Welcoming the Apaches – PGDM Class of 2019-21

Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon, was bustling with energy and excitement on 9^th July, 2019, as it welcomed a fresh new batch of PGDM students. The program saw a total of 144 students pouring in from different parts of the country to make this state-of-the-art campus their home for the next two years.

The inaugural ceremony was presided over by dignitaries from Gartner, world’s leading research and advisory company, along with the renowned faculty of Great Lakes Institute of Management.

Dr. Debashis Sanyal, Director, Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon, addressed the new batch of PGDM students, and applauded them for their well-deserved candidature. He expressed his delight over the growing competition and high-quality of applications that the institute received. After introducing the students to the faculty, he went on to share his wise counsel with the students. He informed the students that this day marks a transition from a structured environment to an unstructured world, where qualities such as flexibility in thinking, benevolent mindset of working in a team, optimism in the face of challenges and failures, and making the most out of time in the campus will help them succeed.

At the commencement, Mr. Arindam Mukhopadhyay, VP and Head, Global Consulting COE, Gartner, delivered the keynote for the orientation of the fresh young minds He congratulated the batch for making it to the premier institute and threw light on what awaits them after they graduate. His presentation drove home the fact that we are living in a dynamic world, where fundamental shifts are occurring across sectors, thus frequent innovation is indispensable to continuous growth. He emphasized on the importance of Industrializing Learning, which refers to developing cognitive thinking in future managers on a wide scale in order to drive constant innovation. He strongly advised students to demonstrate a Champion Mindset. The mindset urges an individual to follow the mantra of “Know it, Own it, Do it, and Persevere” to enhance growth on a community, organization and an individual level.

Furthermore, Mr. Ravi Kumar Anand, Campus Recruitment and Relationship Leader, Gartner, recommended that students research and understand the kind of role they would like to pursue in the future and use this platform to work towards the same by developing the required skillsets for their dream role. He inspired the students to expand their view of possibilities and take charge of their careers by putting sincere and constant efforts.

The commencement event concluded with Dr. Vikas Prakash Singh, Program Director for PGDM at Great Lakes Gurgaon, delivering the vote of thanks and, keeping up with the Great Lakes tradition, announcing the name of the new PGPM batch – The Apaches.

Know it, Own it, Do it, and Persevere.

Compiled by Elim Panda, PGPM “Spartan”, Class of 2020

Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon

International Yoga Day: The Great Lakes Chapter

“To Join or to Unite”

If you search for “Life at a B-School” on the internet, you will find an array of adjectives such as “strenuous”, “arduous”, “tenacious”, and all in all, “difficult” showing up among search results. Well there’s no denying it. But like any curriculum, students tackle every challenge with utmost zeal. However, we do not give enough importance to fitness, especially in the form of Yoga, and are incapable of understanding how impactful it is for the body, mind and soul.

This International Yoga Day, on 21^st June, 2019, the Spartans (PGPM 2020) and Jaguars (PGDM 2020) of Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon, came one step closer to understanding the importance of Yoga. The International Yoga Day aims to raise awareness, worldwide, of the many benefits of practicing yoga. Being management students, our greatest battle is with time, stress, and meeting crucial deadlines. That one morning, with the sunshine falling lightly on our shoulders, the birds chirping and the gentle gush of the morning wind, there was a mist of calm and peace that touched us. We realized Yoga is a science, it’s a systematic process which gradually dissolves all illusions of the mind. Through this practice we can understand and experience the Supreme Truth that God resides within us. So, we have to offer something spiritual to our mind and soul, which otherwise might revolt. This ancient spiritual science offers a calmer, happier and more fulfilled life to a person.

The global popularity that Yoga has attained not only puts our country prominently on the map (among various other reasons), but also highlights the health-related benefits that are fruitful in every aspect of life. Yoga, an elixir that works on almost every new age predicament such as anxiety, depression and ill health, is a must for B-school students. The Yoga Camp at Great Lakes began at 6:30 AM and went on till 8:00 AM. The event started with a lot of enthusiasm, apparent from the fact that students came for the session even though they had classes till late the previous night. The students gathered around at the amphitheater by 6:15 AM, filled with energy and enthusiasm. The preparation for this event had started 8 days ago where 20 students collaborated and 5 teams were formed for specific tasks.

Yoga is a great source of power and energy, and in order to get the best out of it, one should “stretch” routinely before the Yoga exercises. Hence the yoga instructors started the morning with basic stretching exercises, followed by chanting Om and reciting the Gayatri Mantra as they help in improving concentration and in building focus. The day ended with performing the Surya Namaskar. This stimulates the nervous system, including the brain, lower plexus and the spinal cord.

