Gli m pse 2012-13 - issue 1_final

V O L U M E 1 I S S U E 1 2 0 N O V E M B E R , 2 0 1 2

GliMPse
Student Magazine, General Management Programme 2012 - 2013


From The Committee’s Desk

“Whatever the mind of man can conceive competitive fever across XLRI and GMPians
and believe, it can achieve” – W. Clement were up to the calling. To top it all, the
Stone. GliMPse team organized their own business
article-writing competition across XLRI. The
We, at XLRI GMP, believe in thinking the un-
two best articles that emerged after an inten-
thinkable and dreaming the impossible. The
sive evaluation by esteemed XLRI faculty are
never-say-die spirit of a true XLer continues
part of this edition.
to shine forth, be it through the numerous
competitions that we participate in and win, The first issue of GliMPse 2012-13 is not just
or be it through doing our bit for the com- the efforts of GliMPse team, but also of all
mon social good. And all of this, while swim- the participants who have contributed enthu-
Inside GliMPse... ming against the current, transitioning from siastically to it. GliMPse team takes this op-
the corporate to the student world, balancing portunity to thank Prof. Arundhati Sarkar
the demands of intensive lectures, assign- Bose and Prof. S. K. De for taking time out of
 FDI in Retail ments and case studies. Down GMP Street, their busy schedules and being the honorary
the sun rises before the night begins!
 Social Media Marketing judges of the BizWiz 1.0 contest. Special
mention must be made of the GMP CEO
 Tête-à-tête with the lead- At the onset of June 2012, 119 professionals
Committee and Arijit Basak for their timely
er from across the globe, working in fields as
help at various stages in the evolution of this
diverse as oil and gas, medicine, merchant
 Win-Win all the way edition.
navy and IT services, came together to em-
 Meet the Guru bark on a challenging journey.The initial So grab a cup of simmering hot coffee, put on
settling-in period, marked by fulfilling experi- your reading glasses and dive into this pot-
 Time ences like the village and adventure trips and pourri of sumptuous feast for your mind! We
memorable events like Prarambh and ice- look forward to hearing back from you.
 jNANAM Sharanam
breaker cricket matches, was a great time to
Gachammi Do let us know your thoughts at
cast away our baggage of past thinking and
g1213glimpse@astra.xlri.ac.in.
 Alumni Speak open up to a new world of learning and
growing in unconventional ways.
 The Joy of Giving
And while over the course of almost two ar- ~ Team GliMPse 2012-13
 GMPians in the news...
duous terms, the 4P’s and 5C’s might have
 I LOCKED it!!! taken over our five senses, the creative sixth
sense of GMPians is very much alive and kick-
 GMP Chaupal ing. The child in us still manages to emerge
 The brush and the colors and delight, leaving an indelible mark on the
mind. It takes on the form of artistic
 Mind Benders paintings, creative poetry and simple anec-
dotes that transpose one to an altogether
different world. We present before you in
this edition, some of these creative endeav-
ors of fellow GMPians.

The month of October was marked by

2


Biz Wiz 1.0
GliMPse organized its first ever business article writing competition, "Biz Wiz 1.0". The con-
test attracted many entries from BM,HRM and GMP batches of XLRI. Below are best two
entries which won the prizes.
Congratulations to the participants of winning articles.

FDI in Retail
Winner– 1st Prize
Authors:
Apoorv Verma (h12067)
Ritika Singh (h12044)

Introduction-Meaning of Foreign Direct Investment
Foreign direct investment as defined by Organization of Eco-
nomic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is a category of
cross-border investment
"High expectations are the made with a strategic long-
key to everything." term intent. The OECD de-
fines a transfer of 10% or
- Sam Walton, Founder of more of the voting power i.e. The Adidas, Reebok, Pantaloons store we visit and Multi
Wal-Mart (shares in company) as the brand retail which houses many brands under the same roof
definition of foreign direct like for example the Big Bazaar, The Shoppers Stop or the next
investment. There is a sig- door kirana store. Then other than the retail there is a Whole-
nificant degree of influence sale segment which does not directly sell to ordinary custom-
"Innovation distinguishes by the direct investor in the ers like me and you. An example of this type of store is the
management of the direct Bharti Wall Mart which acts as retailer to other stores and not
between a leader and a investment enterprise. The directly to retail consumers
follower." objectives of direct invest-
- Steve Jobs, Founder of ment are different from Evolution of foreign investment in the Retail Sector of India
those of portfolio invest- India is a signatory to World Trade Organization‘s General
Apple ment whereby investors do Agreement on Trade in Services. This agreement also includes
not generally expect to wholesale and retailing services. So Despite the initial reserva-
influence the management tions and apprehensions the government in a series of moves
of the enterprise. This is opened up the retail sector slowly to Foreign Direct Invest-
why investment made by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) is ment. In 1997, FDI in cash and carry (wholesale) with 100%
called Hot Money. ownership was allowed under the Government approval route.
It was brought under the automatic route in 2006. 51% invest-
ment in a single brand retail outlet was also permitted in 2006.
Defining the Retail Sector The government further extended the limit in single brand re-
In 2004, The High Court of Delhi defined the term ‘retail’ as a tail to 100% through the government approval route on 10th
sale for final consumption in contrast to a sale for further sale Jan, 2012. And now the latest decision on 14th Sept, 2012 of
or processing (i.e. wholesale).i.e. sale to the ultimate consum- allowing 51% FDI in multi brand retail under government ap-
er. Now let us have a glimpse of the Indian retail sector. Indian proval route after backtracking on a similar decision taken
retail sector is approximately $ 450 billion in size with 96% in nearly an year ago.
the unorganized sector and 4% in organized sector. The orga-
nized sector is under two formats namely Single brand retail

3


The Attached Conditions with the present decision
Single Brand Retail
For proposals involving FDI beyond 51 percent, previously
mandated requirement of sourcing 30 percent value of goods
purchased from Indian small and medium enterprises, to be
preferred and only to be done if it’s feasible.
Only one-resident entity, whether owner of brand or other-
wise, shall be permitted to invest in India. Single Brand retail to
be allowed for specific brand, through a legally tenable agree-
ment with the brand owner.
The investment can be made only through the government
approved route not through automatic route.

