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GD/PI Shortlist for PFM 08-10 batch is out


What makes an entrepreneur?

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What are the traits and factors which decide whether somebody is going to be an entrepreneur or not? Are there some factors/traits which are more important than other for being a successful entrepreneur?

A research paper by a team of researchers from The World Bank, CEPR and CEFIR, provides good insight on above question on the basis of data collected on 400 random Brazilian Entrepreneurs.  

Some interesting findings from the paper:

  • Brazilian entrepreneurs are coming more from rural areas than urban areas and they are more likely to be married and less likely to be overweight. They are taller by one cm (approx) than non entrepreneurs.
  • Entrepreneurs were more patient than non-entrepreneurs and they expect lower returns on their investment than non-entrepreneurs (18% against 24% expected by non entrepreneurs).
  • Entrepreneurs put more value on children's education than non-entrepreneurs.
  • Entrepreneurs show more trust than failed entrepreneurs do.
  • Exploring the sociological characteristics of entrepreneurs, the paper shows that entrepreneurs are more likely to come from a family of senior managers, officials than workers. They also have more relatives and friends running their own business compared to non-entrepreneurs have. Though the social network has some role in deciding whether one is going to be an entrepreneur, but does not affect whether one is going to be successful entrepreneur.
  • Entrepreneurs are also more likely to come from a large family.
  • Mother's education seems to have some impact on entrepreneur's success. The mothers of failed entrepreneurs were less highly educated than the mother of entrepreneurs.

I do not know to what extent we can generalize the findings of this report, but surely it makes an interesting read. :)

Director's Prize fo The Best OT

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Every Year, during Kalpataru (IIFM's Annual Fest), IIFM awards Director's Prize for the Best Organizational Training work . Students are judged on the basis of Host Organization’s recommendation, IIFM faculty's evaulation and vote of batch mates.
This year, I along with Ravi got the award for the training we did in Development Credit Bank Ltd, Mumbai. The project was on Urban Microfinance.
We got the award for Second Organizational Training where as Dr. Varun Bangia got the award for First Organization Training work which he did at Dabur Pharma Ltd. (up to PFM 06-08 IIFM had 2 Organizational Trainings, PFM 2009 onward IIFM is having One Organizational Training i.e. Summer Internship).
Life at IIFM once again proved to be full of surprises and once again echoed the expression “These are the Best Days of My Life“.
I thank everybody specially my batch mates who voted for me (and also to those who did not), dearest alumni, faculty and most importantly Kartik Sir, Deepika Mam, Vidya Sir and Sandeep Sir of DCB.


[Post Contributed by Soumik Ghanta, PFM 08 batch]

Adieu IIFM…

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This is the Last post from IIFM. So much I have said about my Life at IIFM that I do not have any words to say anything new. That’s why this post is dedicated my Batch...The Great PFM 2008...
Abhishek: "One Man Show"
Email Id: abhishek.iifm@gmail.com
Abhinav: "Deep and Dependent"
Email Id:abhinaviifm@gmail.com
Amit: He stresses too much on "M"
Email Id: amit.mandale@gmail.com
Anurag: "Matrix Trilogy"
Email Id: anunis@gmail.com
Arjun: "....in between Optimism n Pessimism "
Email Id: arya.arjun@gmail.com
Atul : "Life is Beautiful"
Email Id: atul84atul@gmail.com
Gitesh: "Feel Good"
Email Id: giteshg@gmail.com
Garima: "Searching Books in which She will be able to find something about Her"
Email Id: garimabajaj@gmail.com
Jitendra: "Right Hand of God"
Email Id: jitendra.upadhyay@gmail.com
Kallol: "All-rounder"
Email Id: kallolkumarmandal@gmail.com
Kalpana: A Tigress in a bowl
Email Id: kalpanapfm08@gmail.com
Kanika: Here's my question...
Email Id: kanika07@gmail.com
Kshitiz: "To Be Or Not To Be"
Email Id: ksanadhaya08@gmail.com
Vaibhav : "On the Rocks"
Email Id: vaibhaviifm@gmail.com
Lalit: "To love at all is to be a vulnerable Lover"
Email Id: lalitsori6@gmail.com
Manish: The Devil God
Email Id: findmanish0@gmail.com
Neha: "Illusion of Life"
Parul: "Chocolaty Life "
Email Id: parul1411@gmail.com
Pranita: "Emotional Recycle Bin"
Email Id: pranita.bhagat@gmail.com
Prashant: "if u cant convince people...confuse them"
Email Id: luvprasha@gmail.com
Priyanshika: "I am what I am"
Email Id: priyanshika@gmail.com
Rahul B. : "My History Can Beat Up Your Politics "
Email Id: rahul.bharadwaj.18.02.1983@gmail.com
Rahul K.: "Living My Dream"
Email Id: @gmail.com
Ranesh: How's That....?
Email Id: rahul259@gmail.com
Ravi: "Honest Reflection "
Email Id: ravipan4u@gmail.com
Sameer: "Success lies in dream....so go and sleep"
Email Id: samsays19@gmail.com
Shakshi : An Individualist trying hard to change life
Email Id:groversakshi@gmail.com
Shail: He says "I can kill anyone for the Nobel Peace Prize"
Email Id: shail.iifm@gmail.com
Shweta : Its not about "Age", its about "Mileage" :D
Email Id: shweta.bhagwat@gmail.com
Shreshtha: "I think I am the Best....and...... I believe that I will be "The Best" One Day"
Email Id: shreshtha.bhardwaj@gmail.com
Siddharth: "Marketing with Style n Brands"
Email Id: sids617ster@gmail.com
Sonal: "A Protected Candle Light and A Beautiful Mind "
Email Id: sonalpfm08@gmail.com
Me : :)
Email id: callmesoumik@gmail.com
Srey: The Lost Soul ; Am I what I am ?
Email Id: sreyamsa@gmail.com
Sunil: "Cool Tunes of Life and Nature"
Email Id: rajagopal.sunil@gmail.com
Sudeep: "Our first and last love is....Self-Love"
Email Id: sudeep.kodialbail@gmail.com
Varun: Life is short, Make the most of it!!
Email Id: drvarunbangia@gmail.com

