Moving Again

 It happens when least expected, sometimes. I am moving to take up the position of the Vice Chancellor of a new university called Prestige University at Indore in a couple of months. This is a brand new venture and hopes to be a trend-setter among the kind of management programs we have in India. Designed after a lot of research and conversations with thought leaders, it will offer niche MBA programs in Sustainability, Food and Agri- business Mgt.,  Logistics and Supply Chain, and Analytics, among others. 

My two-year stint at NMIMS Bangalore has been wonderful in so many ways. I managed to make new friends among faculty, students, staff and alumni. Saw a few achievers in all spheres, and in spite of COVID in the initial few months, did meet up often with colleagues. Also happy that I introduced Golf in our own backyard. Recruited a lot of new faculty and staff.

Some ongoing tasks remain, like the curriculum revamp, and re-accreditation by AMBA, UK. My successors will see to those, I am sure.

The Bangalore stay, my second work innings after PES and IFIM, has been equally enriching, and I will miss the Bangalore filter kaapi the most. But Poha beckons, kya karein?

Two Moving Experiences

By moving, I mean physically moving things. One major lesson learnt is that u can fit your life's possessions in a truck. What, you want no truck with the puns? Ok, then let me move on to the REAL stuff. Two recent experiences.

One truck was sent from point A in a city to point B in a different city. The contract was for unloading the material on the truck. The driver flatly refused to do that last part, in spite of a written and verbal agreement in his presence while leaving.

Second, within the city from one home to another. The sales talk was sweet as honey. The day of the move, after some arguments on the modality of the move, size of truck etc., the guy coolly presents a bill that is 7,500 rupees more than the agreed upon amount. Of course, he got a mouthful as a bonus along with the agreed-upon payment.

But the point that arises, from both these, is why do people in these businesses (or any other, extending the logic to bad service anywhere) behave like this?

In contrast, we had a great experience moving stuff from Clemson via New York to Mumbai. No hassles, and delivered as promised, within estimated time. Americans better at service businesses? Maybe. Cultural issue? Could be. But certainly worth pondering.

The Unbearable Lightness of Moving

The feeling that you get when moving is unique, and I am liking it. When your house gets slowly stripped of its mute occupants- the furniture, the clothes, the cupboards (yeah, we still haven't graduated to wardrobes, if you are reading this from the developed world), and cooking utensils/pots and pans, and stuff like that. And you never know for sure if you'll see them all again. Usually you do, though.

What I feel is akin to a taking a bath in a tub, somewhat, for the feeling of slowly being enveloped by a soothing lightness, and the water creeping up on you as you slowly sink in.

What it also signifies is a new beginning, which you are normally very reluctant to make, but you don't have a choice in this case. And new beginnings are always exciting, for you don't really know what they'll bring. It's always a lot of unexpected things, though. You almost invariably make new friends, and are forced to re-evaluate old ones. Hopefully, this adds to your positive world view, and makes you a better person, having to adjust to a new reality and geography, and people.

In my case, there is also a re-evaluation of the files/books and papers that I like carrying around and that clogs up the storage space. Earlier, I used to be obsessed by photographs (the analog variety), but I have got over it now- fortunately for my luggage carriers.

So it shall be Delhi for me soon, and the Bong stronghold of Chittaranjan Park will be the abode for the foreseeable future. Here's to fish curry and rice! IMT Ghaziabad will no doubt dish out its own delights at lunchtimes.

Moving On

I have a new responsibility given to me. The sad part is that it involves moving away from IMT Nagpur, a place that I have come to like a lot. But such is life. I am moving soon to IMT Ghaziabad as their Dean.

It is gratifying that with the help of excellent team work, we have put IMT Nagpur on the top-20 map of Indian B schools (numbering 3500 plus at last count). A recent reconfirmation of this came in the Business Standard report on Indian B schools published this week. It placed IMT Nagpur in the top 20 which they call the Superleague. The incoming batch which starts Monday will be the largest in our 8 year history, at 360.  Faculty here are among the best anywhere, and the staff's efficiency and courtesy is noticed by all visitors, and missed by faculty who have left us to join the new IIMs.

Alumni have given us great love and support, which was evident in all the five cities where we held alum meets last month. More than 500 alumni turned up to celebrate their bond with the alma mater. IMT Nagpur is also one of the leaders in faculty development programs, particularly in research methods, having done about 5 programs till date for B school, engineering and architecture faculty.

Here is wishing even greater success to IMT Nagpur. Cheers!