6500+ people. 3 days. And a team of 120 people to make it happen.
Held from 10-12 January, OJAS XI came with many different monikers. The convenors called it the festival of their dreams. The organizers thought it was a roller-coaster ride – but also the biggest learning experience in their lives. As for the participants, they had an unforgettable time. For three days, students from all over the country had the time of their lives.
It has been over a decade since OJAS was first started in SPJIMR. In this short time, it had already created a legacy of being one of the country’s most coveted management festivals. Last year, with over 4000 registrations, OJAS X had been a roaring success, and an act that would be extremely hard-to-follow. Little did everyone knew the mayhem that was about to follow. The bar would be set much higher in OJAS XI!
Although the festival officially opened to participants on January 10, the festival began over six months back, when interviews were conducted by the erstwhile OJAS team to select the new army of students that would carry the baton of this festival. Over 120 interviews were conducted in a gruelling two-day burst, and the official OJAS XI team came together for the first time on August 13, 2018. At that time, little did the selected students know about the kind of journey they had in front of them. Their only idea of OJAS was the one presented to them by the seniors, and it was one of passion, dedication and jubilation.
The first event for the team was the launch video – which brought the team together, figuratively and literally. The entire group came together to form a human chain, and symbolically, OJAS XI was born. Soon after, events like the theme launch, Children’s Day celebrations, OJAS radio, etc. helped make memories like no other for the students of SPJIMR. Each event brought aspects of management life that were perhaps brushed aside in the daily hustle-bustle of a student’s life – nostalgia, childhood, humour, vision, and they all had one underlying theme – mayhem. Little wonder then, that the official tagline for OJAS was
Manage the Mayhem.
The mayhem, as it were, began with the events of OJAS XI. 16 events, managed across two months, began with online quizzes on Quizzing.inc, and with over 6500 registrations, OJAS XI had reached new heights. After multiple deadline extensions, the final round participants were finally selected, and the entire OJAS XI team prepared to welcome them to SPJIMR. And how! For nearly a month, the OJAS creatives team worked day and night to decorate the campus. From lanterns to wall-hangings, from origami to a life-size doodle representing life at SPJIMR, the OJAS team took no shortcuts to ensure that the event participants had an unforgettable experience!
However, these participants were not alone. For the first time in its eleven-year history, OJAS organized aSPire, a one-of-its-kind business competition for undergraduate students. With an overwhelming response of 36 top-tier, undergraduate colleges, the event witnessed a record of 168 team registrations. aSPire provided undergraduate students with an opportunity to get a flavour of life at a premier B-School. 20 teams visited the campus for the final round, and with innovative case rounds and extensive PGDM interaction, these students could not but help claim that aSPire was one of the best learning experiences of their lives. With appreciation from the convenor, the professors and the Dean himself, aSPire was another feather in the glittering cap of the OJAS team.
The same vein continued for all the events. The line-up of events was as varied as it was exciting. From Conquestum, a simulation-based consulting competition, to Finding Neo, OJAS’s very own flagship case study endurance competition, each event had something new to give to all its participants, and each participant would surely remember OJAS and SPJIMR fondly for years to come.
And the fun was just starting! The second night of OJAS XI was lit up by AGNEE, the hugely popular Indian rock band. With a history of exceptional performances from artists like The Local Train and Kaamedy Inc. and Sachin-Jigar, Pro Nite had always been the pièce de résistance at OJAS. This year, the flagship spectacle of OJAS got hotter with the performance of AGNEE. Hits such as
Manmani (Roadies) and
Aahatein (Splitsvilla) played on the lips of raptured listeners for hours on end. The three-day extravaganza ended in fits of laughter, as Anirban Dasgupta and Shaad Shafi tickled everyone’s funny bones with Bingo! Comedy Nights. From professors to students, every single member of the audience was left in splits with their unique brand of corporate and slice-of-life humour. Who says MBA’s take themselves too seriously?!
OJAS XI ended just like it started. After the grand finale and closing ceremony, the entire team congregated to Dome 3, the
de facto meeting room for all OJAS activities. Happy smiles abounded as the convenor personally thanked each and every member of the team, appreciating their contributions and giving them goodies to savour. A journey of over seven months ended with OJAS XI living up to convenor’s words – the festival was, indeed, bigger, better and grander!
- Tilak Vaidya
PGDM Candidate, 2020
SPJIMR, Mumbai