What we learn with pleasure we never forget.
- Alfred Mercier
In a seminar conducted by MBA Guru, India’s fastest growing CAT coachinginstitute, with 15 branches across 7 cities, and MBAUniverse.com, India’s leading management portal, powered by ITM Group of Institutes held in Delhi on Sunday, November 1, 2009, Deans & faculty of MBA institutes like IIM Ahmedabad, IIM Lucknow, MDI Gurgaon and IMI were emphatic about the fact that the importance of MBA from a good institute is immense and you should not think twice before getting your MBA degree NOW. During the jam-packed session at FICCI which was attended by over 500 MBA aspirants, the speakers discussed key areas for success at MBA entrance examinations as well as during and post MBA education.
While the star of the show was none other than Dr. Palash Sen, lead vocalist of India’s premiere Hind-rock band, Euphoria, medical practitioner, chief-mentor and brand ambassador of Roots Education (MBA Guru), the other esteemed speakers of the day included Dr. Rajnish Karki, visiting faculty of IIM Ahmedabad and author of the book ‘Competing With the Best Strategic Management of Indian Companies in a Globalizing Arena’; Dr. Jyotsna Bhatnagar, Chairperson, PGP-HR, MDI Gurgaon; Prof. Jayanti Das, Area Coordinator, ITM Group of Institutes; Dr. C S Venkata Ratnam, Director, IMI Delhi; Dr. Rajeev Kumra, Faculty, IIM Lucknow and Saurbah Saxena, AGM – HR, Network 18. Such a delectable repertoire of speakers was bound to leave the young audience spellbound and it did!
“ India was hardly affected by recession so you need not worry about the time or wait for two years. The time is right to go for an MBA degree. You should prepare yourself for the MBA,” said Dr. Rajnish Karki (vsiting faculty, IIM A).
“MBA is that holistic program which not only enhances your knowledge but prepares you to face the real corporate world”, said Dr. C S Venkata Ratnam, Director, IMI Delhi.
Dr. Jyotsna Bhatnagar (MDI) gave a detailed view of what MBA imbibes in you during two years of the course. She mentioned that apart from making you ready for the corporate world, it also teaches you how to manage, time, yourself and your peers. “MBA is not the magic wand, it is YOU,” Dr. Bhatnagar accentuated on the fact that it is you who is capable of shaping your life in the desired way.
Prof. Jayanti Das said that you need to have a strong vision on where you want to see yourself in next 10 years. Your decision making skills has to be very strong if you want to be the leader, which is the need of the hour for India. “A good leader is one who has a strong vision and decision making skill,” Prof. Das said.
Saurabh Saxena, AGM-HR, Network 18 showed three steps for the transformation from a casual college student to a top corporate honcho. “Three things to help your transformation are direction or focus, passion and attitude,” he said.
Dr. Rajeev Kumra, faculty of IIM Lucknow mentioned that the pedagogy and the curriculum of the MBA Institutes should be judged. “A good MBA institute teaches you how to think, cross functional competence, functional domain knowledge and team work,” Dr. Kumra mentioned.
If the first few speakers held the attention of the aspirants through right and relevant inputs, the students’ patient wait for their mentor Dr. Palash Sen’s turn to come and interact with them paid off when the ‘doc came into rock’. The serene atmosphere at the seminar was suddenly infused with immense energy and excitement as Dr. Sen literally took centre-stage from the moment he arrived, and was greeted by a thunderous applause from the entire audience.
Beginning by wondering if he, a doctor, was a misfit among the entire MBA gathering, he went on to answer it in his usual sensible and witty style. “We all are managers in our own little ways. You are managing a lot more than you probably realize: you are managing your family, your friends, your studies, your CAT preparation, and you are even managing your girl-friends/boy-friends and those of others too,” said he as the audience broke into what was going to be the first of many bouts of laughter.
Almost every query during the more than an hour-long interaction was met with 2 responses – the first one being a humorous spontaneous reaction which kept everyone in splits and the more contemplated afterthought following thereafter. The amazing ability to connect with an audience even on a serious platform seemed to have immediate results as the students came up with query after query – right from the exam-anxiety to conflicting career goals and definitions of success and failure.
In the questions asked by the students, he talked about his personal experience. He suggested “Love everything you do, be it studying or practicing your hobby. There is no rule which says that a successful manager cannot play drums. Some of the top CEOs across the globe have extremely interesting hobbies,” he revealed. He said that if you are serious about both, you can manage both the fields easily. “Find happiness in small things in life,” he shared his mantra for his ever happiness.
Dr. Palash spontaneously concurred with the theme set by some of the earlier speakers when he stressed upon understanding yourself better as the key to success. You have to first decide what you really want to do in life. “Don’t go for an MBA or medical profession just because your parents want you to do so. If you are happy doing something else, you should pursue that,” Dr. Sen said. So know your true calling before you put your step forward.
Delving into his association with MBAGuru, he talked about how the education and the commitment of the team at MBAGuru compelled him to endorse it straight from the heart. And as the fastest growing CAT coaching institute in India, MBAGuru is already changing the way MBA preparation is looked at with a strong focus on the individual through its copyrighted YOUnique initiative.
The interaction left the students satiated as well as seeking more. Finally, the students’ continual demand for a few lines from some Euphoria hits was met with 2 complete songs wherein Dr. Palash had the entire 500 strong audience singing with him.
My expectations from MBAGuru were completely fulfilled and exceeded, both in terms of attention and enthusiasm. The classes are intensive and rigorous, along with a very relevant series of tests.
