Yaadein’ – Reunion of the Class of 1985, IMT Ghaziabad

After weeks of planning and preparation, the day finally arrived- 9th October 2010- Silver Jubilee Reunion- ‘Yaadein’ for the class of 1985, IMT Ghaziabad, hosted by the Alumni Relationship Committee. The excitement began as early as 8th October afternoon when few of the alumni flew down from different cities and yes even countries to set camp in the IMT hostels all over again!

  

The lazy afternoon and IMT grounds beckoned the alumni and they could not resist the temptation of a game of cricket and volleyball before the event formally began. The Reunion officially kick started with the Inauguration ceremony at Kapil Mohan where Cmdr Acharya, CAO, IMT Ghaziabad, welcomed the alumni to their alma mater. Mr. Shankar Iyer, an alumnus of the batch spoke on behalf of his batch mates. A lamp lighting ceremony took place, after which a sapling was planted in the MDP garden dedicated to the class of 1985. A campus tour followed which saw the alumni excitedly revisiting their old hostel rooms and favourite haunts in campus. Snacks were organized in the mess which again brought back fond college memories.

This was followed by a nostalgic classroom session where we played a video with yesteryear photographs of the 1985 batch. The activities also included a quiz revolving around anecdotes of the batch, scribbling and exchanging of notes and presenting of the souveniers.
  
Dinner was served at the MDP dining room and after the sumptuous meal came the grand finale at the amphitheater. It was one vibrant night with all the works- karaoke, salsa, performance by the IMT band and dancing till the wee hours of the morning. And the fun didn’t stop here. The alumni spent the night in the IMT hostels- reliving their college days together, after twenty five years. Some of the early birds got up in time for their morning walk while others opted for a lazy Sunday.

The Reunion of the 1983-85 batch saw a good deal of bear hugs, loud laughter, reminisces, exchanging of jokes and leg pulling among the alumni. It was a great pleasure and honour for the Alumni Relationship Committee to host this event for the vibrant batch of 1985, IMT Ghaziabad.

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October was a busy month for ALCOM. Close on the heels of ‘Yaadein’, the ’85 batch reunion, we organized the ‘Bangalore Chapter Meet on the 16th of October, 2010. The second Chapter Meet of the year was held at Hotel Atria in Bangalore, and was attended by 35 of our alumni. -

Chapter Meets are organized with the motive of having a common platform for discussing some of the most relevant issues with respect to the Institute and the Alumni. They are held by rotation in the major cities of India. The theme for the Bangalore Chapter Meet was “Developing Brand IMT through Innovation”. In this era of innumerable B-schools vying for a place among the top institutes of the nation, we are striving to maintain the distinction that IMT and its students hold. This Meet was a podium to deliberate on how further to build on our brand in newer and innovative ways. Also, how best to leverage it in order to build an efficient network among the alumni.
   

The evening began with a welcome note by Mr. Prakash Pathak, Co-ordinator, Corporate Engagement Team of IMT Ghaziabad. This was followed by a presentation on the initiatives taken up by the Alumni Relationship Committee of IMT Ghaziabad to engage corporate, facilitate student-industry interactions and organize events on and off-campus for students as well as alumni.  

 

After this, Mr. Shankar Iyer (Batch of ‘85) was requested to introduce the topic for the evening and open the discussion.The discussion was carried forward by keynote speaker Mr. Krishan Kansal (Batch of ’95). Many innovative ideas came up during the course of the evening, like ways of engaging alumni for an incubation cell for budding entrepreneurs within the Institute, soliciting the help of alumni in the fields of marketing and media to help create awareness about the Institute, etc. It was a lively discussion enriched by active participation by alumnus ranging from the ’85 batch to the ’10 batch.

Mr. Shankar Iyer concluded the meeting by summing up the key points discussed, and requesting the alumni to be proactive in taking initiatives for the Institute’s betterment. Dinner followed where alumni across batches mingled with each other and reminisced about their college days.

The evening ended with a strong note of enthusiasm to strengthen the ties among the alumni. All in all, the event was a success, turning out to be a great opportunity for those present to connect with other IMTians, share opinions and collaborate.
 

Gaurav Jain and Pallavi Gupta were techies working in Bengaluru before they turned entrepreneurs. Mast Kalandar, the chain of restaurants they started in 2005, now has 18 outlets and they plan to expand this to 100 by 2012.Here are a few of the question and answers selected from an interview with Rediff.com, Gaurav Jain talks about their journey as successful entrepreneurs.

How were your days as techies?

We came to Bengaluru after passing out from IMT (Institute of Management Technology), Ghaziabad. We had a great time as IT professionals and, officially, we travelled extensively in the Asia-Pacific region.Slowly,
we started feeling stagnant. There was only so much you can do while working for a company especially if they are the big ones
like TCS, Wipro, etc.

Were you interested in becoming entrepreneurs even while studying?

Even when we were in our B-school, we had this desire to start something of our own. We would say right from 1998 when we joined the B-school,we had this dream to be entrepreneurs.

Did you have an entrepreneurial background or the B-school atmosphere gave you the idea?

We would say, both. Both of us come from business families, rather we do not have service-oriented backgrounds. Almost all our family members are into business. So, we are brought up in a business atmosphere.Then, B-school gave us an opportunity to work on our ideas and develop them as business propositions. At the same time, we also wanted to work, and both of us enjoyed working as technology managers in Bengaluru. But the seed to be an entrepreneur was always there.

When did you start thinking about starting an enterprise?

There was not a moment we didn't think about it. When we were in the B-school, there was this dot-com boom. We went ahead and registered a company as students.Even before we started it, we discovered that it needed much more capital than what we had as students. We had no intention of asking our parents to help us out in our venture. So, there ended our first venture. Later when we were working for these IT giants also, we never stopped thinking about starting our own venture.
We were always partners in our ideas. In 2002, we decided to be partners in life too.

Finally, when did you decide to take the plunge?

We were in Australia for one year on assignments. Pallavi worked with some retail giants there and got to know a lot about retailing. Though I worked with an IT company, I was a consultant to chain retailers like Pizza Hut. I worked with them on the floor understanding what it takes to run a chain. That was when we decided that we would be in the retail space.We came back in 2004 and like typical MBAs, we started working on market research, presenting the blue plan of three ideas to some of our friends, etc.I resigned from my job and seriously planned what we wanted to do. 

Did you have to think twice before quitting a well paid job?

The desire to start something of our own was so high in our mind that I resigned first and dived deep into the project. Another thing was, when we had decided to be entrepreneurs, there was no point in waiting. If you delay it, the courage to start your own enterprise will diminish.

the whole interview can be found out at the link:

 
http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2010/oct/14/slide-show-1-from-tech-whizkids-to-top-restaurateurs.htm
 

MADF is Proud to present Joy of Summers Week 2010 in the celebration of your success in Summers Placement Week at IMT- Ghaziabad.

As is said by Buddha — “Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared. ”

So, celebrate this season of joy by sharing your Success and Happiness with those less privileged sections of the society with MADF.

Regards,
Make a Difference Foundation (MADF)
IMT - Ghaziabad

Email us at : imtg.madf@gmail.com