IIM Raipur's Equinox'13 – Begins with a Bang

IIM Raipur’s Annual Fest, Equinox’13 kicked off on 17^th Feb ’13 with X-Quiz-It, the flagship business quiz event of IIM Raipur. The prelim rounds for this event were conducted in two stages – online prelims on Dare2compete.com and an on-campus prelim round conducted on 17^th Feb ‘13. There were almost 600 participants who took part in the online prelim round, out of which top three teams qualified to the finals, and three teams were selected for the finals from the on-campus prelim round which witnessed a participation of more than 50 teams. The quizmaster, Mr. Kedar Sastry of Dare2compete.com, is an erstwhile quizmaster who has conducted various quizzing events in major B-schools across the country.

Quiz on-campus prelims with Quiz master Mr. Kedar Sastry

Quiz finalists

 The six finalists were from IIFT Delhi, SIBM Pune, SIIB Pune, LNMIIT Jaipur and two teams from IIM Raipur. It was an engrossing contest among the teams on stage and finally, a team from IIM Raipur comprising of Arjun & Srinath won the quiz and secured a prize of 25000 INR. The runner-up was a one-man team, comprising of Dheeraj from LNMIIT, Jaipur and he won a prize of 10000 INR. It was an enthralling experience for students from various colleges who actively cheered the finalists, and enjoyed the quiz thoroughly.

Mantrana from Enspirit’13, the flagship annual entrepreneurship event witnessed a talk on the theme “Entrepreneurship Opportunities and Challenges in India” by speakers from the industry. Mr. Manish Agrawal, Director - Operations, Pilania Industries, emphasized on importance of the experience one gets on working in a start-up. He encouraged the future entrepreneurs to look for untapped markets. He told how the skills of people needed change from generalized to specialized as business grows.

Esteemed panelists launching Strive 4.0 (Operations magazine) 

Mr. Pratik Singhi,  CEO, Lakshya Consulting took the stage next. He focused on the significance of passion for one’s work and for fulfilling the needs and wants of the customers. He said that an entrepreneur should be ready to sustain himself/herself without profits. He laid more importance on the execution of the idea than the idea itself. He said, ”A mediocre idea executed perfectly is better than a perfect idea executed in a mediocre manner”.

Guests sharing their entrepreneurial experiences with students

Ms. Deepanjali Rao, Founder, Deepositive Foundation, stressed that at the end of the day it is you on whom everything depends. She took entrepreneurship to test the boundaries of what she could take up. She said that the 2^nd year into a venture provides a reality check. Either the person becomes his/her idea or the victim of his/her idea. She laid importance on the fact that money alone should not be a driving force for a business.

Mr. Saumil Majumdar, Co-Founder, EduSports, gave his insights in the form of 10 things he wished someone told him before he started. He explained the vitality of asking Why Not? He further elaborated on the remaining things on his list which included Consumer Insight, Serendipity, Leverage, Commit, Stamina, Don’t Give up and It’s not about the money. He concluded by asking the participants to enjoy their entrepreneurship experience and gain the maximum out of it.

The session provided different perspectives and opened new dimensions for the participants.

Students sharing their business plans and clarifying
their doubts in entrepreneurship 

Another blockbuster event was Seeker, the online treasure hunt which was back with a bang in its second season this year. The participants were to proceed across each level by solving the clues given online. The 2 day online treasure hunt saw participation from various colleges across the globe like London Business School, University of Arkansas, University of Hensilki, Finland andIIM-A, to name a few. The event tested the persistence, knowledge and smartness of the participants who were busy flexing their grey cells to crack the clues. The winner was Umang Agarwal from IIM Raipur.

The exuberance of the first day of Equinox’13 could be felt in the IIM Raipur Campus where the students had enriching entrepreneurship sessions and engrossing quizzing sessions.