Life At XLRI Campus

XLRI covered in the Fun@BSchools column by ET

2011-04-21T22:41:00.001-07:00

Some parts of the famed XL life have been explored by today’s Economic Times in its Fun@Bschools column:

Check out the full column in today’s ET here: http://epaper.timesofindia.com/index.asp

Cheers XL!

XLRI Garden of Business and Human Resources

2010-12-31T01:04:00.000-08:00

December is a month when the XLRI Jamshedpur campus provides a floral feast to its inhabitants and visitors. This video is a tribute to all those whose work, skills, patience and green fingers gift us this serene delight every year...

WINK Anthology (Vol 1)

2010-12-17T20:59:00.000-08:00

Contributed by Gurdit Singh Sachdeva (PM&IR 2009-11)

A few months ago, I was hit by a crazy idea. “XLRI should have a Writers’ Club. I should create one.” But like all of my other great ideas (“I ought to take over and rule the world”, for example), the idea simmered in my head for a while, not knowing how to manifest itself into action.

Then, a close friend of mine who is a complete Looney Toon (I think this has become the criteria for becoming a close friend of mine) one day, completely out of the blue, without any provocation of any kind, says to me, “Dude, let’s start a blogging club!”

I sputtered and choked for a while (ok, not really), and I said to him, “Well, wow! I’ve been thinking of the same thing, kinda…been thinking about making a Writers’ Club”. And so, we started. Or rather, he started. I, being I, kept saying, “Hold it, take it easy, let’s think things over…let’s plan it out.” And he, being he, said, “Shut up, idiot, and let’s get it done. What name can you think of?”

And that’s how Writers Inkorporated (WINK) came to be—a name derived from an idea another close friend (who is definitely a Looney Toon, if ever there was one!) once had for his website. The first step was to get some credible people involved, because well…you know…we’re both cartoons. We needed people to take us seriously. So we went and spoke to a couple of professors.

They were really supportive. The first one said he’s been waiting for students to start such “hobby clubs” in XLRI for a long time. Both the profs promised to support us with publicity and contributions and for judging contests and the like. With their blessings, we sent a spreadsheet to gauge interest in the batch. Out of 120 students, more than 50 applied. We called a meeting to give a short presentation. A grand total of 20 (:P) students attended that one, but more people contributed later through email. So we decided to just limit ourselves to mails.

After some time, we had an idea—let’s get people to send us their creative writing and compile it in an e-zine and send it to everyone. And then, we indulged in some wishful thinking (“Dude, if it’s really good, we can get it published! We have quite a few XLers as published authors…they can definitely help us out!”). And thus, the seeds for the WINK Anthology were sowed. It took about a month to get contributions. We didn’t really shortlist the best, choosing instead to publish everything we got. But we did decide not to publish more than 2 entries per author.

And then started the horror known simply as Term IV and Term V. What we had expected to be considerably “light” terms were anything but. And even in these terms, a couple more entries trickled in and some older entries got updated and replaced. Finally, Term VI came around. I wiped my white board clean, made a new to-do list, and wrote “WINK” all over it, leaving no space for anything else on the whole board. And then, we completed it, formatted and all, by December 15.

You can get yourself a copy from Scribd, or just download it from my site..

Gratitude and Congratulations to Varun (Mangoman), Prof Madhukar Shukla and Prof Uday Damodaran. And also, of course, to every single person who contributed with his/her writing or in any other way to support WINK. Cheers. Here’s to a successful Vol 2!

Alumni Homecoming 2010

2010-11-18T09:05:00.001-08:00

The word homecoming world-over signifies a tradition of welcoming back the alumni to their Alma matter to celebrate the spirit of conviviality and to connect with batch-mates, juniors, seniors as well as on-campus students. At XLRI the event - typically a two day affair organised by the alumni body of XLRI in association with the Jamshedpur chapter of the country wide alumni committee - is a concoction of sports and games, speeches, musical performances, and formal dinners.

XLRI homecoming holds special significance owing partly to the long tradition of hosting batches after batches, on campus, since 1960 and partly to the overwhelming participation from world over. The prominent attendees from last year itself include Mr. B. Muthuraman, MD, Tata Steel, Mr. Kalyan Ganguly, MD, United Breweries Ltd., Mr. Bushen Raina, Chairman, JUSCO and Mr. Rana Sinha, MD, Telcon all from the Business Management program.

Scheduled this year between the 20th and 21st of November, the homecoming is expected to play host to close to two hundred alumni. The event will kick off with an inauguration ceremony involving a presentation by Fr E. Abraham Director, XLRI and an address by the National President of alumni association Mr. Bushen Raina welcoming the Alumni back on campus.

The two days that follow are packed with activities to keep the alumni engaged. These include the prestigious JRD Oath taking, the alumni award ceremony, formal dinners and community lunches. In addition to these more traditional events there are several activities aimed at increasing the level of interaction and association the alumni will want to feel on coming back to campus. The Nukkad-Natak – a street play performed by a contingent from the seniors and juniors batches - reflecting the XLRI value system and an evening of rock and country folk music by the Shiva band – being brought in especially from Kolkata - is sure to touch a chord and make the event an unforgettable one.

Diwali @ XL

2010-11-07T13:49:00.000-08:00

Contributed by Chhavi Bindal, BM 2010-12.

(Photos by Ayush Shukla, PM&IR 2010-12)

There are just some of those occasions when no matter where you are you miss your family. Diwali, the beautiful festival of lights and hope, is definitely one of these. The very thought of being away from home on this day would bring feelings of despair. But ask an XLer and you will surely be hit with a different viewpoint.
The B school rigor doesn’t permit you to be home for Diwali but the beautiful XL culture ensures you make it a grand day in your calendar. So let’s begin with how it all started. The day started with people waking up early in their hostels (and this does include boys hostel :P) and gearing up for the celebrations. People put in hours to make their own little efforts which included internal room decorations, beautiful rangoli designs, lightning. The hostels transcended from mere buildings, they shimmered and glittered in the spirit of the festival.

As the sun dawned the actual efforts being made since morning started taking shape. Lighting illuminated the entire campus - trees, bushes , buildings. There were diyas and candles on every road, every path. The regional association in charge of the arrangements (COWBAXI) did a fabulous job, the members ran the entire day to make sure everything was in place. Evening saw everyone volunteering and lighting innumerable candles and diyas across the entire campus :). Then the celebrations began; everyone gathered for the traditional puja and recited the prayers. After the puja ceremony we all moved to the lawns where special arrangements were made by the faculty members. On our way to the lawn we could see the splendid amount of effort put in to ensure every nook and corner of the campus was brightly lit up. We met our excellent faculty at the lawns and were overwhelmed by their hospitality. There were stalls for everything right from snacks to main course to desserts and everything was a pure delicacy. It was a blend of cultures in the most delicious manner; there were idlis, dhoklas, cholle puri, jalebi, rabri and other mouth watering items. There was a crackers bursting session which saw participation from several students and faculty members. The entire XL family was in one place filling the ambience with extreme warmth and togetherness.
This was followed by a small cultural night put together by the students in our favourite JLT arena. The setting was exquisitely traditional – khatiya, badam milk and an excellent show. There were numerous games and stunning performances by the students. There was a stupendous display of fireworks; the sky was brightly lit in red, blue, green, golden and other wonderful shades.
The day made us fall in love with XL all over again, with the spirit of XL culture, the invaluable bonding and togetherness. It was an experience that goes into the diary of each one of us amongst the most cherished times and like all such experiences you just have to be there to feel it.

