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!
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).
