“I never knew how strong I was until being strong was the only choice.”
This is what I’ve told myself every day for the past five years as I’ve fallen and gotten back up again and again, never giving up.
I was always a confident student with a clear picture of what I wanted to accomplish in life, which included getting into my dream science institute in Mohali.
I was on top of the world, but as rust eats away even the strongest of iron, depression quietly clawed its way into my life. It left me trapped amidst a pool of people I no longer recognised in a setting that was as strange as it gets, even after one and a half years of living there. I came home puzzled about where I stand in life and whether it is even worth living after several bouts of breaking down and ultimately seeking help.
After much deliberation, I enrolled in a humanities degree, feeling heavy every day under the weight of the two years I spent in Mohali and wondering how I would ever be able to justify it. I would not have made it over the last five years if my family and friends had not been by my side and determined to never let me go back to that dark place.
All of this happened in 2017, and as I reflect on the previous five years, I saw myself - as someone who was unable to see the light in life, only to be wonderfully rebuilt. I am now a student at a prestigious business school with a clear path ahead of me and a life goal, and I want to tell Maitri of five years ago that we will make it bold and strong. It was a one-step-a-day procedure in which each step mattered, culminating in this strong woman who is proud of where she is now.
“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.” - Michael Jordan
Prayas - The Sports Club of GIM, organised the much-heralded Playoff 1.0, a basketball match between the PGP-1 and PGP-2.
The match started with PGP-2 taking a lead with a strong six point advantage over the junior batch. The story took a different turn in the third quarter as PGP-1 pulled a few back to be level on points.
The nerve-wrecking match had everyone hepped up in the final round, as victory evaded the underdogs with a final tally of 36-40 in favor of PGP-2.
In search of GIM’s next brand master, Brainvista – The Quizzing Club of GIM hosted ‘Brandholic’. This action-packed competition that ranged over three rounds witnessed the participation of a whopping hundred and sixteen teams.
The first elimination round, ‘A to Z’, a general quiz round dropped the competition drastically down to six remarkable teams. Round two was a fun take on the popular game ‘Taboo’ with brand names. In the final round, ‘Traditional Pounce Bounce’, the other teams could pounce on the question not being addressed to them for additional points.
To everyone’s surprise, not 1 but 3 teams tied at the first position. All of them locked horns on Kahoot in which Team ‘Abba Dabba’ emerged as the winners.
The prevalence of diabetes is not an unknown factor. It affects 463 million individuals across the globe. This Diabetes Awareness Month, Prabhaav, an initiative by the PGDM - Healthcare Management students of GIM, welcomed Dr Reshma Nayak, VP-Marketing & Communications, Fitterfly; Dr M.A. Maluk Mohamed, Co-Founder & Global VP, Twin Health; and Dr Ayush Chandra, Diabetologist, Founder, Nivaran Health, for a webinar in collaboration with the 25th Pascoal and Maria Menezes Panel Discussion series. The program chair of PGDM - HCM, Dr Arif Raza, moderated the deliberation on the topic ‘Rethinking Diabetes with Medtech’.
The session educated the audience about various myths surrounding diabetes as well as reversible diabetes. The panel then moved on to describe the relevance of technology in diabetes treatment and the innovations that are on the horizon.
Diabetes, as a disease, despite its popularity still needs more awareness. This session was a step towards sensitizing and educating the GIM fraternity regarding the same.
Michael Scofield believed that if he didn’t have faith, he would have had nothing. GIMites, on the other hand, were equipped with data.
Sankhya - GIM’s Analytics Club - hosted its own version of Prison Break, in which 45 teams competed to break out of prison in the least amount of time. Teams learnt the importance of keeping a level head under pressure while racing to retrieve the password and keys to escape out of the prison.
After two hard rounds of this wits competition, Team ‘Sheru’ emerged winners.
Prof. Ajit Parulekar, Director of the Goa Institute of Management, has always been a visionary when it comes to creating a sustainable environment at GIM and beyond.
His victory in the GEC 2021 Excellence Award is a source of great pride for all of us.
Crowdera hosted the fourth edition of the Giving Economy Changemakers Summit 2021, which took place online and at the ESG in Panjim from November 30 to December 4.
The summit, which focused on innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship, gathered together notable philanthropists, entrepreneurs, social innovators, activists, artists, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to share ideas and explore solutions for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
We extend our heartfelt compliments to the director. We hope that GIM will continue to progress in this direction in the future.
It’s okay to take a break from time to time and let creativity overtake you. Agora International Speakers did exactly that with their ‘Meraki’ event.
