June 30^th, 2014 – The day I landed in the city of joy, all pumped up to embark on a journey I had been awaiting since I started solving MCQs on Numbers and Para-completion two years back. Today, I have travelled one month into the MBA (IB) programme. I look back, awestruck, and realize how much I have grown or as managers put it – what has been my value addition. Here, I see what learnings this one month has bestowed upon me.

Time Management: I have had time-bound assignments in my 9 months of work experience, but never has a deadline been so dear to me. “23:59:59” ruled my first three weeks under the IAP programme. The deadline was professed so aggressively, that now, meeting a deadline in time comes naturally.

CV points: With power comes responsibility. And with responsibility, comes a CV point. After the first CV verification, I realized that my 2-page CV in undergraduate was humbled immediately to a “half-page-CV”. This wake-up call flagged-off the race for a CV point. And believe you me, I earned my first CV point and it called for a full-fledged treat.

There is always a tomorrow but there exists no day-after-tomorrow: An MBA student becomes myopic right in the first week of joining. All that matters is “Kal ke liye kuch kaam hai?” I have never had any longer-term-plan than the next 24 hours as yet. 

Forget Engineering, Learn Photo-shopping: The first one month offers a plethora of competitions to participate in. Yes, all of them have a “CV point” at stake. Hence, one needs to create a POD (point of difference) among one’s peers and express ideas creatively. In a pool of 88 engineers out of 93 students, Photoshop is the tool which comes handy to differentiate.
Sleep-time is luxury: Before June 30^th, I used to love beds. Rolling on bed reading. Rolling on bed laughing. Rolling on bed sleeping. I simply loved passing time on the bed. But now, every morning starts with a “Shit!! I slept”. I don’t remember when the last time I wished myself a good morning was.

I am in a relationship with MS-Office: I spend more time with Microsoft Office these days than with my closest friends. The amount of trust that I share with my PowerPoint presentation, to work at the right time, is immense. I wish to learn her in and out as soon as possible so that the bond gets stronger. Barring a few deterrents like Windows updates, I believe my relationship with Microsoft will go miles. Maybe, I’ll write a national bestseller, script a multi-crorer film or tie-up with Flipkart one day.

Peer-Learning: No matter who I was before June 30^th, here, when I step into IIFT, I am among equals. A small batch size of 93 and every person in the batch has achieved something huge to be present here. And the fact that everybody knows everybody else goes a long way in peer-learning. I can reach out for help and be assured that I will not be disappointed.

Neighborhood’s Sidhu Aunty’s constant rant that “Ladka padh padh ke Weak ho gaya” is finally being experienced: Nonetheless, the rewards are worth the efforts.

I look back at this one month and I smile. I look ahead, and I am all charged up for what is going to unfold. The opportunities that a B school offers are immense. This was just the pilot episode. The theme has been set. I hope this 2 year long journey fulfils its purpose of carving me into what I aspire to become. Cheers IIFT!

Credits: Jaskaran Bir Singh

Foundation day is an important day in the life of an institution. This is the reflection of vision, mission, and values which founders manifest not only in the physical being but also in its functioning. IIFT Kolkata celebrated its Foundation Day on the 16^th of July.  It has been 8 years since it came into existence.

An institution gets old with every year but this institution is getting younger with every passing year as it has made its presence felt across the length and breadth of the country and its students are keeping it young & energetic with their achievements. The recent example is of Jitin Bhasin, (alumnus, Batch 2008) Program Head Relationship Management – Indusland Bank, who bagged the prestigious Economic Times Young Leader Award, 2014 edition.

The event was organized by IMF, the student body of IIFT. Along with them, Koshish, the CSR club of our institute, organized a Blood Donation Camp, which has become a tradition on Foundation Day. Students were equally participative and donated in huge numbers. IIFT as an institute, values the importance of students being connected to social causes which has resulted in introducing a course where students are expected to work with an NGO for three weeks during their stay.

The Centre Head, Dr. K. Rangarajan was the Chief Guest. Programme Directors Dr. J.K. Seal of MBA 2013-15 Batch and Dr. Saswati Tripathi of MBA 2014-16 Batch were present along with other distinguished faculties. Saurabh Vyas, a student of the 2013-15 Batch was the anchor for the event.

