Prof V Lakshminarayanan (’06 – ‘83) • Quarterly BITSians: Ms. Punita Pandey & Dr. Reena Aggarwal The BITSAA Edition Sandpaper [2.0] Spring 2006 BITS Pilani, Alumni Magazine BITSian Women You Go Girl! Entrepreneurship • Business • Academia Community • Engineering • Creative Arts Sandpaper [2.0] Spring 2006 Issue CONTENTS 3 EDITORIAL 45 A Dream to Touch – A Short Story FEATURES BUSINESS & STRATEGY 6 About Sandpaper 2.0 48 In conversation with Vivek Paul 7 Chitti Ayee Hai 54 Private Equity & Venture Capital – A Primer 7 NewsNews 10 Dilip’s Column – Heeding the call GENERAL INTEREST 57 CrossroadsCrossroads COVER STORY – BITSian Women 59 Prejudices in the workplace 12 Introduction 14 Entrepreneurs EDUCATION & ACADEMICS 17 Business Leaders 62 Myth busting the Indian MBA roulette 20 Academia 66 Prof. V.Lakshminarayanan (1906 – 1983) 22 Community & Public Service 23 Creative Arts THE QUARTERLY BITSIANS 25 Engineering & Technology 69 Punita Pandey, CEO, netCustomer 30 Prominent BITSian Women 72 Reena Aggarwal, Professor, Georgetown U. NOSTALGIC NOTES RESEARCH & INNOVATION 32 Looking Bank 74 Conquest 2006 34 Aur ek, aur ek, and aur ek 75 Step into the future 76 Company Watch: Telesto Infotech NOTES FROM PILANI 35 APOGEE 2006 BITSIANS IN THE COMMUNITY 38 A conscious academic culture 77 PS-II at BITSunami 40 More On BITS, Pilani – Goa Campus ALUMNI CORNER & BITSAA Initiatives CREATIVE & HUMOR 80 BITSian Women Partyin’ around the world 42 Behind the scenes 81 Selected Classnotes 44 Of preferences in vain SPRING 2006 │ BITS Pilani Alumni Magazine │ 2 Editorial Another kind of celebration… BITS Pilani is an exception to stereotypes and realities about women in engineering, technology and related fields. We know it to be an extremely progressive institution; A BITS press release of December 2005 established that our enrollment statistics indicate that girls opt for Engineering, Pharmacy and Management programs just as they for in Science programs. The Press Release further stated that low female enrollment in Engineering can be found at institutions even across the USA (with exceptions like MIT where women currently makeup 36 percent of all undergraduates). If this is the case in the United States, one would Anu and her family – flying high! expect a country such as India with a sliding sex ratio, instances of female feticide and worked very hard on about ‘half’ of this issue – women just making up 6 percent of the The Better Half! workforce, to have low levels of enrollment for higher education, particularly engineering. We interviewed women spanning multiple However, our Institution provides proof to the BITSian generations, attempting to discover contrary. what their experience at Pilani was like. We delved into their post-Pilani lives as well. We In addition to trends in the enrollment statistics walked down memory lane revisiting the joyous of women, we also wanted to critically assess and the sorrowful times that made up some of how BITSian women have fared over the years. the best days of our lives. We explored the What kind of professions are they in? What has biases women face in technology, the business the journey been like for them, both through their styles that contributed to women’s successes Pilani as well as beyond? and transitions of a different kind. There are many women in the non-profit sector. In fact, the Our cover story in this issue of Sandpaper first BITSian women who attended the first ever attempts to answer these questions and social services project by BITS Pilani, i.e. celebrate the achievements of BITSian women. BITSunami, has recounted her story in this It not only addresses our curiosity, but also issue. serves as an inspiration for us, for both women and men. It answers fundamental questions like Our Quarterly BITSians are two outstanding ‘how’ (have women achieved success) and women from the corporate and the academic ‘where’ (what companies) and ‘what’ (sectors – realms. Punita Pandey (EEE), an exemplary Engineering? Business? Non profits?) BITSian entrepreneur is the Chairman and CEO of women have pursued their interests. netCustomer, founded in 1999, which is a leading provider of advanced applications Furthermore, it only stands to reason that this support services. Her initial years at cover story would be authored by a team led by netCustomer were studied by Stanford the first Woman President of the BITS Student University as part of a case study, which is now Union, Aditi Pany. taught at various business schools. For good measure and with Sandpaper’s affinity Dr. Reena Agarwal (MMS) is a Visiting for the humorous, we called the team that Professor of Finance, Sloan School of Management, MIT and Stallkamp Faculty Fellow SPRING 2006 │ BITS Pilani Alumni Magazine │ 3 Editorial BITSian guys in making our Institution progressive. And, not, this is not merely to placate BITSian men who felt left out from this issue! The BITSian Women’s Council (WOC) was established just six months back, like an inspiring