Students appreciated the experience and also the broad knowledge which they were able to gain from the event. One of the PGPM students, Ankit Kaul, said, “The session conducted on International Yoga Day was more than just an exercise regime, it was a refreshing experience amidst the hustle of our daily routine.” All students cherished the event. A regular yoga practitioner Aveesh Bhatia (also a PGPM student) said, “It was a recreational session for the students, and we experienced inner peace after attending it. Simple and effective yoga is truly a gift to humanity.” The International Yoga Day at Great Lakes opened many eyes, educated us on the importance and effectiveness of Yoga and motivated us to strike a balance between work and life.

Contributors: Ankit Kaul, Arushi Kapur, Arun Shiv, Meghna Mittal, Ranjeeta Gupta, Shreya Gupta, Sidhanshi Sharma, Divya Gupta, Nikhil Dixit and Sunrita Sarkar

PGPM “Spartans” Class of 2020

Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon

4th International Yoga Day Celebrations @ Great Lakes, Gurgaon

It was just another Thursday morning at an ultra-modern B-school campus, but something was different about it. Students were seen marching out of their hostel rooms in pyjamas and t-shirts at dawn. Such enthusiasm wasn’t a daily occurrence for these future managers when it came to waking up early. So, what was the occasion?

This was how Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon celebrated the 4th International Yoga Day on 21^st June 2018. The event, spearheaded by Prof. S K Palhan, provided a glimpse of how traditional Indian values and practices still play an important role in our modern education system. Students gathered in numbers to attempt various Aasanas and realised the importance of a healthy body along with a healthy mind. Prof. S K Palhan addressed the students on how yoga can be instrumental in inculcating discipline in one’s life and how it could substantially improve individual productivity.

The initiative that started with Mr Narendra Modi delivering a speech at the United Nations General Assembly back in 2014, has become a revolution now. To quote Mr Modi, “Yoga is an invaluable gift of India’s ancient tradition. It embodies the unity of mind and body; thought and action; restraint and fulfilment; harmony between man and nature; a holistic approach to health and well-being. It is not just a form of exercise but a lifestyle pattern to discover the sense of oneness with oneself, the world and nature. By changing our lifestyle and creating consciousness, it can help in our well-being. Let us work towards adopting an International Yoga Day”. It garnered support from all around the globe and created history when a total of 177 nations co-sponsored the resolution, which is the highest number of co-sponsors ever for any United Nations proposition of such nature.

What does Yoga mean? It comes from a Sanskrit word ‘Yuja’, which means to bind and unify. Yoga embodies the concept of a consolidated entity. It suggests that one’s body and mind need to work in coordination to attain paramount intellect and spiritual strength. Scientific studies have further supported it by stating its effectiveness in curing diseases and ailments like cancer and arthritis. 21^st June is the longest day in the Northern Hemisphere and shares a special significance in many other parts of the world, hence it was termed apt to be named as something so important and symbolic to Indian tradition.

International Yoga Day every year is no less than a festival. We have witnessed people and leaders gathering in masses to uphold the movement and represent our ingenious values on an international platform. Educational Institutions, alike, have contributed to creating awareness amongst our youth who are going to be future leaders, hence it becomes even more important to include them in this movement. Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon, is amongst those institutions that believe in ‘holding on tight to your core values in the pursuit of excellence’ and hence, the institute never fails to make a valuable contribution to such indigenous initiatives.

The Yoga session was very well received by everyone. Students collectively agreed that they found the experience quite rejuvenating. Many students shared their experiences. Some of the students, who attempted Yoga for the first time exclaimed gleefully “Yoga se hi hoga”.  Provided the hectic college schedule, others admitted it as being the most peaceful experience in their last 1 month. Prof. Palhan seemed happy looking at the students sharing their exhilarating experiences. He said that yoga should be a part of everyone’s routine and not just a one-time thing. He called for students to imbibe it in their habit and witness the difference for themselves.

Author: Prateek Gupta

PGPM, Class of 2019, Great Lakes, Gurgaon

Celebrating the 80 Years of Dr Bala V. Balachandran

It was the day of Guru Purnima when we were to meet the founder of our prestigious institute, Dr Bala V. Balachandran and it was an honour to be with him to celebrate his 80th Birthday on this auspicious day. All 270 students on campus were extremely excited to be the first ones to welcome him here in India. The campus was bussing with hyperactivity, students were preparing for the cultural event in every corner of the campus with never seen before passion, and kaleidoscopic colours of ethnic dresses could be seen everywhere. The entire aura of the campus was exuding enthusiasm as we were looking forward to celebrating our Guru’s birthday on the eve of Guru Purnima.

The amphitheatre had massive arrangements to make the upcoming evening etched in our hearts forever. A great stage was setup with a potpourri of decorations, lights and cameras, and each one of us was instilled with delight to welcome our founder with sparkling energy and zest.

Everyone was spellbound when he finally arrived. The energy that he has even at the age of 80 is something you’ll have to see to believe.

