The last couple of days, there has been some major excitement in the IIMB circles. The reason for the excitement
Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) has been recognized as the #1 Business School in India, and among the list of 27 global Business Schools identified by Eduniversal, a unit of the French consulting firm SMBG.
So as an alumnus myself, I will take the liberty of using my blog to crow a bit.
Where do you normally expect an IIM Ahmedabad topper to go? The I-banks, McKinsey, BCG…? How about selling vegetables on the streets of Nalanda?
Kaushalendra’s story is quite inspiring for the self-starters and for those who wish to do some thing good.
His mission
1. Build a brand for his home state Bihar – the vegetable hub of India. Quoting from this particular blog (rajbhaskar), Kaushalendra says “Every one seems to be migrating from here, I wanted to do something for my people.“
2. Make it easy for vegetable vendors – he has designed a push cart which has a refrigeration unit to store vegetables, a fitted weighing machine and easy mobility even with 200kg of veggies
3. Improve livelihood of vegetable farmers – he has tied up with over 250 veg farmers and buys directly from the farm gate.
He says, even as he is moving through the streets, he is studying consumer behaviour, attitudes and generally working out how it all works. And one can see his canniness – Nalanda is the home of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar; so he will definitely get attention from the government (in fact he is already getting some help)
Everyone seems to be calling it unconventional – Here’s one which says it’s a role reversal;
I find it quite natural – it’s about just acting on what you really want to do rather than follow the herd. He needs to stay on his own. On NDTV, already many fellows from the large retail giants are seeking his email id and phone numbers.
All the best Kaushal
Some reactions sent to me by email
Amitava Deb,
“But We are overwhelmed at the wonderful attempt by this young man to do something that we expect every nationalist indian with capability to do for his poorer underprivilaged brothers and sisters. After all Kurien could easily get a lucrative assignment with FAO,etc which he did not care for unlike Manmohan/Montek/and Dollar starved well fed Indians? Pass this on on your blog please.“
Achuthan Kutty,
“1. Good to know that places like Bihar produce toppers at IIM
2. Great to know that there are people like him who are still connected to reality.“
Open to debate:
Women MBA aspirants account for only 10 per cent of students joining the Indian Institutes of Management, as lower participation, coupled with relatively less business aptitude has limited their strength at these elite B-schools, a study says
