‘We were taught by some of the veterans in college’

This honcho now runs his PR agency with achiever as his middle name. Meet Anil Nagwani who passed out of Apeejay School of Management (ASM) in 1997. In a candid interview, Nagwani recounts the number of moon years spent at this institute along with quirky anecdotes.

Tell us about yourself.

I am the Founder-Head, White Fish Communications (WFC), a Public Relations agency. WFC has helped companies, individuals, institutes, and start-ups to build, magnify and sustain desirable profiles helping them command Brand Equity in their own individual markets and sectors. 

I belong to the ASM 1995-97 batch, I think it was the third batch and the institute was then known as Apeejay School of Marketing. We shared our campus with Apeejay School of Design at Tughlaqabad. My specialisations were Marketing (major) and Finance (minor). 

What does your typical day look like?

I like to begin my day early with some tea and a rejuvenating morning walk. This is followed by getting ready for the day ahead. Check on my appointments and engagements schedule. And get done with other office/client work. My focus is to make the most of the first half of the day, as your energy levels tend to drain as the day progresses. This also gives you some time advantage to tackle unforeseen exigencies and client demands that are quite common in our profession. 

Tell us about your college life.

I carry some very fond memories of my time at ASM, stories etched on my mind, our trials, travail and transgressions. Friendships that began in the August of 1995 (the joining month) have stood the test of time and lasted till date, some even resulted in marriages and some didn’t! So no dearth of romance and bromance.

We would mimic the queer mannerisms of our professors and have fun at their expense. And we still do the same, whenever there is a get-together, bringing back a flood of memories, as the discussions meander in different directions.

We had a decent canteen, which served nice chow mein, vada sambar and bread pakodas. Since ours was a pre-internet era, knowledge had to be physically searched to access. But one thing that was very good about ASM was the institute provided the book for each trimester (we had three in a year). Some of the best books like Kotler and Stanton were provided to us, and their cost was included in the annual fees. I still possess a couple of those.  

 

What specialisation you pick and why?

I majored in Marketing with Finance as a minor specialisation. It was the Manmohan Singh (he was the Finance Minister back then) era of a newly liberalised nation’s businesses long suppressed by the License-Permit raj, were finding utterance! The MNC brands were entering the country and even the home grown ones were gearing for the big challenges and opportunities. The field of marketing was getting wider, wilder and enticing like never before!

How was the faculty?

We were guided by some of the best faculty in business. Our professors, many of them were veterans from the industry and alumni of eminent institutes like IITs, IIMS, FMS, and IIFT to name a few. I would like to mention Mr Manohar Gulati, ex-ICI Paints, of IIT Kharagpur and FMS Delhi. He taught Communications and Operations Research and was our dean. An absolute delight to be his pupil, armed with in-depth knowledge, to our awe and surprise, about everything under the sun and beyond!  

What is your dream and goal in life?

To have a good life…To be happy.

Any message for the aspiring management students.

Make money, but that is not the end all and end all of it. Go for a holistic career choice. Generate interest in what you do and dig deep. The irony of this project is that you have to first sink to swim successfully.

Your comments on the brain drain trend.

For anyone to operate efficiently and grow, there must be a stimulating environment to work in, ample opportunities, fair remuneration and a sense of safety and security. It doesn’t matter whether it is in India or abroad. Apart from our cultural ambassadors, we also need corporate ambassadors. This is how India exerts her soft power and these along with millions settled abroad help widen the sphere of influence of this ancient land of knowledge and salvation. Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam!   

How did ASM help hone your skills?

I was a novice to the world of marketing and management. Those days, there was no Internet. Cable TV was just making inroads. We were fresh out of college, who had some ideas, mostly theoretical, about businesses, the corporate world. There were no videos. All the knowledge was imparted to us through the lectures and our discussions with the professors. We were fortunate to have some very good ones, imparting both hard and soft skills that have held us in good stead for nearly three decades. And hence almost all of us belonging to the ASM 1995-97 batch have gone on to build successful careers for ourselves be it as corporate professionals, businesspersons or entrepreneurs.