Independence Day

Independence Day. A day when people from all walks of life shed tags like state borders, culture and language to come together and celebrate the feeling of freedom that the day brings out. From politicians giving speeches to school kids buying flags to attach to their cycles, it’s difficult not to get caught up in the feeling of patriotism that the day is filled with.

Life in a B-school on the other hand doesn’t allow for the time to sit back on introspect on the whole idea of freedom owing to the hectic nature of the course. Independence Day is seen as just another holiday to unwind. But that’s the beauty of XIMB. It always reinforces the feeling of being part of a huge family and Independence Day was no less.

On the eve of 15^th August, a crowd of students, armed with the tricolour painted on their cheeks and foreheads, made their way to the area just in front of the hostel where the Social Responsibility Cell of XIMB organized a small event as a prologue to the celebrations for the next day. As you stood there in the middle of the crowd, you began to appreciate just how diverse a crowd you really are studying with. Each person is different from the next whether it’s their accent, their background or even nativity, yet here we were, standing together, sharing the same love for our country. And this feeling was shared by every individual present as they connected with the songs their friends sang for the occasion. Even the Mess Bhainas, who have been an integral part of every celebration, gave a beautiful speech and performance regarding the importance of freedom.

As the crowd made its way for the candle light march, people broke into conversations on how they celebrated the day back in their home town. Each person had their own experience to share in a part of the country unknown to us and these interactions gave a greater sense of appreciation of just how large and diverse our country really is. And just how special XIMB is in bringing all of it under one roof cohesively.

The candle light march

 A potpourri of different cultures, languages, ideologies and religions, yet the feeling of being part of one prevails throughout and that in itself is such a learning experience. Every place and every culture has its own unique story to tell and it is overwhelming just how much you can learn about these places and cultures by being part of one campus. In essence that is true freedom- to be able to share, connect and discuss opinions, thoughts and ideologies without inhibitions or being confined to borders or languages.

Borders are just lines on a map

So many different views, so many different customs, so many different opinions and so many contradictions, all held together by an invisible thread of unity- being an XIMBian and being an Indian.

August 19th , 2014 | Akash Mohanty

Shadow Diaries #1 - Valhalla 2014
August 10th , 2014 | Shashank Shekhar Katyayan

Valhalla – one of the biggest B-School fests of India. I was there for the 3 days of awesomeness. Or more like 6 days because we didn’t sleep at all for the 3 nights. Running on adrenaline for 72 hours! It was an experience of a lifetime.  

I had never been to an inter college sports and cultural meet of such a grand scale before. Walking into XLRI’s well trimmed lawns, surrounded by huge trees and old legendary buildings, wearing the blue XIMB jersey really made me proud.  I saw all the other colleges such as IIM C and NMIMS arriving. It really started making my competitive side rise up. We were here for XIMB. We were here to win! 

The 1^st day had an unbelievable performance by Ability Unlimited where I saw how a wheel chair was a symbol of power and not being handicapped. We had deaf and handicapped dancers dancing totally in sync, which left me awestruck. When you have a desire to do something nothing can stop you. And they proved it. The 2^nd day all the events started. We were at war with all other colleges.  The theme for the next 2 days was that whenever, wherever XIMB was competing I was there to cheer my team. I supported the XIMB team and booed the opposition. Every sport/cultural was a do or die. It was intense. We won some. We lost some. But in the end we always congratulated the opposition team. Win or lose, what’s important is to do it in the right spirit. But in the heat of competition the real side of anybody comes out esp. the culture. I saw the B-School culture that everybody talks about. Each of the 8 B-Schools had their own culture. Everybody had their own way of doing things. Some are flamboyant, some are fierce competitors and some extremely chilled out. Most were amazing competitors and a few were not. But each of them were definitely unique!

XL Bed Rock the battle of bands - It was what I was here for. Representing XIMB as its drummer. When the competition started I saw that it was intense. We had great bands playing. We were the third on the list. Our turn was coming up and my heartbeat started to become loud and fast. New Band. More than 2 years since I was on stage! Alchemyx, Our band’s name was announced. I went onto the stage and sat on the drum throne. I raised my head and saw the crowd. It was blue in colour. The colour of XIMB jerseys.  Our entire contingent was out to support us. This really lifted me up and I forgot everything else. We were here to win and I played my heart out. It was an amazing show. Everybody enjoyed it and appreciated us even though we did not win.

