Student Blogs

I come from a family of engineers, and I saw the kind of work my father, uncles, and even my cousins did which inspired me. I knew I was born to do the same. So, I applied to several engineering colleges having no inclination toward any one specific specialisation, however, I knew I wanted to… Continue reading My International MBA in the US got me a job at Altria!

In the midst of my academic pursuits at SPJIMR, the top B-school in Mumbai, India, I had an astonishing experience at an event called Hastantaran that illuminated my life. This event, which is a part of the Abhyudaya programme, spoke to my enthusiasm for community involvement and transformative learning. I will take you through my… Continue reading Hastantaran: The beginning of transformative experiential learning at SPJIMR

People considered me a wizkid. Science and Mathematics were subjects that always intrigued me. I knew from the very beginning that I wanted to pursue engineering, Electronics and Telecommunication seemed like the ideal course for me since it would give me an opportunity to grow my skill set in computers too. I did my undergrad… Continue reading Unmasking The Reality: My Pandemic-Stricken International MBA Journey

What is the sense of our small effort?’ They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time. ~Dorothy Day In a world of disparities, there are limited opportunities for many underprivileged children. This stands as a stark reminder of the urgent need for collective action. These… Continue reading A True Sitara – The Story Of Grit And Resilience

My Source Of Motivation I was born and brought up in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. When I was in the 11th standard, I developed an interest in computers and technology. That’s when I decided that I would become a computer engineer. I pursued my B. Tech from KIIT University, Bhubaneswar, got placed at Accenture as a… Continue reading Going Global – From Kanpur’s Industrial Hub to a Consulting Career with EY in Germany!

Well, where do I start? When we were first told that we had the option to not just visit Babson for our GIP but also share the classroom with students from all over the world for their summer programme, ‘thrilled’ is an understatement to describe my feeling at that time. We did have our fair… Continue reading Babson Experience

Why I Chose What I Chose. While researching programmes and schools for my further studies I was looking for two things primarily in B-schools – credibility and international exposure. That’s when I stumbled upon the Global MBA programme by SPJIMR, one of the top B-schools in Mumbai, India. It offered a semester in India, conducted… Continue reading From The Humidity Of Mumbai To -3 In Germany | International Immersion

School friends hold a special place in our hearts, for they were there during our formative years. These friends understand us like no other, celebrating our triumphs and supporting us through challenges. When my tribe, who I hung out with every single day, went overseas to pursue their degrees and dreams, I felt something that… Continue reading I Saw My Chance, And I Took It.

Engaging With The Sitaras I was on my way to my Sitara, Rinky’s place, and my mind was full of thoughts and ideas. I wondered how her family was doing, if I could mentor her effectively, and how challenging it must be to live in those settlements. As a former tutor, I was confident in… Continue reading A fan or a dongle – What would you prioritise?

Introduction The boat of humankind hasn’t been sailing on smooth waters. Ever since Homo sapiens arrived on the planet nearly 300,000 years ago, we had to fight evolutionary competition and natural calamities to overcome challenges. However, the precarious situation of climatic change and deterioration is one like never before. In the second half of 20th… Continue reading The Indian perspective – An emerging nation’s take on carbon neutrality

Development of Corporate Citizenship (DoCC) is a novel initiative pioneered by SPJIMR more than 30 years ago, rooted in the belief that ‘Civil society is a learning mechanism’. DoCC offers participants immersive social internships across India and South Asia to engage with grassroots communities and organisations. SPJIMR participants undergoing their immersion programme at the Yunus… Continue reading Go beyond chasing business profits. Explore social businesses.

I believe that everything comes from the earth and goes back to the earth and no one will definitely want it to go as a landfill, right? If we have to live and grow sustainably, then the only way forward is through collaboration and supporting a lifestyle in perfect harmony with the universe. Experts agree… Continue reading Innovative ways in which India is tackling plastic pollution!

