18/10/2014

17/10/2014; 03:37:

And, finally. The irony of the blog continues- when you’re free, there’s nothing to write about and when there’s loads of stuff to write about, there’s no time!
Let’s begin where I left off and work our way to today.
11th October- After pestering the SAC-C all night and all through the day, the votes had finally been counted, tallied and the final result prepared. The e-mail with the results made its way to the inboxes of all the IPM students at around 9 p.m. I was in the Mess, eating dinner, blissfully unaware, when a phone call from a 2014 kid alerted me to the good news. And then, my phone wouldn’t stop buzzing. I got to thank everyone and admit that I actually did need to thank them, for it was the election result which got me the post of Coordinator of the Media & PR Committee.

The happy announcement was immediately followed by a mail requiring all the newly selected coordinators and members of the various committees to report for a meeting at 11 p.m., in the FPM Common Room. The meeting saw an inspirational speech being delivered by the SAC Coordinator, with the SAC-Treasurer in agreement. There were instructions given that stated that members from the two junior batches were to be selected at the earliest. The selection procedure to be followed was the same one by which all the members and coordinators of the 2012 batch had been selected. That, and a tentative calendar of activities for the year was to be prepared by each committee. The Media Committee was also assigned the extra task of preparing the content for the IPM Brochure. The Brochure is the one that will be used for Placement purposes. The design is to be the responsibility of the Creativity Club.

Soon after I was back in my room, I designed and sent out the pre-process tasks. Media Comm. was the first one to do so. Efficiency is good, most times. The task was kept rather simple; apart from an SOP & Résumé which are required parts, an article on any topic was to be written up along with a few ideas on how to propagate IPM in the industry. The task was kept short, since the 2014 Batch were to have their end-term exams from the 14th to the 18th of October. The selection for 2013 was to begin once they returned from their term break, on the 17th.

12th October- Well, by virtue of the 1 2o’ clock rule, all the work on the pre-process ought to be dated 12th, but, well. Most of 12th October, Sunday was spent attending lots of classes.
The course on Social Entrepreneurship began on the afternoon of 12th. The course seemed rather interesting; at least it is going to be very different from all the others; a refreshing change.
We went out for dinner, to Taas Lounge in TI Mall. Taas has good Chinese food but atrociously slow service. There was a previous instance when they just could not get our food prepared in time (for the last bus to campus is at 10 p.m.) , but, this time, we planned ahead and were there by 8 p.m.! As observed by my friend who is a regular, Taas is over-staffed outside the kitchen and under-staffed inside the kitchen. Her observation made a lot of sense to all of us. Anyway, the food was good.

18/10/2014; 04:03:

13th October- The day began with all the pre-processes being sent in by the deadline, which was 8:30 a.m. We then sat around, reading the pre-processes; not marking them yet, for we wanted the process to remain fair for everyone.
Post-lunch, there was a Social Entrepreneurship session, where one of the long standing members of ‘Caring Friends’- an organization that helps dedicated NGO’s fund their causes by being a perfect interface between the supply and demand- addressed our batch.
Then, a certain kid from the 2014 batch sent in a mail to the SAC-C, informing her that he had filled in the Nomination Form, to apply to the Media Comm. and the E-Cell, but, he had not received the pre-process as of then. I was asked to look into the matter, which was hard considering that the deadline was over and that all pre-processes had already been sent in. Since real conversations are a lot better than e-mails, I asked for & offered a phone number. The kid apparently forgot to submit the form; we sent him the pre-process promptly, after which he called up, explaining and more so to check what would become of his peer review. I offered to award him the average, which he refused. I then offered to scale his own scores, which he refused too. Another mail had to be sent, bothering all the other applicants to fill in an additional peer review.

My neighbour had been unwell for a while; she also very successfully passed on her cold to an already coughing me. The unwell neighbour wished to go out for dinner and we found ourselves at Chick’n’Serve, which as the name suggests prepares chicken in various forms- Barbequed, Grilled, Tandoori and in Shawarmas. We were back on the last bus from Indore city to the campus, just in time for a previously scheduled meeting. The agenda of the meeting was to reach a consensus on the mode of transportation that the contingent going to represent IIM-Indore at IIT-BHU’s fest, Spardha, was to use. Spardha is on the 31st of October, 1st & 2nd Of November. Banaras is over 24 hours of travel time away from Indore, which is our largest problem with attending the fest; though, all these trivial problems have been overcome and we are very much going! And, going to win!
I was escorted to my hostel by a junior who spent an hour elaborately explaining why the Media Committee was useless. I also spent the same hour scowling and arguing with him, convinced that the kid was just trying to act smart. We reached a rather unexpected, happy conclusion and all was good again.
Later, the Media Comm. Core Member from my batch and I sat holed up in the common room, marking the pre-process. This was successfully accomplished only by 4:15 a.m. Post this, a beautiful e-mail which was the Call for Interviews for the shortlisted candidates was drafted and sent out. I finally managed to go to bed only post 5:00 a.m.
14th October- The day began with two sessions of Social Entrepreneurship, where the founder of ‘Dilasa’- an NGO which has been working in the farmer-suicide affected district of Vidarbha in Maharashtra- came in to inspire the batch with his story.
This was followed by an array of classes. A new course on Principles of Management was to begin on the 15th, and a group assignment had been assigned to us, even before the first session! While some groups worked diligently on the presentation, our group quickly whipped up an acceptable assignment which featured random words and phrases interspersed with images on a few slides.

Post 11 p.m., we finally began our Basketball practice. We played for about 2 hours. By the end of it, everyone returned to their rooms, happy and content.
15th October- When the clock, uh, on my phone struck, uh, displayed 00:00, I called up my father to wish him a Happy Birthday.
After a very enjoyable first session of Principles of Management, where we were shown clips from MunnaBhai M.B.B.S and Rocket Singh, there was a meeting to be attended at 3:30 p.m.
The meeting entailed a discussion about an upcoming SAC Activity- one that we hope shall be the first one to be undertaken by the newly formed body. Plans include spending a day with children at a local orphanage, celebrating Diwali- all with song, dance, drama, a pooja , sports and a few crackers. Work has been divided as per the domain of each Club/Committee. Our Media Comm. gets to invite press to the event.
I rushed back after the meeting, to get the Interviews for the 2014 Batch started at 4:30 p.m.
The interviews went on till 7:30 p.m. after which we took a break. I spent the break at an Atharv success party thrown by the Director of the Institute for the core team of the fest. It was nice to interact with Director sir in an informal setting, with the party taking place in the garden adjoining his house. We talked about our take-away from the fest, the reaction of the faculty and guests and our learning for the next edition. We then spoke about HR Managers, the internet and sir’s time at IIT-Kanpur, where he was more actively involved in organizing SPIC-MACY concerts than studying. He also told us of how he happened to end up doing a Ph.D, after deciding that he wanted to do something different than get a job- his options being the family business & further studies. We’re glad that he picked the latter, for sir is a wonderful person to have as Director of IIM-Indore.
The dinner party was wrapped up by 10:00 p.m., post which there were interviews to be returned to. The second edition of the interviews began at 11:00 p.m., and ended around 2 a.m.
16th October- Early morning was spent on our usual i-Help trip. This time, I taught Class 8 girls the basics of percentage, as covered under their Mathematics syllabus.
Once I was back on campus, I was asked to join the SAC-C to meet some person who was visiting campus in order to gather information about the IPM Programme. After a rather formal meeting with the class-12 IPM aspirant, our SAC-C and her room-mate excused themselves while I offered to show him around campus. I was joined by a kid from the 2014 batch, who enthusiastically gave the new kid good advice about the course and the entrance test. We walked the kid around campus, feeling rather happy as he marvelled at the beautiful campus.
I then fell asleep for a million hours, waking up only close to 10:00 p.m. Our first volleyball practice followed, at 11:00 p.m. While the game is rather intriguing, it is being broken down into easier steps and I might just be able to learn how to play, hopefully. Since we are participating in the Women’s Volleyball as well as the Women’s Basketball events, we hope to have picked up most of the basics by then.

