Abhyudaya 08: Life in a Bschool beyond classes, cases and grades!

In today's edition of Nostalgia, Yogesh Chordia, IFMR Alumnus and a student of class of 2009 shares his memoirs about the B-fest that taught him not only precious skills and lessons, but also gave him an identity at IFMR!  He also discusses the journey of Abhyudaya over the years and wishes Abhyudaya '10 good luck.
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Every individual has some instance or happening in their student life which they cherish for all their life and boast about it whenever possible. If there has been one such thing in my student life, it without any second thought has to be Abhyudaya.

Getting admission into a premier bschool is a dream of thousands of youngsters like me. But after crossing all the hurdles and getting into the bschool the next challenge is to find yourself in that over hyped crowd, people with white hair (work experience), people with gold medals & national ranking ( in academics, sports & what not!), people with different ambitions and attitudes, one seems to be lost. There is this feeling of doing something by which you could stand out, make a name for yourself and be recognized!! No one’s out there to help you, no one to tell you what to do and how, one needs to get there and do it by one self.

September 2007, I was wondering sitting in an Abhyudaya meeting listening to the Coordinators, I am here without any work experience, without any gold medal or national ranking to flaunt, not even an attitude to show! What do I do? How do I make myself known? When’ll people start recognizing me? I am not even a club/ committee coordinator here. And that’s how and when I started getting involved in the organizing of, one of the finest Bschool fest of the country. And since then I was convinced to exert all my skills and energy to make this event the best.

It was just the 3^rd edition of the event, but the previous batches had set such a nice platform for us that it never felt like it was still in its early years. Abhyudaya was already an established brand across bschools in the country, all we had to do is keep up the expectations of the world. Must sound easy, but for the kind of standards in place, it required real effort and time. Being in a Bschool one is expected to be in class most time of the week or doing assignments or solving cases written by the best nerds of the world sitting there at Harvard. To which I thought this is something that every other batch mate of mine is doing, so I decided to differ from at least a huge number of them and chose to simultaneously work with the team that was working towards the success of Abhyudaya.

Not knowing even a bit about how events are organized, what all goes in the backdrop behind a successful event, I was quite eager to learn it all myself and that sure did take all the time after classes and in fact lot of time during classes as well (multitasking my friend!!). Grades and sleep both started going south, meetings and tense situations started moving north, friends and family started moving east and west randomly. But all that was well worth it. Learned a lot of skills and lessons that a lot of other friends did not quite get a chance to learn, even though they secured outstanding grades and long horns.

People management, funding, planning, compeering, politics, soft skills, execution and last but not the least calling for/attending a zillion meetings are all things which others would have started getting used to only after they started working in organizations, but I can proudly say I have done all that while doing my MBA itself. And my concerns with regard to being recognized and standing out in the crowd got addressed just because of Abhyudaya. If today I have an identity w.r.t IFMR and people connected with it, its precisely because of Abhyudaya. I am sure all my batch mates, seniors, juniors and IFMR staff would agree with me on this.

Enough said about my own experience of Abhyudaya, I have seen it growing year on year for 3 years now, both as an insider and outsider. This year it looks and is much bigger than ever. Astounding participation and sponsorship, interesting set of events, the number of people behind the show during my batch was just 1/3^rd of the number now and so is the level of the event (multifold bigger). 

I just wish the event reaches greater heights and goes on to become the best management fest of the country in the years to come.

Here’s wishing the team and all the participants’ good luck!!

A new dawn has begun – Abhyudaya!!

(For a larger peek into Abhyudaya 2008, you can also see http://rycyogesh.blogspot.com/search/label/Abhyudaya )

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Yogesh Chordia

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My experiment with "Abhyudhaya" – Rewind to 2007

After Ganapathy's memoirs, about Abhyudaya '08, we are glad to have Mahesh Sethuraman, IFMR Alumnus and Student of class of 2008 writing to us about Abhyudaya '07.
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In every batch, you have two groups of people, one who take everything they do very seriously and the other, who just can’t take anything seriously. One of my fellow batchmates and friend (let’s just call him Mr. Enthu for this post) was this quintessential first group guy and I unmistakably belonged to the other group. And then there were others in between the two extreme scales whose seriousness was seriously volatile. With a mix of all these people in a group called the “organizing committee”, started our Abhyudhaya Journey. Forever the efficiency seeking MBA’s that we were, divided the organizing committee into sub groups based on - yes, you guessed it right – functions. Finance Committee, Marketing Committee, Hospitality Committee and what not.