I am in love..

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I am in love.....
I am in love.....
I am in love.....
Yes this is true and now I will have to live the rest of my life with the fact that I am in love and I could not do anything about it, because I know that however hard I might try, I can’t have it forever.
But just one year... too bad!
Also, late realization is another sin that I have committed. Had I realized it earlier, I would have made the best use of the time, since we have been together for past one year. How true it is that you come to know something’s importance when you don’t have it. Only I can understand how desperate I was, to be united with my love when I was away on my internship. Now no prizes for guessing who I am in love with... so public, junta, friends and admirers, and those of you who are waiting with bated breath (probability of which is .00001), it is my own heaven IIFM!
Back from the summer internship, after two long months, I am loving it even more. What is more fascinating is the opportunity to “baaton gyan” to the new batch of PFM 2010 – the new batch is great and seems to have immense potential, the sooner they realize, the better it would be for them (look who is saying this!).
The best part of the orientation sessions (or the honeymoon as we call it here) this year was the guest lectures. Many eminent personalities were called to deliver different perspectives and the sector specific opportunities and the challenges that we will face once in the field. It was great to interact with Prabhat Upadhyaya, Sachin Badkas and Shreyamsa Bairiganjan – our own IIFMights who took pains and came down to the campus to share their experiences and discussed various job opportunities in different sectors, with us and the new batch.
Now coming back to my love, it was all glittering and shimmering, with new additions like a sports complex, lawn tennis court and a much needed canteen. Library became air conditioned, so now I don’t have any excuse not to spare time for some books and journals.
Life is business as usual for me but full of CERs and VERs for our Envi’s (batch mates who eat carbon, drink carbon and sleep carbon); but I am not bothered – at least for the time being – I am with my love, and obviously I am loving it!

-- Ujjawal (PFM 07-09)

The Journey

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Ujjawal has realized now that he is in love. I have always been in love – but the euphoria is over. I had come to IIFM with a completely different mindset – one teetering more on dreams than what it actually offers. Not that the dreams have shattered – they still form a core of my everyday life, but are dormant. I now know where exactly IIFM can take me… if I only want it… if I only work for it – the destination is ahead, but what about the journey?

This one year has taught me a hell lot of things (keeping awake till late, for instance – I used to call it a day by 10 p.m.!). But the best part of this has been that I have not been taught – I have learnt. And to me, it is a very significant difference. Always the one to question things not understood by me, I have worn my audacity on my sleeves – to not-so-rosy effects. Like the day I was chosen Principal of my school for Teachers' Day, and I went to school wearing a trendy sleeveless t-shirt just because I was tired of all the 'official' stuff (already!), and the teachers were so appalled, they turned dumb with shock – they just stared at me, and didn't say a word.

