It started with Terah-Nau-Pachatar and an original script. Kashmkash with its genre of comedy and an original play took it a few steps further. The faculty play, Half a glass of champagne, showcased the prowess and reach of IIM Calcutta Dramatics Club. Few doubted the fact that the pinnacle had been attained. Few wondered if this could be repeated. Few felt that a genre other than comedy could have greater triumph in exhilarating the audience.

The challenge for the next cast and directors seemed insurmountable. Add to that the difficulty of reaching out to an audience in a social and cultural fest with a genre of drama far removed from the laughter and gaiety associated with the festival. That was till Carpe Diem 2012, when the Dramatics Club presented “The Devil Within” and changed quite a few misconceptions!

With its complicated backdrop of the Indo-Pak partition, the play deftly captured the underlying tensions existing in a society plagued recently by communal strife. The story is centered on the small town of Amargaon and the upheaval that its society faces after unscrupulous elements create disturbance during a religious procession. The ensuing conflict brings to the surface the hidden feelings of the society thereby exposing the past misgivings that each and every character is experiencing.

The characters themselves are well-rounded – from the blood-thirsty mob (Deepan Malik, Rahul Shresth, Aaditya Raut, Abhishek Gupta and Karan Sareen), who are baying for revenge and have been let loose like the proverbial ‘dogs of war’, to the college going Smita (Sneha Mundhra), who is forced to maintain a different stance and ways of life within and outside the confines of her home in order to adhere to familial prescriptions of what is right and wrong and yet exercise the feeling of independence that is commonplace; from the playful Daksha (Geeta Manasa) living in pre-independence India and unaware of the horrors that will be unleashed during partition to the now hunched with age Hardika (Shraddha Mehta), who still harbors deep misgivings and has not been able to come to terms with the reality of her past; from the remorseful dad Ramnik Gandhi (Arnab Ganguly), who wants to set things right and come to terms with his dark secret he has been harboring in his head and has tried unsuccessfully to come to terms with, to his god fearing wife Aruna (Divya Juneja) who believes every word of what “Baa” (Hardika) says and is unwilling to take any risk that might jeopardize her family’s peaceful existence; from the bloodthirsty Javed (Pranay Agarwal), who seeks to avenge every act of harm or disrespect done to his community, to the refined college educated Bobby or Babban (Kanishka Arya), who demonstrates aspects of rationality that many other characters seem to have forgotten during their vocal rantings for revenge.

The cast delivers a mature and a memorable performance in which they take the audience through a journey spanning time and geography and do justice to a script that intends to question the irrationality and fears of morbid hatred that grip sections of our society whenever plagued with an unfavorable situation. The soliloquies, and there are quite a few of these from each of the characters, bring to light the inner turmoil that each character has been facing over time and serve well to increase the depth of the characters. The characters themselves are not mannequins – a little scratch at the surface is sufficient to reveal the patina of guilt and remorse that each of them face – yet even in the most intense moments of their soliloquies, the characters often display their shades, thereby bringing to light that people are hardly ever black and white – most remain in the realm of what can only be described as shades of grey.

The haunting quality of the background score (by Sachit Handa and Chandrashekhar Venugopal), which by the way was another first for “The Devil Within” and accompanied every scene, made its impact most audible in the eerie scenes of the chorus – the music at every stage left the audience on the tip of their seats waiting for some new horror to unfold or be recounted. This intensity was only reinforced by the cast creating a virtuous circle and leaving the audience on tenterhooks as the drama unfolded.

                “The Devil Within” is a masterful display of the tensions plaguing a society still torn by darker aspects of its past. The terse nature of the play, which is itself interspersed by the rabid chorus of a blood thirsty mob, causes the audience to sit up, take notice, and question – even as they are taken through the horrors witnessed by each of the characters and see for themselves how legends turn into myths and myths into stories, how far removed the reality can be from the occurrence of real incidents on the ground, how each perceives the same set of incidents in a manner that suits his beliefs, how a passive acceptance of age old beliefs and views can only serve to reinforce the misgivings of a society that still harbors some feelings of the fracture it witnessed more than half a century back.

All in all, the play is a tumultuous journey of each of the characters – a journey of self-exploration where they are forced to face the devils running amok within their inner selves. The play takes the audience on a journey of self-exploration and forces them to think about that which is the basic tenet of any human society – can civility and rationality ultimately triumph over the feelings of jingoism and xenophobia that still exist in some sections of our society.

