iim-bangalore 19

You may know me as S Anand. You may also know me as Prof or Stud at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, as Anand Subramanian at IBM India, Bhalla at Alakananda hostel, IIT Madras, and Bal at Vidya Mandir. LinkedIn CV (2024) History 1974-1978 at home I was born on the 23rd November, 1974 (a Saturday) at Tirupati. I flew back to Madras (now Chennai) in a few days along with my parents. I stayed at home for 4 years, thoroughly enjoying myself. My mother would feed me while telling me stories while I was perched on her hip looking at the cows behind our house (it was no mean feat — I think I weighed 20 kilos). Since I was the youngest grandchild in our family, no one was permitted to get angry with me — especially if I sat on them and hit them with whatever they wouldn’t give me. ...

A dozen IIMB junta got together at Hotel Pritam, Mumbai.

The IIM-B website has changed.

Some press clippings about the IIM-B convocation (and me).

I’m graduating today, and there’s a live webcast of the IIM-B convocation starting 6:15PM IST.

A (almost) live update on IIM-B’s placements.

A chat with Business Consulting on chat.rediff.com as anand_m26blr. Right through this conversation, Business Consulting keeps pumping in news about the world to everyone. anand_m26blr: Hi! How come you call yourself Business Consulting? business_consulting: Why no***** just another name anand_m26blr: Fair enough. ASL? business_consulting: Male here. You? anand_m26blr: M, 26, Bangalore. Still want to chat? :-) business_consulting: Sure, what do udo inBangalore? anand_m26blr: I’m studying at IIM-B. And you? business_consulting: IIM-B? which year? anand_m26blr: Second. What about you? business_consulting: Hey do you have any news from IIM-A? like how’s the scene at the campus and are they ok? anand_m26blr: Sure. One of our profs gets regular updates on IIM-A. Only one person is hurt, and no one badly. One dorm (D, I think) is pretty much wiped out. Otherwise, things are fine. Want me to mail you the updates? business_consulting: 2nd year..Finance-Marketing or Systems? anand_m26blr: None. I just picked the courses that looked good. Come on, you’re asking all the questions. What about you? business_consulting: Sure mail me anand_m26blr: What’s your e-mail ID? business_consulting: Basically in to systems-ERP. I work on Peoplesoft. anand_m26blr: Neat! I used to work at IBM myself. Never worked on Peoplesoft products, though, but we were planning to integrate it with Lotus Notes at one point. How long have you been here? business_consulting: ok.. u can mail me at [email protected] anand_m26blr: Mailing you… business_consulting: Here? are u in London too? anand_m26blr: I didn’t know you were in London. No, I’m in Bangalore right now. I was in London a month ago at LBS on an exchange programme. How come you’re in London? business_consulting: IBM That’s business_consulting: Wow that’s great LBS @ CanaryWarf anand_m26blr: No this is London Business School – near Lord’s. business_consulting: IBM that’s good. My Bangalore friend is doing his PG at IIM-A. After hearing aboutthe earthquake Imailed him and so far no news from him. business_consulting: So are you specializing in finance? anand_m26blr: Nope. I’m interested in technology still. So looking at any IT consulting firms that are coming along. Where did you study? business_consulting: I did all my education inBangalore. Are u from Bangalorean as well? business_consulting: Sorry, from Banglaore not Banglorean!! anand_m26blr: I’m from Madras, basically. Studied there right through. You might know some of my classmates, though. When did you finish your undergrad? Was it from BMS? business_consulting: It was way back in 95 mate. Long time 6 years now.. Just thinking of CFA as well.. anand_m26blr: Not all that way back. I passed out in 1996 myself. Where from? business_consulting: So youwere @IBM Bangalore or somewhere else? IIM-Btied up with SAP long ago I think anand_m26blr: I was at Bangalore most of the time. Yeah, IBM tied up with SAP, but I was with the Lotus Notes division, and we were integrating will all the products around. business_consulting: You can do that since its doing pretty well in the US right now. And later onu can shift to CRM too anand_m26blr: That’s probably the plan right now. So you’ve been working for Peoplesoft at London all along, is it? business_consulting: Have you done the LN certification ? anand_m26blr: Yeah, I’m a certified Notes instructor. business_consulting: Currently , are u working @ IBM or studying PG @ IIMB?? anand_m26blr: Studying. I left IBM in June 99. business_consulting: Thanks mate, Igot your mail just going through it anand_m26blr: No problem. Do you chat here often? business_consulting: I do come here quite often, But Iw ill be inBangalore onthe 10th. Moreover I will be at the campus to meet my friend. Your senior though anand_m26blr: Oh… whom are you coming to meet? Fair chance I might know him. business_consulting: Am coming on a 3 weeks holiday. We can meet at the campus too anand_m26blr: That would be nice. My name’s Anand. What’s yours? As in, I get the HSChandra, but what does it stand for? business_consulting: Yeah U will definitely know him- he is Narendra Bansod- 99 batch anand_m26blr: Oh, then he’s two years senior to me. Haven’t met him. Anyway, it’ll be good to meet you. business_consulting: I think he still comes to the campus ontheweekends. So am planning to come there on a weekend. Do you stay in the campus or at home outside? anand_m26blr: I stay on campus. Room C-42. Feel free to drop over. BTW, didn’t get your name… business_consulting: am Chandra Hassan. What’s dorm? anand_m26blr: No dorms. The block is C, and room number 42. That’s it. business_consulting: Chandra Hassan. Chandra for short. anand_m26blr: OK Chandra, great chatting to you. Do mail me at [email protected] when you’re coming over! business_consulting: And you are Anand right anand_m26blr: Yup, this is Anand. Let me know when you’re here. You can reply to the mail I sent you. Bye for now! business_consulting: Sure Anand,I will meet u up at the campus.. Nice talking to u. and Good Luck business_consulting: sure I will on the 10th Feb(Sat) @ around 11:30Am. I might come and meet the next day on Sunday anand_m26blr: That’ll be just after exam time. Should be fine! business_consulting: Also I will be coming and meeting my friend he said he is inroom# J308 ...

