Campus Recruitment Automation Software/Portal

I am currently working on a start-up, Eatbits.com.
We have come with a Campus Recruitment Automation Software for educational institutes. We have built up a system which, we believe, is going to add a tremendous value to the Placement Activities at an educational institute and give it a new professional outlook in line with the stature of the institute.

Our main motivation for developing this software came from our personal experiences at IIT Kanpur. We saw an inefficient and manual set-up of the Recruitment process.

We would like to introduce you to “Ergo”, a Campus Recruitment Automation Software.

Some of the important features of our software are:

1. Complete automation of the entire placement process through a web-based interface.
2. Ergo supports 3 interfaces:
1. Administrator Interface: To monitor and control the entire process including managing job applications, student profiles, recruiters’ data, announcement forums etc.
2. Student Interface: To create profile, apply for jobs and manage resumes.
3. Company Interface: To view job applications, short list students and communicate with students/institute.
3. Archival and maintenance of past recruitment data
4. A comprehensive portal for the Institute’s Placement Activities.

Ergo provides a user friendly and comprehensive interface to the institute, all the students and the recruiters. It will make the whole process easier, more efficient, reliable and fast. It will provide the institute an efficient and professional system which will be a definite edge in the eyes of recruiters.

We would be thankful to you if you can go through the demo of our product at: http://www.eatbits.com/demo.

Username/Password for the same are:

Administrator Interface: admin/admin

Student Interface: student/student

Company Interface: company/company

We request you to go through our system and give your valuable feedback. We would be glad if you can refer the software for your respective educational institute. Please contact us for more details.

Contact me at:

Phone No.: +91 98863 46740

Email:pankajg05@iimb.ernet.in

Anusmaran- A great experience

Back to blogging after a looong time. Can't say I was too busy for taking just 15 mins to write a blog, just laziness I guess....and probably, lack of content for me to write about. Finally, I have got something to write about.
Being the Alumni Secretary of IIMB (because of that 1 dreaded vote :)), I was in-charge of Anusmaran'06, the annual alumni reunion of IIM Bangalore. It was supposed to be held in 12 cities across the world and being here in Tokyo doesn't help the matter anyways. Basically, all coordination needs to be done from here....and here I realized the importance of technology and team in this world.
So, what was the homework I did in IIMB for this? Basically, built up my team. I was not supposed to be present in all locations and success of the entire event depended on people who were supposed to be present in these locations. People will say my team was my "circle" only. But, then I openly admit that I purposefully did that. Nothing but personal equations work in a non-rewarding situation. At the same time, I build personal relationships with many others and they are now my closest friends.
Coming now to ground reality...the real action began when I reached here in Tokyo. I was supposed to get resources for my team. Initially, no body replied to my mails, I was frustrated with lack of support from any of my team members. Had I made the right choice? But, then this is not how it was supposed to work. I needed to lead, right! All initial work had to be done by me, nobody else would do it. Then began my series of cold calls, mails and pitches to Alumni for sponsorship. Coming back from work at 9 pm, and then making those calls/mails:- aah!! Selling an event with the worst possible past record and image was not easy. Frankly, it boiled down to begging and emotional appeals. It was a long cat and mouse game between me and alumni :)
So, where was my team? Well, they got into action when we had the sponsors, and they really did get into action! Certainly, few pinches of emotion and anger had to be put in from my side here and there :)
My target was to put the entire event into "auto-pilot" mode by last week and I was able to do that. In the last week, my involvement was nearly zero. Everyone knew their responsibility and deadlines. And finally, the event was a success.
A good experience for me! certainly....made some mistakes definitely. But, overall learnt a lot. It has certainly given me a lot more confidence in myself.
Can't forget the technology part here. Gmail, gtalk, telephone calls: really, world is so small!! I certainly realized it for the first time......
My greatest personal achievement: my team members are getting more credit than me for the event.

Orkut Profile of a Software Engineer

About me: I think I am changing the world, but I am not. I think I am contributing to the Indian economy, but I guess I am not. I think I love my work, but I do not. I think I hate all people who made me earn my engineering degree, and I do. I think I am living, but… and most importantly, I am LOOKING for someone!! Ok...I won't be funny anymore. I am a cool guy with a zeal to enjoy life (If you know me--> "Just stop laughing!!")