The evening started with birthday greetings given by great dignitaries and our dear faculty members. The heart touching poem on the journey of Dr. Bala written and recited by our very own professor, Dr. V.P. Singh awestruck everyone present in the amphitheatre. This poem was all about struggle and challenges faced by Uncle Bala and how he managed to overcome all the challenges to shine bright like a star. In the words of Uncle Bala, “A great aptitude with a good attitude takes us to a higher altitude” and he has gone way beyond the extra mile to prove it.

Next, it was time for students to showcase their talents for which they had put in a lot of effort, taking out time from their busy schedules and practising rigorously to greet Uncle Bala. There were some fabulously mesmerising performances comprising of dance, drama, singing and the stage was completely on fire. The energy of the Great Lakers didn’t end here, we had a spectacular flash mob where all the students joined and performed an amazing random act.  We also had an electrifying power-packed dance performance which was a mix of Bollywood, Bhangra and Fusion. I really enjoyed being part of the flash mob and the group dance performance. Not only did we had relentless practise sessions (helped me lose some weight as well :P), but also learnt so much from peers, made great friends and had the most memorable time of our lives.

 

 

 

 

 

Uncle Bala was fascinated and spell bound by the amount of energy and creative young talent we have at our institute. He gave us his blessings and sang a beautiful song for all of us. It was an unforgettable moment for everyone in attendance. All his teachings and inspirational words have motivated us to move ahead and achieve great heights with a positive attitude. The heart-felt memories of this day would be cherished by us forever.

Last but not the least, we all wish that you keep on climbing the ladder of success and keep on inspiring us for many more years to come. Wish you an amazing year ahead, Uncle Bala.

Author: Sakshi Khurana

PGPM, Class of 2018, Great Lakes, Gurgaon

The Pilot Episode: ‘The one with the Sweet Beginning’

Even as we were in the first week of our stay inside our lush green campus in Gurgaon, thoughts like – getting ourselves accustomed to the hostel scenario,  interacting and knowing our peers, a probable change in our biological and sleep cycles and the hunch of going back to books(that still feels intimidating) were on our minds. A plethora of similar emotions was playing a strange medley in and around us. Then, Great Lakes came up with the outbound trip to Rishikesh, the most fitting pilot episode to our newest series in life- The B school experience.

Our trip began on 19 May as we boarded our buses and started our long and fun filled night. Antakshari, Dumb charades, singing and dancing were the norm for the night… This was just the beginning!

We reached our pristine and beautiful campsite ‘Life missions’ in the morning and got ourselves ready for a day filled with unforgettable adventures. We split into two groups. One group geared up for a thrilling tryst with Rappelling as another started for an electrifying Rafting experience on the river Ganges.

As I braced myself for my rendezvous with rappelling, I could not help but wonder what it would feel like. The thought of hanging from a tall bridge with just a rope to our rescue felt awesome! I am obviously talking for myself. I am sure the same was not the case for people with Acrophobia. 😀

Cut to the actual experience, it did feel awesome! It was amazing to let go and hang almost perpendicular to the bridge and slowly descend systematically. It also gives a sense of trusting the guide who was giving all the instructions. Trust is what drives all businesses! In retrospect, it seems there was so much of sub-conscious learning happening.

Next, we had a team exercise of building a bridge with straws. Working in teams and collaborating amongst each other was a fun learning experience, to say the least.

As the day approached noon, we returned to our campsite, had lunch and eagerly prepared ourselves for Rafting. The review provided by the other group that returned added on to the excitement. We started off and reached a location called ‘Marine drive’, strapped ourselves with life jackets and helmets, and made sure we took proper instructions given by the Rafting coordinator. I can vouch for the entire batch by saying that this experience was, without any argument, the highlight of the trip.

As we started rowing our rafts in unison, we came across quite a few surprises. For a person who is new to the rafting world, the idea of encountering ‘rapids’ was massively thrilling. Our coordinator gave us direct and lucid instructions before each of the four rapids we challenged. These were:

1. Good evening
2. Sweet 16
3. Roller coaster
4. The three blind mice

Each of these rapids has a special memory with all of us. Experiences like standing inside the raft with the probability of falling over, taking a toss in the river, witnessing an ever-beautiful landscape across the river and getting ourselves lost in a myriad of senses and thrills as we witnessed the beautiful sunset are a few souvenirs we took back home from this experience.

As the Rafting escapade ended, we had one more learning experience in the form of a raft building exercise that was veritably fun filled and utterly enriching.

Coming back to our campsite, an evening with the bonfire and music awaited us. With our batch having a talent spectrum ranging from professional violin players, drummers and guitarists to melodious singers and dancers, this evening was exactly what we needed to feel refreshed.  As we dispersed to our tents after such a happening day, we all had a sense of belonging amongst each other.

We struggled to wake up the next day, but Palhan Sir’s meditation session filled us with reinvigorated energy as we headed off to a trek. Returning from a short hike, we had one final meet up focusing on the assessment for the two group activities. It was fun witnessing all the teams doing interesting introductions and victory dances.

