something which makes a person successful in true sense”

I came back, looking at Uncle Bala and thinking that once this man said he will give his life for his country and he really is doing great work for the nation. He built this institute single handedly as we call it a ONE MAN SHOW here. Despite the fact that he is living in US, he opened the institute in Chennai because of his love for his homeland. He created an opportunity for us to learn in an institute which is definitely going to be the top 5 in the coming years. He believes in delivering the best and he does it at all times which is very much visible whether it is the quality of education or a 14-acre platinum rated green campus in the outskirts of Chennai.

 I feel blessed to be part of a great institution like Great Lakes where one learns not just management but also the importance of emotions, which gives one an opportunity to think big and aspire for great things in future.

 Jai hind!! J

Kanwaljit Bathh

 

India’s Integrity @62

 

Bharat, the land of converged diversity of culture and tradition acknowledged as the place of peace loving human race, Integrity and brotherhood.

Although modern images of India often show poverty and lack of development, India was the richest country on earth until the time of British invasion in the early 17th Century that attracted races like Portuguese, British and French to start trading in India.

But in an ominous span of time in 1757, India’s integrity toned down. Mir Jafir, the commander in chief of the army of  Nawab of Bengal, Jagat Seth, Maharaja Krisna Nath, Umi Chand secretively helped British under  the command of  Robert Clive in defeating the Nawab at the battle of Plassey on 23^rd  June 1757. From there, the British started conquering India. The peace was snatched; the tradition, culture and even the people were abused. Life became ungratified.

The love of mother Land couldn’t be pacified by her few great sons and they started raising the voice against injustice. They were punished and tortured. The more they were tortured the more they grew impregnable.

The combat took different forms; some crusaded non-violence in the influence of Mahatma Gandhi and some accepted violence as their path to independence.

Mother India Lost her thousand great sons who sacrificed their life in the battle and by distortion act of British. But the British couldn’t withstand against persistency and conviction of the Indian integrity and on a fine morning of Aug 15^th 1947 they were sent out of the country.

British ruled our motherland for years but in the process they gave us great lessons .If the integrity breaks down the country also breaks down.

Unfortunately, now the Integrity is still missing. Serial bomb blasts are the result of lack of integrity. India has got Independence but it is no more a place of peace and brotherhood. If millions of empty stomachs are prevailing and thousands are dying of starvation in the county, then how independent is the country? If the children and women are being abused every now and then, what freedom is it? If the country has the highest number of child labour in the whole world, then how developing is it? India is still not independent.

Gandhiji once said “If it is man’s privilege to be independent, it is equally his duty to be inter–dependent.” so his dream of independent India is as a helpless baby without parents.

To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right.

So let’s understand our own responsibility and maintain integrity to make our motherland the most peaceful place.

-By

subhashish [subhasis.digamberrout@greatlakes.edu.in]

Guilty Pleasures!

In this busy schedule of my MBA life, I have had quite a few guilt trips.  Also I have found many frequent fliers in the vicinity. Let me “analyze, criticize and explain” (copyright prof. PKV, faculty for statistical and quantitative analysis) top five on my list. First one, the Guilt of killing time, well “crying over spilt milk” comes naturally to many but surely to the B-school masses at the drop of the hat. We have long days and extended weeks and no weekends, but still if you over do the enjoying part while your peers are working hard on the extra assignments or no quiz days. I bet you are bound to have panic attacks. That extra movie, that hour on phone or chat and especially that loafing around the campus aimlessly does bring in the kick for the moment but you are booked for the trip when you get back to a hostel full of nerds.

Second sin which gets you to remorse is classroom hours, after doing simple math I understood each day of this B school that cost each one of us twenty grand. Now if in case you sleep through one of the two long lingering classes for the day; you end up cribbing about the lost eight plus thousand INR. Now that is a lot of money when you know you are going to pay for all that with interest pretty soon. Now comes the greasy sin; sin of carrying all that extra weight. With the increasing pressure, shrinking time and self multiplying list of excuses most of us are not able to squeeze out time to work out; but our calorie intake increases in direct proportion to the stress levels. Well our brains quickly recall the small columns in some magazine or a daily saying “chocolates gives an endorphin rush” or “ if sleepy take high amount of sugar compounds to work beyond your working hours”.