Relationship status: what?

Birthday: The day my PL is about to fire me

Age: 10111

Here for: web browsing in company hours

Children: can’t be (hey, don't get me wrong here!!)

Ethnicity: Programmer

Languages I speak: Java, C/C++, 010101110101

Religion: I get holidays on all religious festivals, so I love all religions.

Political view: the guy sitting beside me is a pig!!

Humor: weekly

Sexual orientation: When will I have sex?

Fashion: Ask my company HR. Btw, I like jeans, t-shirt and a cross-bag.

Smoking: The second greatest pleasure on the earth

Drinking: The first is this.

Pets: Yeah, my PL looks like a dog.

Living: Cummon, this is a stupid one. How can this be asked to a software engineer? Believe me, I am living!!

Hometown: My company (Oh God! Please bring my appraiser to this page)

Webpage: http://naukri.com, http://jobsahead.com

Passions: searching for the cheapest pub around, cursing my company, looking for another company, remembering my good old college days, worrying about my future

Sports: quake, CS, computer chess

Activities: Are you crazy?

Books: “How to lose weight in 20 days?”, "How to live a happy life?", "101 ways to attract a girl", “Java Unleashed”, “C++ at your footsteps”, Others censored

Music: Metallica, Pink Floyd, Nirvana, ACDC, and anything depressing

Tv shows: can’t afford one

Cuisines: Bread, Omelette, Butter, Maggi, anything available within 200 metres of home

And, the above post has been written by ME and its not a pick up!!

An interesting thought

I have borrowed this thought from my friend Aseem. Here I present this interesting comparison along with my inputs :)

The comparison is between JIT production and our risk-averse nature. I will start with a brief introduction to what happens in JIT which will help you appreciate the comparison better.

JIT: One of the cornerstone thought of JIT is that “Reduce inventory and capacity for improvement”. It is like a ship sailing over an ocean. More the water level, lower the probability that you will hit a stone. Inventory and excess capacity increases your water level. Everything goes on smoothly and you never feel any problem. JIT principle is to reduce this water level so that you fail and the, you improve.

Same thing is applicable to me and many of my batch mates from IIT and IIM. With 4 Is or 2 Is in their degrees, they have increased the water level. “Playing safe” seems to be the sole motive. Do IIT, then US/IIM, and then do a job. “Play safe” always. We are living in a small cocoon which guards us from failures, pains and miseries. And once you are guarded, you can never improve. Whoever said,“One failure teaches you more than 100 successes” is the greatest thinkers of all time (If nobody has said this, I am saying this :)).

One needs to reduce that water level to hit the road blocks and then learn. Otherwise, your boat will always sail across a river, it will never be able to voyage in an open ocean.

Another semester gone by...

Another grueling three months, another semester at IIM Bangalore gone by….now I am half an MBA (last 2 semesters are discounted!!).

Any memories from the last semester? Many, some great, some not so great. As a ritual, let’s first talk about the courses and the instructors. If I can summarize my learning from this semester, I learnt two things in this semester:

• Corporate Finance: It was the most interesting course: 50% due to the instructor, Prof. V Ravi Anshuman (an IITK alumnus). During my engineering, we were told that theories work under only “ideal” situations which can be created under laboratory conditions. In markets, theories are never applicable because even the “ideal” conditions are not defined. It depends so much on individual behaviors and perception that the complexities are wonderful. Behavioral Corporate Finance seems to be an interesting topic to me, a mixture of Psychology and Finance. Would love to read about it…
• Toyota Production System (TPS): Japanese proved the 200 year old theory of Adam Smith of “economies of scale” wrong!! You don’t have to produce the maximum for minimum costs. Right from the childhood we are taught this and now, suddenly JIT proves it all wrong. “The Goal” was a great reading.

No more learning from this semester!! Wondering why? Kotler was mercilessly butchered by our marketing professor. Most of the stuff in QM was not new to me. I found MPPO interesting enough.