None of us was in a mood to leave Rishikesh and the trip back to Gurgaon did seem long. Nevertheless, the end of this eventful trip marked the start of our ‘B-School’ journey.’ A journey that will surely be filled with ups and downs just like the rapids that we faced in Rishikesh. But if we work together then I’m positive that we’ll all get a chance to perform our victory dances at the end of this year.

 

‘IN THE MIDST OF MOUNTAINS’

A trip to a beautiful place,

Uttarakhand, you blessed us with your grace.

Driving through your mountains’ maze,

Mesmerised by your rain’s presence.

Drifting down the bridge like a pro,

Amidst the mountains’ meadow.

To get rid of phobia of heights,

Rappelling was an amazing exercise.

Ganga, the mightiest of the rivers

Embraced us with all her ardour.

Feeling the quivers in her waters,

Rafting, an experience gifted to us.

An evening with a Bonfire,

Music, you are the sire.

Guitar, Violin and Drums singing to its melody,

Musicians tuning to all its glory.

Staring at the sky of twinkling stars,

Sleeping in the mother nature’s arms.

Opening eyes to the beautiful misty morning,

Waking up to the sun between the mountains, rising.

Meditating early in the morning,

Trekking through the hills in the surrounding.

Relaxing by the river that’s flowing,

Folks playing water volleyball, enjoying.

An end to a beautiful journey,

A lovely opening to a new Odyssey,

Cheers to a lot of memories,

As a fan of F.R.I.E.N.D.S, It is

‘The One with a Sweet Beginning’.

 

Authors: Samuel Johnson & Prithvi Naadig

PGPM, Class of 2018, Great Lakes, Gurgaon

International Yoga Day 2017 – An Exhilarating & Rejuvenating Experience

 

“Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self and to the self”

      -Bhagavad Gita

Yoga provides a holistic workout wherein it helps us beat the stress and attain inner peace by relaxing the mind, making internal organs healthier and toning our body. Three years ago our Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, persuaded the United Nations to declare 21^st June as the International Yoga Day and the third edition of International Yoga Day was celebrated with full zest and enthusiasm by the Gladiators (PGPM batch 2017-18) at the Gurgaon campus of Great Lakes Institute of Management.

The day started with all the students geared up to take a step towards a better and healthier future. It was a time to recall the disciplines that originated in ancient India. Our entire batch of 120 students, along with our dear Prof. S K Palhan, did asana and pranayama to embark on the journey of a healthier and happy mind. The following meditation session was full of tranquillity and helped us eliminate all our anxiety and worries. Yoga session was followed by team games and nutritious breakfast comprising of detoxifying drink and fruits.

The ultimate purpose of International Yoga day is to promote Yoga and endeavour towards making it a part and parcel of everyone’s daily routine. Needless to say, the benefits of a yogic routine are numerous and keeping this in mind, we, as the future business leaders, pledged to practice yoga in our daily lives making the day truly successful.

 

Author: Sakshi Khurana

PGPM Class of 2018, Great Lakes, Gurgaon

Annual Sports Meet: the fight to win!

It was one helluva of an event that had the perfect mix of enthusiasm, dedication and the fight to win.

The annual sports day concluded on Sunday, 27th October with much fanfare and fun minus all the mishaps (READ: Injuries, pains, muscle tears) etc. The games had all the teams of Vulcans-PGPM Energy’15, Ojas-PGPM Energy’14 and Titans PGPM’14 along with Alumni and Faculty teams meeting each other for the first time on fun grounds and playing against each other, with ferocious spirit of winning the game and upholding the spirit of being fair… with one and all… So, whether it was football or cricket everyone came out with their set of ploys for the game and played with their full might.

When it comes to sports the common myth of girls not being sporty enough went for a complete toss when even the girls of the three teams came out in the open and played with full enthusiasm and aplomb. On the other hand no game is complete without the perfect audience and our fellow Lakers were very dedicated when it came to a fan base… So be it braving the cold or the harsh sun… the Lakers were all game for the GAME!!!

As the games ended it was time to savour some hot piping pooris with rice, sabjis et al at our very own Swiss cottage kitchen! Which was a foodie’s delight for those two days of pure fun.

As the curtains closed for the sports day, it was time to announce the winners and the losers; but all in the spirit of game!

Wish this wouldn’t have ended so soon! Hope to come back again with more fun unlimited!

Happy reading 🙂

Warm Regards,

Events Committee

Great Lakes, Gurgaon

Sapience 2013 – Annual Management Conclave

Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon held its Annual Management Conclave ‘Sapience – 2013’ at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi on 23^rd September,2013. The Conclave was graced by Dr. Arvind Mayaram, Secretary Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, as the Keynote Speaker. The Conclave also saw 21 eminent industry leaders participating in panel discussions on key areas for growth and opportunities in this challenging economy.