So we frequently visit the college store that is stocked up with wide range of  chocolates, candies, wafers and latest addition to the product line being  bounty and snickers; how can you resist indulging. Anyways after two bars, when you are still sleepy suddenly the back of the wrapper flashes in your head with the sinful count and you are strapped in for the trip. The sins fighting for the second last place are not calling home for weeks and forgetting to wish your near and dear ones on birthdays and other important days. Well the problem is this one you call your loved ones and talk for more than five minutes you go back to point one “Guilty is charged for wasting time!” – Vicious circle and a sticky one.

 I can definitely prove the top four with empirical data taken from a sizeable sample size; but the last one that I am clearly not sure of is “Social Loafing”.

So how many of us feel guilty about that one huh ?

P.S : To look up “Social Loafing” please refer the reading material for Group Processes  provided in term one.

 By

-Tanushri

MBA @ Great Lakes

 

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

-By

Ankur Srivastava

Head or Tail?

“Yeh jo des hai tera.. swades hai tera… tujhe hai pukara…” … as the song wafted through my laptop speakers. I was looking out of the window of my second floor room at Great Lakes Institute of Management. I could see the greenery around me… The beautiful green paddy field that was visible from the window of my room. The crop was swaying with the wind as though they were trained to dance to the rhythm of the breeze. “Mithi ki hai jo khusboo…tu kaise bhoolayega”… There was a slight drizzle and as soon as I opened the window of my Air conditioned room, I could smell the sweet smell of the first drops of rain falling on the parched ground. The feeling was great. It was as if my thoughts were being reflected in the beautiful song from the movie “Swades”. Here I was… in the green campus of Great Lakes Institute of Management. But what amazed me more was the greenery around the campus… Every morning, I would see the farmer of the field, moving around in his field, inspecting his paddy crop for any weeds and pests. How he would take care of them. It was like they were his little children. One day his children would repay him for all his toil.

 

As soon as you walk across the fields from the college, you come across this blue colored house by the side of the road. This is our “Adda” for Maggi noodles and piping hot Omelettes. After a long and exciting day of lectures, people usually go there to chill out and gorge on noodles and omlette. The cook at the house is a boy in his late teens. Though educated only up to class VI, you could see the enthusiasm in his eyes when folks from Great Lakes arrive at his place. It was on one such occasion that he asked me innocently. “ Indha college la catering course irukka, Enakku indha course la romba interest irukku”. (Does this college offer a course on catering, I am very much interested in it). Here was a guy.. deprived of education due to the pressure to earn money. You could see a twinkle in his eyes when you give him info about what the institute offers. He listens with so much interest, much more than the interest that you show in your lectures. I had a hard time explaining him what an MBA is. But at the end of it all, he quips, “Enakku padikkanum ni irukku” (I want to pursue further studies). There was a stark contrast between his life and mine. Here I was, 24 years old, pursuing my MBA, and here was this guy, in his late teens, having the desire to study further, but could not due to economic pressures. It was like two sides of the same coin. One side of the coin portrayed someone who was free to pursue his dreams. While the other one reflected someone who could not, portraying the backwardness of the same country. I wanted to help this guy pursue his dreams. But what could I do? I was a dependant myself. When I land up in a job, I would help many more like him, achieve something in life. I don’t know what made me think like this. But I felt a strong urge to do something for my motherland. I felt like a real Patriot. I don’t know what made uncle Bala to think of the name “ Patriots” for our batch, but I felt like one. The class of 2010 had everything that 24 odd year olds could ask for in life, but just a stone throws away from the campus, we could see many people struggling to make both ends meet. The karma yoga project exposed us to many such people. These people represented the real India. My motherland needed people who thought more about her than themselves. My motherland needed us now more than anything else. My motherland needed support. We cannot boast of a developed India without first lifting the scores of underprivileged people that inhabit our nation. We need to do something about it.

