Eyes Wide Open – The power of Social Conscience

Date - 25^th February 2015

Speaker - Dr. Praveen Patkar

The colloquium by Dr. Praveen Patkar, Founder-Director of PRERANA and Founder and Managing Trustee of PARIWARTAN - 84,

was an eye-opener for most of the students present in the session. Dr. Patkar, a dedicated and passionate sociologist addressed concerns faced by societies in different parts of the country. Sensitive issues like child labour, prostitution, HIV prevention and numerous other issues which are widespread in India are perceived and acted upon in a unique and commendable manner by his team.

The session commenced with Dr. Patkar addressing the gathering on the topic of child labour. Children coming from remote villages in the rural areas are forced to work in households and commercial establishments as servants and janitors. They are subjected to severe torture and physical abuse in most cases. Although the law does not allow the employment of children, most cases go unnoticed. As Dr. Patkar suggested, the police always turn a blind eye to these issues. There have also been instances where children have succumbed to the injuries caused by their employers. These atrocities are usually swept under the carpet by the wealthy employers with whom the police work hand in glove. According to him, poverty and unemployment suffered by their parents have forced the children to take up these tasks. There have also been reports where the children are sold to child trafficking groups by parents and acquaintances due to hunger and poverty. 
The children live under extremely unhygienic conditions in slums and shacks where basic shelter and sanitation is a luxury that is way out of their reach. Another instance of children working at a firecracker and brick making unit were discussed. The children are made to work under highly hostile conditions in the summer and with toxic chemicals which have a devastating impact on their health and well-being. The bodies of children who lost their lives working in treacherous conditions are sometimes not even given back to their loved ones by the employers to avoid legal and social problems. There are also cases where children are trained in warfare and violent activities by Maoists in Central and Eastern India. This form of child labour has increased over the past two decades with the Maoists gaining power. 

Dr. Patkar has been involved in providing recreational facilities, building of homes and sanitation development for tribes in remote villages and forests in Maharashtra.

The problems faced by tribes and farmers during the months of paddy were also touched upon. The paddy harvests influenced the lives of the farmers in a major way and they depend on successful paddy harvests to feed their hungry family. Issues of child labour have been persisting in the society for a while now, and with the noble deeds of individuals like Dr. Patkar working for children’s rights and the emergence of numerous NGOs, there still is hope.

Prostitution and sex trade in the urban society was the next issue discussed by him. Dr. Patkar, from his numerous activities and campaigns against prostitution and sex trade and interactions with social and medical experts, explained that 88% of the cases of HIV transmission is observed due to heterosexual activity. Other causes like improper syringe disposal and usage, transmission from mother to child and blood to blood transmission constitute minute percentages. Awareness campaigns with prostitutes and the general public are often initiated to control and educate the people regarding the problem. The victims of sex trade undergo traumatic experiences which involve severe physical and sexual abuse.

According to Dr. Patkar, on most occasions, prostitution and sex trade are forced activities. Young girls are kidnapped and brought to urban cities by notorious sex trade groups for prostitution and labour related activities that are against the law.  Dr. Patkar explains that abuse is not just experienced by the prostitutes and the victims of the sex trade but there is a considerable degree of trauma and abuse that the young children of these women, some of them who are infants, are exposed to hostile and notorious environment. He also mentioned a terrible instance of the death of a new born whose mother was a sex trade victim due to negligence and improper feeding patterns as she was busy doing her job.

Dr. Patkar has initiated various recreational and development activities for the prostitutes in Mumbai. He is also involved in rescue activities and the legal proceedings involved with it. It was a thought provoking session where he explained to the gathering about his various experiences during his rescue and awareness activities. The issues that were addressed by him, is an open secret in the society. 

The session gave us a sense of belief that with personalities like Dr. Patkar around to provide inspiration through selfless dedication, there is still a ray of hope for the well-being and development of the helpless with a serious intention of improving the society.

Business Incubation by Dr. Achutan and Mr. Shetty

Speakers - Dr. Krishnashree Achutan and Mr. Snehal Shetty

Date - 25/8/2014

Venue - SKH

Amrita Technology Business Incubator (TBI) in partnership with ASB has been encouraging people's dreams and giving incentives to innovate. As the CEO of Amrita TBI, Dr. Krishnashree Achutan pointed out that there have been several ideas that have translated into reality at Amrita TBI. She spoke about wanting to set up more dynamic centres at our Ettimadai and Bangalore campuses as well. She said that Mr. Snehal Shetty, V.P. Operations at Amrita TBI, was instrumental in starting several programs. He started Pitch Fest which is a competition to bring out the best ideas amongst students. He also helped incubate several start ups. 

