ALUMNI HOMECOMING

They came, we embraced and they

were mesmerized. On 8th Nov, 2014,

XLRI opened its gates with lan to

h o s t i t s s i g n a t u r e A l u m n i

Homecoming event. What ensued

was a flurry of esteemed alumnae

descending on this serene campus.

T h e i r f a c e s b e a m e d w i t h

exuberance, though a shade of

nostalgia prevailed as well. May be

they were trying to trudge back in

memory and to relive the sublime

moments spent here. However, as

reality struck back, it was time to get

o n w i t h t h e eve nt . A l u m n i

Homecoming, as coined by one of

our esteemed alumni himself, is an

event to applaud the tireless

commitments that these people

have displayed in building the society

and their own alma mater. It is an

occasion to celebrate the true XL

spirit.

Time has flown by. So much has

changed. Their looks, their receding

hairlines, their waistlines and their

addresses too. Yet it was the

indomitable spirit of XLERs that

ensured a gathering of illustrious

alumnae from different walks of life.

The event commenced with a

welcome speech by Prof. Sharad

Sharin, Chairperson Alumni

C o m m i t t e e , f o l l o w e d b y a

presentation and short movie on

XLRI. Then the alums proceeded for

the much-anticipated event, Panel

discussions on selected topics. The

event l i ved up beyond our

expectations with the alums bringing

their rich experience and knowledge

to the fore. The day ended with an

award ceremony organized for

appreciating the guests for their

distinguished work and unparalleled

achievements.

The next morning, it was time for a

rendezvous with students of PGDM

(GM) over a Jalpaan. The GMPians

left no stone unturned in hosting

their eminent seniors with the most

delectable breakfast on offer. The

interactions were thought provoking

with exchange of experiences of

people from diverse industry

backgrounds. The witty replies to

questions put forth by the students

simply left them in awe of the alums.

Moreover, the alums were wheedled

in to share their moments of choice

GLIMPSEXLRI PGDM(GM) Newsletter

Issue 2| December 22, 2014

during their years of stay in the

campus. The experiences shared

were truly exhi larating. The

animated GMP bunch did their bit,

by entertaining the guests with a

series of melodies and their own

peculiar moments. Before the

engrossed audience could realize,

the hour-long session had whisked

away. As the function was about to

draw its curtains, GMPians made

their best possible attempt to get

snap with the industry stalwarts. It

would have been a reverberation of

their dreams for being part of the

m o s t c e l e b r a t e d c o r p o r a t e

community.

The Team from XLRI PGDM-General

Management Program were the runners

up in a highly competitive "Beyond the

Case" competition held at "Confluence"

the Annual Management Symposium of

Indian Inst itute of Management

Ahmedabad (IIMA) on 29th November,

2014.

Congratulations Team!! (PhaniKiranDesu,

SaloniNagpal, Shishir Pandey and

SravanthVobbilireddy)

Interview with Rajeev Sharma

1. What is your view on the future growth prospects for the Indian IT industry in the next 5 to 10

years?

Future is bright. Indian companies will have to develop new products/services. Success is infectious. It takes only a

couple of great success stories to start a race to develop new products and services. Case in point is Zoho, Tringme, etc.

Even existing companies will not suffer if they are sure of what they are doing. Old service providers will continue to

have revenues coming in from those services but the valuation of these companies/service arms in the stock market

will suffer.

2. Do you think India can transform itself from a low cost services player to a high end product

developer?

It is possible. Decision making needs to be shifted towards the frontline. Old mind-set of command and control, in

traditional form, will not work for very long.

3. What is your view on IT companies separating their product arm from their parent company?

It makes lot of sense because it demands a different kind of management style.

4. What do you think about the future of pure play Indian IT firms and MNCs in India? Which of

the two do you think will have the edge?

MNCs have an edge because of their work practices. Indian companies have copied the externally visible things but

have not been able to internalize the work practices. Additionally, as long as Indian companies are targeting foreign

markets where these MNCs are already entrenched they cannot defeat them in a head-on fight.

5. What should MBA's do to keep abreast with SMAC and IOT?

Learn new technologies. It is not that difficult.

The gorgeous signature of immortal power, molded into divine grace by

mortal hands standing still...

The larger than life picture marking the onset of the grandiose festivity.

Bowing don, modern man surrenders his modern ways to the now

transformed painted earth - he walks over underneath his trendy shoes.

Dressed in his best to fit the occasion coupled with uncleansed soul and

inattentive devotion- humanity poses.

Spilling out their secret desires, their plotting and deceiving minds praying to

a disgraceful suburban doll maker's clay on hay.

Chemically beautified flowers from polluted gardens -adding colour,

processed lamps- burning bright, underneath the vibrant shades of the

synthetic canopy.

Witnessing this deception; the deity signs...powerlessly she stares...

