Pragati and Summer Internships : By Mr. Anand Menon

Date: 30^th January, 2014

Time: 6:30 pm.

Location: SAPG class.

With eyes closed, everyone began their journey to a higher state of mind. Breathing in deep, concentrating on the soothing tunes playing in the class, when suddenly 8 phones vibrate and distract everyone. We open one eye to check the message and an exchange of surprised expressions travel between all 8 faces. Team Colloquia received a Whatsapp text that 2 hours from now, our very stylish and charismatic young alumni, Mr. Anand Menon, will be in the building. Not for a friendly visit. It’s a colloquia.

Time: 8:30 pm.

Location: ECR.

Hall arrangements. Check. Welcome speech. Check. Camera. Ready. Mikes. Working. Entire  batch. Informed.

Eight colloquians high fiving on a job well done as we wait for the batch to arrive.

Time: 8:50 pm.

Location: outside ECR.

All first year MBA students have reached the hall and are waiting on our guest speaker, Mr. Menon. We see a lone bike at a distance approaching. It stops right in front of our building and the lone rider takes his helmet off. Mr. Anand Menon is officially in the building. He smiles at us and after a little interaction with Team Colloquia and the seniors, he enters ECR, a place he is very familiar with. Everyone can see the confidence shining off him as he sets himself up for the talk.

9 pm. It’s a go.

Pragati and Summer Internships by Mr. Anand Menon Regional head (South) at SOTC

Mr. Menon started off by setting the mike down and ensuring that everyone at the back could hear him without it. He cleared out that this session was going to be a collaborative one, and not just a one way discussion. As a former colloquia member himself, he was definitely happy with the turnout.

He started off with our B-fest Pragati, and how it was a major part of who we were in ASB and our culture. He wanted to see the wholehearted support that a fest of this magnitude deserves. Pragati has been a dream project for our batch this time, making it the biggest B-fest in ASB till date. The big biz names were turning up and the big brands were following, but all at a price. Funding an event this major was always an issue and it once again proved to be the case now. Mr. Menon narrated how his batch had side-lined funding to be a ‘core committee’ concern, not their own. He did not want us to make the same mistake. He encouraged us to find the right people who can help this mega fest be a hit.

Throughout the talk we could see how attached he was to the topic of Pragati. He was the VP Committees in his Pragati, and that meant handling people responsible for the various back end jobs, the skeleton of Pragati. He was responsible for the accommodation, hospitality, transport etc. and this passion for his work continued as he joined Thomas Cook.

He talked to the present core committee about how reaching out to the alumni would be a great place to start their funding journey, considering Pragati was just 10 days away. As we found out later on, the alumni did become the guardian angels to a successful Pragati.

Once he stopped with Pragati he began with the summer placements and their roles in the future. He started with trying to figure out if we understood exactly how important this internship would be. Sensing a silence and lack of idea, he began with how fresh graduates should aim for the internship for what experience it will provide. He took up every question asked by us and emphasised on how much this 2-3 month internship, will be valued during our final placements and future career.

He was later joined by our beloved Prof. Deepak Gupta, who told us more about how the Placecom was progressing and the sort of projects that were coming along.

The session stirred up conversations all across our batch as Mr. Menon’s insights offered a lot more clarity to what can be expected in the upcoming future, an experience cherished by all.

With a smile on his face, he had a friendly post Colloquia session with the senior batch and left with Mr. Gupta into the night. :)



Shaunak Sinha

(Team Colloquia Member)