India Smart Grid Forum (ISGF), Bridgei2i and Evalueserve were the knowledge partners for the Conclave and Mint the Media partner. The guests were welcomed by Mr. Mohan Lakhamraju, Vice Chairman – Great Lakes Institute of Management and Dr. Himadri Das, Director – Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon. 

Dr. Arvind Mayaram delivered the keynote address on the theme ‘Growth Drivers in a Stressed Economy’. With his vast experience as an administrator and as key economic policy maker,  Dr. Mayaram, focused on the key macroeconomic indicators related to the recent volatility seen in the markets, depreciation of the rupee, Current Account Deficit (CAD), Fiscal Deficit and Inflation. He said that on each of these indicators the situation is completely under control and that the Government has done its arithmetic and taken measures to rein these in. Dr. Mayaram expressed a strong belief that the growth would return to its potential level of 8 per cent on account of greater investments in the country and said the investments were likely to pick up because of the large projects that have been cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Investment. Most importantly, Dr. Mayaram was a harbinger of hope that things would get better in the future.

The keynote address was followed by four panel discussions by industry leaders on the four possible growth drivers for the Indian economy – Smart Grids, Natural Gas, Internet & Mobile and Analytics.  Each panel had 5-6 senior industry participants with one of them moderating the panel and each panel discussion was preceded by a presentation by a Great Lakes Gurgaon student to create a background of the discussion with a review of the state of the art.

The themes for the four panel discussions were on the plausible growth drivers in the current stressed environment. The first panel was on Smart Grids and its role in improving the travails in the stressed power distribution sector. This was followed by a panel discussion on Natural Gas, which is expected to help grow the energy sector through an increased presence in the national energy basket mix. The other two panel discussions were in relatively very new sectors as compared to power distribution and natural gas. One of them was on Internet and Mobile and the other was on Analytics. The Internet and Mobile panel discussed innovative business models that have been in play and more innovations to follow, which will disrupt the way products and services are delivered and consumed. The Analytics panel focused on a huge opportunity for India as a global hub for analyzing huge quantities of data to gain actionable business insights that can drive competitive advantage,

Topic 1: Smart Grids – Transforming power to optimize assets and resources

This panel focused on smart grids that can balance loads and shift demand to create smoother demand curves that are aligned with power supply. “Will power availability be a key driver of growth across sectors?” was the question which was answered by the panelists. The panel also discussed the need, practicality and challenges of implementing such schemes and opined that smart grids with a focus on demand response can shift peak demand to different times of the day to get a smoother load curve that is more aligned with power generation. The panel said that this would go a long way in alleviating the power shortages faced during peak demand and reduce the pressure on increasing generation capacity.

The panel comprised of Bridgit Hartland Johnson, Managing Director – Energie Dynamique, Anish De, CEO Asia – Mercados EMI, Chintan Soni, Co-founder and Director – Ecolibrium Energy, Girish Muley, General Manager (Solutions, Energy & Utilities) – IBM India Pvt. Ltd., Gopal Saxena, CEO – BSES Rajdhani Power and Vikram Gandotra, General Manager (Marketing) –  Siemens.

Topic 2: Natural Gas – Playing a bigger role in the energy mix for generation and consumption

The panel discussed the effect of the proposed domestic natural gas price increase on driving investments in exploration and production that would in turn increase the availability of domestic natural gas and change the energy mix in the country to a cleaner fuel basket. The panel also discussed the success and desirability of piped natural gas as a substitute for LPG cylinders.

The panel comprised of Utpal Bhaskar, Energy Editor – Mint, Deepak Mahurkar, Director and Leader (Oil & Gas) – PWC, Karunakaran Hari, Head (Commercial) – Cairn Energy India, Prabhat Singh, Director (Marketing) – GAIL and Vijay Duggal, DGM (Commercial) – BPCL.

Topic 3: Internet and Mobile – The channel of choice for young Indian consumers

The panel witnessed the discussion on young India’s growing appetite for consumption and its overwhelming preference for the internet and mobile as the platform of choice for everything from information to commerce to socializing. The panel discussed the evolution of the Internet and mobile space and the current large categories of search, classifieds, travel, e-commerce, and a whole plethora of social network centric business models and was of the opinion that the future of this sector was likely to witness disruptive business models driven by rich media, mobility, localization, and digital payment systems.

The panel comprised of Ankur Warikoo, Head – Groupon APAC, Anurag Saran, Vice President (Product) –  Yatra, Apurva Chiranewala, Head (Strategic Alliances) – Snapdeal, Vivek Jain, Executive Vice President (Naukri Product & Analytics) – Info Edge India Ltd and Sriram Jagannathan, CEO, AIrtel mCommerce Services (joined through Skype).

Topic 4: Analytics – India as the future global hub

The panel discussed the deluge of data facing businesses today, huge volumes of data coming in at a high velocity from a variety of sources – the dawn of big data. The panel was of the opinion that this presents a huge opportunity for analytics to deliver actionable insights from this data that could drive competitive advantage for companies. The paucity of trained professionals to exploit this opportunity was discussed as a key challenge.

