My NMIMS Years (2020-2022)

 My NMIMS Years (2020-2022) at Bangalore as Director

This could be the next chapter in my autobiography. This was a unique adventure that I shall remember for a lot of things. One, meeting Rajiv Krishnan, a schoolmate who now lives in Bangalore, after I left school in 1977… that makes it 43 years! And he looked almost the same as he did back then. He’s a H.R. honcho from XLRI, and worked at Korn Ferry. Another schoolmate, Atul Bhatia who had worked in Cadbury now Mondelez), gave a guest lecture online to our MBA students.  

The students at NMIMS were missing, because I joined during COVID times. Late 2020. Since March, the dance of the Corona pandemic was on. So my interview itself was online, and I joined a position that a former colleague Vinay, had occupied earlier- he was with me at IIM Lucknow.

 

I used the time I had to get to know the faculty and administration guys better, and the students, subsequently. We conducted an online Convocation- the first to do so in the NMIMS community- sometime in early 2021. We had to do another one for the 2021 batch later that year, and only the 2022 Convocation could be done in person. Divya Anand and Sreelekha helped with the second, and Manuja Seth (who’s from Shivpuri, M.P.), managed the first online Convo as the M.C. Brilliantly, I should add. Rakshita was one of the M.C.s for the physical Convo held at Satya Sai hall, next to Forum Mall.

 

Above- Manuja Seth.

 Below- Rakshita is in the centre. She was in the placement team and was also the M.C. at the convocation held later.

 

Faculty were the first to come back, and I found they were a hard-working lot. We did a couple of FDPs with them, on Research methods and Teaching Excellence. I also guest lectured in a few MBA classes and BBA and B.Sc. Analytics/Statistics classes. Found the students to be very bright, and diverse- they came from all over India through an entrance test. Bangalore was their second choice, after Mumbai, usually.

 

I got a taste of centralized decision-making, as many of the policy decisions were taken out of Mumbai, which cramped my style a bit. I am a votary of autonomy to the branches. The management had different ideas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The students, I first met online, and then, in person, with the exception of the placement team, which was in Bangalore throughout the pandemic. We also had a party to celebrate the successful closure of the 2021 batch placements! Ekalavya, the placement head, was the brain behind that happening, and the team really performed!

 

 

 One of the first students I met online before the inauguration was Mahek Singhal.

 

Later on, we met in person too, including at a Golf session during inauguration for the next batch. Above and below, in the photos, is Mahek.

 

 

 

 

 

A report-below- on how we oriented students in the first couple of days, including my session on personal branding and another on Golf!

 

 NMIMS Bengaluru Campus introduces personal branding (and Golf) at the 13^th MBA batch orientation program

 

Bengaluru, 9 June 2022: SVKM’s Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) Bengaluru Campus has introduced a first-of-its-kind session on ‘Personal Branding’ for students at the Orientation Program organized on the occasion of the 13^th batch MBA course starting here today.

 

A session was dedicated to ‘Personal Branding’ under the title of “The Brand Called You” and discussed the ways in which MBAs can build students’ build their own brands while studying at NMIMS Bengaluru Campus for use in the job market. Building a brand is a marketing technique to fetch premiums over other candidates in the professional career. Learning these techniques will help students showcase their interpersonal skills that not many students are able to do.

 

Personal brand building encourages students to develop extra-curricular activities, participate in competitions, and engage with the concerned faculty in class and outside. Ms Aditi Ashok is a great example of a big personal brand to emulate, from another field. She is a Golf player who has represented India at the Olympics in Golf.

 

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Rajendra Nargundkar, Director, NMIMS, Bengaluru Campus, said, “Every student needs to gear his personal branding to the target audience, maybe the first employer after MBA, and subsequently use these techniques in his career as he grows, adding more features to the brand image. So, it is important to start on the right footing which will help him brand for future in whichever field he opts for.”

  

The Chief Guest on the occasion was Mr Abhijit Sharma, Vice President, Data Labs, Landmark Group. Mr. Sharma said, “Prioritizing is what you will learn in the next two years. Be clear with where you want to go-make this your primary principle of prioritization. The best part of an MBA is having an opportunity to experience everything together and learn from each other, helping others in every way you can. Institutes have a certain character that comes from its stakeholders. One of the most critical pointers to note is the identity.”