Carpe Diem is the annual cultural festival of IIM Calcutta. For more details, log on to http://www.iimc-carpediem.com/

The event has been conducted in association with Breakthrough Management Group India (BMGI) who will give Pre Placement Interview offers to select individuals for outstanding performance along with generous prize money.

The first round of the event saw enthusiastic participation from over 300 students from Top B-Schools across the country like IIM’s, XLRI, XIMB, FMS, Great Lakes, Symbiosis to name a few. The competition was extremely comprehensive, testing many different facets of leadership such as quick decision making, business acumen, and diplomacy in diverse individual and team settings.

BMGI India is the Indian arm of BMGI Global consulting firm specializing in providing management consulting solutions to India and the Asia Pacific region in strategy, innovation, problem solving and business transformation across all industries.

Contributed by : The Consulting Club, IIM Calcutta

Hi Directors,
I must say the performances in this year’s Remini has been a notch higher: We have attended few earlier alum meets and hence can take this call.Talking about the play, I must say it was one of the best we have seen. And when we came to know that the entire script was written by IIMC students, we felt that we need to personally congratulate them. And hence we decided that we should write to you to congratulate the team. 

Fifteen of us were in the Drams club of our times. And things have moved on tremendously since then. Hence, we could relate to it more closely. Talking about the play itself, expectations were set high by the fact that we finally have some script writers in IIMC. We always thought of doing so during our own tenure but it never reached the vertical limit. The play was well written, dialogues were tight and crispy and performances exhilarating.

The lead actor (Akhil Saraogi) showed great skills in his body language to show transformation from an utter loser to a winner. His expressions and body language stole the show. We, this years Remini Batch, loved the pre interval part. It was satirical and showed what actually happens. The dialogues on Marriage and the trio of father-mother-son were amazing. To carry off the role of an elderly couple (Gaurav Parewa, Parvathy Kailasam) is tough and they did justice to it. The court room scenes were tightly woven and the romance angle was sweetly captured. That reminded us of our days. Despite the huabloh created during the news reporter scenes, the girl (Arya Dey) pulled it off very well. And the last 20 minutes sealed the show. The court room confrontation and the guy’s performance in the witness box(Aakash Bhotika) raised the bar. And trust us, we thought the play was over. And then the 2nd part of climax was a killer concept: And the girl (Harleen Kaur) pulled it off wonderfully well: and even the kittens in the hall were forced to keep quite in the last 20 minutes.

And the last 6 lines relayed the entire story. Awesome direction!

We are writing this to you to communicate the fact that the Remini batch loved the play and the how we desire that the guys should take this forward. One of our members is the South Asia head of a well reputed production firm (Edit: name couldnt be revealed due to confidentiality issues) . And as you all might be aware that they are planning to enter the country through the theatre route. Theatre is big in US/England and we feel that this is an untapped market in India. We were discussing the pointers with the Dean during the dinner: And when we have such good script writers and executers; we should not shy off. Our contact list is with the organizers, you can refer the same if you ideas in this field or even without.

As we move out of Kolkata, I am writing on the behalf of this year’s Remini batch that we enjoyed the play and hope that the trend of originality and creativity continues. Contact us in any case. Pass on this message to other members, as we could not obtain their emails.

Lets keep the C factor intact.

Regards and Blessings, Remini Batch, IIM Calcutta

‘Tera Nau Pachahtar’ was staged during Reminiscence 2011, the alumni meet of IIM Calcutta. The play had an original script written by the Director Duo Vikas Saxena and Adrit Mishra (Batch of 2012).

The full video is uploaded our official Youtube Channel, and can be watched here.

Adarsh has seen the high points of being a successful director, having won many awards, and the lowest points too, where everyone, including his own wife, loses faith in him. Adarsh vows to come back and win the audiences over with his next film “Kashmakash”. He is proud, egoistic and extremely passionate. He needs to make this movie perfect. And when after 32 takes and two and a half years of hard work he cannot get the most important climax scene right and he sees his world crumble around him, the question arises, how far will he go for his passion?

