Induction Experience - Harita Priya from RSB sharing her day 1 story
RSB Chennai Harita Priya

Date: August 4, 2021

First day at Rajalakshmi School of Business for me was memorable and remarkable and it was a great start to my PGDM career. It’s not that just because I was curious and excited on my first day, adding on to that each and every session was that interesting and brainstorming. Listening to great people sharing their vision and immense knowledge is the exact motivation that each and every student needs on their first day. To begin with we had a divine start praying to his almighty to shower his blessings on every student for their new academic start, followed by the inaugural address given by Mr. Abhay Shankar, vice chairman and trustee, Rajalakshmi institutions. He shared his vision for RSB, which felt as a huge reassurance to every student that they are in the right place. He elegantly highlighted the features of management by quoting “management is universal” and the explanation must have inspired everyone to become the best management grads for sure. 

Further Dr. Srikanth Parthasarathy and Dr. Rekha Priyadarshini conducted an amazing ice breaking session. To come up with such an innovative idea right on the first session, apart from the usual self introduction, we students were asked to introduce other members. In spite of the online barrier, this pushed us to the comfort zone out of which we were able to interact with a bunch of fellow mates. This well pre-planned ice breaking session went on well and we got to know about each other. 

Adding on to this Dr. Dindyal Swain Director, RSB encouraged all the students to participate in other extra-curricular activities and form clubs based on students’ interest. PGDM being a self-development program, this is something every student requires. Adding on to this we had an unbelievable address session with the chief guest Dr. (Mrs). Thangam Meganathan chairperson- Rajalakshmi Institutions and guest of honor Mr. Sathish kumar Anavangot, chief mentor RSB, former managing director Henkel India Ltd. We also had board members joining us, they congratulated students for their upcoming endeavors. Then Dr. (Mrs). Thangam Meganathan warmly welcomed all the students. She highlighted the importance of managers and most importantly she gave us huge confidence to pursue the program. Out of everything I admired and got inspired by the way she explained how a balloon manufacturer transformed into a market leader of tire manufacturing, MRF Tires and few other similar examples. This sounds simple but when one understands the perseverance and hard work which made these people what they are today, that matters. That too when she said “these are examples from our own soil in front of our own eyes” what could be more inspiring? She further highlighted transferring vision to reality and achieving success. She also thanked the board members for their constant support. 

This was Followed by a great session with the guest of honor Mr. Sathish kumar Anavangot, chief mentor RSB. He addressed everyone and the way he addressed the students as honorable students made me feel privileged to be listening to him. Someone who’s so knowledgeable and profound being so humble inspires a lot. He shared his journey and growth along with RSB. Apart from this, something I admired a lot was his technical knowledge that he shared with us. Further surprisingly we had a great opportunity to interact with ma'am and sir, listening to them itself a great opportunity being able to interact with them is dream of every student. Both of them patiently answered all the questions. 

Next we had the most interesting session on ''World of brands in the digital era '' conducted by the most energetic Dr. Dindayal Swain. He covered topics on branding. He explained destination planning and customer endorsement in simple terms. He also differentiated terms such as commodity, product and brand and he also explained the importance of effective transformation from commodity to brand. He effectively covered branding through videos and slides. I’m sure that students are keen and waiting for further sessions with him. Apart from this I wanted to thank sir for his huge contribution for yesterday's session, apart from his session he was an anchor that held the entire session and hugely driven by his energy and the way he made all of us connected. 

Next session was with Mr. Ramanan Ramanathan, who addressed us, someone from such a huge organisation like TATA with so many years of experience, spending time with young minds shows his implacable generosity to contribute to the student’s community. He widely covered ''Start-up entrepreneurship'' which was greatly received by students because many of them aspire to become entrepreneurs. He patiently answered all the questions from students with ultimate clarity. He hugely inspired budding entrepreneurs at RSB. 

Finally, we had an amazing session with Mr Varun, such a humble and student friendly personality, calm and composed, again a huge inspiration. He had a lot more interaction with students. He shared all that he had experienced in his media career. He also explained what happens in an elaborate manner for our better understanding. Students had an amazing time interacting with him and he was open to answer so many questions from us. 

To summarise, the overall induction program was fully packed with immense content and gave precise clarity to the first-year students. Each and every session was very interesting in its own way and the session being more interactive throughout made students actively participate and mingle. Definitely all the students would have benefited from the lively session.