IIT students meet the Oracle of Omaha

Omaha: For 50 students from IIT-Kharagpur’s Vinod Gupta School of Management, a visit to the Great Plains of America was a unique experience.

Hosted at the University of Nebraska’s Omaha campus, on a week-long trip sponsored by database company, InfoUSA, they had to opportunity to interact with top executives of major companies, capped by the grand finale, a day with investment guru Warren Buffett, the second-richest man in the world.

A meal of barbecue, pizza and burgers before watching a baseball game was part of the American experience for the Indian students visiting Omaha.

Earlier in the week, they had interactive sessions with top executives of companies like Gallup, Conagra Foods, InfoUSA, Nebraska Furniture Mart and, of course, Berkshire Hathaway, the investment firm headed by Warren Buffett.

The students spent the entire morning of May 12 at the Berkshire Hathaway office in Omaha’s Kiewit Plaza at a Q&A session with Buffett.

Then it was time for lunch with Omaha’s most famous resident at his favourite steakhouse. For the students, the meeting with Buffett was the highlight of their visit.

A management Student, IIT-Kharagpur, Tushar Jha said, "We’ve been dreaming to meet him for the last six months. The best part about him, was his down-to-earth nature. We were not in awe of him at all. He was really lucid and candid about the way he goes about his business."

The initial idea for the students’ visit came from Vin Gupta, founder of the Omaha-based firm InfoUSA. The Vinod Gupta School of Management at IIT-Kharagpur is named after this alumnus of the engineering school.

Chairman and CEO, InfoUSA, Vin Gupta explains, "When I was flying back with Warren Buffet last year from Las Vegas to Omaha, I jokingly asked, “Warren, if we bring a few students from India, would you be willing to have lunch with them and talk to them?” He said, “Yeah, by all means.”

This visit is part of a three-year deal between IIT-Kharagpur and the University of Nebraska at Omaha or UNO. The visiting students also attended lectures and workshops held by UNO faculty members. And this will be a two-way street.

Chancellor, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Nancy Belck says, "As many of the participants have said, from India who were here, it’s been a life-changing experience. We look forward to when our students and faculty go to India and have exposure to your culture and IIT programmes and Indian businesses."

The return visit is likely to take place in late 2006 or early 2007.

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