27/02/2015

27/02/2015; 15:00:

It’s been a crazy few days. All we’ve talked about, all we’ve thought about, all we’ve done is Ranbhomi!
It was the night of 25th, when we had an everyone’s –invited meeting right outside the cricket stadium- the excitement in the air was palpable. It was soon going to be the 26th and contingents would start coming in, from as early as 6 a.m. on Thursday! Instructions were given out, ideas were shared, contacts were shared- contact this guy for all transportation requirements, contact that other guy for all logistics, get in touch with her for all informals requirements; important details were shared with everyone- this guy is at the cash counter, these 6 will man the registration desk in shifts, there will be a minimum of 10 people at the Help Desk/Hospitality Desk at any given point of time; people volunteered to go pick up contingents. Most of all, it was hard to believe that after over two months of planning and so many months of waiting, the fest was right here!

Our first set of participants was on campus at around 6 a.m., on the 26th. We got to work, putting up posters in the Central Lawn, adding final touches to the stuff needed for the informal events and generally milling around wherever there was activity. Cricket matches were in full swing, on the newly constructed cricket ground by 8a.m.
We then managed to grab something to eat at around 6 p.m. By 7 p.m., we were gathered in NC-2 (F-101), to make phone calls, just like the previous evening. We must’ve made at least 2000 phone calls, to different people, mainly to let them know about the EDM night that is happening on the 1st. VH1 Supersonic featuring Lost Stories and the Progressive Brothers shall take over the IIM-Indore campus, this Sunday, 7 p.m. onwards! Later in the evening, a few informals took off, including Gully Cricket, Football skills and Twister. A few of the food stalls were already set-up and doing brisk business. Soon, it was mainly our students and the contingent from Amity University- playing Kabbadi, challenging each other to arm wrestling and pulling hard at Tug-of-War. We wrapped up a little after mid-night.

Early this morning, Volleyball matches took off. Cricket and football have been in full swing! We a picked up a contingent from the railway station, close to midday- they’re from Mumbai and are here mainly to enjoy the informal games- Pithoo, Kabbadi and KhoKho!
Table Tennis and Chess are in progress at the Sports Complex and the home team’s cricket match should be starting soon – I’ll be off!

23/02/2015

23/02/2015 ; 22:34:

The last three days (including today) have had a lot going on. Our plans for the 21st included Lunch, as part of a friend’s birthday celebration. We then spent some time shopping for essentials at More, C21 Mall. Later in the evening, at around 7 p.m., there was scheduled to be a Flash Mob, as part of promotional activity for Ranbhoomi. The flash mob began as scheduled, with everyone dressed in red. We got a good video of the well-coordinated dancing. The video was edited and ready before mid-night and is now available on YouTube (there’s also a link to it on the Ranbhoomi Facebook page).
Also, homeopathic medicine for swine flu was made available for everyone on campus; this was mainly for all the paranoid people- to help them be less paranoid. Anyway, with the rising temperature, the virus ought to die, soon.

The evening of 22nd saw a ‘SAC Evaluation’. The coordinators of the various clubs and committees gathered first, to evaluate the performance of the SAC-Coordinator, the Treasurer, all the other clubs & committees and their committee members. Then, members of all the clubs and committees turned up, to evaluate their coordinators, all on the basis of pre-determined parameters. Later that night, the Academic Committee held round 2 of their newly conjured-up logical reasoning quiz, Analyt-i-ka. An updated mess menu has been prepared, with Poha now being on the menu, only 2 Saturdays a month.

This evening, the Literary club worked along with Toastmasters to organize an event called 'SpotLight'. It had to do with public speaking; the event had two rounds. In the first round, a random image was displayed on screen and the participant had to talk about the image for a minute and a half. Six participants made it to round 2, where they were put on a hot-seat, with the spotlight focused on them. They were then subjected to a series of hypothetical situations essentially, their ability to handle stress and take a firm stand was tested. The winner had an option- she could pick either a Toastmasters' membership or Rs 2000 in cash as her prize. My batch-mate gladly picked the money.