 

A session on the second day of the Orientation Program will be dedicated to introducing students to Golf, a game popular amongst corporates and useful for networking with them.

 

 Meeting Old Alumni

 

Met a lot of alumni from various institutes, including IIM Indore (Shatakshi and Varun), KIAMS (Savitha, Nikhil Damle), and IMT (Anshita, Ishita, Anurag, Gowri, Sreeram, Anusha M. and Aashish, Rupam), IFIM (Chaithu), PES (Pooja Varun)…

 

The IMT Nagpur group, courtesy Anshita Abhishek Chetty, met at Orchid hotel, Koramangala, for lunch one afternoon. The big pic-

 

The next photograph is of Shatakshi and Varun, both alums of IIM Indore whom I never taught, but we met online and became good friends.

 

 

Shailaja Gupta Kapoor, who I did teach, started a big alumni group in Bangalore, that consists of alumni from all IIMs. I happened to attend the first couple of meets. They started small, but have expanded since. I met Nupur Prasmit of IIMK there, and happened to attend her wedding reception later (in 2023) after I moved to Indore!

 

Of course, one of the first alums I met was Savitha of batch 1 of KIAMS. She works for a Finnish Telecom firm, but she was with Deccan Herald when we met first. Also, she used to live right next to the NMIMS Koramangala campus earlier. We met a few times in my two years there. Once on the 13^th floor on MG Road, and at other times, on lower floors.

A pic from our first meeting, below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Golf Training

 I played Golf starting from my days at Kirloskar Institute of Advanced Management Studies in Harihar, around 1996. My colleagues Dhanapal and Vijayakumar, and YK Gaur, were my partners. Occasionally, got to play in Bangalore with friends- Ravi at BGC, or Muthu at KGA. But in later years, I found opportunities to start training students and faculty in playing Golf, when I was at IMT Nagpur. We actually created a Green and played in the evenings, and trained our students and colleagues. 

At IIM Indore, I used the cricket ground to play a few shots, and trained some students and faculty in the basics. Also a few MDP participants from various companies. 

At NMIMS Bangalore just after the COVID pandemic, we started playing on a green patch in campus, and many faculty or staff picked up the basic drive and Putt. It was great fun and the institute bought a kit subsequently.

I think schools or institutions should, where they have some space, try and teach this unique sport - it's not very expensive to do just a couple of shots and some putting. And the bragging rights for students are priceless!

Where I Mostly Taught Golf- NMIMS

 NMIMS Bangalore was where I was Director for two years, just when COVID had struck.. 2020 November till around 2022 October. It took a while to open the campus to physical classes. But once we did, we also started Golf training. Quite a few faculty (ladies and gents), along with students, got this training in the basics. I had also done this at IIM Indore and IMT Nagpur before. At Nagpur, Prof. Gadgil and I got a Green constructed, flag included, and played for half an hour at the end of the day with colleagues. Introduced students to it through a structured process in their induction week too. Some pics from NMIMS Bangalore-

Mutual Admiration Societies

 How many have you formed? Alas, non-living objects can't speak, or else we could have had thousands.

But with humans (not bots, yet- don't know enough of them or about them), we can have some. I have experienced this at all stages of life. One of my first officially recognised ones was with Meghna Sinha, who used to write a blog while she was a student. Later, we met a few times, and bonded over books and coffee, and other beverages. 

The others include a few more students of IMT Nagpur, some of Kirloskar Institute, a couple from PES and IFIM B School, and some of IIM Indore. NMIMS too, I guess... faculty included, in most of these. 

Anusha Soni of Bhopal who I met during her IIM Indore IPM stint, was one. We bonded over Guavas, Golf and small talk, and she treated me to a lunch in my hometown Pune (I think it was her first salary!) and came home too. 

Prachi Jain and gang was a delightful bunch of Ph.D. scholars at IIM Indore, and we have had fun outings in Delhi, Indore and one in Kolkata with a gang member (Akansh) recently.