Now, other things apart from academics. Hard work put in the first month paid off with an internship in Lehman Brothers. Read more about my summers experience in one of my previous postings.

Time spent with my friends was a great fun. I thoroughly enjoyed their company. May the friendship last for ever!

So, how would I rate my second semester? A lot may depend on the final grades I get :). But, discounting that effect, it was better than the last semester in terms of enjoyment that I had.

My "fraud" b'day mail

Today is my "fraud" birthday, thanks to my IIMB friends. It was the wildest surprise ever for me. I had gone to L^2 to celebrate other's birthdays, suddenly saw people rushing towards me and then it was all history. Thought I should "preserve" my birthday mail. Here is the "edited" version of the mail.
Strong Disclaimer: This mail has no resemblence to any person or place in reality. It is a fiction work engineered by my friends here at IIMB.

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

“Go miser go, for money sell your soul.

Trade wares for wares and trudge from pole to pole,

So others may say when you are dead and gone.

See what a vast estate he left his son.”

My motto in life is that every penny is worth a million dollars and spending even a penny on anyone else is a forbidden sin. I am a maha lichhad (ultimate miser and greedy pig) DML2 who does not believe that securing a CGPA of 3.76 is reason enough for a small treat to close friends. My time is also a very precious commodity and I believe that studying with lesser mortals slows me down. Therefore I study in groups only when I see a distinct advantage.

I have an overwhelming programming fetish which I often use for self gratification, and this orgasmic passion has driven me to join SIGMA in search of exotic codes. I have had diverse experiences as a coordinator of SIGMA, where I bluntly dismissed frantic calls for computer repairs and restoring internet connections. At IIMB, I have supplemented my programming skills with ‘Global’ abilities, which is evident from my global CP and a 4.00 in BGS.

Apart from the love of my life, there is another woman (PGP2) behind my success. She is the only one I consider worthy of my Day 0 treat. The fact that I was planning for this treat and refused one to my friends speaks volumes of my judgmental skills and persistence. I am a thorough perfectionist, which is evident from my reaction to a score of 3.59 in QM- “Yaar yeh course to mujhe pehle se khatak raha tha”. My weaknesses are that in spite of being AIR 39 in IITJEE, I am extremely down to earth, simple and honest person.

I believe that my abilities and diverse experiences have prepared me well for a grand hooshing tonight. I am extremely confident that my butt will be able to last the beating and challenge you to prove me wrong.

Credits: Pankaj Goyal

Break over..

Last 3 days were good, infact great. A break after a month almost where preparation for summers had taken its toll on me. Had a great time over this weekend, slept, watched movies, and enjoyed with friends. Missed the class trip to an extent though....
Now all good things come to an end and same for this break too. I am lacking behind by miles this semester in acads and surely need to do some catching. A new beginning from tomorrow.....

Galaxy -- Was it worth it?

I thought I had left those memories back. But then things keep coming back to hit you and leave you unguarded. I came across this article about Galaxy by Abhishek Verma and suddenly I found myself struggling with the same question, "Is (Was) Galaxy worth it?"

The question will raise many eyebrows including some of my closest friends'. Galaxy has always been treated by those passionate about it as a sacred truth; no one can question the sanctity of the event. I had been passionate about it myself, though I must admit not to such an extent as some of my wing mates. But, it has been close to my heart, especially since I have seen it being scrapped twice and being subjugated to petty student politics and whims and fancies of certain individuals.

Sometimes not being a blind follower helps you to ask questions. And I was fortunate enough to be in such a position. This question has haunted me right from my third year when I was in the team having the passion about the event. I have been on both the sides - in the first year, I did some "labor" work and then in my third year, I was little bit involved in organizing things as well (For reader's record, both the times galaxy got scrapped).

So, the question remains. Was Galaxy worth all the passion, talk, and hype? As a first step, let's see who gained from Galaxy.

Galaxy was never conceived as an event for experimentation, it was always about excellence. So, who got to participate in all the cultural events like debates, skits, drama, music and dance? Those who already knew it! Same 2 debaters, 5-6 excellent dancers, 3-4 actors and 7-8 musicians were motivated to perform throughout the year at every moment possible. Total number of actual performers did not exceed more than 50 out of a hostel of 500 students. So, where is the learning or personality development of an average guy who has done nothing in his school but wants to try out things here? I will discount all those workshops held in the hostel and few individual exceptions. Those were more "fund generator" exercises than anything. No culsecy felt like really organizing those workshops.

