Get Your Hands Dirty

'Get your hands dirty' advised Sumit Ahuja to budding entrepreneurs of Vishwa Vishwani Institute of Systems and Management (VVISM) Hyderabad. Sumit was speaking at the Annual Business Plan Contest 2018 of VVISM held on 2^nd November 2018. 

The Contest had eight finalists who presented their business idea and pitch to an external Jury. These eight Startup ideas which ranged from energy, environment, livelihoods to food sectors are listed below:

1. Stitching Dreams- Empowering rural wome
2. YUMS- Double-decker food truck
3. FITI- Counselling for 10th standard students
4. Casa de Café- Multi-themed cafe
5. Khana Khazana- Chef on call
6. Comida Food- Customised food for medical conditions
7. JSV Bijli- Generating electricity the AI way
8. Bags E-Way- Paper bags supply

These eight finalists had been selected after two rounds of pitches and Business Plan presentations. Total of 29 startup teams vied for the top slots. The whole process was spread over nine weeks of semester load. 

The finalists highlighted five points in their pitch to the Jury:

1. What do they do?
2. How do they do it?
3. Market potential and competition
4. How will the startup be monetized?
5. What is the investment needed?

The Jury comprised of three experienced entrepreneurs- Mr Sumit Ahuja has set up businesses not only in India but also in Japan and Australia. Ms Ishita Raksha and Ms Nidhi Upadhyay have co-founded a Gourmet dessert boutique in Hyderabad. 

The Jury did extensive questioning to each team which added value to the Contest. Pictures for you.

'Bags e-Way’ startup lead by Piyush Agarwal which aims to 

capitalize on Govt’s ban on plastic bags, was adjudged the winner. Team ‘FITI’ which proposed an on-line counselling service for 10^th standard in rural areas, got the runners up prize. 

The Jury were felicitated by Director VVISM.

Each of the Jury members shared their experiences as entrepreneurs. Few of their bites are given below:

The Director reinforced the need for entrepreneurship in our country which was followed up by group photographs.

By now the guests were saturated with pictures. They seemed to say 'bas karo ji' बस करो जी when the following picture was clicked:

The whole event was coordinated by PGDM students as part of the core course Entrepreneurship and Startup Management. Thank you the Class of 2019 for all the excitement! Special 'shabash' शाबाश to the organising team!

Just to recall, the readers may browse the story of the Contest-2017 by clicking the link below:

Can Startup Management be Taught?

We are also giving the links to earlier stories on Startups by Ghumakkad. Please click on any link below to read the full story.

Learning from Failures

How to Identify a Startup Opportunity?

Startup Ecosystem in India

Skateboarding for Startups

Proof of the Pudding- Inspiring Stories of Ghumakkad's Former 

Students-turned-entrepreneurs

We end with Ghumakkad's favourite quotation on entrepreneurs:

Thanks for browsing.

       -  Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/3rd Nov 2018

#startups #entrepreneurship #startupindia #businessplan #Bplancontest #vvism #vishwavishwani #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh

International Yoga Day 2018

Another Yoga Day.
Usual hype. Media overload. Photo-ops. Celebrities galore.
But those who do yoga योग regularly, it is just another day. Like this senior citizen at Rameshwaram sea shore.

What is Yoga? It is best described by this line from Bhagwad Gita भगवत गीता , "Yoga is the journey of the self through the self to the self".
Yoga helps us understand our inner self.
Yoga gives us better self-control.
Yoga inculcates self-discipline.
Yoga for health.
Yoga for happiness.
Yoga for inner peace.

The government of India has given the theme 'Yoga for Peace' for this year's International Day of Yoga. 

For those of us who enjoy yoga every day, yoga is a way of life.
Like this grandpa-grandson combine! A grandson adds different flavour to the asanas आसन. Browse here.

Ghumakkad had also compared Yoga with Golf. Both help us develop better concentration. How? Browse the story here.

Even Elfo our Cairn Terrier who is no more, knew when I was on the yoga mat in the morning. He had lost his eyesight, but he could maneuver himself to reach me. Read the story 'Who will nudge me now'.


Yoga is India's gift to the world, Ghumakkad said so earlier. We wish the citizens of the world a Happy Yoga Day. May Yoga bring peace into your life.

       - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ 21st June, Yoga Day 2018

#Yoga #WorldYogaDay #YogaForHealth #YogaWithGrandson #Mind #GhumakkadHarsh #GhumakkadHB #YogaForPeace #self #yogaandgolf 

Taj Mahal@Dawn

Ever seen Taj Mahal at dawn?

Dawn is not the best time to photograph a monument. The light is dull and therefore it's a challenge for the photographer. But Taj is Taj. It looks glorious in any light condition. That is why Ghumakkad planned to photograph the Taj Mahal in Agra one early morning in March.

The trigger for 'shooting' Taj at dawn came from Suraj Gupta, an ace photographer himself and my former MBA student. Thanks Suraj.

Travelling 1400 kms to synchronise our arrival before sunrise was not easy. Despite our train from Hyderabad being late we were just in time to admire the morning glory of Taj Mahal. Late arrival gave us only 30 minutes to take pictures. Readers may find an overdose of the pictures of Taj Mahal. But once you are there and the sunlight is doing its magic, you cannot help stop your shutter. Apologies to the discerning shutter bugs as all the pictures were taken using a cell phone camera.

Let the pictures do the talking. 

While I was taking all these pictures Neeta had to sit outside the Taj complex because of my fault. On my insistence, she brought  her bag along. The security wouldn't allow her entry with the bag. The cloak room being half a km was ruled out as we were pressed for time. She tried her best to persuade the staff but no joy.

Car drop point being away, we took a rickshaw. Enjoyable ride. 

This photographic trip would not have been possible without Rajesh and Geeta Bhargava at Agra. Special thanks to both of them. For those readers who would like to read the history of Taj, may browse Wikipedia. Suffice it to mention that it was built in 1632 by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal. Taj gets close to 10-million visitors every year!

We end with Tagore's famous quote on Taj which says 'Taj Mahal rises above the banks of the river like a solitary tear suspended on the cheek of time.' Here is the PQ- picturesque quote- superimposed on a picture taken from the river bank.

Thanks for browsing. We would love to share any pictures of the Taj in different lighting conditions from our readers- with due credit of course!

     -  Harsh-the-Ghumakkad/ 11th April 2018

#TajMahal #Agra #MarbleBeauty #PhotoWalk #NatGeoIndia 

#LonelyPlanetIndia #IndiaTourism #TajAtDawn #MagicOfDawn

#GhumakkadHarsh #GhumakkadHB