IIFM has always been close to my heart – and I wish to experience each and every part of it personally. I make night visits to places I find interesting. Every night, I want to sleep in a different place, just to make it a part of me. But again, 'society' stops me – literally. And I am dragged back to the mundane. Why do I allow this? Where are the dreams which drove me? Am I digressing, or am I mainstreaming?

Moot questions all… and for now, I am just content – content doing my own thing, my own way, remaining inconspicuous to the world at large. Not for me the attention… what draws me near is the strange…

--Siddharth Iyer (PFM '09)

itinerant weekend... itinerant thoughts...

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I’m just back from Indore, where I went without a tangible purpose, over the weekend. I’d had enough of student life. I wanted the life of a wanderer. I wanted time to introspect... and emerge anew. Of course, I was only partly a wanderer – I had money, you see! Still, I did spend a lot of time with myself.
So when I was finally free from Rohit (O yeah, coincidentally, he too visited Indore these days – and I strictly asked him to leave me alone!) and the yummy poha-jalebi he dished out on Saturday morning, I found myself in a decent hotel room, all to myself. And for the first time in a long time, I felt good about this. An afternoon outing saw me roaming around in search of a stock of juices on which I intended to sustain the two days. Was a time well spent – observing people and their small talk, walking along slowly. Be it this time of lazy sunshine, or the evening maze of tangled weekend urgency, I noticed one similarity – people in general tend to do their own thing oblivious of what circumstances around. What with the school-boy flirting with his classmate on the streets, suit-clad honchos stopping their sedans in Lalbag for a pee, locals haggling with handicrafts-people from all over India for 5 rupees, hoteliers suspicious of a boy renting a room all alone... India is still the same in spirit. In many ways, it bodes well for a community searching for life amidst all the temptations of the world. In other ways, could it bode ill for the future generations? Do we have the capacity of assimilating the West and the East in a natural confluence of benefits, leaving behind the limitations?
Reading The Siege of Mecca by Yaroslav Trofimov in this period has opened up a world in front of me which I knew existed. We have to stop blaming Islam for each and every damnation on earth. What’s wrong with Islam? Absolutely nothing. With some of its followers – maybe yes. Some have the wrong notion that ‘everyone needs to follow my religion, in my way’. But then, that’s the virus festering in all major religions all over the world. Hinduism suffers from it, Christianity does too. Other religions, I don’t know – I haven’t been exposed to them enough. It’s only when the sense of individuality gets superseded by group behaviour norms that you see radical fundamentalism of the nature largely attributed to Islam. I’m sure the way things are going – Christianity oppositions in Orissa, misguided Hindu stronghold in Gujarat, to cite a few – these two religious behemoths are soon going to join the ‘radicalism’ bandwagon. And we have no one else to blame but ourselves. Though we live superfluously together, our mental disconnect with each other widens by the day. We are unwilling to change.
These are random thoughts completely incomplete with respect to my entire sojourn in Indore, but they form some bases of my life now. Yesterday, incidentally, was International Peace Day. And it was a watershed day for me. I made peace with myself, drew a roadmap for my future pace in life, and also reinstated my conviction: I will change. If the world thinks it worthwhile, I will be an example.
Development, Environment and Forestry? – they will automatically fall in place.
--- Siddharth Iyer, PFM 09

Your Network,Your net worth.

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Sometime back I was discussing recruitment processes  with my friends/colleagues and some professors;  the discussion started getting focused on the key skill sets/attributes/features playing critical role in selection. Though we are quite aware of  most  of the skill sets and attributes affecting selection decision, an interesting attribute was the network a candidate has access to. Yes, your network constitutes a significant part of your net worth.
A recruiters (especially those recruiting for managerial posts and  not for skill specific jobs like programmers or firefighters) primarily assess the total value a candidate brings to the table and unlike one's individual skill sets, knowledge and training, whose effectiveness is tested only after certain amount of time, network's effectiveness is pre-established and known. It brings immediate value in term of providing an indirect connection for the recruiting organization to a network, which can be exploited in many ways. I know many people who rely hugely on their professional network / college network for effective execution of their professional assignments. Ask anyone working in development sector, they will vouch for it. And here by network I am not referring to only college/ alumni network, it can be your family network (being relative of a minister/cabinet secretary!!) or social network or professional network in terms of contacts and references you carry with yourself from your past organizations/assignments.
The other significant advantage of assessing this attribute is that one can predict future performance to some extent based upon the performance of network members.  It gives a sense of your potential. It builds one's credibility.The differential pay packages offered to candidate with same qualification from different institutes is reflection of this value and risk assessment only.
And sometime the network becomes more important than the candidate. After all, the potential of a  wire depends on the  power source it is connected to. :)
( There are some  'head fakes' here.. You can surely gain some extra points if you know how to use your networks.. .. oh .. there are more than a couple of  'head fakes' here..  Sorry I just finished The Last Lecture by Randy Paush .. and I liked the use of 'head fakes' ...)