-By

Avinash CR [avinash.ramanathan@greatlakes.edu.in]

Manufacturing Time

I always think of our existence in this world and during those times I think of the time (amount) that we live on Earth. At times I feel we are living too much time (100yr!!!) and at times I feel we are living too little time (Just 100 yrs). When any of these thoughts strike my mind at any time, what I first think of is the productive time that we spare in our lives. Then one absurd thought will prattle my mind saying, “Why don’t you create time … why don’t you do it … why don’t you try it “. When I get this into my mind what I do is what I guess, you are doing right now… I laugh at myself with exclamation. However I don’t want to be like Charles Darwin, Edison who created and published their hypothesis. Because I know that this is just a fictitious opinion, however I feel like crying “Eureka … Eureka”, like Archimedes when I find I really can create or manufacture time for me.

This has always been there at the back of my mind, which eventually I started practicing and got to know that it really works. The first thing that came to my mind is the adage that we hear from our parents since our childhood, “one penny saved is one penny earned”. I do not know whether this fits for a penny or not, but surely fits for time, “One second saved is one second created”. This is absolutely true and this makes me live a second life truly, realizing the importance of time in our life and what “wasting time” truly means. Also it conveys what do we miss by wasting time in this life time, that too when we are young. Being rational I always think, there is a reason for our existence and we need to fulfill that. I feel the most productive years of a person is between the ages of 20 and 40 and if we are wasting that time, it means we are really wasting our chance in this lifetime. The next thing that troubled me is how to save time… if it is money we can save it in a bank, but where can we save time? My manager gave me the link to this process which he is practicing and making us practice now a days i.e. we can save our time by building our knowledge base. By building it, we need to spend only a little time on things which we really struggle for longtime in normal process, so that we can minimize the time spent on things in general and save time. Earlier I used to do this by learning what is difficult and kill my time in most of the cases, however I do not know what difference and how much difference it makes. Now I know what it means and what I am earning from that. Also the difference is when I learn it I don’t document it but I use only for the purpose and leave it, but now by documenting it I can find the relevance in many of the other cases. Of course this needs lot of management in our day to day life like Prioritizing things, taking quick decisions , thinking less and acting more , stop worrying and start doing things and accepting things as they are and most importantly positive attitude.

I found few things which must be practiced. First one is not doing things which actually have negative effect on you (In my case I stopped watching horror movies, psycho movies, arguing unnecessarily, discussions with evil minded people), Second is not doing things which have no effect on you (I found watching Useless movies, sitting before TV and changing channels, browsing through net without any destination are few of them, chatting without any point). Third is self motivation or inspiration by completing what really you want. (By doing one thing, by pleasing yourself that you can do it (just not telling yourself that I can easily do it, but actually doing it)). Others I don’t need to tell you, I have lot more lists to go for me, as I may be one of the best people in wasting time. One thing is certain; try to stay with people where you will be really appreciated for your good and criticized for your bad. And my friend Sunil says “There is only one thing which is constant in this world and that is change”. We always need to be in sync with the nature otherwise we will think more than required. When nature is doing its duty by changing continually, if we are reluctant to change, what should not happen may happen. So my philosophy is “There is no wrong time to do a right thing”. By doing right things at right time we can become what we want and we don’t need to blame or curse someone else for your mistakes.

