Rohtak and More

On the way to IIM Rohtak, stopped in Delhi for two interesting meetings this weekend. One was to meet a couple of friends and batchmates who go back 30 years. This was catching up on old times (again, coz we have been meeting regularly, but it's fun anyway).

Another catch-up happened with a former student-turned friend, Padmapriya (I have a lot of these, having spent many years teaching and non-teaching or administering), who is now married and settled in Delhi. Both wife and husband will most likely work with an NGO that is into poverty alleviation. Both did a course in the US on Public admin (master's). Why we don't have such courses is a question worth thinking about. We do need good public admin skills in governing a vast country like India, and we need a lot of research backing our policies.

At IIM Rohtak, an old friend and colleague is currently the Director. I am here to teach a doctoral course on Marketing Models. Interesting, new to me and with a lot of potential for learning. Might also offer it at Indore sometime.

My first visit to the MD University campus, the temporary home of IIM R, and I am impressed by the planned layout and its cleanly maintained surroundings. It is cold as hell, though, but I am prepared with enough things made of wool, so it's fine. The rooms have a heater too. Met a few faculty visiting from IIT Delhi, GIM, and IIFT, here to teach various courses.

Kilkari- A Social Initiative by Students

IMT students have an organisation called Kilkari (Hindi word that represents a sound like chirping, I guess), that contributes in a small way to an NGO that runs a school for deaf and dumb or otherwise challenged kids in Katol, a town near us. These kids study up to 10th grade in their school, and also learn other useful crafts which they can use to make a living if required.

Every year, IMT students bring them all for a day of fun and outing to our campus. The kids sing, dance, play on the grounds, and get to enjoy a day out among our students. Today was one such day. The parts that I saw of the cultural program were heart-warming, with a girl dancing with abandon to a hit Tamil song, and another singing flawlessly a Hindi song.

It is indeed a nice thing to do. We started it in 2009, before I got here, thanks to my predecessor and a faculty member, Prof. Ekkirala. Got to know a little bit of the school's struggle in its eighteen year-existence, and that restored my faith in humanity a little. There are so many negatives surrounding us daily, that the positives are like a breath of fresh air. We need more fresh air!