Alumni Meet in Bhopal, 9th November

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Sunday, the 9th saw few IIFM Alumni back to their Campus. Current batches planned events etc and executed them well. I was not the one going back to campus after years, it is just months for me but thanks to the name of event there were more people around. So we introduced ourselves, shared a moment from our time in the campus, played ad-mad, heard songs, did some clay artwork, ate lunch, talked to director and students, drank tea, some of us saw movie while we spirited.
Alumni Committee - I loved the momento!
Please share the photographs asap.

Reminiscence Ruminations

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Another Alumni Meet has passed. This time, it was the M.P. Chapter. We had 22 confirmations. Twelve came.
Well, I am very happy with the Meet this time (of course, learnings are always there!).  For one, the event was refreshingly organized – and all efforts of the Alumni Committee, and of Dhaval, were there for everyone to see. Second, there was a much better co-ordination between the Clubs and their events. Third, volume-wise, many more turned up – both, from the alumni and the students’ side. Of course, volumes in these cases are always something to crib about, but I’m not going to do that – I’m just too happy. Fourth, and most important, I perceived the alumni to be happy. I really hope the word spreads and we have much better numbers next time.
You know, we at IIFM tend to take things for granted… either our future or our relationships. I did. IIFM has made me go through the most tumultuous relationships in my life. I have faltered time and again. But hope lingers. Rather, it keeps popping up every now and then and makes me cry. Like the time last week when my dearest friends put up a surprise birthday party for me by the bridge on the moat. It gives me hope – that I’m loved, and will be loved, wherever I go after IIFM. It gives me strength I’ll draw on all my life. And I’m sure every alumnus feels this way. But something still stops us from coming back.
Is it because the people made the place worth living and not the Institute? Maybe. But hey! People are still there… Give us a chance to know you… Give us a chance to come out of our shells… 
-----
Siddharth Iyer PFM 09

Change for good ?

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A few years back in search of an institution which can add some value to my CV, I ended up at the gates of IIFM. I was there for my GD/PI. I was about to leave the auto at the gate itself, but the auto-driver told me the institute is about one km up on the hilltop and he was right as I could not see anything from the gate apart from trees in different stage of their lifecycle and a big clump of bamboos (a few months later I realized that these bamboos have their own family 'poaceae' and subfamily 'Bambusoideae'.. etc..etc.. thanks to IIFM course-curriculum).
The auto-ride from IIFM gate to IIFM main-building confirmed one thing that this place is worth spending two years. I had already started thinking of my life at hilltop. A few hours later, post my GD/PI (which ensured that if the selection committee had nothing against my face and my 'bihari'accented English, I was almost in.) I saw some faces oozing familiarity to the surrounding and moving towards bushes adjacent to old hostel buildings. I followed them a bit hesitantly and reached a place which gave mesmerizing view to a water body, Bhopal city and the sun set. I was at 'Sunset Point'.  To hell with placement figures and apprehension of joining a sectoral b-school, this is the place to spend two years.
Seven-eight months later, sunset point was part of our life. The rocks there carry ancient paintings and have been part of memories of many lifelong partnerships. Not to mention, the area surrounding sunset point being a good habitat for peacocks and birds. 
Now, about a couple of weeks ago, a mail landed in my mail box conveying the sad news. The new expansion plan of IIFM is going to result in constructions around 'sunset point' . They are going to build faculty houses in that area; there is going to be sunset for sunset point. There is nothing much I can do here apart from making a sincere request to concerned decision-makers to think about the proposed construction plan. IIFM campus is big enough to accommodate houses for each and every member of IIFM family, the sun set point can be left alone.
But, I must confess I do not have the full picture. There are not many ways that we can get unless decision makers start using some of the tools IIFM advocates and champions. Stakeholder Analysis, Participatory Decision Making, EIA... these words are probably used most on this Bhopal hilltop than anywhere else.

Price? No. Value? Who cares...!!!

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I am an inherently lazy person. But today I finally bring myself to write something which has been bothering me all along in IIFM, right from the time I came here: all of us here are barking dogs who never bite!