Multi-Brand Retail
The FDI will not be allowed in the E-Commerce sector i.e. The
B2C (Business-to-Consumer) sector on internet would be un-
affected with the FDI. But the foreign investment will be al-
lowed in various non-store format activities such as mail order (3) FDI in retailing can easily assure the quality of product,
and e-commerce as long as it is B2B (Business-to-Business). better shopping experience and customer services.
(4) They promote the linkage of local suppliers, farmers and
The State Governments and UTs would be free to take their
manufacturers, no doubt only those who can meet the quality
own decisions regarding FDI in Multi brand retail and hence the
and safety standards, to global market and this will ensure a
applicant will need to produce permissions from specific states,
reliable and profitable market to these local players.
while applying to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board.
(5) As multinational players are spreading their operation, re-
Minimum investment of USD 100 million to be infused by the gional players are also developing their supply chain differenti-
foreign investor. Also, 50 percent of the total foreign invest- ating their strategies and improving their operations to counter
ment to be deployed in back-end infrastructure within 3 years the size of international players. This all will encourage the in-
of investment vestment and employment in supply chain management.
The foreign retailers will have to buy 30% of what they buy (6) Joint ventures would ease capital constraints of existing
from small vendors. If the investment of a vendor in plant and organized retailers.
machinery exceeds $1 million, it will no longer be considered a (7) FDI would lead to development of different retail formats
small-scale vendor for the purpose of computing the 30% local and modernization of the sector.
sourcing requirement. (8) FDI would lead to expansion of opposite sell formats as good
Outlets may be set-up in cities with population of more than 1 as modernization of a sector.
million (including area of 10 kms around the municipal/urban (9) The prospects of Indian Products developing and reaching to
limits). State government can decide to allow outlets in cities other parts of world.
not meeting the specified criteria
Critics of the FDI claim the below stated disadvantages of FDI
Government to have first right of procurement of agricultural (1) It will lead to closure of tens of thousands of mom-and-pop
products shops across the country and endanger livelihood of 40 million
people.
Now that we have the basic understanding on the issue we (2) It may bring down prices initially, but fuel inflation once mul-
can have a look at the common pros and cons of the issue tinational companies get a stronghold in the retail market
Advantages (3) Farmers may be given remunerative prices initially, but
(1) The global retailers have advanced management know how eventually they will be at the mercy of big retailers
in merchandising and inventory management and have adopted (4) Small and medium enterprises will become victims of preda-
new technologies which can significantly improve productivity tory pricing policies of multinational retailers
and efficiency in retailing. (5)It will disintegrate established supply chains by encouraging
(2) Entry of large low-cost retailers and adoption of integrat- monopolies of global retailers
ed supply chain management by them is likely to lower down
the prices. This will also reduce wastage, estimated at 40 per-
cent in the case of fruits and vegetables.

4


Is the FDI as big a threat as critics claim-Challenges that critics (5) Role of Competition Commission of India
of FDI usually overlook It has been said in many quarters that the large players will
form monopoly and hence they are harmful. These fears are
(1) Will Foreign Retailers have such a smooth sailing in Indian baseless as first of all monopolies are not so easy to form. Then
Markets? even with monopolies the firms might not be able to dictate
I read the book named “We are like that only-Understanding their prices. And lastly there are monitoring bodies like CCI to
the logic of Consumer India” by Rama Bijapurkar wherein she prevent such scenarios from appearing.
contends that Indian consumers are schizophrenic in nature.
This implies that they have diverse tastes and are not easy to Conclusion
satisfy. Rama contends in her book that very few foreign brands Hence with above made arguments I would like to say that In-
were able to copy their foreign business models and attain suc- troduction of FDI will prove as a blessing for Indian Economy.
cess in India. So assuming that The Wallmarts, the Tescos, the Our economy desperately needs this booster. So although we
Carrefours will have a smooth sailing in India is probably a too would have to make some sacrifice, some of the jobs will be
early a conclusion. lost, there would be some restructuring in the market. But the
long term gains would be lot more than the losses. So it would
(2) Had Retailing been so easy in India why are Indian Retail- be in our interest to bear this short term pain in order to reap
ers Bleeding. high benefits in the future.
If we look at the balance sheets of Indian Big brand retailers
they aren’t flourishing as such. Although it cannot be said with References
certainty that future would be bleak but still they have had a 1. http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-10-08/
tough journey so far and many are yet to breakeven. A look at news/34323106_1_global-retailers-fdi-total-retail-business
some of the data for three such retailers 2. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/fullcoverage/fdi-in-
1. Liliput Kidswear-Stuck in the trouble brewing between pro- retail
moters and PE. 3. FDI in Indian Retail Sector: Analysis of Competition in Agri-
2. Subhiksha Trading- Nationwide network of 1600 stores had Food Sector- Internship Project Report by Rupali Gupta and
collapsed when the company ran out of cash to service its debt Payal Malik
of Rs. 750 Crores. 4.www.oecd.org.investmentinvestmentpolicy/209014.pdf
3. Vishal Retail- Ran up a debt of Rs. 730 crores in late 2009 5.http://www.indianexpress.com/news/tough-riders-for-fdi-in-
and reported a net loss of Rs. 431 crores in 2009-10. multibrand-retail/1003507/2
So this further highlights the fact that Indian consumers are still 6. http://www.legalindia.in/foreign-direct-investment-in-indian
hard to woo. -retail-sector-%E2%80%93-an-analysis
7. http://www.kpmg.com/IN/en/Documents/India-Retail-FDI-
(3)The Cost of Realty Sector in India changes.pdf
The realty market in India has never been cheap. This is espe- 8.http://zenithresearch.org.in/images/stories/pdf/2012/JUNE/
cially true for cosmopolitan cities of India. So getting the need- ZIJMR/9_ZIJMR_VOL2_ISSUE6_JUNE2012.pdf
ed realty space for running the large stores will never be an
easy feat for these multinationals no matter how deep pockets Disclaimer: The content in this article is the sole responsibility
they have. This is also an advantage for the mom and pop of the authors and GliMPse Committee has no liability of any
stores as they will still remain accessible to the consumers. copyright violations whatsoever.
Hence this will remain one of the major reason why it will be
difficult to dislodge the unorganized sector in India.

(4) The prediction of growth of Indian Retail market by consul- Trivia
tancy Firms
With rising disposable incomes, expansion of stores and sup- The retail sector in the nation of 1.2 billion people is
porting economic factors, India's retail sector is expected to estimated to have annual sales of USD 450 billion,
grow to about $ 900 billion by 2014, according to a report by
global consultancy and research firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. with nearly 90% of the market controlled by tiny
And the various consultancy firms say that although in this pie family-run shops.
the rate of growth of organized sector will be faster than unor-
ganized sector, but still it will be wrong to say that they will Source: Money Control.
shrink. In fact it too will grow.

5


Biz Wiz 1.0
GliMPse organized its first ever business article writing competition, "Biz Wiz 1.0". The con-
test attracted many entries from BM,HRM and GMP batches of XLRI.
Congratulations to the participants of winning articles.