Our senior batch had sown the seeds of Abhyudhaya by hosting the first B-School fest by IFMR. In some ways, we had a standard to match and at the same time, we wanted to leave behind our legacy too. We wanted to make it bigger and better than not just last Abhyudhaya but any other B-School fest in the country – after all, ambition doesn’t cost you anything. So with that ambition we started our sponsorship hunt, a good 6 months before the event. Never before had I felt so unwanted by so many people at once – as if we filed a legal petition asking for a share of the company’s total assets. After sizing up the situation, we realized we had two choices - one bring down our ambition to more realistic proportions and two, if need be bring it down further!

As the sponsorship hunt was going on at one end, there was a creativity war going on at the other. How to make the brochure? What events to have? Who’ll design the events? What’s the theme for Abhyudhaya? After a marathon round of discussions, debates and the occasional use of fist, we decided to settle for “See the big picture” as the theme. Finalized the events, prepared the brochure and went on a more prepared Sponsorship hunt this time. Meanwhile our finance committee came out with a budget better than our very own PC ever did – simply budgeted 1/10 of Mr.Enthu’s estimate! For all the quantitative techniques that MBA teaches you, nothing to beat sound judgment (read contemptuous) and rule of thumb, you see!

In the meanwhile some of us had participated in other B-Schools’ fests and wanted to bring in the best of those fests into Abhyudhaya (and of course weed out the worst aspects of them too). In this context, of all the fests that we had attended, “Neev” by SCMHRD was the one, we cherished the most. There were fests with huge prize money, interesting events and fabulous entertainment but nothing to beat the hospitality of “Neev”. Everyone felt so much at home in their campus. That was that –we simply wanted to be better than them as hosts. Warm, hospitable, gracious and all other such nice words we wanted on our signature board at the end of Abhyudhaya.

Cometh the moment, disappears our man! Mr.Enthu who had somehow amazingly managed to involve himself in every aspect of Abhyudhaya chose to disappear on the D-day – God knows why? (Actually I know, but private matters you see…) Nevertheless the show went on – thanks to our HR committee’s great succession planning (like, basically everyone is responsible for everything!) – and went on fabulously well.

We got the sponsorship which made our budget look conservative, hosted events that were interesting, challenging and fair – the best team almost always won – which I think is at the heart of any good competition and the event was covered on TV by SS Music too (I had to handle the most challenging task of engaging the VJ and the SS Music crew for 2 complete days – what a tough task!). Most importantly we made every participant feel more comfortable than probably they would have felt in their own campus. To me the most proud moment was, when a group of participants who had also attended “Neev” , came out and said “Abhyudhaya” is by far the best event that they had participated in and that they had not met a more gracious & warm group of people in any other B-School. Maybe Aamir Khan should feature us in the next “Athithi Devo Bhava” campaign. For proof, please refer the signature board in which all the participants had left their parting comments at the end of “Abhyudhadya” 2007.

PS: I read Ganapathy’s piece on his Abhyudhaya experience just after I finished writing this post. So I couldn’t incorporate my take on one of his points in the main post and hence this PS. He talks about our professionalism, theme, connection and all. I am duty bound to clarify some misconceived notions about our theme. As I stated earlier, we arrived at the theme of “See the big picture” after a creative war, almost by default. We debated - with a lot of passion and vigor - about so many themes and finally settled for this one, simply because the other debates were not ending and that we were running out of time to print the brochures! Thanks to our then Dean Mr.Chandrasekhar, who in his inaugural speech came out with this great interpretation of how “Seeing the big picture” was the logical next step to “Rural Rethinc” (Theme for first Abhyudhaya). “Initially we had looked inward and now we are looking outward – two critical perspectives for the sustainability of India Growth Story” – he said. And all of a sudden, we all felt a lot more intelligent and proud of our great theme, thanks to Prof. Shekar! If you have access to the SS music coverage, you can notice me repeat the same interpretation as if that was our plan all along!

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Nostalgia – Reminiscences from Abhyudaya 2008!

With just 5 more days to go for Abhyudaya 2010 (the 5th edition of Abhyudaya), We will be featuring stories by IFMRians about what they have to say about their own Abhyudaya.

In this edition, Ganapathy Krishnan, IFMR Alumnus and student of class of 2009 shares his memoirs.
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We came to know about this wonderful part of B-School life from our seniors on the very first day. Yet it kick started somewhere in the mid of august.