Abha Kulkarni and Sheetal Garg have been members of an MAS for many years now. 

Pallavi Sharma/Bajpai and Shafique, naturally, because GB calls us twins- all three!

Shatakshi (the confused genius), who I did not teach at IIM I, and Anushka Mishra who I did not teach at Kirloskar, also.. due to Fb and later, physical meetings. 

Natasha Kothari, who I met at a wedding, and Rimjhim, who I met through a music group I am a part of with her Mom!

Of course, there are more, but let me list those in MAS part 2.. to be continued.

Part 2

Bhuvneet Raheja of IIM Indore, who is now at Google.. 

Ananya Nandi De, ex-IMT NAGPUR

Nikita Kumar- Likewise

Abhinav Kamal- Ditto

Nidhi Kanungo, who is now in the U.S.

Nishka Rathi, the Ghostwriter

Jogeswari, and Savitha.. from Kirloskar Institute

Preeti Ravikiran, faculty at NMIMS. Tanmeet Kaur, likewise.

Ekalavya, placement chief at NMIMS Blr.

Anshita Abhishek Chetty, Ishita Modi, Gowri, Rupam, Ashish, from Bangalore gang of IMT

Pratima Gaikwad of IIM Indore, now a pakka Hyderabadi.

Globally, Leslie Price, though we haven't met after I left the U.S., Annie Singh, also from the U.S., Samudrika Rasanjalee, Sri Lankan whom I met at a conference.

And a few of my classmates from school, college, IIMB and beyond.. and colleagues, like Bhagyalakshmi, Manasa, Jayasimha, Vijayakumar, ..TK Chatterjee, Smita Dabholkar Singh,..

Some are also online MAS's, like with Pooja Shukla, Anchal Sharma, and so forth..

Classes and Classy Students

 Some classes have class, and some students too. Sample from different places, in class and out of class -

Non-teaching Staff

 Made a lot of friends and had great assistants in many places.

At Harihar, we partied a lot with the staff. A pic of an outing for a wedding.. Rajshekhar, Rajesh , Yuvaraj, Nagaraj, Sreenath, Veena are some in the pic..

At IIM Indore, lots of staff were very helpful and reported to me during my 7 years. We also attended a wedding party of Neha. Manas, Hemendra, Pradeep etc. were some others.. 

IMT Nagpur, y secretary Archana, and placement team and the PGP office team (Snehal, Elizabth) I remember even today. Kamal the accounts guy and Vinod Jadhav, were also very competent. Sridhar Rao in IT too.

And academic associates, Tripti Srivastav was very good. At IIM Indore, Saumyaa Sharma and I became good friends and keep meeting on and off even till 2024.

Archana again was a secretary at NMIMS. Cool and efficient. Vishnu and the academic team of Baklavati, Tarannum and others also worked well. 

Divya and Ayushi at Prestige University literally carried the admin load dual-handedly.

Faculty Colleagues

 Recent ones include ones I recruited, at Prestige University. Juhee, Riyaz, Bharat, Jyoti Dua and Asmita Mahapatra.

And some lady golfers from NMIMS Bangalore- Tanmeet, Alisha Thomas, Prerona Baruah, Preeti Ravikiran. Briefly, Diti Goswami too. 

Shahida and Manasa from PESIT Mgt. dept. were very dynamic. Manoharan and S.P. Kumar are still in touch.

Kirloskar Institute- Harihar had Dhanapal and Vijayakumar. We still play Golf together. (Note- lost Dhanapal in May 2025)

B.K. Mohanty and Banikanta Mishra at XIMB. 

IIM K, SSS Kumar, Neeraj Dwivedi and Keyoor Purani. Jeyavelu too.

IIM Indore, Shweta Kushal and Jayasimha. And marketing colleague Abhishek, IT colleague Rajhans. 

Thomas from VJIM. Dayakara Rao too.

Visiting faculty Nitin Sinha, Veronica Thavonat, Snehal Singh and Sayantan at Prestige.

Where We Met - Part 2

 Now on to some colleagues. 

