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.

 

Candle March – An SRC Event

The Social Responsibility Cell of XIMB, since its inception, has been incessantly working on projects spanning around various issues and trying to make a difference. Be it a visit to the local school for the differently abled children, doing projects that revolve around sensitization of students, mobilizing resources to be diverted towards the less privileged and most importantly, spreading smiles!

                                                                              SRC's Official Logo

At the eve of Independence Day, a Candle March was held to kick off the celebrations that were to be held the next day. As the crowd gathered around, with tricolour tattoos firmly stuck on their cheeks, the air was bursting with a rustic patriotic sentiment that was shared by every individual who was standing there. Suddenly, it didn’t matter that most us come from different parts of the country, divided by almost everything that defines us- our culture, linguistic inclinations, the societal norms and much more. As the Mess Bhainas came forward and talked about what it means to be an Indian, every difference melted away into oblivion. Suddenly, we were not Bengalis, Punjabis or Gujjus; we were Indians.

                                                                Enlightened souls of a Billion Patriots

Group songs were organized by both the members of the Shadow Committee of SRC and Mess Bhainas. With each song oozing with a sentiment that had overwhelmed everyone in the entire vicinity, the crowd cheered for the Mess Bhainas as they sang with unrestricted gusto.
And suddenly, out of the blue, a flash mob appeared and started grooving to a medley of songs- from dancing sans any inhibitions to A.R Rehman’s ‘Jai Ho’ to recreating the magic of’ Rang De Basanti’s boundless energy.
The evening ended on a sombre note as people walked the ‘X walk’, only this time it wasn’t about frivolous chats and lazy strolls; people walked with a sense of purpose, with their expressions brimming with an unbridled pride.

                                 
                                                             The Candle March

We’re Bengalis, Marathis, Gujratis, Punjabis, Tamilians.
We’re XIMB-ians.
We’re self obsessed.
We’re selfish.

We’re busy leading fast track lives that don’t leave us with the time to think twice about anything or anyone but ourselves.

But for that one hour, that one event, that one defining second- we were Indians; as we always were. As we always would be.

Team IRC

Sambandh 2013

‘Sambandh’, a word that can be loosely translated to ‘Relationship’, evokes a surge of mixed emotions when mentioned in the vicinity of X-Square, not unlike its ordinary counterpart. An event that is organized by the first year students so that they can get a chance to express their heartfelt gratitude towards the Second year students, ‘Sambandh’ has been an incessant part of XIMB’s culture for years.

We at XIMB thrive on traditions that are passed on from one batch to the other. Let it be random parties to blow off some steam, birthday bashes that begin at Midnight and go on till wee hours, study sessions that last for hours (and X-Walks that last even longer!), it has been the prerogative of the Second Year students to ensure that XIMB retains the essence of its being.

Fusion Dance

There is more to XIMB than being an A-League Business School that has a diverse academic curriculum that it is renowned for. People in the campus don’t just walk around with their noses firmly stuck in the books. We party, we take chances, we win competitions, we play sports, we workout, we banter with our friends, we organize events, we rediscover ourselves and much more.  

When the First Year students step into the XIMB campus, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with a plethora of information that one is supposed to imbibe and implement in a matter of days. The Second Year students ensure that the process ensues in a seamless manner.

As an extension to ‘Parichay’, ‘Sambandh’ was held on 12 July 2013. Amidst the scintillating performances, blaring music, people grooving to anything and everything- it was an evening to remember. The entire event was organized from the scratch by the collective effort of the First Year students- with an array of activities extending from inviting the seniors, arrangement of celebratory dinner, lighting, decoration et al.

Anarkali Disco Chali 

The highlight of the evening were the cult dances which ensured stitches in the stomach of everyone who witnessed its hilarity,  Bollywood dance to the heart wrenching notes of ‘Teri Deewani’, the exotic Sufi Fusion of tabla and guitar, crooning of the husky notes of Celine Dion’s songs and fusion dances that brought the audience alive with vigour. Even more, it was overwhelming to see the entire batch of 2013-15 coming together to put forth a tribute for the senior batch. The second year students cheered on their torch bearers as the stage was brought to life with the unparalleled talent of the First Years’.

