Perhaps the consultancies that did not shortlist me should read my blog.
Some months back I had written about direct cash transfers for rural development on my blog.It was part of my Rural Development Interventions course.I was glad to read that the government is serious about implementing it in the near future.
As I bid farewell to the "development" sector as we know it, I am proud that at least I was ahead of the curve on a particular issue.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Eating out at Amravati, Sangli, Latur.
The wonderful thing about living in small towns is the good food one gets at cheap prices. Anand does not qualify as there are hardly any good value for money restaurants. But the ones mentioned in the title do.
In Amravati, the canteen of the Divisional Commissioner's Office is very good. For Rs 40 you have an unlimited thali which is very good.The curries served in Vidharbha region are usually laced with a lot of soya oil which can ruin the dish. But the canteen is usually moderate with its use of soya oil.He also makes palak wadas which were responsible for me gaining weight during my internship there.
In Sangli, there is a kitchen which is run by two women which is a five minute walk from Rajwada chowk. The kitchen has no name and operates out of a small gala in a building. It was unfortunate that I found this place during my latter period of stay there.The food, priced at Rs 30 for thali is awesome. It is as good if not better than home cooked food. What adds to the taste is the warmth the two women show when they serve you food. Though it is run for commercial considerations, they treat you as guests which adds to the taste of their food. Also in Sangli, is Ganesh Nashta located bang outside the police ground en route to Miraj.It reminds me of Amar Juice Centre though the variety is limited. Its the only place outside Mumbai which served very good Pav bhaji. But, its poha stands out. No wonder it is crowded throughout the day.
Latur has many breakfast centres spread all over Ausa Road. The one that I ate at was near the ICICI Branch.Its Onion Dosa at Rs 16 was just too good. Also on the same road was a home run tiffin service which for Rs 20 served amazingly soft chapatis.
It feels terrible that I did not write down the exact names and addresses of these places.If anyone who comes acorss this post and is visiting those places would have found it useful. But these are small towns and finding many of these places would be easy.
These places were the main reason that I was able to put on weight during my two internships at SRTT and ICICI Bank.
In Amravati, the canteen of the Divisional Commissioner's Office is very good. For Rs 40 you have an unlimited thali which is very good.The curries served in Vidharbha region are usually laced with a lot of soya oil which can ruin the dish. But the canteen is usually moderate with its use of soya oil.He also makes palak wadas which were responsible for me gaining weight during my internship there.
In Sangli, there is a kitchen which is run by two women which is a five minute walk from Rajwada chowk. The kitchen has no name and operates out of a small gala in a building. It was unfortunate that I found this place during my latter period of stay there.The food, priced at Rs 30 for thali is awesome. It is as good if not better than home cooked food. What adds to the taste is the warmth the two women show when they serve you food. Though it is run for commercial considerations, they treat you as guests which adds to the taste of their food. Also in Sangli, is Ganesh Nashta located bang outside the police ground en route to Miraj.It reminds me of Amar Juice Centre though the variety is limited. Its the only place outside Mumbai which served very good Pav bhaji. But, its poha stands out. No wonder it is crowded throughout the day.
Latur has many breakfast centres spread all over Ausa Road. The one that I ate at was near the ICICI Branch.Its Onion Dosa at Rs 16 was just too good. Also on the same road was a home run tiffin service which for Rs 20 served amazingly soft chapatis.
It feels terrible that I did not write down the exact names and addresses of these places.If anyone who comes acorss this post and is visiting those places would have found it useful. But these are small towns and finding many of these places would be easy.
These places were the main reason that I was able to put on weight during my two internships at SRTT and ICICI Bank.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Impact!!!!
As those who have tracked my blog posting might be aware, I had been to the Vidharbha region of Maharashtra for undertaking a study on tur dal for farmer communities.
Some days back, a senior of mine who works at Basix, had this posting on his FB profile.(Yes, I had to activate my profile again to get this)
Some days back, a senior of mine who works at Basix, had this posting on his FB profile.(Yes, I had to activate my profile again to get this)
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Taking Stock 1
In less than 4 days, I shall know where I am headed after IRMA.
In a little more than a month and half, I shall be passing out of the hallowed portals of IRMA.
It is time then to take stock of these two years.This series of postings will include all that I felt as I went through so many different experiences in my life. And a peek at the anxieties that I shall have when I pass out as an IRMAN.
In a little more than a month and half, I shall be passing out of the hallowed portals of IRMA.
It is time then to take stock of these two years.This series of postings will include all that I felt as I went through so many different experiences in my life. And a peek at the anxieties that I shall have when I pass out as an IRMAN.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
IRMA Admissions-Some Views
Its that time of the year when some 400 odd individuals come to IRMA campus to give their admission interviews. Some are here out of choice, some because the coveted IIM call evaded them and some who would treat it as a mock "live" interview for the bigger IIM interviews.