Mr. Shetty then spoke about the opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship at Amrita TBI, which has a partnership with Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. They help find, nurture and motivate innovative ideas. They also have a STAR (Social Transformation Achieved through Rural innovations) program. He spoke about the importance of ICE - Innovation, Creativity that leads to Entrepreneurship. He gave examples of many brilliant ideas that students had which were developed into reality because of the motivation and support that TBI provided. Many such ideas were eventually patented. He encouraged the students to participate at the Pitch Fest. Mr. Shetty then signed off by asking the students to be the Purple Cow in a field full of black and white cows to make a mark. Dr Achutan began her talk by telling us the importance of distinguishing ourselves from the crowd. She reiterated that it is easy to be average but what takes courage is to be the purple cow, to stand up and stand out. Having an idea is important but coming up with an innovative idea is what makes one the purple cow. It is necessary to be remarkable in this world.

Once we click upon an idea, we need to breathe life into it, plan and execute it. This is where Amrita TBI helps to nurture and motivate ideas. It is one of the top incubators in the country and is supported by The Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. The focus areas of ATBI are Business Incubation, STAR@ATBI, Social Entrepreneurship and IdeaLab. 

ATBI’s achievements include:

1.      IEEE student enterprise award, New York

2.      Award: Intel Embedded Challenge 2010 –

3.      Third Prize - for the project titled Gesture-based4.      Wheelchair Control System for Physically Challenged

5.      Gold Medal- Special Intel Employee's Award for the best project

6.      A total of 24 innovative products that span across various fields have been built at Amrita TBI.

7.      Seven patents for products (3 already filed and 4 in process).

Mr. Shetty concluded by saying that the founders of Facebook, Microsoft, DELL and Apple were still at college when they landed upon a million dollar idea……why can’t we???

Arun Preethi

(Team Colloquia member)

Mr.ARUN BABU, HR INFOSYS

Mr.ARUN BABU, HR INFOSYS

Date: 01.08.2014                                               Time : 2.00 to 4.00 pm

Mr. Arun Babu, HR Infosys, shared his insights about HR to the first year students through his interactive session, opening with the slide “CHANGE”: We should be aware of it & open to change.

He also gave valuable suggestions for becoming a successful manager such as:

·        Be aware about the technology around; develop a positive mind set to be oriented to the change in ecosystem.

·        Read newspaper and understand changes. Taste you acquire in business standard is an all-time process. Thus it’s always best to have sustained reading habits.

·        Have a fair level of awareness and intelligence in all managerial specialisation.

The importance of value addition was emphasized through the First mover advantage:

Google was the first to get into social media with its Orkut. Though it did not promote the way it had to, and couldn’t last long in the competitive environment no one can deny the fact that it was the first to open the gateway to social networking.

He stated an example for branding that can be used in any interview:

Brand Machli A Tigress, by the name of machli, is the most photographed tigeress in the world. The promotion of the photograph was so huge that it gave 10 million US $ per annum revenue for the place. The tiger has fish marks above and below its eye.

Mr.Arun said, the way we are brought up is evident in the decisions we make, he explained this by taking Reliance as an example, Mr.Mukesh Ambani dropped the Meat making unit because of his native: Gujarat. He was nurtured a vegetarian.

He stated the importance of relating the information of practical with theory.

Mr. Arun gave important PERSONAL INTERVIEW TIPS such as:

Ø Have mock interviews with friends to know where you stand.

Ø Begin with your personal details.

Ø Move on to academics and be polite.

Ø Talk about your achievements.

Ø Be wise when telling your strengths and weakness don’t beat around the bush.

Ø Tell about your hobbies, be specific and the one which is active.

Ø End with a topic of your choice.

Ø Look to that the points put forth would result in a decision in favour of selection.

Ø Rehearse, Rehearse the mantra for survival …

He said acceptance of HR as a strategic partner is becoming important nowadays. Very few professions enrich lives of people that can be visualised like HR.

When asked about last question, he said the candidate should be genuine and understand the process. But on the other hand he said experienced candidates can negotiate salary.

He closed the session with the motivational lines from Khaled Hosseini’s KITE RUNNER which talks about values and ethics.

Dream Big.

“It is not always the brightest and the most intelligent who excel in life but those who have the conviction that their dreams will come true one day.”

eSWAR by Mr. S. Ramji and Mr. M. K Chandrasekhar

 A new chapter of the music club in Amrita School of Business was inaugurated by Mr. M. K Chandrasekhar and Mr. S. Ramji on 26^thSeptember at Sri Krishna Hall. The session was predominantly about music and the technical aspects of knowing music in a deeper level.

Mr. M.K Chandrasekhar briefed about the session initially by giving an introduction about music and about their joint venture eSWAR. In the beginning of the session, he asked some of us what music meant to us. Different answers came up, followed by which Mr. S. Ramji took over the session and explained as to why music is in its passive level and how we should convert it into an active level. He added that music is to be considered as a language with 7 alphabets.

