Easing The Jump
 Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad is providing a ‘safety valve’ of sorts for those choosing to say ‘no’ to the lucrative job offers available on campus that have become an implicit part of the institution’s identity.
Instead, they now have the freedom to chart their own path in life. As per certain new rules framed by the placement committee there, students who opted out of the placement process this year, and preferred to go for independent (read riskier) ventures would be entitled to appear for placement interviews for the next two years. This is to ensure that they still get one more opportunity if their new ventures fail to take off.
Every batch over the past three years has had at least five-to-six students who have opted to take the independent career path. The new rule may tempt more students to take a risk and take the plunge straight out of B-schools.
The team has divided roles and responsibilities — while three members handle consulting, two concentrate on the medical tourism side, with three employees handling day-to-day operations. “The medical tourism business does not require huge expertise,” says Ramesh. “But people need to trust you. That’s something built over a period of time, through word of mouth.” Meanwhile, if consulting assignments are coming in from unexpected quarters, no one’s complaining. IndigoEdge or UniAxess, the team is willing to play chameleon if it makes sound business sense.
That’s a sentiment Mansur Nazimuddin certainly identifies with. The 28-year old IIM-A graduate (class of 2006) made headlines when he spurned a $100,000 pre-placement offer from Deutsche Bank to start a mobile gaming company. Tigertail Studios remains Nazimuddin’s merry muse and his daring dream. But for now, he’s poured his energies into a different kind of proposition — ‘Brewhaha’ — a real-world hangout that marries the fun of playing board games with the flavour of excellent food. Situated in the Koramangala area of Bangalore, Brewhaha is a joint venture with Mansur bringing in his love for games and Sreeram Vaidyanathan (IIMA batch of 2005) providing the passion for food.
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