TAXI arrives

Fast on the heels of Kairali, TAXI had a unique programme. It was a special dinner and fun night with the faculty, their families, staff and students of Tamilnadu. There was interesting Tam Cinema quiz with mixed teams from the staff and students. This was followed by a sumptuous dinner at the MDP prepared by the faculty, their spouses and families. Soon after there was a song session which was eagerly joined in with buckets and guitars by everyone. Yet again we were dancing to the faculty's tunes. I guess when it's accompanied by good food no one complains!

Kairali Day

Regional committees on campus are on an overdrive- hosting dinner and cultural events like never before. The first few among the series included KAIRALI day, hosted by the folks from God's own country Kerala. Held on Nov 1st last year, the menu for the day included a brunch of Appams, Idiyappam and Chicken stew. There was a traditional banana leaf fare for dinner. Festivities started in the evening with the lamp lighting by Father Director and Mrs Suma Damodaran in front of the Pookalam <>. This was followed by the traditional ladies' dance around the lamp-Kaikottikai. The scene stealers, however were some special guests brought in especially for the occasion.

Republic Day '07

This year, the 26th January Flag-Hoisting had a refreshingly different flavour....

We have 60 Defense Personnnel with us on campus - undergoing a 6-month course in management since Jan 14th... and so, naturally their presence was a major - even determining - factor in this difference.

er.. in case, you missed the "difference" in the flavour... here again (look at the right side of the pix:

The Republic Day address - traditionally given by one of the most recent faculty - was given by Rear-Admiral Prof Rakesh Chopra, who joined us in the Strategy Area last term (after all, who can be a better person to teach Strategy.. the term, "Stategy" itself derives from "strategos" - the art of the general)

Of course, amidst all these changes and transitions - that any institution will go through its evolution - there are certain features that do not change.

Just to highlight the presence of "Kalu" on the occasion - even if his/her colour belies his name

Pictures!

Here are the pictures to go with the previous posts

MAXI Fair Inauguration on 21st Jan 2007







The last one , of course is a little nest on the glass panel by the staircase, Acad Block.

The following pictures were taken at the Dubai XLRI Party.

All work and no play makes GANGO...

For those who believe that xlri is all about work and no play, here is proof that there are no dull Jacks at XLRI. (Remember the adage, " ...all work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy?"). When it comes to joining with our students XL profs are not all that cold hearted. Check this series of events that unfolded in Dubai in October.

Serious Folks at the High Table
Clear The floor guys....., let the faculty teach you how its done!! Its not just management we know, you know..

Cheers from the dean

What could be rarer than a picture of our dean saying cheers. This rare event was captured during a dinner at the MDP residence last week. The dinner was to mark the launch of the General Management Programme for Defence Personnel held on 14th of January 2007.

To quote from the Directors Mail:

"We will have the inaugural function on Sunday,January 14, 2007 at 6.30 pm in the SmallAuditorium. Maj. Gen. Harwant Krishan, DirectorGeneral, Dte. General Resettlement, New Delhiwill be the Chief Guest "

BTW, for those of you who don't believe in miracles, thats apple juice he is holding. ...Could have fooled me!

Well its cheers to XLCampus Blog once more.

Mathai

Maxi Fair Brings HOPE

Promises promises promises... so easy to make yet so hard to keep. But I think there is a hope for this blog once more. Thanks to Digital cameras on cell phones. The events that took place on campus when I was here included a bonfire and Lohri celebrations in front of the hostels. Unfortunately my K750i camera phone is not really good at capturing lowlight stuff. Here are some pictures of The Maxi fair that was inaugrated by Lft Gen. Mathew, whose two sons, Aneesh and Nishant are XL Products. (Technically Nishant is in process, but soon to be product when he graduates in 2007).

I hope we will see more action as we are able to upload pics and make this a photoblog instead of a boring text one. I have asked Prof. Madshuks to help out with the blog. Lets see. I suppose the key thing is "Never say DIE!"

Mathai

XLRI Fountain

XLRI fountain near the MDP. The new fountain. For some reason when I uploaded it it came upside down... but when you play the video its correct (strange are the ways of almighty google video). In the coming week I will upload some pics from around XLRI campus. So much has changed in the last year or so

Time to pick up the spade

Hello again,

Lets call a spade a spade. This blog didnt acheive its objectives. It was meant to be a shared resource that spoke about informal events on campus. The dream was that there would be someone on the residential part of the campus, perhaps a young budding journalist, some student from the other part of the campus, and some faculty and staff who would write about informal events on the campus. A way of putting our life online.

But I should have realised that (i) I dont have the connections to make it happen and (ii) the very idea is against the XL tradition of secrecy (Freemasons come to mind). There was a time when email was a popular medium and the first wave passed through campus when someone sent an anonymous mail around, the author called herself (to use the polically correct word) "the soul of xlri". There was a lot of trying to guess or outguess who owned the soul of xlri (at least the email account). Thankfully no witches were burnt.

