Bulletin 2006 - 03 - 19

OnliNews 19, March 2006

PGP 2: Tour of Kerala

Trichy, 15-03-2006: This year the PGP 2 students of BIM went on a short visit to God’s Own Country. The annual tour this year was from the 1st of March to the 5th. It was a truly exhilarating experience to be part of this amazing group of budding managers on a tour of Kerala.

Watching professionals unwind is not a sight you’re treated to every day. Those four days were a revelation in many ways. On 28th February at around 6.30 pm, a hooting and howling horde of business administrators left the BIM campus in a bus and two vans. Arriving at the Trichy Junction railway station, this multitude of managers flowed into the railway station in a bubbling stream. Their objective of boarding the Tea Garden Express was accomplished with optimal effort. The members of the BIM family were spread out in two coaches and once the journey had started the revelry began. Except for a short break during dinnertime, the incessant activities continued late into the night. Dumb Charades, Antaksharies, Photo Shoots, Chat Sessions and Card Games were some of the activities that kept the BIMites occupied.

The BIMites who made the mistake of going to sleep were woken up at 3.00 am by Manikandan, who was under the mistaken impression that the train would reach Trissur by 3.30 am. The train arrived at the Trissur railway station at around 4.45 am. The BIMites disembarked in their usual casual manner and took a surprisingly short time to assemble on the platform.

The tour organizers had tied up with Panicker’s Travels, a reliable name in tourism, to operate this trip. There were three luxury buses waiting at the Trissur Railway Station. There was a swift rush to get into the buses. The BIMites settled into the buses with their respective gangs and friends. After that the tour organizers made a few preliminary announcements and a check was made to ensure that all the members of the touring party were there. The BIMites, most of whom had been waiting for an opportunity to continue their disturbed slumber, went to sleep and the buses set course for Munnar.

Arriving at the Sree Narayana Tourist Home in Munnar, room allocations were done and the people prepared for the visit to the Dam after a quite hearty breakfast at the S. N. Restaurant. The dam visit was pretty good with many students venturing out into the lake on speedboats. The 40 odd knots the boats did made the most adventurous of them scream with delight and the daredevils were ecstatic when there were heart-stopping turns. Some of the BIMites went for a ride on the more docile and bigger boats.

There were also photo shoots amidst the tea gardens during which some BIMites had the exclusive experience of being driven out by the gardens’ watchmen. After a visit to the Echoing Point, which was cut short by the steadily increasing drizzling, the bunch returned to the restaurant for a very late lunch that was arranged for them by the organizers.


To be specially mentioned during these trips on the mountains in the buses are the human gyroscopes who always remained in horizontal position irrespective of the terrain on which the buses moved. This was an excellent tactic against the new group activity in which a part of the BIM family was engaged in tandem.

That evening there was a campfire organized near the S. N. Tourist Home and all the BIMites participated in the dance party. The highlight of that evening’s dance party was Manikandan’s Magic Moment, which will be long remembered. After a timely dinner, the BIMites went back to sleep. The first day of the tour was cool.

It was during the next day that the BIMites became aware that life in God’s Own Country was not as heavenly as it seemed. The people in Kerala seem to have a very strong belief that if they did not have at least a single bandh or hartal in a week, then it was a week wasted. So the people’s representatives, the people’s leaders and the people treat themselves to regular orgies of general strikes. So in order to make sure that the visiting tourists got a taste of the other face of Kerala, a daylong bandh protesting George Bush’s visit was organized. This resulted in the tour plan being jolted a bit.

Since the BIMites were stuck up in the mountains without anything worthwhile to do, the tour organizers arranged for a trekking expedition to the top of a nearby mountain. Those who were wary of strenuous physical exercise were provided with a jeep to reach the summit. The people who did not go for trekking went for boat rides in the nearby Blossom International Park. The others ventured into Munnar town for some shopping and sightseeing. The entire day was spent in Munnar enjoyably and the organizers ensured that all the people had nothing to complain about. The Cherai Beach Trip was postponed due to the bandh. The buses left Munnar in the evening and moved on to Kochin. The Riyan Hotel was where the students were lodged during their stay in Kochin. The BIMites went to bed after a late dinner. The second day was interesting.

The third day of the tour was in many ways the most eagerly awaited. The visit to Veegaland, one of the anchors of the tour plan, was on the third day. The students started early from the Riyan Hotel. Even before starting, the hero of BIM 21 Manikandan caused enormous consternation to the hotel administration by getting himself locked inside the hotel elevator during a power cut. After the successful rescue operation, the relieved BIMites left for Veegaland. The short ride to the theme park was uneventful. Once the touring party reached the place, tickets were bought for all the people and quite a few people missed the half-ticket mark (in height) very narrowly.

