Why IMT Nagpur Was Magical

 Can't put my finger on one thing, but I think the place had a vibe that was special. It included the people, and the way they interacted with each other. The students, the faculty, the staff, and also some of the inanimate objects. That may sound strange, but tangible inanimates do play a role in our lives. The grass, the trees, and the rocks. The design of some rooms, colour of the walls (Red Bricks in this case). 

Most of all, the people. Kirloskar Institute in Harihar (where I worked a few years before IMT) had this vibe too. In addition to a very tangible Golf course, but that's another matter.

The students had a mix of IQ and EQ that put them in a unique category, with a high total score. Other Qs too, perhaps. After all, we are multidimensional. So I would say that people brought their uniqueness to it,  being from different corners of the country. The faculty were actually global- many had studied or worked abroad.

Diversity makes a campus more vibrant, and we saw it in all IIMs I was at- to study or to work- 4 in all. We had it in good measure. I am still able to meet alums in Ahmedabad, Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Pune and Hyderabad if I visit these places- so many years after I stopped working at IMT. Many faculty have stayed for 15 years or more! Another sign of a good place!

The autonomy we enjoyed in running the place was also a contributing factor. Which meant student and faculty needs could be met without looking over our shoulder. 

Reuniting with KIAMS Alumni

I have actually met a few in the last months, some for the first time, and others after a long/very long time. I also met a few abroad, like Smita Mohan in Dubai, and Swapna and Vidya in Singapore some years ago. It was always a warm and fuzzy feeling. So it was when I again met a few alums in Mumbai recently. This time it was Nishka and Vikram Rathi, and Ashustosh. After 14-15 years!

We discussed everything under the Sun, from Ghostwriting, to organisational culture, to NBFCs, to Tata International (they had a Dewas factory), Davangere eateries, and good speakers, road trips, and dogs on campuses. And teenage tantrums, though Nishka and Vikram don't look old enough to have a teenaged kid!

 Savitha from Batch 1above, and Sharmistha and Sunil Kataria from B4 below.

Anushka Mishra (above) from a recent batch and Dheeraj Mohan from a batch I taught (B3/B4?)

Story of My Books

I have written a few books- pic below. So how did that come about?

Well, the first urge to write happened around 2000, when I was in Kirloskar Institute of Advanced Management Studies, Harihar. I taught Marketing Research there, and felt unhappy with the choice of books then. My librarian Manjunath (who went to TAPMI later) put me in touch with Tapas Maji at Tata McGraw-Hill, and I gave them a proposal. It went through after some changes suggested by them, and the book was completed with help from some staff and students who contributed cases to it out of their course projects. By the time it was published in 2002, I was at IIM Lucknow.  It is now in its 4th edition (just released in 2019), having become popular over the years. The latest edition has a lot of cases contributed by IIM Indore students. The Indian cases are a big draw (thanks to student contributors), along with the down-to-earth explanation of statistical techniques, according to feedback I have received from readers-many in person.

I have also written Services Marketing (3 editions), International Marketing, and a book on Brand Management (limited edition, with Bhagyalakshmi Venkatesh). Then, the bug to write an autobiography came over me, and I penned My Experiments With Half-truths, which I self-published with pothi, which had just started the trend of Print-on-demand (POD) in India-coincidentally, Jaya Jha, its founder, was an alum of IIM Lucknow. (Jaya appears with Sharu Rangnekar in the pic at Crossword below- the first pic is a launch of Digital Marketing Cases from India at IIM Indore with Subin Sudhir, Rishikesha Krishnan and my co-editor Romi)

Last year, along with Romi Sainy, I co-edited a book on Digital Marketing Cases with contributions from former students of IMT Nagpur, Jaipuria and IIM Indore, among others. Ambition? Maybe to compile one on Tourism or Services Marketing Cases. Any takers who wish to contribute?

My Students Over The Years

Students Over the Years- Part (2019 Edition)

Part 1

Sanjana Rao Yarram

She was awesome as Lady Bracknell in the staging of The Importance of Being Earnest, and off the stage too. Wanted to be in H.R., but a twist of fate saw her in a marketing job. She calls Hyderabad her home- good for her.

Bhuvneet Raheja

One of a gang of three who enjoyed themselves thoroughly in my Advertising course (or in spite of it) at Indore. Came back suited and booted (and cheerful as ever) to visit the campus, and has been through a couple of job changes since. From Lucknow, where I once worked.

Abhinav Kamal

The only film director I know personally. Started directing films while he was a student at IMT Nagpur, and did a decent job. Now into a variety of projects, has been assistant director of Stree, 2018’s big hit. He was also a digital marketer in between, and started Ten Motion Arts.