The first half of the play is carried forward by light, witty and at times downright hilarious dialogues between the in love cheerful Mumbaiya spot boy Ali (Avisheke Barua) and the adorable Bihari hairstylist Shalini (Shalini Verma). Most people who have done plays realize the difficulty in transforming into a different person, to let go of oneself and be someone completely different. If you think that is difficult, imagine the plight of hero, heroine and villain of the movie who played two different characters on the stage! Ujjwal Singh, the romantic, sappy, straightforward hero Akash and off screen the arrogant Aftab Khan. Nikita Barmecha, the sweet and simple Simran and off screen the bollywood family heiress, Sweety. Nitin Aggarwal, the villainous Vikram and the budding actor Puneet Deshmukh off screen.

The story is helped along at various stages by level headed Sameer (Ishwar Saxena) the assistant director who manages everything behind the scenes, the hot-shot producer Roma (Neha Singhal) who must keep the budget under check and keep tabs on the director, Sweety’s mummyji, Dimpyji (Arpita Patra) who is fussy, annoying and highly animated and who needs everything in the movie geared towards making her daughter a superstar and Ajay (Saurabh Sinha) who plays the assistant to Vikram in the movie.

As the story develops, we see different parts of the movie being shot. However, the story gets stuck on this one scene, the climax. The villainous Vikram who has brought people’s lives in danger in trying to make money is confronted by his best friend and business partner Akash who cannot believe Vikram’s betrayal. As the scene grows, so does the anger and the frustration of both parties involved. Eventually, as the scene escalates and as Vikram is shouting and cursing Akash, Akash shoots Vikram. The scene seems to be an amazing one.. but.. CUT. And Adarsh Bhandari cuts the scene.. but why? Because the scene isn’t perfect. The emotions by Aftab just aren’t right. Re-shoot the scene. Take 5.. Take 6….. Take 31…

This goes on for a while and after the 32^nd take Adarsh just can’t take it anymore. He explodes on stage. Aftab retaliates, who does Adarsh think he is? Roma cuts in, what is wrong with Adarsh? Dimpy shouts, finish the movie now… Adarsh leaves frustrated..no one understands him. And then the question lingers in the air… What does Adarsh do now? He’s at wits end. The next day the police inspector (Rahul Shresth) walks in accusing Aftab of killing Puneet. Then Adarsh takes over and reveals that he had killed Puneet and will kill Aftab too if he doesn’t complete the scene. Adarsh goes psychotic while Aftab nears breaking down. Adarsh sets the scene up in the exact same manner that the climax scene is… The scene ends with Aftab shooting Adarsh and his reaction being caught on tape to complete the perfect scene. But the question remains.. is Adarsh alive? Did he play a trick on Aftab to get him to shoot the scene? Or did he actually sacrifice his life to fulfil his passion?

The writing implies that Adarsh wins the award for best director.. but is he even alive to collect it? Regardless, the film is a success and Adarsh’s Kashmakash is over and his dream is fulfilled. He is redeemed in the eyes of the world.

This play was a play that everyone would enjoy. It wasn’t an easy thing to do considering that this was an original script. Written by Asif Rizwi, Avantika Tomar and Rahul Shresth the script had all the elements needed to entertain a crowd that consisted of B school students from around the country and professors of IIM Calcutta. The script had inspiring dialogues (anyone who saw the play cannot forget “Baap ka kutta”), some very enjoying light funny moments (by Avisheke and Shalini), a full-on bollywood romantic scene (played out beautifully amidst the hooting and cheering by the hero and heroine of the movie), another full-on bollywood sagai scene (with some brilliant dancing by Namrata and Geeta) and a high intensity show down that showed the audience a range of emotions (played outstandingly by Ujjwal and Nitin).

However, there were a few moments in the play that went beyond entertaining. They were scenes that took one’s breath away. So as to not get the audience bored, the climax scene was played once in fast forward mime. For the first 5 seconds the audience couldn’t comprehend why Aftab and Puneet suddenly went silent.. But when they fully understood what was going on, there was a collective gasp through the audience and applause that just didn’t seem to end. Another scene was when Adarsh gets frustrated and gets drunk and Sameer tries to handle him. Oh by the way, if it isn’t apparent till now.. I played Adarsh Bhandari and I really hope I did justice to this scene. Because when I first read the scene I just went, “F*** this is brilliant.”