The whole day was one fun filled frolic. All the people enjoyed the dry rides, such as the dashing cars, the double twist, the flying boat and the space gun. Even some who were afraid to try these rides tried them out and came out happy. The water games held more fascination for all the BIMites. After around 12.00 am, almost all the BIMites were in the pools. The rapid river was the favourite ride and many of the people went in them more than thrice. Those who wanted thrills went in for the riskier rides. Even there, the genius of the BIMites was apparent when they did a massive advertising exercise forming a huge human chain in the pool. There was a minor ruckus when Varmakalai Varadarajan, a student council representative, displayed his negotiating prowess using tactics that highlighted his soft skills. On the whole, the day was memorable and elated the spirits of the BIMites.

That evening when the BIMites returned from Veegaland, some of them wanted to do some shopping in Kochin and went to M. G. Road. The roads became deserted after 9.00 pm and there was a short downpour which made thing worse. It proved to be a night of adventure for quite a few people who ventured out into Kochin. All the people made it safely back to Riyan Hotel.

The next morning, the people packed up their things and went out into Kochin for shopping, sightseeing, boating and just loafing around. In the afternoon, the party except for a few explorers went to Chirai Beach. They had fun and played games on the beach. After 7.00 pm, the people came to the Ernakulam Junction railway station. The Tea Garden Express picked up the entire group. The return journey to Trichy was also fun-filled. The BIMites were given interesting tips on social responsibility by a friendly railway guard. The games and music went on for quite some time.

The BIMites reached Trichy at around 6.00 am on the 5th of March. Two vans were arranged to transport the exhausted but ecstatic group back to campus. Thus ended the PGP 2 Tour. It was an immensely enjoyable experience that will be remembered by all the people who went for the tour. The tour organizers deserve thanks and praise for the way in which the entire trip was planned, organized and executed.

Bulletin 2006 - 03 - 16

OnliNews 16, March 2006

BIM Lifts ET in the Classroom Quiz Title

Trichy, 16th March: Quizzing has always been to BIM what soccer is to Brazil. And this action packed season was no exception. Another fluorescent feather was added to the cap when our team yet again won the Trichy edition of the ET Classroom Business Quiz 2006. When it comes to professional quizzes, it doesn’t get bigger than this for the quizzing fraternity of Trichy. The ET Quiz is a veritable giant among quiz contests – one of the biggest of its kind in the whole of India. Muthupalaniappan N, PGP1 and Sathiaseelan, PGP2 waved their magic wand once again in the ET quiz after a few days of their visit to the national finals of the TATA Crucible.

On March the 7th, Bishop Heber campus was filled with 300 and odd teams, of which only six teams, made it to the podium. The teams included two teams each from BIM and NIT, one each from SACE and Thiyagaraja College, Madurai. Heaps of pressure was built as the quiz went on. There was a tie between three teams, after a tough tussle BIM claimed the crown. The other team of BIM Ashwin Nayan Rai and Arun Kumar G both of PGP2 came fourth with just a few points down the stream.

This is the third consecutive time that BIM is gleaming with this title. The sweet fruit has been borne out of sheer hard work by the BIMites. Hats off to you guys!!

Time for the other 'E T' now

Trichy, 16th March: We might have come across the term ‘Equilibrium’ thousands of times in our lives. Be it in Sciences or Arts or any other study for that matter. We have always known it as a ‘state’ or a ‘noun’. However, the recent lecture by Dr.Prateep V. Philip, IPS the respected Police Commissioner of Trichy District. He gave insights into how the same phrase could be used and understood as an adjective - no it was not about Grammar, but about the most sought after, thought provoking and insightful concept called 'Equilibrium Thinking'.

The folks in the hall were unaware of this topic initially and thought that the special lecture by the IPS would be on facing life and the unavoidable circumstances it poses and also expected to be presented with some clips from his real life experience regarding the same. But to everyone's awe and surprise, this was a concept which was never heard of and which was out of the box and conceptualized by Dr. Philip himself. The lecture took off with the introduction of ET, put in simple words, blend of equilibrium and thinking, either of which is usually missing when people think and act. The presenter, whose fluent simple style held every one of us spell bound, very well elucidated how Equilibrium could be achieved and practiced. Appropriate examples from his real life experience and quotations of eminent personalities helped the concept to get imbibed into the minds of the folks.