So, what were the other arguments for "motivating" people? "You will work 24 hours for 7 days. You will work for the team." blah, blah.....Fine. Acceptable. But, what will I do during that time? Carry bricks, cots, or be one of those "falling walls". Where is the value addition? How will an average guy who does only “labor” feel passionate about the whole event?

What about ideas? Who generated them? Again, few "das" from Hall 1. No contribution from your side for sure.

I don't want to get into political implications of Galaxy. It was always used by Cul Secys as a guard against doing nothing for most of the part of their terms.

In such a scenario, how was Galaxy helping a majority of students? Institute festivals were screwed, all the Gymkhana clubs were inactive, and all the hostel cultural activities were in jeopardy. Who was benefiting from all this?

I have attempted to bring to spotlight the other side of Galaxy. It is not an attempt to disregard the feelings of people from past batches of IIT Kanpur and my batch who have been passionate about Galaxy, who still can "feel" it. In fact, I demand answers of these questions from them...... After all, I haven't seen Galaxy ever!!

Yours truly In news!

Though it is a shameless footage seeker post, but who cares, this is my blog :)

Thanks to the media cell, IIM Bangalore, I got some footage in media coverage on IIM Bangalore summer placement. Here is one such online article,

http://www.business-standard.com/search/storypage_new.php?leftnm=lmnu7&leftindx=7&lselect=8&autono=205138

Management guru dead

All time great management guru, Peter Drucker dead at 95.

http://www.ndtvprofit.com/charts/homepage/news.asp?id=223215

Summer Placement: Emotionally draining

In last 4 days, I have seen it all. I myself went through periods of lows and ups. Sometimes, it seemed all is lost; other times you have a feeling of achievement; and there are some times where you feel; is the whole thing worth it? I have seen people losing hope when they had to go from one company's process to another to another, and continue doing it. I have heard people feeling guilty of coming here to IIMB itself.

By God's grace, I was out of this grilling process quite early. I have been a volunteer from there on and I could afford to have a bird’s eye view on the whole process. People had to go from one GD/interview to another, one company to another; and it continued from 8 AM to 12 Midnight. This has been continuing for the last 4 days!!

Uncertainty, "arbitness" and lack of transparency of the process add to the complexity and anxiety. As some of the seniors put it, "The system is fair to all, unfair to some." If you happen to belong to that "some", you can feel pretty devastated.

What about people with work experience? Well, this place is not for them. In most cases, they don't get what they deserve. Questions like, "How is your work experience related to this company?" are cruel jokes. Recruiters should realize that most of them are here to do an MBA for precisely this reason- shift over from their present field. But, I think I am expecting too much from them considering the fact that some of the recruiters are themselves fresh graduates!! An ISB is always a better choice for people with 2+ years of work experience.

And finally, did one have a choice in terms of type of job or company? Most of them did not. People with interests in IT didn't even get a shortlist from IT companies. Some who hate selling soaps and detergents ended up in FMCG marketing. I am quite sure that even some of those who got day 0 are not interested in I-banks as of now.

Mid-way through the process, it was more about getting "out" of the process, rather than getting an internship you like. One can guess the motivation and enthusiasm levels of people.
I just hope that final placement is a much more logical process.

CAT: Last few weeks

Don't worry, no gyaan from me. Here are few good articles from Rediff.com:
You might have read some. In that case, pardon me for repetition:

http://www.rediff.com/getahead/2005/oct/17cat.htm
http://www.rediff.com/getahead/cat.htm
http://iimcat.blogspot.com/

Best of luck!!
Btw, if you are brave enough to take my tips, leave across a comment :)

Summers in Winters!