The event started with the lightening of the lamp by the Centre Head, Dr. Rangarajan who welcomed the new batch in their first celebration of Foundation Day of IIFT Kolkata. He expressed his joy as he recalled how this institute has progressed by leaps and bounds. He also got nostalgic while recalling the early years for the institute.  He acknowledged the contribution of the faculty, administrative department and the support staff for their contribution in building this institute. At the same time he congratulated everyone for being successful in upholding the values of this institution. He emphasized that as students being essence of the institution, the whole responsibility lies with them in strengthening this institution.       

The Programme Directors shared their experiences and memories they have with the institution. Dr. Saswati Tripathi advised the new batch to keep up the attitude of learning to gain as much as possible from this institute. She asked the students to keep up the legacy of seniors and motivated us to cross the boundaries that are still untouched.

Through the entire event, Saurabh spell bounded the audience with his magical use of Hindi language and poetry. He was appreciated by all for his proficiency at the language. He deployed poetry to introduce every guest which made the atmosphere more serene.        

As every beginning has an end, our function also ended on a good note where we made a promise to ourselves and to the institution to keep its values intact and to meet once again next year to celebrate this auspicious day.   

“Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises” These words by Demosthenes are relevant even today. To promote the same entrepreneurial outlook among the students of IIFT, Sprit, the Entrepreneurship Club at IIFT Kolkata organized an 'Ideation and Venture Designing' workshop-cum-certification course designed by Yash Saxena, IIFT alumnus (2008-10 Delhi batch) and founder of Openfuel - a consulting firm for Start-ups. It was a matter of great pride for the students to interact with the alumnus of their college who has helped to propel the spirit of innovation among the students of various leading engineering and management colleges like IIM A, SPJIMR , MICA and NIT Surat etc. 

The modules offered by Openfuel are on the same lines as those offered by Centre for Design Research, Stanford University and therefore offered a great opportunity to the students to be exposed to the limitless realms of innovation.

The workshop started with a presentation on the ideas of innovation. Yash explained how “Ideas are always copied” and almost every innovation starts with inspiration. Giving examples from life like how a book and computer led to the birth of Encarta and eventually it made way to Wikipedia. “Not accepting what is old” and the belief that the world is going to change is the basis of innovation. Great ideas are horrible at beginning and we should embrace the random stuff because the more random the connection, the greater probability of it not being seen by others.

                

Ideas galore !!

Mr Yash then enlightened us regarding the various startups that have furthered the cause of innovation in the world and upped the ante when it comes to ideation and entrepreneurship. Giving examples of Naukri.com, Zomato, Alibaba etc, he said that the idea of innovation is not new and has been the norm of life since earliest times. 
                              

The participants were divided into 16 groups of five each. He asked each group to choose a company and prepare an ‘Ideation canvas’ on it. Ideation canvas had various elements like the People, Activities, Situation/Context/Location and Props/Possible Solutions. We had to brainstorm as a group and deduce how we could innovate and 'ideate' regarding the company. We were expected to come up with experimental ideas to devise feasible avenues for innovation in the company and also provide our rationale behind the deduction. This was a very engaging discussion as we deliberated as to how to tweak an existing product to bring about a modification in the properties of the product and hence improve its functionality. 

   

The groups then had to present their ideas. All the groups gave lucid and interesting presentations focusing on the development of an entrepreneurial ecosystem associated with the particular company. Mr Yash was very impressed by all the teams and said that we all have pushed the envelope when it comes to innovation. He chose the top three teams based on their conception of idea, the level of innovation, out of the box thinking and feasibility of the innovation. The winning team had suggested innovations regarding Netflix and its concept of ‘Jessica’, an interface which would provide customized suggestions regarding the entertainment options according to the preference of the users, was applauded by all.                                    

   It was a very lively, dynamic and engaging workshop that led to a healthy exchange of ideas among the students. It also enabled us to gel as a unit and to think on our feet. It helped to propel the innovative spirit and initiative taking abilities among the students and promoted ingenuity and out-of-the box thinking. The event was hugely successful and we look forward to more of such events.

The credit for the successful workshop goes to all students at IIFT and the event coordinator Mr Rahul Sharma from the MBA 2013-15 batch. 

