Reflections by Members of the PGP 1980 Batch
In 2020, the PGP batch of 1980 would have completed forty years of life post-WIMWI. ( For those who may not know this acronym, it stands for a “Well-known Institute of Management in Western India!”). Forty years seems like a lot of time. And yet, for many of us, it also feels like the proverbial “wink of an eye”.
What has life taught us in these forty years after passing out of IIMA? While we learned many valuable lessons on campus, life as a whole also taught us valuable lessons.
What you will read below are the responses of some of our batch mates to the question: “What has life taught me in the forty years since I left WIMWI?”. Enjoy the insights!
“There is an overarching spiritual purpose for each of us that we need to discover and nurture. Wholesome relationships occur when we accept others deeply with no expectations, participating in the shared experience. Life is about giving with humility and living with integrity. Balance between the polarities – personal/professional, family/society, material/spiritual creates harmony. Retaining one’s calm and composure against all odds enables growth through the insight that everything in life has a purpose – one just learns to go with the flow.” – Dr.Ujjwala Pendse
“In the battle of Work-Life balance, choose Life. Support the family with love and care and spend quality time with them. You will be happier. Creating a positive and enabling environment brings out the best in people. Be open, forthright and walk the talk. Have some 1 am friends!” – Ashok Iyer
“I have learnt,
1. to be patient with self as well as with others
2. to work and live within my abilities and capacity
3. to remain optimistic and calm despite adversities
4. to remain ambitious and work tirelessly and with dedication
5. to love people around me”
– Tushar Korday
“Life has taught me that the secret of happiness is,
1. Living in the present
2. A positive attitude – glass half full outlook to life
3. Principles (Purpose) driven decisions especially on important matters like family
4. A balanced lifestyle of work, pleasure and a focus on health”
-Kandy Anand
“Let adjectives, verbs, and pronouns be as little in your life as can be; they make one judgmental and lose the larger picture. Life is a journey in constant evolution; experience it to the hilt. Achievement is not reaching a pedestal, but rather finding moments of bliss in the infinitesimal.” – Verinder K Garg
“Life has taught me that it is full of ups and downs but if you believe in yourself you will always overcome them. The second thing it has taught me is that if you trust and believe in your people they will move the mountains and deliver the impossible.” – Dipankar Das
“IIM gives you 2 big advantages: The label, and some great lifelong friendships!
The academic lessons were, with a few exceptions, fairly forgettable. The big takeaway was the analytical approach to problems and a sense that we need to keep learning.
Life takeaways? Find a way to be with people you like, do something that’s at least occasionally fun, and stay healthy. The money will happen without obsessing, and given all our advantages, will usually be enough.” – Shailendra Bhandari
“IIMA equipped me with tools of analysis and decision making that helped me deal with the more definitive parts of the business world. Co-existence of ambiguity and a wide range of human behaviour and motivations weren’t discussed in Vastrapur. I have since been a student of these aspects in real life. This learning has no destination!” – Raghavan Govindan
“Working in corporate and then switching to academics makes sense. You give students stories from your battlefield to reinforce concepts of management. It is a social service of sorts too. A person should be learning all his life. Work life balance is tremendously important . I found this a bit challenging to achieve in corporate life.” – Dr. Machhindranath R Koshti
“1. Let your peers call you an expert. Start your analysis always from first principles. Ask basic questions and then build up.
2. Innovation comes from connecting the seemingly unconnected. Have wide exposure and narrow focus. Understand unfulfilled needs.
3. If you are the lowest cost manufacturer in the industry and build up innovation on that base, you can be a world leader. Focus on the highest productivity, lowest wastage and greatest energy efficiency.
4. Be more ambitious. Scale up. Use the latest technology. Export. If possible, form conglomerates for greater bandwidth.
5. Beat global competitors through superior technical services, particularly if you are an Indian company manufacturing machines.”
– Debabrata Deb
“1. Help anyone you can, whenever you can. 
2. Maintain good relations with all. Relationships keep alive for decades.
3. Always believe in the flow of abundance…shed beliefs of shortages, as a habit.
4. Look for new technologies, new ways of doing things. Let your creative juices and creative output flow all the time as a habit.
5. Do your duty, & stand up for your rights.”
– Jitendra Kumar Dadoo
“1. Be prepared to keep learning and realise that the new teacher may be far younger and not have a similar background or experience
2. Shed stereotypes and old fashioned thinking
3. Stay humble and curious
4. Be an all-rounder with varied interests
5. Try to excel in at least one non-work discipline”
– Sunil Chainani
“Life has been much more than just the sum total of knowledge, skills, and attitude (which I thought was everything then!).
While money is important, it isn’t as compared to beautiful relationships within one’s family and outside, including friends!
These 40 Years have made me realize that to be truly successful – in terms of Health, Wealth & Happiness, drop our ego, be humble, responsible, helpful to others around you with kindness and gratitude. Be God loving!” – Shridhar Paradkar
“1. Worry not only about the cake size, but also about how it is shared
2. Find the combo ” Do what you enjoy and enjoy what you do”
3. The real test is, how things run …………….in your absence
4. Never stop learning
5. Learn to move on”
– KMS Sreenivas
“1. Humans are more similar than different. We have the same needs.
2. Business is about understanding what humans want and helping them get it.
3. You create value for yourself by creating value for others.
4. Have fun doing whatever you do, otherwise, get out.
5. There are jerks everywhere, deal with it, don’t become one.”
– Audhesh Paswan
“Importance of balancing work and family. Indian business and engineering skills are as good as those in the western world. Moved from an SSI to a joint venture with the global top 3 and exposure to global customers. Our brushes were OE fitment in the US, Russian and European market and running at zero PPM, when I retired.” – Suresh Rajagopalan
“Since leaving WIMWI, life in these last 40 years has taught me that it is possible to be highly effective and successful and yet remain humble and likable. The two are not mutually exclusive. When you leave an organization any time, more people should miss you than be happy about your exit.” – S Gopalan
Mostly philosophical – redefined goal post for success “To be able to do what you want, when you want and where you want”. Also reinforced “You get lucky sometimes when your wishes are not granted” and ” Knowledge speaks but wisdom listens”. – Jayantha Bhakta
“Life is unpredictable and will offer endless learning experiences. It may upset your personal and professional goals, and make you rethink your past decisions. So, while it is important to reflect on your past, the wisdom lies in living in the present and enjoy every moment.” – J P Singh
“It is hardly an unpleasant situation in my life that can be the cause of my problem. Only my thoughts about the situation create my mental unrest. But I can always choose which thoughts to surf and give my energies to – the greatest of all human freedoms! It is only in the knowledge of my true self that I can liberate myself from the shackles of a caged existence created by the mind/ego interplay.”
– Ajay Sachdeva
“While it is important to do what you enjoy, but it is equally important to find enjoyment in whatever it is you do.
Never be afraid of change if it’s for the right reasons. Always trust your gut – it knows what your head hasn’t yet figured out.
Never settle, and at the same time, don’t keep waiting for perfection to happen.
Never stop learning.
Life is a journey and not a competition. Enjoy the ride.” – Sundeep Kumar
“Show compassion in action for yourself, others and the environment.
Stay fit. Let your MEDS be Meditation, Exercise, Diet, and Sleep.
Infinite Joy and Peace is who you really. Work from Happiness and not for happiness.
Appreciation and Gratitude put a silver lining into most situations. Live joyfully in the now …this is the only time you have!”- Arun Wakhlu