We will talk of sustainable development and watershed management, but care tuppence about the water overflowing and draining away from the hostel tank twice a day every day, for more than half an hour each time. Or for that matter, leaving taps open and imagining sweet dreams while the water flows.
We will talk of equitable distribution but lazily refuse to take only ‘enough’ food in our plates and later unabashedly empty the ‘small’ leftovers in the mess bins.
We will talk of energy efficiency and conservation and even take up electives in Energy Management, but flagrantly refuse to follow the basic tenets of switching off lights, fans and other equipments when not in the room.
Why? Because we either don’t pay for these services, or pay paltry sums – that too without realizing it. We don’t pay for the water at all, and even for the electricity, we pay indirectly, if at all, in the form of Hostel Fees (which have only from the academic year 2009-11 been increased to Rs. 13000 for the two years combined). That translates to around Rs. 620 p.m. for the entire hostel fees (not merely electricity) for the new batch which would come to IIFM next year. Obviously, we pay much smaller amounts – I don’t have the admission brochure of our batch to validate the same.
So it is perfectly fine for me as a student of IIFM to use as much energy and resources as I want, or as I want to ignore, and still get away with it without me getting affected by it – monetarily or physically. And the wastage continues...
We learn in Strategic Management that top management buy-in of a concept is important for it to trickle-down across the organization system. Is that what is ailing us here? Is the lack of a monitoring mechanism by the Institute key to us being such irresponsible consumers of public goods? Well, we do see the Institute leading us in many aspects – professors leaving lights, fans and air-conditioners on in full swing in their rooms whilst they are out for long stretches of time; CFLs of much higher lumens replacing the old tubes and bulbs in classrooms in the ratio of 2:1 – leading to at least double the electricity consumption than what is required; cultural annotations of the Sunset Point being ignored while developing faculty residences on-campus; etc. The Institute has public money to spend, budgets to meet, and unnecessary opulence flows...
I believe similar things happen in the NGO sector. Though I have never worked in one, I have heard from several quarters (reliable ones, like the erstwhile State Co-ordinator of The Hunger Project) that NGOs spend money like anything on ‘field researchers’ whenever development targets by funding agencies are to be met, in order to ensure continuous supply of funds.
But here I go too far. From the individual, I have come to a system. I guess that’s too much to ask for – dynamic refurbishment of an entire system of functioning.
But the question remains – do I have the right to continue my wastrel ways of living at the cost of deprivation to another person living outside my field of vision? Well, the non-user value concept of environmental economics seems not to have caught up yet with us. So let’s just... waste on...!
----Siddharth Iyer PFM 09

Missing those lofty gates....

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Right now, the batch of PFM 2010 is on their internship at every nook & corner of India. Right from Shimla to Madurai, in OWSA to Satpura Tiger Reserve, one can find them everywhere, working in scorching heat of this summer of Jaipur to enjoying the pristine beauty of Nainital. All hell bent on proving the mettle inside them...

Sitting in the office, I wonder how IIFM must be looking now. With the seniors gone & 2010 batch not present in the campus now, does IIFM may be having the same charm& exuberance which it exudes whenever you enter the magnificent gates of IIFM? Is it the students over there which gives energy to IIFM or is it the other way around? Does the peace in IIFM now giving out a feeling of serene calmness or of a mother waiting for her child? Well, this question is difficult to answer. But one thing can be said for sure, that whatever be the answer to this question, we IIFMIGHTs miss IIFM without having even words to express how much. And it’s the IIFM which gives identity to us & not vice versa.

All those midnight walks.... with the harmless banter & teasing with friends daily (barring few days when we had to submit some lengthy assignments next day), trying to go to Andheri Gali& shouting even with the sound of a leaf, the long rows of Roses in front of Administrative block, near hostel & mess, the sacred Canteen which fills the appetite of many during 10 minutes' break(because they wake up at 8:25 for the class of 8:30); rushing towards the canteen for the last cup of tea of the day at around 11:45 pm(since, it closes at 12), eating Maggi whenever you don’t find food in the mess matching to your palate, IP: the lifeline (source for instant spread of news), looking at life- size India Gate whenever one goes to mess, Indyarocks : to inform everybody about some urgent news, celebrating birthday outside the hostel with the birthday guy getting good amount of bumps& swearing not to eat cake for a couple of months, waiting for the last class to get over(since it is from 2-3 & after the lunch break), trying to complete the assignment before 5 0’ clock(manage to do so at 4:55 pm), eagerly waiting for Friday so that you can completely unleash the energy stored in you out on Saturday & Sunday, Group study in Computer Centre during Exams, trying to get as many chance to play carom, the baddy court, football ground, the tennis court, the volleyball Court , the sacrosanct ROOM NO. 119......

