It takes two to Tango…
Three weeks into the program and we were submerged with assignments and presentations. We were all making the extra effort to only get used to the hectic schedule, when The Guru Nanak Institute of Management Studies and Lala Lajpat Rai Institute of Management Studies invited us for their Lashkara and Chakravyuh Fests 2008 respectively.
The Class of 2008-10 was a mixed bag of confusion and eagerness at this point in time. Some of us were very excited about the event as our seniors had spoken much about the 2007 fest and their series of victories. This inspired some of us to bring yet another trophy, considering we had bagged it last year, to mark 2008 a commendable year for our batch.
On the other hand, a large number of us focusing on “pure” academics were rather convinced about not wanting to be a part of the inter-collegiate fests. We began ‘compulsively’ working towards participation in both the fests. Most students worked independent of one another, and come 6 o’clock, the Indo-German Centre lay deserted.
Being pampered beyond limits, can fortunately, do wonders sometimes. Our pillars of perseverance, the Director and the faculty clearly understood the need to encourage the new 2008-10 batch of students to go over the edge and experiment with events never experienced before.
All conveniences made, a handful of us drowned in organizing work at the institute, however a large number of us continued with excuses to pardon lack of participation. A learning experience
The excitement started building gradually and emotions amidst the class began changing. We no longer returned to our familiar “cliques” and instead began mingling better with seniors as well as our batch mates. There grew greater bonding, as we interacted much more during this forum as opposed to any other occasion in the one month stay at the Indo German Training Centre.
Business Events
Business events included Marketing, HR and Finance related quizzes, Mock Stock planning and business plans. These events were most crucial as they gave us the opportunity to experiment and implement all that we had studied and understood in our theoretical classes.
We won first position in the finance and HR quiz and second in the business plan.
This was a very worthwhile exercise as it saw unified efforts on the part of the seniors and juniors and on the whole encouraged students to think out of the box. This was clearly witnessed in the business plan event when we were required to sell health drinks to our college mates, to make profits in the given inter-collegiate business project, and also create an absolutely eco-friendly product with the utilization of minimum profits earned.
Sports Event
Lashkara and Chakravyuh fests organized sports like Cricket and indoor games like Table-tennis, Carrom, Chess and treasure hunt. Everyone played in the true spirit of the game and also experienced competing with other B schools. IGTC won the first prize in table-tennis and second in Carrom.
With initial disorganization at the fest, several students grew easily disheartened and disillusioned, thus, making the role of ‘togetherness’ even stronger and important. Most of us in fact attained our confidence from the fact that an approximate of 70 chairs in the audience were occupied by the Indo-German alone. Every little effort was made to make the participation a success with absolute clarity in the need to return a winner.
Cultural Events
The Indo-German family injected additional insulin, every time we needed to overcome our inhibitions at trying out activities we were never involved in before. Some in-born dancers came upfront, drama artists grew better with practice, make-up artists and DJ’s were born too.
The cultural events included none other than dance events, fashion show and solo and duet singing. Boys complained about their foundation make-up not being intact prior to the fashion show! The play, which was directed by our students, won the first prize and the dances choreographed by the specially invited trainer also won prime position in the event.
The Final Glory
We have returned to IGTC with two trophies this year. There was immense pressure experienced when we all struggled with our performances on stage keeping in mind the need to carry ‘triumph’ back home. There were moments during the fest, when most of us felt we would never make it. Perhaps, one needs to just go with the flow, with a focused mindset.
As we have attained the Best College trophy, the trend seems to have been set, and the current situation is that every student vouches to stand united with the group and perform to the best of one’s ability.
The Institute has managed to stand strong with a series of trophies in its second consecutive year, and it is only hoped that this trend is continued for years to come.
Amidst all existing challenges, perhaps it had become all the more crucial for both the junior and senior batches to prove it to themselves once again, that they really were capable of way beyond. It is only now that we are gradually beginning to understand the true connotations of effort and pride, in addition to assimilating the frequently used ‘Sky is the limit’.
