The rigours of the b-school life are no secret. In such a busy life, came an elixir in the form of Prayaag’17. The dawn of 25th February brought the much-awaited launch of Prayaag, the flagship annual business management festival of JBIMS. The red brick manor standing proudly in the Backbay Reclamation was transformed completely. The festoon of red-white balloons at the entrance along with the various coloured lamps gave a festive feeling to this extravaganza. The well thought efforts behind the decorations were quite evident with the selfie corner, the wall of appreciation and the eye-catching posters. True to its theme ‘Gears of innovation’, the Steve Jobs collage formed on the staircase was an artistic brilliance! The icing on the cake was the iconic bathtub in the campus coming to life.
Prayaag’17 witnessed the brightest of minds from the best B-schools across the country competing against each other to win the prestigious events. While the finance whiz fought in the ‘
Fin-o-mania’, the strategists struggled in the ‘
StratStruck’. The budding marketers launched their innovative product ideas in the ‘
Launchpad’ and the operations geniuses operated the case studies of the ‘
OpFactor’. Difficulty level shifted to third gear with ‘
Survival of the Fittest’ testing the managerial skills of the budding managers through its various tasks. It was a rare opportunity to listen to the different perspectives of the contestants on the case study.
Listening to the thoughtful observations and profound remarks of the industry stalwarts who were judging these events was an added advantage. “Survival of the fittest was exactly as the name suggests. I feel this is what Bear Grylls would have done had he filmed a mental endurance experience. The entire event was extremely well coordinated and the 20 odd rounds were testing as well as holistically developed. It felt great to win the inaugural version of Survival of the Fittest, more than anything, the experience was what set the event apart”, quoted Jayesh Bohra, Winner of the event ‘Survival of the Fittest’. This facilitated not only the contestants but also the audience to learn through the competitions which explain the packed house for each event. “I attended Prayaag for the first time and was completely enthralled by it. Along with the business competitions that gave deserving winners laurels, engaging fun events kept everyone’s spirit high. We had so much to relish in these two days and to reminisce for the rest of our lives!” said an attendee to the event, Mayuresh Karavade.
Apart from the brain stimulating competitions, Prayaag’17 offered a plethora of fun events. From ‘Hogathon’ to ‘3 Minutes to Fame’ and ‘Worst Singer Contest’ to ‘Karaoke Night’, the out-of-the-box events provided a platform for everyone to showcase their hidden talent. The ‘MMS Wars’, a sports face-off added a different flavour to the event. It witnessed the on-field tussle between the senior-junior batches. The close fought matches of ‘Box Cricket’ and ‘Futsal’ kept the spectators on their edge. The brilliantly played Chess moves and aesthetic Carom shots piqued the audience interests.
Prayaag was organised and managed entirely by the student-driven Catalyst Forum at JBIMS. When asked, what went into the making of this extravaganza, “Prayaag is a platform for the best management talent across the country and this year we took this to a new level with the launch of Survival of The Fittest, a 36-hour endurance challenge. The team has worked fervently to organise Prayaag and we are delighted by the overwhelming response from the participants and our batch alike!” said a Catalyst member, Aniket Tanawade. Indeed, the heaps of good wishes pouring from the entire batch raised the ardour of the forum. The infectious enthusiasm and gusto were unmistakable during the entire festival. It is for this zeal and jubilance for which Prayaag’17 will be enshrined in the hearts of many for years to come!
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About the Author:
Aniket Patil is a student of MMS Batch of 2018 at JBIMS. He is also a member of the ‘InsideIIM Student Team 3.0’.