Cult Dance

XIMB is not just another Business School. We understand that our holistic development is much more than a series of books and a perfect CQPA to boot.

So we party, we take chances, we win competitions, we play sports, we workout, we banter with our friends, we organize events, we rediscover ourselves.

Fusion Dance Troupe

And much, much more. 



Team IRC

Parichay 2013

Parichay – the word itself has a lot of possibilities. Possibilities of togetherness, heartfelt camaraderie and that of a friendship that is going to stand the test of time. So, the fact that the final welcoming ritual of the senior batch to welcome the rookies into their ranks, is filled with much anticipation and enthusiasm. And this year the event was bigger and better than ever before.

Father P. D. Thomas, Dean Administration, addressed the meet with his words of wisdom. The crowd became ecstatic when one of our most beloved professor, Dr. Biresh Kumar Sahoo also joined the proceedings.

                                                                        danser par les étudiants français

                                                      

'Parichay 2013' started off with a heartfelt rendition of ‘Tum Hi Ho’ by Parantap Sharma. The performance set the tone for a memorable night ahead.  The night was dazzled with stunning performances by seniors from BM, HRM and RM streams. Ganpathy on the Guitar, Supratik with his rendition of ‘You’re Beautiful’ and our very own Kailash Kher, Rahul Rai set the stage on fire with their vocals. Goutam Khadanga performed a rap and other dance performances ensured that there was never a dull moment.

Lungi Dance

However, the 'Pièce de résistance', the performance by the International students, who are here as a part of student exchange program, left the audience spellbound. The dance was led by the gorgeous Laura Gray, from Euromed, and the complete performance was truly ‘World Class'. 

International Exchange Students Performing

The evening came to an end with a popular punjabi folk dance 'Bhangra' and a wonderful mash up dance by HRM folks including team IRC’s very own Pushkar Choudhary.

The Fusion Dance

The audience comprising of the junior batch started off as a docile bunch clapping at rehearsed intervals. However, by the end of the event, most of them were jiving in frenzy on the tune of ‘Gangam Style’. 

The host asked the entire batch of 2014 to come on stage and welcome their juniors once again. A sumptuous dinner awaited all of us once we returned. It was an evening to remember, a spirited performance and a perfect welcome. 

Team IRC

A noble step towards Humanity !

XIMB celebrates World Humanitarian Day
August 19th, 2012

 

The fifth International World Humanitarian Day was observed on 19th August at Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB), in collaboration with Concern Worldwide India, for paying tribute to the men and women who work to save the lives and protect the health of people affected by emergencies caused by conflict or natural disasters. XIMB has long been associated with humanitarian work in Orissa and has championed the cause of the community by providing institutional solutions to societal issues. The Social Responsibility Cell (SRC) of the institute, which organized the event, also conducts other social initiatives all year round, including a Blood Donation Camp in association with Rotary Club, Bhubaneswar and the Red Cross Society, a Baal Mela for local school dropouts and tree plantation drives around Bhubaneswar.

                               

The event started with a street play organized by the students of SRC “Manavta ki pukaar” (meaning the ‘call of humanity’). The evening was initiated by the ceremonial lightning of the lamp and welcome note by Fr. P.T. Joseph, S.J., Director XIMB. It also witnessed dignitaries from the length and breadth of the country who gave their insights on the Humanitarian Day, including Mr. Mihir Bhatt, All India Institute of Disaster Mitigation; Mr. Ambika Nanda, of the United Nations Development Program; Dr. Mangala Prasad Mohanty, Honorary Secretary Indian Red Cross Society, Orissa State; Mr Chiranjeet Das, Concern Worldwide India; Dr Asha Hans, EVP, Shanta Memorial Rehabilitation Centre; and Mr. Deepankar Dutta, Country Director Concern International.