A Post about SIP

2010-11-03T08:50:00.001-07:00

Contributed by Himanshu Kapila, PM&IR 2010-12

The preparations for S.I.P had started long back with seniors helping us out by giving us gyan on Company, GD, Interview and subjects that could be asked in interview. This was a huge contributor to our success in S.I.P. Our professors also guided us till the last moment.

On the day before the process started, XLRI campus was buzzing with excitement and lot of nervous people were wandering here and there in expectation of the Slot 0 companies’ shortlists. A huge roar went up as one after one the shortlists were put on the notice board of TFEMR hostel and a series of phone calls, hugs and congratulations started. But we were put-off to bed by our seniors as the D-Day arrived and the process had to start early morning. Seniors made sure that we were awake and ready for the process on time. For the first time in my stay at XLRI, XL hostels were full with life so early. People helping each other to get ready, newspaper sites being opened to have a quick glance at current affairs, notes being picked up for just in case preparation. For the next 3 days the same process was carried on and we had to go for GD, team tasks and Interview processes. One thing that was outstanding was the support we got from our seniors. They made sure that we ate at right time and every company detail was made available to the interviewees in advance. They were with us till the time we entered the interview room. “XL culture”rocks.

At the end of the third day, the time came when the results of Slot 0 and Slot 1 companies were declared. With every announcement a loud cheer erupted and when all the results were declared we realized we have been the part of something amazing. In most places people would have started celebrating but we as a batch decided to celebrate only when all would be placed and that moment was not far as in next 36 hours all XLers had once again achieved XLence. That moment when the announcement happened that "Batch of 2010-12" is placed, a huge roar went up and both batches were hugging each other. After that the official announcement of offers were made by Placecomm and the roar was deafening. Then celebrations commenced on the hallowed JLT grounds. Well won't say anything else coz this is XL culture and I don’t want to spoil the surprise for those who would be a part of this soon. You have to be in the moment to feel the experience. Hope we would also be able to continue the tradition.

SIP 2010-12...Done and Dusted. :)

2010-11-01T23:26:00.000-07:00

There are 3 words that are guaranteed to wreak havoc in the hearts and minds of every first-year student at XLRI – Summer Internship Process. From before the second term begins, the preparations begin. It takes a certain amount of mental fortitude to go through the gruelling 5-day (and in the past couple of years, more than 5 days) process, being woken up as early as 4 am on some days, and having to stay awake until 3 am on some nights. There’s a lot at stake not only for the juniors, but also for the seniors. We talk about “XL Culture”, and in my opinion, this manifests itself best in the form of the support seniors give to the juniors before and during the process, and the obvious pride and joy we feel when the process is done.

This year’s SIP was particularly sweet. As Venky (Placecomm Secy) put it, “We put in 4.5 months of work exclusively into your SIP, and it’s sweet that the entire process was done in just 4.5 days”. These 4.5 days, though, has taught me a lot of things:

It’s in every XLer’s DNA to be as supportive as possible to those being placed.
Every year, the seniors are worried about how their juniors will handle the pressure and the stress, and every year, the junior batch outshines its senior batch, proving they’re strong, proving they have the mettle and more.
All the hard work you put into the SIP, whether as a member of any of the placement support teams, or just as a senior helping out a junior, it all feels sweet and satisfying when you see 240 smiles.
No matter what, XLers stick together. It was great to see the juniors helping each other out with preparations, forcing each other to eat properly (!), celebrating each other’s successes and just generally being perfect batchmates.

People surprise you. When the going gets tough, the tough get going. That phrase is particularly apt for the batch of 2010-12. Congratulations on a truly awesome SIP! Now’s the time to celebrate, because come April, it’ll be the time to put your heads down, work hard and grab as many PPOs/PPIs as you can.

Before I end this post, I’d like to link to a post written by one of my seniors during our SIP. It makes for great reading.

http://lifeatxl.blogspot.com/2009/11/summer-internship-process-coming-full.html

Cheers!

XL Utsav 2010

2010-09-28T06:19:00.000-07:00

The faculty, staff and students of XLRI are all set to revive an old and extremely important part of XL culture -- The XL Utsav. The event, a cultural extravaganza set to last from morning to night on Oct 2, will feature sports and games that pitch the faculty and staff against the students on a level playing field.

After lunch, some fun events are scheduled. Food stalls offering delicacies from all corners of India will be put up by the various regional committees. The day is set to culminate in a grand cultural night. Lots to look forward to!

Keep checking back for more updates.

Here are some memories of XL Ustav from the past:

http://lifeatxl.blogspot.com/2007/08/xl-utsav-family-festival-aug-11-12.html

http://xlcampus.blogspot.com/2004/10/xl-utsav-2004-celebrations-abound.html

Alumni Homecoming 2010

2010-09-09T22:25:00.000-07:00

The students of the batches of 2011 and 2012 are all set to welcome the XL alumni for this year's Alumni Homecoming, scheduled to be held during the weekend of 20-21 November, 2010.

This little note is to politely remind you of our XL family get-together that strengthens our XL bonds and fosters camaraderie amongst us. The institute is happy to invite you for all the events that are being organized in connection with the Homecoming 2010.

Please grace the occasion with your presence. For further details, please check out the Alumni Portal at:

http://alumni.xlri.ac.in/homecoming2010/

For those of you who have not registered yourself in the Alumni Portal (http://alumni.xlri.ac.in/) please do so at the earliest. Ms. Padmini Singh from the Alumni office will assist you in registering your name. Her contact details are:

Email: alumni@xlri.ac.in

Mobile: 9955132937/9135358468.

All of us at XL Look forward to having you amongst us during 20-21 November, 2010! :)

Salsa Workshop

2010-08-21T10:38:00.000-07:00

Written by Urshila Ghag, PMIR 2010-12.

Dracula (Dramatics and Cultural Association) at XLRI organized a Salsa workshop which was conducted by DNAdanceworks. DNA, short for ‘Dorothy and Amit’ worked their magic, along with Rubin and Jon, on XLers at midnight on 9th and 10th August. DNAdanceworks is a Kolkata based company who played the dance wizards for two nights transforming XLers into graceful, glamorous salsa dancers.

