IIPM - Expose'

Long time that I have written anything on my blog. Didnt have time to write. But as an avid blog follower, I saw that there is one issue on blogosphere that no one can miss - The IIPM Fraud.IIPM as people in India know is Indian Institute of Planning & Management. More known than the name of the institute is the catch phrase which reads 'Dare to think beyond IIMs'. (For starters, IIM is Indian Institute of Management are a string of six institutes arguably compared to the Ivy league colleges of the US in terms of academic standard!). As an IIM-Bangalore graduate, I remember very well laughing away at that catch phrase with a touch of mockery and nonchalance. Never did I bother, like any other indian, how good that institute is and how many people are trapped by that outrageous marketing claim. However, its only when an ex-IIMA grad, Rashmi Bansal, who runs popular youth magazine JAM has reported about IIPM that I got interested yet again. (You can read it here).The story took yet another interesting turn when a unsuspecting, serious blogger who believes in minor things like Freedom of Speech and Right to Opinion, Gaurav Sabnis, linked up to Rashmi's article in his blog. And with great show of grit and belief in personal freedom, Gaurav had to resign from his job in IBM due to cheap mafia-tic tactics by IIPM. (Incidentally, IBM has IIPM as its big customer. Why not, when IIPM provides free laptops to its students :-). The entire episode is wonderfully covered here by DesiPundit, a Indian blog site.As much for the story, three key things stand out from this episode.1. The importance of free speech, right to expression and standing by your opinion.2. How education in India has become more and more like a business - with an objective of minting money and how easily the institutes can be sold - I dont see any difference now between a 'New Improved Surf Excel with Active Oxygen' and 'IIPM - We teach today and rest adopt tomorrow'. All this coming from a guy with this profile (Note: Everything from IIPM - his dad's institute!)*Professor Chaudhuri did his B.A. with Honours in Economics, Honours Diploma in Industrial *Engineering, M.A with Honours in Economics, Post Graduate Diploma in Planning and *Management (MBA) and Fellowship of I.I.P.M. Professor Chaudhuri has been amongst the *toppers during his B.A. Economics, M.A. Economics and MBA. He was the recipient of the *Academic Gold Medal while completing his Post Graduate Diploma in Planning and *Management from IIPM.3. When the blogosphere is reverberating with the screams and shouts of self-respecting enthusiastic bloggers, no mainstream print or TV channel has picked up the story for a complete coverage. Reason is obviouis - IIPM spent Rs 5.1 crores on advertising in May 2005 alone, making it the highest advertiser in print for that month, according to the Economic Times. So, shall I sit down and wonder why they did not pick it up??However, this issue on the blogspots has revealed some curious and very analytical bloggers who used just the internet to dig out lot of fishy and shady details about IIPM. These are what should get more footage. Gawker brought out really fishy details about IIPM degree here. (For starters, read details abt IIPM academic programs here) and Transmogrified unravels more at http://constructal.blogspot.com/2005/10/web-of-deception.html#linksOverall, a really interesting fight on the blog net. I would love to see IIPM get bashed up for all the marketing gimmicks and intellectual atrocities on the unsuspecting students of India. May the truth win.