He explained that Indian classical music is composed of mainly three patterns which are Thaalam, Raagam and Sruthi. He moved on to talk about the famous mathematician Pythagoras and his Pythagorean scale of 12 tone swara system. He also spoke in detail about the keyboard configurations and why the frequency between the adjacent keys will always be a constant.

Mr. Ramji also explained about the two ragas - Melakarta and Janya ragas .Their existence was proved by using probability logic states. All the Melakarta ragas must have all the seven swaras in the regular increasing and decreasing order of frequencies. The swara finding method was also described by which the exact swara could be discovered easily.

He explained a few notes with the help of Katapayadi system, which is the name given for the working of the system of ragas. He gave a few demonstrations with the help of the music loving audience in order to make the topic of discussion clearer. He called on a few who are not musically inclined and demonstrated how the technology which would be soon launched by eSWAR can be used to understand music at the basic level.

The whole talk was thoroughly informative and was enjoyed by both music and non-music lovers. The session ended with the official inauguration of the music club of Amrita School of Business, The Alankaars. They also gave a splendid performance in the end before winding up the show.

Retail in Multi Channel World by Mr. Kumar Rajagopalan

Retail in Multichannel World

Mr. Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, Retailers Association of India, spoke on Retailing in Multiple Channel World on the 17th of March 2014.

The session began with an introduction on retail and how retail products have become an essential part of our day to day life. Every day from the time we get up till we go to sleep, a retail product is a part of it. Ranging from toothpastes to our instant foods, everything is a part of retail product.

Mr. Kumar spoke in detail about Multichannel retailing. Multichannel retailing is the use of a variety of channels in a customer's shopping experience including research before a purchase.  Such channels include retail stores, online stores, mobile stores, mobile app stores, telephone sales and any other method of transacting with a customer. Transacting includes browsing, buying, returning as well as pre and post sale service.

At present, there are a few products that are purchased through television. But the newer and most advancing is the Mobile retailing sector. Companies are competing on the internet with new applications in which customers can buy the products online on the go with the help of a few clicks. Companies like Amazon and Flipkart make use of these applications to help connect better with their customers.

The two channels used are Offline and Online retailing. Offline retailing pertains to customers walking into the nearest retail store and purchasing the product whereas online retailing relates to customers purchasing through the internet. Both of these have their advantages and disadvantages.

Offline Retailing is where the customer gets a feel of the product. The delivery is instant as the product is purchased in the store. It is now extensively used by many well-known companies to promote their products as the online retailing has become highly competitive.

Online Retailing is where the consumer places the order online through various sites. The disadvantage is that the consumer cannot physically choose the product. Also the time of delivery depends on the location of the consumer. Price of the product purchased via online retailing is lower as compared to offline retailing as companies try to attract customers towards online purchasing.

The future of retailing is slowly changing to augmented reality where the customer can understand the appearance of the product. Many companies have already started using augmented reality which helps in saving space and also helps in connecting better with the consumers.

Guru-gyan

The buying process includes 3 things 1. Influencer, 2.  Buyer and 3. Payer. Influencers are those who actually push you to go ahead and buy the product. They actually compel you to buy the product.

The Buyer is the person who asks for the product. The buyer is also largely influenced by the Influencer to buy the product.

The payer is the person who pays for the product. The payer is influenced by the Buyer to get him/her the product that they desire.

The session ended with the speaker answering the queries posed by the students.

Ethics and Us : Ethicus by Ms Vijayalakshmi Nachiar and Mr. Mani Chinnaswamy

Another extraordinary colloquium was that of Ms Vijayalakshmi Nachiar and Mr. Mani Chinnaswamy, the dynamic couple who founded the Indian fashion brand Ethicus. It was of great benefit for us, the budding managers to understand the backdrop story in building a very unique brand.

Mr. Chinnaswamy narrated the gripping incident that was instrumental in his re-orientation towards starting a brand focused on sustainability and ethics. It once happened that all of stock was burnt in an act of sabotage. Absolutely frozen in shock he walked around colorlessly and reached atop a nearby hill. From there, as he saw the fire of his mill, it seemed not so incredible. From a distance the problem seemed to be smaller. That moment inspired him to re-think his direction and restart anew.

India is one among the greatest cotton cultivators and leads the world in terms of the area of land where cotton is cultivated. But in the various agricultural measures taken post-independence, the seeds were largely genetically modified and the rich traditional varieties started leaning down in cultivation. As the worldwide demand for organic cotton started growing and the awareness about the demerits of chemical-intense farming started rising, in September 2009, Appachi Cottons launched Ethicus.

Mr. Chinnaswamy and Ms. Nachiar patiently took us through the entire brand engineering process answering all our questions. It was a live case-study session with them handing us the case built on their brand published by Valparasio University, Ohio. Ethicus produces clothing made from organic cotton, natural and eco-friendly dyes, and ethical silk. Ethicus products are handcrafted using traditional weaving techniques on revived jacquard handlooms of the Pollachi region.