 

 

 

 

 Following the lighting of the lamp, Mr Dipankar Dutta spoke about the significance of the World Humanitarian Day, bringing to notice the facts and figures related to disaster mitigation. Dr Mangala Prasad Mohanty contextualized the International events and movements that have gained momentum in the present scenario. Mr Ambika Nanda from UNDP also shared his thoughts from his volunteering experiences that brought tears to the eyes of the audience. He and Dr Asha Hans spoke about the voices of the sub-altern or the marginalized. This re-emphasized the need to develop basic facilities and equipment so that the physically disabled are able to deal and survive calamities, as they are generally the worst hit victims. Mr Mihir Bhatt spoke of the need to systemize the humanitarian space in India. The fact that we have no fact-based report about a single disaster management program was shocking.

 

 

These thoughts lingered in our minds and made us truly realize the gravity of the situation. Many of us want to help the cause, but hardly any of us know the correct measures that should be followed to provide effective relief. Hence, it is the need of the hour to promote disaster management education on an international level. Mr Nanda rightly said, “when you are old, you can afford to work for the people; but when you are young, you have to work with them.” It shall be also be our initiative from now on to make our thought process more inclusive and keep in mind the problems faced by weaker sections of community.

                                             

 

It is a wonder how this day was blessed with bright sunshine though Bhubaneswar is in the midst of its monsoons. Perhaps this was symbolic of the ray of hope and energy this day brought not just in our campus but throughout the world…throughout humanity !

Candle March and Independence Day Celebrations

“At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life
and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out
from the old to the new...India discovers herself again”.
By Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru

             

               It was on 15th August 1947, when India won freedom from the British Raj

and this was the beginning of a new era where India arose as a free nation. The

Independence Day commemorates the birth of the world's largest democracy, India and this day holds a very unique significance in the Indian history. This was the day when India woke up to inhale the air of freedom.

However this independence did not materialize in one day. Many had to sacrifice their lives with a smile on their face as proud Indians. They were giving their lives for the sake of the freedom of their beloved motherland.

Every year India's Independence Day is celebrated by all proud Indians. The day is observed as a national holiday in the country. Though, local governments conduct the ceremony of flag hoisting all over India, the venue of main celebration is the Red Fort in New Delhi. The celebration starts every year with the unfurling of the tri-colored national flag by the Prime Minister of the nation followed by a televised speech.

India celebrated 66 years of Independence on the 15^th of august 2012. However celebrations at XIMB began on the night of 14^th itself.

The celebrations were organized by the Social Responsibility Cell of XIMB.  Speeches were delivered by the students, talking of India’s progress since independence.  Popular patriotic songs “Yeh jo des hai mera” and “Roobaroo” were sung by Mishti and she was accompanied by Ganapati on the guitar. SRC has undertaken an initiative called “Young Adult’s Education” to educate the mess bhainas. They also participated by singing the national anthem.  Further the students had put up a dance performance which was a flash mob on popular songs like “Jai Ho , Vande Mataram , Rang De Basanti”

Courtesy:Anirban De

The night ended with a candle march where all the students took up candles and walked around the premises singing various patriotic songs. This was in the memory of all the freedom fighters who pledged their life for their country as well as those unnamed soldiers without whose support independent India would still be a distant dream. The map of India drawn on the stage was illuminated by candles, signifying the independent unified India. The students sat around till the candles went out, creating a surreal atmosphere.

            On the morning of Independence Day , celebrations commenced at 9 a.m. with hoisting of the Indian flag.  Speeches were delivered by the Dean Admin as well as the faculty members.  Further speeches were delivered by the student community represented by Anand Agarwal and Shipreeta Verma.  Abodh bhaina who works in the mess delivered a speech in Oriya about the Independence Day.

This was followed by a play performed by the members of X-Stage. They portrayed the various freedom fighters and showed how despite independence there has been an erosion of the Indian value system.  They showed that Gandhiji himself came to see society as it is today and was extremely disheartened by the present state of affairs. However the play ended on a positive note saying that there is good in this world and by working together we can achieve the dream of a brighter tomorrow.