India had a mounting hunger crisis immediately after gaining independence and struggled to produce enough food for the citizens. A string of droughts made things worse, causing devastating famines. So, the government stepped in to modernise farming to increase food supply, in what came to be known as “Green Revolution”. Soon we went from having… Continue reading Feeding India sustainably: Overcoming the next set of challenges in agriculture

Standing at the edge of my balcony, I still remember the strong smell of the smoke and the bright flames that lighted up the sky during one of my visits to my relative in the summer vacation. As a young kid, it was difficult to decipher what was happening. The crackling noise of burning trees… Continue reading Forest fires disrupting ecosystems

The Conference of Parties, also referred to as COP, is the body that is responsible for monitoring and reviewing the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change1. It is a consortium of 197 countries and territories. Ever since its inception, the COP has convened annually – barring once in 2020 due to… Continue reading COP and its saga of ambitious goals

Sustainability and sustainable financing are buzzwords now. However, the intricacies of these financing deals and their frameworks are largely a mystery to the public. During my stint in the Treasury team of a leading Indian NBFC, I was grateful to have the opportunity to work on multiple sustainable financing deals with foreign banks and multilateral… Continue reading Decoding sustainable financing

When was the last time you watered a plant or planted a sapling, or put that plastic bottle lying on the road into the dustbin? Are we doing enough for our planet? Do you remember the phrase ‘Think globally, act locally’? We read the headlines about the effects of climate change and the global efforts… Continue reading The inspirational story of mangrove conservation

Lately, vehicles whizzing past us on the streets without a sound has been a common sight. They look futuristic and have instant acceleration. Without the engines and fuel slots, the engine compartments make empty spaces for the capacity of carrying luggage. For a child, it might look magical and wonder how the car is running.… Continue reading Are electric vehicles really green?

Have you ever thrown a bad apple in the dustbin just because it had spots on it? Have you ever been to a fruit vendor and picked up fruits and veggies that looked good aesthetically? Have you ever wondered why in spite of eating enough fruits, you have to take vitamin supplements? Your answer will… Continue reading The ‘Bad Taste’ of good food

DLF Limited symbolises the force of a desire, goal, and enthusiasm for developing environments that promote healthy living, and well-being. It is a real estate firm that has been a trailblazer in several residential and commercial projects, capitalising on its industry expertise, its vast resources, and the ability to forecast its customer’s needs. Today, the… Continue reading DLF: India’s attempt at green real-estate

We live in a world with scarce resources, one of which is fossil fuel. If there is one thing that everyone has come to understand over the past several years is that we need to make amends to give a chance to our environment that we have severely damaged a chance to recover. Nearly all… Continue reading Biodiesel is the future fuel for automobiles!

Theme- The Supply Chain Reinvention: Embracing Digitalization and Decarbonization Article Submission for Catena Aurea, NMIMS Mumbai. Supply chains are the nervous system of the business world, responding to stimuli and generating relevant responses to keep the cogs of organizations running. But in doing so, they generate some unwanted results which are wasteful for all stakeholders… Continue reading Green supply chains: Accelerating decarbonization through data & digital tech

SPJIMR PGDM 2022-24 participants were asked to pen their personal insights about the unique Immersive Experience Abhyudaya. The cohort of 10 had to write individual articles for Abhyudaya Chronicles, share them with one another, edit, and then publish them. Elaborating on the Abhyudaya Chronicles, SPJIMR Prof. Vineeta Dwivedi, the faculty lead for this exercise, said… Continue reading The Abhyudaya Chronicles

I have a tale to tell, a story of adventure and bravery, of leaving a near-perfect job for the wild world of B-school. It all started in June 2021, when I decided to turn down a CAD 20,000 scholarship and a full tuition waiver for a master’s programme abroad, and instead, join the circus of… Continue reading Juggling dreams and deadlines: My B- School circus adventure

A WhatsApp forward years back made me laugh then but incidently enough it when I recently encountered it again as an MBA student, it made me think. It said – MBA in Gujrati is “Mane Badhu Aavde che” (translates to I know everything). As bizarre as it sounds, our curriculum is proof that those words… Continue reading MBA, the SPJIMR style

In the year 2020, as a part of the COVID-19 stimulus package, the Prime Minister’s announcement to focus on coal mining and infrastructural development for transportation of coal, no one saw it coming. The landscape shifting to greener and cleaner sources of energy to meet the demand and consumption boosts the target of Coal India… Continue reading India’s energy policy: Balancing the energy mix in India

