Change is here...

                   So it's official. I'm leaving the cosy desk job at IBM to pursue an MBA at Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai. For the uninitiated, it's a young college still finding it's feet. They offer a one year PGPM degree. Now for the reasons why i decided to take the plunge.

1. It's one of the few good 1 year programs in India, besides ISB and IIMA's PGPX.(Both of which have really steep fees, so were not as attractive in the current scenario). A one year course makes sense right now, given that I have 3 years of work ex under my belt.

2. The founders are the same as that of ISB. The Dean, Bala Balchandran (or Bala Uncle as he is fondly referred to by Glakers), a formidable Northwesterner conceptualised the institute and it has achieved a 100 percent placement record right since it's inception 4 years back, which is remarkable feat for such a fledgling institute.

3. Till recently Glakes was a non residential MBA program. But that's all set to change with the Patriots (batch of 2009-10) to move into a platinum rated campus near Mahabalipuram.

4. The rich and diverse profiles of the Greatlakers of 2009. The average batch experience is around 42 months. I have seen a doctor and a guy who's spent the last 3 years on a ship overseas amongst the current. That' speaks volumes for diversity.

5. I was also very impressed by their screening process where they took a holistic view of an individual into consideration. The entire interview, conference room meeting, profile marking  process was impressive to say the least.

6. The single occupancy rooms :-)

7. The empirical study with Yale and the option of dual specialization.

8. Lastly, high time I shift base from Pune. I've been in Pune for the first 24 years of my life and there is a general feeling (I wont take names) that I'm incapable of fending for myself.I want to put that theory to test. A year at Chennai would help put things in perspective.