Back after a long time....Had a great vacation which was essentially an India tour. All great things said about the connectivity of Indian Railways, it still takes 40 Hours to reach Delhi from Bangalore. Same time in which one can travel across globe 1.5 times!! My recommendation: No train should cover more than 24 hours of journey, reduce air fare so that people like me can afford....
Back in my den, a new semester, a new beginning. Frankly, nothing new. Same old classes, schedule, and IIMB life; all with new players (professors) and scenes (courses). All this coupled with one great thing: Preparation for summers!!
I must have attended atleast 15 PPTs including of some of the companies I never heard of. Same old screenplay: Consultant thrashing the I-bankers (leaving the pay part) and i-bankers making fun of the consultants by doing some arbit NPV calculations. Damn it!! who is going to stay in a firm for the next 15 years. One I-banker had an interesting reply, "You can't compare the excitement in trading of millions." Man, go to a great casino in Las Vegas, you will enjoy there much more with all the "excitement".
Saw all sorts of PPT CP, ACP, and DCP, desperate ones trying to make a pinch of impression anywhere its possible. Frankly, I did some of it myself :)
Do you think it's over? No. The real "Battle" begins from next week, 8th Nov to be precise. All are waiting for the shortlists......

Say best of luck to me!!

My First Play: "A Heap of Broken Images"

No, I haven't started acting (though it is one of my top 10 wishes). It is just that I saw a professional play for the first time. Invitation to watch a play was exciting and dangerous for me. Dangerous because 100 bucks were at stake, and exciting because I have never seen one. ATM card in my wallet prompted me to take the risk. And, it paid off greatly!

Play: "A Heap of Broken Images" (English)
Director: Girish Karnad
Cast: Arundhati Raja

It was the first play in Kannada, with strong technical input. Use of technology in the form of live recording, and use of Television synchronization added a unique dimension to the play.

Scene 1: A Kannada writer, Manali Raja, is being interviewed on Television on the recent success of her maiden English novel. She makes a emotionally charged speech, and devotes her novel to her husband and disabled sister (on whom the novel is based).

Scene 2: Manali is challenged by her inner self (showed on a TV screen on the stage). Manali admits of having a distressed relationship with her husband (who is now settled in US), and her hatred for her late sister. She can't run away from her inner self, nor she can hurt her ego by accepting her defeat at the hands of her sister, who was more beautiful, talented and smart of the two. Manali suspected of an affair between her husband and her sister. But, there was nothing she could do, except watch silently and accept her defeat.
Her sister's death gave her an opportunity for revenge., and she got an intrinsic feeling of victory. But, it was shortlived. Her inner sense of guilt and defeat broke the shell of victory she tried hard to build.

Performance was par excellence. But, as stated earlier too, great use of technology was the unique point of the play. Live and recorded parts of the play were absolutely well synchronized. So much so that we noticed only 1 glitch in a 45 minute play. Amazing!
Good thing about metro cities, like Bangalore, is vibrancy of culture and the kind of varied experience you can have. And you get the infrastructure support too. The theatre was as good as any movie theatre in India, and more importantly, it was full.

Waiting for much more during my stay here....

Power of Orkut

Saw the power of orkut for the first time, when I came across one of my classmates of class VI. Now that is after 10 years! I had completely lost touch with all my classmates. It was simply great to get across my friend. Thanks to orkut for that.
Certainly, world is no longer big enough. Distances are shrinking, and becoming insignificant in this digital world. Community theorists believe that internet is leading to decreasing associations between people in society. As a result, social capital is eroding. Cites are threatened by lack of mutual trust, cooperation and associational linkages.

On the other hand, you come across such instances where internet is helping people network in a much better way. Although, it may lead to a situation when you may be in touch with your friend 2000 kms away, but not know your neighbor!

But still we have a long way to go in India. The fact that most of my friends even don’t have a mail id indicates a huge gap. I can’t label this gap as a digital divide; rather it’s more about acceptability of new technology and embracing it in normal life. So, “e” is going to stay. Expect more e-friendships, e-marriages, e-dating, even e-sex (not able to visualize it though()

Other side of coin

I have been here at IIM Bangalore for the last 2 months, and the experience, to be fair enough, hasn’t been great. And the reason is not academic rigor. Surely, there are enough quizzes (surprise and scheduled), lectures, exams, and assignments to keep you engaged for days, weeks and months. But, it is not new for me, especially with my 4 year stint at IITK! So, why is a sense of disillusionment creeping in?

