Upinder Singh's Book Launch - Video Coverage (5th Aug)

Dear All,

We’ve uploaded an edited version of the video coverage of Upinder Singh's book launch. The video is in two parts which has a few clippings of Vivek's speech followed by Upinder’s.
A special thanks to Manav for his efforts and support for uploading and editing the video!
Enjoy!









Thanks,
Babita

Thank god we're all safe

I'm writing this as I drive to office after being away for three whole weeks, my mind still filled with the terrible images in the morning papers. Thank god everyone in the Pearson family seems to be unharmed by the blasts in Delhi. Let's say a prayer for those who did suffer through this senseless act.

My focus of the last 3 weeks has been my own family - I have been settling my older son into his new life in Vancouver Film School. For any of you who find yourselves in Vancouver on holiday, I'm sure Dhruv will be happy to show you around what must be one of the prettiest cities on earth.

And now its back to the office, and believe it or not, I am actually looking forward to diving back into it, and whatever surprises this crazy business is going to throw at me!

Vivek Govil

Sent from BlackBerry® on Airtel

Upinder's book launch in Kolkata

Dear All,

A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India by Upinder Singh was successfully launched at Rabindranath Tagore centre ICCR Kolkata on 26 August 08.

The event had Dr B D Chattopadhyaya, Professor Bharati Ray, and Professor Hari Vasudevan as speakers. Reba Som, director of the Rabindranath Tagore Centre, welcomed the panelists and the guests. The book was released by the governor of West Bengal—Mr Gopal Krishna Gandhi. The governor lavishly praised Upinder’s efforts, her use of archaeological evidence and how they contribute to the seriousness of a book that is otherwise attractively designed.

Professor Hari Vasudevan, chaired a panel discussion. He spoke on the challenges of history teaching and his experience as a teacher. Bharati Ray praised Upinder’s patience and labour. She also spoke of the role of women in ancient India and how Upinder had focused on that.

Professor B D Chattopadhyaya dealt with the book in detail and raised critical questions on issues it had dealt with, especially on issues of nomenclature and terminology.

Upinder thanked the panel and recounted her experience of writing the book, its genesis and how it took its final shape. She emphasized that even as scholarship was an issue, she wanted to ‘get on with the story’—telling the whole story of ancient India was more important than engaging in debates on historiography. Her responsibility towards her students, a passionately felt responsibility, propelled her narrative of ancient Indian history.

Journalists like Rudrangshu Mukherjee, actor—Barun Chanda, academicians like Tapati Guha Thakurata, Sugata Bose, Vice-Chancellor of Vishwa Bharati University Shanti Niketan University—Rajat Kanto Ray, historian Suparna Gooptu, teachers of history and archaeology from the University of Calcutta and Jadavpur University, curators and librarians from the Indian Museum and the Asiatic Society attended the programme. Representatives from the trade were also there. Mr Dipak Dasgupta, of IBD, Aurobindo Dasgupta from Dasgupta and Sons, Sanjeeb Bose from Bharti Bhawan, and Ms Maina Bhagat from the Oxford Bookstore, Kolkata were there.

The event was covered by Kolkata TV (they telecast Upinder’s hour long interview live and repeated it twice), Star Ananda, Tara TV, 24 Ghanta and ETV Bangla. Anandabazaar Patrika interviewed Upinder and also published a preview of the event in its edit page on 25 August. The Telegraph, The Statesman and The Hindustan Times covered the event. Upinder was also interviewed by The Telegraph and The Hindustan Times.

Attached are the photographs of book launch.

Best,

Babita Chauhan

Introducing Macroeconomics on Blogger

Hello everyone!

 

 As you all know, Macroeconomics by Errol D’souza was launched on 2 August, 2008. The Media Resources division of Higher Education has set up a blog for publicity and promotion of this book. Prof. Errol D’souza has been very supportive and has consented to post on a regular basis. His first post is up on the blog.

 

Please go check it out at http://errol-dsouza.blogspot.com and contribute with a post/comment/feedback!!

