Shubh aarambh!!!

If you thought that seminars and lectures were the nerds & geeks hub, well then the Extra-Mural
Lecture this time was totally against the norms!! The hall was filled to its capacity, with a very engaging
lecture from a speaker whose charisma captivated the audience, and as a cherry on top of the cream,
every member of the audience was gifted with a Cadbury Silk!!! Wondering if all this actually happened
in IITM? Yes, a seminar of this sort is possible only if the talk was by Anand Kripalu, the President, South-
East Asia & IndoChina and MD of Cadbury Ltd. Now you get the mystery behind the generous supply of
Cadbury Silk.

A glorious alumnus of IITM and IIMC, Anand Kripalu’s professional credentials will leave any one in
awe. Mr. Kripalu has a rich experience of over 24 years ... in the FMCG industry, spread between HLL
and Kraft Foods (Cadbury India Ltd). The lecture was about “Life and Business lessons from a career in
FMCG”. He shared with us his 10 secrets to success, with meaningful anecdotes and learnings from his
life.

Ambition: Every successful businessman needs an ambition, a deep desire to achieve one’s
goals. Mr. Kripalu cautioned us neither to underestimate nor overestimate while setting our
goals.
II. Hunger & Desire to make a difference: One should also have the fire in the belly to realize one’s
ideas. No matter what your position or designation in an organization is, we can always make a
mark.
III. Power of Focus: Instead of being a jack of all trades and a master of none, Anand Kripalu
emphasized the importance of prioritizing and focusing our efforts on resources that would
maximize our outputs, on every front.
IV. “We make things happen”: Always take charge of what happens to us and never get into
the “victim” mentality. We should not be a victim of our circumstances, instead we need to
control our circle of influence.
V. Careers are not sprints, they are marathons: We need to have long term career plans and
sustain our energy and efforts throughout. No matter how high up the ladder we reach, we
should never stop learning and always give importance to grass root level experiences.
VI. Get comfortable outside your comfort zone: Taking risks and getting into unchartered territories
would enrich your experiences and make you wiser. He also quoted that “Good people make
bad jobs better”. You biggest success would be when you conquer unfamiliar fields.
VII. Be future ready: Always be up-to-date with current trends in order to survive growth and
competition. Also, he added that strategies are not what you plan to do, but what you don’t
intend to do.
VIII.Always leave a legacy: “You make a living by what you get, you make a life by what you give” is
what he emphasized. One needs to create best work practices that can be followed in future.
IX. Communicate, Communicate and Communicate: Silence doesn’t always mean agreement.
Proper communication helps to understand and to be understood better. So always ensure 2
way communications in all your interactions.
X. Winning the right way: Success is important, but the route to success is even more important.
Ethics should never be compromised upon. He shared one his superior’s quotes in this
regard “Nothing can be greater than business, however small, if governed by ethics. And no
business can be more petty, however large, if governed by dishonesty.”

Some of the takeaways of the session were to enjoy life and work and strive to balance both. One
should never perceive work as burden. It is then you would achieve contentment at the end of the goal,
which should be our ultimate aim in life. The lecture also included videos depicting the evolution of
Cadbury as a brand over the years, which was inspiring and kept the audience engrossed. Overall, as the
Cadbury tagline goes, “Shubh kaam karne se pehle kuch meetha ho jaye”, the audience were able to
enjoy their “meetha” Cadbury silk before this motivating “shubh” lecture.
Courtesy 
Roshni Anna John and Aparna Panditi 
Class of 2014