Late night was spent finishing up all pending work, including finishing creating the content for the IPM brochure- the one which shall be used for placement purposes.

17th October- We sent the scores of the short-listed as well as the other candidates to the SAC-C. There was an election held in the evening which was the final step in determining which kids of the 2014 batch make it to the positions of Core Members of various committees/clubs.
The results were sent out in a few hours. This was followed by speculation and celebration.
We spent an hour playing Volleyball and then another 2 and a half playing Basketball, all up till now i.e. 2:00 a.m.!

10/10/2014

10/10/2014; 23:35:

The term began well, with 2 Econometrics classes on the first day of the term i.e. 7th October. The Econometrics professor is always laughing and class is good. The evening of the first day was spent writing pre-process tasks for the various committees and talking all night, swapping vacation stories and home-made food. I returned from the land of Garba, Ahmedabad, with a carton full of khakra for everyone to enjoy.

The 2014 Batch has been having a Section A v/s Section B Sports event. Basketball was won by Section B, as was Volleyball. Section A took Football & Cricket. It’s come down to the Girls’ Throwball Event!

9th October saw interviews take place, as part of the selection process for the members/coordinators of the various clubs and committees. The interviews for most committees/clubs were taken by the coordinators (and in some cases the core members as well) of the corresponding PGP committee/club. The interview for the Media & PR Committee was very enjoyable; the PGP Media Comm Coordinator and his team-member were both rather sweet and were actually eager to listen to ideas that the candidates had to offer in response to their well-thought questions. Almost all applicants for the Dance Club are members of Vibes, the PGP Dance Club and hence the interviews were mostly informal, given that the coordinator is friends with all of them. The Creativity Club received only 2 applications for 2 positions, yet, the whole procedure is being conducted as is. The Finance Club interviewers were on top of their game, cross-checking all responses over the internet in real-time, as they deemed fit. The Entrepreneurship Cell surprisingly had only one female applicant, as did the Sports Committee. The guys doing the Sports Committee selection went all out, getting the applicants to make power-point presentations, prepare a plan for a full-fledged Sports fest and even conducting group discussions. Pragati- the PGP Social Comm. members seem very dedicated to their cause, meticulously reading all the pre-process tasks and conducting detailed interviews for each of the 12 applicants.
All interviews began late at night and went on till past-mid night. Satisfied, unhappy, triumphant applicants returned to their rooms to more chattering, sharing interview experiences and speculation.

The pre-process tasks (including a peer-review) as well as the interview carry a 35% weightage each, in the selection process. The last 30% is the votes, in an election where all three IPM Batches get to vote. The election was held this evening, i.e. the evening of 10th October, from 6:30 7:30 for the 2012 Batch and from 8:30-10:30 for the 2014 Batch. The scores of the pre-process & interview had been used to short-list 4 applicants for each committee, for the election. Each applicant was given a minute and a half & the opportunity to present his ideas to the batch. This was pretty unnecessary with our own batch, for everyone ought to know everyone by now, and well, perhaps everyone’s votes were already decided. Of course, with the 2014 Batch, this was rather necessary, for most of my batch-mates haven’t interacted much, with the batch as a whole. Mine of course is a different story. I got up to speak, and was greeted with loud applause and cheering. My ‘speech’ consisted only of me stating my name & ‘Media Committee’, smiling & receiving more applause & cheering. The new junior batch is actually full of very nice kids! (Even though they do not really like being thought of as ‘kids’!). The 2013 Batch is not on campus and an online form has been e-mailed to them, in order to allow them to exercise their right to have a say in the elections.
After the election, there was pizza to be had, for the girls’ hostel had gotten together and ordered in, for Dominos had a 50% discount running; a lot of restaurants in Indore are willing to take the effort to come deliver their wares, all the way to our hostels, in a campus that is 16 k.m. from Indore City centre, which is rather nice.

We’re now looking forward to learning the results of the election, to know who the new coordinators for 5 committees and 8 clubs will be! Once that is done, members, 2 each from each of the junior batches will be selected; the interest form has already been sent to the 2014 batch, for the selections need to be successfully completed before their end-terms begin on the 14th; they then get to go home, for 2 weeks, on the 18th. . The selection for the 2013 Batch will be held soon after they are back on campus after their term break, on the 15th.

06/10/2014

06/10/2014; 23:59:

And, it’s great to be back on campus! I reached at 7:30, this morning. 35 minutes later, I was sitting at the breakfast table with my batch-mates, sharing vacation stories. The 35 minutes were spent shifting my stuff back from the ‘Cloak Room’ to my room, unpacking and laying out a fresh bed.

An hour of gossip later, I made my way to the FPM Common Room where an i-Help meeting was to be in progress. So much effort is being put in, with the objective of raising funds towards Jammu & Kashmir Flood Relief. The meeting saw a menu being planned for the stalls to be set up in the evening. The menu included bhel, sandwiches, fresh lime soda and desserts. The menu was then beautifully written out on pink chart paper.
By the time the meeting was over, the laundry was definitely open. I collected my clothes- the ones I’d dropped there the day before I left for home and was glad to finally have my towels back. A hurried bath later, I was in the library, reading the latest copy of Reader’s Digest. If I had to pick a favourite magazine, this had to be it! Well, it’s pretty much the only one I read, so there’s not much competition there, really. I was grateful for my news friends in the rather enthusiastic 2014 Batch, for it was because of these guys that I began my new term with this visit to the library!

The stall was set up outside our very own Pi-Shop and began to do brisk business by about 5:00 p.m. There wasn’t much of a planned celebration for Eid, so, the i-Help stall was one way to join in the festivity while contributing to a good cause.

Post & during dinner gossip sessions pulled the day to a close. The various committee/club pre-processes is pretty much what everyone’s talking about, after sharing vacation stories!

And, the new term, term VIII (wow!) begins tomorrow morning at 10:15 a.m. The term registration was very efficiently carried out online, during the term break. A total of 30 credits were on offer, in the form of 7 4-credit courses and one 2-crdit course. 16 of these 30 credits are to be in compulsory courses namely Econometrics, Indian Politics, Principles of Management and Social Entrepreneurship. The electives include Mathematical Modelling, Introduction to Geography, Human Rights and Contemporary Social Issues. Looking forward to all these courses!

05/10/2014

05/10/2014; 20:37:

And this is another first. I'm on a train which is making it's way to Indore. No, not the train ride; this blogpost holds the honour of being the first one that's being composed in a train.

Recently, on the 4th of October, pre-processes to select the members/coordinators of various committees & clubs under the IPM SAC, were sent via e-mail. The hopefuls had previously signed up for a maximum of two clubs/committees, before we left for the term break. The process will first be carried out for the 2012 batch and then be extended to pick members from the two junior batches. The selection process for committee and club coordinators has been redesigned from this time forward. From being an open election, it is now a 3-step process- written pre-processes, followed by an interview and finally an election. Each club/committee shall have 2 members from each batch. From the senior-most batch, one of the two selected members shall be the coordinator.