 

Thanks!

Gargi.

 

 

We had one too!

                       The setting wasn’t exotic Goa or one of the top ten tourist getaways in India (according to the Cosmopolitan). But, we, the hitherto ignored Higher Ed team, had our very own NSM at Varanasi in May this year. There were a lot of firsts in our NSM. The development editors presented their major titles to the sales team; some of them running from one conference room to another as they were supposed to simultaneously present B&E and ESM titles (Business & Economics and Engineering, Science, and Maths, for the uninitiated). They could have given pointers to the 100 metres sprint contestants at the Olympics. Amar astounded everyone with his dancing skills and caused some minor upheavals on the dance floor while Nagaraja, on behalf of the Chennai team, laid territorial claim to the dance floor and refused to relinquish his rights to anyone. Ashish (PTG Chandigarh) managed to successfully miss the train to Delhi while leaving for the NSM, and then to keep up the good work, he got left behind in the Sarnath museum.  He let us all down, however, by catching the return train to Chandigarh. The women in Marketing and Promotions raided the city shops and the prize for most-Saris-bought went to Babita (or was it Anjali?). Madhur clicked embarrassing photographs of everyone, some asleep, some half-awake and some completely zoned out, and Vivek used them to add punch to his presentation. The meat eaters had a field day as there was bacon, ham, and two kinds of sausages for breakfast everyday apart from the normal fare of scrambled eggs, pancakes and syrup, idlis, puris and so on. There were unofficial beer (and other spirits) guzzling competitions every night. But it was difficult to figure out who won; the competitors were usually past caring.

                        Hope I have done a little towards keeping the Higher Ed flag flying. By the way, great posts from both Soumitri and Gitesh.

 

 

 

                           Anindita Pandey

Lunch Break

The greater part of my lunch break is spent opening heavy doors and climbing up and down tedious flights of stairs. On Thursday, during lunch, as I was about to open one such door, it swung open, seemingly on its own…and what followed was a moment of doubt and resolution. Please don’t accuse me of unnecessary exaggeration…I let our authors practise that art…I’m just trying to put a harrowing experience in words! Coming back to the door, I stopped in my stride to fathom the mystery behind its opening. My dear friend Yajnaseni (Jogu, in popular jargon) was also equally suspicious. Within a fraction of a second a figure emerged into sight…none other than our CEO Mr Govil, engaged in an animated phone conversation. I don’t need to explain to you that he had graciously opened the door for the ladies to pass. Well, I’m not writing this post in the middle of the night to furnish proofs of Mr Govil’s adherence to the haloed institution of chivalry. The best part of this encounter, I’m yet to disclose. After the customary nods and smiles were exchanged, Mr Govil turned to me, knitted his brows and said, ‘Soumitri, you owe us’! Immediately my world was hit by a giant wave of tsunami and I saw it disintegrating in front of my own eyes…’I owe the company money…!’ Dark images surfaced in front of my eyes…I saw myself, in handcuffs, being whisked away by the cops to some godforsaken prison…and there…I saw the conclusion of my potentially eventful life…Well, in my imagination I had already climbed on to the police jeep when Mr Govil chose to complete his unfinished sentence. ‘You owe us a blog post.’ Without wasting a minute I got off the police jeep and reclaimed my life. The bulbs in our office had never shone with such zeal as they did at that moment. I knew what he was talking about. I was supposed to write about the School NSM 2008 in Goa.

 

With that lengthy introduction I now embark upon my original task.

 

The School Editorial is a great Pantheon of magicians (editors, as they are popularly known as), who can perform any kind of miracle at any given moment. The miracles, of course, come in the shape of beautifully crafted books, which are brought out in frenzied conditions. This year, we travelled to Goa to celebrate our miracles and let our babies bask in the sun and the sand (it’s a different matter altogether that the sunshine was sabotaged by the rain)

 

As we occupied our seats on the train, the party began. The train chugged along, gradually leaving Delhi and NCR far behind. It was a great start to three days of fun and frolic. We had our priorities in place. We were equipped with all the ingredients for the perfect picture. Rohit Sir and Naveen Sir ensured that there was never a dull moment. Kundan and Amit ensured that our jaws didn’t get a minute’s respite. Few kind souls ran back to back movie shows to ensure that no one sulks for the lack of entertainment. And the bubbly heartily supported all these enterprises.