Though myriad of definitions and interpretations of happiness exists out there in the world, today we will look at the happiness through the lens of sustainability. ‘Sustainability’ is the buzzword used in the world currently. It is a common narrative with all the big companies and countries today along with effective actions to become more… Continue reading Happiness through Sustainability

Imagine a farmer Sakharam Shinde growing your favourite fruit, mango, in one of the 36 districts of Maharashtra. Currently, he owns 202 mango trees, and one morning he gets up and destroys 110 of those mango trees. But why? Why will a farmer destroy his livelihood? Simply put, he is in debt and cannot afford… Continue reading Community-led problem solving: A solution to the Maharashtra water crisis

Anyone who is or has been a part of the MBA world must have come across the word FOMO. And for those who haven’t, let me start by expanding the acronym. The acronym stands for the ‘Fear of Missing Out’. When I started my MBA journey at SPJIMR, I wondered why this term would be… Continue reading Living with FOMO

A perfect question to ask over supper is ‘What is Time?’ Now, one would argue, how is this supposed to be a dinner table conversion? Well, because the answer to this question lies on the table itself. Time is like salt. Even the most exquisite of meals would probably be inedible without salt. Just like… Continue reading Keeping up with the Clock

Home is where the heart is, and I have yearned for it ever since business school started. I was always surrounded by a loving family, so when I got the admission offer from SPJIMR, a part of me felt excited and also a bit scared of the new environment. It was a completely new city… Continue reading Where the heart is

It was 27th July 2022, we were all sitting in a huge hall at a luxury hotel in Lonavala, surrounded by 60 odd people with whom we had had the least amount of acquaintance with, ready to learn about our own selves and others. Yes, I am talking about the Personal Growth (PG) lab at… Continue reading PG Lab- An Unforgettable Experience

It was the second lecture of the day. “… so… what is cos2x?” asked the professor, engrossed in a problem, addressing the whole class. Trigonometry… the old acquaintance has not been in touch with most of the students of this MBA batch. Obviously, they have dealt with a lot more in the last few years,… Continue reading Checking with Mr Nice Guy

It was the first time during the orientation that I came across this term ‘ACAD group.’ I wasn’t entirely comfortable with the fact that, unlike my engineering days, these ACAD groups are assigned, and not for us to choose. The first few interactions with my first term ACAD group were just regular conversations. Things started… Continue reading My ACAD group experience

If I were to ask you the most sought-after phenomenon for an MBA student, I’m sure most of you would respond by saying – “getting a CV point”. Most activities beyond those that we are mandated to do are in the quest for CV points – be it case competitions or PORs. (On a personal… Continue reading The most ignored aspect of MBA life is…

Time; or rather the concept of time, feels like something of an enigma in itself. It is part of the collective human experience to sometimes feel that time is stretching, where even a single quantum of it bears down upon, crushing you under its unassailable weight; like when you have to sit through a boring… Continue reading Spotlight

It was a pleasant early February morning. I hopped on a train from Surat to Mumbai, all geared up to appear for my best interview call in that admissions cycle – SPJIMR. Being in my final year of Mechanical Engineering, I was absolutely surprised to get a call for the Operations and Supply Chain Management… Continue reading A (failed) interview that changed my life!

It’s the last day of the Diwali vacation. Surprisingly, we’ve had the opportunity to keep our laptops aside, at least for a few days. It would be a while before we get a chance to rejuvenate again, and while I’d be lying if I said that I’m thrilled for the coming Monday, I’m indeed optimistic… Continue reading How (not) to ace the 2.30 PM quizzes

“Congratulations! You did it! Your months of preparation for the entrance exams and interviews, has paid off. We are excited to welcome you to S.P Jain Institute of Management and Research, Class of 2023” The message flashed without a buffer on the screen that it almost felt anticlimactic. The feeling of settling down after months… Continue reading A Horizon of Possibilities

The problem with cynicism is that once you adopt such an attitude, the universe often presents itself in such a way that you end up holding on to such limiting mindsets; an offshoot of the Law of Positive Attraction if you will. I thought that getting into SPJIMR would have been the start of a… Continue reading Weekend With A Starboy

Term 1 has gone past in a flash. Sticking to the attributes I gained in engineering (not saying that I’m proud of them), I haven’t retained all the academic learning from Term 1. But I still recall a few Breakout room sessions that were nothing short of being absolutely transformative learning experiences. Oh wait! Before… Continue reading The Breakout room saga!