The founders also discussed on how they have innovated in every bit of their way. There are excellent craftsmen-welfare schemes in place. Product labels have the photo of the artisans giving them due credit at the same time achieving high differentiation. The incident of Mr. Chinnaswamy meeting global exquisite brand leaders and never budging to enter a partnership where the Ethicus label would not be present was very inspiring.

It was a colloquium like never before, simply because we had the very founders of a brand explain their evolution. The exuding passion they possessed in holding, carving and growing their brand was visible first-hand. May be all can read a case study. But rarely do we get to quiz the subjects of a case in depth. It left us with a deep sense of understanding of what is ethical in their industry, how hard it is to sustain and still dance through the market with sound business principles. On the whole, it was a multi-dimensional learning experience.

RUPEE, GOLD, THE CURRENT ECONOMIC MESS AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS by DR. S. VAIDHYASUBRAMANIAM

DR. S. VAIDHYASUBRAMANIAM

TOPIC: RUPEE, GOLD, THE CURRENT ECONOMIC MESS AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

Dr. S. Vaidhyasubramaniam began the colloquium by addressing himself as a ‘trespasser’ in the subject of economics but not an economist. His talk on the current economic situation covered the Indian story where he mentioned that India has a great future because of a greater past. There was a moment of deep thought when he said that – “We are facing a deep crisis today and the reasons are still fished for, leave the solution”. He proceeded by saying that the willingness to learn happens only at times of adversity and not during prosperity.

Few snippets from his talk and on the topic are mentioned below:

THE ECONOMIC MESS:

“There is no direct input-output relationship in economics and there are many factors influencing the crisis situations. Predicting the future in economics is difficult but the ‘Modern Economic Theory’ is trying to capture it to some extent. We cannot afford to be uncertain about the country’s past. Today the financial institutions sell toxic financial products which are only technically correct as per the predictions made.”

“The Indian NRI’s continuously say that HEALTH, EDUCATION AND SANITATION is a evolving problem in the country foregoing another emerging crisis of economy. The big names from different fields always had an interesting perception of the country. Economists like Karl Marx and Max Webber in 1853 wrote articles on ‘Economics functioning model of India’ without even visiting the country. They call India a primitive and semi-barbaric society. Max Webber made bold statements like Hindu- Buddhist society cannot handle capitalism because they believe in karma. Winston Churchill during the year of India’s independence said that only god can save this country. “

“India and China dominated the global GDP back in the till the 1750’s with 25% and 33% respectively while the major countries of America and UK were only at 0.2% and 0.8% of GDP respectively. This is a statement which justifies that the transformation of America as an economic superpower is not because of its inherent strength. The colonial exploitation was a reason for change in the economic scenario of the west. The west is currently the best but it is the time that the rest recognizes that the west is the best and follows the west.”

“Any growth has crisis. There have been cases of Long term management crisis, Crisis of dot com which shook the entire equity market and the challenging global financial crisis. Faced by all these circumstances, nobody asked the question of what caused the crisis but got together on how to overcome it alone. It is the subject of economics itself which is in crisis. The then Prime minister of India in the year 2008 decoupled from global economic crisis and said that the fundamentals of the country being strong, there is no crisis. The year 2013 saw a reverse thing happening.”

“The debate on whom to blame for crisis is still uncertain. Bodies like the bank, regulator, society and government are targeted without much arrival at a consensus for the reason”

“Good electoral politics leads to bad economic decisions.”

RUPEE:

“In the year 2007, rupee strengthened but after reaching the 40 mark rupee was not allowed to regain its strength. The strengthening of rupee would have led to imports getting cheaper and made the Indian manufacturing sector more competitive. Today, all the emerging economies are losing their currency strength. “

“The current account deficit is of 35 billion dollars between 1991 and 2001 and 22 billion dollars surplus between 2001 and 2004 alone”

GOLD:

“This is a subject of deep interest. It is an investment vehicle as well as a consumption index. The reasons for increasing purchase pattern of gold can be because of it being a liquid asset, the profitability it brings by holding onto it, divisibility, portability, ownership/possession of gold, trade collateral – economic benefit. The Indian wife proves to be an intelligent investor by heavily consuming gold and using it as an asset for times of urgency. After the 1962 Indo-China war, the leaders asked gold from Indian women to finance the deficit.”

The session concluded by a brief by the speaker on how the country needs to think beyond short term economic situations and that economic development can never happen at the cost of the nation’s strength.

The session proved to be an eye opener for the management students in terms of the seriousness it had in addressing the economic crisis which is a evolving problem and the speakers ideas on areas of currency and gold.

    SHRUTI KHAITAN

(Team Colloquia member)