Part 2

Sreeram Ramakrishnan

One of those who turned into an author post-MBA from IMT Nagpur. Kalyug, his debut novel, is a great political thriller written in the Ludlum style. He also dabbles in some jobs, while indulging in this passion, writing. We caught up in Bangalore a couple of times, with his wife Gowri, also an ex-student.

Pallavi Sharma

I didn’t know I had a twin (my Mom did not tell me- Facebook did) until I met her and her hubby at Bangalore. She is from Bhopal, as a lot of my pals seem to be..or at least from M.P. I can think of Shafique, Animesh Jain, Tosha Dubey, Ayushi, and a few others. We first had a biryani, and then she made a fantastic meal at home for me and my wife. Thanks to her, I also met Vrinda Khanna and family at Delhi.

Sapna Patni

A smart student, she Joined Mondelez (Cadbury of yore) after her MBA from Indore. Had some entrepreneurial ambitions along the way, too. I have always wondered about this surname- what will the (future) husband call her? Sapna, or just Patni?

Swathika Selvam

We discovered (through a facebook picture) that her grandfather and I had worked together at KIAMS, Harihar (disregard the age reference- I am young). We had connected earlier on a Google Online Marketing Challenge where she was in the winning team, and that was a rocking IIM Indore team. She also dabbled in the Pi Shop, a student-run retail store.

Part 3

Shruti Suman

She was in my Digital Marketing course at Indore, and a member of the Media/communications team of students too. I later discovered that she grew up in a mining town like me, though in a different part of India. Would have succeeded Indra Nooyi, had she stuck around at Pepsi.

Ruminder Kaur

One of the long line of Kaurs who proved my Kaur competence-that I could make friends with them all – Barleen, Harshdeep, Jasmine, Jasleen, and Harnam being some of the others. We continue to have tete-a-tetes on social media.

Aradhya Vats

A self-proclaimed nerd, she was good enough to do a project with me that turned into a conference paper-BEFORE she had done any formal marketing course. Continues to be a good student, and I am quite sure, will turn into a successful manager.

Siri Adi

Her dad makes great coffee. Really! She is a bubbly Market-researcher (my profession at one time), currently, in Mumbai. I still have to make it to her place for a home-cooked breakfast to go with that coffee, sometime-there’s an open invitation. We also share some Telugu talk, at times.

Part 4

Shraddha Nigdikar

This one I have had cook for me. I like such students. Her Mom and Dad were also present, and it was fun talking about Bhopal, where they are all from. A PR and marketing whiz earlier, she has also dabbled in behavioural training. She teaches me how to take selfies, in her spare time.

Abha Kulkarni

We first met at her wedding! It was through Facebook that we made first contact, as she had been a student at IMT Nagpur. Got to meet her parents too, and her husband. We again met (Tosha was also there) at Spice Klub in Mumbai. Very articulate, and one of the few people I know who has been To Iceland! But she was cool before that too.

Shatakshi Tripathi

Another case of Facebook first! Eventually, this translated into a meeting and a trip to her place in Bangalore, but a Mutual Admiration Society happened before that. She also is into Digital Marketing, which helped, and so did her offer to write a case for my book. Now her Mom is also a facebook friend!

Meghana Joshi

One of the few MBAs I know who has stuck around in one job for many years. A place-commie from her IMT Nagpur batch, she also attended a Seminar on Thought Leadership that I had offered there. Organised a get-together with her classmates Vikas and Varun in The Good Wife at BKC. When I asked her why this place was called The Good wife, she quipped, “Because the good husband does not exist.” Amen! Or should it be Ah! Men?

Part 5

Urvasi Anand

The God Indra is not the only one who counts Urvashi (along with Rambha, and Menaka in his case) among his friends. I do too, on earth-maybe because there’s a bit of Indra in my name. A pleasure to meet this highly intelligent girl, thanks to Tosha (my party-organiser-in-chief), again. They both work pretty close to one another in Mumbai. A common interest in travel is a great conversation-starter, always. We all had a drink called Black Beauty that evening, proving a point!

Garima and Aditi

Golfer-students are always special, and therefore they are mentioned together, though they live in different countries now. I met Aditi in Ghaziabad briefly, and have met Garima a couple of times, and we continue conversations on fb. Lucky to meet Dwipa (Garima’s older sister) who was also a student at IMT, in a recent alum meet.

Dheeraj Mohan

A Kirloskar student, we connected a couple of times in Chennai, after many years of online banter when I was there on work trips. His enthusiasm and sense of humour are both infectious, undimmed by the responsibilities of marriage. I like that!

Anam Nuhi

Another Lucknow girl, and an Indore alum. Working in an unusual place (in Haryana), in a job mostly done by men, she is up to the task. A great chatterbox in the right company (my family and me), as I discovered recently when she visited Indore.

Part 6

Nikita Kumar

An exceptionally cool student from Kolkata (unlike someone we know!), who I met in Pune and Hyderabad during her work stints (once with Ritika, her colleague and friend), and bonded with. She is now happy and married (these two are not mutually exclusive, contrary to popular perception).

