THE ARCHETYPAL MEDIASCAPE was about predictability. Hierarchies were stable, markets slower and competitive advantage came from planning. Growth was a linear journey defined by reader loyalty and editorial competence.
In the paragraph above, I just replaced or inserted a few words from Principal Correspondent Abhinav Singh’s lead article in this week’s cover story. In the first line, MBA was replaced by mediascape. In the third line, Abhinav was speaking about career growth; I dropped career and added ‘reader’ and ‘editorial’. I just did it to illustrate how businesses and business education have changed together. And that is how it should be.
This issue of THE WEEK is our annual special issue on India’s best B-schools. The cover story is powered by THE WEEK-Hansa Research Best B-Schools Survey 2025.
Of course, the cover story goes beyond the survey. Abhinav writes on how young IIMs are carving out their own path, despite challenges. Then there is the brilliant bouquet of columnists from President Dharambeer Gokhool of Mauritius, an alumnus of the Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), Delhi, to Prof Bharat Bhasker, director of IIM Ahmedabad, to Prof A. Venkat Raman, dean of FMS, and others. Then come the entrepreneurs like Deep Kalra of MakeMyTrip and Sanjeev Bhikchandani who founded Naukri.com. And several others.
To round out the issue, we cover developments in the states. Chief of Bureau (Chennai) Lakshmi Subramanian interviewed Industries Minister T.R.B. Raaja, who is driving the state’s journey to becoming a $1 trillion economy. Principal Correspondent Prema Rajaram covers the tension in West Bengal between the Trinamool Congress and Governor C.V. Ananda Bose.
Senior Special Correspondent Kanu Sarda examines the discussion on the age of consent. Kanu humanises the story from the first paragraph and encourages you to define the line between predation and puppy love. How old were you when you first fell in love, dear reader? And, how old were you when you fell in love and did something about it? Don’t let your imagination go wild. I meant a letter or sweet nothings, whispered.
From love to death. Lakshmi has produced another gem in her article on Vincent Parker, a Chennai firm that supplied coffins for many VVIPs. Their client list is a thread that runs through our political history. Most of those deaths came with upheavals. For example, like the time the state home secretary knocked on their door around midnight on May 21, 1991.
Our columnist and my friend K.C. Verma pays tribute to Mayo College, Ajmer, on its 150th anniversary. Unlike in Otherwise Cracked, KC is very proper in his article. I was initially disappointed, KC, as I was expecting rowdy stories—which I am sure abound in a boys’ school. But then I thought of my own school days and realised that some stories are best untold. Let the world believe that we were always dignified.
Let me stop with an open invitation. Hortus, the Malayala Manorama’s arts and literature festival, is on in Kochi from November 27-30 at Subhash Park on the banks of the Vembanad Lake. The theme is The Power of We. Welcome, and check out manoramahortus.com.