Reflections

An article in The Hindustan Times today caught my eye -  Fewer than half of new MBA graduates getjobs as economy sputters, trend at 5-year low . The articles open with a hard punch to your gut : “ Job offers for fresh management graduates in India are at a five-year low, official data show, a trend experts blame on a sluggish economy as well as a mismatch between the years-old curriculum and industry expectations…. In 2016-17, just 47% of Master of Business Administration (MBA)   graduates got placed on the campus, a dip of 4% over the previous year, marking a five-year low. At 12%, the drop was far sharper for postgraduate diploma holders. ” Image Source : from HT Article linked above I said this on my blog nearly 4 years ago - there is a dire need to revisit the MBA Curriculum; but it isn’t the only aspect of this problem . I say this with authority, as I have seen both sides – having been a Visiting Faculty, as well as a current Industry Veteran. There is an issue ...

The location was not a place where you expect to learn a life lesson – it was the SILC Center in Pune, at the Learning & Development Rendezvous, an event of the L&D Global Pune Chapter, on the 8 th of October; on the menu was an eclectic mix of a Power Negotiation Panel Discussion and a Leadership Masterclass; these are not things that lead to such esoteric things as Life Lessons – nonetheless, the surprise item floored me, and touched my heart… The Meeting With the founder of Snehvan A SOFTWARE ENGINEER ON A DIFFERENT PATH What do you do when you are a software engineer? Especially if you are from village? You go to the rarified environs of a Software company, and earn money and create a better material future for yourself and your family; even going abroad in a few cases, perhaps leaving India for good in some cases. These are stories you have read ad-nauseum in the news; you have read of the CEOs of American companies who left India, plastered all over the m...

This is a conversation I had online with a college senior, and a person working extensively in a consultative position with SME companies at a senior level, with a pedigreed work experience at senior management levels. This conversation is between two people of completely varied economic ideologies, and I hope will provide a glimpse of an alternative path of development. This is a slightly different approach I am adopting, and hope that people can connect, as in my opinion it gives an interesting insight into diverse viewpoints; I know I learned a lot from this conversation, and hope others can also glean a lot... The conversation links onward from my previous article wherein I had compared and analysed the Middle Class, wherein I had stated : “The cities may not like it, but there is nothing they can do about it. They are outnumbered 5.5 - 1 in Rural Urban Split, or perhaps nearer aproximately {from memory, could be off target} 9-to-1 in terms of income..” Excerpts from the co...

PREAMBLE AND PERSONAL THOUGHTS Recents events have brought students and universities {well, one particular university at least} to the forefront of the public discourse and media attention, alongwith all its sad and regrettable consequents; this has given rise to yet another impassioned debate in Social Media, Media as well as normal homes  - with both the Pro BJP and the anti BJP lobbies again rising to the occasion, as it were. FB posts, Whatsapp updates in support of the BJP, or questioning it are the order of the day once again, after a short breather... Next, the Government : I am a middle roader. I criticize where criticism is warranted, praise where praise is due. I have begun to note a clear polarisation of camps into pro and anti BJP, and that makes me highly uncomfortable; both camps claiming the other is wrong, and both sides being demonstrably and completely wrong in at least some of their contentions. Having been questioned by close friends and family on th...

It has been stated that Industry level growth is the key, the answer to India’s many woes, that industrialisation and its attendant advantages will ensure growth eventually percolates to all levels of society. The caveat in that line of thought is “Eventually” : just how long is eventually supposed to mean? How many lives and generations will have to suffer the pangs of poverty till that eventuality transpires? And, what do we do in the interim? These people are equal to us, the privileged class – the ones with education and great {or good or even average} well paying jobs. They are our equals in every single way; they have the same rights as us, they have the same dreams and desires as us. The luck of birth, and the chance of education that has been provided us has ensured we live well, by the grace of God. Granted that some among the poorer classes do manage to break the shackles and grow out of poverty; but does that mean we forget the rest of them? There is a tendency...