By Mohd Zeeshan

The first day of my internship, I woke up quite early (not because it was my first day, but because of the time difference), got ready and left for office. There I had my first embarrassing moment: I fell down in the tram, not being used to the turns and breaks of the tram. Finally, I got down at the right stop but still I was lost! Then came my first shot at conversing with foreign strangers for asking the route. After first few attempts I realized I was in a majorly French speaking country where people write R but pronounce it as ‘Kh’, meaning they write something and speak something else. I managed to learn the odd pronunciation and finally reached my destination that was my second home for the next two months – International Trade Centre (Joint agency of WTO and UN, Geneva).

As a part of my internship at Intracen, I attended a training at the WTO and hence got a chance to listen to and interact with some of the eminent personalities and speakers at the organization. They had the knack of making people develop interest in the subject even if someone didn’t have it in the first place! And one thing worth mentioning is that the interiors at WTO are just mind blowing! I remember one of my friends quoting that it might have been an art gallery before because of the huge murals and paintings inside in addition to the great architecture. But later on, I realized that these paintings and sculptures are gifts from governments of different nations, and they were a common fixture in almost every UN organization I visited during my stay, including the Palais des Nations (United Nations). A very famous gift by the Indian Government was the statue of Mahatma Gandhi, standing outside the Palais building.

Among the learnings from this internship, one thing stands out: relationship building. My whole internship experience is memorable not because of the place or organization but only because of the friends I made! Each day I used to meet someone new - from a different culture, a different place. And everyone had a unique story to tell, a unique aim, a unique perspective towards life and unique tastes. Trying to converse with them through actions, learning few greetings in their language, and then telling them about our Indian culture, our strengths was altogether a very interesting experience that I would never forget! If not anything else but one thing most of them knew about India was the ‘Taj Mahal’!

The most challenging and fun part of my stay was to remember the names of all the people I met (I am sure I still can’t pronounce few) in their own languages and pronunciations. I stayed in an international hostel with 80 other students belonging to 54 different nationalities. It’s an amazing feeling to have friends from so many different countries and be in constant touch with them. I hope I get a chance to visit all of them in Egypt, Sweden, Dominican Republic, Canada, China, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Spain, Germany, and the list goes on. Also I will love to be a host to them in my country. We had fun on various events that were conducted by the hostel. At one of the events, we had to prepare a dish from our own country, and we got a chance to taste other countries’ delicacies!!

Time just flew by without me realizing the pace of it; sometimes so engrossed in office work that I wouldn’t realize it was late evening. Amidst all of this we used to visit different places in Switzerland and nearby countries. Lausanne was the first city in Switzerland I visited and I instantly fell in love with it. The beautiful blue lake in front of the snow clad mountains in the misty and slightly chilled air - the image is still inked in my mind! We visited Bruges, Belgium where we went on a bike (bicycle) ride to a beach for a total of 50 km. Traveling to Europe and not taking a bike ride is like visiting Mumbai and not experiencing the local trains, for bike ride is the most common form of travelling in Europe. Visiting Amsterdam which is known as the ‘city of bikes’ was also a great experience! Here, pedestrians cannot walk in the bike lane or else bikers will just take you down!

Sometimes, travelling alone is a bliss, remembering one such day when I explored the beautiful city of Geneva alone. I had the famous Swiss ice-creams and chocolates all day long, sat beside the famous landmark of Geneva, Jet d’Eau and felt the fresh air around. It was a calm and serene ambience where people did not bother each other; they were free, independent and happy! And walking at night on streets couldn’t have been more fun and safer! From mountains to lakes, rivers to valleys, courtyards to vineyards, I saw a lot in those two months but still a lot remains to be seen!

By Nitika Gupta

Aspirational tab defines the so discussed middle class. I have some core values, beliefs but I’m not a philosopher. Whole essence is that I always have a take on problem of others and there is a clear cut solution that I believe in. The solution may be feasible/ practical or not. I always feel comfortable with the people who agree with what I think. The only thing I do not like about myself is to blindly trust the person who just simply speaks my language. Am I exploitable?