Fantastic websites, Section A and Section C.

Because of a shortage of disk space on unix2.iimb.ernet.in, my reports are now at briefcase.yahoo.com/root_node. Long live Yahoo!

We visited Oxford in the morning. It was a tour with the Indian YMCA. Though I slept through most of the beauty of the English country side, Oxford itself was a classic example. We went up a tower from which we could see most of Oxford. It was a small town, (about an hour-and-half from London) with lots of spires and quite an old architecture. The Oxford University is split into many colleges, Magdalen (pronounced Maud-len) being the most famous of the lot. Lewis Caroll (of Alice in Wonderland) and Tolkien (of Lord of the Rings) hailed from here. We went first to Christchurch college. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything as beautiful as the grass there, with the possible exception of Hampton Court Palace. From there, we took a walk along a river to Magdalen college. ...

Yes, I haven’t been updating for a while. Problem is, I’ve been doing too much and writing too little. Let’s see if I can fix some of that now. First of all, people can’t seem to tell where I’m from. This is despite the fact that I’m the only one with a moustache in the whole batch, and am therefore the one person whose name no one forgets. I mean, I lost my name card after the very first class. Yet all the Professors talk to me like long-lost friends. Anyway… ...

Business Week’s B-School rankings ranks LBS as the #2 non-US school (behind INSEAD). IIM-A is not listed even in the third tier, while IIM-B is not even included in their survey.

The reality of international interaction really came through today in the Mergers & MBOs class. Prof. Paulo Volpin commented that ‘So, eefectively, ve see Germany has a pooor accounting seestem." To which, immediately, a German pounced up and said, “I don’t go with this result,” and proceeded on a defence of why the system was right for Germany. A few other Germans joined in. Poor Prof. Volpin had to make a hasty retreat. Later, when making a similar comment about Belgium, he first clarified: “Are there any Belgians in the class?” ...

How would I compare LBS against IIM-B so far? Let’s see. Faculty: LBS probably wins marginally. More famous faculty, more industry experience, better communication. But like I said, marginal. IT infrastructure: IIM-B wins! IT management: LBS wins. They manage what they’ve got extremely well. Companies coming for placement: LBS wins. Placement process: Debatable. IIM-B definitely has a more student-friendly process. Library: Books-wise, IIM-B wins. Electronic resources-wise, LBS wins. Students: Comparable. Too early to tell the difference probably. The point is, however, that everyone in LBS has a lot of work-experience. Campus: IIM-B wins hands down. I mean, LBS faces Regent’s Park and all that, but it doesn’t really have a campus. Lecture rooms: LBS wins marginally. Slightly better rooms, better equipment. Hostel: IIM-B wins. LBS doesn’t have one. Location: LBS wins. Heart of London. Exchange programmes: LBS wins. LBS is ahead, but not by far. ...

LBS’ placement cell publishes a magazine called Target, some of whose pages I’ve scanned. It gives an idea about what consulting and finance is, what companies look for, how to prepare for interviews, alumni feedback, etc. Sorry about the small size of scanning, but I had to conserve disk space. I’ll bring the book to IIM-B when I come back.

Is IIM-B known on the Internet? What do people think? Who links to IIMB?

There were 22 vacancies, and 45 were shortlisted (out of less than 70 applicants). We were interviewed by 5 panels, each with 2 professors. We had submitted our resumes, a writeup on why we were applying for the programme, various declarations and our grade sheet. Though it was rumoured that grades played a 50% part in shortlisting, it was not so. Each panel ranked their candidates independently (in which grades played only an implicit part) – so it was the interview that really counted. After ranking, they pooled the rankings across panels (this is probably where grades might come in) and allocated the first available preference by rank. If the universities you opted for are not available, you would not be considered for other universities even if your ranking is high. So it makes sense to fill out all the universities of your choice if you’re keen on going. ...

Citibank awards Rs. 50,000 to 2-3 candidates from IIM Bangalore based on leadership traits. We had to submit ‘brief’ writeups on what leardership is, why we’re good leaders, what our social contributions and academic achievements are, etc., along with our resume. We also had to turn in a student and faculty nomination. Since I had lots of time (I was bedridden with a fractured ankle) I prepared quite well for this interview. 11 were shortlisted. The interviews were scheduled for 20 minutes each. ...

First year students ranking in the top 20 in CAT from each of the IIMs are eligible to apply to this scholarship. It pays for the tuition fee for the two years at IIM-B, and hence is worth about Rs. 2 lakhs. The resume is the key to shortlisting. The Aditya Birla group assigned a weightage to each achievement (depending on whether it was at the national level, state level, college level, etc.) and added up the points. The top point scorers were chosen. Some points are awarded to the write-up also. From IIM-B, Vijayalakshmi and myself were shortlisted in 1999. 8 were shortlisted from IIM-A and IIM-C respectively, while 2 more were from IIM-L. The scholarship was awarded to 10 people finally. The distribution was 4-1-4-1 across A, B, C and L. Viji won it from IIM-B. ...