Solstice 2007 was the homecoming of over 350 alumni. The usually
quiet and sombre corridors of the ISB buzzed with cheer, laughter,
exclamations and chatter. The red and green flowing banners vouched
for the festive spirit that stretched across the campus. A medley of
fun activities and interactive sessions was organised by the Class
of 2008. Mock interviews helped thaw the ice between the old and the
new, as alums interacted with the present batch, sharing tips and
memories. The alums also interacted with the various professional
clubs here at the ISB. An insightful session by alum entrepreneurs,
a motivating address by Rajat Gupta, Chairman of the ISB Board, and
an update on the school by Savita Mahajan, Associate Dean, helped
crystallize many proud moments that the past batches were witness
to.
“All of you are at a wonderful confluence of events, and at a time
full of opportunities. Gupta addressed the alums at the packed
Khemka Auditorium. He urged the students, past and present, to use
the capabilities, which they have acquired while at the ISB, and
give back to the community. “The earlier you decide to give back,
the more fulfilling your careers will be,” he suggested. Gupta also
threw light on the future plans of the ISB growth story. “It is a
transition time for the School. A time to grow bigger,” he said.
Gupta informed that the ISB is set to expand the scope of the school
in many areas – one is to broaden and deepen various fields of study
at the school. Public policy, public administration, law etc are
possible areas of specialization, he suggested.
A live concert by ‘Indian Ocean’ and ‘Musafir’ (the alum band),
provided a live-wire tempo to the event. A party, aptly themed ‘the
never ending night’, heightened moods, and the crowd wished that
this magical moment of coming together never ended. The
quintessential inter years sports fight, saw the present batch and
the alums vying to be the best, and the bonding kept on getting
better.
“The Class 2008 has taken Solstice to a different level,'' says
Rohit Kapoor, Class of 2006, now working with the McKinsey at Delhi.
“Solstice is a good way to stay connected with the School,'' adds
Anuradha Agrawal, Class of 2003. “This memento is special to me,''
she says showing the specially crafted tabletop watch that the Class
2008 presented to all the alums.
Postscripts
“Ten years of life squeezed into one,” so summed up Kanishka Sinha,
from the Class 2003, about his ISB days, while sitting in the old
favourite School Atrium, during Solstice 2007. On a self-assigned
task of promoting the ISB at all forums, Kanishka, now with The Work
Partnerships, a training company, says ISB is ‘the’ place to study.
Innumerable little things to recall, but one thing Kanishka
remembers distinctly is the sound of the water fall on campus. “When
you go near the rock and clap your hands, you can hear an echo,'' he
said, recollecting the countless night-strolls through acres of the
rocky-green campus.
“I used to sit on a bench here and study for hours. The place is
ever breezy, and a great spot to rewind,” said Subramanyam
Vishwanath, popular as Subbu, a student of Class 2007, pointing in
the direction of a solid wooden bench in the School Atrium. Subbu
went on to be the winner of Economic Times Wharton Business Plan
Competition. He recently sold off his Fruition Morgen Soft unit to
ICICI Infotech, and is biding his time to join McKinsey at Delhi in
February. Subbu described the `Quad Life' (living with three others
in an apartment), as “first-rate”. This is the place where Subbu and
his friends Kuljeet, Sourabh and Siddhath grew ideas, finished
assignments and played cricket with softballs, using umbrellas as
bats. “We believed that lack of place and equipment cannot ever
suppress the spirit,'' he recalled.
There are so many high points at the ISB, so many memory tags, so
many sources of inspiration to do things differently. Rohit Kapoor,
from the Class 2006 wearing a McKinsey hat now, simply cannot forget
the classroom interactions with the faculty. “I am inspired by the
information capsules the faculty kept shooting at us,'' he said,
marvelling at the quality and quantity of inputs that he was
equipped with in just one year. What does returning to the campus
mean to him? “The atmosphere simply refreshes me. I get back to work
with more vigour after an interaction with the faculty or just
mixing around with the current class,” he said.
There are also people who regret not being in touch with the ISB, as
often as they would like to. Venky Natrajan, Batch of 2003, who left
a senior position with the ITC to turn an entrepreneur at
Coimbatore, admits that he missed a lot a by not being in touch with
his Alma matter after the course. “I realised that connecting back
with the ISB will help me with fresh insights into business
issues,'' he said, vowing to make frequent visits to the campus.
Alum Entrepreneurs on Stage
Venky Natrajan, Class of 2003, gave up a plush job with the ITC to
start an Equipment Design service. Entrepreneurship is no cake walk,
he declared at the talk by Entrepreneur Alums of the ISB, during
Solstice 2007. Natrajan does get frustrated by the clients who keep
their decisions pending for too long. Experience has taught him to
focus on the domestic markets, while also catering to international
markets. “Decide what motivates you to work,” was his message to the
budding entrepreneurs at the ISB.
It is not all a fairy tale, he disclosed to his friends and
counterparts. In his case, he is earning a fifth of what ITC was
paying him, has moved out to a smaller house in Coimbatore and
sometimes travels on a two-wheeler or in a bus.
The forum of Alum entrepreneurs shared with the audience their
journey - from idea to enterprise. During the panel discussion they
relived their experiences and travails of getting started with
entrepreneurship.
Ashish Sonal, founding alum from the Class of 2002, formerly Armed
Forces officer, is now into Risk and Intelligence Services.
According to him building a team is the toughest part of
entrepreneurship. “There is risk in entrepreneurship, but if
surmounted, it will convert into an opportunity,'' he said. For him
entrepreneurship is a furnace that eats up the money faster than one
can think. A tight financial discipline and work attitude is a must
to survive in the market, he tipped.
Entrepreneurs should also be prepared with an exit strategy. After
all businesses might fail – that was the suggestion from Ritesh
Tripathy, from the Class of 2005. “It is not a sin to sell a
company. You should just see that the exit has a milestone,'' said
Tripathy, now on an IT project for the government. There is no such
thing as a salary for entrepreneurs, cued in Gunjan Agarawal, Class
of 2004.
Present at the discussion forum was Ajit Ragnekar, Deputy Dean ISB.
He informed the audience that ISBians taking to entrepreneurship
have something to cheer. Plans are afoot to setup an
Entrepreneurship Advancement Centre at the ISB, informed Rangnekar.
The funding venture capitalists will support at least two teams from
the ISB with their ideas. The arrangement will take care of the loan
repayment, mentoring and other aspects related to entrepreneurship,
for the teams.
Drawing a parallel between the travails of building the ISB to its
present form and starting out as an entrepreneur, he asked the
students to execute their ideas with full conviction. “Several
people frowned at us when we explained the proposal to start ISB.
But we persisted with our efforts and this (ISB) is the result,''
Rangnekar said.
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