Under the superb direction of Asif Rizwi, Avantika Tomar and Kerishma Malik and the brilliant lights and production of Vivek Bijlwan, Tania Benjamin and Zubin Ray, these words written on paper were brought to life to be one of the best plays ever produced at IIM Calcutta. And I’m extremely grateful and proud to be able to be part of it!

Photo Credits: Vaibhav Gulati

Established with a vision to be a “Centre of Excellence in Techno Management”, the Systems Consulting Club started off as a Student Branch of the “Computer Society of India”. Since then the club has moved forward from being a student branch of the CSI to being a full fledged club at IIM Calcutta itself.

SysCon, as we are fondly known here at IIM Calcutta, believes that Solow was right when he said that economic growth depends on technology. We also believe that Solow was right when he said that the computer age can be seen everywhere but in the productivity statistics.

Our aim is to change the visibility equation. We know that Technology changes in the blink of an eye and that managers need to be aware of this before it happens. Our target is to be a hub of techno-management excellence and to equip future managers with the managerial skills necessary to navigate through the dynamic business landscape.

We organize seminars, workshops and talks by industry luminaries and execute live industry-driven projects throughout the year. Syscon also brings out a monthly e-magazine called Cross Roads, organizes a campus quiz called Enigmatics, a Case Study competition called Crack and conducts an essay writing competition, Hysterisis, on emerging business applications of technology. This past year we organized Tech CXO, the first ever Tech Conclave, that had several CIOs/CEOs and industry bigwigs, come down to our campus and address the student community on various aspects of technology and business. We collaborate with the Systems consulting clubs at IIM Ahmedabad and IIM Bangalore to bring out a pan IIM systems magazine called Click’d.

The “Smart Card” system is a Systems Consulting club initiative to replace minor cash transactions on campus through use of a single student smart card and will be ready by the end of this year. There are several other initiatives in the pipeline planned for the coming year.

For more details contact us on systemsconsultingclub@email.iimcal.ac.in or visit our website, http://www.iimcal.ac.in/community/systemsconsulting/home.html

The quaint thing that I find about Joka, however, is that, 15 plus years on, many things still look the same, feel the same, and seem the same. Which maybe good or bad, I guess, depending on what sort of eyeballs you have screwed on.  Mostly good, for the set I have on right now.

Take the lakes – still serene as ever, unbridled, unruly vegetation all around, totally un-manicured, some of them over run by water hyacinths as always, and some lined by the oh-so–lovely pink lotuses in full bloom in the early mornings, and yes, the occasional snake slithering in and out of the shrubs by their banks, those crane like birds (never figured what they are called) which dive in and out, literally fishing for a meal, the loud splash you hear but can never seem to figure what, making you wonder if it was a flying fish, or a kingfisher or  rat snake. And the constant melodies of all kinds of birds that floats to your ears, even if you don’t pause during your walk to listen. And of course, you still have to contend with the carpet bombings by the crow at nightfall. All adding to maintain the ever pristine, pastoral feel of the campus.

Or,  take the “Howrah Bridge” – the girders still painted blue (I wouldn’t have it any other way) , still sporting those perennially shaky wooden floor boards (I seriously think Maintenance manages it by design!), and I understand, still the rendezvous for the more adventurous romantic souls and mosquito-resistant bodies.

Yesteryear - IIM Calcutta,1977

Or, the good ol’ Jetty, which if could be googled through, would likely reveal an unending repertoire of spirited (pun intended) stories, outpourings and heartbreak tales, gathered in the wee hours of the morning. The Coffee Corner (Machaan) is still around to save you from hunger pangs, and so is the enterprising Mohan-da. Baro-C and JBS still belt out music, but along the way, the  investment bankers in the making decided to merge it, and I wonder how many inmates can relate the origin of these names to the precious bus routes that used to be our lifeline to the city.

So what’s new? A fair lot of things have sprung up, a bit here and a bit there, but all in a way as if they didn’t want to disturb what was already around, almost as if they didn’t want you to feel the change. I stroll a little beyond Tagore Hall, still called White House, (though it is now painted a dirty yellow) which used to be literally the end of the road when I lived here before; but now it is just that the boundary seems to have shifted a mite beyond and another hostel, rather unimaginatively called the New Hostel has come up. Somewhere along that stretch, there is now, tucked away, a gym and a swimming pool. I see a fancy auditorium, towering in the backdrop and a new teaching block. The old Acad block – same old, same old, except that the class rooms now thankfully have air-conditioners. The library is the same, except that, like the rest of the campus the place is now all “wired”.

