e-SYNCHRONY 2020

Due to the pandemic, for the first time, Synchrony was conducted in an online format. Zoom was used as the virtual platform for the 8 Chapters that conducted e-Synchrony 2020. Renowned alumni from every Chapter joined the events and shared their learnings and experiences with the incoming batch. We saw a participation of over 350+ PGP1s, though the number of PGP2s had to be limited owing to the platform constraints. Nonetheless, every Chapter saw interesting discussions between the alumni and the new students, thus introducing them to the IIMA culture and alumni bonding.

AHMEDABAD Ahmedabad’s Synchrony was a fun and engaging event of 1.5 hours, attended by 25+ alumni (a diverse mix of alumni from different batches) along with 50+ incoming PGP1s and around 10 PGP2s. The session started with the introduction from the Chapter about their activities and interesting individual introductions of the alums with a few personal anecdotes. Uniquely, the break-out sessions were based on themes, headed by key alums from the Chapter. Both PGP1s and 2s were asked for their preference for the rooms before the session and allotted the rooms accordingly. This led to a rich discussion in rooms on the topic of interest of all attendees. The five themes with a few alumni heading the sessions were,

• Do’s and don’ts of entrepreneurship – Mr. Akshat Khare & Mr. Arun Awasthi
• A career in finance post-management – Mr. Himal Parekh & Mr. Ashwani Gupta
• A career in healthcare post-management – Dr. Prashant Deshmukh
• A career in education post-management – Mr. Neeraj Yagnik & Ms. Beena Handa
• Campus life (courses, clubs, etc.) – Mr. Hardik Chopra & Mr. Neil Jain

Towards the end, a small fun game of Pictionary (with words relating to IIMA’s culture) was played between the alumni and the PGP1s. The session ended on a pleasant note, encouraging the students to reach out to alumni for help/assistance, as and when needed.

BANGALORE The session was attended by close to 80 participants – roughly 30 alumni, 10 PGP2s, and 40 PGP1s. The session was one hour and 10 mins long and conducted over Zoom. The session formally started with addresses by various office bearers of the SAERC and Bangalore Chapter Alumni Association. Speeches by keynote speakers followed. PGP1s were then divided into smaller groups and assigned to different break-out sessions along with alumni for informal discussions. A couple of PGP2s moderated the session. After the informal talks, the groups joined back to play a fun activity involving teams – alumni and PGP2s were a team, and PGP1s were part of another team. The session was concluded after a vote of thanks from various office bearers.

BHUBANESWAR Bhubaneswar’s Synchrony was a modest event and saw participation of 7 alums, around 15 PGP1s, and 4 PGP2s. The event was planned to be kept a little shorter than the other Synchrony due to the lesser number of attendees and ran for 1 hour and 15 minutes. The event started with an address by the Chapter, which introduced all the attending alumni and gave a brief glimpse into the Chapter and its activities. During the Chapter address, some alums suggested having more frequent alum engagements in addition to the annual meet where alums could engage and also share ideas about the institute. The Chapter address was followed by screening of the official synchrony video, following which all the participants were distributed in two break-out rooms. The break-out session was followed by a fun game of Pictionary between the incoming batch and the alums. In the end, the alums suggested creating a common platform that would enable the meeting attendees to keep in touch. It was decided to make a google group for all the participants of the meet.

DELHI The Delhi e-Synchrony continued to be one of the most attended events with a total turnout of 200+, including alumni, PGP1s, and PGP2s. The Chapter had a diverse set of alumni lined up for the evening to showcase the infinite opportunities that one has after IIMA and introduce the incoming batch to people from all walks of life. After the opening address by Mr. Sunil Kala (’73 batch) followed by the traditional synchrony video, we began with the first speaker, Mr. Vijay Toley (’77 batch), to reflect on his journey from the corporate world to creating social impact through Purkal. The number of questions that the PGP1s posed was a testament to their curiosity and excitement. Next up was Mr. Gaurav Dagaonkar (’06 batch), an alumnus who forayed into an unconventional career and co-founded SongFest India. Further exploring the diversity, Mr. Salil Agrawal (’83 batch), Mr. Ankur Mithal (’87 batch), and Mr. Rahul Roushan, aka Pagal Patrakar (’07 batch) from the world of literature & media shared their experiences and addressed the questions of the PGP1 and PGP2 batch. A short, fun round of Pictionary was conducted by Mr. Hitanshu Gandhi (’06 batch) followed by the final line-up for the day, the entrepreneurs, Mr. Amit Lakhotia (’07 batch), Mr. Anshoo Sharma (’06 batch), and Mr. Nitin Gupta (’06 batch).

