IIMB Alumni Association

Randhir Mishra FPM '01 - The King of Swing Times

Randhir Mishra FPM 01, who could be the unheralded 'king of Swing times' from IIMB, has an interesting distinction to his name. He is one of the longest tenured students at the campus - Joining in 1993, Randhir left the campus only in 2002! During this almost decade long relationship with the Institute, Randhir's role was not one-dimensional. Along with being a student, he also enjoyed a short stint as a faculty and most importantly was a confidante and best friend to the many PGP students who came and went during his stay.

In the course of his studies at IIMB, Randhir shifted to UK for two years to pursue advance studies in Business Economics and then returned to campus. Speaking about his campus life he recalls, "I was very good friends with all the students. When I joined I really didn't have any batch mates and the PGP students wouldn't have viewed me as competition, so I would get to hear all the good, bad and ugly stories of the campus."

An interesting incident that still makes the 41-year-old chuckle was a prank that was played in the summer of 1995. "The incident took place during holi. The PGP placements and examinations were over and all were waiting for convocation." Randhir narrates, "To enjoy holi, we dug a pit right in front of our mess and filled it with a mixture of mud and colours. We would drag students in a 'cannot escape manner' and push them into the muddy pit. But the prank did not end there. We also mixed colour in the hostel water tanks. The students struggled out of the pit and ran to their bathrooms not knowing that the showers would also let out coloured water!"

Post IIMB, Randhir who has lived in almost 20 cities due to his father's transferable job, joined Satyam in 2002 in Chennai to set up one of the company's businesses there. Now he has taken up education as the sector of his focus and works with private players besides supporting a few NGOs in this space. But, in some years a different kind of calling started dominating his life - Golf!

Bitten by the Golf bug, instead of trying to fit in the existing golf academies, he decided to create one of his own. Initially, he was left clueless by the challenges that lay ahead of him. "One of the many challenges that a beginner faces is where to start, whom to approach for coaching and moreover many established courses seem extremely intimidating for beginners," he explained. He soon realized that there were many others who shared his apprehensions and this prompted him to start his own Golf resort. The result: 'Kadkani' a nine-hole golf course in idyllic Coorg, with a professional coach, which also doubles up as a full service resort.

The golf enthusiast also points out that it's never too early to take to golf. "One of my friends is passionate about golf and he kept forcing me to take Golf earlier. But I kept thinking that I am still very young to start Golf. Now when I look back I think I have made a mistake I should have learnt it 10 years back," said Randhir. One of his partners is another alumnus, Gopalkrishna Kulkarni PGP '95.

Randhir stays in Bangalore with his wife Pratima Mishra and three-year old daughter Manika Mishra.