An Interview With Prof. Neeraj Bhanot Regarding “Project Based Learning Approach At IIM-Amritsar”
Profile Overview of Prof. Neeraj Bhanot:
Profile Overview of Prof. Neeraj Bhanot:
In a time and space, far away from the nuances of the city life, lies this place I've started to call home. Indian Institute Of Management, Shillong, known as the Campus in Clouds has provided me with experiences of a lifetime. And it hasn't even been 4 months.
It was 20th of April; I was at my office desk, doing some regular stuff, when an e-mail popped up, with the subject ‘Offer Letter’. As an applicant to many Global Masters programs, I was excited and opened it instantly. It read ‘Congratulations! You are admitted into the Global Management Programme at SPJIMR and are also accepted for the MAief Program at Brandeis IBS, Boston with a merit scholarship’. I was elated. But, hardly had I come to terms with that jubilation, a second e-mail arrived a few days later, asking me to complete a set of pre-requisite courses before the orientation day, one month hence.
Post my Graduation, I was muddled as to what domain to pursue my Masters in Business Administration. I decided to take counselling for which field to pursue as a career choice. I explored more than 10 to 12 Institutes offering entrance coaching for various competitive exams. I desired to pursue a domain which would be out of the ordinary, but in my knowledge there were none. I received counselling for Marketing, Finance, etc. After a continuous search, I came across the Urban Management program of Xavier Center for Urban Management and Governance (XUMG), XUB. I found the student activities and the curriculum quite fascinating and thus decided to take up the course.
Once upon a time attending an early morning class at 10'o clock, half asleep I relentlessly scrounged through my case study looking for that paragraph. The one that is expected to be discussed next. Skimming through myriads of lines, I finally bumped on to something. As soon as the teacher moved to the next expected topic; my hands went up high. High enough to stand tall to talk about that one paragraph I read in class. That's the story of almost every class about "How I participated in Class Participation."
Whenever we think of an institute like an IIM it widens eyebrows of many and a thought process suddenly awakens and roams around words like intellectual, seriousness, high package, great managers, future CEOs etc. A total contrast from an IIM’s student perspective. For a student like me, it has been a journey from the spiritual capital of India to the Venice of India, from Banaras to Udaipur. The shift has not only been in terms of geographical location but also from a world where life was at peace, at ease around the ghats near the Ganges gauging the world from a perspective of searching meaning of life and my purpose of life, to a place where the culture taught me to think and take action. Putting my first stepping stone towards the corporate life is what I consider a stage of transformation in my life.
IIM Shillong, the campus in clouds as it is known, is so much more than typical business school. Of course there are many things that are part and parcel of a B-School like packed class schedules, competitions, deadlines that are always around the corner, surprises quizzes, longer days and even longer nights.
A memorable classroom experience in my B-school