I have been giving/sharing gyan on cracking IRMA for the past two years. My contribution this year will be limited to the earlier post which has a link to a research paper on IRMA admissions. Two years of management + development fundas make u allergic to sites like pagalguy.
This post is more philosophical and less practical.This will certainly not help you in answering any question that the panel asks you during the D day.
1. Many get disappointed that most of their batchmates are not like the IRMANs shown in the "barefoot manager" video. In fact, most of your batchmates will start reading about Dr.Kurien a week before placements because ITC and Amul largely base their questions on his memoir "I too had a dream". But then Kurien himself gave a number to the students who would get into development and become Kuriens. That figure was around 5%. So in all likelihood ( as I vouch for my batch), you will 5 to 6 guys/gals who will venture onto development by choice.
2.Do not be disappointed if you do not get into IRMA. In fact any B school for that matter. As Gopalkrishnan, ED of Tata Sons states in his book, only 3% of learning happens in classroom. Its not important where you graduate from, but its very important of what you make of what you have got.
3.If you get into IRMA, you will convocate with many paradoxes. All fuzzy concepts and definitions will engulf your thought process.In fact, you will learn to appreciate these contradictions and maybe help you in better decision making.
4.Finally, the journey is a very lonely one. This is a personal reflection and any elucidation will not be helpful at all. Something that each one has to go through to appreciate it.
So, any IRMA aspirant who stumbles on to this site and has enough idle time to go through this post, my best wishes!
I have been giving/sharing gyan on cracking IRMA for the past two years. My contribution this year will be limited to the earlier post which has a link to a research paper on IRMA admissions. Two years of management + development fundas make u allergic to sites like pagalguy.
This post is more philosophical and less practical.This will certainly not help you in answering any question that the panel asks you during the D day.
1. Many get disappointed that most of their batchmates are not like the IRMANs shown in the "barefoot manager" video. In fact, most of your batchmates will start reading about Dr.Kurien a week before placements because ITC and Amul largely base their questions on his memoir "I too had a dream". But then Kurien himself gave a number to the students who would get into development and become Kuriens. That figure was around 5%. So in all likelihood ( as I vouch for my batch), you will 5 to 6 guys/gals who will venture onto development by choice.
2.Do not be disappointed if you do not get into IRMA. In fact any B school for that matter. As Gopalkrishnan, ED of Tata Sons states in his book, only 3% of learning happens in classroom. Its not important where you graduate from, but its very important of what you make of what you have got.
3.If you get into IRMA, you will convocate with many paradoxes. All fuzzy concepts and definitions will engulf your thought process.In fact, you will learn to appreciate these contradictions and maybe help you in better decision making.
4.Finally, the journey is a very lonely one. This is a personal reflection and any elucidation will not be helpful at all. Something that each one has to go through to appreciate it.
So, any IRMA aspirant who stumbles on to this site and has enough idle time to go through this post, my best wishes!
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Cracking the IRMA Interview...
While I (or anyone for that matter)may not be able to provide the perfect answer on how to crack the IRMA interview, the following link will be of more than academic interest for aspirants who will be coming to IRMA in the first of February to face a panel of faculty members to gain admission to this wonderful institute.
The link (given by my batchmate Uphar) is to a paper titled "A study of IRMA admissions" by Prof. M J Arul, ex-faculty of IRMA in the area of OB. Here is the link!
The link (given by my batchmate Uphar) is to a paper titled "A study of IRMA admissions" by Prof. M J Arul, ex-faculty of IRMA in the area of OB. Here is the link!
Saturday, January 22, 2011
The Rajan Memorial Lecture by Prof.Sriram
The Rajan Memorial Lecture is an annual event at IRMA instituted in the memory of T S Rajan, an alumnus of the institute who died in an accident.
This year we had Prof. Sriram as the speaker. An alumnus of IRMA Prof.Sriram is ex-faculty member of IRMA and IIMA. For those who track the microfinance sector, Prof. Sriram is regarded as one of the top researchers in this field. But he himself would agree that his interests are much wider than just microfinance.
The topic was an interesting one and was provocatively titled "Profit or Purpose:The dilemma of Social Enterprises ." The lecture was scheduled a day before Milaap which is the annual alumni meet of IRMA. One of the events during Milaap was a panel discussion on Social Entrepreneurship. Hence this lecture was perfect in its timing.
Prof. Sriram began by dividing social enterprises into three schools of thought. The first were pure not for profit enterprises (read NGOs) where purpose was the overriding concern. The promoters of such enterprises primarily played on the motivational aspects of employees who were largely payed below market determined wages. The problem, as Sriram saw it was that these institutions had issues of scalability.The other issue was that the since employees were payed below market determined wages, they would seek higher goals and achievements ( to make up for the low wages) and may force the organisation into a mission drift. The related concern was that the employees, when not allowed to grow, might end up in some sense "commercialising"the operations (though Sriram did not use the same language). Hence profits might trump the purpose.