Dorothy and Amit have 14 years of experience in teaching various Latin American dances and are also well versed in jazz, hiphop, b-boying and have choreographed for many movies. For two days, everyone learnt salsa moves such as the open break, the comb, the cross body lean and a variety of what came to be called ‘sexy moves’ and heedless of time, everyone danced and twirled into the wee hours of the morning.

With over 60 couples registered, anticipation and excitement ran high. On the second day there was social dancing where the girls went around the room, switching partners. With the spirit of salsa touching everyone present, the scene sizzled with joy, exhilaration and togetherness, another unique example encapsulating what XL culture is all about.

Life at XLRI: Observations, impressions and more….

2010-08-08T12:35:00.001-07:00

Here in XL, no two days are same. Each day bring something new to add to yourself, each class shakes up a belief somewhere. Aha-moments et al . What makes the experience amazing is the excellent camaraderie among 600 people strong student body on campus.

Here are two new experiences for you, which capture these emotional upheavals(Please note that I used “experience” very deliberately as XL experiences can’t really be read or narrated; you gotta just “live” them to understand them!):

http://whatitees.com/2010/07/15/the-mba-pictionary/

http://nikunjverma.com/2010/08/09/synergy-and-collaboration-this-is-what-a-bschool-should-look-like/

Heil XL!

Adventure Trip by XLRI: a transformational experience…

2010-07-25T12:33:00.001-07:00

You might or might not be aware that XLRI sends all its students(BM/PMIR/GMP) to a 3 day outdoor trip organized by Tata Steel Adventure Foundation. To sample more such activities, you may click here.

Though this trip had “adventure” as the underlying theme, it actually transcends adventure in several counts. It is a fantastic team building and leadership exercise. It helps you understand your batchmates and create bonds with them. What more, it even leads you to discover unknown areas of your personalities. To say it all in one shot, I would say it helps you work on your Johari’s window:

So in the above picture, you would find that this trip will help you work on the areas mentioned above in the above picture. That is, you might be able to reduce the “Facade”, “Blind spot” and “Unknown” sections, while increasing your “Open Arena” sections.

Every year each of our batches in XLRI go to this “adventure” trip and come back from it with new insights, new strengths and many lifelong memories.

You can read some such experiences here:

Rohit VM's (GMP 10-11 batch) experience

Andrew Panton’s (XLRI visitor) experience

Ankit Chordia's (GMP 09-10 batch) experience

A trip through the rural India: Hats off to human ability to survive!

2010-07-18T12:28:00.001-07:00

You might be aware that XLRI prides itself as one of the most socially focused bschools in India. Many of the faculty we have here are socially inclined and are actively working in the area of social and rural development. See this recent news item second social entrepreneurship conference

Anyway, coming back to the topic. Half of our batch is just back from the two day village tour, cris-crossing the tough terrain of Jharkhand’s rural region. The experience we had was almost “soul changing”. We went through a range of feelings. Here is my attempt to describe them in words:

How lucky we were, but still we complained endlessly: Think of yourself in this setting- Poles and wires but no electricity. No roads. Nearest market 30 kms away. Water drying up in wells and handpumps. No rains in sight. And if these development related mess was not enough, you have naxalite issues. So no venturing out after the sun sets - you may be caught between the armed forces and the naxalite faceoff.

And compare this to the constant gripe we had in our urban life style. A pothole, an hour power cut, noise pollution and what not.

This world is not short of heroes: Most of us mortals try to contribute in bits and pieces, once in a while. A donation to Greenpeace/CRY and donating old clothes, etc is where our efforts stop. And at the other end, there are the heroes. We observed the efforts of NGO activists whose efforts were not subdued by mountains of problems. No roads, inaccessible hilly areas, doubting villagers and tribal. They face it all and more. Routinely they have a brush with naxalites but they hit the roads the next day in the same undying spirit. As another example of a hero, we met a teacher who completed higher studies from a top college but went back to his village to teach people. And he did teach well- inspiring the kids to learn and become “big” people like us. But are we really “big” is the question pestering my mind right now.

So after all this description you must be beginning to grow emotional and even pitiful., Don’t be as now its the turn to become envious.

Circumstances lead to great solutions: You would think that words like Microfinance, balance sheet, PLR, risk appetite, 24/7 credit, penalty for absence, etc. would be Greek to people living in the remotest corners of rural landscape. I am sorry but I have a picture to change your egoistic thought:

This is a simple account of a group of 19 villagers. They pool their savings to form a fund and they can borrow from this pool when they need money. They meet every week and every person needs to contribute a savings of Rs 5 at minimum. This makes them save for the bad times. They issue passbooks and do basic security of money by keeping the key and the money box with their different people. This responsibility changes each week. They maintain detailed MoMs for each meeting(Satyam board needs to learn a thing or two) and every week discuss a problem and generally form a consensus about the solution(we MBA students need to learn lessons as in our meeting ”minutes are created but hours are lost”).

We will fight and trump the odds: Its their in the spirits- Life is tough but we are tougher. Little kids marched on with perfect discipline, punctuality and great sincerity, flip flopping to their hostel rooms, classes and the play grounds. The behavior was exemplary- they played sports with competitiveness but still respected the rules and cared for their school chums. In our 2 day stay at the school(it was a boarding school) we never heard a loud noise, saw even a minor brawl or witnessed someone crying. And this when they were far away from their parents and mostly just got a plate of rice and a bowl of waterish dal. These pictures kind of sum the hopes and contentment these kids displayed:

I could have written a lot more but I think words are never going to be enough. Thank you XLRI, as the trip was an eye opener for all of us. It has brought us closer to our other country brethrens and also at peace with our inner selves. We now much appreciate the human spirit to fight and survive, against all human created and natural odds. We are humbled and as surely our future decisions as the managers and corporate leaders will be much more inclusive and sensitive in light of this trip.

With this, I would leave you with some other pictures from our trip, which give you the flavor of how it was. All pictures are courtesy our ace photographer Naren and a junior photographer Junaid. Thanks you guys!

Unfolding of 2nd National Conference on Social Entrepreneurship @ XLRI

2010-02-03T06:13:00.000-08:00

The following is a pictorial unfolding of the 2nd National Conference on Social Entrepreneurship @ XLRI (Jan 29-31, 2010)...

2nd National Conference on Social Entrepreneurship - slideshow

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwFynZJ06N8

Summer Internship Process - Coming Full Circle

2009-11-28T13:37:00.001-08:00

Slot 0. Slot 1. Slot 2. Slot 3. Rolling. Internship. PPO. Back to XL. Interviews. Slot 0. Slot 1. Slot 2...