Coming from a middle class family, I have always followed the crowd. Be it choosing engineering in Class X, or preparing for JEE, or taking up Comp Science at IIT Kanpur. Now, I was coming to this prestigious management school of India, with an aroma of innovation, creativity and what not. I expected a different dynamic culture based on out of the box thinking, breaking the shackles, so to say. I come here; I find the same rat race!! Right from day one, there has been only one thing haunting all of us here, our summer placements. All people (including me) think about is job, job and job. So, what are the typical issues to talk on here: “Hey which investment bank is the best? How many “bullet points” have you got? Teri to life chill hai, i-bank pakka hai!”. Where is thinking, innovation, creativity? Peer pressure is too high. No wonder, one of the basic problems with B-schools worldwide is that they produce managers and not entrepreneurs.

Course material doesn’t help either. Freedom of arguing with professors, and being a rebel, that I enjoyed most of the times in IITK, is absent here. You have to accept the system; otherwise it’s going to destory you.

Few minutes back, I met a senior of mine (IITK and IIMB alumni). He is currently working at a leading consulting firm in India. He told us an interesting distinguishing feature between analysts recruited from IITs and those from B-schools. Those from IITs tend to get frustrated soon as their work is not to their expectations (no revolutionary thinking, etc.). But, B-school graduates understand this “global stuff” in a much better manner, so are much more satisfied with their jobs. Is it good or bad? Do B-schools “widen” the scope of thinking or “erode” thinking itself?

Trust and binding in the student community is lacking. I come as a fresher here and from an environment where I could blindly trust most of the people around me. Not true any more. Here, people take competition and relative grading too seriously. Who will tell them, lower score of one guy in class won’t affect your grade? Cooperation and trust is very low. Perhaps, people who work in industry learn these traits!

All said, I don’t want to be a rebel here. So, I also think about how to be a part of the system, I also think about getting grades, and a job. I do not want to separate myself from the system, as I am a part of the system and I take full responsibility for it. At this point, I remember a dialogue of a Hindi movie (I am pretty bad at remembering names), “System ko sudhaarne ke liye system kaa hissat hona padta hai”.

Blogger for Word

Google has launched Blogger for Word, a plug-in to publish directly from Microsoft Word. Check out the new feature at http://buzz.blogger.com/bloggerforword.html !! A great plug-in giving you much better control over your blog.

Miscellaneous stuff!!

First, a new look to my blog. Will be making more changes soon....

Internet speed at IIMB really sucks! In the absence of my comp, I am being mercilessly slaughtered by the deadly combination of slow net speed and IE. Browsing on IE is really a pain in the ass, with windows popping out of all corners, giving mating calls through a blue indicator and what not!!

Academic rigor hasn't yet started, so its cool life till now. 1:30 hours class can be really charging on your eyelids due to the heavy weight they need to sustain throughout the class. The very first class was a real fun with people jumping out of their seats to "participate" in class....enthu seems to have shattered from there on, particularly after realizing that there are no marks for class participation.

Got the HLL balance sheet for 2004 as our case study today, and the very first line projected the status of HLL. It goes like this:

"2004 was a good year for Indian economy. However, FMCG market continued to suffer in the form of decreasing sales."

-- Adapted from Hindustan Lever Limited, Annual Report, 2004

(emphasis added)

One of my dear wingmate won't like this!! I am sure all of us use the same volume of soaps, detergents, toothpaste, beauty creams etc. Why the sales have decreased then? No clues!!

Did you notice my deliberate effort to give proper reference to each quoted sentence. Well, we have been warned 200 times regarding plagiarism in IIMB. So, just practicing a bit!!