The second form of social enterprise is community managed institutions-cooperatives. One cannot but appreciate co operatives when one studies at IRMA. Sriram argued that these are beautifully designed organisations which aligns profit and purpose to meet member interests. However, we do not look at such organisations as "social" because they are embedded deeply in the market system. Amul is a case in point. I wonder if a large section of the consumer base of Amul are aware that it is a producer owned organisation.In co operatives, the focus is on patronage and not on capital. However, Sriram did point out the "horizon problem" that arises because members force the co operative to increase current cash flows at the expense of future earning. Also there is denial of patronage when co operatives put aside a part of earnings as reserves.
The third form of social organisation is what Sriram calls the BOP school of thought. These are market based firms which seek to integrate the poor into the mainstream economy. They adhere to the double bottomline principle-doing well and doing good. But as instances in the microfinance sector (Sriram did not touch on this sector) reveal that one attracts great scrutiny when one seeks to achieve this double bottomline. So no one will question Arvind Mills selling organic cotton jeans in its stores but Fabindia will invite scrutiny if its sells garments or products not in tune with its "purpose". So as Sriram cogently put it, where you come from and where you are headed is very important for such organisations. Governance, then is the most important issue facing "social enterprises". But, as he conceded, it was easier said than done.
His talk was peppered with several examples for each type of enterprise. Some of the examples included Christian Medical College, Sankara Eyecare, Jaipur Foot, GCMMF, etc.
It was evident and as Sriram put it-he was hard selling co operatives. Not surprising for someone who was called the "co operative purist" of IRMA by Tushaar Shah in his book " Making Farmer Co operatives Successful"
Overall, it was a pleasure to hear Sriram for the first time. Not to mention the proud feeling of seeing one's senior hold forth so beautifully on a very fuzzy topic!
This year we had Prof. Sriram as the speaker. An alumnus of IRMA Prof.Sriram is ex-faculty member of IRMA and IIMA. For those who track the microfinance sector, Prof. Sriram is regarded as one of the top researchers in this field. But he himself would agree that his interests are much wider than just microfinance.
The topic was an interesting one and was provocatively titled "Profit or Purpose:The dilemma of Social Enterprises ." The lecture was scheduled a day before Milaap which is the annual alumni meet of IRMA. One of the events during Milaap was a panel discussion on Social Entrepreneurship. Hence this lecture was perfect in its timing.
Prof. Sriram began by dividing social enterprises into three schools of thought. The first were pure not for profit enterprises (read NGOs) where purpose was the overriding concern. The promoters of such enterprises primarily played on the motivational aspects of employees who were largely payed below market determined wages. The problem, as Sriram saw it was that these institutions had issues of scalability.The other issue was that the since employees were payed below market determined wages, they would seek higher goals and achievements ( to make up for the low wages) and may force the organisation into a mission drift. The related concern was that the employees, when not allowed to grow, might end up in some sense "commercialising"the operations (though Sriram did not use the same language). Hence profits might trump the purpose.
The second form of social enterprise is community managed institutions-cooperatives. One cannot but appreciate co operatives when one studies at IRMA. Sriram argued that these are beautifully designed organisations which aligns profit and purpose to meet member interests. However, we do not look at such organisations as "social" because they are embedded deeply in the market system. Amul is a case in point. I wonder if a large section of the consumer base of Amul are aware that it is a producer owned organisation.In co operatives, the focus is on patronage and not on capital. However, Sriram did point out the "horizon problem" that arises because members force the co operative to increase current cash flows at the expense of future earning. Also there is denial of patronage when co operatives put aside a part of earnings as reserves.
The third form of social organisation is what Sriram calls the BOP school of thought. These are market based firms which seek to integrate the poor into the mainstream economy. They adhere to the double bottomline principle-doing well and doing good. But as instances in the microfinance sector (Sriram did not touch on this sector) reveal that one attracts great scrutiny when one seeks to achieve this double bottomline. So no one will question Arvind Mills selling organic cotton jeans in its stores but Fabindia will invite scrutiny if its sells garments or products not in tune with its "purpose". So as Sriram cogently put it, where you come from and where you are headed is very important for such organisations. Governance, then is the most important issue facing "social enterprises". But, as he conceded, it was easier said than done.
His talk was peppered with several examples for each type of enterprise. Some of the examples included Christian Medical College, Sankara Eyecare, Jaipur Foot, GCMMF, etc.
It was evident and as Sriram put it-he was hard selling co operatives. Not surprising for someone who was called the "co operative purist" of IRMA by Tushaar Shah in his book " Making Farmer Co operatives Successful"
Overall, it was a pleasure to hear Sriram for the first time. Not to mention the proud feeling of seeing one's senior hold forth so beautifully on a very fuzzy topic!
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