PGPX ranked 11th in Financial Times Global Ranking!

That was one long hiatus… Let me not bore you with the reasons, but let me (once again) resolve to post at least once a month.

I am very happy and excited to share the news that IIM Ahmedabad (IIM A), my alma mater has been ranked 11th in the recent Financial Times Global Business School Ranking. This ranking covers all those programmes which admit students with substantial work experience and the intake into PGPX is mainly based on the work experience of the candidates.

One more heartening news in this context is that this is the debut ranking for IIM A and this is the best ever debut by any Indian Business School – currently there are only two Indian schools in the top 20. Do check this link where there is a summary about the rankings – near the end of the page there is a paragraph about IIM A’s impressive debut.

FYI couple of the news releases –

1. http://www.iimahd.ernet.in/users/pro-iima/files/Hindu,%20%20New%20Delhi,%2004-02-2011.pdf

2. http://www.iimahd.ernet.in/users/pro-iima/images/IE_01_FEBRUARY_2010_AHMEDABAD.jpg

PGPX FT Ranking Communique – This is the Communique from the current batch of PGPX students about the FT ranking.

My batch-mate Shanmuga Sundar exactly mirrored my thoughts when he said “There was never a doubt that IIMA added value in my life! The ranking is a scientific way of confirming that there is value in it for the future PGPX aspirants!”.

Post-PGPX

Err… Hello… Any one out there??

I suppose this was indeed a long hiatus and my audience might have given up hope that I will be back (or got busy with life and hence forgot all about my blog…)  This time, I do not want to blame it on hectic life. Yes, I was a bit busy learning the nuances of business in this new role, new industry and new market and I was also busy relocating (to Mumbai). But this time the blame is squarely on ‘Lethargy’. Just pure lethargy as I was enjoying a break after the 1 year pressure cooker lifestyle at PGPX.

Currently catching up with the movies and songs and books that I missed during the past one year. Looks like I haven’t missed much in TV and Newspapers.

To summarize and bring to closure my PGPX experiences – The super-fast, roller-coaster ride courtesy PGPX came to an end in mid March. The biggest ‘add’ for me was rather unexpected and the best word to describe it would be “self-contemplation”. The classroom, the network, the knowledge all have been provocations to search from my own past and realize what I missed to learn from them. It has been a great experience to go through the journey and understand what it takes to win in the professional and personal lives. If my readers are still confused, then it simply means that I am still to master the art of finding words to express my thoughts!! Needless to say, the past one year has been unforgettable and If I have to make the decision all over again, then I will still choose to undergo PGPX.

I have started my post-PGPX career with ElectraCard services as Sales Manager. It was indeed a tough decision in choosing which door to close and I am sure I made the right decision. I love traveling and hope to enjoy this role while understanding how to do ‘dhanda’ in the Indian/Developing world climate.

A word about my new home – Mumbai. Similar to most of the other cities in India, it takes some time to start liking and loving this place (very much like AR Rahman’s music! I am yet to appreciate Raavan. Maybe it will become likeable once I see the film).

I hope to continue this blog and pour out (whether you like it or not)  my experiences and thoughts. The commute has become a major part of the day (one hour each way) and there is much travel too. So more thoughts to pour…

And Thank You for the continued patronage to this blog. It is indeed a privilege to have someone who is ready to listen or just hear me out… I plan to continue writing about things that catch my attention, things that can be improved, my thoughts on everyday happenings, my thoughts on everyday challenges and … actually everything that is not so important :). Beware, I might turn out to be a Joey (Joey@Friends – “I thought it’d be great, you know? have some time alone with my thoughts… turns out, I don’t have as many thoughts as you’d think.“)

Placement, ConneXion, etc.

Wishing all my audience a very happy and a very very successful 2010!

Apologize for the short break in my updates via this blog. Initially it was the Ahmedabad winter troubling me which was followed by the writers (!!!!) block – The cause for this particular ‘block’ being the academic pressure in the 5th term. It took some time for me to adjust to this rather severe winter in this polluted (pollinated?) air as I fell sick twice in as many weeks and even now, I have got some minor turbulence going on in my throat.

A quick update on the happenings in PGPX:

As we enter term V – the last term – the placement season has started. There is no Day zero or Day one concept for PGPX – since not everyone is competing for the same job and right fitment is the key mantra for the experienced students.  Again due to the same reason, it will be too early to talk about the stats.

Last week we organized a reunion (aptly named as conneXion) for all the batches of PGPX. (I was part of the organizing committee for this event and that was one more reason for my leave of absence from this blog). We had a very strong turnaround of more than 80 alumnus and their family from the previous PGPX batches – it was nice to have few confirmed-admits from the next batch (PGPX – V) also participate.

ConneXion helped us network across the batches – the need for a formal meet is all the more accentuated by the fact that ours is a one year course and hence there is very less interaction even between two successive batches. The event provided formal and informal interaction forums with the Director, Chairman, Faculty and the various student clubs. We had a great opportunity to get to know the post-PGPX experiences, the areas where PGPX is helping people to move closer to their goals and the opportunities for further improving the course and its curriculum. There was a wealth of knowledge transfer in this 2 day event. Hope the next batches continue the tradition.

Prashant John, from X1 (PGPX first batch) has just launched a book by the title – “Second Degree: One Crazy Year at IIM-A” which narrates the life of a PGPXer. We had a book reading session during ConneXion. This was indeed an unstoppable book. Told in a humourous tone, this book is very close to what I have experienced @ PGPX. Going forward if someone asks me about life at PGPX, I plan to refer them to this book. (Again, this book was one more reason for the hiatus from this blog…)

I would like to share couple of my experiences gained from the classroom in term V. But let me use my subsequent posts for that… Hope to keep up the momentum. And again – wish all of you a great year ahead!