Social Media Marketing

Winner– 2nd Prize
Author:
Navjot Singh Gill (h11091)

Facebook, the world’s most popular social networking site hit a
Billion users on September the 14th. The latest internet viral vid-
eo “Gangnam Style” has over 400 million views on YouTube and
growing. Approximately 200 million tweets are sent out every
day which is the equivalent of a 10 million page book that is
written every single day by the users of the website. Such num-
bers reflect the kind of online presence of potential consumers The internet has permeated the entire world. There are over 2.3
on such social media sites. And this population is just waiting to billion people on the internet which is one-third of the global
be tapped. population. This number has grown over 500 % in the past 10
years and looks to grow further. Here is where Social Media
“Marketing is no longer about the stuff Marketing steps in by promoting products and services through
social media websites. A typical way of doing so is through ads
that you make, but about the stories you
that redirect the user to their own websites but it is not the only
tell.” – Seth Godin way companies are reaching out to customers online. Compa-
nies are now creating their own pages/profiles on social net-
working sites and allowing customers to interact directly with
them often through applications and games that promote the
“A brand is no longer what we tell the
offerings of the company. Such tactics keep the consumer en-
consumer it is – it is what consumers tell gaged while also building awareness about the company’s offer-
each other it is.” – Scott Cook ing. Such interactions are also highly personal in nature allowing
the customer to share his/her opinions, review the product/
service offered, et cetera hence the customer engagement is
much more compared to traditional marketing campaigns. The
“Privacy is dead, and social media holds company also benefits from ‘word of mouth’ publicity as the
the smoking gun.” -Pete Cashmore customers’ interactions with the company are usually shared
among his/her network of friends.

6


Nowadays, social media is also providing companies, infor- relying on a similar strategy for the upcoming presidential
mation about the users such as their likes/dislikes and most vis- elections as well. The Kony 2012 campaign is another exam-
ited pages. Companies use this information to reach out to their ple of a campaign that went viral on YouTube and managed
target audience whom they can then advertise to. Such an ar- to garner support from across the world. The movie
rangement is beneficial to both the social media sites who earn ‘Paranormal Activity’ was marketed exclusively through so-
revenue through these advertisers and also to the companies cial media sites and the result was the campaign going viral
who can target a limited population who are more likely to re- which helped the low budget horror flick net millions at the
spond positively to the advertising campaigns. box-office and become the highest grossing thriller movies of
the past decade.
The internet having overtaken the television as the largest
advertising market has significantly changed the game for Social media marketing provides a lot of opportunity for
companies who are looking to market their offerings. Compa- products and services to be marketed to a select target audi-
nies are thinking of radically different ways to come up with ence. However, it isn’t as simple as it seems and has many
distinctive and unique marketing campaigns that appeal to challenges associated with it. A campaign needs to be creative
the consumer and can be integrated throughout the web to and needs to appeal to the consumers to attract and retain
reach the target audience. The Old Spice campaign which in- their attention. The presence of several campaigns running
volved humorous clips showing how the deodorant was together complicates matter further and hence that needs to
‘manly’ was very successful and led to a completely new be managed as well. The brand identity also needs to be
brand identity for the product. This emergence of the internet maintained which is difficult to do online. ‘Word of mouth’
as a new advertising medium has led to companies moving can also hurt the brand as customers can just as easily share
away from traditional mediums such as print and television. negative opinions/reviews as they can good ones. Keeping all
With the mass penetration of the internet and cell-phones, these challenges in focus, companies can use social media to
this strategy allows the companies to reach the consumers effectively market their offerings.
anytime and anywhere. The fact that people use their cell-
References
phones to access the internet increases the reach of social 1. http://blog.twitter.com/2011/06/200-million-tweets-per-
media marketing even further and social media sites are try- day.html
ing to provide advertisements on cell-phones as well so as to 2. http://www.slashfilm.com/paranormal-activity-passes-100
not lose out on this huge opportunity. -million-becomes-highest-grossing-r-rated-thriller-of-the-
past-decade/
Social media marketing isn’t restricted to only products or
services but has many other uses. Companies use profession- Disclaimer: The content in this article is the sole responsibility
al social networking sites such as LinkedIn to market them- of the authors and GliMPse Committee has no liability of any
selves to potential employees by offering them the chance to copyright violations whatsoever.
interact with them and to stay updated with the company’s
latest news. Barack Obama successfully leveraged social me-
dia sites to market himself and his 2008 campaign and he is

“The minute news hits the wires, it be-
comes a conversation. It’s just a question
of how high [the] volume [of] that conver-
sation will become.” – Doug Frisbie

“New marketing is about the relation-
ships, not the medium.” – Ben Grossman

7


Tête-à-tête with the leader: Interview with Mr. Debiprasad Das
Do what you Love and Love what you do!
XLRI Leadership Series – a GMP initiative-continues to host In the light of today's worldwide economic uncertainty and
the best leaders of the industry. As part of the series students recent economic reforms, how do you see the prospect of IT
had an opportunity to get leadership insights from Mr. Debi- services market and subsequently its effect on jobs?
prasad Das this month. Mr. Das, a very good friend of Profes-
We really believe in employability of people. A very inter-
sor Jomon, visited XLRI and enlightened us about ‘Leadership
esting thing that our chairman says is - I would love to see
from life’. The session was a unique learning experience.
competition running after my employees to attract them ra-
GliMPse team had an opportunity to interact with him during
ther than to find my employees unable to find a job in the
his very busy schedule.
market. What does it mean? It means you have to develop
How do you think GMPians, Having a combination of indus- competencies and invest in human capital. So, if you are con-
try experience and value addition through XLRI GMP course, tinuously developing and creating value proposition with the
can create a difference in the industry? help of your employees, I think you will sustain any economic
recession. You need to align the organizational processes and
I am a strong believer of the GMP program. I think it is a good
policies to make sure that competency building is getting top
mix of experience and knowledge. After five years of work
priority. When the storm comes you would be able to sustain
experience, when you come back to academics, you are now
only if you are internally strong. Your capability to deliver,
able to correlate the academic content to your professional
your capability to thought lead-
ership, your ability to innovate –
all of these would make a differ-
ence over the competition.

China and other countries are
developing their competencies in
IT-ITeS sector and putting a
strong challenge for India. How
do you think we maintain our
leadership position in these in-
dustries?

Leadership stays until people start
copying you. When everybody has
copied you, there is no leadership
left. Today China, Brazil, Argenti-
na, Indonesia and many other
countries are catching up. These
are the countries that are developing their IT manpower. So,
experience. That gives you a unique advantage. Now, how
we cannot be cozy and idle. We have to do more work. When
you can create a difference is what you have to figure out.
China, Indonesia and other countries are going towards IT infra-
Doing XLRI MBA does not per se mean that you can create a
structure and application, we need to take the leadership in
difference. Combining the knowledge that you have gathered
business solution consultancy, consulting and architecture de-
in XLRI and your past experience, create a value proposition
velopment. Precisely, we need to go up higher in the value
for yourself. As an HR person I can say that there are many
chain. We cannot be at the bottom of the value chain now be-
roles in which you can create a difference; mostly in con-
cause there are too many competitors. With the language pro-
sulting, client interfacing, business solution or business devel-
ficiency and the 3 decades of experience, now we have to as-
opment roles.
sume leadership in the upper sphere of the value chain.