And yes, the legendary Tyre is kinda missing from open view, from its venerable perch near the jetty. But thankfully, I am assured that it is just hidden some place, only to surface at the time of the Annual Tyre Raid, which happens with the same gusto and bravado as used to years earlier, except that now there is one more hostel as a claimant.  Tennis ball cricket still draws billings – somewhere along the way it seems to have got rechristened from Trout & Ries to the IIMC Premier League (why am I not surprised?). World War still strikes without fail, with some minor variations, as can be expected and allowed, I guess, in 20 odd years. XL-IIMC meets have become unbelievably raucous. And get ready to get ‘Dunked’, again with some variation at play. Amazingly, the hoary tradition of the ‘Lord’ lives on, the mantle passing on from batch to batch. Long live the Lord! The ‘Phantom’ seems to have unfortunately given up his immortality though! And it is good to hear that after all these years, it is still “Put Lake”, or ‘Put Jetty‘ or ‘Put NC’ – for any unsuspecting, uninitiated folks reading this, you can unravel this seemingly strange tongue when (if) you get over here.

The interpersonal dynamics seem a little different, as it is bound to be, with 400-odd junta now in every PGP batch instead of 150-200, and with technology ruling lives. The food in the messes, I am delighted to add, has improved, but of course still a far, far cry from mom’s kitchen.

Could a few things have been done to make us enjoy all this even better, without spoiling the natural surrounds?  Surely, yes. But yet, for all its faults I may be able to pick, I wouldn’t give this up for any other place more manicured, aseptic or dressed up. There’s something about Joka, I’ll say. You will probably say that I am biased. Sure, I am, but I couldn’t care less. It’s wonderful to come back to a place, “my” place, after such a long while, and feel totally at home, and not a stranger. It’s comforting to know that the bricks you leaned against are still there for you, in all its solidity, and the stone bench by the corner of the lake still there for you, to take in nature in solitude or maybe flip flat pebbles across the lake. Yes, It maybe a little spooky, as a friend put it, to come back (bees saal baad, so to say) and check into the same hostel and almost the same room, even if for a few days! Deja Vu, you can say that again!

And, something tells me that even those who may have had the chance to look back at this venerable Institute with pride and love, fifty golden years after they saw it first, wouldn’t differ very much from me. Doesn’t matter that fifty years is indeed a long, long time.  Oh! I probably missed saying this earlier- I am back here now to do my fellow programme and enjoying it. And if you haven’t ever been here, or if you haven’t been back here for a long time, I hope you start making your plans.

-Venkataraman S.

Batch of 1992,

FPM, IIM Calcutta

We are pleased to announce the release of the latest edition of the “Audire – IIM ABC Consulting Review”, a joint publication of the Consulting Clubs of IIMA, IIMB & IIMC. The magazine features articles by thought leaders in the industry as well as the academia. Some of the key features in our Volume 3, 2010 edition include:

• Coding the Takeover Mantra: This article by Prof. V.K. Unni, IIM Calcutta analyses some of the important principles governing the Takeover Code along with a few recent high-profile transactions
• Marketing for Tomorrow: Social Media Marketing: This article looks at social media marketing through various lenses, validates it from a social psychology perspective and discusses several innovative campaigns
• Quo Vadis, Affiliate Marketing: This paper by a Consultant in Oliver Wyman (an alumnus of IIM Calcutta) identifies the most important factors that will help affiliate marketing overcome its pastignominy
• Gearing up the Indian Public Sector for Shared Services: This article considers the case for shared services in the Indian Public sector and explores the role of Shared Services in developing a centralized state in India

The issue also comprises of interesting articles from students at some of the leading business schools in the country. Please send your feedback and suggestions at audire.IIMABC@gmail.com . We hope you enjoy this edition of the magazine!

LINK:  http://www.iimc-consultingclub.com/2010/files/Audire_IIM_ABC_Consulting_Review.pdf

The magazine features articles by thought leaders in the industry as well as the academia.  Some of the key features in this issue include:

• A consultant at a leading technology solutions firm writes the cover story on the war between Social Networking and traditional emailing.
• A member of a major private equity firm opines on the Direct Tax Code imposed by the government.
• An interview with the CEO of a startup consulting firm who talks about the potential and future of Online Consulting.
• A financial services expert discusses the need for Sustained Innovation and presents a framework for the same.