KIAMS colleagues I still meet, Vijayakumar and Dhanapal in particular. Usually it's on a Golf course, because we began playing the game at Harihar on the 18-hole Kirloskar Golf course. We have played at Kodaikanal, and Munnar. Gadgil too, from IMT Nagpur.

Sohni Roy from Prestige (above) and I try out at a driving range in Indore- Bichholi Haapsi.

Have met Dayakara Rao and Thomas from VJIM, though it was some time ago.

Manoharan, Manasa and a S.P. Kumar from PESIT I have met later. Stayed with Manoharan in the same complex at Bangalore recently also.

IIM Indore colleagues, I still meet sometimes when I go to the campus. Shweta Kushal, Jayasimha, Sumit Ghosh, and a few others- Ashish Sadh, Rajhans Mishra, Abhishek Mishra..

IIM Lucknow colleagues also I have met a few times, though not at Lucknow. Shailendra Singh at Ranchi and Bharat Bhasker at Raipur, when they were directors there. 

Muthu, colleague from industry (M.R.) , I am in touch with and have played Golf with.

Tanmeet Kaur, Prerona Baruah and Alisha Thomas from NMIMS, at Bangalore.

Smita Dabholkar (at Bangalore and Pune too) and TKC from IMT at Nagpur. Saleena Khan too.

Maheswaran and Jitendra Sharma from IMT at Mumbai, at an alumni meet. Abhishek Singh, at Indore and Nagpur.

Jayasimha and I worked together at 4 institutes, and are still in touch, at Indore, our current place of residence. Bhagyalakshmi and I worked in two, and meet regularly in Mumbai or elsewhere. 

Faculty Colleagues

 NMIMS Bangalore faculty - who are also Women Golfers. Met three recently, two at an appropriate place for Golf players- Hole in the Wall. 

With Tanmeet Kaur Sahiwal and Alisha Thomas

and Prerona Baruah.

The Ones That Got Away

 Maybe they are better off for it. I mean, the students who were there in institutes I was in, but who I never taught. Either because I was there at a different time or because I was in an admin. role. Not knowing how lucky they had been, they sought me out on FB and befriended me. And even met me (and often, treated me or called me home!)

Out of many such, the ones I have met in the last few years include Pallavi Bajpai and Shafique Gajdhar (BOTH are my twins, fb says), Sheetal Garg, Ishita Modi, Anurag Sikaria, Swati Jain, Anshita Abhishek Chetty, Abha Anagha Kulkarni, Anushka Mishra, Sirisha Adi, Ananya Nandi De, Anupriya P., Vrinda Khanna, Meghana Khadilkar, Harshad Lunavat, Shatakshi Tripathi, Varun, ....

Some I met at alumni meets, which we did regularly when I was at IMT Nagpur, Ghaziabad, or at NMIMS Bangalore. Some NMIMS students I met only in my office or at Placement parties (Tanya Sardana, is one I remember and Manuja Seth, Divya Anand and Sreelekha Bannerjee too) and the Golf course. Avanii, Rakshita, Muskan, Mahek are some of them.

Karnataka - Part 3- NMIMS and More

 I had another innings in Bangalore from 2020 end till October 2022. This was as Director at NMIMS Bangalore campus. Eventful 2 years, which started with online classes due to COVID still being around. Slowly, we started offline classes, and I was able to meet many students in person. We had a lot of good times, a couple of Convocations, etc. and a few Golf sessions too- in our backyard.

Student Golfers (Mahek Singhal and others) and Emcees (below) for a convocation- Sreelekha and Divya.

More students (above- Rakshita and Avnii among them, and Tanya Sardana with Ekalavya below, at a placement party

Faculty groups at an event above, and at an FDP, below.

Colour Yellow, as per theme for a day, above, and Prerona and Tanmeet at our Golf session, below

A woman umpire from cricket, Gayathri, got introduced to Golf. With Preeti and Narayani.

Foursome of friends from past lives.

Below, Anshita organised an IMT Nagpur alums get together at the Orchid.

IIMB alums parties- above and below. 

Pooja Varun from PES, and Savitha from KIAMS-alums who met me