LAUNCH OF ‘Minds on Fire’: Real life stories of BDG
How to put some minds on fire and ignite the flame of knowing and achieving the unknown
BDG never forgets what his mother had once said. “Look at things around you and think of ways to add value to them constantly.” Though he got this advise in his formative years, he never forgot those golden words and kept them close to his heart. He taught India’s IT industry many ‘firsts’ and in his first book Minds on Fire he shared his beliefs, his ideas, his failures and his successes as living stories of a living legend.
Through these stories he wanted to put ‘some minds on fire’ so that they too burn and rise from the ashes if faced with stiff challenges that BDG faced. So that those fiery minds get the flame to think new, to think big, to dream beyond the horizon. The book launched in the ’90s did help many entrepreneurs in their journey.
GBS LAUNCH:
A Gem is born in the middle of Y2K mayhem
As the Y2K bubble burst across the world, there was a lot of anxiety in the IT industry with mass retrenchments, entrepreneurs failing to attract customers, customers holding back investments. In the middle of that mayhem and uncertainty BDG launched the first branded business school of Eastern India after IIM Calcutta.
BDG has always turned challenges into success stories, nothing could pull him down, he always changed ways, found new opportunities and tided over any obstacle. GBS launch was one such success story. When Y2K phenomenon brought a big setback to the IT industry, BDG realized he had to change the course of his business to accommodate the huge investment both in infrastructure and human resources that he had already done. Though the idea of a business school had been there, but he preponed the launch of Globsyn Business School. What was to happen in 2004, took place in 2002 due to the pressure of the market conditions.
It was a time when BDG worked 24x7 couped in his room, formulating courses, marketing strategies, planning the infrastructure of the school, making it eco-friendly and environmentally conscious and even getting professors on board. Finally on 4th March 2002 Globsyn Business School was launched. ‘Study for 2 years and jump 6 years’ was the catchline. On the inauguration day, BDG was a bit skeptical as to who will come but was surprised to find that the launch day was full house. It was as if the industry was waiting for the business school to happen. The 1st branded business school of Kolkata just after IIM-C. The timing was very crucial and GBS had 84 students in the first batch and teachers were mostly from the industry and not the usual professors. That made GBS stand out from the rest and even today the success story continues.
SERENDIPITY: GBS students turn their own managers
Preparing GBS students in the field of operations through innovative practical approach
GBS celebrates an out-of-the-box event called Serendipity. It is a sort of project where the students are allowed to be their own masters and motivators. They are the organisers, they are the planners, they are the operators. It combines everything --- HR work, Marketing work, Finance work --- but in a practical scenario. Such projects help the students to become industry prepared too. For example, if someone joins Operations in any organization, they already have a practical knowledge of how to operate, how to run a show and practice what they learnt in academics. Serendipity has helped students of GBS to be better performers.