The issue also comprises of interesting articles from students at some of the leading business schools in the country.

We have also introduced a Crossword on the terminologies used in the consulting world along with a refreshing take on consulting called the Consultoon.

We hope you enjoy this edition of the magazine. Please feel free to get back to us with your valuable feedback and suggestions at consults@email.iimcal.ac.in

Link : http://www.iimc-consultingclub.com/2010/files/Joka_Strategist_Sep_2010.pdf

2011 has seen IIM Calcutta hosting arguably the most prestigious quizzing tournament in India, Nihilanth – the pan IIT – IIM quizfest. Referred to as the “Woodstock of Indian Quizzing” by Kolkata quizzer Sounak Chakravarti, this battle of the brains started off in 2003 and since then has been the holy grail of Indian Quizzing.

After much off the scene action, drama and debate, IIM Calcutta won the bid to be the proud hosts of Nihilanth 2011. 8 institutes participated in all- IITs B, G, Kgp and R; and IIMs A, B, C and L, thus making it a well-represented Nihilanth.

Before we get pitch-side to the action, let us introduce you to the basic rules of Nihilanth.

Rule 1: The winner of each quiz gets 10 points, second place gets 8, and so on for the top five spots. The total at the end of six quizzes decides who wins Nihilanth.

Rule 2: Not more than two teams from the same institute shall be allowed to participate in the final round of any quiz, unless the quiz master decides to be gracious enough to allow them as an extra team in the final.

Rule 3: The quizmaster is GOD. Apart from having the routine powers of Omniscience and the like, the quizmaster gets to decide how many teams feature in the final round of any quiz, and also has the insanely controversial power of overwriting any of the above rules.

Nihilanth 2011 would see its fair share of controversies, short tempers and glitches. But hopefully, what will be remembered when the tale is recounted to grand-children would be the high quality of the quizzes, the lauded efforts of the quiz-masters and the brilliant cracks that the fest saw. The best part was perhaps that almost all the participating institutes managed to find a place on the leader-board, contributing to the competition and high standards that this iconic fest has led us to expect.

The three, quoting a certain sitcom celebrity, “legendary” days of quzzing started off with the Sports Quiz, conducted by IIMC 2009 alumnus Kaushik Saha. Having first graduated from IIT Kgp, Kaushik has been a three time Nihilanth participant. From the start of the prelims, he looked like a man on a mission. A mission to conquer every single sport and game known or not known to man through the course of the quiz. And the clueless participants would agree with me when I claim that he did succeed to a great extent. Anyhow, after a thrilling bout of quizzing, IIMA came out as the eventual winners, with IITB also getting on the leaderboard with a well-deserved second place finish; and the home team of Sunil, Kamath and Gairik keeping IIMC in the running with a hard fought third place.

Suffice to say, the tone of the competition of the next three days had already been set. After narrowly beating IIMC, IIMA took hold of the top spot on the leader-board, with the home team nipping at their heels, just a few points behind.

But the night was still young and the participants were eager for more action. Shamanth Rao, IITM-IIMK graduate, conducted what is perhaps the most prestigious of all quizzes – the Lone Wolf Quiz for the third Nihilanth running. Canine imagery notwithstanding, the Lone Wolf is the ultimate test of claws, howls, and brain cells.

Getting into his groove, and striking fear into the hearts of the rival pack, P. Srikant, alumnus of the 2002 PGDM Batch, current FP student and ICQC’s star quizzer, blasted all opposition out of the way. Jaws were dropped, Eyebrows scaled hitherto unheard of heights. IIMA managed a distant 2nd, while Harsh Ketkar (Ketu, for the uninitiated), QC Presi and 2010 Nihilanth Lone Wolf Champion came third, making it an IIMA-IIMC game all the way.

Saturday morning dawned, fresh and bright. But for the 60 engineers and managers in waiting, assembled from all over the country, this was no day for rest. The long day started with the Biztech Quiz, hosted by Vijay Anand Menon, alumnus of the 2008 batch. The IIM Calcutta Quiz Club had the unique honour of witnessing a quiz conducted by the alum who gave us our name (earlier we went by the name of “Kweej Club”).