I see very few places where each minute as precious as that of a 100m race, one such place is Great Lakes. Great Lakes is a place where each minute is so valuable, one cannot afford to make an effort to waste it. One always wonders what if a day is more than 24 hours! If you are able to value that time and look in different frame of reference where it can be manifold, I think the job is done. If “Time Value of Money” is the core of corporate finance, “Money Value of Time” is the trade off between earning and enjoyment which our beloved Professor of Financial Management Dr.Narendar Rao puts it, Then I feel “Time Value of Time” is the core of every individual life.`

-by

Gurava Reddy Maruri

When India met Bharat…

As I hesitantly entered the gates of a small hut, the first thing that struck me was the smell of the boiling rice. Accompanied by a faint smell of Curry, the environment was a typical Indian poor household. I looked to my back to confirm whether all my team mates are with me. No one wants to get hit alone. Do they? In case, I meant. A very young pregnant lady walked towards us with cautious eyes. I brought in an artificial smile and introduced my team. Who we are. Why have we come here.

She looked at us. Blank.

It was written on her face that why the so-called modern dressed – educated – youngish boys/girls are visiting her. Yeah right? Anybody would be sceptical. I tried my best to speak to her in a language which she is comfortable with. Unknowingly, here and there – some English words got popped up. But it was fine. She could understand what it was. Two minutes in to the conversation, she understood that we were students trying to help the village in some way. I said we’d like to take a brief survey about her household and with that information – suggest a suitable occupation which she can do from her home and earn some money. Actually, what we were trying to do was to understand their economy – generate alternate means of income – suggest practical methods of saving. She hesitantly gave details about her family. The first surprise of the evening for me was that this <20 year old girl is a mother of 3. And one more in the pipeline.

“What does your husband do?”

“He works as a daily coolie”

“Where?”

“Don’t know”

“How much does he earn?”

“You’ve got to ask him”

“Does your boy go to school?”

“Yes. From this year”

“Have you been to school?”

“No”

“Do you save anything?”

“——-“

A sense of uncomfortable feeling started peeking through me. Right then – I was talking to a real poor Indian housewife who is not even empowered enough to ask what her husband is doing. Notwithstanding the fact that she is the mother of four of his children.

I turned around to brief my team. Oh yeah. I forgot to mention that I’m the only thamizh speaking person in this group. I’ve got to brief them in regular intervals to fill in the gaps. Parag, somehow, understood what she was saying and said “I told you right? There won’t be any savings”

“Now, what?” I asked my team.

“Ask her whether she knows any vocation. Like Candles, matchsticks”

I asked her. Negative.

I asked her whether she would be interested in doing a new occupation.

“I need to ask my husband”

Pcch. I felt sorry for her.

I briefed my team and we decided to go to the next household. All the 9-10 households we visited had the same story. Well, almost. Some work in agricultural lands. But most of them work as daily coolie’s somewhere in the nearby towns or even Madras.

“How much do you get as daily coolie?” I asked a father of 3.

“If it’s Rs.50 job – we won’t get more than 2 works in a week. If it’s Rs.100 job – we won’t get more than 2 works in a month”

The job-givers sure know how to keep these people in check. I realized that the Re.1 Kilo rice is the biggest boon these people have got. That made sure they never starve at all. But it isn’t enough. If the children of this village have to grow – they need something more than just food.

The government school here ensures that they get education till their 10th standard. But what next? You need money to study at college. How do you get them if you don’t save from now on? We found that the real need of the village was not food – sanitation – health camps. They knew how to take care of themselves.

But the need lies in elevating them to the next level. How do you empower them so that they save enough money to send their children to college? Empowering women will be the key. Teach them an occupation – find them a market. That, according to us, is enough.

As we lurked back to the bus walking through the homes we visited in the evening, every woman – I mean, every woman of the street – invited us for dinner.

I felt sick.

-By

Sivakumar T [mailto:sivakumar.thiyagarajan@mail.greatlakes.edu.in]

L’Attitude – Punit Vasu’s Invitation

I do not know what dreams you are dreaming, what hopes you are nurturing,what aspirations you are conceiving and what desires you are living with that you are going to make better off with……… if you dare to miss out the moment of your lifetime… It is the day of Armageddon…. its the day of your survival in Corporate world ……its the day of your creating a niche for yourself..…..….its the day of sharing the 3 D space with the sharpest brains of our country….right from CEOs to contestants to participants…….. It is that time of one’s life wherein things change expectantly for the unusual better …… With new dreams, hopes, aspirations & a desire to achieve new horizons we are inviting you to step into an adventure called L’Attitude’07 .