8


How is your usual day? How is the stress and work pressure?

In senior position, taking more stress or putting more hours is
not always the effective way. You need to have a strong second
line. In my case today, I am in a position right now that people
might envy. Because, I have a good second line that is empow-
ered and capable of doing things. That is why I do not mind
coming to XLRI for 2 days. For any leader, building a second line
is a must if you really want to focus on different things. I did
that. Besides, in Atos we are flexible with remote working. So,
it does not matter where we actually are. For example, I barely
seek leave; I may be remotely connected from anywhere.
These are the things that make life much better.

As a distinguished and accomplished leader, what advice
would you give to the future leaders of the industry to balance
their personal and professional life?

There are many mundane answers available to answer this
question: do exercise, play, go to a holiday and work hard on
other day. I will not say that. If you are really passionate about
doing something, you really do not feel the stress. You cannot
feel the stress because you are enjoying your work. So, my sug-
gestion to you would be: do what you love and love what you
do. Also, to be professionally competent, focus on value crea-
tion. Day in and day out, moment after moment, see what value
you are creating for others.

What do you think are the challenges for future leaders and
how do you think GMPians can prepare for that?

In my view future is going to be very challenging and dynamic.
Today, you have to take quick decisions and the impact of the
decisions is immediate. There is no fixed strategy. It is continu-
ously emerging and evolving. Future is going to be even more
dynamic. And middle management would have to take lot of
these challenges.

GMP is giving you a simulated environment to prepare yourself
for the future challenges. Learn from your curriculum and case
studies, as well as from leadership series and your classmates’
experience. I believe with all these mix of learning experiences,
you would be prepared partly to take up the challenging respon-
sibilities.

~ Interviewed by the GliMPse team.

9


Win-Win All the Way
GMPians were on a winning spree in various B-schools compe- on top while IIM Bangalore was the runners up.
titions. It is a real challenge to balance extra-curricular activi-
ties with extremely busy term-2 at GMP. Yet, some of our col-
XLRI emerged as winner in XIMB national case study competi-
leagues proved that it is not impossible. They have gone all out
tion
to win and bring laurels to XLRI. In the process they spent
sleepless nights to beat hundreds of teams from premier B- Manish Verma, Neha Prasad and Titash Maitra – students of
Schools over multiple rounds. These successes are a measure General Management Program (GMP) at XLRI, Jamshedpur –
of their work experience, knowledge, teamwork and above all emerged as winners in national level case study based competi-
the unflinching desire to excel. tion called Maven. The event was organized by the Consulting
Champs at ‘Chanakya’ ! and Strategy Consortium of XIMB in association with Cognizant
Business Consulting as part of annual festival of school, Xpres-
sions'12. The contest attracted more than two fifty teams from
top-notch B-Schools and was fought over three rounds of stiff
competition. The first round was an online business quiz while
the next two rounds were a case study testing the knowledge

Chanakya, the prestigious IIM Indore's consulting event of IIM
Indore was won by XLRI team, “Three Cheers”. Chanakya
which is held as part of the IIM Indore’s annual business festi-
val – Ahvan- is famous in B-Schools for having the highest prize
money across any management event in India worth Rs.1.5
lakhs. The team consisting of Vineet Taneja, Sridhar Devarajulu
and Sudipto Shome, students of General Management Pro-
gram (GMP) at XLRI beat hundreds of teams from premier B-
schools over three rounds of intense competition to emerge as
modern Chanakyas. The contest involved a live case study
and aptitude of participants in Finance, Marketing, Operations,
sponsored by Cognizant Business Consulting and was judged
HR and Systems to provide a strategic solution.
by an eminent panel comprising of Aashish Chandorkar, direc-
tor at Cognizant Technology Solution, Prof. Sundar and Prof.
Ganesh of IIM Indore. XLRI team fought it hard to come right

10


XLRI GMP students cracked the "Dainik Bhaskar Group’s ‘Crack
the Case’ contest

XLRI team consisting of Abhilasha Srivastava and Monika Bagchi
from General Management Program (GMP) cracked the Dainik
Bhaskar Group case study to become one of the five finalists
selected from all over India. The contest titled ‘Crack the Case’
was open to participants from both industry as well as B-
Schools. All the participants had to suggest which new territory
Dainik Bhaskar Group should address next, based on the case
study by IIM Bangalore titled ‘Aspiring Growth’ focusing on the
Maharashtra success of the Dainik Bhaskar group. There were
340 plus registrations for the contest – across organizations such
as Maxus, Rediffusion, Deloitte, Network 18 Media, O&M, IMRB,
Titan, and HDFC, and from top B-schools like XLRI, IIM Bangalore
and IIM Kolkata. The finalists included one team each from lead-
ing media agency Maxus and renowned research firm IMRB In-
ternational, one team from XLRI and two teams from IIM Banga-
lore.

11


Meet the Guru: Interview with Prof. Sumit Sarkar

Things that you want to change about XLRI…
Sometimes I feel too much of effort and time is spent on non-
academic activities which, I believe, can be better prioritized.

You also taught at other top management institutes, do you
find any cultural differences in XLRI?
In XLRI, I feel that there is much more freedom and empower-
ment. For example, in one of the earlier institutes, once my door
knob broke down and, to get it fixed, I actually had to write an
application marking a copy to multiple people in dean/director
level to get it fixed. Here, I just need to give a call to Lazerus and
it gets done. This freedom help us in all our services to XLRI, be it
teaching, consultancy or research.

Professor Sumit Sarkar Amidst the picturesque landscape of Jamshedpur, and in a steel
Dr. Sumit Sarkar has completed his Ph.D. from the Centre for city - does XLRI have a location advantage for faculties?
Economic Studies and Planning, JNU, New Delhi. Before joining Well XLRI campus is wonderful and the main advantages of me
XLRI, he taught at IIT Kanpur and IIM Kozhikode. He has also being here is that Kolkata is very close and I can reach there in 4
taught in an external program of the London School of Econom- hours. Though I feel that there is a lack of avenues to unwind in
ics. Jamshedpur. Personally I would have appreciated better places
With his innovative real life examples and passion, students at for shopping or entertainment. For example, In Kozhikode, there
XLRI are always enthralled not only on the lectures but also on used to be an international movie club which I used to visit fre-
the subject as well. In one cool evening the other side of the pro- quently. In Kanpur, for instance, the faculty strength was over
fessor was unveiled. 400 and such a high count provided better avenues to socialize.