One question which appears to be common across all committee pre-processes is one which deals with making the industry aware of the IPM programme. Being a new programme, it is necessary that the industry is made aware of its merits at the earliest. This was one of the aims we had in mind when organizing Atharv too. A resume that states your credible achievements and relevant positions of responsibility as well as a Statement of Purpose is required of all the candidates, across committees/clubs. A rather novel introduction as far as IPM SAC selections go is the Peer Review Form, where you are required to mark, on various parameters your competition i.e. all the other people who are applying for the same position that you are.

I-help volunteers ran stalls selling lemon soda, chocolate muffins and ice-cream sundaes, this evening. Plans are in place to expand the variety on offer, tomorrow, it being a festival and hence an institute holiday and all. All proceeds from the stalls shall find their way to the fund being collected in aid of those affected by the Jammu & Kashmir floods. An association with Goonj is already in place and they will ensure that all that is collected reaches those in need.

Looking forward to being back on campus amidst all the fun & chatter!

4/10/2014

4/10/2014; 19:57:

It’s been really, really long, fuelled partly by the vacations, and partly by my
feeling a little off the weather, being disconnected from everything.

I could either write about all the days that have been missed or just pretend that they were uneventful which would not be very untrue.

Little before we left campus, for our term break which began on the 21st of September, i-Help (as well as Pragati, the PGP Social Committee) received an e-mail from the Director, asking us to go ahead and plan a series of events for the week of 2nd to 8th October. The week is being observed as a National Joy of Giving week, ‘Daan Utsav’ and this year, all top B-schools of the country have taken it upon themselves to join the ranks of those who are striving to make a difference. Our Director Sir very obviously wanted IIM-Indore to participate whole-heartedly in this magnanimous endeavour.

It was unanimously agreed upon that the PGP Social Committee’s contribution would be limited to the Indore Marathon that was organized on the 2nd of October- this is an annual event and was not being specially conducted for the ‘Daan Utsav’.
Each year, the Indore Marathon, organized by IIM-Indore picks up a social cause that we believe needs to be addressed. This year, it was a run for the benefit of the Homeless. A week-long, city-wide donation drive was carried out and everything was handed over to the needy, by our IIM-Indore volunteers. The event itself began with our volunteers preparing the set-up at Dusshera Maidan, on the night of 1st October, a few hours before the race was to begin. Registration counters for those who wished to register on-the-spot opened shop at 5 a.m. The 11 k.m. Run-for-A-Cause was flagged off at 7 a.m. It began at Dusshera Maidan and the finish line was the IIM-Indore Campus.
There was another version of the Marathon, the 3 k.m. Dream Run which began at 9 a.m., on campus. This was soon followed by the Prize Distribution and loads of appreciation poured in, for a good cause unites like no other.

i-Help’s first event began as per plan. After about 2 weeks of planning, picking up an association with Goonj , getting 92.7. BIG FM on board and getting a series of permissions from the A.D.M and S.D.M of the district, it was amazing to see everything that had hitherto been only talked of and imagined actually happening. All of the work had been put in by the rather enthusiastic 2014 Batch. A Nukkad Natak was performed on the streets of Indore, right in the heart of Chappan, Indore’s Khau Gali, on the 2nd of October. A strong appeal, asking people to come forward and support those wrecked by the Jammu & Kashmir Floods had an overwhelming effect and people contributed generously.
The 3rd of October saw a replication of the Nukkad Natak, accompanied by song as well as dance performances in the New Auditorium, as a run-up to the Foundation Day Celebration which began at 3:00 p.m. The 18th Foundation Day was made more auspicious by the fact that it was on the same day as Dusshera- the day that celebrates the triumph of good over evil. As everyone, faculty, staff and students proceeded to enjoy the Foundation Day Dinner, they gave generously for the cause, dropping their contributions into a strategically placed donation box.

At 11 p.m., Raavan was scheduled to burn. This event too saw a rendition of the Nukkad Natak which was well appreciated by the student community.

In between all this, Dandiya Night was held on campus, on the 29th of September. Dancing began at 9 p.m. and stretched well into the wee hours of the morning. As always, the evening began with Garba and ended with everyone swaying to the latest Bollywood numbers.

I’m scheduled to return to campus, by the Indore-Gandhinagar express which leaves here at 7:45 p.m., on the evening of 5th. I’m rather looking forward to going back and catching up with everything!

23/09/2014

23/09/2014; 23:09:

Yay, the date and the time match. That, and I'm finally home! This whole term just went by in a blur, with the coming in of the new batch and all the Atharv work. Looking forward to focusing my energies on different things, once the new term begins!
Let's start with writing about the Birthday which was on the 20th.

I had a good mind of writing a Birthday post which would essentially consist of celebratory statements revolving around how I'm 21- the age to be and blowing my trumpet. Luckily, I did not get around to writing that post. Next year, possibly.

Anyway, as it struck mid-night, I made my way up to the hostel terrace, found a chair already placed in the perfect spot and sat down to watch my friends at work, arranging my birthday cake-cutting. It’s just this hostel tradition now, there’s a cake, a cake-cutting, a face decorated with cake, people singing and hugs, for each person’s birthday. It is a rather nice experience, for everyone involved.
Almost all the batch-girls were assembled in my room, most presumably for my birthday. After 10 minutes were spent looking for me, I made a grand entry down the stairs, to less curses and more cries of ‘Happy Birthday’. Grinning from ear to ear, I proceeded to blow out the magic re-lighting candles which were mostly stumps, by now. Wishes, hugs and lots of love later, everyone disappeared since a history mid-term was in the offing.
I received a couple of cards and I hope I’m able to keep them around, for some time at least. Knowing me, this will be quite a task. That, 2 kurtis and lip gloss- all stuff that I wouldn’t even think of buying- my friends do know me too well. Oh, and a ‘365 reasons to Smile’ calendar.

The night was spent gossiping with my room-mate, since we both agreed that birthdays are more important than History end-term exams.
The history end-term was surprisingly good. Well, I can maintain that at least until the results are out.
A cab had been called, at 11:30, right as soon as the paper was over. My room-mate was leaving for home on the 4p.m. train. Lunch, ice-cream and one room-mate dropped at the station later, I was on the Institute Bus, heading back to campus.
Once back, I rushed to submit my IGNOU assignments which I had finally managed to complete. It had been quite a task, mainly because I’ve picked random subjects which no one else in the batch has, which meant that the assignments had to be worked on by myself, from beginning to end. I finally made up my mind about the month-off in December. I’ll stay on campus and give my IGNOU exams here. The date-sheet appeared which made my decision easier. Unlike almost everyone else, who have one paper on the 1st, another on the 6th and the others all scattered, until the 30th, I have one on the 6th and the others one after the other between the 15th and 20th. Also, while so many people have 7 papers, I have only 4. Plans include a week at home and then leaving for Bombay on the 21st- Christmas, Mood Indigo and New Year’s, all in Mumbai. This decision made, I also submitted my examination form, registration form and DD’s.