 

The nation witnessed the birth of a new party recently and in a way supported them whole heartedly. Why? Because they speak our language. According to us whatever bad happens the reason is always corruption. We trust them without even having an iota of doubt and support their credibility as our representatives. Aren't these the same people who could not arrange a ticket for the constituency from other parties? Let’s take an example of the one who threw shoe at someone who was our representative. The shoe was thrown on us because we elected and asked him to sit there for us. How can he stand and desire to be our representative? But we trust them just because they speak our language?? 

They were chosen as the representatives of the constituency and were given a chance to form government. If we were the ones who selected them then who gave them the right to dissolve the government? The reason is not even worth discussing and would have been laughable if given in a college election. They were given five years to work for us and make our lives better. Were they given any checklist or even timeline such that if they fail to meet a task they should start packing for a holiday?

I recently heard an appeal on radio requesting everyone to advise them about so called “Public Fund” utilization. This fund is collected from every one of us while we buy anything, say Petrol, milk, toothpaste etc. The fund will be well utilized as the leader states. The same leader was given two years paid leave to pursue the higher education with a condition that he will serve our country with the newly attained knowledge. He then resigned from his post, not surprising. Whose money was utilized to fund his paid leave and higher education? Wasn't that ours??

The assemblies were setup in our country for a specific reason. If these places were useless then we could have saved millions and would have spent on other infrastructure needs. If I assume that people do nothing while sitting there then it would be injustice to an economy which showed tremendous growth in the last decade. It would be great to have a point of view of everyone but I don’t think I am capable of understanding the repercussions of the decisions at macro level. People are elected to sit there and expected to work in unison while it cannot be a daily routine for us. 

But I trust him because now he is speaking ‘my language’. Are my sentiments and emotions such that they can be so easily manipulated by anyone with a mask on? It’s not that I am not capable to understand what the intention of some people are. But I and my best friend – Hit & trial take time to come to a consensus. The common reply which I expect is that the writer is from opposition. For your information my dear Leader I am just a ‘Common Man’ from Indian Middle class.

By Ravi Sehrawat

14th July, 2014, Kolkata: The third edition of the annual post-budget analysis session, Budget Plus 3.0, was organized at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) Kolkata. The esteemed discussion panel included Dr. Ranajoy Bhattacharyya, Professor of Economics, IIFT; Dr. Saikat Sinha Roy, Associate Professor of Economics, Jadavpur University; Mr. Akash Mansinka, Manager-Tax and Regulatory Services, EY and Mr. Pankaj Agarwal, Manager-Indirect Tax, EY. The discussion was moderated by Dr. Bibek Ray Chaudhuri, Assistant Professor of Economics, IIFT. 

Dr. K. Rangarajan, Professor of Strategy and Centre Head, IIFT Kolkata welcomed all dignitaries and stated how the budget is indicative of the direction of the Indian economy. He added that IIFT has invited academicians, faculty and industry experts to have a diverse discussion on the budget. 

Members of InFINeeti, the quarterly finance and business magazine, IIFT gave an enlightening presentation on the key highlights of the budget. It was a succinct overview, throwing light on the various schemes and initiatives taken by the Government. Dr. Chaudhuri started the proceedings and spoke on how he looked forward to the economy getting back on track with “higher growth, stable inflation and prudent policy system”, although the double-digit Consumer Price Index was still a major concern. 

Dr. Saikat Sinha Roy stated the economy has not been performing well for the past few years. The trust of the investors in the economy needs to be restored. According to him, the budget “is a document of intent”. The current government manifesto included the need for an overhaul of infrastructure. Conception of ‘100 smart cities’ is a step in this direction. According to him, the implementation of the flagship scheme of the previous government, MNREGA, needs to be relooked. 

Mr. Akash Mansinka discussed about direct tax and said that subsidies should be phased out “for the Indian economy to compete with other economies”. Although the current government is perceived to be industry friendly, yet retrospective taxes have not been removed. Mr. Pankaj Agarwal spoke on indirect taxes and enlightened the gathering on how Service Tax, though introduced only in 1994, garners the highest tax revenues for the Government. He also pointed out the initiatives taken to incentivize the use of renewable energy resources. 