Which profession would you have selected if not a teacher at
How do you unwind yourself in XLRI?
XLRI...
I like to spend quality time with my family. I also have a group of
Cricket for sure. I would have become a fast bowler. I used to
friends and we love to unwind watching football matches over
watch and play cricket and aspired to be faster than Kapil Dev,
few drinks.
who was the icon during those days.

Best match of football that you have ever seen…
Best things about XLRI…
There are quite of few of them. Some of the matches that come
It’s a very “cool” place. You have certain degree of freedom and
to my mind now are:-
flexibility that is offered here that I find appealing. Every faculty
1982 World Cup Semi-final between France & Germany
is expected and gets a chance to indulge in teaching, research,
1970 World Cup Final between Brazil and Italy
consulting and training works. Unlike corporate, I don’t need to
swipe my card, I don’t need to wear a tie and a suit. Incidentally,
In recent times, I enjoyed the match between Madrid & Barcelo-
personally, I hate to wear a tie and a suit.
na – 2007

12


Do you prefer class in the morning 7 am or class till 9 pm in the
night? At what pace do you foresee the Global economy will revive?
9 PM in the night. I am more an owl than a crow, I like working At the onset, I would like to mention that I don’t consider myself
at night an economist. Rather, I consider myself a game theorist. I be-
lieve that there are other faculties in this campus who can pro-
Are you a mountain person or a beach person? vide better insights in this matter. However, I would like to men-
Mountain person, I was a regular hiker and also have a Himala- tion that this downturn in global economy is not new and is part
yan Mountaineering Institute certification. However, with in- of the business cycle. Having said that, I think that we undoubt-
crease in family responsibilities, I haven’t been able to indulge in edly would require a big push and positive intervention by the
this hobby for quite some time. government to bring the economy out of the slump and believe
that current steps are in the right direction.
Best vacation spot till date…
Buntar in Himachal Pradesh. It’s in Parvati Valley and Parvatiriv- A rapid fire round where you tell one word that comes to your
er flows over there. It’s totally virgin vegetation and I enjoy it. I mind first about few of our XLRI professors
have been there couple of times – 4 to be exact Prof. Sengupta: “ I do not believe in God, I believe in Maradona”
Prof. Santanu Sarkar: Labour
How did you enjoy Durgapuja this time? Prof. Jomon: tapioca and wine, he serves homemade wine to
I was in Jamshedpur and visited the pandals with my family. We everyone on Christmas
went around visiting 2 pandals each day. In the evenings it used Prof Rajiv Mishra: Placement
to get too crowded so we sometimes went in the morning. Prof. Tata Raghuram: Green
Prof. Ashish Pani: Very nice person.
Do you face supply shortage of TV when demand for daily Prof. SoumyaKanti: Football.
soaps among members in house high?
I have two TVs in my house – one of them is monopolized by the A thought for GMP students…
women in the house. The second one is monopolized by my GMP as a course may need a rethinking, a more focus intent can
daughter. It’s only when my daughter is not watching any kids be thought about. For example pre-set specialized classes may
program or late in night that I get a chance to watch my movies. be formed of smaller size and this will help to reduce the rigor-
Thankfully, most of the football matches usually happens late in ousness of the program, in the process a relief to students from
the night. However, for football matches, I go over to 5-6 classes a day.
Soumyakanti’s place where we get together and enjoy the For the current batch - I wish all the best for the future.
matches.

With FDI retail in India - what change do you foresee in the ~ Interviewed by the GliMPse team.
business scenario?
I have my doubts about the extent to which a Wal-Mart model
will work in India due to cultural differences. This might work in
major cities but I have my doubts about its success in smaller
towns in India. There have been many instances where the Wal-
Mart model didn’t work including certain European countries.
However, I do believe that to certain extent the farmers will be
benefitted due to removal of the middlemen in the supply chain.
Moreover, I also believe that Kirana stores are here to stay and
major retailers will not be able to get rid of them completely.

13


TIME
constraint being the fact that there are only 24 hours in a day.

We think that there are 60 seconds in a minute and 60 minutes
in an hour but it does not always run at the same pace and puz-
zles you. Whenever I walk from hostel to the Father Prabhu Hall
for an exam, the journey takes eternity and then there are mo-
ments such as when you work with friends in group that time
just flies. I still don’t know where the one week break between
term-1 and term-2 went. There are moments during lectures
when you check your watch every five minutes to find out that
only one minute has passed and then there are moments when
you wake up after five minutes dumbfound to see that the clock
has advanced by one hour. Time is enigmatic.

Time is unfolding itself at a much faster rate and we are almost
midway in our course. If you look back in your life, you will real-
ize that a lot has changed in the past six months and a lot will
change in the coming six months.

The best thing about the future is that it
comes one day at a time.
The decision to become a student again has brought in new dis-
coveries and has changed life. One of the prominent changes - Abraham Lincoln
has been in the way I perceive and value ‘Time’. As I went from
Thank GOD it’s Friday to Thank GOD it’s Saturday, I realized that
days no longer matter here and even Sundays may not be yours. We must use time wisely and forever real-
Very quickly I forgot what weekends are. You don’t realize when
days merge into nights and when sunlight destroys the darkness. ize that the time is always ripe to do right.
Sometimes I wake up in nights and sometimes I sleep during - Nelson Mandela
days. The snooze button in the alarm has become my best
friend.

Time has become the biggest luxury of life. As I usually joke with
~ Gaurav Mittal (GMP 2012-13)
my friends when they make me wait that “One year MBA is not
to waste time waiting for someone”, every second counts here.
It matters how one does the balancing act among academics,
extra-curricular and future prospects. Tradeoffs are inevitable.
At any given moment the plate if always full as there is so much
to be done. If completion of an assignment brings satisfaction
then extension of a deadline brings the greatest joy. As you fin-
ish one task and tends to feel a bit relaxed, the other starts pok-
ing from nowhere such that to remain free also you have to put
in efforts. The waiting queue of work seems to have an infinite
source and this supply chain mechanism is unbreakable and so
consistent. You have no choice but to adopt just in time. It is as
if we are trying to maximize the value of MBA with the biggest

14


jNANAM Sharanam Gachammi –We take the shelter of knowledge
to make most of the ideas of the students from one of the top
institutes of the country is up for grabs. Doing my math right, I
calculated that GMP has a cumulative work experience of 833
years at a given point of time (the average experience in GMP is
almost 7yrs * 119 students). Couple this with the experience of
professors who have the perfect blend of industry and academ-
ics.

Very much inspired with this thought is born the concept of
jNANAM Shastra (The science of knowledge). In case of an MBA
institute, it lies in Academics and Peer Learning. Since XLRI com-
pletely takes care of Academics, jNANAM Shastra aims to focus
on Peer Learning where GMPians have agreed to take one 60-90
min session each highlighting their industry and workplace expe-
rience and give crucial insights.

