A Virtual Interaction...

KN Venkataraman aka "KNV" (90BMD), and the Finax Secy of that batch - and currently based in USA - met the present batches in the virtual space on the night of Feb 6th-7th.

Making Her Own Rules

Eco Times published an article on the 1980 batch Gold Medalist, Nidhi Reddy:

For Nidhi Reddy, XLRI alumnus, who runs Chennai-based Nidhi Reddy Consultants, success has been largely thanks to her “immense self-belief and being able to chart out her own path”, which has helped her face adversities and challenges with ease.




"I have not had any mentor in particular. I am glad that I have been able to trace my own path and have always done what I believed in..."

Read on...

Tsunami: Appeal from Director, XLRI

January 20, 2005

To : The Alumni


Dear Alumni/ae :

All of us are shocked by the havoc done by tsunami in a few minutes in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Indonesia. Many of our own have suffered material and personal loss.

Faculty, staff and students of XLRI have generously contributed to the tsunami relief. The staff have made sacrifices to contribute for the fund.

Our Alumni in the South are involved in relief and rehabilitation work. Among them, Mr K Pandiarajan, MD of Mafoi [an alumnus of 84batch] has involved a group of NGOs in the rehabilitation work. He has taken up this task, in spite of his heavy responsibilities with missionary zeal. He has adopted three pronged rehabilitation programmes :

- Adoption of children
- Vocational Training
- Entrepreneurship Development

Part of the XLRI collection will go to Mafoi, which has Sornammal Education Trust as its Development arm. The other part will go to Andamans which needs more help.

I invite all the Alumni to join us in helping Sornammal Education Trust to execute its development programmes. It will be a lasting development for those people. I request to be generous toward this project so that XLRI family can help at least 100 children.

Your generous demand drafts should be in favour of “Sornammal Educational Trust”, Chennai and sent to :

Mr K Pandiarajan
Managing Director
Ma Foi Consultants Ltd.
8, Khader Niwaz Khan Road
Chennai 600 006
Phone : 044-28333351
Email : kpr [at] mafoi.com

Yours sincerely,

N Casimir Raj, S.J.
Director, XLRI
Email : director [at] xlri.ac.in

X-Factor 2nd Issue (Jan 05)

The wait is over.
Stop refreshing your inbox...
Stop asking your friends when it will come...
Say goodbye to those withdrawal symtoms...
The latest issue of The X-factor is here...
Its bigger than before. Its better than before.


Download your copy of
The X-factor:
Essential Reading for the XLer

New Business Head of HT Media Marketing

exchange4media News Service reports (Jan 4, 05):

Benoy Roychowdhury (85BMD) will join HT Media Marketing Organisation as Business Head (Media Marketing) and will be based in Delhi. This is a new position created by the company.


Benoy Roychowdhury(left)during a meeting

The official communiqué issued by Rajiv Verma, CEO, HT Media, states that “This change is designed to create an organisational structure for HT Media Sales Organisation that will optimise and strengthen organisational capabilities and support the company’s growth and value creation strategy. Given the organisation’s agenda of growth in Bombay, refocus on Hindi and entry in new Categories like radio, it will be imperative that we strengthen our organisation capabilities to take on the challenges ahead.”

In past, Roychowdhury has worked with companies like Procter and Gamble and Whirlpool. He is and MBA from XLRI, Jamshedpur of 1985 batch. His previous assignments included Director Market Development – Asia, being based at Hong Kong and Vice President Sales, Trade Marketing and Logistics for South Asia Market, He started his career as a Management Trainee at Godrej P&G....