This summer, yet another bunch of students will strap their bags on, leave XL and board trains or flights to reach the HQs/branches of the companies where they will intern for approximately two months. A motley bunch- doctors, engineers, accountants, psychologists - most of them will be long past the initial seven days packed with confusion, uncertainty, swearing and the 'Man, it's so frikkin arbit!' feeling of when they sat for their SIP 2010 interviews. I won't have forgotten, nor will have most seniors- after all, this is our second SIP interview process. Once before, we were in the hot seat, overwhelming Small Auditorium with our suits, questions and hopes, cracking smiles when the last thing we wanted to do was to smile, staring straight ahead when we wanted to avoid an over-friendly sympathizer, politely holding back sheer disbelief when someone whom we felt didn't deserve it got a prize placement offer, peering at the brown board covered with SIP 2009 announcements- some new, some old- and asking our friends in one moment of open anxiety, "Yaar, mera ho jaayega na?", trying to hide a pang of jealousy when a close friend gained a better offer than we did, and celebrating with crazed relief, tired out but so, so happy that we were 'signed out of the process'.

This time, we're the seniors - we served, we controlled, we coordinated, we handled the logistics, we formatted CVs and one bunch of us spent sleepless nights to help place the entire batch. Also, the same people who sat in that auditorium, mostly feeling lost, anxious or confused, stepped in to provide Valuable Advice for the juniors; we offered our Excellent Tips on Company Pecking ("No, no, A is always better than B, yaar, kyunki maine suna hai ki last year X who interned there told Y ki..."); we provided our Critical and Comprehensive CV Reviewing Services ("Dude, why don't you put all your Positions of Responsibility in this format? Max shortlists this way, trust me. And remember, tere saare internship details ko aise aam aadmi language mein HI likhna, otherwise recruiters won't understand, machi!"); we bestowed upon them our Sure Shot Interview Academia Primer ("Boss", with a heavy sigh guaranteed to create mass nervousness in juniors, "sabse pehle, jaake dekh ki Theory X aur Theory Y dono mein se which is what... Yeh sab pakka poochenge, PAKKA. DEFinitely coming in UGJIK company's interview, man."); and to top off the line up of services, we added the finishing touch: Our V V Special Tips To Handle Horror GDs and Ace Intimidating Interviews ("Start and finish evvvvery GD. Make your presence felt. Smile confidently and tell the interviewer if you don't know something - he will be hazaar impressed with your straightforwardness.)

Let's face it - SIP is a bit like life. Heck, it IS life, played over on a considerably smaller stage. The defining theme is randomness, of the highest order. And yet we will continue, batch after batch, to believe in such concepts as perfectly made offer-getting CVs (snort!), the correct answer to a company's subjective questions in its form, advice from 93 people to get the better of the Great Pecking Tamasha and a common set of tips to acing GDs and PIs (don't even get me started on this one). It is ironic if nothing else that we invest some much of time and energy in what process is essentially a function of uncertainty. However, things are remarkably different on the other side of the spectrum, and I know how I will feel, come CRP - so less of the sarcasm from me and more from Ground Zero.

I helped a tiny little bit in coordinating some parts of SIP 2010, and my role being much easier than others, I got the chance to observe the play of events inside the audi. I observed, partly curious, sometimes helpless, and sometimes just proud at how my- our- juniors were, for the most part, handling SIP 2010; after all, they were battling the sharpest force of nature - uncertainty. There were those who stood up to the pressure calmly and shrugged off rejects, though they undoubtedly had their quiet moments of worry; those who broke down only to rise again; those who sat friendless, slightly removed from the clutter of people all around, and celebrated solitary and silently when they were placed; those who sailed through the process on the first day but stayed on to cheer, encourage and support their friends and batch-mates. Moments of heartwarming bonding, and moments that made me shake my head. The public nature of this post prevents me from taking names, but some of you absolutely rock, you guys, your friends won't forget how you stood by them. Hats off.

From SIP, last year and this one, I have some observations. Some you may know, others you may recognize, and even disagree with some. One, SIP is and will always be unpredictable, so the hype can be reduced. The Hype is the worst part- nothing creates pressure like the talk. Two, there will always be people who will take it in their stride and people who will break, and the unexpected often occurs. Some build respect for the calm with which they handle the entire process. It's called maturity. No amount of mock anythings will help the breakers and none are needed for the steady rocks, but the majority lies somewhere in between and wholehearted support from a senior batch helps. (Incidentally, I had a wonderful senior student coordinator last year called Meetesh Jha - he kept me from pressing my ever-ready panic button. Trust me, It Helps.) Three, there is life beyond SIP, which it is very easy to forget those seven days. Those who remember and put things in perspective make life easier for themselves.

A good number of people in this junior batch did keep things in perspective. Today, they're all placed for summers. And so next summer, they'll strap their bags on, and leave XL and board trains or flights to reach the HQs/branches of the companies where they will intern for approximately two months. A motley bunch- who started out not knowing where they'd end up, but all of whom made the cut, in the tradition of every batch before them.

Congratulations, Class of '11. Nice work. Rock your summers! :-)

Joy of Giving Week @ XLRI - Part 3

2009-10-04T07:34:00.000-07:00

... the concluding clip of the activities during JGW:

Joy of Giving Week @ XLRI - Part 2

2009-10-01T09:56:00.000-07:00

Lots of activities and events happening at XL...
This short clip only covers a very thin slice of the events... and - of course - the Part 3 will come soon :0)

Joy of Giving Week @ XLRI - Part 1

2009-09-29T07:53:00.000-07:00

XLRI Campus is buzzing with the "Joy of Giving Week" celebrations... this video-clip summarises the activities of the first couple of days (Sept 27-28):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qntvTbEtZM

Joy of Giving Week | Jamshedpur JoyFest "Nukkad Naatak"

2009-09-28T04:31:00.000-07:00

The Dramatics Club of XLRI - DRACULA - performed "Nukkad Naatak" at the Ashiana Gardens and Sun City to spread awareness about the Joy of Giving Week, and about "Vastra Samman"

Joy of Giving Week | Jamshedpur JoyFest "A Day at Old Age Home"

2009-09-28T01:22:00.000-07:00

The students of XLRI visited "Nirmal Hrudaya" - an old age home - and spent a joyous afternoon with them... conversations, games, music... and even dance :)

Joy of Giving Week | Jamshedpur JoyFest "Service Before Self" Bike Rally

2009-09-28T00:27:00.000-07:00

The Jamshedpur JoyFest to celebrate the Joy of Giving Week flagged off with the "Service-Before-Self" bike rally.

The aim was to spread awareness about the Week in the city, and to share the joy of giving with people.... Bikers travelled across Sonari, Mango, Marine Drive road, Golmuri, Baridih, Birsanagar, Bistupur, Adityapur, Railway Station etc., and distributed clothes on the way...

here is a slideshow...

...the Unfolding of "Joy of Giving Week" - Video-Clips

2009-08-28T00:56:00.000-07:00

The Unveiling Ceremony of the "Joy of Giving Week" (Sept 27-Oct 3, '09) was a unique event at XLRI last week. It which brought together the entire Jamshedpur community - the corporates, schools and colleges, NGOs and voluntary organisations, local press, XLRI's students, faculty and staff... - all for a common cause, which everyone felt excited about.

This commitment and excitement is pulpable from the following video-clips..