There are so many aspects of living in IIFM that one can’t capture it in words..... Here, when I am outside those holy gates, I am missing the safeness of it...I am missing my friends without whom life is incomplete at IIFM, I am missing rushing to the mess for breakfast...I am missing those long Dining tables where a single meal used to extend to 30-45 minutes, where life used to begin with looking ahead for new happenings....

..... Swati Agrawal.. PFM'10

My Seasons in the Sun

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Alumni? Well aren't they just old college pass outs?? Why so much fuss about Alumni and Alumni Meets everyone in class thought... Ask me the same question today and I can swear on anyone they are more like parents and most of the times even more!! Internship time during an MBA course is all about organizational experience!! Work dynamics!! Group dynamics and pressure management!! All in a real time scenario!! I do agree but there are more facets to any work experience. Adjustment is the biggest factor to any kind of situation!! An internship is a clear check for everyone on how well they are prepared for work...Maybe even at weird hours stark conditions... Messy bosses!! Bad network and erratic internet.
Enough of introductions... I’ll move onto something more personal now!!
My choice of internship was in the environment sector in Bombay!! The hub of every kind of activity in this country! One can never leave Bombay out of anything.. Honestly I was dying to work here because I have stayed across India all these years for study and work and research and lived all of them explicitly.. Mumbai remained and here it was a golden opportunity!!
Can I survive Bombay? Can I learn from the relentless passion in the people to earn a living? Can I keep up with the pace Mumbaikars have to offer to me every morning? Can I count each second I gain/lose if I miss/catch a bus/train/rick... This is Bombay people!! Where people account for every nano-second in their lives and devise ways to optimize it!! I would still say I was lucky!! The moment I landed up in Dadar junction this quest of the unknown began. Iwas hesitant, submissive, and even a little jittery about these two months, whether it would be an ordeal or a pleasant surprise. And it turned out to be the latter. And in what splendid way really.  Right from switching 2 trains from day 1 to land up at Chembur and finally realizing my mentors house was closer to Kurla station till date when I’ve mastered the art of racing for the fast locals and getting off them at lightning speed in this city has been really a revelation!!
My directions in IIFM leaned towards the ENV sector and I, by nature, am a hard core business oriented person. I started looking for avenues to connect these two. I saw CDM as an option, I had read about it a lot for my GD/PIs and now it was time to cash in. Read some more.  Interacted with some environment sector seniors. Got more stuff in my data bank. Had some wonderful teachers teaching basics and conversations with them helped my understanding... Internet was extensively used. But what next I thought. Then comes internship time.  Best time to feel the heat. Get into this sector. Work and find out for myself if I wanna take the final plunge.  And so I ended up at a renowned consultancy in this city. My deliverable a project design document. The essence of the entire CDM process, it all begins with this doc all told me!!!
I had another friend who was out to check out/test the waters of CDM and didn't we have a ball!!
Will not discuss work, that will be done at a more official place that is the final PDD and report I make.. If I finally end up making onw... Guess i have to :) till now I’m not through with either... but this poar was meant to tell everyonw about the entire experience of my 2 months!!
Recounting my 1st day at work I remember Kallol Sir blatantly telling me… “Dude don’t faint looking at the crowd at Borivali station waiting for the 8:17 Slow!! My ticket was done and I was ready to hurl myself into the train… but I was warned... 1st day mate see, learn and then ape from tomorrow... watch us take the COMMANDO jump... from tomorrow u can do the practical...”
I wondered God if there are so many people only here how do people manage!! And there are such umpteen stations from where people fling themselves inside a coach to get an inch of footspace so that they can earn their daily bread. As predicted I was shoved around like a pack of shelved cards n once i got in I could barely set foot. I learnt it was 1st class, no this is no class divide.. Just an illusion and of course cushioned seats. I have seen people with 3 blackberries rubbing shoulders with someone like me.  A mere intern. I was amazed at the way the city functions. There is nothing called as a dia to this city.  It exists in straight lines and that is why it is so important to know your east and west here. A slight miscalculation in direction can cost you money and more importantly time.  Beat a Mumbaikar in time management and i will bow to you.  As I mentioned every second is set for an activity. Remember xulfi's song... mumbai jaha sab apni zindagi slow track se fast track karne me bitate hain!! True but thats the essence!! The urge, to keep going out there everyday fighting all odds!!! the tremendous tenacity of people here and I am not speaking this with regard to just one community or class... but my observation is about the inherent passion to not waste time and keep at it every day!! I think IIFM made me lazy i was taken aback and was in full admiration to this quality of Mumbai!!
The city never sleeps... never.. I’ve stayed in India in all metros, semi metros, there is no comparison to Mumbai..  You will find transport always!! At least in most of the places!! And there is no fleecing... so well said in the movie 99... Delhi taxis/autos have no meter!! Mumbai everything is regulated... I was amazed at the fact that everywhere everything happens in a proper queue!! Yes there is an occasional stir... but generally most of the things are mechanized!! This is a super safe city for women!! Beat that!!
As days flew by I started becoming IIFM sick. With similar cries from friends from all over internship locations I felt a deep craving to go back… But the thought of going back from Bombay didn’t feel nice... Was staying with a bunch of alumni who I think are absolute rockers!! I've never been pampered so much ever in my life i guess. Every need of mine/ours was taken care of, suggestions and advice always forthcoming.... this made our stay an amazing bliss!!! Met more of the IIFM brotherhood during our trips to various places... and also the Alumni Meet... One could never the warmth with which we were greeted and owned. Truly IIFM subconsciously binds us amazingly!!! Somehow one can never forget the feelings and the deep attachment towards the college... We felt these vibes... Be it 96 pass outs 02 pass outs or the most recent ones, this strong connection will never let us down I am so sure!!! During moments like this one feels what an amazing place we all have gathered to make the most of our two important years!!

