Anuradha Sridharan

Having been an ardent admirer of Dr.Abdul Kalam, his books and his vision 2020, I always had the dream to hear his speech in person. This dream turned a reality at IIMB last evening. I got to experience how a good opening of a speech can make a powerful impact, a lesson I learnt from Toastmasters. He started off with the following verses:- Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don't walk behind me, I may not lead. Just walk beside me, and be my friend. Dr.Kalam painted a picture of his vision 2020 and highlighted different areas such as infrastructure, energy and agriculture where management graduates can play a vital role. He also urged on the importance of employablity and put forth key leadership traits such as vision, exploring the unexplored, courage and integrity. Creative leadership means being a coach rather than a commander and a mentor rather than a manager. More than his talk, I admired the way he tackled the questions. When a guy listed down a series of probl...

Seeds of leadership were sown when I fought for the fundamental rights of kids - to play and have fun. As I sit in my balcony trying to make sense of the extremes "business of a business is business" and corporate social responsibility, the kids in my apartment complex are enjoying the company of each other, playing some games and shouting on top of their voices. I could feel myself being transported back to 14 years when I was one among them. Every evening, after school it was a fun evening with my neighborhood friends. Being the eldest, I came up with new games and activities. "My son is preparing for CA. Do you know how tough the exams are? Go home and stop playing every evening" - my neighbor uncle blasted us one day. I boldly replied "Ask him to close all the windows and study". I didn't care much about his son's studies then. When I look at the kids today, I regret the fact that I have grown up. I sit here, admiring these little kids and thei...

My contribution to 3WW a horrendous job to wade through the dark forest dried leaves, brown sticks strewn around everywhere holding hands together frequenting this wonderland quite often, hoping for a treasure to get exposed someday rain played spoilsport drenching the brown mud and rocks making the grounds slippery bringing alive the sucking leeches undeterred by the lashing wind unscathed by the oozing blood determined to discover the trove working diligently, we dug deep an old wooden box locked tight by its side with intricate carvings revealed itself with pride fine to falter and flounder the only objective to open , there she lies, our sweet pie the cute kitten, feeling shy

My contribution to Cafe Writing - May & June project Aroused by the pure rays of the sun wakes up to the mellow voice of the cuckoo with no need to scurry, admires the beauty of the shades and colors of morning sky devours the tunes of enchanting temple bells the fragrance of burgeoning jasmine bushes every reason to feel zealous about the dawn unscathed by the hustle and bustle of metros nerves her to hit the road yet again in her embellished bullock cart waving hands to the men and women of the distant green fields a nomad by choice, wandering through life befriending toddlers and children on her way humming to the tunes of the rustling leaves in quest for her destination, nowhere

A perfect weekend it was! With the last free Saturday for the next one year (My 2nd year of PGSEM begins this Friday), it has to be something special. I woke up late at 8:30 AM and prepared myself a hot cup of tea. I love to sip my tea slowly and glance through the newspaper headlines. A day began that way makes me feel so good. I don't like to rush around this morning routine. But I don't get to have such a luxurious time every morning. It's been a month since I shifted to my new home. But the cleaning hadn't got over yet. After 2 days of efforts, my home now looks so neat. The feel-good factor cannot be explained in words - with my bookshelf neatly stacked, my study table arranged with all those colorful, not-so-frequently used MBA textbooks, my music system plugged in and ready to be played anytime I want. Sifting through the horrendous pile of items and characterizing them into useful and junk is not an easy task with a person like me who loves to cling onto each an...

Here comes another interesting, witty and melodramatic novel "The 3 mistakes of my life" from Chetan Bhagat, his third offering after "Five point someone" and "One night at the call center". This new book has a similar flow in terms of simple phrases and day-to-day conversations. Contrary to his other two books, this one is slightly serious and touches upon real issues like politics and religion. The protogonist Govind plans to start his own business (a cricket shop in particular) along with his two best friends Ishant and Omi. Govind has been responsible right from his childhood and has been supporting his mother. Mathematics is his passion and he can only think in terms of numbers. Ishant, a local cricketer is very passionate about the game. His attempt to join the army failed because of which his dad is unhappy about him. Omi, the son of a priest is a very reclusive and aimless person but very much inclined towards his religious beliefs. There are other...