 

The Konkan landscape offered a kaleidoscopic view of verdant fields, sprightly brooks, truant streams and hills and hillocks of various shapes and sizes. The quaint little stations without a speck of dirt left us awestruck (though we did our bit by scattering a few cigarette stubs here and there to make them appear more real).

 

From Mudgaon station our hotel was about 35 km away (don’t expect me to write down the name of the hotel…an editor is supposed to know all the difficult spellings but I don’t know this one). A short bus ride got us there. We enthusiastically occupied our respective state-of-the-art rooms. The dinner was awesome. For the next three days we were slaves to the Danish pastries and the fish cooked in Goan style. They acted as the perfect anti-stress potion.

 

We used to start our day very early, with a quick breakfast and stumble into the conference room, feeling groggy and sighing at the kind of injustice that we had fallen prey to. The conference provided the editors an excellent platform to unveil their books. The sales guys gained necessary information about the products that they would have to sell in the market. The day’s work was followed by crazy evenings replete with music, dancing, amazing jigs, rush of adrenaline and overflowing spirits (it’s the human spirit, this time). If that wasn’t enough, some of us would wrap up the day by rushing to the beach, rolling in the sand and braving the rain for another session of music and bonhomie. After all this some inspired souls felt motivated enough to visit the casino to nourish their penchant for disaster.

 

We all had great fun during those three days. However, the fun wasn’t always restricted to the booze, food, parties or presentations. An NSM is about people and their spirit. They make the occasion special. On the first day I came across many unknown faces from different corners of the country. At the end of the three days, all those faces had become familiar to me. We speak to our sales guys so many times over the phone, mutually pestering each other for something or the other. We also spend a lot of time dwelling upon each other’s limitations. Unfortunately, most of us wouldn’t even recognise each other in a crowd of faces. They are faceless entities to us, with whom we often share a volatile relationship. To them we are strangers. Our interaction is restricted to telephonic conversations and exchange of emails. The NSM presents an opportunity to all of us to connect names and voices with faces and look beyond the realm of mutual professional interest.

 

During my first NSM in 2007, I had no idea that so many people were a part of our organisation and Pearson Education was not just about the handful of faces one came across every day in office. Let alone the sales guys, we don’t even interact with our colleagues from other departments and on other floors on a regular basis in the Delhi office itself.

 

Goa allowed us to break all barriers and rise beyond our day-to-day dissatisfactions and frustrations. Smiles were exchanged, friendships were struck and acquaintances were made. Great ideas floated around. Our platter was always full. From books and strategies to clothes and spouses – we discussed practically everything. They say, ‘A lot can happen over a cup of coffee’. I have reservations against this statement. I can tell, from personal experience that a humble cup of coffee often fails to live up to popular expectations in many situations. You may agree or disagree. But we all agree that, ‘A lot does happen over an NSM…’

 

Soumitri – school editorial

 

Public speaking and holidays

This Monday we launched a book called "Social Development in Independent India" and I was asked to make a brief speech. ( You can see pictures and a more formal report from Babita below this) Following me as speakers were Muchkund Dubey and Montek Singh Ahluwahlia. If you don't know who they are, Google them, and then try and think what you would say about social development which would add to what they might be able to tell you.

Try as I might, I couldn't think of a single thing to say, other than welcoming all the guests. I did that in the first few sentences and then found myself telling this very learned audience the story behind the picture on the cover of the book - a beautiful picture taken by Madhur Bhatia at a village school outside Varanasi. Thankfully Dr. Ahluwahlia looked as if he was interested, and the audience was too civilised to boo this twit who was talking about the cover, when the content of the book was what they wanted to hear about.