A dinner plan was soon in order. On the invite list were the few batch-girls who were still on campus. Half our party was already in the city and there were only the 3 of us who’d planned to get on the 7 p.m. institute bus. Unfortunately, our junior batch too decided that a party needed to be held. The lot of them happily waved at us from a full bus, also adding birthday greetings for good measure. Attempts at the next two buses proved futile mostly because of a no-show and we slinked away to the food-court in Mess 2 and got ourselves burgers and ice-cream. The ice-cream was good. The next two hours were spent lying on the footpath behind Mess2, talking about odds and ends and how being 21 is awesome.
Once back in the hostel, everyone had to leave by 10 the next morning- everyone seemed to have rather early morning flights!- and was packing frantically, since order had come in only a few days ago, asking us to vacate our rooms before we leave to go home. My train wasn’t until the night of the 22nd and packing my stuff was the least of my concerns, at that moment. I ambled around, offering help and generally talking. Shruti gave my ambling some purpose and I sat around in her room and moved a few cartons around.
Even later that night, we had a non-veg food party where we gossiped until everyone dispersed one by one.

I’m not exactly sure when I fell asleep and how; at least I was in my own bed and everything. I woke up at around 2:30 on the afternoon of 21st. I was actually woken up at 2:30 on the afternoon of the 21st to be more precise and well, honest. A junior needed the shuttle bus schedule explained to him. And, the library was somehow the best place for this exchange to take place. It had to be my first library visit, this term. Evening was then spent ‘bonding’ with the juniors, since almost all of my batch-mates were either at home or en route to home. This juniors thing reminded me of a ‘confession’ about me on the IPM Confessions page. That page is also another story. It started, then, it disappeared. It then came back in a new avatar which too was short-lived. This re-birth & death process then repeated itself. Apparently the current page which exists is the original one, revived. Unfortunately, I did not realise when it was revived and could only read the confessions because someone sat across from me and read it out to me. I shall now try to follow the page again; but, I don’t really understand half the things that are posted on there.
Late evening, a beautiful bouncer was thrown at me, courtesy the Income Tax Office and the rest of the Atharv Core Committee. I was to apparently accompany the PGP SAC Treasurer and one of the Institute’s CA’s to the ITO, early on the morning of the 22nd. So much for all my plans. Hopefully, there would be something new to be learnt. And of course, there were Atharv Cash & Bank books to be read and tried to be understood.
And, I remember falling asleep, post 1 a.m., complaining about how the whole hostel was empty. Well, not technically, since the junior batch girls were still on campus, but no one else from my batch was around. Anyway, an early morning and busy day were in store, so I coaxed myself to sleep.

I more or less willingly got myself out of bed, early on the morning of the 22nd for there was a lot of pending work to be competed, courtesy mostly the fact that 20th was the birthday & that 21st was spent lounging around. I then proceeded to have an unhurried breakfast, whilst waiting for a certain phone call which was to give me further instructions on the ITO trip.
The PGP SAC Treasurer had been sent a summons by the IT Commissioner of Indore and was due to appear in person at the Commissioner’s Office at 11:00 a.m. on the 22nd, with certain documents as evidence. We left campus on the 10 a.m. bus. We were in the office by 11:15 and out by noon. The ITO scene was handled well, mostly by the Institute CA, who is now going to be the AR (Authorised Representative) at the ITO for all future meetings and documentation of evidence, including Cash & Bank Books and TDS Deduction Sheets. We were informed that this was the first time that the ITO had called IIM-I to visit, in connection with an event; it seems that Atharv managed to do enough publicity to get the IT department aware too, or so our CA believes. The EDT (Elements of Direct Taxation aka Income Tax) course that we had last year seemed so relevant the whole time I was sitting in the Commissioner’s office. Random terms like AOP, assesse and the like were being thrown around and it was good to be in the know. Our PGP SAC Treasurer had looked really nervous the whole time. Later conversation revealed that he only sweats a lot and bites his nails as a hobby. We managed to be on our way back to campus, on the 12:20 bus.

Post lunch, I began packing my stuff. All my stuff was soon packed into 1 carton whose main contents are my IGNOU books and my rucksack, 3 suitcases, one suitcase for my clothes, one large plastic box whose contents I shall never be able to decipher, my laptop bag and a large bundle which is essentially my quilt and pillows wrapped in a bed-sheet. I then mailed 2 Atharv-related write-ups to Nupoor Ma’am, the IIM-Indore’s website’s content editor, following which I went to pay her a visit, to discuss any further requirements. The content was approved and we had a generally long chat about Atharv, the IPM students and other odds and ends. This was interrupted by a rather frantic PGP student who was wondering if anyone knew how to use the Solver tool in Excel. While Ma’am hurriedly excused herself after being mistaken for an IPM student by said frantic guy, I was stuck there, smiling awkwardly, and then before I knew it, he was explaining a problem and scrolling through random excel sheets. I taught him how to use the Solver tool and gave him step-by-step instructions on how to solve the problem at hand. The whole exercise was apparently for a competition where the grand prize is a PPO. Glad to know that I have a shot at that!(if it comes my way).

I then rushed to the IPM Office, for there were leaves that needed documentation. I slipped on the way; I think I need new shoes or the Acad Block needs new floors (not that I caused any damage, only for the slipperiness).
Composing a blog post on a (okay, multiple) piece(s) of tissue paper whilst sitting in Chappan is an experience that has no parallel. And, it is also the first blog post that’s ever seen real actual paper (well, almost).
After filing leaves for the term, I sauntered off to the laundry, collected my clean clothes and resumed my packing & shifting. Packing was mostly done and shifting was in order, when I left to make a delivery. A dress was to be returned to a friend’s friend and I ought to be the courier service. I ran back and wound up my shifting- moving said bags and carton to the cloak room aka the ground floor common room where they will remain for the duration of the term break. I then locked the room up and handed the keys to an InfraComm member who was only glad to have the additional responsibility.
Before I left campus, there was this new friend to say ‘good-bye’ to. He wanted to keep my basketball for the duration of the term break and I obliged only for this might mean that he learns to play while I’m gone & then I’ll have company!
I picked up my bag- not a suitcase or anything, just my regular college bag & left campus on the 8p.m. bus. I feel asleep on the way and woke up just in time to get off at Chappan. I then ate momos and wandered off to Eat N Treat- one of the shops at Chappan with real seating and everything and ordered their white sauce pasta which never fails to delight!
The restaurant list is pending, but, I’ll probably just put it up in parts, as an addition to the regular blog posts; or there’s Zomato for that! The Exuberance report is pending too, but, I think I threw that sheet out, whilst packing. Ah! Well… and the Atharv final day report awaits my writing too!

16/09/2014

15/09/2014; 19:49:

With the day-wise fest reports, I’ve definitely missed out & missed writing about the other small things, which are important and truly worth re-living.
Although my views on this idea of re-living memories and the like … well, let’s not go there now.