Dr. Ranajoy Bhattacharyya took a different stance from the other panelists and remarked the Government had missed the huge opportunity. Having been elected with an overwhelming mandate, it was time to take few hard measures. According to him, the budget was “pure eyewash”. He questioned the transparency of the Government and its attempt to “surreptitiously reduce expenditure behind the scenes”, referring to the reduction in the expenditure in Agriculture, Rural Development and Social Sector. 

Dr. Chaudhari succinctly summarized key points of each speaker and connected them in context of the entire discussion. After all speakers had spoken, the floor was thrown open to the audience which comprised of students from IIFT. 

The soon-to-be-managers proved to be able listeners and had various questions ranging from the duration of the long term capital gains to increase in FDI in the defence sector. Panelists stated that such an increase would not have a significant impact due to the highly capital intensive nature of the industry. 

The discussion was concluded with the consensus that the budget did fall short of certain expectations but it presents an optimistic state of the economy. The impact of the budget can be fully gauged when we meet next year for Budget Plus 4.0!

By Mohd Zeeshan

     

The Park Plaza Hotel, 12th July 2014: It was an evening filled with nostalgia and bonhomie as we gathered for the annual IIFT Kolkata Alumni Chapter Meet. The event kicked off with Mrs. Amita Khurana assuming her responsibilities as the Chapter Head accompanied by Mr. Kushal Roy, previous year Chapter Head. The evening was hosted by the Alumni Coordinator, Dr. Meenakshi Deshpande and the Alumni Committee, and started with Dr. K. Rangarajan, Centre Head-IIFT Kolkata, welcoming the alumni from various batches of IIFT. He stressed upon the importance of the alumni networking with the current crop of students and inspiring them towards success.

He was followed by Mr. Kushal Roy expressing his joy at interacting with the alumni of IIFT. Mrs. Khurana expressed her excitement of undertaking the mantle of Chapter Head and networking with batch-mates, and fellow IIFTians at the workplace. The luminaries were followed by an engaging fun game from the students of MBA (IB) batch of 2014-16. The game was followed by solo and group vocal performances from the alumni. 

The alumni accompanied by the faculty members then interacted with each other while refreshments were served. Students got an opportunity to interact with the alumni and drew upon past experiences and memories. As the evening progressed, Mrs. Khurana undertook the task of initiating connections between the alumni of different batches. The evening ended with sumptuous meal and light-hearted banter. Nostalgic conversations graced every table.

The evening ended with both students and alumni taking to singing their heart out. We stood witness to some of the hidden gems from the stable of IIFT. It was a mesmerizing experience deeply entrenched with the sense of belonging that our alumni felt for their Alma Mater.

By  Daksh Shah & Supratik Chakraborty

Dr. Gregory House. That was my aim for as long as I remember from his brilliance to his smirks- I was enamored and infatuated! I was determined to be a doctor with the panache of Dr. House and the humanity of Dr. Wilson. My path was set… Until, I decided to do an MBA to gain insights to revolutionize the Indian health system. And stepping into Stryker office on the 1^st day of internship, I felt as bewildered and as intimidated as Mike Ross (Suits) felt on his first day at Pearson Hardman!!!

Being from the medical background and having an ambition in the medical field, I was determined to intern at an organization which was a giant in the medical field. When Stryker India Pvt Ltd presented me with an opportunity to work with them, I had no qualms that this would be an amazing learning experience.

The first day at Stryker marked my first day ever in a corporate world. I was thankful for the induction process that made me feel a bit more comfortable in the MNC culture! It was during the induction that I realized that an outsider’s perspective about a company is quite different than an insider’s perspective. From the perspective of all the directors and heads of department, all the metaphorical gears of the organization started being visible to me. The basics of the Research and Development, Logistics, Sales and Distribution, Services and Product details of various verticals were explained and frankly, it all felt like a revelation!

After meeting all the hot-shots and feeling infinitely more precious about myself, I finally met my mentor who was to be my life-line for the 8 weeks to come. My projects revolved around market research for a new product launch (details are classified!!).

I had always wondered what people do in office all day! Day 1 of working on my project and I knew what “people did in office all day”. The secondary research was tedious, not to mention incredibly boring. The questionnaire preparation, in the following weeks, was even worse because it make me regret not paying attention in my Business Research Methods and Market Research classes! And the worst part was that I thought that this would be the most difficult part of internship. Post the disaster of questionnaire preparation, I had to out on the (mine)-field for administering the questionnaire. I am sure I spent infinitely more time in doctors’ waiting rooms than I did speaking to them!