With each passing day as i saw more of Mumbai i started feeling the resilience inside me!! True I haven been exposed to the darker shades but then every coin has two sides you choose which side you wanna call and hope that life throws that side of the coin to you!! Kaushik (my fellow intern) and i decided to have our own list of to-do things before we fled this city..
Getting on a double decker!!
Eating bhelpuri at chowpati
Visiting Siddhivinayak and Haji Ali
Buying stuff from 2nd hand market.. at mind boggling rates (courtesy Kallol sir)
Getting hold of Shantaram at Rs 100 reprint version
Visiting BandStand ... :D
EsselWorld.. 
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Understanding if  I can end up doing CDM consultancy.. :)
Some done; some unfinished but I promise I will come back to complete all this... I need my second chance!! I will take it!!
I started with the word Alumni… Some of you might think I lost out on the origin of my blog... no I didn’t I was busy knitting my thoughts on Bombay and without these alumni I would not have been able to write this!!! They were great mentors, great guides, great hosts, and great seniors but above all they were great friends!! Thank u pfm08 house!!  Thank you Kallol Sir, Atul Sir, Prashant Sir, Gitesh Sir, Soumik Sir and all the rest who made these two months of mine an amazing experience in Mumbai!!!


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Indranil Roy (PFM 08-10)

5 Yrs of IIFMight :)

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Next week this blog will be 5 years old and the guy writing this post will complete five years in IIFM family, 2 years as a student and 3 years as an alumnus. But those who abhor my narcissistic tendencies (yeah.. I have them in abundance.. I have a personal blog to brag about myself) should not worry as I am writing about the blog (to the extent possible) and not about myself.

The blog was result of the frustrations of a prsopective IIFM applicant who tried to search online about the institute and all he got was IIFM official website providing the 'official information' in very very 'official manner' (yes, those days the website used to be as moody as anything can be.. most often not working on weeekends and too slow on the weekdays). Somehow that prospective IIFM applicant made it to the final list of selected students and remembering his frustration of futile web-searches and very low web footprint of this wonderful institute created this blog. And IIFMight came into existence.

Those days (2004, when blogging was still in nascent phase in India) the posts on this blog ranged from occassional mail forwars to updates on campus activities, the later primarily done by the respective club coordinators. In between there were some sprinklings of campus life of some students (those who dared to write anything else than the mandatory assignements) and in no time the blog had a good starting point for someone looking for an un-official view of life on the hillock at Bhadbhada road. It started attracting decent web-traffick and the content on the blog started to find a place in faculties' discusssion with students, in replies of new students( to questions like "how did you come to know about IIFM?) and in other virtual forums/places.

By 2006, the blog started getting contributions from some alumni, new members of IIFM family and the posts started to come.. mostly in trickles with sudden spurts triggered by enthusiasm of members of new batches. It served as a platform for information sharing and experience sharing, as a PR tool, as a complaint board... and has chronicalized journey of IIFM and IIFMights to some extent since June 2004. Now in 2009, the blog is doing fine even though it craves for some regular contributors, it is serving its purpose. It is pinning its hope on new members (Welcome PFM 2009-2011) and yet again requests the old members (it knows that all of you have your own blogs..but still this blog deserves some attentions from you..) to come out and share the tidbits from life after IIFM, your work life ...........