Next day, which was the last, we had the finals for all the culturals and sports. The same theme continued of madly supporting XIMB teams and cheering them so much that most of us had sore throats. In the evening we had the street play competition which I was also a part of, and we won the 1^st prize. This was the 1^st time I was a part of the street play and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Along with this we also won in other cultural events and sports events. Overall XIMB came 2^nd and we were thrilled with this.

What was the take away from these three days? The three days whizzed pass like a blinding light – check. New friends - check. New experiences - both highs and lows - check.

B-Schoolers are definitely a competitive lot. We believe in being the best at whatever we do. The performance in some of the sports and culturals were nearly professional level. We had people of every variety - whacky, eccentrics, maniacs, intellectuals... you name it. But what I do know is that XIMBians are a talented lot and we blaze it wherever we go! Signing Off... See you at Valhalla again next year.

 

Valhalla 2014

Starting the 3 day Journey

There are various activities and events that take the centre stage of life at XIMB. One such event is Valhalla- Sports and cultural fest hosted every year by XLRI. This year 8 prestigious B schools from all over India got together in this three day event and competed with each other with an unmatched spirit and zeal. The event started on the 25^th of July, 2014.  XIMB had the largest contingent with 104 students, all full of energy, passion and a mission to bring back laurels to their institute. Enthusiastic XIMBians reached on the Friday morning and were welcomed by an amazing weather and friendly faces all around. The massive campus of XLRI was awe inspiring, there was festivity in the air and the preparations for the event were on full swing. Right at the entrance of the campus was the administration desk that took care of almost everything right from the food for the guests to managing and scheduling the events. On the first day all the participants were settling down and warming up for their respective sports events that were to start the next day. The day was concluded by ‘Ability unlimited’- a grand and mesmerising show put up by differently abled people.

Rock band of XIMB

Day 2 was the day when the months of practice and effort was to be put to test. The campus was full of life and activity. Wherever one stepped there was a sports competition going on- students shouting at top of their voices cheering their teams up. The happy voices that will resound at the very thought of Valhalla. On one side of the campus there were football, volleyball, throw ball and basketball arenas and on the other side were the indoor sports such as Table Tennis, badminton and chess. The day kicked off with football match between boys from XIMB and IIM C. XIMB was leading 1-0 till IIMC scored in the last second leading the match to the extra time and penalties and making it all the more exciting. However hard luck for XIMB that despite the exceptionally good game played by them they lost in the shootouts. Simultaneously the women of XIMB were giving a tough competition to XLRI in volleyball but couldn’t make it to the next round. The men’s volleyball team and the men’s table tennis team had a similar story as they lost to their opponents. The same day XIMB’s women’s Table Tennis team, the men’s badminton team and the men’s basketball team sailed through into the semi finals with an easy victory over their opponents. In the evening all the participants from XIMB were invited for a high-tea with the faculty and administration of XLRI.Although the dusk was setting in, a lot of exciting events were eagerly awaited. The solo singing and the rock band competitions in the night revived the energy. Vandana Hebbar left the audience awestruck with her exceptional performance. She won the solo singing competition for XIMB. It was a long and exciting day but only to be followed by yet another day full of all the more excitement.

The basketball team of XIMB

Day 3 started off with women’s table tennis semi finals in which XIMB had a smooth victory over NMIMS. Immediately after the table tennis match, was the men’s basketball semi finals and men’s badminton semi finals. In both the matches XIMB made itself proud by reaching the finals and raising the hopes and spirits of their fellow participants. XIMB also gave a superb performance in women’s throw ball and women's basketball winning the finals and getting yet more trophies back home. But the third day was not just about sports. A lot of cultural events such as fashion show, street play, drama and dance added to the exuberance of the day. XIMB bagged the first position in street play and group dance and runners up in kala samrat( classical eastern solo). Yamini, a first year student of XIMB also won the marathon .. Finally towards the end of the day, men from XIMB gave a very tough competition to XLRI in badminton and ended up in second position. The day concluded with a prize distribution ceremony and overall XIMB held 2^nd position among the 8 colleges.

That was how the three day Valhalla came to an end with all the participants proud , happy and tired at the same time. It indeed is a one of a kind experience and has geared up the students for the next big sports and cultural event- Athlos to be hosted by XIMB.

Proud XIMBians returning home