Finally we ended the program by singing the national anthem.

JAI HIND

 Courtesy:Anirban De

HR Summit

XIMAHR- the HR Association of XIMB in collaboration with the Placement Committee organized an HR Summit on ‘Emerging Trends in Talent Acquisition’ on 11th August 2012.

The Summit aimed to start a dialogue among Senior HR professionals, Industry Leaders and Stakeholders of today’s dynamic organizations on current HR issues and also provided an opportunity to understand the relatively new concept of talent acquisition and various issues related to it.Here is a summary of the speakers and their views.

Kanchana Manyam

AdditionalGeneral Manager - Human Resources at Shapoorji Pallonji & Co. Ltd. 

Ms. Kanchana underlined the four trends in talent acquisition namely employment trends, recruitment trends, selection challenge and role of recruitment. She mentioned that apart from IT and ITeS sector, sectors like Pharma (17%), Real Estate and Construction (13%) etc are experiencing double digit growth. As a result, there is a pressing need for redefining the source of talent pool and employability.

She also touched up on the fact that with the advent of technology, recruitment process has become a scalable process

Dilep Misra

President & Head Group HR at JK Group

Mr. Dilep, Head, Group Human resource has worked as HR Head of various companies and has exposure to HR practices of most business verticals. He is an XIMB (PGDM (HR)) alumnus of batch of 1993-1995.

He during his course of discussion highlighted the fact that his organization paid due emphasis on retaining employees and that is the reason; the attrition rate of their company is in single digit. He further said that his organization adopted CCl model and practiced job rotation of employees to improve their efficiency.

On further elaborating about the recruitment policies of his company he said that they hire people at top level through social media like twitter and LinkedIn whereas for the frontline job they go for direct recruitment.

Saurabh Nigam

Vice President — HR, IT & Admin

Mr. Saurabh Nigam spoke on attracting and retaining the Gen Y – The new age employee.The Gen Y is characterized by their self direction and put more weight age on non-financial incentives than financial incentives.He emphasized on nurturing a corporate culture, creating challenging work environment, provide job flexibility and building recognition and intrapreneurship programs. Gen Y being ambitious and outgoing, look for freedom, explicit career path and clear roadmap to success.

Bijay Sahoo

President - H R, Retail & 4G Infotel at Reliance Industries ltd

Mr. Bijay Sahoo gave valuable insights on the strategies and challenges faced by him during his 23 years of work experience in HR strategies, processes, technology, change management and leadership development across sectors.

He opined that colleges provide the pool of talent that can be groomed for taking future leadership role. He pointed that the importance of recruiting through employee referral, social media et al and how the technology has changed over time, starting from the job portals in 1990’s to social media in 2006-07 and now the mobile platform applications. He talked about HR Kalpavriksha that entails all aspects of Talent management like Planning, Recruiting, Training, Retaining, Sustaining etc.

“Intelligence + Humility=Successful Individual”  

Anish Singh HR Director,

Reckitt Benckiser

Mr. Anish Singh has over 13 years of experience in HR and has worked in reputed organizations like HUL, ITC, ICICI Prudential, Essar.

He emphasized that there is no war for talent; talent has already won this war. He observed that in today’s scenario employer branding is very important and it plays a very vital role in attracting the right talent. He highlighted some facts about his company mainly that his company is in touch with Gen Y and is a global company with global mindset.

He also observed that poaching of talent does not help any organization in the long run. In his organization they put a lot of importance on ‘diversity’, in terms of gender, nationality, and region.

Conclusion

Talent acquisition takes a long term view of not only filling positions of today, but also identifying talent for future openings. Talent acquisition professionals need to be skilled not only in sourcing tactics, candidate assessment, compliance and hiring standards, but also in employment branding practices. Also, talent retention (an important aspect of talent acquisition) assumes importance to build a succession model in place.