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IIFM Student Clubs in news

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Nayi Duniya (a leading Hindi daily) has covered IIFM student clubs quite brilliantly :). Nice to see IIFM clubs getting much needed media space.

Here is the link for the article

IIFMights in News

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Outlook Business's special edition on Social Entrepreneurship covers two of our alumni working in social enterprise space. Mr. Vineet Rai, one of the most known names in socially responsible investing has been featured as an expert on social investing, while Mr. Vijay Pratap Singh of Ekgaon Technologies has been featured as on of the 50 social entrepreneurs who are changing the nation. Here is the link for online article:
http://business.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?261392

On the similar note, there have been some new additions to growing club of 'Social Entrepreneurs from IIFM'. Jaspal Shakya and Abhishek Chaudhury, both from PFM 06 batch have turned entrepreneurs. Abhishek Chaudhury has started a development consultancy firm 'Innovantage' and Jaspal aims to establish a fair-trade compliant carbon neutral supply chain of environment friendly handicrafts through 'EarthDreams'.
Watch for this space for more detailed info on these two ventures.

IIFM All India Alumni Meet on 1st November, 2009

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Greetings from IIFM !!!

It's our pleasure to inform you that the IIFM All India Alumni meet'Reminiscence' will be held on the 1st of November 2009.It is one of those eagerly awaited moments when the whole IIFM family comes together under one roof to interact with faculty, catch up with old friends and bring old memories back to life. And to make this moment possible your presence is indispensable. So do grace the occasion by being there. We request you to kindly send in your confirmation to us to allow us to make the necessary arrangements.

We are trying to expand our Alumni database so that we can get in touch with the people who have worked in the industry and have helped in building the brand IIFM of which we are a part. The central database for all purposes is at www.iifmalumni.com. You are requested to upload your details here. It will be a great help if we can get contacts of your batch mates or other IIFMights you are in touch with. It will also help us to invite them for the meet.

Looking forward to your invaluable support. Help us spread the word.

Alumni Affairs Committee
Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal

A walk in the Niligiri

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Standing over the high ridge of the Nilgiri Tahr Mukurthi National Park, I realised that walking across an area of 5,520 sq km was not going to be easy. But in the light of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve representing a microcosm of the diverse forests of Southern India, it was worth the effort...Our plan was to estimate wild honey bee colonies in the region. Starting from the Rajiv Gandhi National Park in Karnataka, we moved downwards to cover the entire biosphere. In the process, we gathered interesting information on honey bee populations and gained a larger perspective about the state of the forests in the Reserve.

Our alum Kunal Sharma writes about his journey in the Nilgiris in Deccan Herald.. Click here to read the full article..

Two plus two years later....

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Last week when i was going through the pile of snaps on my hard disk, i found the ones taken a month into IIFM, with the batch mates still trying to know each other and adjust to each other. The first two months are a good enough measure of what life is going to be at IIFM over the next two years.

Passing out of IIFM , one tends to feel sad. You think of the time you spent with your friends over the last two years and then all of a sudden you realise that this is it... No more late for class syndrome...No more news paper wrapped breakfasts...No more 5 minute extensions for submitting the assignments...No more late night chai's at Nehru Nagar !!!!

First month into the job and you invariably feel that you are a misfit. You are a misfit for the kind of work that you are doing, you are a misfit for the kind of town you are staying in and you are a misfit for your clothes as well (Weight issues etc:))

What after 2 years ?? Post two years you realize a few things...You are not a complete misfit after all. Work is good once you start enjoying what you are doing, finding the work that you really enjoy doing is the tricky part (I've been lucky enough to get the work that i really enjoy a month into my job) The seniors from IIFM are always around to teach you the tricks n trades of the new job (They are there to watch your back at times when you goof up) Its something which keeps passing on to every generation from IIFM who joins a new organization.. By 2 years you also start to see the future much more positively, this confidence comes with good work to back you up.

You also realise that its not possible to keep in touch with buddies as frequently as you promised to, but then you take consolation from the fact that all the marriages in the batch are like mini alumni meets and get togethers for the batch. You end up scolding the others about not calling you more often etc etc. and the same excuse always manages to shine through "I was swamped with work" and somehow thats the response you want, its great to see all the buddies doing well in their respective jobs and what better a measure than "Lots of work !!!!!"

IIFM always ends up giving you more than what you expected, be it career wise or be it in terms of the close friendships for life.... it manages to surprise you when you are least expecting it.

So four years after setting foot at IIFM for the first time, all I can say that it has been good. Really good !!!!!!!!!!
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