For the future, if anyone asks me to speak without giving me a tight script, they run the risk of my blurting out whatever comes into my head at the moment.

Tomorrow I am off on 3 weeks leave, to drop my 18 year old son to film school in Vancouver. Its also the first family holiday we are taking since 2006, and so I am really looking forward to it. My next post might include some pictures of whales and glaciers!

Sent from BlackBerry® on Airtel

The Launch of Social Development in Independent India by Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia

Dear All,

Pls. find attached herewith the photographs of Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Government of India and Prof. Muchkund Dubey during the release of “Social Development in Independent India in Delhi on Monday 18 August 2008 at Gulmohar, India Habitat Center, and the panelists were Professor S.N. Jha, Prof. G. Nambissan, and Prof. Imrana. Qadeer.

Among those who attended the book release function were academicians, scholars, and media persons like (DD News, The Week, Business, IANS, Business Bhaskar, India Times and Samyak Bharat weekly)

Dr. Ahluwalia told that we have been exceptionally good in outlining mantras but to what extent objectives are achieved remains a matter of debate and doubt and he mentioned that the book provides an overview of the course of social development in India in the past 60 years by throwing light on different government schemes and social issues.

I have pasted the media reviews below this text for your convenience.

http://www.outlookmoney.com/olmnew/agencyarticle.aspx?id=13480

http://in.news.yahoo.com/43/20080818/812/tnl-montek-emphasises-need-to-hit-social.html

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Scientific-analysis-must-for-all-schemes-Montek/350317/

http://www.freshnews.in/montek-emphasises-need-to-hit-social-sector-targets-53742

http://www.twocircles.net/2008aug18/montek_emphasises_need_hit_social_sector_targets.html

Please spread the word to all the appropriate accounts (bookstores/ libraries) and use it as an effective sales tool. This would certainly get favourable results in terms of sale.

Best,

Babita Chauhan

SNAP SHOTS FROM GOA

As soon as Rajdhani express halted at the Madgaon station, the excited and restless team of Pearson School Division, jumped on to the platform of the "tiny emerald city"; Goa - a small and beautiful sea town wrapped up in monsoon serenity of dancing coconut trees, like a bunch of Portuguese travellers, finding their blessed land after a long voyage.

The boundless excitement & energy spilled on to the luxurious beach resort of Cidade De Goa, as soon as "Pearsonities" landed there, which was to be the scene of hectic corporate activity for the next three days.

By 8:30 p.m. the “Laranza” dinning hall was filled with cacophony of loud chatter of the Pearson team coupled with the melody of romantic songs belted out cheerfully by 3 guys in colourful shirts.

While the marketing team - school division went running around to see the arrangements, the rest of the team headed for the sand & sea of Vainguinim beach…

It rained all night….

Day 1

Naveen set the ball rolling in Grand Sala convention hall by welcoming everyone......and showcasing Pearson Education's milestones & achievements in a brief documentary.... Then started the product presentations and areawise sales reports, marking the good work & success stories of the sales team along with the launch of new school titles 'Images & Uphaar' which the editorial (their Babies) bring out with “Joyful Labour” every academic year.

As Naveen said “Work Hard, Party Harder” … after the days work, the evening was for fun games. “Ramdulara” the donkey with missing tail stole the show, which blindfolded Naveen, Dipankar and Shafina successfully detected….!! So much so for missing links.....Pearsonities se bachna mushkil hi nahin, namumkin hai Ramdulare ji!!! Aap kya sooch rahe the!!!

The “Bindi” round saw all the lovely ladies of Pearson standing stricken as their faces were smeared with as many bindis as the chosen guys (Lucky men...) could stick......with great sense of competition… Nehal & Purba won (with 13 bindis on her face) ...

The ladies then tied the ribbon knots which our Pearson gentleman had to unknot (all ran thinking its Rakhi) Deepa & Rohit Dhar won, prompting Rohit to do a victory dance like a boxer..

After a stupendous meal the action again shifted to beach with everyone trying to ride the big waves that came rushing to the sandy sea shore…till it started to rain, yet again.