என் குழப்பங்கள் என் ஏமாற்றங்கள் இன்று நான் தோன்றவா? மலையின் பின் ஒழியவா? உலகத்தை பார்த்து ஒரு சிறு புன்னகை ஆனால் அதை கவனிக்க யாருமில்லா சூழ் நிலை வாழ்க்கை ஓட்டம் ஓடும் மனிதர்கள் ஒரு நிமிடம் என்னை பார்க்காத சிறுவர்கள் குழவிக்கு சோறு ஊட்ட நான் இனிமேல் தேவையில்லை Animal Planet டும் Pogoவும் போதும் சிறு சிறு சோற்று உருண்டை கையில் வைத்து நிலாச்சோறு குடும்பத்துடன் ஒன்றாய் வெற்றுத்தரையில் அமர் ந்து அன்று என் முன் கதைகள் சொல்ல ஏராளம், இன்று தொலைக்காட்சி முன் கை விரலுக்கு வேலை தாராளம் A rough translation in English Why such a state? My confusions My disappointments Should I rise today? Should I hide behind the mountains? I look at the world and offer a slight smile, But no one to notice is my pathetic state Engaged in the race of life are the adults, No leisure time in the hands of the children To feed the newborn, I'm no longer needed There is Animal Planet and Pogo these days Small balls of rice placed in the centre of palms, the whole family united together and ate their dinner in front ...

When you do something which used to be a routine activity after a very long time, it feels very special. I totally agree with this statement. I used to be a regular listener of Sun Music a year ago. But after a few months, the same songs were repeated and mostly, those were the new songs. I couldn't bear to hear the stupid comments or questions from those VJs. They just spoil the experience of music by continuous talking. Once I got into PGSEM, I stopped watching Sun Music completely which gave me some time in the evening for my course work. Now, with the vacation and a new Tata Sky connection at home, I turned to Sun music last night. I'm not sure if it was my luck or they have seriously changed their songs collection. My favorite songs started flowing one after the other and moreover, the RJ was also bearable. Some of the songs that I listened to and happily sang at the top of my voice while preparing dinner are these - Rojavai thalattum thendral from ?? Poongatru un per soll...

The last weekend was very special for numerous reasons. First and foremost, I had never stayed in a campus hostel either during my school or college days. Thanks to the 3 day leadership event "LCube" organized at IIM Bangalore, I got to experience the life in a hostel as a PGSEM student. What a beautiful campus IIMB has! Although I go to IIMB every weekend for my classes, I never took the time to roam around the entire campus and admire the greenery. The campus is so serene and peaceful, with absolutely no noise from the traffic woes of Bannerghatta Road. This stay also gave me a chance to meet new people - both my seniors and juniors. It also paved a way to know the fun side of a few of my classmates. These three days were packed with action that I slept for less than 6 hours and yet I felt fresh the whole day. The leadership workshop brought in a lot of fun and thought provoking activities, games and theatre events. Although I didn't get much of the theory that was disc...

Points that I presented to 2008 batch PGSEM students as part of their induction programme on June 1st 2008. My presentation was an overview of "Strategic Management" course which is a core course in Quarter 1. Disclaimer Based on my experiences as a 2007 student Strategy - Given a firm’s strengths and limitations under certain market conditions and external environmental factors, what should be its objectives in order to build a competitive position in the industry? What’s this course all about? - Provides a foundation for subsequent courses on marketing, finance and operations - Covers many analytical frameworks to identify a problem and evaluate alternate solutions - Emphasize on holistic thinking when taking important decisions - Identify and analyze the impact of - external factors such as Govt policies, market conditions and industry dynamics - internal factors such as strengths of the firm, capabilities and weaknesses Frameworks - SWOT - Porter’s five forces model -...

It's a rare occasion when two albums of Rahman of different genre release around the same time. I was hoping that Ada would be better than Jaane Tu yaa Jaane naa but I was wrong. JTYJN is a superb album with many beautiful songs. Except for one song, Ada didn't impress me that much. "Meherbaan" from Ada is such a soothing, caressing melody that my eyes have been welling up ever since I listened to this song for the first time last week. It starts off with a similar tune as of "Shauk hai" from Guru but that's just for the first couple of seconds, after which Rahman takes the listeners through a magical journey. I'm just mesmerized by his voice and the humming while the background score goes slow. The instrumental version of the song is equally good. Although I'm not attracted to any of the other songs in this movie, I'm just hooked onto this brilliant composition and voice. This is definitely one of my favorites of Rahman. The album JTYJN has ...