Let’s Undivide At The Best 3 Days In Hel(L): IIM Lucknow's Manfest-Varchasva

The streets are lit up. The tents are put up. The crowd is pumped up.

The best 3 days in Hel(L) are here!

The curtain is raised on one of the most anticipated events across B-Schools in India. Manfest-Varchasva, the Annual Business, Cultural & Sports Festival of IIM Lucknow is scheduled to be held from November 18th-20th, 2016. Over the 29 years, Manfest-Varchasva has evolved into an event of enormous scale and this time, it’s going to be bigger and better than ever with a total cash prize of INR 16 lakhs. Over the 3 days of the fest, IIM Lucknow will become the Colosseum for elite talent and intellectuals alike from across the country. The theme for this edition of the fest is ‘Towards a World without Borders’. With its unique combination of Management events, Cultural events including literary, dance, music, fashion and theatre, Leaders Express, Pro-shows, CSR events and Sports events, drawing participation from over 300 colleges, the fest caters to one and all and aspires to eliminate the borders of prejudice, stereotypes, hatred and fear.

Continuing with the rich tradition, this edition is set to present flagship events across various formats, online included. With total prizes of INR 11 lakhs, the management events attract participation from premier B-schools across India like IIMs A, B, C, I, K, MDI, XLRI, FMS, etc. After hosting Vodafone Excelsior last year, Manfest-Varchasva has earned the repute of hosting an event with the highest number of PPOs ever at a business school fest. This year the fest is associating with institutions and corporates of great repute including The World Bank, University of Hull, Aditya Birla Group, Transunion CIBIL and many others. Other than superbly high cash prizes, winners stand the chance to win up to 6 PPIs from corporates like Make My Trip and Transunion CIBIL.

Cultural Events at IIM Lucknow are a great platform to showcase the talent and are a treat to watch for the audience. The entire spectrum of cultural events ranging from Literary events and Plays to exhilarating dance and breath-taking music performances. These events are zealously contested by some of the best talents of the country and this year, the spectacle quotient will only increase owing to the sheer range of the events lined up. The winner of the dance competition will be given a chance to perform live at Maruti Colours of Youth Contest. MTV Extreme will ensure that the winner band performs live at the MTV Extreme Opening Ceremony.  Another highlight of this year’s festival is the 2nd edition of IIM Lucknow Model United Nations (IIMLMUN ’16) Conference. With participation from leading schools, graduate and post graduate colleges across India, this event will provide a true platform of deliberation for tomorrow’s thought leaders.

Leaders Express Series of IIM Lucknow hosts industrial stalwarts, dignitaries and thought leaders. This year, along with the ICONS Series, Manfest-Varchasva will also host a Corporate Conclave, a Defence Conclave and a Thought Leadership Summit. In consonance with this year’s theme, Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, Former Chairman of ISRO and Saurabh Srivastava, Co-Founder and Former Chairman of NASSCOM will grace the ICONS series as the keynote speakers. Several other speakers of high repute include: Ashutosh Pandey, CEO-Tata Cliq; Colonel Prabir Sengupta, an Independent Consultant; Navneet Sekeira, IG, Women Power Line and Sunil Gupta, CEO and MD of Igniva Consulting. The Young Leaders Program of Manfest-Varchasva is an interactive forum for students to interact with industry stalwarts to learn the tricks of the trade and obtain an unique perspective on various facets of business and life in general. A digital marketing workshop organized by Google is also a highlight of the fest.

Historically, Manfest-Varchasva has hosted major headlining Pro-Shows with powerful acts of national acclaim like that of Javed Ali under the aegis of Coke Studio (2014), Nikhil Chinapa of Vh1 Supersonic (2014), Sachin-Jigar (2015), Sunburn(2013) and international bands like Goldspot (2012) and Pain of Salvation (2011). This year, with KK, the evergreen artist to set the stage on fire, Ash King to turn up the heat, and Lost Stories, the EDM DJ Duo of Tomorrowland fame to get our hearts pounding, this year will be a night of mellifluous rendition - bigger and better than ever. These celebrities of international repute resonate with this year’s theme: ‘Towards a World Without Borders’.

The CSR events at Manfest-Varchasva include a marathon with a cause for the kids, Lucknow Kids Run in association with Women and Child Development ministry, organized for the first time with a participation of over 500 children from over 10 schools across the city. Also, the Lucknow City Run, a 10km run for men and 5km run for women and children boasts of a prize money of INR 1 Lakh. Yajna, the Pan-India CSR Challenge presented by Exponential in association with an NGO Save the Children is a case-study competition where participants will develop an innovative and implementable solution to combat diarrhoeal diseases in India. Winners will take home cash prizes of INR 1 lakh.

The Manfest-Varchasva Sports Cup is a coveted pan-India B-School tournament where more than 1200 participants from over 25 colleges will battle it out for one title across 14 different sports. The Indoor and Outdoor sports include Cricket, Football, Volleyball, Throwball, Chess, Carrom, Basketball, Badminton, Tennis, Squash, TT, Snooker, Futsal and Frisbee. Participants can also engage in non-stop online gaming. The competition is fierce as the institutes fight it out for glory in their bid to be crowned Champions.

So it is time IIM L puts up its best face forward, provides a tough competition and plays the perfect host,in the extravaganza that is Manfest- Varchasva.

----------
About the Author:

Aastha Sneha Pathak is a 2nd-year student at IIM Lucknow. Besides living the hel(L)ish life, she loves to read. She is also a member of Forty Two, the literary and debating club on campus, as well as, Team Disha, the committee of placement mentors.