Well, after the IR end-term on the 10th, a long nap was called for. And, while my attendance in the last 6 terms has been more or less impeccable, it’s been pretty messed up, this time around, what with Atharv & all. All post-lunch sessions (in my defence, it was just the one lecture) were thus passed over, for a long nap.
The junior batch had a movie screening as part of their course on ‘Business, Government & Society’, in the evening at 6:30. The course is being taken by the Director and must be rather awesome. For once, we do envy the juniors. Our senior batch, too, had a course which was taken by the then-Director. Looks like they decided to skip us, for reasons yet unknown.
We’d sent out a form, to the 2014 batch, to allow all those interested to sign up for i-Help. Almost 50 responses were received; adding all these students would take the total strength of i-Help to over a 100 members. Each applicant was then required to send in both an SOP (as an individual task) and a PowerPoint presentation on a given NGO (as a group task). I got to read each SOP (and see the ppt’s) and, more than anything else, the variety and enthusiasm was rewarding! I made it a point to reply to each one, individually, for feedback (and acknowledgment) on writing of any sort is just a given.
So, this task-process done, a meeting of all the eager juniors was called at 9:30, on the 10th of September. A more detailed idea of i-Help along with volunteer experiences was shared with the new members. A few of them also put their two cents in, talking about their expectations and excitement. A highly detailed Excel Sheet, which had a minute-wise plan for the 11th, along with the names of volunteers assigned to specific tasks was flashed on screen. The sheet itself looked like too much work to have been made possible; but, it did make the actual execution a piece of cake. It’s surprising how well things can be managed, when everyone’s working for a cause they believe in or simply something that they are interested in.

16/09/2014; 03:40:

Come the morning of 11th, the 6 persons who had the task of getting on buses from campus, alighting at the children’s school, filing them into buses and getting them to campus safely, left campus at 7:15 a.m., perfectly as per plan. The children of class 7 & 8 were to be brought to visit the IIM-I campus, as a special treat. Class 6 had to be left out of the plan for they were too many in number & a little too naughty to be handled. My batch being left out of all the fun things in school suddenly made infinite amounts of sense. Once there, the children were split into 4 groups and filed into 4 waiting buses, after their morning rendition of ‘Vande Matram’. It was such a sweeping flood of memories; I’d sing the national song too, every morning, in school! The ride to campus was short, about 15 minutes or so. Our bus took a different route from the one in front of us, with the driver promising that we’d reach earlier. We enthusiastically participated in the race; unfortunately, we were met with disappointment. Once on campus, at around 8:40, there were about 15 of our i-Help volunteers, waiting to meet the kids and get started! The kids were briefly shown around the Academic Block and then filed into two classrooms for a short interaction with some IIM-I faculty. A while later, sports equipment was arranged for and the kids frolicked, playing different games, running across the lawns and generally hanging out with our volunteers.

During this time, another set of volunteers were at the other school, picking up kids of classes 3, 4 & 5. By 10:30, they were all on campus and were taken straight to the auditorium. The other kids too were directed to the Audi and ‘Chak de India’ was screened! Lunch was served, as soon as the movie was over. The kids who’d come in the morning were bid farewell as they filed into waiting buses and the new kids were given the Acad Block tour and then directed to the faculty-interaction session. Sports & games later, they too were on their way back, tired but happy. The whole show was managed actually without any glitches and I still think it is a wonder. Well, miracle or the meticulous planning which actually managed to scare me with its elaborateness.
So, 11th was a day well spent, with the kids and the successful execution of such a large plan and all.
The latter half of the day was spent visiting Jail Road, in Indore city. Indore has these clearly demarcated markets for everything- there’s Khajuri Bazaar for Books/Stationery, Kothari Market for clothes, Dawai Bazaar for medicines; there’s even a whole separate market for motorcycle seat covers! Jail road is the electronics, more the electronics repair road. My phone’s been acting up and needed to be check; Jail Road was easier to find than the LG Service Centre, for the website gave an address but no phone number. Of course, my trip was futile, except that I did manage to find out that since one part of the screen (read the home/back/recent apps buttons at the bottom) is not working, the whole touch-screen needs to be changed. And since the display and touch are integrated, basically everything needs to be replaced. Deciding to just visit an LG Service Centre, perhaps the next day (since they close at 5), I wandered off the Kothari Market, looking for clothes- I needed a saree, blouse & petticoat, the works, for the upcoming Drama End term. Of course, Kothari Market deals mainly in unstitched fabric and my trip was pointless. A Chinese dinner later, I was back on campus, promising to make a more successful trip in the near future.

And, the near future was very near. On the afternoon of the 12th, I set out again, this time armed with the location of the correct market- the other clothes market; there was this whole lane of saree shops and this other lane of blouse/petticoat shops. A little decision-making later, I had everything I needed to look pretty for the Drama End term. Accompanying me was my neighbour’s friend from Hyderabad! And, we tried a lot of the street food and even visited the old palace which lies in the centre of Rajwada(market!). For the first time since I’ve been here, I felt like Indore was my city; I felt proud, showing it off, showing our guest around! We then headed to the Service centre, for I’d learnt that it close at 6:30, not the 5 as I’d thought. We did find it, only, it was closed. Cursing my luck and deciding that my phone shall get repaired only at home, with all this happening, we set out to find interesting dinner. Our quest led us to Chick-n-Serve, which as the name suggests is a chicken lover’s paradise!
I managed to be back just in time to catch the second round of the Vibes Audition for the 2014 batch. Vibes is the dance club here; the first round of auditions- the prepared performance one- was just over and the second was in progress- this round was an impromptu one. Music was played; you had a minute to listen to the song and then the floor was all yours! It’s a rather daunting prospect to someone who cannot dance… well, not on stage at least.

Most of the 13th of September, which missed being a Friday the 13th by just a day, was spent sleeping. I slept, woke up, attended one history lecture, and fell asleep again, only to wake up at 8:30 in the evening. Night was spent worrying about the ITE (Introduction to Engineering) project due the next day. An EVM (Electronic Voting Machine) was to be made, using IC’s, Bread Boards, Mirco Controllers, LED’s, Counters and the like. Also, evening saw the last round of the Vibes Audition, which was the choreography round- a set choreography was taught and needed to be best replicated.

On the morning of 14th, ITE projects were presented. One group in particular seemed to be very interested in cross-questioning the other teams. Of course, everyone had their revenge when said team came to present their project. Our team had managed to conjure up a decent model as well as a C++ programme, overnight! Post-lunch were the last two classes of the term- History classes which were well spent, watching a rather intriguing or as someone put it ‘absorbing’ movie titled ‘To end all Wars’. It revolved around the lives of a contingent of Scottish soldiers, taken prisoner by the Japanese, during the Second World War and placed in a PoW camp, in Thailand where they constructed a 432 k.m. long rail-road. The movie begins with their capture, deals with their life and struggles and ends with their liberation which came with the end of the war.
15th was the day of the Drama End-term!

04:35:

The Drama End term was rather nice. It was nice to see everyone in costume and in action, on stage. Some batch-mates were so good with their acting, that, we did indeed, if only for a few moments, forget that they were our batch-mates and saw them as only the characters that they were portraying. The play ended in celebration and a photo-session.
My learning for the day was the fact that I can both almost drape and also walk around in a saree. Also, I apparently look good in one too! I now plan to ditch all my ‘we shall get skirt-suits stitched when we’re in the MBA batch’ plans for a couple of elegant sarees- Indian formals have their charm, and, the saree is truly a miraculous article of clothing.
Evening was spent trying to decide which of two sports fests ought to be attended- there’s Varchas at IIT-Jodhpur and Spardha at IIT-BHU and they’re both on the exact same dates! Also, there’s Waves, BITS-Goa’s Cultural fest on the very same dates! Plans to attend Antaragini at IIT-Kanpur and Rendezvous at IIT-Delhi are in the pipeline too! Unfortunately, mainly due to lack of a complete team owing to the junior batch’s exams, our plans of winning at IIT-Kanpur’s Sport Fest, Udgosh, had to be shelved.
Night ended with the nomination form for the coordinator/membership of various clubs and committees being floated. Each person can nominate themselves for two posts, but, can hold only one. That, and there’s the Research Methodology end-term paper in a few hours now. Studying or at least an attempt at the activity might be a wise decision to undertake.
And, now, with the annoying mosquito biting my left elbow might be a good time to end this mammoth post!

