Category Archives: xlri
XLers featured in the Outlook magazine
From Outlook magazine
CEO, Food Bazaar
XLRI-Jamshedpur, 1993
“An MBA had to be aggressive and an extrovert, and I was neither.”
When his family shifted from Goa to Mumbai, a 260 sq ft flat in Mumbai’s small-time suburb Bhayander wasn’t exactly the big city experience the school-going Sadashiv had in mind. From those humble beginnings to a posh apartment in Khar, Sadashiv has indeed come a long way. Initially, money was always an issue: Sadashiv went to engineering college thanks to his aunt’s monetary support. And that’s where he first heard about an MBA.
“Without it, I’d never have been able to shed the baggage of my middle-class upbringing and get used to unabashed consumption through retail,” he says, adding that B-school gives an individual a natural passport of confidence. Nayak first joined Asian Paints, where he got a sense of the booming economy. Then, he had a six-year stint at HUL, where he got a taste of the competitive spirit of the regional players. Despite his apprehensions about getting into retail, he felt the need for change.As long as the customer remains unpredictable, he says, retail will be interesting.
By Arti Sharma
Leena Nair 39
Executive Director, Hindustan Unilever Ltd
XLRI, Jamshedpur, 1992
“We were always taught never to take things for granted.”
Somewhere in Etah, UP, there’s a 500-metre stretch of tarmac named after HUL’s youngest executive director. That’s because, as a management trainee, Leena Nair managed to rally villagers in a ‘Shramdaan’ to connect the village to the nearest main road. Nair grew up in Kolhapur listening to stories of how her family faced hardship. “Although I hadn’t experienced it first-hand, we were always taught never to take things for granted.” So while her family could afford to send her to college in a Mercedes, she was made to cycle 12 km each way because her father felt she hadn’t earned the right to that kind of luxury.
Knowing she was good at leading and dealing with people, Nair applied to XLRI despite opposition from the family. She remembers optimism about reforms in B-school, although “the reality of the change was much slower than anticipated”. At HUL, they were often “thrown in at the deep end” to figure out if they could sink or swim. One of the key challenges she has faced is reversing HUL’s perception at campus placements. After five years, hul is back to being voted a Day Zero company.
By Arti Sharma
Escalators are for kissing
Bhavna lists her favourite Finn anecdotes, and gets to the Finnish in some time
(sorry couldn’t resist that pun!)
Escalators are for kissing… Finns are not big on public display of affection (atleast when sober). But there is something exceptional about escalators, especially those from a subway platform. It’s on those that they feel this strong urge to kiss their partners…. Just something I see 🙂
How they say ‘plus’ before saying the temperature as if it is such a rarity :). Like my favourite one, it’s plus 40 in Delhi in summer. Well it could not have been minus 40 right? I am so used to the minus being out of the ordinary that I would say it’s 10 degrees, not plus 10… In my head it is the Finnish twist to the metric system. The default is that temperature will be below freezing, so if it is ‘plus’ it deserves a super special mention. It’s like we Indians saying, it was MINUS 2 at night in Chandigarh… Perspectives, perspectives…
from Ggn to Singapore
Lasha gets used to her life in Singapore after living in Gurgaon
I find myself bubbling with silent mirth when a taxi driver tells me the traffic situation in Singapore is pathetic and that the jams are horrible… coming from Gurgaon, where getting to office everyday was in itself an exercise in chance, I find it hilarious. How can anyone complain about a place where digital boards overhead show you exactly how many minutes it’s going to take you to go from where you are to your destination? And I mean EXACTLY.
4th XLRI Alumni Homecoming Invitation
The details are here !
Unfortunately I can’t make it this year.. Will you be there?
Gautam Ghosh 