Gujarat and Rajasthan

 I have been mostly to Ahmedabad, usually as a guest of an educational institute- IIMA, Nirma, and MICA being my hosts in the trips I remember, and a University in Anand once. Therefore, I don't have too many recollections, except the people I met who were uniformly hospitable, unlike the land, which is mostly dry and dusty, and somewhat similar to the Dubai landscape I have seen, minus the huge towers.

My memories are mostly about people, therefore- Varsha and Anita at MICA, Manjari and Ankita, Ishan Joshi, Keyur Bhalavat (some of them entrepreneurs like true-blue Gujjus usually are). Some pics including a couple from neighbouring Rajasthan.

- 

Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, a desert destination, worth visiting-above and below.

Manjari Mundanad and Punyashlok Dwibedy above, and Ankita/Ishan Joshi, Keyur and others, below.

The MICA team with Varsha, Anita Basalingappa and others. I was there for a Ph.D. viva of a student of Anita's.

Ahmedabad Reunions 2019

I don't go to Ahmedabad too often. But during this trip, I managed to catch up with some more IMT Nagpur alumni..we had talked about it recently, and it actually happened. So here is the photographic evidence- a larger group first, and later, two more at another place. This visit came about courtesy an invite from Prof. Varsha Jain of MICA, but more on that in another post-

We tried out different angles, to find the best one-

At Ahd. Mgt. Association Board Room, with Manjari and Punyashlok, both pursuing a Ph.D.

The PGP (MX) Program

I was in Mumbai to attend the inauguration of a weekend program for working executives we run in Belapur (new Mumbai). There is a good amount of interest among working people to do this to enhance their qualifications, and learn some management concepts. Currently, many candidates are self-sponosored, but going forward, companies might consider sponosoring their executives, so that they turn out more effective in their jobs, or get to leadership positions in the organisation and shoulder more responsibility.

We have had this program for a few years now out of a temporary campus near CBD Belapur. We are likely to move into our own campus in a few months. That will give us much-needed space to add a library and a few other things to this outreach campus. Other IIMs that have a second campus are Lucknow-NOIDA and Kozhikode-Kochi. There were plans to have an Ahmedabad campus in Mumbai and Bangalore campus in Singapore many years ago, but they came to nought.

Maybe a few foreign universities starting MBA programs could shake up the IIMs and prod all of them towards thinking global. Right now, an assured domestic market of Indian students ensures some complacency.