Featuring elite engineering alums turned managers, the teams from the various IIMs were pleasantly embarrassed by the young team from IIT Kharagpur, who led the quiz from start to finish, to gain a few good points. IIMA, much to the chagrin of the home crowd, managed to pip IIMC on the last question to finish an impressive second, and in the process, enforce a 2 point lead on the Nihilanth leaderboard.

At the half way stage, then, it was IIMA with an ever so slender lead.

Infusing the event with Kolkata’s distinguished brand of quizzing was the India Quiz, conducted by local quizzer Sounak Chakravarti. Over the 3 hours of nerve-wracking competition and awe-inspiring cracks, the quiz seemed poised to fall anyway, between the four IIMC and IIMA teams in the fray. The leaderboard status quo, however, remained intact, with IIMA taking 1st and 4th position, and IIMC coming in 2nd and 3rd. IIT Roorkee led the IITs at the 5th place.

Rounding off the night was Satyajit Chetri, conducting the Media, Arts, Literature & Entertainment (or – MELA) quiz. It should be mentioned here that Satya, aka Beatzo, has become an inseparable part of Nihilanth, having hosted a quiz in each edition. He is also credited to have invented the MELA quiz. The MELA quiz is usually the most popular amongst all events, attracting a diverse crowd of rockers, bookworms and cinephiles. Right off the bat, the IIT Kgp contingent sailed ahead of the competition, leaving the other teams to jostle for mere seconds. The quiz was definitely the most challenging quiz of Nihilanth, with teams struggling to name arcane bands, remember long forgotten books and identify the latest hits from Nigerian Cinema (okay, just kidding!). IIT Kgp asserted its dominance and won the quiz by a massive margin. The IIMs A and C pulled in at a distant 2nd and 3rd – and so – you guessed it – keeping the leaderboard status quo unchanged.

Finally, came the big daddy of quizzing – the General Quiz. Conducted by J. Ramanand, winner of Mastermind India and an alumnus of College of Engineering, Pune and IIT Bombay. This battle was to decide the war, and some battle it was. The points standing to start this quiz was – IIMA 54 points to IIMC’s 52.

With the last round remaining, the standings were thus: IIMC with a miniscule lead over IIMA, with the other IIMA team coming third and IIMC – fourth. With these scores, the last round began. A pulse-o-meter would perhaps have predicted imminent heart attacks in not just the contestants, but the onlooking junta as well. Thunderous was the applause every time somebody cracked a question, and all teams apart from IIMC and IIMA appeared to melt into the shadows. Nihilanth was poised on a knife’s edge with five questions to go. And as they say, cometh the hour, cometh the man. As though equipped with a version of Thor’s hammer imbued with Krishna’s Chakra, P. Srikant came into his own. With lightning answers slicing the opposition into infinite slices, almost single handedly, the knight in rusty armor managed to delight the cheering home support out of their distress, allowing IIMC to finish a clear 1st. However, whilst this clash of the titans ended favorably for the hosts, the war was to be decided by the battle for third. With four questions to go, IIMA was in the 3rd place, with a 1 point lead over the team of Sunil, Kamath and Nilay. With two remaining, the teams were level. And then came the moment that none of the home supporters in the jam-packed room will forget in a hurry- Sunil cracked a question that was left unanswered by all the other teams, leading to a massive victory of epic proportions for IIMC, by the slenderest of margins possible.

And with this, IIMC became not only the only institute to host Nihilanth twice, but also the first one to win it twice. Quizzing is no easy feat. But then, we are Icy Queasy.

A list of the results then:

Sports Quiz – Kaushik Saha

1st – IIMA, 2nd – IITB, 3rd – IIMC

Lone Wolf Quiz – Shamanth Rao

1st – IIMC, 2nd – IIMA, 3rd – IIMC

Biztech Quiz – Vijay Anand Menon

1st – IIT Kgp, 2nd – IIMA, 3rd – IIMC

India Quiz – Sounak Chakravarti

1st – IIMA, 2nd – IIMC, 3rd – IIMC

MELA Quiz -Satyajit Chetri

1st – IIT Kgp, 2nd – IIMA, 3rd – IIMC

General Quiz -J. Ramanand

1st – IIMC, 2nd – IIMA, 3rd – IIMC

Final Positions

1st – IIMC, 2nd – IIMA, 3rd – IIT Kgp

-  Saurabh Mittal and Nilay Puntambekar