INDEPENDENCE DAY 2020 - SWADESHI MANDI

 

On the occasion of 74^th Independence of India, Swadeshi Mandi was launched by Marketing Interest Group of NITIE, Mumbai. Given the lockdown scenario across the country, Mahamandi 2020 moved online this year with the idea of Vocal For Local.

The 16^th edition  of the event had Mr Abhay Jere, Chief innovation officer, AICTE as the Chief Guest and  Mrs.Apeksha Haldia, Founder of Zyaka ka tadka and a NITIE Alumna, as the Guest of Honor.

Mr. Jere talked about importance of innovation in the world and from our country’s perspective. He talked about Switzerland, which is the most innovative company according to Global Innovation Index. He also talked about India’s rankings, which has improved significantly from 79 in 2014 to 52nd rank. So we have made significant improvements in ranking but we still have a long way to go. The focus of his talk was on need for more job creators rather than job seekers. Only this can make India Atmanirbhar.

 He also talked about how Prof. T. Prasad has been ahead of the time and has been organising and inculcating the spirit of entrepreneurship among the students since last 15 years through Initiatives like MahaMandi in NITIE.

This was followed by interaction with Mrs.Apeksha Haldia. Ms Haldia passed out from NITIE in 2009, worked in P&G for a couple of years. She went to pursue sports management in the US from the University of Washington and was the first International Student to receive the Faculty of Merit Award in this field. Her dream was to become a Manager of an IPL team.

 She talked about how she started her life at NITIE. She talked about what challenges she faced. Ma’am talked about how she started Zyaka ka Tadka with her mother and it is only show which serves live cooking to the viewers. Zyaka ka Tadka has more than 4 lakh subscribers on Youtube. She talked about entrepreneurship, how we can start just by things around us. She gave her example, how she started with just a cell-phone for recording videos. Rather than looking around for funding, she told about how you can start on your own at a small scale.

It was a wonderful experience hearing such insightful and inspiring words from people who have tasted so much success in their respective fields.

#SochoBechoSeekho

COMMUNICATION IN CONSULTING & PERSONAL BRANDING

18.08.2020. 09:00 hrs.

The Business Communication class was going to be different today. Prof T.Prasad had arranged a special session with one of Alums of NITIE, Mr. Nikhil Kulkarni. 

Mr. Nikhil, after graduating from NITIE, worked as a Consultant for KPMG. Post this, he ventured into the world of entrepreneurship. He went onto start his own company, Darwin Travel Tech. 

Darwin Travel Tech is a one stop solution for travel agents for planning, searching, pricing and booking customized holiday packages for their clients. 

Coming to the session, Mr. Nikhil discussed about Business Communication in Consulting, Structuring your content using the Pyramid principle and Creating a personal brand. 

He started with talking about business consulting. He provided an interesting break up of importance of various factors in the world of consulting at the start of your career. According to him, 80% of consulting is about communication, 15% relationship management and 5% research. As one rises up the hierarchy, the importance of relationship increases. Anything and everything, from Proposals, executive briefings to reports, is prepared using Excel, PowerPoint or Word. So, make them your best buddies.

Then he explained about the Pyramid principle. Using it, one can structure his/her content in a coherent way. There are 4 questions you need to answer while developing a content: 

1. What is the objective of my document? 

2. Who is the audience?

3. What is the context in which the content will be consumed? 

4. Have I listed all aspects of the problem?

 While answering the 4^th question, it is crucial to verify all the aspects of the problem are Mutually Exclusive and Collectively Exhaustive (MECE). To deliver the message of any content in an eloquent way, it is always advisable to use hierarchical structure of flow of information- Idea/Data/Fact/Logic (IDFL). He also talked about how including a video or image can make any content immersive. This is the Picture Superiority effect. 

He then discussed about Why and How to create a Personal Brand. He started this part with the image shown below.

The image pretty much answered the Why part. He further discussed how to use various platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Blogs to create a brand out of yourself with inspirational examples. 

A special thanks to Professor T. Prasad for organizing such an insightful session helping us realize the importance of communication and personal branding in today’s world. 

Links for your reference:

http://www.techdarwin.com/ 

http://nikhilkulkarni.in/ 

https://www.youtube.com/user/nitieprasad1

SWADESHI MANDI- MAHAMANDI- 15 August 2020

MAHAMANDI, organised every year by the Marketing Interest Group of National Institute of Industrial Engineering, is a unique event where the students get an opportunity to get a real-time experience of doing business on the streets and learning the tricks of the trade. The Covid-19 pandemic and country wide lockdowns meant that the event went online and the concept for this year is, ‘Swadeshi Mandi’ and being  'Vocal for the Local'. 

On the occasion of the 74th Independence Day, we would like to showcase a hidden gem from Nagpur, Maharashtra- SAOJI MASALA.

Because Saoji nhi khaya toh kya khaya? 

Now coming to the history of the masala, it was Halba Koshti, the weaver community of Madhya Pradesh that made 'Saoji' their signature dish. The community migrated to Nagpur in 1877 to work in the Empress Mills which Jamshedji Tata set up there. What makes Saoji special is the unerring measure of its ingredients. To the uninitiated, the dish is a mix of spices. But how to mix and match becomes the moot question. Prod the cooks and they reveal a vital ingredient, Jute oil. The traditional dish is prepared in jute oil and cooked only in clay pots.

Over to the ingredients now, we have succeeded in finding out the secret mixes of Saoji masala over the time. There are four masalas-two dry and two wet. The dry or powdered masalas have a total of 32 ingredients. They are made in two forms: Bhukri masala(12 ingredients) and Kala masala(20 ingredients). The third is Batlo, a fresh paste made of ginger, garlic, onions and cumin. The fourth is a paste of coriander seeds, cashew nuts, sunflower, poppy seeds and almonds. The combinations may differ from one household to other. Many non-vegetarian and vegetarian delicacies are prepared using the masala in the Vidharbha region. 

And before to try it, let me warn you, it is SPICY. But then, that is why it is loved so much. 

Let me just list down a few positives of spices and spicy foods, if you are not yet incited to try the dishes:

1. Spicy foods have been shown to help with weight loss.

2. Capsaicin, contained in chillies, has been shown to work as an endorphin.

3. Spices in the food even help fight cancer cells.

4. It contains spices which are rich in anti-oxidants.

We have numerous such gems hidden in our country. This is just an effort to bring forward one of these, for the people of our country and the world to see. We want to promote the idea of ‘Make in India’ and ‘Make for the World’.

A special thanks to Professor T.Prasad a.k.a. Mandi Sir for starting this amazing concept of Mahamandi and giving us the opportunity to express our ideas via the Swadesh Mandi.

 SOCHO-BECHO-SEEKHO

#NitiePrasad  #VocalForLocal