The panel comprised of Sanjoy Roychowdhury, Vice President – Evalueserve, Anurag Verma, CEO – fnMathLogic, Ashish Sharma, Co-founder and Director – Bridge i2i, Raghu Yalamanchili, Associate Director – Mu Sigma and Sivaramakrishnan Narayanan, Partner (Business Analytics, GBS) – IBM.

An odyssey to remember

Long before we stepped foot into Great Lakes Gurgaon, we received an email saying that we’re going for a team building program to Rishikesh. Considering that it was a land that I had never been on, I decided to go. Moreover, who would say no to river rafting and rappelling?

Come 24^th May, we left Gurgaon for the trip. Although, in a most congested thing that was claimed to be a bus – a little box which was the only negative of the whole trip. Well, guess that was an apt beginning to our outbound training – as the whole purpose of the trip was to open our minds and teach us the art of ‘adapting to change’. It’s said, a true champion can adapt to anything and indeed, we needed the skill to ace the one year program!

After a tough night, we reached Camp Alpinestar. And guess what? We had to embark on a tiny trek (with luggage et al.) just to reach the campsite. But the view that awaited us was worth it – tents by the riverside and the sacred Ganges gushing in all its glory right by it. Yes, it was awesome.

We were split into two groups with three teams each. Group one (with me) went for rappelling and Group two went for rafting.

On the way to Stream Rappelling…

Wow! Where do I start about the trek? I’m contemplating on whether to start with how unfit we all were or how super fit the guides were. With temperatures burning our face off, we started climbing from some random point. A few minutes into it and we were like “Dude, this is not a trek. This is easy.” Clearly, we spoke too soon as like in the video games the trek just got tougher and tougher! Long breaths, frequent breaks and gazillion liters of water later, we finally reached our destination. All our fatigue vanished the instant we jumped into the icy cold water.  “The climb was worth it”, was all we could say while the guides were setting up the rappelling gears. It took us close to two hours to finish the rappelling. The most difficult part of rappelling was the start. After that, it was a (not so gentle) breeze and we enjoyed every bit of it. Then we headed back to the camp to grab some lunch and prep up for river rafting.

Geared up for Rafting…

Stepping out right after lunch was a difficult choice. But then, that was our only choice! So, off we went for rafting. The currents were pretty strong that evening (that would make us go faster \m/). After a safety speech by our very own “fake Brit accent Rishikesh guide”, we were all set to have the time of our lives!  Braving the strong rapids, continuous rowing and a dip in the Ganges is something one can only be experienced. And I’m glad I did!

“Bunta”, a popular drink in the region was available on the river bank – a must have if you go to Rishikesh. So, of course we all had to have it! What more can you ask for in a day? Well, a bon-fire night that ended with delight and peals of laughter at our very own guitarist Abhinav Tiwari’s talent and antiques! That done, we called it a night. Well, to be precise, a full moon night without electricity which we survived with torches and mobiles.

Come 6 AM next day, and we were all up and ready for a refreshing meditation session by the Ganga. Prof Palhan explained to us the benefits of meditation and each of us made a mental note to incorporate this much needed eight minutes into our daily routines.

Meditating on the bank of Ganga!

Then, we moved on to a few fun and interesting team building exercises like the Frisbee relay and the Egg drop game which helped us know our team mates better before leaving the camp for Gurgaon with a lifetime of memories.

New Beginnings @ Great Lakes Gurgaon…

Landed at the Delhi airport and the first thing I thought was that my face was going to tear off because of the 40 degree heat wave. It made the Chennai heats seem like a breeze. FACT!

Thank God for the AC cab, I made it to the college. The admissions team handed over a few documents for me to fill and then there was the long wait for sorting through the fee, accommodation and scorecard papers. Finally, I was done with the registration process around 4 pm and was ready to be taken to what would be my home for the next year.

Day 1 of induction started with a bang and gave us a proper feel of the year that was to be.  With more than 10 hours of interactive sessions with our Directors and professors and fantastic Powertalks from CXOs of 2 companies – Mr. Sandeep Aggarwal, Founder and CEO, Shopclues.com and Mr. Eric Fridolfsson, South Asia Head, IKEA, followed by a farewell cum welcome party in the evening – our day was jam packed. And all this, even before the course had actually begun. Looked like it would turn out to be a year to look forward to!

The first day also taught us a lesson in contingency planning for the lectures that were supposed to be round up by 5:30pm continued till 7:30pm leaving us with no chance to go back to our hostels and change. And we did well for beginners. For, come 8 pm, we were at Club Rhino, ready to party in our full fledged business attires!

L to R – Titans Rithvik, Richa, Ehtisham and Yogesh @ Club Rhino, Gurgaon.

and when the drinks kicked in !