XLer CEOs in India

Somehow, this information never gets highlighted in/by XL... so this is just a partial list of XLers across batches, who head a company in India
[please note that this is not a comprehensive list - and lists only those XLers who are CEOs in India]

...any additions to this list are welcome

Manet Paes (71BMD)
Managing Director
Alliance Airways

Sankaran Raghunanthan (84BMD)
CEO
Blueshift Ltd

Ravi Mehrotra (85BMD)
Managing Director
Franklin Templeton India MF

Vineet Nayar (85BMD)
CEO
HCL Comnet

Raman Madhok (81PMIR)
CEO & Dy Managing Director
Jindal Iron and Steel

Amar Babu (89BMD)
Director (Sales Marketing Group) South Asia
Intel Corp

Ajay Bagga (90BMD)
Managing Director
Kotak Mahindra MF

Sujit Baksi (72PMIR)
CEO and India Head
Lehman Brothers BPO

Vikram Rao (75BMD)
Group Executive President
Madura Garments

K Pandiarajan (84BMD)
Founder & CEO
Ma Foi Consultants

CVL Srinivas (93BMD)
CEO
Maximise India

Rajiv Kaul (92BMD)
Managing Director
Microsoft India

N Krishnakumar (81BMD)
Co-Founder & MD
Mindtree Consulting

Madhukar Kamath (76BMD)
Managing Director & CEO
Mudra Communications & Advertising

Akash Khurana (77BMD)
MD & CEO
Nimbus Communications

Jagdish V Dore (73BMD)
Managing Director
Novartis Enterprises

Georges Zacharias (82BMD)
CEO
Sify

B Muthuraman (75BME)
Managing Director
Tata Steel

Percy Siganporia (74BMD)
Managing Director
Tata Tetley

Bushen Raina (73BME)
Managing Director
Tata Tinplate Ltd

Rana Sinha (78BMD)
Managing Director
Telcon Ltd

Bijou Kurian (81BMD)
Chief Operating Officer
Titan Watches

Kalyan Ganguly (73BMD)
President
UB Group Beer Division

Anurag Behar (92BMD)
Managing Director
Wipro Fluid Power

Prash: An XLer as a Musician

Five years after graduating with a specialisation in Marketing, Prashant Vadhyar (99BMD) - or "Prash" as he is known - decided to go full-time into what he enjoys most - Music.


[You can download 16 of his compositions from The Electromancer or Soundclick.com site]

This interview with Prash about "Prash" - name of his band - on Soundclick.com (and don't forget to click to read reviews):

Why this name?
Its what everyone calls me... its a short version of my first name.

Do you play live?
I play live occassionaly with a jazz/blues band. I play the lead guitar for the band and also do some vocal bits. But, by and large my obsession is writing, composing and arranging.

How, do you think, does the internet (or mp3) change the music industry?
The ease of distribution rocks!!! The exchange of ideas between musicians across different cultures, the friends one makes... its a boon to all musicians worldwide!

Would you still sign a record contract with a major label?
Yes!

Band History:
I got back to music making after 6 years. I used to play a lot of guitar in my college... then, I got an MBA in marketing and worked for 5 years during which time, music was discarded. One day, I couldnt take it anymore and quit everything and now, pursue music as a full time profession.

Your influences?
My influences are too diverse to list and get a fair representation... my earliest memories of music are hindi film songs, then moving onto mainstream western pop, heavy metal, jazz and blues and then electronica. These days, I am heavily into classical, film background type of music.

Favorite spot?
Goa, India... psycotrop paradise

Equipment used:
Korg Triton LE Keyboard Synth
Behringer UB 1002 Mixer
Fender Telecaster Guitar
Digitech RP6 Guitar FX Processor
Behringer B1 Condenser Mic
Computer-1.7 Ghz Pentium, 512MB RAM, 2x 40GB HDD, M-Audio Audiophile 2496 Soundcard
Wharfedale Pro Active Studio Monitors
Behringer Headphones

Download X-Factor Newsletter

The X-factor - a monthly e-newsletter for both alumni and current students of XLRI - was launched yesterday on December 2nd, 2004.

The X-factor aims to address a long felt need for sharing and disseminating news/views across the XLRI community - alumni, students and faculty.

