Reality check

The students of Symbiosis College for Management and Human Resource Development (SCMHRD),who through their annual management and cultural event Neev are working on the lines of testing the students in all the above mentioned fields. Evita Rodrigues a second year student and member of the core management team of Neev,says,“ The highlight this year is the flagship event called Augustus. Spread over three days,participants from premiere B schools across the nation are invited to test their skills in ten competitions after going through a rigourous screening process. This year,the students will be tested in competencies like people skills,marketing abilities,analytical skills,organisational and financial know how to find the best student manager across India. Infact it is heartening to hear students tell us that participating in events like these has helped them in their professional lives too.”

Cynnics might argue that the actual advantages of these college festivals might be far overhyped,but it cannot be denied that these festivals do help to improve teamwork and bonding,and working towards a common goal. Gantavya Sharma,head of the publicity team for Mindspark,an inter-collegiate event hosted by College of Engineering Pune (COEP),says,“While most of the events at Mindspark are the usual fun and cultural events,we also have events like – Matrix,in which students had to create something out of the junk. This not only tested their creativity,but also made them apply their knowledge. In another event Encrypto,they were asked to design a security system. A paper presentation entitled- Save the World,had students presenting a paper with practical solutions for problems plaguing our surroundings. We also had events related to businesses where students had to prepare business plans.”

It is interesting to note however,the fact that even organising an event like this brings out the best of managerial,organisational and persuasive skills of the organisers themselves. Akhilesh Abhyankar,in-charge,student activities Vishwakarma Institute of Technology (VIT),says,”College fests do require a lot of precision planning to ensure that the event goes off perfectly. This year we have combined our three annual fests Vitality (technical fest),Epiphany (cultural fest) and Agon (sports fest) and merged them all into a new festival Melange. While the cultural aspect of Melange will bring out the hidden art of the students,the technical events will enable them to put their studies into practical use. Besides as the students are going to be organsing the whole event their managerial skills will also be tested.”