I feel that travelling to metropolitan cities would have been better for me, comfort-wise (I know, very selfish of me) but most of my travelling with restricted to Delhi, NCR, Jaipur, Ludhiana and Chandigarh. It was harsh on me (I know I am spoilt. Please do not judge me!!) (Oh! The irony!). I actually wanted to give a standing ovation to all the sales personnel during that phase! I think I expected my internship to get better and easier if I worked hard in the beginning but it turned out to be the same lie that my parents told me about the importance of board exams!

Needless to say, I hardly slept in the final presentation week!

But I had expected the long hours and the tedious work. What came as a surprise to me was the fun aspect of the internship. The grueling internship presented an opportunity where co- interns became friends and mentors became supporters! The most fun part of the day was always the intern’ cafeteria breakfast of bread- omlette and mango shake…. I am still carrying the resultant weight gain!!! (sigh..)

And of course, we never complained about the technically “free” lunches at the office! Accidently, the dinners were expensive at the hostel (co-incidence much!!!).

As a part of CSR activities, the interns had to organize the Indoor Sports Tournament for the entire office. From sending mailers to scheduling to prize distribution- we were the bosses! Unfortunately, I missed the main event days due to the above mentioned field visits (grrr…). I think that would my biggest disappointment in my internship as all the interns present had the opportunity to interact with people from “not- my” departments!

The best part of my internship is the relationship that I developed with my mentor. I was terrified of him at first but slowly and with a lot of errors on my part (it is an old story, I know!), my mentor became my advisor and a person whom I can call and bug all day!

On the very last day of my internship, I was relieved when my presentation to the leadership team was done and dusted and I got my cheque (very cheap, I know!)! But what struck me at that moment was that there was a possibility that I would never come back to that office! It was in that moment that I realized how much of a home that office had become to me and that the thought of not going through the “2- hour long each way” journeys every day, was actually unthinkable and had actually become alien in a matter of 8 weeks!

But here I am now… Back to my college and back to the rigors of the classes and responsibilities and hopefully, back to all of this a little wiser. I was always under the impression that internship was meant to learn the practical implementation and implication of our theoretical class-room knowledge. Turns out, an internship does much more than that!! My internship reaffirmed my goals, gave me a direction and destination for them and definitely, taught me the importance of networking in all of this process!!

By Dr. Meenakshi Deshpande

With a wonderful journey of two years coming to a glorious end for our seniors, it was time for us to bid adieu to them. B School life would have been a heady mix of various challenges that they finally overcame to reach this day. As they step out of college, their minds would be clouded by apprehensions and wariness about the corporate world and at the same time enthusiasm as to what life holds in store for them.

On a heavenly night, we gathered to felicitate our seniors on the beautifully decorated rooftop of our college. The place was decked up in pretty lights all over and the occasion was such that even the skies cooperated and did not play spoilsport. The tiny IIFT badges that everybody had pinned onto their dresses conveyed the silent message- “Proud to be an IIFTian, now and forever”.  On this day, officially the last occasion on campus during their student life, various professors reminisced their experiences with the outgoing batch-in the B School tenure packed with assignments and cases, they too had their own moments to cherish and remember throughout their lives. Excitement was in the air, as the junior batch had chosen this occasion to felicitate our favourites among the senior batch, a difficult task considering the number of nominations we received. Ultimately, Haider Talat who was also the vice president of the student body, IMF along with Vartika Goel bagged the “Man of the year” and the “Woman of the year” awards. For always being a source of motivation and for guiding and mentoring us throughout, Mohit Kumar and Gaurav Bajaj won the “Kickass Club coordinator” and the “Best Mentor” awards respectively.  The student body also used this platform to felicitate each and every person who had contributed for the betterment of the batch. A very touching rendering of the song “Pal” by the juniors bought in a wave of nostalgia amongst our seniors.

Quite needless to say, what’s a farewell without some pictures!! Flashes seemed to light up the night as everybody posed endlessly for pictures, which are sure to end up as cover pictures and DP’s.  

Saying goodbye is always difficult but there could have been no better night to wish our seniors a bright and fun filled future!!