All I knew about an inter college festival is sponsorship, events and fun. Then came the biggest challenge- The Theme! The way our seniors and super seniors had molded the event was truly professional. When we took up abhyudaya it was a 2 year old precious child that has a bundle of enthusiasm and learning. I can still remember those numerous discussions and debate we had to arrive at the theme BODMAS. We connected it with the previous theme such that in the 2nd edition (theme: See the Big Picture) after seeing the big picture, it’s time to project what was happening during that point of time in the big picture. And hence we arrived at mergers and acquisitions to be the most happening thing in the 3rd year of the child.

Then we had the next challenge to formulate events that goes with the theme yet different from not only other b-school events but as well from our own previous editions. I can’t forget those memorable nights spent in the Bhagirathi hall in deciding the events, names, write-ups etc. The greatest learning of any event will be from sponsorship. We had seed money of Rs.50K. Nevertheless it was a booster. We struggled daily for almost 2 months. I can remember generating and compiling a big list of potential sponsors, the phone calls we used to make even in breaks, missing classes and meeting potential sponsors and roaming for cold calls. Our first sponsorship came from our alumni, Gagan Patnaik of Batch 3. That made us proud and provided extra energy to live up to the expectations of the alumni. And in the next couple of months we got enough sponsorship to run the show (though it was less than our pessimistic budget).

Simultaneously, events were designed in full flow. Maximum concentration was on M&A event which was our flagship event. We underwent a lot of brainstorming sessions at the computer lab at every stage of the event development.

The next important challenge was hospitality. We heard from our seniors that Abhyudaya is known for its Theme Based events and Hospitality. We had a huge responsibility to live up to the expectations with the limited budget. And as a member of PR and Hospitality team, I am proud that I kept up the trend.

And when it was just a couple of days away from the D-Day (Feb 2nd 2008) the entire campus, everyone of batch 8 and many from batch 7, joined hands in full swing, from arranging halls to decorating the campus, to deliver the expectations. The entire campus conveyed only about BODMAS (Business of Demerger, Merger, Acquisition and Spin-off).

And we celebrated the 3rd birthday party of the precious child in a grand fashion which concluded on the evening of 3rd Feb at Deccan Plaza.

My experiences during the period of 6 months, ranging from discussions to fights, hardships, sleepless nights, agony, tears, cheers, failure and success will remain unforgettable during the rest of my life. It taught me several lessons that no classroom can teach. I learnt how to face critical situations, sponsors needs, participants' problems and decision making under financial constraints. I wish to thank my seniors, especially Anand Sampath and my batch mates for providing my so many insights in the course of Abhyudaya. It was indeed an Abhyudaya for my mind.

If not for Abhyudaya I could not have written so much :)

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Abhyudaya website homepage has a new look!

With less than 2 weeks to go for Abhyudaya 2010, all Abhyudaya teams have pulled up their socks and are working hard to make Abhyudaya an event memorable for one and all…

Meanwhile, the official website of Abhyudaya ’10 has recently been revamped.

You can now see 200 IFMR students and alumni inviting you for Abhyudaya ’10 in their own special way! We don’t want to spoil the fun by telling you what each of the students and alumni have to say. Go and check out for yourself – http://www.ifmr-abhyudaya.com/home.php

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Nirvah Trials on the campus!

Hello People!! All the prelim rounds for Abhyudaya 10 have now been closed.. Some of the results have been declared and some are awaited. Watch out this space for the details about the on the spot events...


Meanwhile the event owners are leaving no stone unturned to make sure the participants have a blast on the 20th and 21st Feb when Abhyudaya '10 kicks off!


The event owners of Nirvah, the flagship event of Abhyudaya '10 conducted some trial rounds on campus last week. It is an marathon event full of surprises and anti-surprises. Dont miss this event, at Abhyudaya '10!


Some snap-shots of Nirvah Trials:

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Deadlines Extended!!!

Good news!

In view of increasing participation and requests from the participants, the deadlines for the following Events have been extended!

Aavahan B-Plan Submission - 28th Jan

Chakravyuh - 29th Jan

Nirvah Entry - 31st Jan

Samayavastha - 2nd Feb

 

Hurry Up!!

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Deadlines and Updates!!!

With less than a month left to go for Abhyudaya - 10, the event co-ordinators at the IFMR campus have shifted their preparations to top gear. With phenomenal number of registrations and spectacular amount of participation we have recieved, Abyudaya this time is going to be like never before!!!

So buckle up your shoes and try to make it here because once you are here, you are sure to be be pitted against the best brains in business (quite literally :p)

Here's reminding you that :

• Today is the last date for submitting entries for Aahavan, the B-Plan Competition 
• Today is the final day of the Prelims for Nirvah
• Tomorrow is the quiz for the Retail Investors of Adhikoshna

Make sure you send in those entries on time. All the very best and Have Fun!!!


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