The concept of ET revolves around the basic self, values, thoughts, attitudes and behaviour. According to the latest version of the 80:20 principle, people at best use only 20 percent of their mental capacity and the rest of 80 percent is unutilized. How to go about utilizing the available capacity to the optimum? Well, conditioning - that is meditating or telling mind consciously on a continuous basis about what you want to do, can do it. Interesting? The more intriguing thing was on how one could practice it. So, stick on...The importance of creativity, spirituality and perseverance was well portrayed in form of the equation:

HQ = IQ + EQ + SQ + PQ
(High Quality) =(Imagination+ Emotional+ Spiritual+ Persistence) Quotients

It was also told that principles played a pivotal role in shaping an individual and these were the ones, which gave an individual his or her freedom, power, security and wisdom. Following the inquisitive queries of the students, a few minutes were spent on distinguishing wisdom from knowledge.

In the whole process, there were these two phrases prevailing in the minds of the entire audience; 'Be at it' and 'Beat it’, which have eventually acquired popularity with the folks. These phrases explain about acquiring and enhancing positive thoughts and behaviour and reducing and overcoming negative thoughts and behaviour. Other learning included the examination of different types of personalities based on how people use their five senses and to what extent. According to the personality types, people can be visual, auditory or kinesthetic. The concept of 'Be at it' - be persistent in doing positive things and 'Beat it' - overcome negative things was beautifully woven with examples and explained. The students even had a glimpse of how to practice this. All of them along with Dr. Philip repeated an example phrase ' be calm, Beat anger' for a couple of minutes. The session was really good and students are looking forward to more of those.

‘COM’ Crunches

ZETETICA

The ‘cake’ committee has of late has been quite busy with celebrating birthdays. In fact, a few of the students have started associating the committee with Birthday Bumps and the rotten eggs. However, the action has been missing on other fronts like the Manthan Series of mock GDs that the committee conducted with the support of Students Council during the last trimester. The sessions were really good and were widely appreciated. Also missing is the HR magazine that the committee came up with in the first trimester. As they say, ‘Form is temporary, Class is permanent’; everyone’s waiting for the committee to regain its lost form.

Bulletin 2006 - 03 - 04

OnliNews 04, March 2006

Orkut: BIM’s Newly Acquired Obsession

Trichy, 4th March: BIM has been experiencing a new revolution, which has in a very short time engulfed the whole campus. Definitely, this finds sync with emerging trend of emphasis on Relationships in Management. And like always, the students here have extended a very warm welcome to the new trend. Our research team has been working with complicated software packages like SPSS and Crystal Ball to study and analyze the new trend and has come out with many startling findings.

Students have shown very high degrees of indulgence with average per capita time spent on Orkut being at least 25 minutes per day. The BIM community, already boasting a membership of 120, stands to gain maximum due to the revolution. Orkut has also provided the much-needed platform for the BIMites to showcase their creativity (in profiles) and coolness (in albums). The students frequently indulge in exchanging fans, testimonials and legends among themselves. This has resulted in many records being broken everyday. 100% trusty, 100% cool and 100% sexy ratings, that otherwise are a near impossibility, have been achieved by many of the BIMites without much trouble & the ratings keep on growing.

Some critics of the new revolution have pointed out the detrimental effects of excessive indulgence shown by the students. They claim ‘It has become a part of life for these people who tend to show irritation and other such behaviours on the non-accessibility of the network.’ But, whatever they may say, for the time being, it’s the ORKUT way for BIMites.

Thanda Matlab ‘Om Shree’ Juice Centre

Trichy, 4th March: Hotdogs, hamburgers, ice cream, lemonade, watermelon ... sandals, sunburns, parks and beaches, all these are surely not even in the vicinity of BIM but nothing to worry till we have our good old “OM SHREE”. It has started off with a fresh juice stall to quench the thirst of starving BIMites who earlier had no other option except the monotonic lemonade otherwise served in the mess. It’s now refreshing to have cool drink after a long drive from MHD in the scorching sun, that too for a fair deal of 10 bucks. Summer time isn't all about eating, but it can seem like it sometimes!

‘COM’ Crunches

STUDENTS COUNCIL

Well, student’s council works beyond changing examination schedules and negotiating for holidays. There are new exclusive reading rooms in the Hostels. It is situated in the Warden’s room for the guys and in an unoccupied apartment for the girls.

The students had the pressure of updating themselves in the busy tight schedule, where in they couldn’t access the library at unearthly hours. So our elected delegates plunged into action and convinced the management how deprived we were without the books after 8. So came the idea of the reading room, now flooded with almost all the magazines subscribed for the library. Also now the library is open, even on Sundays to quench our knowledge thirst too. And the Owl of Minerva keeps on hooting at BIM!!!!