Fr E Abraham, S.J., Director XLRI - Welcome Speech

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFZJx5CNINI

Mr AD Baijal, Group Director (Global Minerals), Tata Steel - Inaugural Address

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJBwHLdWtpw

Mr Imtiaz Ali, Film Director and Brand Ambassador of "Joy of Giving Week" - Remarks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNqhjEgCsGQ

Mr Anshu Gupta, Founder Director, GOONJ on "Vastra Samman" initiative

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bOZyE9nvJ8

Mr Rana Sinha, Managing Director, Telcon
& President, XLRI Alumni Association, Jamshedpur Chapter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6y4eumcEhCg

Sr Flavian AC, Principal, Carmel Junior College, Jamshedpur

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Av4UQ0A3Pgg

Mr Amitava Ghosh, Secretary, Kala Mandir, Jamshedpur

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwP5y3ySNM4

Prehaps, the most overwhelming part of the event was when one-by-one, people from the audience stood up and owned "their space" in the Joy of Giving Week...

Expressions of support from the Jamshedpur Community

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9C-xW64LKg

XLRI Unveils the "Joy of Giving Week"

2009-08-21T19:19:00.000-07:00

Last evening, we flagged off the preparations for the Joy of Giving Week (Sept 27-Oct 3,'09)

Independence Day '09 @ XLRI

2009-08-15T23:10:00.000-07:00

since pictures say more than words...

XL over the years.......A reminiscence

2009-07-26T07:19:00.000-07:00

Well, recently I was browsing through the file server in XLRI and I came across this brilliant bunch of pics (some of which are on the right side menu).....of XLers from 1970s to the recent past....I thought this should be showcased so that we 'XL'ers- students and alumni alike go back to the good ol' days....the days of which every moment could be cherished for a lifetime.....
So, presenting before you.....'XL- a reminiscence':

Cross posted at: XL Campus life blog.

How Defense Officers become XLers....

2009-07-24T04:43:00.000-07:00

Over time, XL has grown in size and in diversity - larger batch size, more and different kind of courses... 2 sections of BM and PMIR each, 2 sections of 1-year Executive-MBA, Satellite programs, 6-month Executive Management Prog for Defense Officers... etc. etc...

...and one of the concerns of many who have passed through the portals (when XL used to be a small cosy community) has been:
wouldn't so many diverse people change the very character of XL?

Apparently, it happens the other way round:
There is someting in the 'hava-paani' of XL that transmutates people - even those who come from so many diverse backgrounds!!

... as this short clip, made by the Defense Officers - who came to XL in January, and left in June - shows the transformation... and in just 6 months!!

XLRI! Here I Am!

You know you're at XL when...

2009-07-23T07:49:00.000-07:00

You know you're at XL when...

1. There's a 6pm class going on, and at 6-53pm, 97% of junta are busy pinging each other on Facebook to find out whether ANYONE has gone to attend the class.
Often called: MASS BUNK

2. A smiles at B, C reports this to D, who claims to E, F and G that A took B out. E, F and G tell I through P that A and B have been going steady for 6 months. They in turn tell all their friends, who tell their friends, who tell...
Next morning, A finds his Facebook flooded with "Congratulations! When's the Wedding?" questions from 1,479,456 users, most of whom have no idea who A is, but who just want the gossip.
In other words, GRAX.

3. There's no time to eat and even less time to sleep, because work fills all available time (apparently), but there's always time to catch three back to back episodes of F.R.I.E.N.D.S, attend a Drac quiz and bungle it up, and loudly cheer a grainy version of Harry Potter and the HBP in LH 1 until2-30am. And then go back to the room and crib about there being no time to do anything.
Otherwise known as FRAX.

4. It's 3-45 am in the morning, the world is dead to all noise and movement, and inside a whitewashed room, sixteen people are asking at the same time for bread burji, aloo cheese sandwich, gobi aloo cheese paranthas, omelettes, fried maggi, cigarettes and nimbu pani. And they ALL get exactly what they asked for in record time.
The eighth wonder of the world: Bishu-da.

5. The class is in full swing, the prof is asking B for a two-line definition of Motivation; and Q jumps up and explains it in 3765 words, with two diagrams and a chart thrown in, as well multiple pointed references to the textbook authored by the same prof (and still doesn't manage to explain what it is to the class, which has by now fallen asleep with mouths wide open.)
In brief: DCP.

6. Prof asks for the meaning of Transfer Climate- and R begins: "Well, sir, to look at it from a general perspective, I am convinced about the veracity of the definitions given by Roiller and Goldstein, however, to put my own views in a nutshell regarding the subject matter under discussion and throw a clearer light on things as they stand"-
Pure, unadulterated-by-facts, GAS.

7. On July 1st, a deadline of July 15th is declared for a project submission. Till 14th, there is no reponse, only lethargy, inertia- and on 14th night:
At 11:00pm, with a sudden burst of spontaneous energy, people are darting into each other's rooms, asking if anyone else has done it.
By 1:00 am in the morning, mass prayers are being organised and Google worship is under way.
By 3:00 am, 50% of people are in Bishuda's looking like escaped convicts and groaning in acknowlegement of each other.
By 5:00am, 66% give up, put in arbit shit and 4-5 random graphs and hit the sack.
By 7:00am, the last few survivors vow never to postpone work ever again and collapse over laptop.

Next week, another deadline- same story.

XL meri jaan! :-)

- Ramaa Ramesh
PMIR '10 , XLRI

Ratanjee Memorial Trophy@XL "Happened"!!

2009-07-14T08:57:00.000-07:00

Monsoons are back... and so are the students... the campus is alive, vibrating with activities... once again

Like every year since 2000 - and this was the 10th year - Ratanjee Memorial Trophy happened...

... a (supposedly) sports event... and an amazing way of competing and coming together of the two batches who have known each other for less than a month

here are some pics (generously plagiarised from a postings by Dipti Sharma - Thanks! :0)

But who was Ratanjee? Why this event?

Ratanjee Jha, BTech (Mech), IIT, Guwahati (1995-1999), from Patna, joined in PMIR at XLRI. He had a score of 790/800 in GMAT, but could not go abroad for studies due to financial constraints in the family.

At XLRI also, he consistently ranked among the first five. He was known for his sharp reasoning skills and fast learning ability. His scholastic ability was acknowledged by the institute and was conferred upon by the Jubilee Scholarship. He was also a member of Socrates. Sadly, this bright spark got extinguished midway its journey, when Ratanjee met with a fatal accident during his Summer Internship in 2000.

...in XL, everything has a history behind it... we remember and celebrate those who passed through this portal...

Thanks, Ratanjee!.. for being here... and for having left a legacy behind...