The D-Day is 5th ~6th January ‘07.

This is an invite to each one of u to spare us a few days during this hour of celebration……..

Rest assured ….We , the Crusaders at Glakes , will take you along to experience the moment you never felt before…..so decide urself…where u want to be!!!

……… Punit Vasu

L’Attitude 1305 website is up

Hey All…

http://www.glakes.org/lattitude/index.html 

                   Great Lakers are proud to say that the website for L’Attitude is up and running now. This is a great triumph as the team completed the task in just 72 hrs.  Jayanth and Bala Pradeep are the guys who worked for 3days at a stretch and came up with his breath taking website, which is in par (or I wld say much better!!) with the best b-schools event’s websites. Also Jagannath, Hardeep and Sheetal actively participated in providing the graphics and bringing the website to roll on.  

Please ask all of ur friends to visit the site and check out the events. In the coming days this site will be imporved more with the feedback from glakers and the final site will be even enhanced than this!

Rgds… Gopi Krishna

L’Attitude time once again…

It’s the best time of the year… L’Attitude 13’ 05 is here again… Arguably one of the best B-School Fest in India… With the best brains of Management students from all over India competing… with a beach side resort as venue… with the best ever B-School party… with grand prizes for all the events… with events covering all aspects of management… with best judges judging the events… You cannot ask for more and It doesn’t get bigger than this… So People… are u game for this…

C’mon… Join in the most happening B-School Event on Planet Chennai… Else miss out on the time of your life… For further details on L’Attitude, please feel free to contact

Mahesh – Mahesh.n@glakes.org
Adith – adith.k@glakes.org
Koushik – koushik.s@glakes.org

Hope to see u all in Chennai…

by Gaurav Singhvi……..

Update on L’Attitude

Hey All,

- Great News. Thanks to Uncle and Prof. Sriram, TCS has agreed to sponsor Rs.5 Lakhs for L’attitude!! This kick starts the sponsorship process….Now the ball is on the roll…. We just need 15 lakhs more..

- Ashwin Valecha, has spoken to Red Bull and they would be providing free Red Bulls at the L’attitude venue.. good work Ashwin
- Jayanth and Jagannath are working through the nights for the last 2 days to get the website up… thats a great effort by them..keep it up guys..

A special thanks to Mahesh from Adit – “A heartfelt “Thank You” for keeping the L’Attitude spirit going strong. The man can be a pain in the wrong places at times..but considering the task ahead of us, his dedication and commitment to make this event a success has inspired a lot of us over the past one week to last through 20 hour days…..keep the L’Attitude fire burning!!!”

Lets do it guys…lets show the BSchool world how crusaders can rule…

Regards
Gopi Krishna…

Stanford Business School News Letter Quotes Great Lakes, Chennai

Stanford Business School News Letter

www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/headlines/srinivasan_mktgcenter.shtml

STANFORD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS — India’s Great Lakes Institute of Management has created the Kotler-Srinivasan Centre for Research in Marketing to develop knowledge in marketing, focusing on research in India and its global role. The center is named for Professor Philip Kotler, S. C. Johnson & Son Distinguished Professor of International Marketing of the Kellogg School of Management, and V. Seenu Srinivasan, the Adams Distinguished Professor of Management at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Great Lakes Institute, located in Chennai (formerly Madras) in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, announced creation of the new center in July 2006.

Speaking on this occasion, Dr. Bala Balachandran, founder and honorary dean of the school, said, “Given the natural core competencies and expertise on hand, we at Great Lakes have decided to make marketing our focus.” The research center will focus on marketing and sales research in India and will help transfer global concepts to local needs. Professor Srinivasan will act as an advisor to the center. He has given several talks on market research topics at the Great Lakes Institute of Management