Pics of Ladakh Trip

The pics of my May 2011 Ladakh trip with family to Ladakh are shared on this site.

http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=cdfe96e61f156df7&sid=0AbNmLhi1bMWjio


Do take a look if you are interested.

Rivers

I grew up around the Godavari river. Happened to visit the various tributaries of the Ganga during a trip to Badrinath a few years ago. This May, we saw the Indus and Zanskar rivers (the sangam in the pics here) during the Leh-Ladakh trip. It's a great feeling to see some of these cradles of human civilization, and ponder the role they played in shaping human destiny. Otherwise, Man might as well have been on the Moon!

A Lovely Feeling

We had expected about 150-160 alumni at the Delhi meet held at the Le Meridien, Janpath. We had 210 instead! And a few corporates, because it was a recruiter meet too. In other words, a great big celebration of relationships with alumni and corporates. Very encouraging. Warm feelings all around, conversations that went on into the night (or was it early morning?) and promises to continue on the mail and at the Nagpur meet called Melange in October.

We are now gearing up for the Mumbai get-together on June 3rd, and we expect it to be another blockbuster in the land of Bollywood. That will be followed by another at Bangalore on 11th. We are also pondering a value-add for alumni at the Nagpur Centre meet where we will have round-tables on Marketing, Finance and Entrepreneurship to cull some learnings from the varied experiences of alumni and faculty.

A business school has to do much more than just teach the students during the 2 years of the MBA program if it has to make a mark. Students, faculty, alumni, and promoters need to have a common understanding of what the brand stands for and work hard at realising its potential.

Some snaps from the weekly market at Mangalwari, Nagpur alongside.

Alumni Meet at Delhi

Coming up tomorrow is the second alumni meet at Delhi. IMT Nagpur's alumni base at Delhi is large, and we expect at least 150 to attend this. Last year, we had around 120 people and had a blast. Connecting with the alumni and their varied experiences at work, and plans for the future, is an absorbing experience for all faculty.

We have an ongoing training program for NTPC at the campus. Another piece of good news is that AIMA has ranked us as a Super League B School, in the top 20 of Indian B schools. This is yet another feather in the cap of all IMTians, who have worked at it. The survey is published in Indian Management, May 2011 issue.

Admissions are also on, and June last week will see us all welcoming a new batch of students. Some pre-monsoon activity seems to be happening in Nagpur too, so we may get away with a summer that's gentler than usual for Nagpur! Some campus flora are presented above.

I (Almost) Become a Buddhist

Being in a majority Buddhist land for the first time -at least in India- I can feel the difference. Peace is the overwhelming theme in Leh and Ladakh. Population is a confounding factor, I admit. But the difference between a temple and a monastery (both sacred places) is too much to ignore. Again, the dominating word would be "peaceful". No cacophony, or crowds. Or pandas who insist on extortion under various guises. You can meditate, or just have a quick look, or sit there for hours. Only a small entry ticket of 20-30 rupees for tourists/visitors. Don't know whether these things are taught or inherent in the locals, but everyone is polite to a fault. Maybe it is the mountain air!

What is civilization, or culture? Is it being in a perpetual state of chaos? Or is it being at peace with yourself and those around you? I wonder. There have been a few mails circulating about Japan and the reactions to the Tsunami damage in Fukushima. Japan happens to be a Buddhist nation, and though it is far from flawless as a society, it does have a resilience (modern equivalent of stoicism?) to withstand a lot of adversity.

Just staring at a snow-covered peak gives you a feeling that life (as we have been living it) is meaningless, and that there is more to it (or less to it?) than we think. If a short trip can do this, I am not surprised at the sages over the years who made the region their home.

Leh Ladakh 2

The monasteries near Leh are worth a look, though some are badly kept. Thiksay is the best I liked, on a hill close by. But the serenity is amazing. No more words.

Leh Ladakh 1

A picture is worth a thousand words. So here are my first four thousand words. Will follow up with a few more thousand. The room with a view took on an entirely new meaning for me, during this trip. The view from our hotel lawns and the room was simply out of the world.