Videos: 1st National Conference on Social Entrepreneurship @ XLRI

2009-02-21T21:42:00.000-08:00

Video Presentations by the Resource Persons
for the
1st National Conference on Social Entrepreneurship (Jan 31-Feb 1, '09)

Keynote Address
Ms Sushmita Ghosh, President Emeritus, Ashoka: Innovators for the Public

TRACK 1: PROVIDING ACCESS TO EDUCATION

Mr Giridhar S, Azim Premji Foundation

Mr Pravin Mahajan, Janarth

Mr CV Madhukar, Akshara Foundation & PRS India

TRACK 2: PROVIDING ACCESS TO CREDIT & FINANCIAL SERVICES

Ms Chetna Gala Sinha, Mann Deshi Mahila Sahakari Bank

Mr Samit Ghosh, Ujjivan

Dr Vijay Mahajan, BASIX

TRACK 3: PROVIDING ACCESS TO HYGIENE AND HEALTHCARE

Mr Venkat Changavalli, EMRI

Mr Keerti Bhusan Pradhan, Right to Sight

Dr Joe Madiath, Gram Vikas

TRACK 4: PROVIDING ACCESS TO SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOOD

Dr Pradip Sarmah, Center for Rural Development

Mr Rajiv Khandelwal, Aajeevika Bureau

Mr Verghese Jacob, Byrraju Foundation

TRACK 5: PROVIDING RURAL ACCESS TO SOCIETAL RESOURCES

Mr Anshu Gupta, GOONJ

Mr Kirti Prasanna Mishra, MART

Mr Ved Arya, SRIJAN

TRACK 6: PROVIDING ACCESS TO MARKETS

Ms Aparna Banerjee, Project Sukanya

Dr Vanita Viswanath, Udyogini

... and last one, about an Access-to-Market initiative from one of the Resourse Persons, who could not make it - due to last minute contingencies..

S Shivkumar, ITC E-Choupal

The Day XL Ran...

2008-11-16T18:58:00.000-08:00

XL Dream Run (Nov 16, '08)

"XL Dream Run" (Nov 16th, '08) - A Curtain-Raiser

2008-11-15T08:21:00.000-08:00

"XL Dream Run" curtain-raiser is up on Youtube

... thanks to the amazingly creative work by Mayur Bhutani & Varun Gulati (09BMD batch)

XL Dream Run (Nov 16th, 2008)

http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=zq1cIKS2poI

Celebrating Diwali - XL style

2008-11-02T07:18:00.001-08:00

Diwali was coming after 3 years for me...the previous two years I was as far from Diwali as possible. I was in US and people don't celebrate Diwali there (atleast the part of the world where I haunted).

So I were doubly excited for the Diwali celebrations this year. Here in XLRI, the profs had organized a get-together of the students in the huge lawn outside the GMP hostel. Apart from that, they had also invited us to their residences. It was really good to see the profs and the students (BM, PM&IR, GMP, DGMP, FPM) together. It was followed by bursting crackers which continued for over two hours.

Finally, at 11:30pm, there was an Antakshari hosted where many teams participated and every team had a prof with them.

Overall, it was a cracking Diwali and a cherished experience.

Of The Entrepreneurs and The Runners

2008-10-21T10:36:00.000-07:00

Part- I: Of The Entrepreneurs

"We were young, but we had good advice and good ideas and lots of enthusiasm."

And, in the end, that is what counts. Making a start, taking a shot at something, steeling yourself to take a course few do, and being willing enough to take the outcome. Such people become classified entrepreneurs, and, some of them even go on to make history. Like the man who gave us that first line, a certain Mr. Bill Gates.

Often, of B-schools we complain that the students are taught to become too structured, that while they teach leadership, they take away initiative, that B-schools produce functionaries, not businessmen. That the students come out unwilling to take risks and do something new, but willing to shape themselves to a format. Fortunately that is not always true. There are a slew of those who are willing to do something new, and here at XLRI, there are some who are willing not just to do something different, they are willing to do something different, with a difference. Yes we are talking social entrepreneurship. There are people who are willing to invest their time and money in ventures to benefit the society as a whole, and they have, as Mr. Gates points out above, some good ideas, some good advice and a lot of enthusiasm. And now, it is for us to support them.

So Ladies and Gentlemen, let the drum rolls sound, lift the curtains and let the spotlights be firmly fixed on The XLRI Social Entrepreneurship Trust. For sixty years now, XLRI has been producing managers with a social conscious, in accordance with its mission, and in keeping with those values, the trust was formed in 2008 with an aim to encourage and support “entrepreneurship with a social cause” among the XLRI students, alumni and community.
Besides training and incubation facilities for budding entrepreneurs, one of the key activities undertaken by the trust is to mobilize funds to support new social entrepreneurship ventures. Even now, the trust is currently funding three projects- Parichay, Swavalamban and Dream4Others- with contributions from the XLRI alumni of the batch of ’81 and from the XLRI Alumni Association (Jamshedpur Chapter).

Part-II: And of Those Who Run

There are as many reasons for running as there are days in the year, years in my life. But mostly I run because I am an animal and a child, an artist and a saint. So, too, are you. Find your own play, your own self-renewing compulsion, and you will become the person you are meant to be. -George Sheehan

The act of running has many times been compared to, even equated to setting your soul free. Like Steve Prefontaine said, he did not run to see who was the fasted, but to see who had the most guts. You ask runners why they run, and much like Sheehan above, they will often reply that they run to find out who they are. Much like entrepreneurs, people who are willing to chase their dreams. And so, it is fitting that XLRI is running for a mission that supports entrepreneurship. The XL Dream Run, organized by CII Young Indians-XLRI Chapter, XLANC, The XLRI Alumni Association and Sportscomm, is scheduled for November 16th, 2008, to coincide with the alumni homecoming, nearly 250 XLers, both students and faculty, have already registered for the run to support a cause they hold dear to their hearts. It is a four kilometer run, to spread awareness about the cause of the XLRI Social Entrepreneurship Trust.

Thomas Crown advises us about fundraisers- “I just go up to the stage, wave my hands vaguely and cry-“help! help!!”. The Dream Run is doing rather more than that. It is 250 XLers giving all they have across a four mile stretch to drag your attention to a cause that needs espousing. And we sincerely hope that you are going to come through and do the best you can. Donations to the trust are welcome, from all XLers and non-XLers; we are sure you all understand the gravity of the cause and its worthiness. You can contribute online directly to the trust account, send in cheques or even donate via PayPal. In return, we can probably offer you nothing but the satisfaction of having contributed to something you believe in, and the pride of having your name displayed on the website in the list of donors. And of course, the gratitude of the budding entrepreneurs whose ventures your money will be used to fund, and those people who will be benefited by these ventures.

A runner runs against himself, against the best that's in him. […] That's the way to be great, running against yourself. Against all the rotten mess in the world. Against God, if you’re good enough. -Bill Persons

P.S. Kim appeals for the DreamRun here, while Gautam Ghosh writes about it here.
I write more about jogging@XL here, here and here.

Of Adventure, Love and Rain

2008-08-29T06:29:00.000-07:00

Anupam has an interesting experience during his adventure trip:

Had gone to the adventure camp this weekend.It was a gr8 trip filled with amazing fun and loads of unforgettable experiences.But this particular incident needs immortality , therefore I have decided to pen it down.

