Chapter 17: My Students over the Years

If thou art a teacher, thou shalt have students- Book of Socrates, XVIIII, page
2345.
I run into them everywhere, from South Indian joints in Kolkata to alumni meets
in Hyderabad, to the malls in Bangalore. Sometimes it appears as if I know half
the management grads in India, and sometimes itâ s a good feeling, except it makes
me feel very old. Here is a brief intro to some of them.
Padmapriya: Now a heroine of repute in Mallu movies, was a great classical dance
r, and teamed very well with Jimmy, her batchmate at Kirloskar Institute, for so
me great dance performances.
Sudhir PJR: A first batch student at Vignana Jyoti, Hyderabad. Migrated into ind
ustry via academics. Had a stint at Toyota Kirloskarâ s sister company, and then ha
s had a long stint at I-flex solutions.
Joy: Was one of the really mature students, with a zest for life who did well fo
r himself after the PGDM at Kirloskar Institute. Was from the City of Joy, too.
Worked for UB, Himalaya and then, Coke. Married a batchmate, Alaknanda Dasgupta.
Jogeswari: A topper of her batch at Kirloskar Institute, originally from Guntur,
which is hot, hot, hot. Had a fan club at the institute. Joined Google after a
sabbatical from work. Given to long silences, broken after persistent emails. At
tempted to get into the IAS, for reasons unknown, but fortunately remained a nor
mal human being (non-IAS).
Manisha: A family friend who became a student (at Kirloskar), and found her matc
h, Pushpendu, while at it. A trip to Japan with him, and she learnt to like Indi
a.
Shveta: Another bright Bangalorean from Mount Carmel, did very well at her marke
ting job at the India Today group. A good example of a BA and MBA doing very wel
l in a career. Are the engineers wasting their time?
Aditi Sood: She and I had a common interest in Deepak Chopra when she was at Kir
loskar Institute. Met again at Kolkata until she got married and left for the la
nd of milk and honey, and George Bush- the U.S., I mean.
Nidhi: My protégé at Kirloskar, she was a bubbly girl, all smiles, and we also
met again at Lucknow (where her husband Milind hailed from) and Mumbai.
Aman Chawla: The high enthu man from Vizag, owner of a resort or some such thing
at his hometown, happy-go-lucky student.
Gaurav Gollerkeri: At IIMK, a graduate of PESIT, which I later joined, and went
on to do a Ph.D. in London. His idol was (no, not me) Raghuram Rajan of the IMF/
World Bank.
Sanjeev Undri: A guy from Belgaum (where is that? On the border of Maharashtra a
nd Karnataka) who went beyond his potential in everything he did. The smile neve
r left his face in any situation. Student at PESIM, Bangalore. One of the rare m
otivated guys in the university MBA system.
Anusha Ramakrishnan: a student assistant at PESIT, who kept in touch. Got into w
riting, and headed off to Finland post marriage. Her consolation may be that the
re is light at the end of six months.
Veena Singh: Helped me write a chapter on Indian brands for my book on Brand Man
agement. One of the bright students of the International Business batch at IFIM
which visited Grenoble en masse.

(Note: This is a part of my autobiography. Copyright:author. Available in printe

d book form from the website www.pothi.com)