In an emerging market like ours, where labor capital is fast moving, talent acquisition and retention seems to be one of the biggest problems that plague the country today so talent acquisition is not just a fancy term, it is here to stay in this 21st century.

LUCKY ALI – CELEBLITZ NIGHT

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This November, XIMB witnessed the biggest extravaganza in the B-school fraternity- Xpressions’11. With cultural events like fashion show (Carnival De Vogue), dance competition (Thirkan) and a mind-boggling face off amongst Rock Bands (Decibels), it had all the entertainment one could ask for.

On the evening of 11^th November ‘2011, a chill breeze swept across the arena. The arena had been sealed for security. There was an enveloping lull. Suddenly, the lights were turned on. The stage was set. The gates were opened. The crowd started moving in slowly and in no time in hordes. Before long, the whole arena was swarming with a huge crowd. The stage was flashing with disco lights. The evening that everyone had awaited with a bated breath was finally here! It was the night of Celeblitz and the performer was none other than Lucky Ali.

Lucky Ali, started with his most famous chartbuster number and moved from one popular melody to the other.. The crowd turned ecstatic. The revelry was beyond my imagination. The moments we had during the event will last a lifetime. The Mexican waves that swept across reflected the enthusiasm and jubilation of the crowd. The event came to an end. It was a major success. The students departed from the ground but to get some rest before the biggest wet party of the year – JLT.

XPRESSIONS 2011

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Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB) hosted its annual three day business management and cultural fest Xpressions, between 11^th and 13^th November. The theme for this year was Iridescence- the colours of reflection. Xpressions 2011 was officially launched on campus on 10^th November 2011, followed by the launches of all the game committees. Teams from all over the country arrived early, in order to stake their claim on various management, consulting, and cultural events which are part of this three day extravaganza. The flagship events hosted were Skill City a game that tests creative and cognitive abilities, Kurukshetra- a strategy based game, Gladiator-an individual game involving different modules, Helios- a game designed exclusively for undergraduate students, Spardha – the rural entrepreneurship competition. The day then continued with cultural competitions ‘Thirkan’ and ‘Carnival De Vogue’. Thirkan, the group dance competition saw 7 teams participating, and was won by Team UDT, while ‘Carnival De Vogue’, the fashion fiesta, saw 4 teams participating, with first prize going to BIMTech, Noida, which bagged a cash prize of Rs. 50,000.

--> Mr. & Ms. Xpressions offered contestants the opportunity to showed their talent, wit, personality and confidence. After doing an excellent job of impressing the audience and judges with their skills, Siddharth Ranjan from BIMTECH, Noida and Purbasha Dalabehera from XIMB were adjudged Mr. and Miss Xpressions respectively. The chief sponsor of the Xpressions 2011 was Tata Steel, Associate sponsors, Vedanta, NALCO, Telecom Partner Vodafone, Beverage Partner Coca Cola, Good Times Partner King fisher. Events across all three days were covered by official Media Partner Channel V, who also gave winners of some of the cultural events, a direct entry to Channel V Nokia Indiafest 2012, Goa. XIMB hosted the rock band competition, Decibelz. Seven bands from all over India participated and enthralled the crowd with their music. After setting the stage on fire with their head-banging music, ‘What Escapes Me’ from Kolkata were declared the winners of the competition. There was also a head-banging competition during the rock show for the audience, the winners of which were also awarded with a goody bag of channel V.
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On the cultural front, the other important event Goonj – the Solo Singing competition was also held in which the contestants enthralled the audience with a mix of songs including traditional folk songs as well as their own compositions. In Mad Ads, contestants aimed to create wacky ads for crazy products and the eventual winner was XIMB while NIFT, Bhubaneswar came in second. Aks – the Face Painting competition rounded up the cultural events for the day and the winner was from XIMB and the runner-up from NIFT, Bhubaneswar. The fest then concluded with the much awaited event Celeblitz, the celebrity event where Lucky Ali, the multi-platinum, award-winning singer performed with his troupe, live in front of a crowd of more than 5000 people.