Read more about it.

Meanwhile, Amitabh waxes eloquent about a certain girl he is in love with.

During the very first few days ...Like you see a girl .. beautiful, smart and so intelligent that everyone seems to be eating out of her hands. You being the ordinary guy .. look at her in once in a while and try to console yourself by concentrating on some other stuff. The time goes by .. she is too good, you don't stand a chance and you remain the invisible guy that you are .. at least to her.

Who's the girl?

Jade is also in love. With the rain in XL.

How I shall miss Jamshedpur weather. I must have said this many times on this blog before, but I just can't get over it, so I'll just say it again - it rains in Jamshedpur all the freakin' time! It's amazing. And it makes for excellent moods, despite quizzes and submissions.

CEO Forum - Mr. C.D. Kamath, MD, Tata Refractories Limited

2008-08-10T13:23:00.000-07:00

The calender read 08-08-2008. This was a date deemed to be auspicious for our neighbours on the other side of the wall. When the whole world was staring at China with abated breath for the opening ceremony of the Olympics Games, XLRI had more than one reason to do the same. And we meant business...

It was on this very day Prof. Sharad Sharin had invited Mr. C.D. Kamath, the MD of Tata Refractories Limited (TRL) to share his experiences of "doing business with China". Mr. Kamath took the opportunity to enthrall the audience with his experiences in delaing with the Chinese. It was interesting to note that TRL is the first TATA Group organization to set a green-field plant in China from scratch and that too in less than a year. The talk revolved on the topic that China and India were almost at par in the early 1950s, however, it have sprinted well ahead of us in the last five decades. They opened up their economy years before the Indians did. But the very fact that 'Economics drive Politics in China and not the other way round' drove the nail on the head. Mr. Kamath touched a variety of subjects like land and labour reforms in China, about how they are so much receptive of FDIs and so on.

The audience was very appreciative of the talk and I am sure we will get many more opportunities to interact with eminent personalities like Mr. Kamath.

-------------------------------------------------

Short Profile of Mr. Kamath: He obtained the Degree of B.Tech. (Metallurgy) from IIT Madras in 1966. Subsequently, he joined Tata Steel as
Graduate Trainee and thereafter moved through various disciplines such as Steel Melting Shop Operations, Refractory
Maintenance and Production Operations, Iron Making and Sinter Operations and Technical Services. He functioned as
the Profit Centre Head for the Rings and Agrico Division of Tata Steel. He initiated the Total Quality Management activities
in Tata Steel. Overall, he worked for Tata Steel for a period of 31 years.

He was the Chairman of Indian Refractory Makers Association (IRMA) for the period 2000-02 and organized IREFCON 2002.

He has also been the recipient of the National Metallurgist Award from Government of India.

XLRI GMP Softskills Development Series - Resume Writing

2008-08-07T21:12:00.000-07:00

"Is your resume good?", when this question was posed to a group of GMPians almost everyone nodded. But the response to the question "Is your resume good enough?" received a much muted response.
When asked "How often do you update your resume? ". The answers were to the tune of "...every six months.." or "..as and when I acquire a new skill.." or even "..whenever my assignment is over..". Such answers are not suprising from a bunch of professionals who have served industries for for over five years. Since matter and anti-matter go together, since constructive and destructive forces go hand in hand, we decided to rip some resumes apart. The observations were startling.
The problem was not with the resumes but the way they have been worded. The conclusion was that there is a very thin line between what a candidate has and what the industry expects from him. And GMPians decided to be on the right side of it.

Since there is never a wrong time to do the right thing, we decided to conduct a "resume writing" workshop. And we decided to get expert help in resolving our skills. So, we approached Prof. Jittu Singh and he gladly agreed.

In an hour long interactive talk, we learnt the nuances of a good resume. There were a lot of ideas flowing back and forth and at the end it was a fruitful excercise. As the workshop was coming to a close, I recalled a thought of Alvin Toffler, the great futurist and author of books like The Third Wave, Powershift, Future Shock, etc.He had said "The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn."

CEO Forum - Mr. Anshu Gupta, CEO, Goonj, a Delhi based NGO

2008-08-06T05:16:00.000-07:00

This was the first time I was listening to a CEO, other than the CEO of the organization I had worked for. Even the latter was a very rare event. But this time, it was different, not only the theme but the mission as well. He was there not to talk about toplines and bottomlines but life-lines.

Today, I got an opportunity to attend to a talk by Mr. Anshu Gupta, founder of Goonj, a Delhi based NGO. This was the first of the series of the CEO talks lined up for the session and I must confess, it was a memorable beginning. When toplines and bottomlines are the only two things that take up most of the time of the CEOs, it was really refreshing to learn that there are people with a vision who are determined to make a difference to the people who are deprived.

We care about donations only after a calamity or a disaster. And I have seen that myself. After floods, famines and tsunamis we always find generous souls donating for the those affected. But, according to Mr. Gupta, the root of the problems lie there. We think of the people who have under previledged or downtrodren only in the wake of a crisis. The other problem is that we all give what we don't require and not what the people needs. Hence, there is always a gap between the problem and the solution. Goonj is trying to bridge this divide.

With Anshu Gupta's talk, we also inaugurated the:

The next CEO lecture is on 8th August. The speaker is Mr. C. D. Kamath, the MD of Tata Refractories Limited. He would be speaking on "Doing Business in China".

More Coverages: The Telegraph , Businessworld Sify News/PTI

Meri Jaan

2008-07-31T02:46:00.000-07:00

Meri Jaan…

Great music…wonderful friends… laughter and goodwill…

When you just look around and wonder if it gets any better.

And then it does.

A wave of memories, a twinge of sadness…and a whole lot of pride…

A whole year in XLRI and I could never figure out why my seniors swayed to this one song with such abandon. I mean, it’s a song.

It’s also a legacy. It caught me unawares. But I sang with all my heart, meaning every word, cherishing every beat, holding on to the others, entranced like me. But it’s more than that. How many Xlers in the past connected over the same song? How many memories could a few notes evoke, differing in time but identical in spirit?

Such passion, such zest for an institution, for everything it stands for, for the times spent here and the times to come. Such respect for everyone I have known here and for all that they did and they are doing to give back, to make things that much better for the next lot.

So cheers to us…Each and every one of the faculty, batchmates, my seniors, my juniors and XLers all over. A toast to the good times, the not so good times, the friends, the learning and the unlearning. To XL!

Meri jaan…meri jaan…

- Harsha Khubchandani, BM '09

XLRI GMP students visit Uranium mines at Narwapahar

2008-07-25T01:21:00.000-07:00

As a part of industry-institute interaction, the one year General Management Program at XLRI visited the Uranium mines of UCIL at Narwapahar, some 28 km from Jamshedpur on July 11, 2008. The session started with a brief introduction about UCIL, how the organization is at the forefront of Indian Nuclear program and how the safety of the miners is given a top priority.