That was until Blogsphere brought about its own witch hunt. This time it was the senior batch up in arms against the junior batch for having leaked out "hallowed traditions". There were many chinks in our armour before that too. There was a group of alumni who put together an XL Advisory Board (XLAB), who provoked a door slam in their own faces for "interfering too much".

So I too started getting used to the idea that one hears about news of XLRI from the news papers. I set up a google alert on XLRI so I could know what my own institution was upto, what I got was mostly junk about events taking place at the XLRI auditorium, but I also got information about about some XL aluminium....oops sorry alum... or alumnus speaking somewhere.

In the meanwhile, the next best thing happened, the "X- Factor", an online magazine by the students who wanted to reach out across and send a message to space like the spaceship "voyager". Students being smarter than me, did a much better of job of it than this blog.

Hence it is time for me to pick up the spade and dig deep and bury this blog. An earlier attempt to retire this blog brought cries of indignation and a few students actually said they might be interested. Things haven't really moved since then. Perhaps...who knows, from that spot another sapling may send up a shoot, that might grow into a tree. If only we had the power to make things grow. We don't. The only thing we can do is to plant seeds and water the land, the growth has to happen.

"......for it is in giving that we receive,
........and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life"
________ By a wierdo that dressed in coarse clothes and hung around with animals.

Mirror mirror on the wall

A good teacher does not happen, students too have a good role to play in shaping good teachers. A saying in Malayalam says that if you have a good friend you dont need a mirror. My friend tara told me this when her friend just told her that the bindi on her forehead is not in place!

Blogs are fantastic places where we can see reflections of life, even though the mirror is cracked or even splintered. Earlier in 2004, when the spot... no blog-light focussed on XLRI, the thought police swung into action. Well thought police are everywhere, not just at XLRI. The blog below is a tribute to the degree of openness that IIML allows. The subsequent online chat with a student is self explanatory.

Bharati Subramaniam says she will write anything she wants to, and by the looks of it she does a good job of it on her blog. I celebrate the spirit of Bharati and IIML. May more and more such blogs provide us teachers with mirrors for both good and bad in us.

The following Conversation with a student on the matter is self-explanatory.
mathaibakerfenn: Would our institution allow such freedom of speach?
xlstudent: good q...but then even they prevented her from writing about summers
mathaibakerfenn: Ha ha ha
xlstudent: its on the site...on the left chat box...issues about internal clearance...
mathaibakerfenn: Wow she wrote about that too?
xlstudent: in our campus a post like this would be controversy instantly
xlstudent: yeah but very well chosen words
mathaibakerfenn: I also believe that if you have the spirit and the language you can write whatever you want! I wonder if I can put our conversation on the blog?
xlstudent: :))
xlstudent: shes written openly about the profs
mathaibakerfenn: I honestly feel I should. But will disguise your identity even further!
xlstudent: but theres nothing in this conv...!
mathaibakerfenn: Except that such a post would spark instant controversy on campus.
mathaibakerfenn: Evidence of the thought police
xlstudent: true...
mathaibakerfenn: I will send you the link after I put it up
xlstudent: its also that how many faculty would appreciate this
mathaibakerfenn: Well lets stir the hornets nest.
xlstudent: esp. if people are expecting stud profs at IIMA
xlstudent: and then read this blog...
mathaibakerfenn: Welcome to the real world
xlstudent: yeah sure
xlstudent: :))
mathaibakerfenn: It makes people like me breathe easier.
mathaibakerfenn: At least EVERYONE is not perfect
xlstudent: hmmm....
xlstudent: :))
mathaibakerfenn: :)


Ps.

The thought police that came down on XL blogs were not faculty at all, but other student-peers.

The Mayor

Prof. Deepak Kapur sent us a short email today

"Dear All,
You would be glad to know that my wife Ms Anu Chatrath has been elected as the 'Mayor of Chandigarh'. She contested the elections as a candidate of the Indian National Congress and has defeated the combined BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) candidate by a record margin of votes.
She has been administered the oath of office as Mayor and has taken charge of her duties.


Deepak Kapur "

If you want to know more about it, you can read it at the Hindustan Times site. Isnt it funny how we may be just two or three degrees of seperation away from a celebrity?

Mathai

Mathai Fenn

Amperage - The sound of Ensemble 2004! - Jishnu Dasgupta

XLRI was treated to some good old fashioned rock and roll by the grand rock n roll daddies (and one mama) of the east - Skinny Alley. 'Amperage' the show that marked the close of XL's inter-business school festival 'Ensemble 2004'. The JLT doesn't have a roof, or it would have been brought down by the sheer brilliance of the veteran musicians on stage, who belied their 40+ ages.

