Israeli Student Joins IIM Calcutta's Flagship PGDM Course

Israeli Student Joins IIM Calcutta's Flagship PGDM Course

"I came to IIM Calcutta because I see India as a country which has a chance of becoming the USA of the 21st century." These are the words of Orr Ben Nathan, a student from Israel who has come to study at IIM Calcutta's flagship two-year PGDM course for the 2008-10 session.

Orr studied Economics & Accounting from the Tel Aviv University in Israel. After his graduation, he served as a paratrooper in the Army for 3 years. "Stint at the army instilled the basic tenets of discipline in me," he remarked when asked about it. Later, Orr operated his own mutual fund for 30 months, which further strengthened his fundamentals of Finance. Orr next travelled all over India and South-east Asia for 3 years, and while in India, he developed an emotional attachment with the country. "The world economy of the 21st century will have its epicentre in Asia, and I want to be a part of this growth story," he remarked when asked about choosing India over other countries.

When asked why he preferred IIM Calcutta over other top B-schools in the world, he explained, "Right from the Interview Call, IIM Calcutta assigned a mentor for me and I got a lot of key insights about IIM Calcutta, which made my decision easier." (As a matter of fact, IIM Calcutta is a pioneer of Mentorship Program for the GDPI call-getters, which is a useful medium of information dissemination.) After a thorough research on top B-schools, he realised the prestige associated with IIM Calcutta; its positioning as the top B-school, the excellent alumni network, and the fact that IIM Calcutta attracts industry leaders from all over the world for recruitment. "The eminence of IIM Calcutta as a top B-school, especially for the investment banking positions, made the course at IIM Calcutta even more attractive for me, considering the tuition fees and cost of living, Indian B-schools offer an excellent return on investment as compared to the premier B-schools in the West such as Harvard, Wharton and INSEAD."

Though Orr has seen India very closely and is in love with it, when he decided that he would study in IIM Calcutta, his family was a bit ambivalent. To this, Orr says, "All unconventional things are challenged at first. But my family has not seen India as I have, so they didn't understand in the beginning what my plans were. But realising my focus and commitment, they were very happy and supportive."

When asked about adjusting to the life at IIM Calcutta, Orr says that he is really delighted to have found very friendly and helpful batchmates. On a lighter note, he says, "Since I am unique here and am yet to get acclimatised to the Indian culture, everyone talks to me very nicely and helps me." Orr finally says that even though it has only been a few days here, he is really impressed by the faculty, the learning environment, and the focussed students at IIM Calcutta.

Orr is indeed just a case in point. The fact is that IIM Calcutta today attracts the best talent from all over the world, including students from USA, Asia, Europe and Australia. Clearly, it is a reflection of the brand that IIM Calcutta, the oldest IIM in the country, has built for itself over the past 5 decades.

Concluded.

* Contributed by -
Krishnan Sekar,
External Relations Secretaries,
Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta.

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