One year full time executive MBA or PGDM programs are be- The concept amidst the packed academic rigor, is starting to
coming more and more popular in India. XLRI Jamshedpur pio- take pace slowly. Sessions on meditation and Business process
neered this arena when it started the General Management transitions have inspired everyone to contribute. Professors of
Program (GMP). Also, Students now understand the im- XLRI are also invited for discussions and their success stories to
portance of first learning at the work place and gain some ex-
enhance the richness of the discussion. I am very confident that
perience before they get into formal management education.
One-year programs from the top management institutes usu- this would be one of the biggest takeaways for future leaders
ally have a minimum work experience requirements like XLRI- from XLRI GMP and will help broadening their horizon that will
GMP has a minimum of 5 years of work experience in a mana- shape India of tomorrow. I hope my colleagues and future
gerial role as one of their primary eligibility criteria. Studying in batches will nurture the seed that has been sown and will evolve
XLRI GMP and about almost half-way through the course, I am this idea into an evergreen tree of knowledge.
able to get a firsthand experience of the differences those 5+
years of work experience can make in a classroom study.

The discussions on a particular topic are analyzed by many per-
spectives and directions we wouldn’t have otherwise thought of.
Professionals from Finance, Marketing, Shipping, Oil & Gas, A little knowledge that acts is
Manufacturing, Automotive, IT and Doctors and Entrepreneurs
all pitch in to bring in radically different perspectives onto the worth infinitely more than much
classroom discussion. This is the essence of an executive MBA.
Though your primary interests of diversifying your knowledge knowledge that is idle.
remains intact, you implicitly contribute towards the learning of
others in the batch. It is a give-and-take relationship that leads —Khalil Gibran
to a win-win situation for everyone.

~Vivek Srinivasan (GMP 2012-13)
Sitting in the back bench of the class, each time a new dimension
was brought in, a thought crossed my mind that this diversity
and plethora and experience constitute a large pool of
knowledge. If channelized properly it is indeed a golden oppor-
tunity for peer learning. The quest for knowledge and the desire

15


Alumni Speak: Interview with Shailendra Kumar

Considering XLRI GMP is a collection of experienced individu-
als, how are the expectations at the time of interview or join-
ing different from other MBA candidates?

Any recruiter will look at you as someone who can relate the
theoretical concepts to real life situations. Obviously, we are
not looking for someone with tons of knowledge but one with
the right aptitude for the job, in our case consulting aptitude.

~Interviewed by GliMPse team
Shailendra Kumar
XLRI GMP Batch 2008,
Solution Manager at TCS Global Consulting Practice
Shailendra conceptualizes, develops as well as sells solu-
Shailendra had a brief discussion with the XLRI GMP students on
tions for problems at the intersection of business and tech-
career plans, post MBA growth and shared insights into his field.
nology in crucial domains including but not limited to -post
How significant you find the values XLRI has embedded in you merger integrations, globalization, time to market, custom-
in your job er centricity etc.

XLRI has imbibed in us a deep sense of human values. These
values manifest themselves in behaviour at work like respect
for individual, humility, rational thinking and professionalism. I
feel the pedagogy, professors and the entire XLRI culture,
which is unique, had contributed in the manifestation of such
qualities.

What is your typical day in office like?

A day in life at office would be a mix of Solution Assets creation,
Sales support, Self-learning, and discussion with customers. Of
course there‘s coffee or tea in the mid mornings, afternoons
and evenings.

What is a typical career path in this field? How often are there
advancement opportunities? Is most advancement within or
across organizations?

Growth in any consulting career depends a lot on individual
abilities. In TCS consulting practice, there are at least 10 com-
petency groups. One is encouraged to move across these
groups to develop integrated consulting capabilities. I have What we become depends on what we read after
worked in 2 of such competency groups in last 4 years. all of the professors have finished with us. The
What do people in your field look for in a candidate? (Skills, greatest university of all is a collection of books -
personal qualities)
Thomas Carlyle
Strong Analytical skills, Industry Knowledge, Articulation and
Aptitude for continual learning

16


IT, B-Schools and Primary Education

ture. After installing the desktop and data card, they spent 2-3
days with the local children and educated them about internet
Are Information Technology (IT) and B-Schools all about higher
usage. The enthusiasm that children demonstrated when ex-
education? No. In XLRI, few GMPians started a project to fulfill
posed to this new technology was remarkable. This shows that
one of their super ordinal goals of providing education to un-
rural population lacks resources and not the spirit. Our batch
derprivileged rural kids. Here, I will try to explore whether the
mates also shared their mobile number with the children.
effort makes sense at national level.
Now, the whole community has access to XLRI students. The
In September 2000, a pledge was made to achieve the Millen- project is still in progress and lot of work has to be done. Cur-
nium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, and “Achieve Uni- rently, the project has connected approximately 100 children to
versal Primary Education” was ranked second in that list. We the outside world and quality learning.
are already in the 12th year of this pledge and even now there
However, I see a huge potential in this. If 3900 (approximately)
has been little progress in rural India with respect to the MDG
B-Schools of India start at least one such centre in rural India
objectives. Currently approx. 31 % of the rural population is
with a penetration of 100 children associated with each centre.
illiterate and around 41 % of female rural population is illit-
We can connect with 390000 children every year. If such pro-
erate. It is very clear that rural population needs special atten-
jects are formally infused in MBA curriculum, we will certainly
tion, which government alone might not be able to provide.
be able to move one step closer to the millennium develop-
Inspired by this need, GMPians decided to do something for a ment goal # 2 Achieve Universal Primary Educations.
village of rural East Singhbhum district. Although use of IT is
~Amar Kumar (GMP 2012-13)
widespread in higher education, impact of IT in primary educa-
tion is not fully understood. IT can contribute to remote access
and equity in education, the delivery of quality learning andIn India today, 4% of our children never start
teaching, teachers’ professional development and more effi- school – that’s 8 million. 57% don’t complete pri-
cient education management, governance and administration.
mary schools – that’s 74 million. And 90% don’t
The next target was to implement the idea perceived by GMPi- complete school – that’s 172 million.
ans. They bought an old desktop computer, internet data card,
and few books of various classes with the help of an IIT JEE ~ Source: Teach For India
coaching institute from Jamshedpur. They networked with the
village people to establish the required e-learning infrastruc-

17


The Joy of Giving...