Akshat Surana

We caught up unexpectedly, at an alumni meet of IMT Nagpur held in Mumbai. It was nice to meet for real, after the facebook encounters. He was on his way to a flight back to Ahmedabad, and we ended up chatting for over an hour at the party- photographic evidence exists, thanks to Divya Pragati and her camera.

Sampark Sachdeva

Made sampark (contact) again at Mumbai, after having seen him at Kolkata a few years ago when he worked there-his smile remains exactly the same! We both remembered the earlier alum meet fondly, and enjoyed this one too.

Swapna Gurijala Reddy

She was sweet enough to invite me home in Singapore, and her husband joined in too, along with Vidya TC (I had been to her place in Mumbai when her daughter Sloka was new to the world). We relived the good old days from Kirloskar Institute, where she and Vidya were my students- and survived.

Part 7 

Anupriya Pandit

She is likely to protest (a common feature of those who are from Meerut, I think), but I was saving the best for the last. She is into marketing, and we met a couple of times earlier at Bangalore, when she happened to visit us (Jayasimha and me) in Indore. Relax-o, Anupriya, is my only advice to her- she works for the brand, you see.

Bharath Shenoy

We met for filter kaapi after long (after IFIM B School). His work involves a lot of travel, but he takes time off to indulge himself in some good photography and some song and dance along with his wife.

Smita Mohan

We worked for IMT together, she in Dubai and I, in Nagpur. But we go back a long way, to Kirloskar Institute, where she tells me she got an A in my course. No wonder she is so nice to me now, and we keep talking about meeting rather than actually doing so- one more of my nice Mallu friends!

Part 8

Shreyashi Chakraborty

We met when she was doing her FPM at IIM Calcutta, and she remains in touch after becoming a prof. in OB/HR at XLRI now. One of our bright and beautiful alums from IMT Nagpur. Had an encounter with the Big C, but just emerged smiling and stronger! Her good friend Radha works at Indore now.

Pragya Singh

She asserted that she does not want to ever marry, in our first meeting, over a kahwa. Well, I have absolutely no problem, maybe we’ll meet more often, if she does not have family commitments. I liked the attitude, and hope that her leaving Pune is not permanent.

Divya Singh

My guest faculty in Digital Marketing at the Mumbai campus, she has been cycling- so much that she started an agency called Cyclitics! After living in New Mumbai, found an even newer city to move to-Pune. Contributed a Case to my edited book. I discovered (yesterday) that she plays the guitar too- will hear it one day, I am sure.

Part 9

Bhawana Sahay

Actually, we did meet briefly at a Hyderabad theatre (Newton was the film), but it feels like I know her much more than that meeting.. maybe because she is a multiple winner of my Nice DP award, or maybe coz we are fellow Hyderabadis- kisku maloom?

Achint Aurora

A bold girl who does not pull her punches! From batch 1 of Kirloskar Institute, she had a tendency to skip her breakfast those days. We met in Bangalore a couple of years ago, but then she moved. So I have to search some more.. in the Northerly direction.

Aishwarya Omprakash

Well, you can’t go wrong with a name like that. This bright and chirpy girl has an equally beautiful daughter, and is married to a nice guy who is also from PES. Battling some ups and downs, they both remain unfazed.

Siddhartha Agarwal

A true-blue Kolkattan, who studied at Harihar. We first re-connected at an airport (Delhi?) where he was along with his wife. Then we met in Kolkata, where he showed me around and we picked up some cake from a specialty shop. Now busy with his kids.

Aishwarya Iyer

A bright student from IMT Nagpur (Iyers do tend to be- I am married to one and I should know), I remember meeting her at an alumni meet in Mumbai. After which, she got married and chose foreign shores. But I count myself lucky at knowing two Aishwaryas- no, three! Aishwarya Saraswat also! (There’s actually another one I know on fb- Aiswarya, but she’s not been my student-not sure how we met online).

Part 10

Shweta Sinha

One with a lovely voice, she took me to my first Vietnamese food joint- before I went to Vietnam and had Pho and Egg Coffee, I mean- and we had a long chat about advertising. Titan was then about to launch its saree range, if I remember correctly. She also does gigs at Bangalore and elsewhere.

Shruti Sharma

This one is a lovely singer, like Shweta Sinha. Has a two-girl band online that belts out some good songs. Earlier, I had heard her alone on Soundcloud, and liked her voice-still do.

Pradyumna Mohanty

Praddy, the guy who shot well with a camera, like Harshad Lunavat and Vivek Anant- his pics of Twinkle Jain were superb- (and the gals, Bhagyashree Agarwal and Sinha Anuja), elected to go abroad and pretty much live there. Occasionally, I see his camerawork though.  Was caught napping (by another camera) in his own Convocation at Nagpur.