I was really getting bored so decided to write this one. Hope to come up with something better later :)

Orientation Programme- IITK vs. IIMB

I have been through two orientation programmes- one at IIT Kanpur and other recently at IIM Bangalore. Two were contrasting in structure, content, and effectiveness. One at IITK consisted of tours to labs, which most of us end up not visiting ever again, and sitting in L-7 giving ragging to seniors. I could never understand why a computer science engineer should visit a glass blowing lab at all. The orientation programme gave no insight regarding the life at IITK, the academics, extra-curricular, what the institute expects of me, etc. All of us were left strangled in our JEE moods. Can't say seniors presented us the true picture too....In the second year, when I was a part of the Counselling service, I thoroughly enjoyed ragging girls during our lab tours :)

Here at IIMB, orientation programme was much better planned and thought out. So, we didn't have tours around the campus, or lectures by wardens, or walking in straight lines for hours!! We started off with short 10 min. speeches by the Director, the Dean and Chairman, PGP Admissions Office. Next day, we had an outbound session in "Breakthrough", where we had fun playing games and learning management fundas. Though, for me, management fundas like team work, trust, blah blah can be learned only through personal experiences. Nonetheless, at least some learnt from it. I had a great time in many other ways, not to be discussed here :)

Next day, we had ABACUS, which was essentially a meditation cum artistic cum creative session. We were taught meditation techniques, surya namaskar, and simple exercises. In addition to that, we had fun exercises of developing a film script, guessing products for ads, etc. All fun and learning at the same time!!

Final day, and we had a truly great session with Mr. Sudhakar, entrepreneur whose FabMart is a great success story. He talked about his experiences in IIM A, how to enjoy your stay here and lead a balanced life. He laid great stress on Integrity in corporate world. Don't know how many of us will actually do that!!

It was followed by another wonderful session by Abhishek Thakore, who has just passed out of IIMB (the guy who was there in the BusinessWorld). He talked about the life at IIMB, how to enjoy it, the dos and the don’ts, how to handle stress and manage time, the importance of academics, and how to balance acads and extra curricular. The most important thing he did was he reminded us of our dreams, and ambitions. That really helped me to introspect and reassess our position.
There was another orientation programme, which was being run in parallel by our seniors. I won't divulge the details here for the sake of tradition :)

IIT Kanpur seriously needs to replan its orientation programme. People come to IIT in JEE mood, all ready to rock, completely forgetting that its just a start. I have seen many of my batch mates losing their focus, indulging in gaming, and being screwed in academics. The academic performance at IITK is on a low and getting worse day by day. Perhaps, a better orientation programme which can remind first yearites of their goals and ambitions might help them to focus better.

ISKCON: Spirituality vs. Lavishness?

I visited the grand ISKCON temple here in Bangalore yesterday. Its the largest in India and truly grand with gold plated sculptures, and marvellous architecture. It must have taken a huge investment for sure. But then, ISKCON is about spirituality and renouncing desires for material pleasure or Mayaa. Is it contradicting for a cult popularizing this philosophy to have such a grand temple built? Do the followers or chanters need such a lavishly built building to chant? Is it a marketing gimmick to attract more visitors (who can then turn into followers)? These questions have been really bothering me since then.

Official website, http://www.iskcon.com/, states that the 7 missions of ISKCON. I found 2 interesting:

1. To erect for the members and for society at large a holy place of transcendental pastimes dedicated to the personality of Krishna.
2. To bring the members closer together for the purpose of teaching a simpler, more natural way of life.

To achieve (1), ISKCON temples have been built. But, (2) is a little confusing. Is is only relating to personal life, and not applicable to temples? Afterall, grandness in architecture is not a natural way of life. Followers will be leading a simple life, but remembering/chanting god rhymes in a lavish environment! Lavishness at all possible levels should be avoided according to ISKCON philosophy. Then, why do the followers need such huge temples to chant and pray? Is a simple temple, with spiritual environment, not good enough? Aren't these temples built as a marketing tool? Afcourse, there is no harm in marketing your way of life or philosophy, but marketing should not shake up your own philisophical foundations. Wouldn't it be better if the money invested had been used for educational or social purposes?

I have in touch with few ISCKON followers. Debating them is quite a tedious task as they derive their thought process from Vedas and other scriptures. I can think of one possible explanation from their side: "Followers are not affected by the lavishness of temples. They have insulated themselves from materialistic pleasures." Accepted. But then why need lavishness at all?

I have not been following ISKCON philisophy. Some of my inferences may not be complete, looking for an informed explanation....