Amidst much fanfare, Xpressions’15, the Management and Cultural Fest of XIMB, was launched to a grand audience on 13th November 2015. The spirit of competition was palpable and the day’s events and its participants were testimonies to this fact.
The day kicked off with mega events like Kurukshetra, Gladiator, Skill City and Helios. Kurukshetra, an event which tested the participants’ business acumen, saw only ten teams make it through Round 1, called ‘Shankhanaad’. Gladiator, a Business game event, started its on campus round with the top five contenders who were chosen from previous rounds that were conducted online. In, Skill City, the top four teams entered the ring to compete in the soft-skills-testing event to decide who amongst them will take home the crown. Helios – the only event for under-graduates all over the country – received commendable participation from students who had to prove their managerial skills and showcase their team work potential.
The crowd-pulling event of the afternoon was NBA-Jam where Rannvijay, Indian television host, film actor and presenter, was the star attraction. He played basketball with the participants also spoke about NBA-Jam which is focused on growing and eliciting participation in basketball across India by combining exciting on-court competition with interactive games and contests designed to engage college youth and grow the NBA’s fan base. When asked about how his experience at Bhubaneshwar is so far, he replied that he loved the city and the experience is very different from Delhi and Bombay. A message he would like to give to everyone for Children’s day is, “Follow your passion. Always do what you love”.
Another exciting event that was conducted during the day was the Model United Nations for which students from various disciplines and even various stages of their lives – School students, Under-graduates and Post Graduate Students – participated, lending it a diversity that is true in the spirit of the United Nations.
Xpressions’15 had something for everyone – even the literary enthusiasts, who got to flaunt their creativity in the ‘Flight of Fancy’ event, conducted by the Literary Society of XIMB. This wasn’t the only platform for students to express their artistic side either – ‘Goonj’, the solo singing competition was also conducted where many students performed to an enraptured audience. Later in the day, an art competition was also held at the campus, aptly titled ‘Paint@XIMB’, where students came in to let their thoughts congregate into strokes on the paper. Also conducted was an online treasure hunting event with the moniker ‘Parikrama’ which witnessed a good number of participants from various B-Schools.
A fun event that was conducted was ‘Inquizzitive’, where teams were quizzed as they scratched their heads at the questions in front of them. In the end, six teams were selected based on their scores and qualified for the second round. ‘Case In Point’ and ‘Case Connect’, two case study competitions were also held which tested the participants’ ability to pay attention to detail and also take every possibility and parameter into consideration. ‘Case Connect’ started off with a quiz as the preliminary round where only five teams were selected for the next round. These events were followed by ‘Nirnay’, a business simulation competition held by X-OPS to put the participants’ operation management skills to the test.
As the sun set and the festive lights came up, the atmosphere changed as ‘DecibelZ’, XIMB’s band-hunt competition kicked off to some banging beats, swaying the audience to its rhythm. The performing bands had come from places all over India, such as Calcutta and one from Bangalore. All the bands performed well, and ultimately ‘Intoxicate’ won the competition and the senses of the people. The night closed out with a nuclear performance by the EDM artist Nucleya, who did not hold back when it came to dropping that bass and raising that roof.
All in all, there wasn’t a better way Xpressions’15 could have started, nor a better way for the Day 1 of the mega event to end.