Old Girls’ Club and it has burgeoned to over 300 members. We also did have one BITSian guy arguing gender discrimination, who tried to become a member. Very original! That’s what makes BITS so special. An original bunch of people pursuing their eclectic Our daughters and sons - making the World a better place careers, chasing their dreams. and Professor of Finance, Georgetown In addition, another reason this issue has been University. She was named among the special for me is that this is Sandeep’s last issue “Outstanding Faculty” in the Business Week as Chief Editor. He has meant a great deal to Guide to the Best Business Schools. Through me, doubling up as somebody I’ve enjoyed her career, she has been Visiting Research working with, and somebody who’s become a Scholar at the IMF (2004, 2003), Fulbright friend for life. Scholar in Brazil and Chile, Academic Fellow at the US SEC (1997-1999), Consultant with the And for all of us, NASDAQ, UN, IMF, IFC, IDB, Credit Suisse etc. Oh you can sneak time, and you can dream time, Previous Sandpaper issues have focused on But just like some drummers different subjects (which is not to say, we leave we've had the often damaging experience of them stranded subsequently). To begin with, we working with - did feel that restricting ourselves to subjects like You just can't keep time. Entrepreneurship or Social Service or BITSians Yes, we’ve had the time of our lives! in Finance would be more neutral than focusing on women. I too was of the view initially, but this I can vouch for most BITSian women, ‘Yes, issue has indeed become a celebration of the we’ve had the time of our lives.’ Now let’s accomplishments of BITSian women who hail read about it. from one of the most progressive universities in India, BITS Pilani. Anuradha Sharma Gupta (’86 MMS) Guest Editor In the last issue, Buvana talked about how April 15, 2006 women can overcome constraints and return to work after a break. Success, part time work, constraints, joys, transitions, sabbaticals apart; adapting their styles and overcoming biases, or just being themselves, BITSian women have done us proud. Those we have talked about, and those we have not. Those we know about and those that we, unfortunately don’t. Forget gender wars on campus. We have come a long way and cannot discount the role of SPRING 2006 │ BITS Pilani Alumni Magazine │ 4 About Sandpaper 2.0 SandpaperOnline http://www.bitsaa.org/sandpaper/sandpaper.html BITSAA Newsletter BITSians IN ACADEMICS Every month we bring you a newsletter At last count, there with stories about BITS and BITSAA were 208 BITSian through the Yahoo! Groups. In case you alums teaching as miss an edition, you can visit the professors at Newsletter archives online and go through universities and issues and news that you may have research institutes missed out on. around the world. All details including Photo Galleries research, emails and phone Click on “Photo Galleries” on numbers are to be www.bitsaa.org and see photos of Pilani, found on the cartoons, artwork and books by BITSians, website. Contact as well as profiles of BITSians in business, these professors. academia and research. Start a dialogue! TEAM SANDPAPER – 34 Pierce Road, East Windsor, NJ 09520 EDITORIAL BOARD Dilip D’Souza, Anuradha Gupta, Anupendra Sharma JOIN THE TEAM (Also includes *Chief Ed) CHIEF EDITOR Sandeep Mukherjee* Sandpaper 2.0 is created by a global team with members ASSOCIATE EDITORS Ashish Garg, Pushkala Venkataraman, Dileepan Narayanan spanning seven countries in four continents. It’s a great NEWSLETTER Dileepan Narayanan place to gain organizational GENERAL INTEREST Sandhya Krishnan leadership experience, BUSINESS & STRATEGY Prasenjit Chaudhari, Vignesh Shetty network with the alumni EDUCATION & ACADEMICS Vikas Chandra community and enhance COMMUNITY SERVICE Laxman Mohanty your writing skills. CREATIVE & HUMOR Dileepan Nara Please send your articles, CLASS NOTES Suraj Srinivasan nominations for Quarterly PILANI TEAM Sukanya Vijayakumar (Team Lead), BITSian, letters to the Himabindu Chitta, Vernon Fernandez editor, feedback and TECHNOLOGY Anand Jayaram, Vivek Iyer requests to join the team THANKS Each and Every member of the BITSAA Women’s to: [email protected] Council, Anurup Mitra, Mukul Chawla. BITSAA International has been granted 501(c)3 tax- exempt status by the IRS, and is registered in New Jersey, USA. © All copyrights for these articles belong solely to the authors unless stated. SPRING 2006 │ BITS Pilani Alumni Magazine │ 5 About Sandpaper 2.0 BITSAA SANDPAPER VISION To read past issues visit the website: http://www.bitsaa.org/sandpaper/sandpaper.html SPRING 2006 │ BITS Pilani Alumni Magazine │ 6 FEATURES Chitti Ayee Hai KEEP IT UP, Home # 631 586 1579 professional outfit in Delhi. It might Cell # 631 988 0134 be of particular interest to other SANDPAPER! Email: [email protected] fellow BITSians who are eligible bachelors in or outside India or have Dear All BITSian START-UP children in that age group.