You can Download Your Copy Here (right click, save - it is a 377kb, pdf document)

We would love to have your feedback, suggestions and contributions for the forthcoming issues.

Please write back to us at:

editor.xfactor [at] gmail.com

Happy Reading!

and Kudos to - Mohit, Surya, Allen, Deepti, Kushgara, and Sheshank - the X-factor Team!!!

What They Don't Teach at B-Schools

After Gautam Sinha (94PMIR), and E Abraham (78PMIR), this one is from Ronald Sequeira - VP & Head of Human Resources, Tata Power - of 84PMIR batch from Business Standard (Nov 23, 2004):



If you ever want to see several happy people in one place, visit any leading B-school campus just after the placement season is over. What a sybaritic feeling. A business school stamp behind your name and a dream job ahead of you. The B-school grad has learnt all that is there to learn. Could it get any better?

Going back to my own first day on campus, we were told by the legendary Father McGrath, “XLRI is not a place but an experience and an opportunity.” Now we had been through the experience and were on the threshold of seeking opportunities to apply all the teachings that a business degree offers.

As we waited with our packed bags in the foyer of the institute to say our last goodbyes, Father Maggie (as we referred to McGrath) in a soft tone said to me “Ronnie, I hope and pray that all of you get a very good first boss.” At that time one did not fully comprehend the meaning of that message.

Look back at your own experience over the years. Identify the number of times a young career was made or shattered by the early mentor(s) who had strong influence over a new arrival to the workforce.

Research and surveys have established that the single biggest reason for loss of talent is “the boss”: not the organisation, not the compensation nor any other seemingly obvious reason. Strangely, no course on campus teaches you this, nor did any course say that in time one would need to be the good first boss/mentor.

Having left campus and arriving into the corporate world, you quickly adapt to excelling within a structure in order to earn your rewards. Despite B-school teachings, “strategy” and “out-of-the-box thinking” take a backseat and the “activity trap” takes control of your life. After all, you have joined the rat race and you learn, like Pavlov’s dogs, that rewards follow a pattern. Suddenly, 15 or more years go by and there is a paradigm shift and no more patterns.

You are now assessed on your ability to deal with ambiguity. Your free and frank views — once appreciated as “fresh thinking” from a young B-school grad — are now marked down as “lack of political astuteness”. Could your B-school education have predicted this?...
Read on...

HOMECOMING 2004: Director's Invitation

The International Alumni Association of XLRI, under the able presidentship of Mr Bushen Raina, Managing Director, The Tinplate Company of India Ltd, is planning to hold the first ever Annual Get Together of the XLRI alumni.

This year we shall hold it at XLRI on Saturday and Sunday, November 20 and 21, 2004.

Program:

Saturday, Nov 20th:
11:00am-12:30pm: A session among the alumni
04:00pm-05:00pm: An interface with the students (theme: "What they don?t teach at XLRI")
05:00pm-05:30pm: Tea with the students
05:30pm-07:00pm: A panel discussion (Theme: "Ethics in Business is Oxymoron")
Panelists:
-Mr Azim Premji - confirmed
-Mr Suhel Seth - confirmed
-Ms Anu Aga - to be confirmed
-Mr Dipankar Dasgupta - to be confirmed
[Mr Azim Premji will also inaugurate the Centre for E-business]
7:30 pm onward: Dinner at Beldih Club
[Students' band in attendance]

Sunday, Nov 21st
Golf game
Prize Distribution
Lunch at XLRI

This is the advance notice I am sending you. You are welcome to send your suggestions. But I want you to join us and celebrate the Homecoming 2004. Send your suggestions and confirmations to
Mr S Akhtar
General Secretary
XLRI Alumni Association.
akhtar(at)xlri.ac.in
Dial - 0657 2225506 x 214(O)/619(R)
Fax - 0657 2227814

Fr N Casimir Raj, sj
Director, XLRI