With a setlist as varied as mixed pickle, there was something for everyone, from Pat Mecheny to Audioslave, from Steely Dan to RHCP, from The Doors to ... well, let's stop there. Amyt Datta on guitar was in blazing form with a fluid tone that draped over all present like warm honey at times and sharp blades at others. Jeff Rikh behind the skins was in a thunderous rage as he destroyed the Tama kit while getting out a rock solid rhythm section that bassist Gyan clung on to and never let go. They mixed it up nicely with their originals, notably 'Swunk' that struck a such a chord with the ladies in the crowd that they played it a second time, the odd-time signatures on the jazz-rock tune ending with an explosion of coordinated pyrotechnics.

XLers got into the act as well with Skinny Alley inviting members of BodhiSapling on stage for a jam. A total of 7 musicians on stage played the BodhiSapling original dedicated to the mess - 'Too Many Potatoes' with guitarists Bharat and Amyt trading groovy blues solos as Narain took the crowd through the chorus, a song that appeals to everyone who lines up at the mess foyer at lunch! Special mention must be made of Poornima on drums - she was like a rock, it isn't often you see a budding lady HR manager playing drums on a rock band, do you? But that's what XL is about, in the end...

xlri campus welcomes students from SAARC

Hi,

The Telegraph sez (as in simon sez) that XLRI is opening its doors to students from the SAARC region. Thank god for NEWS PAPERS, there has been no INTERNAL communication on the matter.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1041011/asp/jamshedpur/story_3867571.asp

Mathai

XL Utsav 2004 - Celebrations Abound!

Reporting from XLRI after a sleepless night on the JLT – it’s most amazing to be alive.

A weekend of a triumphant victory over IIM-C was followed by another of fun and merriment, music, games and food as the faculty, staff and student all alike came together on the first day of XL Utsav.

The brainchild of Dr. S. Sengupta, the initiative took off with a nod from Fr. Casamir Raj, the new Director, who was enthusiastic about the prospect of having neutral ground for all the members of the XL Family to meet. Although XLRI as a B-school has a culture quite distinct from other B-Schools, (mostly due to its setting in the small town of Jamshedpur), this two-day affair is a formal event to facilitate the informal interaction and develop the culture into a stronger bond.

The events kicked off at 9:20 a.m. yesterday with an inaugural session. Fr. Casamir Raj the chief guest for the occasion addressed the crowd. This was followed by a speech by Fr. James, who was the special guest for the same. The ribbon was cut, some sweets distributed – XL Utsav was on its way.

The first event of the day was for the children. A football match was held. At the end of the game, the scores stood tied with 1 goal apiece.

A cricket match between two mixed teams (A & D) comprised of faculty, staff and students was the next to be held. The sun beat down on the grounds – however enthusiasm did not waver and the teams, with the support of people on the sidelines hollering, played on. The winner at the end of the match was team A.

This was followed by a Ladies’ Throwball match. This proved to be a huge success. The women on campus (students, faculty and their families) not only got a chance to show off their atheletic prowess, but generated an immense amount of excitement and also a lot of amusement, over the game itself. It was definitely one of the most enjoyable moments of the day when the women proved the point – they could play their game and play it great!

After lunch, the second cricket match between teams B & C were played. As is bound to happen after a full meal on a hot afternoon, most of the crowd petered out in favour of an afternoon nap. However, the teams played boldly in face of the sun – letting neither heat, nor sweat nor grime come between them and their love for the sport. At the end of the day, the score stood in favour of Team C.

As the clock struck four – people started pouring into the JLT. All over people were busy settings up stalls. On one hand were the food-stalls full of yummy goodies – a healing sight for most of us ever-hungry students. On the other hand were the games. From darts, to guessing games to the shooting balloons – it was grand fete! Of course the most novel game was that of the chick race organized by the students of the GMP batch of 2004-2005. Men had the ‘birds’ eating out of their hands!

As the evening drew on, the XL Family felt no need for anything other than more enjoyment. SPICMACAY organized a cultural musical evening featuring the in-house talent. Showcasing the likes of Mrs. Ray, with the gorgeous voice, Payel with her violin and Vijay Shankar’s classical melodies, it was a grand affair and a huge success.

Not wanting to end the evening, the melodies turned lighter and the air was soon filled with catchy foot-tapping music as an orchestra accompanied singers that belted out numbers to keep the crowd entertained. A poem had the crowd in splits while a dance had them enthralled. Budding talent was spotted in the form of Shruti and Manasi, who played three of their original compositions. (Can we a have another performance of that soon ???)

As the weary faculty trudged towards a night’s sleep, and another jam-packed day, the students, not having enough of all that and Dr. Rao and Fr. James’ Housie and Dr. Sarin and Ms. Roshan’s quiz – decided it was a night to not waste but to make most of time. So the music played on….

And so, sitting here after sleepless night at XLRI, I reiterate – it’s most amazing to be alive!