As I took a sigh of relief post the completion of the first term exams, I received a call from a junior who was planning to attempt the CAT this year and wanted to join SPJIMR in the Marketing specialization. He wanted to know a little about life here before he made that call. As… Continue reading The Big Question

Out of all the advice you get on pursuing a One-Year MBA course, you have to learn to use the ones most fruitful. I took up the journey heads-on and discovered the many myths I have listed here in the article. Diapers, fashion, Un-goals: Are these words you would think of when you think of a… Continue reading Demystifying MBA – The 5 myths about the B-school journey

What follows is a fictionalized narration of someone who dares to dream of being back on campus. The author has taken the creative liberty to imagine the scenes without the requisite protocols and guidelines that might follow an actual B2C (Back to Campus). It was the last class of the day. The final minute before… Continue reading I Had A Dream…

Would I be able to complete my Teaching Assistantship (TA-ship) successfully? How much time would I need to dedicate to it, considering I already have responsibilities as a research scholar? When I began my Teaching Assistantship (TA-ship) with Prof. Sushmita Srivastava as part of the Fellow Programme, the Doctoral Programme in Management at SPJIMR in… Continue reading What I learnt from my TA-ship?

The Beginning  On November 7th, 2020, we had our online induction for the PGPM Class of 2021. Everybody seemed excited; after all, we were all sitting in the classroom of one of the best management institutes in India. We were so excited that we scheduled a batch meet the previous night just to discuss the… Continue reading Baptism by Fire

One of the special things that I find about the SPJIMR’s FPM – a full-time doctoral programme in management – are the seminar-based courses which are offered by the specialists in the fields/specific area. In the seminar courses, participants end up going through research work by Nobel laureates and trying to understand the contribution by… Continue reading The Path to New Knowledge Creation

It was September 24th, 2020. I was binge-watching Netflix after my dinner. At 11:50 pm, I heard the sound of the Gmail notification on my phone, and a floating notification appeared, with a Capital ’S’ in a purple background. I opened it, and for a moment I was in a state of shock. The subject… Continue reading An intangible transition

On Friday, 13th March 2020, we finished our first general management phase. On Saturday, 14th March 2020, the lockdown was announced, and the school asked us to stay back where we were. A day later, on the 15th of March, we got the institute’s message – “We are going virtual in the next 2 days”.… Continue reading Invictus

It was an exhilarating four-day experience amongst the chaos of virtual classes, assignments, case studies and placement pressure. But it reminded us of what it means to be grounded as it connected us with the social sector; a sector that requires empathy and human connectedness. This is exactly what the DOCC experience taught us, the… Continue reading NGOs: Shield of the marginalized during COVID

I again sighed while looking at my schedule. I was slumped with work. And this was without taking into consideration the pre-reads and assignments. If you would have told me 4 months ago that I will be spending my days in MBA surviving on 4 hours of sleep, doing 6 hours of club and committee work,… Continue reading Online Life and Tribe

At the age of 40, with a couple of academic degrees next to my name, with two decades of work experience in two different industry and half of this coming in international settings, having lead teams and projects, I consider myself a confident individual cognizant of my ability to be self-sufficient in any challenging situation… Continue reading The Journey – As it has been!

A few months back, I was attending my classes on campus, when I got a call from Sachin. Sachin is a friend. He is a junior employee, who rose from the grade of a technician to an assistant manager in his company. He comes from an economically challenged family and faced many hurdles on the way. Sachin was treated disrespectfully… Continue reading Value Based Learnings at SPJIMR

During my MBA entrance exam preparation days, I was hoping to crack a top B-school given that I was consistently scoring above average in my mock tests. Fast forward to CAT 2018, I messed up the DI-LR section and ended up scoring 98.89 percentile which wasn’t sufficient for B-schools which considered only academic scores as… Continue reading SPJIMR Admissions

Meteorological data confirms that October 2020 was the coldest in Delhi in 58 years. Psychological estimates predict that it shall get painstakingly difficult to attend 9:00 am lectures in the coming months. However, there is hope. There is hope because it is incredibly easy to reflect on the burgeoning theme that runs through this place. Warmth.… Continue reading Warmth