10/09/2014

10/09/2014; 20:04:
The morning of the 6th of September began with me being jolted out of my bed, for there was a guest lecture by Mr.Alok Purohit, RCOO, Dainik Bhaskar Group at 11 a.m. which needed to be prepped for. The lecture was to begin at 11 a.m. and unlike most other high profile guests, Mr. Purohit was already on campus, all ready, by 10:15 a.m.
I reached the venue for the talk and directed interested listeners into the room. Along with other people, about 20 Pi Quiz kids were in the audience. The Pi Quiz was an aptitude test, conducted for students of classes 9 to 12 in 5 cities- Bhopal, Indore, Lucknow, Delhi & Chandigarh, as part of Atharv 2014. It wasn't your regular test and was very enjoyable, as per the feedback received from the participants. The top 30 performers on the Quiz- 15 from class 9-10 & 15 from class 11-12 had been invited on campus, to enjoy Atharv and also participate in our Flagship Game Theory event, Game of Shadows. Mr. Purohit spoke about his career, moving from radio to print media & about how radio shall always remain his first love.
Meanwhile, the MUN resumed session and Round#1 of the Business Quiz, Pragnya, began as did GGWP- our LAN Gaming Event.
The spray-painting workshop continued, and two new ones began too. One, conducted by the CEO of Twenty19.com was focused on giving students tips on getting internships and, the other, conducted by TechBharat & AIESEC IIT-Delhi was titled 'Digital Marketing'.
I retreated to my room, after making sure that all three workshops were in session. There were then at least 10 cartons full of MTV B'lue in 3 different flavours- Guava, Peach & a new Zesty Orange, of which 5 needed to be transported down to JAM, where MTV was conducting a random game- you're blind-folded and given a sip out of a random bottle of B'lue; then, if you guess right, the bottle is yours to keep. Well, if you guess wrong, the bottle is still yours to keep! Well, transportation was fairly easy, since a lorry along with 2 guys from my batch found its way to right outside my hostel. All that was to be done was to carry the cartons from the fest coordinator’s room to the hostel entrance.
Post-lunch, War of Words- the debate event - resumed from where it had left off on the 5th i.e. the post-elimination round began. At around 4, Tremolo- the Acoustic Music event began in the New Auditorium at a large, excited audience. While the other Music Event, Delirium-the Battle of the Bands, had seen only 6 bands perform due to paucity of time, Tremolo had 12 participating teams.
A lovely fusion of ‘Khwaja’ & ‘Somebody’ ensured that the winning band, Leaf Tones, was the same one that had won Delirium the night before. People assured the performers that this performance had given them goose bumps and that this win was well-deserved. . Since the audience were equally enthused, the Karaoke & Photo Booths attracted large participation. There was this lead singer of one of the top-bands who refused to leave the Karaoke booth until he’d sung every song they had on their list!
Meanwhile, in the Academic Block, Round #2 of Econjecture- an event based on Economics & Debating and Round #2 of the B-Plan Event, Avant Garde, both began at 2 p.m. A few events had had their first rounds online, due to an exceedingly large number of registrations and the first on campus round was Roud#2. Also, Strat-o-Sphere, the strategy event saw its Finale, in the form of complex to-be-solved case-studies take place. Strat-o-sphere garnered very appreciative feedback from the participants and almost no audience.
Round #2 of Finopoly- Atharv’s Flagship Finance Event began- it had so much going on, auctions, bidding and more- all in front of a live audience @ JAM.
Since the media had been unable to get themselves on campus, our Coverage team provided a select number of good pictures of the day’s events which I rushed across to the editorial team, to ensure that they did make it to the next day’s front page.
The Finale of the GenKwiz began and ended in the Old Audi, just in time to allow the participants to go view the Dance events. The evening was titled ‘MTV’s KYY Night’, and the cast of the show ‘Kaisi Yeh Yaariyan’- Charlie & Ayaz- were there to judge the event and add a dash of glamour to the dazzling evening. The Dance events- Bailar (Solo Dancing) & Promenade (Group Dancing) - saw a large number of exceedingly talented performers. Right before the dance events began, a couple of informal games were held- the Paper Dance which was extremely enjoyable and the Mad Pie event- which involved eating 4 cupcakes in under a minute, no hands allowed! Surprisingly, a lot of guys did manage this feat which I’d already deemed impossible. Bailar saw so many varied dance forms being staged- from classical to hip-hop, everything was on offer! Promenade saw very well-coordinated teams, some even offering progressive stands on social issues. An interlude saw a duo perform a street comedy style dance- their coordination was so good that it was scary.
Mid-night saw the beginning of Round#2 and Round#3 of the Game of Shadows- one was a Blind trading round, which had 12 teams of 5 participating and the other was the ‘Electoral Chairs’ and saw 25 participants.
The Blind Trading round was very interesting. There were 5 different types of goods, each of which had a different value. Good A had the maximum value & least quantity in circulation and Good E had the minimum value and the maximum quantity in circulation. Each team was given a set number of one type of good. The objective was simple: Trade, to maximise your set value & make sure to have at least 20 of each type. One member of each team was put into a room, with 11 others (one guy from each team); each member would be trading with no knowledge of what or how his team-mates were doing. One large catch was that the players were not told the value that each type of good carried! This was mind-boggling & interesting!
The chair round saw 25 chairs scattered in a set area. The objective was simple- to find a chair in the allotted time (8 minutes). At the end of the round, a leader was to be elected who would then eliminate two chairs. And, anyone who did not find a chair was eliminated. This continued until it was down to 4 people- the finalists. The best part of the game is that anything on the Rules that is not explicitly forbidden is allowed. Deciphering what that meant was entirely up to the participants!
Personally, I found the event rather intriguing.
The event ended well past 2 a.m. A treasure/scavenger hunt had been flagged off at 1 a.m. It was a fun team event, with 3 members a team. A list of clues had been given; instead of having to collect the items, photographs of the answers had to be clicked! I must admit that the clue-designers did a pretty good job of them!
And, late night( or well early morning) was spent on the lawn in front of the library, where the food stalls were, eating leftover Mad Pie cupcakes!

10/09/2014

10/09/2014; 12:28

Most of the 8th of September was spent recovering from the craziness of Atharv 2014. Our BET dinner was scheduled for the evening of the 8th- BET aka Business Etiquette is a 2-credit course, this term. One part of the course focuses on Dining Etiquette. So, one of the components for the grading of the course is a Business Dinner. Dinner arrangements have been made in 3 batches of 35 students each. Ours had the privilege of being the first batch. It was lovely to see everyone all dressed up, for it was a formal dinner & dressing was graded too. It was even better to see everyone work their way through a 5-course meal, suspiciously using 4 different forks, 2 different knives and 3 different spoons and some daring ones even using a pair of chopsticks. We were back on campus only after mid-night.

Yesterday was spent finally winding up writing about Atharv Day #1. Then, there was this morning’s end-term to think about. Unfortunately, my preparation stopped at thinking about preparing. That’s how it almost always is!

There’s an EVM-Electronic Voting Machine- to be made, as part of our Introduction to Engineering course. It ought to be ready by Saturday & we’re yet to start working on it.