And it rained all night.....

Day 2

Vivek came on the second day and made up for his absence in more ways than one...Everyone was enamoured by the way he introdued himself during his presentation!! He interacted with everyone, shook a leg, met our authors..... and felicitated the sales teams for their stupendous performance in UP & Uttranchal, and Delhi/NCR.

It was a day dedicated to high energy perfromances: Derek O' Brien in his trademark sunshine yellow t-shirt with his team came, saw & conquered the entire gathering!! No wonder, he has women swooning to his every move!! More awards followed: The North Eastern team for their commendable performance, the editorial for winning the Star Performer of the year award through popular polling for Know & Grow with Derek. The cherry on the cake was the surprise award for creating the motto; "Aspire, Achieve, Inspire" - which went to the thunderstruck Gitesh, who couldn't believe that such an award had been announced......

It rained all the day…..yet again!!!

The gala evening party started with wishing Happy Birthday to Jitender Kumaria, who drank beer from the feeder bottle and opened the next round of party game “Drinking beer from feeder bottle” – where the big boys became babies & crawled and drank from the feeder bottles… Who else, but Sanjeev, the beer tanker, won. Girls did it with Coke & our new member of Pearson Arundhati won...

Soon after games, everyone hit the floor....in their best dancing shoes. Naveen was the “on-mike DJ”, adding frenzy to the dance fever… Vivek danced ….Sharmila, Ranjani, Rajni danced, Sanjeev, Mansi, Soumitri, Diyasree, Tandeep, Prashant, Gitesh also danced. Kamal,(who never stopped) … danced & dazzled, but behold who stole the thunder “ Mona Goyal”.. She danced as there was no tomorrow - Retro, disco salsa, hip-hop, she got it all – And won the Dancing Diva award!! The Jumping Jack award was handed over to Amrit Ranjan Pandey for his gravity-defying break-dance. And it rained all night!!!!

Day 3

Quiz time …..

Pearson Product Quiz: Prashant for once was Prashant O’ Brien the Quiz master.. Conducting the Pearson Product quiz 2008, shooting his brain twister questions to four selected teams & audience… Where did Naveen start his career in Pearson? Full form of CAMP? Full name of Bala? Everyone scratched their heads…..rattled their minds, tickled their grey cells….... Many won chocolates for the right answer, and the west zone comprising Parvesh and team won the Dazzling Quiz trophy.

Excursion: It was raining …went to Dona Paula beach and Saint Francis church … the old saint is mummified for centuries...

It rained….

Did Shopping in rain…“KAJU” and Feni buying frenzy took over……. Tons of Cashews was purchased by Pearson people ….after numerous rounds of hard bargaining by Pearsonities Goa gave up and sold out, causing wide shortage of cashew in Goa (Giggling)…………It is rightly said that all good things must come to an end.... and this corporate travelogue too is to be concluded, so let me do it by saying …till next NSM 2009, Goodbye. Rememeber to “Aspire, Achieve and Inspire.” till we meet again.........(Gitesh Sinha)

Hi...

Today, I finally had a look at our blog site…the intention had been there for long but with the NSM deadlines looming large, I kept delaying the visit!

To start with, we had a nice surprise today (we were not updated on the new coffee vending machine) with a variety being offered for the morning brew—cappuccino, badam milk, ginger tea, lemon tea, and what not! Cool! I hope this stays for good…

We had a great time at the NSM—presentations, rain and all… It was one of the most interesting sales meet I have attended in the last six years. It was great to hear from Vivek (before I read his post) about the high energy and passion of the School division! And of course, Goa was fantastic! It was pouring every single day that we were there, but I didn’t mind getting drenched in the rain at all—it’s been ages since I’d done that…

And I also looked up what ‘prestidigitation’ meant… Simplifying texts for school books has put me off l...o…n...g words for good, I think!

Well, this is my first ever blog post; I hope to be a regular soon!

 

Sudipta

(School Ed)

 

 

 

 

 

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