We’ve been playing Volleyball in the evenings and basketball after 11 p.m., in preparation for our upcoming sports fest, Ranbhoomi. Late last night, as it’s been through the week, meetings of the PR & Marketing and the Informals verticals were called. Work was delegated- reporters from different newspapers, BIG FM and some TV channels shall be on campus. Several informals including Gully Cricket, Kabbadi, Street Football, Mad Pie, Dare 2 Hit, Bollywood Quiz and Tug-of-War have been planned. Tickets for VH1’s Supersonic – that’s happening on the night of 1st March- are being sold and over 500 participants from various colleges across the country shall be on campus, for the 3-day event.

21/022015

21/02/15; 01:25:

The book launch this evening was an exhilarating success! I was woken up close to mid-day, with my to-be co-host for the evening banging on the door of my room. She demanded that I wake up and we set working on the script for the evening’s programme. A quick bath and some lunch later, we were all seated in NC-2 (aka F-103—they’ve renamed everything in the academic block- which were earlier numbers to letters and everything in the residential areas – which were earlier letters to numbers—I do not know what prompted the change). The whole 2012 Batch was present. The agenda of the meeting was the Social Internships that we are required to undertake in May-June. The meeting was chaired by the IPM chair- the meeting discussed some nuances of the placements for social internships- specifically the right to choose to opt in or to choose to opt out of the process. Those who choose to opt out of the placement process on campus shall source their own internships, through an array of personal contacts or otherwise. While we talked stipends and vacancies, my room-mate had some serious concerns about the geographical location of the internships- of course, her opening her query with ‘I understand that stipends are subject to market risk ’, did not help her case too much. Once the meeting was at a close, we settled at a table in the mess, working on our script for later in the day.

We were done quickly enough, writing a few lines, to fit into the schedule that we had prepared earlier. We then got printouts, got dressed and got ourselves on a bus that was arranged for the express purpose of transporting us to the venue- Brilliant Convention Centre. It took us little over an hour to get to the venue. We were there by 5:30. We milled about, settling our stuff into our ‘green room’- it was almost as large as the hall where the event was to be held – and, there was a dance floor, DJ and food all set out, for us to enjoy! (as and when our performances were over). We checked out the sound system, the stage, the backstage area and the various strategically placed standees that had images from the book, book reviews and pictures depicting a myriad of intense emotions on them.

The invite for the Book Launch stated 6:30 p.m. as appropriate arrival time and most guests were present and socialising by 7 p.m. At 7:15, we set the ball rolling, with a soothing Carnatic Music piece. The event was then officially started with invoking the blessings of the Lord- with Puloma’s rendition of the Ganesh Vandana. Keeping in tune with the auspicious setting, we went ahead and had the formal launching of the book- replete with cutting of red ribbon. This was followed by a reading of an excerpt from the book- one that dealt with corruption in modern day Indore- the police force and the judiciary. A skit depicting an award ceremony for the most corrupt department in the country followed. An excerpt that delved into the charm of 18th century Jaisalmer was then read out, setting the mood for a medley of songs. The songs expressed the feelings of the common man trapped in a corrupt society; the songs are a call to humanity, an appeal for reform. This was followed by a lengthy excerpt from the book. A critical review of the book was then followed by a skit highlighting the plight of today’s society – what with rape and honour killings. An excerpt about the sensuous Banjara dancers then set the stage for a tremendously energetic dance performance which was also centred around corruption. A book reading by the author himself and then a panel discussion brought the show to a close. The book was made available at publisher’s price and the author was around, signing copies.

We received a lot of compliments on the successful execution of our performances. We then enjoyed good food and a DJ party that had been put in place especially for us- the performers!
We left the venue a little before 11 p.m., singing the whole way back to campus! It was indeed a delightful evening! And, one filled with learning and opportunities.

19/02/2015

19/02/15; 17:55:

We had a run through of tomorrow’s event, this afternoon. A skit has been put together by the drama club- it features an award ceremony to recognize the most corrupt department in the country- the nominations include the Police, the forest department, PWD and others. One scene which depicts the interaction between Barrack Obama and Lalu Prasad Yadav is hilarious- each is trying to outdo the other, showing off the corruption in their countries – where Obama shows off a half-constructed bridge, Lalu has to show a non-existent bridge at a ‘completed’ project site. A medley of songs was put together by the music club and a dance performance that deals with corruption and then the common man uniting to break free of the trap that is today’s corrupt society was put together by the members of the dance club.
Once the performances were approved of by the author, Mr. Bapna, we retreated to the MDC lobby, where we sat charting out the sequence of events, fitting in appropriate excerpts from the book wherever apt.
It was then decided that we would head to IIT-Indore at 6 p.m., to go watch the performances that they had lined up. And, we did just that. Now, IIT-Indore doesn’t have a permanent campus yet; their academic building is about 10 k.m. or so from their hostels. I’d seen the academic building before, but, this was to be my first visit to their place of residence- Silver Springs seemed like a fairly nice place. The IIT-Indore dramatics club had prepared a thought-provoking play that dealt with social issues- rape, acid attacks and honour killings- and the apparent apathy of society towards the victims.
Once we were back on campus, we finalized the arrangements for a friend’s birthday. Once it struck mid-night, we got busy celebrating!

18th was Shivratri- over 12,000 devotees were on campus, for there is a very famous temple, here. The whole path, from the gate to the temple was lined with orange flags, the temple was intricately decorated and arrangements for pooja, including a loudspeaker that played bhajans all day, were made.

16/02/2015

16/2/2015; 02:51:

And, the last term as, well, the ‘IPM-Only’ Batch i.e. Term IX began on the morning of Valentine’s Day, with two ‘Effective Communication Skills’ classes. A DJ Party was held on campus, beginning late in the evening on 13th Feb and running well past midnight, to celebrate Valentine’s Day. The usual ‘Pyaar ka Matka’ was inexplicably missing. ‘Pyaar ka Matka’ usually takes off a week before Valentine’s Day- decorated earthen pots are placed at strategic locations and cards are made available to the students. Messages professing love and more are inscribed on the cards, which are dropped in the most conveniently located ‘matka’. These cards (most often anonymous, bearing only the recipient’s name) are then delivered to all the ‘loved’ people on campus. The Cultural Committee is responsible for smooth conduction of the whole event.

15th morning began with two ‘Effective Communication Skills’ classes too. A screening of the much awaited India-Pakistan World Cup match was arranged in the Old Auditorium. Unfortunately, we had classes for the most part and had to make do with live streaming the match, on the classroom projector, in the breaks in between classes. Everyone loves a good cricket match, especially if it’s the World Cup, even more so if it’s an India-Pakistan clash. Our professor, this morning uttered the words ‘You know that mobile phones aren’t allowed in class.’ ‘What’s the score?’ in the same breath!
Of course, the best part of the day was India winning the match!

A new Chinese food place has appeared on campus, courtesy enthusiastic students and the Entrepreneurship Cell. It’s been dishing out noodles, fried rice, rolls, chilly paneer and more.
Most of the juniors are also now back on campus; their term begins on the 16th.

Work for Ranbhoomi is in full progress. In other news, an academy that specializes in preparation for the Indian Civil Services Examination is in the process of setting up a centre, inside or right outside campus. Currently, market research is in progress; an estimate of the number of interested students is being drawn up.

The list of Round 1 NGO’s / CSR wings was made available to us, during the course of the term break, as part of the placement process for our social internships. The social internships are to be 6-weeks long and are due to begin early in May. Since tomorrow happens to be the last date to fill out one’s preferences, we sat down today, going through the internships on offer and narrowing down to a few, based largely on their Geographical location.

In other news, the book launch of Mr. Upendra Singh Bapna’s book, ‘A Perennial Stream’ is to happen on the 20th of the month. The book traces the history, the rise and fall of the Bapna family, through the last few centuries and over 7 generations. The focus of the book remains the importance of dignity, being true to one’s morals, being upright, no matter the eternal environment and being willing to face hardship rather than compromise on what one believes in. The book launch is an exclusive event and will see an evening put together by IIM-Indore students- bringing the book to life through song, dance and drama. I get to be the M.C for the evening and am really looking forward to a successful event.

In happier news, IIT-Indore’s Quiz Club, organized a city-wide general quiz, ‘Cognitio’, where two of our juniors placed third. The event was held on V-Day and was hosted by World Quizzing Champion, Mr. Vikram Joshi.

Language is constantly evolving. For example, the traditional rule which deems it wrong to end a sentence in a preposition is now redundant; a preposition is now a perfectly acceptable word to end a sentence in.
Also, the date yesterday i.e. 15/02/2015 was a mirror image! Look closely!