SPIC MACAY

Martha Graham once said that the place where a dancer stands becomes a holy ground. Though a little exaggerated it may seem, but India is proud to have dancers who have devoted their whole life to preserve the rich tradition of cultural dance forms. Ms Rama Vaidyanathan is one such devotee of Bharatanatyam- a dance form which originated in the temples of southern India. FORE School of Management was indeed fortunate to have witnessed her stunning performance, courtesy the Spic Macay event organised by FORE Sports and Cultural Division.

Ms Vaidyanathan is one of the top most stars of Bharatanatyam and is a well known exponent of the dance form all over the world. Having trained intensively under the legendary dancer Yamini Krishnamurty and the eminent Guru Saroja Vaidyanathan, she has been performing professionally for the past twenty five years and is one of the most sought after dancers of her generation. While deeply rooted in tradition she has evolved her own individual style without forsaking the core principles of Bharatanatyam. It is her dedication towards the sacred dance form and years of hard work that has won her several accolades in the field of dance.

One just could not remain untouched by the child like gleam with which she talked about how Bharatanatyam has evolved from a culture of Devadasis to a worldwide recognized dance form. She danced with such poise and grace, that it left the audience with a strange sense of spiritual fulfillment. It is not often that one experiences something so beautiful, where every gesture is perfect, every movement is flawless, every rhythm is so self absorbing. Ms. Vaidyanathan not just offered a visual treat to the students through her awe inspiring performance but also enlightened them about the various mudras and their significance. She briefed the audience on how each act has a story to tell and how beautifully the various mudras can be moulded to convey a message. The memorable evening was concluded with yet another applaudable performance by her on the popular tunes of Vande Matram, celebrating mother nation.

AASHAYEIN'14 - Celebration of a Child

The greatest poem ever known

is one all poets have outgrown:

The poetry, innate, untold,

of being only four years old.

~Christopher Morley, To a Child

Childhood is that enchanted phase of one’s life where the colors are brighter, the air softer and the morning more fragrant than ever again. It deserves to be treasured, cherished and celebrated.

In an attempt to do the same, Team ANTAR with its volunteers visited the DMRC Shelter Home near Tis Hazari Metro station on 5^th January 2014. This event, Ashayein is organised every year by the college’s CSR committee with a vision to create awareness on education among under-privileged children and to motivate them to go for schooling.

“This event has lent an amazing start to the new year, it was like reliving your own childhood...” – said one of the volunteers after coming back from the shelter home.

All a child really needs is someone to play with all day and their day was made memorable when students of FSM engaged themselves wholeheartedly with kids in face painting, paper dance and playing with balloons. As the children painted the canvas with colours, it looked like they were putting their innocence and creativity on paper. The children did really well in the quiz and exhibited amazing sportsmanship in the cricket match. 

Cute little stories and experiences were shared over lunch and the students realized that the kids had a lot of potential and hidden talent which just needed an opportunity to be unleashed. In the end, the students encouraged the kids to make the best of their lives with hard work and determination as destiny is not made by chance, but by choice.

Introduction to User Experience and its Business Relevance

What does it take to make a company successful? While getting the core business functions is the foremost task, it is still not enough. UX is the key differentiator in today’s world and the answer to everything.

Mr. Amber Krishan, Group Lead & Technical Director of Training, Human Factors International began with a question every company and every MBA student seeks an answer to. A graduate in product design from National Institute of Design (Ahmedabad) and post graduate in Design & Technology from Parsons School Of Design (New York), Mr. Krishan has over 6 years of experience in user interface design, usability analysis, consulting and research in the enterprise and consumer software industry. He has also been guest speaker at several events namely UPA chapter event, Connecticut, USA, Microsoft - Nokia Windows 7 Roadshow in Mumbai and Hyderabad and Appfest at Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

Talking about user experience, Mr. Krishan rightly said that UX is not about making things colourful, the coolest idea or quirky ads. Also, it is neither about getting onto every single platform nor about copying Apple. UX is about getting the business objectives right and working with customers to decipher what they want. The idea is to design a user experience journey that spans across all channels.

While the audience was enchanted by the new dimension of doing business as explained by the guest speaker, he opened up another unexplored avenue to the students- UX as a business discipline. UX leaders are known to outperform competition even when the economy is not doing well. As future MBAs, we should give UX a serious thought as it is considered a top strategic priority in the everyday changing business environment.  

"Ideapreneurship" - An Idea Generation Workshop

“One's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.” ― Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr

Team CED came up with an exciting workshop to open up the vision and make the students enter into a new world of ideas on 7^th October 2013 at FORE School of Management. The entrepreneurship cell of the college aims at building, encouraging and promoting a conducive environment for developing innovative ideas of entrepreneurial ventures among young minds within the campus. The event which was presided over by Mr. Pravin Rajpal, Founder and CEO of InnovatioNext Imagination Labs (iLabs), was very well received by the students.

Mr. Pravin has authored best sellers like ‘Achieving Business Excellence’ and ‘5 Thinkings to Win’, in the year 2007 & 2008. In a span of five years from 2008-2013, he conducted more than 200 idea factory workshops for breakthrough ideas. In 2011, he developed CII Innovation Framework & Measurement Systems and went on to develop India’s first Imagination Lab to foster breakthrough ideas, in the year 2012.