GIMites sat in the amphitheatre under a starlit Goan sky, immersed in an evening filled with stories, poems, and shayyaris presented by their peers. GIMites reminisced and found parts and pieces of themselves as fellow students recounted various aspects of their lives, with a spectrum of performances right in front of them.
While some attempted to captivate the audience with profound poetry, some enthralled the audience with engaging story-telling, while others mesmerized the crowd in with attractive shayyaris. Overall, the evening provided a much-needed break from the hectic B-School routine.
“Social Media Intelligence is a different ball game altogether when compared to other methodologies of data analytics.”, stated Mr Navin Nayanar, Director, Social Media Intelligence and Analytics at Course5i. He was invited for a webinar hosted by the Corporate Relations and Placements Big Data Analytics-GIM.
Mr Nayanar commenced the session by explaining how data analysts can use the data generated from user engagement across social media platforms using sentiment analysis. He outlined how enterprises use social media intelligence for their product or service to provide personalised recommendations to their customers.
Mr Nayanar also discussed how advanced social media analysis tools are utilised for brand tracking, audience profiling, customer research, and forecasting thus setting up a new and evolved domain in the business intelligence space.
We thank Mr Nayanar for such a stimulating and informative session. We would like to have more such sessions with him in the future.
“Medical Representatives aid in the development of a doctor-pharmaceutical company relationship.”, stated Ms Lavneet Kaur Lamba, Manager, Human Resources, Alembic Pharmaceuticals Limited. She educated the students on the topic, ‘Trends in Learning & Development Post Pandemic in the Pharmaceutical Industry’, during a Virtual Interactive Session organised by the Corporate Relations and Placement Team of Healthcare Management.
Ms Lamba began the session by outlining the function of a medical representative and how the learning environment has evolved since COVID-19. She stressed that the pharmaceutical industry is an old and traditional industry and that reskilling is necessary to restore the digital method of working.
Ms Lamba also discussed the issues experienced by medical representatives in virtual learning while highlighting the significance of adapting to the new standard. She recommended the students at the end of her sesion to invest in themselves in order to build themselves.
We express our heartfelt gratitude towards Ms Lavneet Kaur Lamba for this informative talk and hope to have more sessions with her.
Your birthplace describes a lot about how you live your life. Born in a place where Kabir wrote most of his poetry — a place where Tulsidas wrote Ramayana, my birthplace Kashi, or Varanasi, as most people know, has taught me faith and calmness.
I remember the day 5th May 2019, the day when Cyclone Fani hit the shores of Puri. I was posted in Infosys Bhubaneswar at that time. I still remember the time when the cyclone entered the city approximately at 12:15 PM. The wind speed was close to 170km/hr and all I could listen to was the sound of destruction. I was on the third floor where the window just broke, and the fear of death sent chills down my spine. I could not sit for a second — the eye of the cyclone was very close to the city. At that moment all I could think about was, what life could have been if I would have lived every day as it was the last day.
The cyclone and rain stopped after two days but the devastation was beyond words, no internet, no water, no calls services for several days. That incident changed how I looked at life.
The importance of living every day with the same ardour and spirit became the mantra of my life.
Over seven eventful days, GIMites contested in teams of 7 in Street Football, organised by Prayas - The Sports Club of GIM.
It was a fast-paced thriller as players had to be ‘street-smart’ with their game plan and skills!
The finals, played between Team Galacticos and Team Sanquelim Strikers, gave the audience an adrenaline rush as they witnessed stunning saves, agile tackling, and tactful passing. With each passing quarter, the nail-biting match slowly tilted towards Team Galacticos, who won with a final score of 5-3.
The future defines today’s curriculum, which becomes the focus for the Fellow Programme in Management at the Goa Institute of Management. The programme is suited for all those who seek a career in academic research and teaching. This four-year, full-time residential programme will equip future scholars with the analytical and functional skillsets required in academia.
Here, we have Dr Allan Bird, Faculty at GIM, talking about the programme structure and pedagogy used in the Fellow Programme in Management.
“Having a sound risk management strategy is essential for any investor, as even the safest investments carry some level of risk,” Mr Karan Sutaria (PGDM – BIFS 2021-23) wrote in an informative blog for SOFIA - The Finance Club (GIM) on the topic of “Risk Management: Managing Your Downside and Maximizing Gains.”
“The sky is a canvas, so paint your own life.”― Jada Berglund
A new year is like a blank book, with the pen in your hands. It is your chance to fill each page of this 365 paged book with your story and make the most out of it.