It was followed by a half an hour video on how Narwapahan mines is at the forefront of technology. It is one of the most modern trackless mine in the country with a decline (7 degrees) to underground and ramp accesses to the slopes. The use of large diesel powered underground equipment results in high productivity, eliminating fatigue of workmen and provide good working environment. Respirators, ear-muffs, safety goggles are used by workers as protection against harmful exposures. Rubber aprons, gloves, helmets and gumboots are used by persons handling toxic materials and final product. Noise levels of different machinery are reduced by many engineering control measures. The presence of students who had significant work experience (greater than 5 years) at Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited made the discussion livelier. It was however sad to note that India is not blessed with sufficient Uranium and that the percentage of Uranium in the ore is only 0.065% approximately compared to close to 16% in mines of France and Canada.

This video session was followed by a visit to the Uranium mines. The visitors were given adequate protective gears which included knee-high rubber shoes, helmets and battery operated torches. They were led by an instructor who answered the numerous questions raised by the students. After descending down with the help of a cage, the first destination was at 295 m below the surface of the earth. The students were fascinated to see the tunnels and the illumination and the safety features present in the mines. There were heavy vehicles carrying ores and debris from one part of the mine to another. The instructor explained how the ore is transported for refinement from one point to another.

The next point was at 350 m below the surface. At this point, there were unmanned conveyor belts collecting the ore and transporting it to the crushing unit. After three stages of crushing, the ore undergoes two stages of wet grinding. The slurry thus obtained in then leached for dissolution of Uranium. The leached slurry is filtered to obtain liquid Uranium. The liquid is then precipitated from the concentrated liquor to form Magnesium Di-Uranate or “Yellow Cake”. This is the final product of Narwapahar mines. The students were awestruck by the fact that most of the operations were automated and that all these runs smoothly many meters below the surface of the earth.

The questions still followed. They ranged from Supply Chain Management, process control, maintaining high morale among the miners, Corporate Social Responsibility, safety of miners and the people who live in the nearby villages from radioactivity and so on. The students left the UCIL campus with a feeling that India would become a self reliant Nuclear power some day.

A Virtual Tour through XL Campus

2008-07-03T07:09:00.000-07:00

While much is written about XL culture, bonding, activities, achievements, placements, rankings, etc, nothing much is online about the XL Campus...

A big gap, since XL Campus has changed over last 10 - no, 5- no,actually even last 1 year or so...

To fill up this gap, here is a Virtual Tour through XLRI Campus
(Note: you can manage the slide transition by taking the curser to the bottom of the photo)

MAXI Fair

2007-11-22T21:55:00.000-08:00

The MAXI Fair is happening early this academic year! Usually, it is conducted in January or February, but the MAXI team appears to be extra-enthusiastic this year, and is holding the nationally-acclaimed marketing research event in November.

Preparations are going full-swing. Colourful stalls have been set up in the football field. The game-design part is done and the seniors have now set the juniors to work on the props. Visit the 'working area' of any of the teams, and you will have a hard time finding enough floor to walk on. Thermocol, chart-paper, glitter, sketch-pens, cutters, markers, paints, cellotape and, above all, bottles of Fevicol, litter the floor. In the middle, those juniors that are not busy 'taking a break' can be found industriously working on their individual bits of thermocol.

Those with some skill in drawing/painting etc are in great demand and are sometimes loaned to other groups in the team as well (but not between teams, no way!). Some juniors (especially those in the rural MAXI fair) are tapping their previously unexplored talent at Devanagiri calligraphy. Some (mainly those from the South, but others also) are learning new Hindi words. Yet others are just having a good time putting glitter on unsuspecting people.

A few have appointed themselves the 'bread-bringers' of their respective groups, and take orders for food. Since it's MAXI that's paying for it, everyone orders a good amount; Bishu da must be having a hard time dealing with the mass orders that come by for cheese maggi and bread-omelette and alu-paratha.

Like last time, the MAXI Fair will have two parts this year as well - the rural MAXI fair, which will be held at Rakha Mines (around 30 km from Jamshedpur) on Saturday, and the main fair, which will be held on the campus on Sunday. For text and pics of all the fun and games - watch this space!

XL Utsav - The Family Festival (Aug 11-12)

2007-08-13T09:41:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Sharath N. (09BMD) for the text... and wish I had more pics to share about the event...
Nevertheless, here goes:

Life in a b-school is not only about exams and late night submissions, especially if that b-school happens to be XLRI. This is one campus where nobody is a stranger. This was exemplified by XL Utsav, a two-day extravaganza in which the students, the staff, and the faculty and their families came together with one intention – to have fun.

The weekend was formally inaugurated on Saturday morning by the Director, Father Casimir Raj. Afterwards, everyone headed to the sports field, where friendly football and throwball matches were conducted between teams comprising a healthy mix of students, faculty, staff and their families. There was an atmosphere of healthy competition, with the teams fighting each other to gain supremacy.

After breaking for lunch, everyone returned to the front lawns, where stalls had been put up. The food stalls had mouth-watering delicacies from all parts of the country, which had been specially prepared by the families of the faculty and staff. The game stalls were manned by the students and had old favourites like Ring the Bottle and Lucky Seven. The stalls, the music and the children running around, gave a carnival-like atmosphere to the proceedings. .

The next event of the day was the Treasure Hunt, which had ‘The Hitch-hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ as its theme. The clues were challenging, and had the teams at their wits’ end, as they ran from pillar to post, trying to make sense of it all.

With all the fun and gaiety around, the Rain Gods decided to put in an appearance. But that didn’t dampen anyone’s spirit – the action moved indoors, where a rousing round of Antakshari was played. This was followed by a sumptuous buffet which was a treat for the palate.

The Utsav culminated in a musical night. The first performance was by acclaimed sitar player Partho Bose. Next up was a performance by the children of some of the faculty who enthralled all with old favourites like Zombie and Smoke on the Water. The evening ended in a grand performance by BodhiTree, the famous XLRI band. It was a rocking show that got the crowd on their feet, singing and clapping along to the songs. And thus, two days of fun and excitement were brought to an end by the old XL favourite, ‘XL Meri Jaan’ ...

Life Returns to Campus...

2007-08-10T20:15:00.000-07:00

Almost 2 months are gone since the new batch arrived... and life has been busy - not just in the classes!

here are some glimpses:
The Preparatory Program was not just about classes:
There were games.....

...including a Tug of War with the faculty :)

...birthday parties...

shocked everyone with a formally dressed-up class!!

And then the senior batch returned, and more excitement followed:

Maxi Bazar

The Freshers' Night & The Juniors' Nite

the village trips...

...a pooja for the venerable prof ;0)

(not that it improved anyone's quantie marks!)

...the adventure camps..

...and, of course, not to miss out: an age old tradition ;-)

Oh, yes!... there are also the classes, quizzes, submissions, presentations... :)