As she, the heavenly grace degrades into rotting hay and slimy clay she fears

to be reformed for this artificial race

Divine GraceAnanya Das

Autobiographies/Biographies are an

integral part of my reading appetite,

since they give an intimate account

into the lives of the people whom I

look up to. The latest one, which felt

like a fresh breeze and provided

oodles of inspiration was, Twitter's

co-founder Biz Stone's memoir -

Things a Little Bird Told Me:

Confessions of the Creative Mind. I

would suggest to Google his name;

the guy is quite accomplished (in my

own humble view).

The book opens with an interesting

story about how Biz's one man

company- Genius labs was acquired

by Google along with Blogger. He

then takes us through his childhood

days where his family subsisted on

food stamps. The unusual bend of his

mind is evident in the numerous

instances that he recollects from his

formative years. The incident where

he talks about a game called

'Lacrosse' is particularly insightful in

context to his problem solving

approach. One trait that stands out

amongst all the stories, is his

inherent inquisitiveness with a bias

towards action, to satiate it through

myriad creative expressions.

A common characteristic that I have

noticed time and again amongst

entrepreneurs of his league, to

which Biz is no exception, is the

ability to take disproportionate risk

and to keep ideas at the forefront;

rather than the associated rewards

(money, stock options or fame). He

has demonstrated this multiple

times in his career right from quitting

college to work as a designer; from

leaving Google (with 2 years of

options left to vest) to work on a

start-up called Odeo; to finally

conceptualizing Twitter with Jack

Dorsey (the other founder) in a

hackathon event. One of the core

l e s s o n s t h a t B i z g i v e s f o r

entrepreneurship, is to put one's

head into ideas, that truly matter to

one's core self; else the level of

commitment and required focus

never comes through.

A major part of the book has been

dedicated to his journey and

evolution along with Twitter right

from the conceptualization stage to

coming up with the first working

model. He brilliantly canvasses the

manner in which Twitter was

popularized in the South by

Southwest Interactive (SXSW)

conference which served as the

starting point for its steep upward

climb. It's a wonderful lesson on how

to have an impactful advertising

campaign on a shoestring budget. He

also lays bare, the difficulties of

running an online service bursting

with users. He chronicles numerous

instances where the service had

crashed, along with the efforts that

went into restoring it back.

Biz has a deeply held belief of

keeping human beings at the centre

of any technological progress. It

stems from his view that technology

is ultimately made useful, only if it

has a salutary effect on the lives of

people. He enlists numerous

instances where he leveraged the

power and reach of Twitter to this

Book Review-Things a Little Bird Told Me

- Peeyush

effect. He also briefly touches upon

some of the political issues that crop

up in almost all of the start-ups

funded by Venture Capital. The book

closes with him quitting Twitter to

find his own start-up named Jelly. In

the end, he leaves us with a message

worth reflecting upon.

To me, Biz comes across as a person

with an innate ability for problem

Pigeon's pigeon's pigeons!!!! Are they

birds of menace or birds of peace?

With constant chattering and cooing

on rooftops and ledges, we could call

them anything but birds of peace.

Frankly speaking more than 80% of the

people think they are pests and do

nothing but create a nuisance and dirty

the place. I have many friends who

constantly worry about losing their

undergarments and at the beautiful

and colorful designs that pigeons make

on their vehicles parked below, the

best part is the look on their face when

they find their seats and mirrors dirty.

No wonder people hate them!! But, I

am among that other 20% of people

who tolerate or even appreciate the

way they are.

There are hundreds of breeds of

pigeons, each one of them from

different parts of the worlds. Few of

them are named after the regions they

come from and few others are with

fancy and trendy names. There are

many pigeon enthusiasts who devote a

great deal of time in caring, nurturing,

breeding and training these birds,

some as a small business, other for

competitions. In fact I myself was into

tra in ing of these magnif icent

creatures. These amazing birds have

taught me a lot in life. There were times

when I used to spend days together

taking leave from work, training and

talking to these lovely fur balls,

disregarding any human company.

In all probability, the infamous French

Kiss could have originated from these

passionate lovebirds? In this beautiful

campus of ours, I am sure that there is

no dearth of spotting these exciting

moments, if you ever get a chance in

this busy MBA life, just stop and

observe the way a male pigeon

impresses a female one and the

passionate caressing that goes on, till

the female partner feels she is ready. A

perfect example of how we humans do

solving, creative genius and empathy.

What he doesn't mention explicitly is his

immanent restlessness that makes him

move from one venture to another. He

also has this amazing gift of visualizing

the future of the technology especially

in the area of the Internet. To close my

panegyric, I would urge you to read this

book. I hope it inspires you as well!!

PigeonsDominic

it (you know what I mean!!) This is just

one small instance of the many things

that these amazing creatures are

capable of.

Being a son of a veterinarian, I have had

the privilege of being surrounded by a

variety of birds and animals. Be it a

peacock or a deer, I loved being in their

company. I have had my share of good

and bad times but the best moments

were those, when I could restore to

good health or save one of these. And

the attachment they have after such an

act of compassion is breathtaking,

especially from a bird. If one needs a

lesson on loyalty and pristine love,

these are the perfect teachers to learn

from and no human could ever replace

them.

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