We, at GIM, hope that this new year fills everyone with hope, prosperity, and happiness.
Children are the beacon of hope and the future. Their innocence and the ability to see the world without judgement is one of the greatest gifts to this world.
What better way to celebrate Christmas than bringing smiles to their faces! Samarthan - GIM - the CSR club, did exactly that by fulfilling the wishes of the children at ‘El Shaddai’ orphanage.
As we strive towards becoming successful leaders of tomorrow, it is imperative that we become ‘Good Samaritans’ of the society too. The smiles on their faces made every bit of the struggle worth it.
We were honoured to host Mr Munish Aggarwal, Director, Equirus, as the guest speaker for the Aspire’21 series organised by the Corporate Relations and Placements Committee – BIFS.
“Valuations are subjective. Every individual uses their own assumptions while valuing a business.” said Mr Aggarwal as he addressed the batch in an interactive virtual session. He started the session by talking about investment banking as a career. He went into depth about how the profession has evolved over the years, bringing in his personal experiences.
Mr Aggarwal also led an in-depth discussion on stock valuation, focusing on the current market scenario across different industries. He concluded the session by sharing insights on why different sectors use different methods of valuation and why one size does not fit all.
We would like to thank Mr Munish Aggarwal for taking the time to interact with the students and hope to host him soon on campus.
“One needs to have an entrepreneurial mindset. Entrepreneurs take ownership of the tasks they do, have the will to finish everything end-to-end and think holistically.”, said Mr Krishna Gopal, Global Head - Sales Enablement, Tech Mahindra, in a Virtual Interactive Session hosted by the Corporate Relations and Placement Team of Healthcare Management. He spoke on the topic ‘Being the Best Version of Yourself.’
Mr Gopal enlightened the students on various aspects of how one can ace in one’s life and become the best version of themselves. He motivated the students to focus their energies on the tasks that matter. Doing that will inspire them to demonstrate ownership, collaboration, and achieve orientation.
Mr Gopal emphasized the importance of finding the unique selling point that sets them apart from the rest. He also stressed the significance of verbal and written communication and encouraged students to join various literary societies.
We deeply thank Mr Krishna Gopal for enlightening the students and providing them with practical guidelines to navigate through this journey. We hope to host him again soon.
Take a minute to rejuvenate yourself in the midst of the stir and whirl of a B-School life. Bask in the beauty of the campus and allow your thoughts to bloom like these wildflowers.
The inaugural session of the AHI-GIM Public Health Advisory Joint Course was hosted by Goa Institute of Management in collaboration with ACCESS Health International and InOrder. This event witnessed the presence of experts who have been a part of the public health advisory sector for years.
Dr Krishna Reddy (Country Director) from ACCESS Health International, Mr Girish Bommakanti (Director, Operations & Strategic Growth), Dr Anuradha Katyal (Technical Specialist, Research), Dr Shrikant Kalaskar (Consultant, Public Health & Lead Capacity Building), and Dr Kheya Melo Furtado (Associate Professor, GIM) educated the PGDM - Healthcare Management students about the importance of the new course and its scope going forward. The primary objective for which this course is launched is to enable students in applying health system frameworks to public health advisory services. It will aid students in identifying relevant data sources and indicators in public health consulting tasks so that they can offer systematic, evidence-based recommendations in public advisory tasks.
Dr Ajit Parulekar (Director, GIM) concluded the session by highlighting how the new course will keep PGDM-HCM students ahead of the curve in the healthcare industry.
The pandemic has made the civilisation stop in its tracks and ponder over the future - the possibilities and our priorities. We are thinking of health systems more than ever now and it is imperative that we mind our way going forward as the pandemic has revealed glaring gaps in the nation’s healthcare system but also given us a hope in our collective resilience.
Goa Institute of Management invites you to The 3rd Annual Healthcare Management Conference which will provide opportunities for deliberations, reflections and ideations on the topic, ‘Futures Thinking in Indian Healthcare’. This conference will witness a confluence of the brightest and most experienced minds in polity and industry who will engage in critical discussions on health policy, governance, finance, technology, and various other major verticals of the healthcare system.
The keynote address and the three panel discussions that will be held will provide a platform to the delegates and audience to discuss and strategise on how to make the healthcare system resilient along with re-visioning the model of healthcare in the industry.
To be a part of this educative event, register on the link below: https://bit.ly/3tnqUXW.
Date of the event: 22nd January, 2022 (Saturday), 9:45 AM - 5:45 PM.