In other news, we received an e-mail informing us that the whole month of December shall be a long break, to allow us to prepare extensively for our IGNOU exams during that time. People are now contemplating changing their examination centres to home territory, instead of spending a month here, for the actual papers are on less than 7 days. The B.Comm students all have 7 papers & 7 assignments to write. I, on the other hand, have only 4! The assignments need to be written & submitted by the 15th, along with two DD’s- one for examination fees and the other for next year’s fees.

This morning’s end-term paper was rather okay. Compared to the International Relations mid-term paper, which was both lengthy and extensive, the end-term was more compact & enjoyable. I shall get some lunch & get working on the fest reports for day #2 & 3.

07/09/2014

07/09/2014; 23:55:

Atharv is nearly at a close; it feels like the perfect time to write. Capture the memories forever, for with time they will fade. Nearly a thousand participants were on campus over three days, to participate in various formal & informal events conducted as part of Atharv 2014. Even more spectators were around, to partake in the festivities on offer; the SunBurn this evening ought to see even more people.

Day #1 began among a lot of excitement & speculation. The Inaugural Ceremony saw an opening address by the director, Dr.Rishikesha T. Krishnan, a rather emotional account by the fest coordinator which detailed how Atharv took shape over a span of over six months, how much it means to the whole team and our vision, taking Atharv forward; an invocation the Lord, in the form of song & dance, and then the Inaugural Speech was delivered by Mr. Syed Kirmani, wicket-keeper par excellence & member of the '83 cricket World-Cup winning squad.
This was followed by 'I-Conclave', the panel discussion. On the panel were 5 eminent industrialists of the country, namely Ms.Meher Pudmajee (Thermax India), Ms. Chandna Ghosh (ITC India), Mr. Pradeep Bhargava (Cummins India), Mr. Anurag Jhanwar (Crisil India) & Prof. P.D.Jose (IIM-Banglore). The idea in focus was ‘The role of business houses and MNCs in Sustainability – Building Communities of the Future, the Lifestyle of the Future, the Networked Cities of the Future’. The Panel Discussion was relevant to today's scenario & attentively listened to, by a large audience.

Soon after, the different events were set to begin. The MUN, slated to run for 8 hours each day, on each of the 3 days began immediately.Vox Populi- the voice of the people- Atharv's media event began at around 3, with 92.7 FM's RJ judging the event.We ran around, making sure that everything was in place, while the judges were being waited upon, even going and checking on the MUN, in the middle.

Around 3 p.m, the media was on campus, to cover the event. We were near the fountain, in front of the Acad Block Reception; the MTV crew & VJ Hozey were there too, with their shooting in progress. MTV was to cover Atharv as part of their 'Campus Diaries'. Hozey drew a lot of public attention and at least 200 selfies featuring Hozey were clicked, in the one day. We stood around, talking to Hozey; he is from Mumbai & that was enough in common to set a conversation flowing. We then watched Hozey do a 'Hey! We are at IIM-Indore, that's right the Indian Institute of Management, right here in Indore to enjoy Atharv-their 3-day Cultural & Management fest'. We did lose track of time & had to rush down to the swimming pool where Mr. Syed Kirmani's interview was scheduled. The gym instructors and staff at the Sports Complex had been very happy to be talking to Syed Kirmani sir. It's amazing, the way one sportsperson can respect another, the way no one else can. Mr. Kirmani's interview was a very relaxed one, by the poolside. He loves to talk and is always willing to share his life experiences; and, it's not just cliché when I say that he is really humble, given everything that he has achieved. The interview was followed by a short photo session, both for the media and us fans. This was all done by around 5, since the media had VJ Hozey to catch, at Halla Bol- the Street play event which had begun by 4:30, in front of JAM.

Halla Bol was very successful, with some really good participation that ensured great response from the crowd. There was a spray painting workshop, by Mr. Sunil Gogia from Mumbai, which was being conducted at the same time, in the J-Block Hostel basement, close to JAM. Mr. Gogia had spray-painted a spray-paint can, to have the Atharv logo on a black background. This, he presented to the fest coordinator as a gift, since it was her birthday too!
Meanwhile, in the academic block, War of Words (British Parliamentary Debate) elimination round, Vendition Vendetta (Ad-Marketing) round 2 which was essentially a presentation round, with the presentation focusing on revamping the advertising strategy for a failed product and Strat-o-sphere (Strategy) Round 2, which involved a financial case-study to be analysed & solved, went on, with the participants being pleased with the quality of the events. Round 1 of both Vendition Vendetta & Strat-o-sphere had been held online. The elimination round for the GenKwiz took place from 5 to 6 p.m., in CR-113, with the participants appreciating the level of difficulty of the questions.

When you decide to have 22 events + informal activities + workshops & guest lectures all in 3 days, there’s always more than one thing going on! In the New Auditorium, Campus Princess, which was a closed-event had begun at 3 p.m. Vanity- the Fashion event, began at 6 p.m., to a packed auditorium. And, that auditorium is huge! The judges for the evening were Ms. Poonam Vohra, Ms. Unnati Singh & Miss India 2013 Zoya Afroz. The event was very successful, with team themes ranging from ‘Prom-night’ to ‘Cruise’ and ‘Indian Wear’.
Right outside the Audi, the Karaoke Booth, the PhotoBooth & its crazy props- wigs, wings, placards with funny messages & the like drew a lot of attention. On the floor above, GGWP- the LAN Gaming Event went on, uninterrupted, for all the 3 days- the games included CS 1.6, NFS: Most Wanted, FIFA 14 and DOTA.

Post the Ramp event, Miss India 2013 was rushed to the VIP room and the media quickly followed. Then, an interview was taken, which revolved around the clichés of beauty – inner beauty being most important and how confidence is utmost necessary to achieving anything in life. I remember, when I was younger, looking at the Miss India winners/ participants, and seeing them as lovely, charming ladies, who lived in a world unknown to me. Now, I was in the same room as the current Miss India, and felt a rather strange realization, as I stood listening to the interview and learnt that she was only 20, which was well, almost the same age as me. I’ll be 21 in less than 2 weeks and the fact that we have indeed grown up struck me quite suddenly. I mean, I’m older than the current Miss India, and we aren’t even that different!

Delirium- the Battle of the Bands was to begin in about half an hour, at 10 p.m. After seeing the media off, I went up the hill to the Acad Block, where I met a couple of confused new arrivals. We talked, as I walked them to the registration desk, and they were disappointed on having missed the fashion event. I wandered around, helping with the registration desk (mostly by keeping people in high spirts), till about 11:30. On-spot registrations for the Game of Shadows were in progress, with more and more people turning up, every minute. The event was to begin at mid-night, in NC-1 (Acad Block). I found my way there, unplanned, while escorting a large group of interested participants to the venue. We had expected a good turn-out for our Flagship Game Theory event, but, the number of people there exceeded all expectations. There had been nearly 300 registrations (of which more than half had been on-the-spot registrations). The game was to have 4 rounds, of which the first was to be played then. The game was simply a winner takes all with some prizes for the audience. 60 people from round 1 were to qualify to round 2. Round 1 was called the Minority Rule. A simple ‘yes/no’ type question was to be asked and each person then had 10 minutes to record their answer, at one of 5 polling stations. If you were in the minority, you received a set number of points. At the end of a set number of rounds, the 60 candidates with the highest number of points qualified through to the next round. The game was good fun albeit pretty challenging. My role in the whole thing was limited to talking to all the 300 participants, gossiping, being generally curious about them, giving them insider Atharv news & the like. The whole thing ended after 2 a.m.
I left, to go to my hostel, tired, hungry & excited!! Also, I had all the new friends.