Satchi Sahay/Shivangi Goel/Ayushi Aggarwal

All these were instances where an academic collaboration worked and translated into a conference presentation. They were all students of IIM Indore that I have lost touch with, as of now, (except online, maybe).

Arvind Joshi

The dancing dude (he teaches Salsa) from my Bangalore days (now in Pune), we met accidentally outside Pagdandi. Pragya Singh was in attendance too. Naturally, a passerby was asked to do the honours of clicking us in a threesome!

Part 11 (last one for now)

And..those who are remembered, but are mostly online now (or in some cases, have moved away to Instagram, maybe).. Yamini Shah, Dhawal Mankar, Pooja Talapatra, Aishani Verma, Anshita Abhishek Chetty (and her twins), Anjali Iyer, Shefali Dixit, Pavan Tarawade, Kedar Muley, Abdullah Ahmed, Akanksha Garg, Madhulika Gaur (we did meet in Bangalore a few years ago), Aditi Chawla Vaidya, Ishan Joshi, Nishka Rathi, Ronak Chandak, Aditi Prasad (ad girl?), Grafila Jain (the most unique first name yet), Swati Sinha, Monika Gharmalkar, Anushka Mishra, Anusha Mahendrakar, Pulkit More, Devank Kumar, Kritika Gupta, Abhilasha Jas, the Akash Gupta from IMT (known as Prof.), Sanchita Mathur, Supriya Jain, Shuchi Bhatnagar, Arshi Narang, Kaavish Kidwai, Laura Shah (the Austrian who speaks Hindi with me), Tamros Mondal, Damini Singh, Chittaranjan Paladhi, Nidhi Trivedi, Rutuja Kagwade, Neha Jha, Monika Ghosh, Raghavansharma Padmanabha (a shuttler of substance), Ratnashree Tripathi, Ram Ramchander, Avik Gugalia, Tanaya Kar Chaturvedi (globe-trotter and contender for the Miss photogenic award), Roopsha Chatterjee, Roshni Chhabra, Murtaza Kuwarawala, Nidhi Sharma Chanana, Nidhi Shukla, ...

Zahabiah Ahmed, Dhaarna Shandilya, Bhavana Daga (or Lady Daga-not to be confused with Gaga), Upasana Kharad, Urmi Patel, Chithra Krishna, Deepti Joshi Deshpande, Harshdeep Kaur, Jasleen Kaur Pandher (and her photographer friend who clicks her pics), Sonia Arora Luthra, Shilpa Arora, Kanika Bhatia, Phalguni Banerjee Basu, Aashish and Anusha Mamidanna, Pooja Daniel, Anthony Palathingal, Sharmistha Singh, Rashmi Manchanda, Deepa, Ranjana, Arundhati Singh, Zin Rupam Verma, Anchal Sharma, Nandini Saxena, Singh Pushpinder, Piyush Kukreja, Ishita Thapar, Meha Kapoor (now Ishq Meha, an RJ), Vidushi Gandhi, Meet Sabharwal, Shrishail, Oormila Ram, Ameet Savant, Divya Sharmaa, Praveen Kotta, Priyadarshi Matruprasad, Kallol Sarkar, Pushpak Sengupta, Preeti Gailot, Sowmyashree Gonibeedu, Eeshita Ghosh, Sudeep Jain, Roshan Kanth, Saptarshi Dasgupta, PVR (Prabhuvardhan Reddy), Meghana Khadilkar, Harshad Sachani (we met in Nagpur by chance, where I lived once), Sindhuja Gantayet, Chandana Kuruganty, Surbhi Vishwakarma, Ishita Modi, Vijaya Srivastava (I can recognise that pout anywhere!), Rohit Srivastav, Kanika Mhendiratta (who’s offered to be my photographer), Chaitra Hegde, Roopashree Narayan, Yogita, Divya Sisodiya (some great pics she keeps posting though)..

Someplace Else

Landed up at a pub in Park Hotel Kolkata called Someplace Else. A little noisy, but enthusiastic band tying out their act was a highlight. The hotel has three or four different bars, apparently, with Trinca's and Tantra being the other two. Saw a bit of the unwashed match between Pak and India too.

Met Siddharth Agarwal, a Kirloskar alum from Kolkata from a decade ago, and took a little tour of some places with him. Kookie Jar, a pastry shop on Rowden Street being one stop. A South Indian joint called Jyoti Vihar near the American consulate was the other.

The weather was decent, with rains making intermittent appearances, but not heavily. Also explored a Crossword near the Forum Mall (yes, like Bangalore, there is a Forum here too). Bought some Bill Bryson books along with a biography of Leela Naidu. First time I will read about an actress whom I have never seen on screen except a song here and there. Appears to have been a beautiful woman.