 

 

Seeing the professors and seniors recollecting their time together made us realize that we were only a year away from a party like this organized for us and that, indeed, there was no time to stand and stare in a yearlong MBA program!

But all good things come to an end. And so did the party. And finally, we headed back to our rooms wondering whether we could battle the hangover and wake up early enough to make it to the Convocation the next morning!

Yogesh Babu

A proud Titan

PGPM Class of 2014

Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon

Blood Donation @ GLIEMR Gurgaon…Every drop counts

Social Welfare club of GLIEMR, Gurgaon organized a blood donation camp in its premises with the support of Rotary club on 12^th of February, 2013. The camp got a very good response from the students of all the three batches of the institute. At the end of the day approximately 55 units (1 unit of blood=350 ml) of blood were collected which showed the enthusiasm of the students towards the noble cause. The doctor present at the camp informed that each unit of blood is used to save two human lives. Even the Rotary club staff was impressed by the huge turnout of students at the camp.

The students before donating blood had to undergo some basic check up like blood pressure and hemoglobin. After the donation each donor was given a memento, a certificate of appreciation and a blood donor card which entitled them to receive blood free of cost for a period of one year.

The event wouldn’t have been successful without the support and co-operation of the faculty and the house-keeping staff. Social Welfare club promises to organize more such noble events regularly at the campus.

Great Lakers Win Hearts at Akshayam, MDI, Gurgaon!

While the world sleeps, the Knight Riders rule the night. It all started with a mail for participation at Akshayam 2012, the sports cum cultural fest at MDI, Gurgaon and so, when most people were sleeping last night in their cozy blankets, there was this group of around 24 people all excited and pumped up to challenge the best management teams of India.

Basketball (2200 hrs):The day started with a very enthusiastic performance on the basketball field where Great Lakers had one of the close matches of the tournament till now. The only glitch being the captain Varun Anand from PGPM 1 year getting injured and dislocating his shoulder. He was rushed to the hospital then and there and has been advised bed rest for a few weeks now. Despite getting injured, his words were all to cheer up his team mates while leaving the field, that what SPORTMANSHIP is all about. Piyush from 1^st year energy batch stepped up to responsibility and despite landing on the other side, Great Lakers left the field with pride. The final score 49 – 38 in the favor of our opponents.

Badminton (2340 hrs): The focus then moved on to the Badminton courts but despite some valiant efforts in the court by  the captain, Rohit Parimal the team could not move past the pre quarter finals. The final score 3 – 0 to the opponents.

Table Tennis (0200 hrs): With the confidence a little shaky after two first round exits and one important member of the sports contingent getting injured, it was left upto captain Kiran Lingam(PGPM 1 year) to lift up the spirits of all with a win against a stronger Narsi Munji Team from Mumbai in table tennis. Kiran delivered what the doctor just ordered, a flurry of top spins to the right, whacking back hand shots and his impeccable services left the NMIMS team stunned as he toppled their Rank 1 player. Despite losing a close ladies singles match(2 sets to 1) and a valiant mixed doubles, the college bounced back with the duo of Kiran Lingam and Mohit Taneja(PGPM 1 year)  in men’s doubles. So it was all left upto Mohit Taneja to win the decider mens singles match. Mohit played the match with his trademark finesse and with his clinical serves and clean shots, left the opponents speechless. He won the match with 3 sets to nil, with the score in the final set being 11-0. The final score , Great Lakers play the quarter finals at 1700 hrs today.

Football: The positivity of the table tennis spread through to the football team and they won a challenging first round match with the score being 4-2 in penalty shoot outs. In quarters, they met the team from NMIMS, Mumbai in the quarter finals. The match started on an even note and both the quarters saw some good attacking moves set up by Mathew, Nitin (1 yr PGPME) for Rohit Parimal (PGPM 1 year) and some good strong defense by Jitendra Lakhwani, Mithun, Sudhanshu (PGPM 1 year). The score after the final whistle being nil all, the match entered the penalty shootouts. This time luck just happened to slip through out hands and a valiant effort saw the score line reading 4-2 in favour of NMIMS. The Man of the match(Based on the team feedback) being Mr. Rohit Singh (1 Year PGPM), the goal keeper.

And yes, not to forget the efforts of our special  cheer leading team , lead by Vivek Sankhyan(PGPM 1 year) and Karanjot (PGPME 1^st Year) and ably supported by all crew members. The heights of dedication and passion are shown by our football team members, when all of them chose to stay there for their next futsal match at 0700 hrs.

Great Lakes Win Hearts @ Akshayam, MDI

While the world slept, the Knight Riders ruled the night. It all started with a mail of participation at Akshayam 2012, the Sports cum Cultural fest at MDI, Gurgaon. When most people were sleeping last night in their cozy blankets, there was this group of around 24 people all excited and pumped up to challenge the best B-school teams of India.