It's not how much we give but how much love we put into giv- to make a difference TODAY!
ing.” : Mother Teresa
We at GMP as a team felt an ardent need to do something spe-
Opportunities to give and help others are everywhere. If we cial, to give and to spread love and happiness under the aegis of
just look around us, someone somewhere could use a kind Joy of Giving and came up with the idea of two events " Serve
word today. Someone needs to know that they are those who serve US" and “Spandan “.
loved. Someone is struggling financially and there is something
Serve those who serve US – a gesture of appreciation to people
we can do to help if even a little. Someone simply needs a
who serve us
hug. Someone wants to be heard and given some time and
attention. We organized breakfast for the GMP Mess People, Dhobi and
Guards at XLRI Canteen on 7th October'2012 (Morning)
The following story is a great illustration of the value of giving,
loving, sharing, and doing today. Despite the inexperience in cooking, we could manage cooking
A rich man once asked a friend, Why am I criticized for being some lip smacking items and do a great hospitable job in serving
miserly? Everyone knows I will leave everything to charity when 26 people. The memories of the cooking experience will defi-
I die. Well, said the friend, let me tell you about the pig and the nitely be treasured forever by each one of us. It was a fun-filled
cow. The pig was lamenting to the cow one day about how morning and the smiles on the faces of all guests made it more
unpopular he was. special and meaningful.

People are always talking about your gentleness and kindness,
said the pig. Sure you give milk and cream, but I give more. I Spandan 2012: Come, let's play together. Be a child for a
give bacon, ham, bristles. They even pickle my feet! Still, no- CHILD - a joy fest for children and a fund raising event.
body likes me. Whis is this? The cow thought a minute, then
replied, Well, maybe it is because I give while I am still living. – We organized a small fest at Old Campus Area ( Badminton/
Sunshine Magazine Tennis Court near the faculty Quarters ) on 7th October'2012
(Evening)
Each one of us wants to make to make a difference in the world
we live in .But the question remains “How to make it happen”.
We need a platform to make it happen. So when the Joy of Giv-
ing week was approaching, we realized we found a platform and

18


We had put up stalls for different fun filled games such as its purpose of giving and spreading happiness.
Dart Board, Hoop the Loop, Break the Pyramid etc. to be Special thanks to Kalamandir, SIGMA Team, Prof Madhukar
played by the children from the NGO Kalamandir, XLRI stu- Shukla and James Sir for helping us.
dents, Faculty, Staff and their children.

Attractive gifts were given to winners at each of the stalls.
Cheers to GMP and Cheers to the cause.
It was a fun filled evening with music, lot of individual and It is more blessed to give than to receive. ~Acts 20:35
team based games apart from the stalls.
It is just an end of a beginning.
Through this initiative, we tried the whole XL community to
Happy Giving!
be part of Joy of Giving week in a fun filled and inclusive way.
~JoGW Team (GMP 2012-13)
The enthusiasm and the happiness on the faces of the 32 kids
that came from Kalamandir made it very special and poignant
for each one of us associated with the event. Thank you kids!
We were privileged to host you.

Kudos to the whole GMP who came forward with their volun-
tary contributions and selfless efforts. We raised Rs 15300!

Despite the pressing schedule we pulled off the event with
great enthusiasm and spirit. The festival of philanthropy helped
us experience the true sense of happiness one achieves
through selfless and unconditional acts of service. It reinforced
our belief that realization of happiness and achievement is not
in ownership in sharing.

We are committed to pass on this legacy to incoming GMP
batches and make it an annual event and an integral part of
GMP culture in years to come. Taking names would be disser-
vice to all involved, as the efforts put by each and every individ-
ual (GMPians and their spouses) made both the events achieve

19


GMPians in the News…
Harsh Pamnani, a GMPian, was in the spotlight for his articles
being published on popular websites http://
entrepreneurindia.in/ and http://www.informationweek.in/.
Read on to get a peek into his top articles.

1. CarWale in Top Gear

CarWale.com is India's largest automotive portal and one of the
few successful exits in Indian internet industry.It raised Venture
Capital from two funds and in 2010, Axel Springer (the largest
publishing house in Europe) and India Today group acquired a
major stake in the company.

This article covers learnings on how to build a scalable, sustain- Harsh has more than 7 years of experience in Technology, Con-
able and sellable business from the CarWale model. This was sulting, Entrepreneurship & Business Development. He is an
one of the "Most Popular" article in Entrepreneur Magazine. active speaker and moderator, he is alumnus of IET-DAVV, In-
dore and currently, pursuing his General Management Program
Article URL : at XLRI
http://entrepreneurindia.in/uncategorized/carwale-in-top-
gear/16170/
Rajeev Ranjan completed the Airtel Delhi half marathon Sep-
2. Purple cows in India tember 2012.He has also completed 2 half marathons, 2 10kms
This article is based on Seth Godin's book - The Purple Cow. It runs and a 100km trail.
covers a few Indian examples of successful implementation of
Purple Cow strategies (Mouthshut.com, Goli Vada Pav, Kolaveri
Di song & Hokey Pokey ice creams).

This was the "Most Popular" article in Entrepreneur Magazine
in July,2012.

Article URL : http://entrepreneurindia.in/people/offbeat/purple
-cows-in-india/14039/

3. Evolution of technology products

Every year millions of dollars are spent and thousands of work-
ing hours are put by talented people to develop fascinating
technology products. But only ‘few’ products become market
leaders, ‘a few’ survive, while the rest of them die. This article
"Physical fitness and Mental fitness go hand in hand. The rigor
covers why certain products have succeeded in creating a new
at XLRI GMP constantly stretches the latter and I keep running
market, while many have failed. This article is based on
to improve the former" - Rajeev Ranjan
Geoffrey Moore's book “Crossing the Chasm”. It covers strate-
gies of successful technology products and explains the topic
with example of Facebook.

Article URL: http://www.informationweek.in/Software/11-06-
30/Evolution_of_technology_products.aspx

20


21


I LOCKED it!!!
Scene 1 - Nov 21, 2004 3:45 PM

"Shut up! And close the door." screamed my brother when I
went in the room disturbing his afternoon nap on a sunny
SUNDAY. All I could do was, shout as much as I could. With
my jaws agonising in pain, I didn’t have any idea of what was
going on.