With a closing address by one of the senior most alumnus, Mr. Salem Ganapathi (’71 batch) talking about the legacy of the Delhi Chapter and finally with Mr. Gaurav Dagaonkar singing two lines from his debut song ‘College Days’, the Delhi e-Synchrony 2020 ended on a nostalgic yet pleasant note.

HYDERABAD Hyderabad’s e-Synchrony was possibly attended by most alumni, among others (~40 Alumni + ~60 Students). Due to high alums-to-students ratio, more time (~40 min) was allotted for break-out sessions to enable PGP1s to get to know the alums better and interact with them.

The event started with a welcome address by the Chapter’s President. Later, he spoke about the social activities undertaken by the Chapter. The major focus was on Udbhav, a school run by the IIM Ahmedabad Alumni Association, Hyderabad Chapter (IIMAAAHC) Charitable Trust. Besides, the main speaker for the evening, Mr. Manek (Founder of TIME), provided guidance on navigating PGP challenges to PGP1s. Following that, students and alumni were assigned to different break-out rooms. During one of the break-out sessions, it was disclosed that the Chapter meets informally every first Saturday of the month before the pandemic. Towards the end of the event, a fun competition was conducted between PGP1s and alums to end the event on a pleasant note.

JAIPUR The Jaipur Chapter e-Synchrony had captured quite an enthusiasm from the alumni’s side (Mr. Rajat, Dr. Deepak, Mr. Kailash Gupta, and many others) as the event had been conducted in Jaipur for the last 3-4 years. The Chapter comprises quite a number of senior alumni, and hence, there was a slight difficulty in the event being conducted online but nothing significant as such. The event had a participation of around 12-15 alumni, 15 PGP2s, and 30-35 PGP1s. The session began with introductions of the participants in the event and with alumni describing their journey post-IIMA. Post that, we had 3 break-out rooms so that the PGP1s could have a more direct connection with the alumni and ask them more personal questions. Then a game of Pictionary was conducted, which could be replaced by something else as the alumni did not enjoy it that much, which finally led to the conclusion of the event.

KOLKATA The Kolkata Chapter’s e-Synchrony, which was held on 5th July 2020, saw the participation of around 10 alums, 15 PGP2s, and 30+ PGP1s. The session began with a speech by two alums of the Chapter – Pankaj Jain, MD of TT Limited (a Rs 700 crores vertically integrated textiles company), and Piyush Surana (early-stage VC investor assuming leadership roles at three unicorns – including Zomato, Ola, and Uber). This was followed by break-out sessions where the PGP1s were divided into groups, and each group interacted with two alumni of the Chapter. During the sessions, the alums shared their experiences and answered questions raised by the incoming PGP1s. This was followed by a short game of Pictionary where the participants were divided into two teams – PGP2s and alums versus PGP1s, and teams were tested on various artifacts associated with the campus. The session closed with a vote of thanks by Mr. Pankaj Kankaria of the Chapter.

MUMBAI “e-Synchrony 2020” was unique, not because of the unusual circumstances. It was special since a large number of senior alumni volunteered to join the youngsters for discussion. It offered everyone an opportunity to interact with the seniors. Ashu Khullar (PGP’88 – CEO, Citibank India) and Sandeep Bhushan (PGP’97 – Director & Head, Global Marketing Solutions, Facebook India) made fascinating opening remarks and observations from their own experiences. Both conveyed compelling tips for the audience in their inimitable style.

It was pleasing to hear the Speakers (with rich corporate experience from diverse backgrounds) and see them addressing the youngsters with passion and patience during the break-out sessions. We are thankful to,

1. Richa Arora (PGP’87 – President, Packaged Foods, Tata Consumer Products)
2. Jayashree Thacker (PGP’87 – Global CIO, Perkin Elmers)
3. Ravi Saxena (PGP’88 – Promoter, Cipher-Plexus Capital Advisors)
4. Tushar Singh (PGP’96 – Director, Commercial Excellence, Abbott)
5. Deepak Jayaraman (PGP’99 – Founder Play-to-Potential, Executive Coach)
6. Pushkaraj Shenai (PGP2000 – CEO, Lakme Lever)
7. Sridhar K (PGP2002 – VISA’s India & South Asia Leadership team)
8. Harveer Singh (PGP2002 – Chief Product Officer, Tata Digital)
9. Amresh Kumar (PGP2007 – Larsen & Toubro, Private Equity)
10. Major Debashish Chakraborty (PGP 2007 – Founder Quezx)
11. Rohit Pareek (PGP2007 – Brand Capital, Times Group)

Interactive sessions were ably moderated by Managing Committee members of IIMAAA-Mumbai, particularly Prashant Srivastava, Vivek Joshi, Omkar Biradar, Pratik Singhi, Jandhyala Prasad, Nawdeep Puranik, and Dr. Anjani Suryavanshi.