Talking about what do recruiters these days look for in their prospective employees, Mr. Pravin said that in today’s disruptive world, one can either become distinct or extinct. What separates the creative minds from others is the ability to transform challenges into opportunities and constraints into advantages. He further said that chance favours the connected mind. So, if you are able to connect your thoughts with the needs of people, you can be way ahead of others. He asked the students to come up with an idea that people would be willing to invest in and thus multiply your own market value. Through vivid examples and an interactive session with students, the guest speaker brought home the fact that instead of reading mythological case studies, one should focus on becoming a case study himself by doing something concrete.

SPIC MACAY

What happens when maestros of the highest order of two different musical instruments decide to play a duet together? That is exactly what students of FORE School of Management found out by firsthand experience on 27^th September 2013, when they were hit by an avalanche of melody and harmony, courtesy of a virtuoso performance by renowned sarod player Pt. Biswajit Roy Chowdhury and distinguished tabla artiste Ustad Akram Khan.

The event was organised by FSD, the student-driven sports and cultural division of FORE School of Management in collaboration with SPIC MACAY. The programme commenced at 3 o’clock in the college auditorium, with the introduction of the esteemed performers of the evening. Then, mementos were presented to Ustad Akram Khan and Pt. Biswajit Roy Chowdhury by Director, FSM, Dr. Jitendra K. Das.

When asked to say a few words to the audience, Dr. Jitendra K. Das gave a short anecdote about his first rendezvous with Ustad Amjad Ali Khan’s music, which laid the foundation for his long-standing association with SPIC MACAY. He described his experience of listening to Ustad Amjad Ali Khan’s music and recalled how he was engrossed and lost in it, hoping that the audience would enjoy the evening in much the same way.

Tabla artiste Ustad Akram Khan and Sarod player Pt. Biswajit Roy Chowdhury 

Next, Pt. Biswajit Roy Chowdhury gave a brief insight into his music and his long-standing musical association with Ustad Akram Khan. He also spoke a little about professionalism in music and life in-general. Pt. Biswajit Roy Chowdhury started the performance with the Raga Bhimpalasi Alap, which was an introductory piece, played solo without the accompaniment of tabla. The alap went on for about fifteen minutes, after which Ustad Akram Khan joined Pt.  Biswajit Roy Chowdhury with his tabla.

Ustad Akram Khan coordinated beautifully with Pt. Biswajit Roy Chowdhury; there were times when the Sarod came to the foreground, with the tabla playing in the background whereas on occasions the order reversed smoothly. Finally, the mesmerising performance was brought to a close, leaving everyone yearning for more.

But, all in all, it was an evening to remember for all, and as hoped by Dr. Jitendra K.Das, everyone was well and truly engrossed and lost in the music. 

JUBILATE 2013

“The pain of parting is nothing to the joy of meeting again.“

With Jubilate 2013 just around the corner, it is time to welcome our fellow brethren at FORE and bask in the glory of their success. Jubilate – the annual alumni meet of FORE School of Management aims to keep the former students of FORE connected to their roots. It gives them a day to reflect over the years gone by, the hardships faced, the accolades earned, opportunities lost, dreams fulfilled and above all to celebrate themselves. 

FORE has always taken pride in its esteemed alumni and an event like this to welcome them again strengthens the bond and bridges the gap between the past and present of the college. It is an overwhelming sight to see the alumni recollecting their stories of college classrooms, cafeteria and auditorium like it was a thing of yesterday. The warm welcome by the junior batch, the sensational band performance, the amazing skit, the alumni recognition awards and nostalgic recollections of the past followed by food and cocktail were the highlights of Jubilate 2012. The event which is primarily organized by the FAN (FORE Alumni Network) committee has proved to be a huge success over the years and promises a lot more this year as well.

So, let’s gear up for Jubilate 2013 – a mesmerizing experience where the wisdom of past meets the enthusiasm of present.

SUPER 8

Super 8 is the annual cricket intra-college tournament held at FORE.

Like previous years, the contest drew participation from cricket buffs from the the 1^st and 2^nd years. The tournament kicked off on the 8^th of August, and drew participation from 12 teams of eight players each. The teams were divided into 4 groups of three teams , with the top two teams from each group advancing to compete in the quarter-finals. Teams put their best foot forward to grab the 4 semi-final berths.

After two weeks of non-stopping cricket action, four teams finally made it. In order to up the ante, team FSD increased the number of overs from 8 to 10 for the semi-finals and the finals.  The final match saw Mental Warriors and Underdogs fight it out on the cricket pitch to take the top prize. The Underdogs started the game and set a competitive target of 75 runs for their opponents. Anuj was the standout player for the Underdogs and contributed 37 runs to his team’s total, hitting five 4s in the process. Sarthak (Mental Warriors) posted impressive bowling figures for his team (3overs, 3 wickets and 16 runs conceded).

The chasing team however, held their own and chased the target in 31 balls only, losing two wickets in the process. Calm and composed knocks by Amit and Sarthak (34 and 30 respectively) took their team across the finish line. Sarthak Vij took the Man of the Match prize for his all round performance.

Team Mental Warriors with the trophy

All matches in the tournament were played with exemplary sportsmanship. Since this was the first sports event for the new batch of 2013-15, team FSD can pat themselves on the back for conducting another successful tournament. Yet another feather in their cap !