Wharton India Economic Forum attempts to define the Indian Dream
Aryata Agarwal, WG'08
Issue date: 10/9/06 Section: News
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Rewind-
India, the name conjured myriad images of an exotic land - a land of mysticism, potent spirituality and pervasive chaos that enthralled the eternal backpacker and left him thirsting for more.
Fast Forward-
India, a rising global economic force, is getting unprecedented attention, mixed with a healthy dose of apprehension and opportunism, from the world as it marches towards superpower status. The signs are positive - volumes have been published on the Indian growth phenomenon, Indian foreign exchange reserves soar and Indians are being recognised as 'leaders' in varied fields, be it business, the medical and legal professions, literature or the arts.
Clearly, attitudes are changing and nowhere is it more manifest than in the cradles of the "Brain Drain" phenomenon - the graduate schools. A recent informal study at some of the top business schools in the US revealed that an increasing number of Indian students were genuinely interested in returning to their motherland to further their careers. With Indian companies such as Infosys Technologies and HCL going transnational and beginning to offer challenging jobs overseas, the "Look East" trend is only gaining momentum.
New initiatives are being taken and the reform process has affected the thinking of Indians in a positive manner. There is heady talk among the new generation of the country aspiring for superpower status, which is only a reflection of national pride and growing optimism that a nation of a billion people can be transformed. Suddenly, among India's new breed of leaders, words such as "vision" and "dream" are back in currency. However, unlike its American counterpart, "The Indian Dream" is not clearly defined.
It is this Herculean task of unraveling "The Indian Dream" that students at The Wharton School have undertaken as the agenda for the Wharton India Economic Forum 2006 (WIEF). Initiated in 1996, WIEF was the first platform at any US business school dedicated to enhancing the understanding of the Indian economy in the US and facilitating cooperation and mutual relations between the two nations. In its 11th year, which also coincides with the 125th anniversary of The Wharton School, the conference, titled "Realising the Indian Dream", has consistently attracted literati and corporate bigwigs from India such as Narayan Murthy, Mukesh Ambani, P. Chidambaram - a forbidding and eclectic mix of panelists who would be hard to find under one roof anywhere else. This year also marks the launch of India Knowledge@Wharton, a bi-weekly online business analysis and research publication. "The India version of Knowledge@Wharton allows us to disseminate Wharton analysis and insight about a region that is highly important to business leaders worldwide," said Patrick T. Harker, Dean of the Wharton School.
A student-driven initiative, WIEF has attained considerable acclaim in a short span of time and captured the interest of the media and students alike, growing into one of the biggest conferences to be hosted at any business school in the world. A lot of the success, students explain, can be attributed to the support extended by the faculty and administration at the school, which enrolls one of the largest contingents of Indian students and regularly fosters Indian leaders such as Anil Ambani, Aditya Mittal and Tarun Tahiliani, to name a few.
Committed to interpreting the dream that is going to define the new India, the conference will host experts such as Rahul Bajaj, Chairman, Bajaj Auto Ltd.; Adi Godrej, Chairman, Godrej Group and Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairman and MD, Biocon Ltd.; among others, who will be presenting tangible proposals on how to turn the dream into a reality.
Please visit www.whartonindia.com or email wief-press@wharton.upenn.edu for more information.
India, the name conjured myriad images of an exotic land - a land of mysticism, potent spirituality and pervasive chaos that enthralled the eternal backpacker and left him thirsting for more.
Fast Forward-
India, a rising global economic force, is getting unprecedented attention, mixed with a healthy dose of apprehension and opportunism, from the world as it marches towards superpower status. The signs are positive - volumes have been published on the Indian growth phenomenon, Indian foreign exchange reserves soar and Indians are being recognised as 'leaders' in varied fields, be it business, the medical and legal professions, literature or the arts.
Clearly, attitudes are changing and nowhere is it more manifest than in the cradles of the "Brain Drain" phenomenon - the graduate schools. A recent informal study at some of the top business schools in the US revealed that an increasing number of Indian students were genuinely interested in returning to their motherland to further their careers. With Indian companies such as Infosys Technologies and HCL going transnational and beginning to offer challenging jobs overseas, the "Look East" trend is only gaining momentum.
New initiatives are being taken and the reform process has affected the thinking of Indians in a positive manner. There is heady talk among the new generation of the country aspiring for superpower status, which is only a reflection of national pride and growing optimism that a nation of a billion people can be transformed. Suddenly, among India's new breed of leaders, words such as "vision" and "dream" are back in currency. However, unlike its American counterpart, "The Indian Dream" is not clearly defined.
It is this Herculean task of unraveling "The Indian Dream" that students at The Wharton School have undertaken as the agenda for the Wharton India Economic Forum 2006 (WIEF). Initiated in 1996, WIEF was the first platform at any US business school dedicated to enhancing the understanding of the Indian economy in the US and facilitating cooperation and mutual relations between the two nations. In its 11th year, which also coincides with the 125th anniversary of The Wharton School, the conference, titled "Realising the Indian Dream", has consistently attracted literati and corporate bigwigs from India such as Narayan Murthy, Mukesh Ambani, P. Chidambaram - a forbidding and eclectic mix of panelists who would be hard to find under one roof anywhere else. This year also marks the launch of India Knowledge@Wharton, a bi-weekly online business analysis and research publication. "The India version of Knowledge@Wharton allows us to disseminate Wharton analysis and insight about a region that is highly important to business leaders worldwide," said Patrick T. Harker, Dean of the Wharton School.
A student-driven initiative, WIEF has attained considerable acclaim in a short span of time and captured the interest of the media and students alike, growing into one of the biggest conferences to be hosted at any business school in the world. A lot of the success, students explain, can be attributed to the support extended by the faculty and administration at the school, which enrolls one of the largest contingents of Indian students and regularly fosters Indian leaders such as Anil Ambani, Aditya Mittal and Tarun Tahiliani, to name a few.
Committed to interpreting the dream that is going to define the new India, the conference will host experts such as Rahul Bajaj, Chairman, Bajaj Auto Ltd.; Adi Godrej, Chairman, Godrej Group and Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairman and MD, Biocon Ltd.; among others, who will be presenting tangible proposals on how to turn the dream into a reality.
Please visit www.whartonindia.com or email wief-press@wharton.upenn.edu for more information.
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