The day started with a very enthusiastic performance on the basketball field where Great Lakers had one of the closest matches of the tournament till now. The only glitch being the captain Varun Anand from PGPM 1 year getting injured and dislocating his shoulder. He was rushed to the hospital then and there and has been advised bed rest for a few weeks now. Despite getting injured, his words were all to cheer up his teammates while leaving the field, that what SPORTSMANSHIP is all about. Piyush from 1st yr PGPME stepped up to responsibility and despite landing on the other side, Great Lakers left the field with pride. The final score 49 – 38 in the favor of our opponents.

The focus then moved on to the Badminton courts but despite some valiant efforts in the court by  the captain, Rohit Parimal the team could not move past the pre quarter finals. The final score 3 – 0 to the opponents.

With the confidence a little shaky after two first round exits and one important member of the sports contingent getting injured, it was left to captain Kiran Lingam(PGPM 1 year) to lift up the spirits of all with a win against a stronger Narsee Monjee Team from Mumbai in table tennis. Kiran delivered what the doctor just ordered, a flurry of top spins to the right, whacking backhand shots and his impeccable services left the NMIMS team stunned as he toppled their Rank 1 player. Despite losing a close ladies singles match(2 sets to 1) and a valiant mixed doubles, the college bounced back with the duo of Kiran Lingam and Mohit Taneja(PGPM 1 year)  in men’s doubles. Eventually Mohit Taneja was up for the decider mens singles match. Mohit played the match with his trademark finesse and with his clinical serves and clean shots, left the opponents speechless. He won the match with 3 sets to nil, with the score in the final set being 11-0, the final score.

The positivity of the table tennis spread through to the football team and they won a challenging first round match with the score being 4-2 in penalty shootouts. In quarters, they met the team from NMIMS, Mumbai in the quarter finals. The match started on an even note and both the quarters saw some good attacking moves set up by Mathew, Nitin (1st yr PGPME) for Rohit Parimal (PGPM 1 year) and some good strong defense by Jitendra Lakhwani, Mithun, Sudhanshu (PGPM 1 year). The score after the final whistle being nil all, the match entered the penalty shootouts. This time luck just happened to slip through our hands and a valiant effort saw the scoreline reading 4-2 in favour of NMIMS.

And of all, not to forget the efforts of our special cheer leading team , lead by Vivek Sankhyan(PGPM 1 year) and Karanjot (1st yr PGPME) and ably supported by all crew members. The heights of dedication and passion are shown by our football team members, when all of them chose to stay there for their next futsal match in the morning.

We salute the bruised knees and sprained backs of our classmates and extend our concern for their well-being. Just back from one of our most memorable nights with alarm clock ringing now to inform me about the jogging time despite a sleepless night, we look forward to go and cheer for our friends, our family – the Great Lakes Family, in the forthcoming matches.

All Great Lakers @ MDI right now, RESPECT !!!

~ Pankaj

(PGPM 1yr)

Great Lakes @ Airtel Delhi Half Marathon 2012

With early rays of Sunday sunshine, the Great Lakes family came together to be part of one of the most grand events and  one of the richest marathons in the world, to be flagged off from Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

Supporting the cause of greenery under “Green Delhi, Great Delhi”, the GL team had been working closely to promote awareness among the citizens of the city to make it a cleaner city to breathe planting more trees and help them grow and live.

Over the two months post-registration for this mega-event, Branding Committee with students roped in competitions to build on the theme for the event and exhibit their creative pursuits in coming out with the banners and posters. The fraternity showed great enthusiasm participating in the competitions, the best of which was to be the official GL banner and posters.

Close to 50 students and faculty members registered for the event were regularly informed about their fitness and preparedness for the 6km run.

The day saw the already enthusiastic student community, under the leadership of our Director, with the banners and posters heading towards the origination point. It was a star-studded field of celebrities and a lot of Delhiites supporting various causes for the social well-being and upliftment.

The weather was good at the start but later on it became humid. But, the spirits of the students was just enlivening supporting the cause all the way.

 

Following the end of the run, the complete team assembled at Nehru park , down and dusted , but the call for a soccer match is never a let go and never without being suitably awarded. 

Subsequently  a few students unwound with a few lighter moments between students and our Director, Japenese notes and tunings on guitars by our budding artists.

Finally, the entire lot moved back with cherishing memories of the day.

Ganapati Bappa Moryaa….

Ganesh Chaturthi was celebrated to mark the advent of the master of all knowledge, intelligence and wisdom, Lord Ganesha.

In the morning, the students chanted in chorus mantrams and hymns and later devotional songs adoring Lord Ganesha. The whole campus joined hands in the devotion of Modakraj and “prasadam” and sweets were distributed post the morning prayer.

The festival was celebrated for a couple of days. On the final day, the statue of Lord Ganesha was taken out in a colourful and vibrant procession. The boys took out the statue of Lord Ganesha on this day traditionally immersing the idol.