A battleground for the students

However much one studies in theory, one can never be sure as to how to react to situations thrown at him or her in the real world. This is where fests come in handy — a lot of them double up as preparatory grounds for students to understand the kind of challenges they might face once they graduate.

Taking the same principle further, Christ University Institute of Management’s (CUIM) annual national fest Ushus, put its participants in real-life situations that one might face in the business world. Held over two days, the event saw over 28 B-schools taking part in it. Many events were held as part of the fest, all closely linked to the James Bond series as a theme.

This made it a fun experience for one and all. Monami, a student from Alliance University, says that she was amazed by the theme. “Usually, business fests have a theme but don’t really incorporate it in their competitions. But here it was fun. We all felt like spies, who are set to solve a mystery of our own,” she adds.The students had to put together the entire fest on their own. They even conducted a flash mob to introduce the fest.

The entertaining dance was held on the basketball field and even had a team of people following the participants with camera, capturing every light and serious moment.
Most of the events were around marketing, finance, human resource, lean operations and systems.

The ‘Operations’ event was called ‘A Majesty’s Secret Service’. Anup Kiran, a final-year student from the college, says that it was a fun event that challenged one mentally. “We put the participants in a mission to create and design devices that can help James Bond in his mission,” he adds. There was a lot of hustle-bustle in ‘Stock’, another one of the events.  Called ‘Casino Royale’, the participants were put in virtual trading situations where they were each given few shares — the person who made the most money won.
“We had a lot of volunteers come and create a stressful environment so that they got confused. It was fun to watch the energy and the enthusiasm of the participants as well,” says Ankita, a final-year student.

The highlight of the fest was the ‘Best Manager’ event. Called ‘Spy of the Decade’, the participants were put through various stressful situations. They started off the round by parading them around the campus as prisoners. “This is the mother of all events. They had to prove they are the best spy. So, when we tied them as prisoners, we told them that they could progress only if they gave a valid reason as to why they should survive,” says Chandana, a student.

Each and every event saw people from various colleges coming together, letting their hair down and enjoying every round that was creatively designed. Nitin, a participant from St Joseph’s College of Business Administration, says that he was very impressed by the fest. “From handling such a huge crowd to ensuring every event was fun, the organising team did a fabulous job. I can’t believe a management fest could be so much fun,” he adds.