Joka never sleeps, we are always on the run! Well, this time literally. On 14 July, 2009, some 71 participants from amongst the first year students here at IIM Calcutta turned up for the ‘Adventure Club Run’. Physical endurance testing was at its best. The race was basically a qualifier for those seeking entry to the Adventure Club. We spoke to Jaideep Choudhary (JD), Adventure Club President after the successful completion of the run.

Question: Can you tell us more about the run?

JD: The run was about 5 KM (for boys) and 3.5 KM (for girls), which meant three rounds of the campus (from the New Teaching Block (NTB) via main gate via faculty quarters via Howrah bridge via auditorium and back to NTB) for boys and two rounds for girls. To qualify, boys had to finish the race within 35 minutes and girls had to do the same in 25 minutes.

Question: That sounds like some distance! What kind of response did the race elicit?

JD: To say the least, it was overwhelming! There were 71 students who took part in the race, including two girls. The fastest recorded timing was 23 minutes 30 seconds by Saurabh Sharma. Overall, more than 90% of the participants completed the race, and 49 boys finished the race within the qualifying time of 35 minutes, which is a more than 100% increase over the last year’s figure.

Question: That’s a huge number! But then, going forward do you think it would be possible to increase the number of girls participating in the race? What would you recommend?

JD: To increase the participation from girls, we are exploring the possibility of increasing the visibility of the club through weekly campus jogs or similar events. One more way could be to encourage girls to participate in the club activities such as treks which are going to happen over next two terms. Also, if we are able to see an increase in girl participation for the current PGP1 batch, we can rely on them to pass on their experiences to incoming batch, i.e. ‘Word-of-mouth’ strategy in marketing parlance!

Question: But with the overall number of participants going up significantly, I am sure this is a positive sign?

JD: Indeed, this is a very encouraging sign for the club, and also for me. With more number of participants we will be able to choose the right people for the club in sufficient numbers. This will surely have positive impact on all future club activities.

Question: Also, JD could you throw some light on the activities planned for Adventure Club in the coming year?

JD: We are yet to finalize this year’s plan for club, reason being we actually wanted the incoming PGP1 members to actively participate in the planning process, and incorporate their ideas before finalizing our plans. But then broadly speaking, we will continue to organize treks and trips, especially in the north-eastern region of India. Apart from this we are also planning to have a biking trip for the members. We are also looking at the feasibility of organizing programs in collaboration with some professional institute. This would help to train members of the club in trekking and other related activities. And of-course, Tour-de-Joka will be there and it will be bigger than ever before!

For Jokatimes

Mayank Jain

1. Kaushik Says:
   July 19th, 2009 at 6:12 pm

   It is at these moments that Joka would miss the Great Baba

2. Setu Says:
   April 23rd, 2010 at 1:53 pm

   Amazing selection procedure..i must say. Could not have been better..