Scene 2 - Nov 21, 2004 3:35 PM

It was during my 7th Term (final year) engineering exams. Sun-
day afternoons were generally my little nap time and it
helped me study late at night. I woke up around 3.35 PM with
a big yawn. Next thing I remember was that I couldn’t close
my mouth. Initially, I thought that this was some kind of a
stupid dream that I always used to get, especially during ex-
ams. But the immense pain in my jaw brought me back to burst out laughing each time the topic came up. …Only fools
reality. I did not have the slightest of the clues of what was laugh at themselves.
going on. I went to my brother and with me shouting (which I Scene 4 – Dec 2, 2005 06:00 AM
always do watching a football or a cricket match), he shouted
back…. This time I was out of college and about to go to work. That day
was our Company Annual day and that our training batch was
I was running around making all sorts of animal sounds. For- doing a skit, a typical remake of SHOLAY in the IT industry. I
tunately, there was a doctor (a friend) living nearby. I had to was, the obvious, GABBAR SINGH, bald HARI SINGH, who
write down on a piece of paper how I felt. My first question throughout the skit had to shout on top of his voice. I woke up
to the doc, "Dude what’s happening?" (..to me...ha ha ha). at 6 a.m. as I had to complete some work before we could go to
Lock-Jaw is not a disease but a dislocation of the jaw pre- the auditorium for final rehearsals. And Kazaam!!!--- I couldn't
venting it from closing as the joint is not in its original posi- close my mouth. Yes I had locked my jaw again. Though I was
tion. It is very similar to Shoulder dislocations (generally for yet again in the pain seat, my family members seem to be very
athletes). Sounds scary, doesn't it? Well, I bet I can tell you happy, as they could witness the event live which they missed
that it was more painful that it sounds. Since he was an eye last time. Following the tradition, we went back to same doc
doctor he couldn’t help much. But Doctors do have contacts who helped me last time. The Auto danced to the tunes of a
and in India the close ones ALWAYS help. One of his doctor- bhojpuri sung, the steps guided by the potholes. Thanks to high
friend was in his dispensary and asked me to come down to rainfall and the municipality which had just started the work.
the hospital. The auto-wala, was doing a good job until he couldn’t avoid a
big one. The rickshaw bumped about 2-3 feet in air……
Scene 3 - Nov 21, 2004 5:35 PM
Scene 5 – Dec 2, 2005 06:30 AM
After a 2 hrs of drama, we hit oil. The jaw was repositioned
manually. Did I say I couldn’t close my mouth or swallow, The impact of the rickshaw with the ground got my jaw back to
leave alone drinking water or taking pain killers? It seems that its position. Wow! What a rip-off. I was very happy that I had
the muscle in the jaw is one of the strongest and hence the found a unique way to solve lock-jaws in future and didn’t have
most painful when stretched. Trivia all that I was wanting to to disturbing doctors at 6.00 a.m. in the morning. And yes, the
know…. skit went fine. GABBAR was a hit and we won 2nd prize....

The “best” part was that I couldn't even laugh or talk about it ~ Vivek Srinivasan (GMP 2012-13)
for the next 2-3 days and my family members and friends

22


GMP Chaupal : Creativity Reservoir

फिर हम विद्यार्थी ! Make your day!
दोस्तों , आज हम ममले हैं जाने कहााँ कहााँ से Wake up friend, the sun has risen
साथ लाये अपना अनभव, अपना ज्ञान, हर जहााँ से
ु There is a new light on the horizon
दननया दे खी, घर बसाया, फिर एक बहुत बड़ा कदम उठाया
ु Its the time to start a new day,
तम्हारी तरह मैं भी, बहुत कछ छोड़ क आया !
ु ु े And get set ready to stride your way

यही वक़्त है , जब हम जो थोडा डरते हैं डरने से Forget yesterday, the trials and tribulations,
पर जो थक नहीीं हैं अभी कछ करने से
े ु Experience today's joys and jubilations
इनतहास क्या बनाएींगे ये तो वक़्त बताएगा, पर हमें कछ नहीीं
ु Set your sights on the goals far away,
जताना
Whatever be the hurdles, just keep going your way
ये लड़ाई, ये ललकार अपनी है , हमें खुद को है बताना!

Undaunted by the setbacks and the derisions,
साल कम है , पर ये तो मसि आने वाली सीख़ की तैयारी है
फ
Keep striving hard, and add new dimensions
ज़िन्दगी पड़ी है , अब सीखेंगे तमसे भी, बन गयी जो यारी है
ु
हम काबबल हैं, ये महा-काबीलों की पाठशाला है Cast away your doubts and make a foray,

कछ भी हो सकता है , पर कछ बुरा तो नहीीं होने वाला है !
ु ु
Win or lose, your efforts are here to stay

साथ पढें गे, सीखेंगे, फिर नाचें गे और गायेंगे Don't look back at the things that have frozen,
सालों बाद, फिर यही पल हमें याद आयेंगे Just look up at the sky, it’s a new season!
हम ही हम हैं तो क्या हम है You might not instantly make the mark today,
तम जैसे दोस्त ममले, ये क्या कछ कम है !
ु ु But the pleasure of trying will surely make your day!

~ Tanmay Chakraborty (GMP 2012-13)
~ Onkar Sabnis (GMP 2012-13)

23


The brush and the colors

~ Prof. Arundhati Sarkar Bose

~ Nivedita Samal (GMP 2012-13)

24


Mind Benders

“Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its  A Billionaire at his death bed calls his two sons to tell them
original dimensions” – Oliver Wendell Holmes. he wants to transfer all his wealth to only one of them, the
one who wins a race. He gives them a camel each and tells
So, stretch your mind, and unleash the hidden talent of your
them – one whose camel reaches the finish line 2nd wins all
grey cells. Send the answers to these mind benders to
the money. The sons, confused, go to a fakir who advices
g1213glimpse@astra.xlri.ac.in. The first two senders of all-
them. The sons go back and start racing the camels towards
correct entries will receive a surprise gift.
the finish line. What was the fakir’s advice?
 A man comes back from a business trip with 100 coins to
share with his two children. He places the coins on a table  A Man walks to the bar and asks for a glass of water. The
with 60 of the coins heads up, and the rest tails up. Then he bartender shows him a gun and the man returns back hap-
turns out the light so that it is completely dark. He tells his py. What was the man’s problem?
son that he must split the coins into two groups. He then
tells his daughter that she may decide which of the two
groups is hers, and which her brother’s is. They will then
turn the light back on, and each child may only keep the
coins in his or her group that are heads up. (Dad gets to
keep all the tails up coins.). When the light is off, the chil-
dren cannot see or feel the orientation of the coins. The
little boy is determined to devise a strategy that will
*guarantee* that, no matter which group his sister picks,
they will both end up with the same number of coins. What
should the little boy do?

25


The GliMPse Experience
Being a part of the editorial team and creating something that deals with OUR lives has been
nothing less than sheer pleasure ~ Abhilasha

Beyond bringing our life and achievements to light, brainstorming with members having innovative
ideas has been enthralling -Darshan

GliMPse has provided me a platform to enhance my creativity by interacting with like-minded
people ~ Jay Prakash

Over a period of time, XLRI GMP has become a melting pot of ideas ~ Amar Kumar

Each part of the journey has been a unique value-adding experience. ~ Abhik

It provided multiple opportunities to interact with industry leaders, and gain first-hand insights
into industry issues ~ Viswa

GliMPse is a wonderful platform to showcase the multi-faceted talents of the GMP batch ~ Onkar

Creativity allows you to make mistakes. Art tells you which ones to keep. Thank you team-
mates for all your support. ~ Manikandan. K

It’s a true glimpse to the wonderful Kingdom XLRI, where talent thrives in many forms ~ Titash

Being part of GliMPse team gives me an opportunity to work with and understand the GMP cohort
more. ~ Gaurav

26

Gli m pse 2012-13 - issue 1_final

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