05/09/2014

05/09/2014; 11:56:
It’s been a crazy 24 hours. After the MUN prep was done, there were odds & ends to wind up, including writing the Inaugural Speech (the one that the student fest coordinator had to deliver); we finally managed to catch some sleep, in the early hours of the morning. I woke up, mid-morning to 17 missed calls and a whole lot of work. Formal letters were to be drafted; I sat at my desk, toothbrush in one hand, mouse in the other, downloading our Letterhead template. Letters requesting transport facility though the fest, for guests and people who will attend SunBurn, were written. Then, there were media schedules to be fixed along with articles that needed to be sent in, by crazy deadlines. The good part is that one of our articles found its way to today’s newspaper, perfectly in time for the event.
At around 3 p.m., we set out to get hard-copies of the invitation to the Inaugural Ceremony and Panel Discussion printed. We then spent almost 3 hours, visiting each faculty member in person, to hand over the invitations. Everyone had something or the other to say; it was very nice to receive feedback from the faculty on something that we had been working so hard on. We received loads of wishes & luck, queries about the SunBurn night, the event schedule, the food stalls and comments on how the ‘personal touch’ that had been added to the invites was well-appreciated since it was a change from the usual mail-only system.
This was then followed by a meeting, where the judges of War of Words- the British Parliamentary Debate were briefed. I missed all of the meeting, reaching only when good-byes were being exchanged. I’d tried to register as a participant for WoW, but, was denied access; it’s okay, I get to judge the event now!
I then finally visited the registration desk, which I was told had been buzzing with activity, since the wee hours of the morning, since one contingent had arrived at 5 a.m. There were participants, our volunteers, the actual registration desk guys, laptops, room keys, welcome kits, information brochures and lots of paper-work. The merchandise stall was all busily trying to attract customers. I then spent an hour or so doing what I do best- talking to new people; participants have all been given red-stringed ID cards & all the MUN delegates have green ones. All crew members have orange-stringed ones. At around 7:30, we finally managed to grab a bite. We were then informed that Mr. Syed Kirmani, our Inaugural Speaker was here and that a dinner had been scheduled with him, at 8:30. 3 members of the PR & Marketing team and me had a great time, drinking soup and discussing Mr.Kirmani’s childhood and passion for golf. This was followed by an informal interaction session, on behest of Mr. Kirmani himself. Almost 25 students (including 5 camera-people) settled on one of the open corridors of the Acad Block, to listen & interact with Mr.Kirmani. One student in particular seemed to be a big fan and got Mr.Kirmani to relate a large number of his cricketing anecdotes.
Later at night, Ojasvi & I set out to meet new people, as a lot of participants had arrived on campus already. My room-mate took it upon her to ensure well-behaved participants. As self-proclaimed Discipline Coordinator of Atharv, she went around campus, checking participant ID cards, pretending to look for banned items and glaring at all opposite-gender interaction. She put up a very colourful act and watching was fun! I ended up back at the registration desk, this time trying to persuade people who had been sitting there for over 16 hours to go get some sleep. Some people just wouldn’t budge. I see a good number of dark-circled eyes and droopy faces glowing with excitement, all over campus.
There was then all this preparation going into Finopoly- our Finance Event- currency notes were being counted, play-cards being made and all this work-papers lying everywhere. I did help with some counting, before going over to the registration desk to resume gossiping with newly-found friends.
After talking late into early morning, I walked back to my hostel. When I’d made my way downstairs, after the dinner, we’d seen a team hard at practice. They were practicing over & over, for a street play and are presumably ‘Halla Bol’- our Street Play Event - participants. On my way back, at least 6 hours later, I spotted them, tirelessly delivering dialogues and fixing scene positions.
Half a dozen apples and much discussion over the college Fashion Event team’s costumes later, we decided to catch some shut-eye.
We were up, in less than 3 hours, for the Inaugural Ceremony was to begin at 10. I however had behind-the-scenes work to get done, ranging from getting print-outs of event evaluation sheets, to getting posters put-up and arranging media interviews with our guest of honour, Mr.Syed Kirmani, the panellists and our event judges. Miss India Zoya Afroz should be on campus soon & there’s an interview to be arranged!

04/09/2014

04/09/2014; 13:42:

I’m not sure if I want to fall to retrospect & write about the last 3-4 days. The highlight of 31st, 1st & 2nd evenings has been our TI Stall.
On 31st, we were told to set up two stalls, to sell SunBurn Passes and Atharv Merchandise, one, the usual one at TI Ground floor and the other one in their food court.
Someone had turned up with a laptop, and some while later, we’d set it up, to be playing SunBurn videos, to give people an idea of what it is that we are selling passes for. We did successfully sell a fair number of passes.

1st September also saw us going to TI Mall, to our usual stall. I had new company and we sat in the food court, generally talking to people and letting them know about the event. Someone asked about a Spray Painting Workshop that is happening as part of Atharv; it was a nice feeling to know that people are actually aware of and talking about Atharv.
Later in the evening, we walked ourselves to Chappan, to get two MoU’s signed, from two food places- one Frankie place & another that serves frozen yoghurt. We ended up bumping into friends from college who were returning from O2 café. We were advised to pay it a visit, and we did. The ambience was nice, as were the beverages we got.
The night of 1st was spent planning what all we would spend the next day doing, since it was an impromptu holiday. After a lot of discussion, we agreed to go to O2 Café, for lunch and then head to TI to our usual passes-selling business.
2nd September was thus spent, eating good pasta at O2 café and then heading to TI, where we did brisk business. Over this course of over a week of daily TI-visits, I’ve managed to meet a lot of random new people; also, all of TI’s staff now recongnize me as one of them, so much so that I was given the 20% employee-discount, when I ate at F.Y.I., in the food-court.

Yesterday, aka the 3rd of September saw an informal batch-gathering, in the lawn in front of the library, where all the food & other stalls are being set up. The evening was spent, walking around Kothari Market, the ‘clothes bazaar’, looking for a specific type of black net, which was needed for Vanity- the fashion event. We ended up back at TI, and I was guided to Pantaloons. Akanksha had taken it upon herself to make me buy some pretty clothes- I tried on printed pants, jumpsuits, tops, dresses and even a crop-top. I did finally leave with some shopping, probably one of the first times that I did manage to shop clothes in Indore (aka without my mother needing to tell me to). (I’ve bought too many pairs of heels after getting here, so, we’ll pretend that that doesn’t count!).
We then headed to Taas for dinner. We ordered quickly, for there was a 10 p.m. bus back to campus that we had to catch. Our dinner was supposed to be served in 15 minutes, but, they came & went, with no sign of any food. We raised concerns and were suddenly served our soup. We informed them that it was not the wait that was a problem, but simply the fact that we had a bus to catch. They were nice in that they let us know that it would be another 10-12 minutes before any food was served; we thanked and left, heading to McDonald’s instead.
Once back, there was so much to do on campus; posters & banners were being put up. I found myself pasting labels onto MUN placards along with 8-10 other people. MUN Kits, complete with ID cards, notepads & pens were being assembled and the excitement in the air was palatable. It was like the fest was finally happening! Here and now! 6-7 months of preparation had boiled down to this moment and were we thrilled!