This description is of the Chinaswamy Stadium, Bangalore which was the venue of the first ever Alumni Meet of Vinod Gupta School of Management (VGSoM), IIT Kharagpur on the 27th of September 2008. What better place to be when you meet up with old friends and catch up on all those years gone by, reminiscing about the memories of the campus, the rainy days, the sluggish afternoons, beads of sweat before the exam and of course the hectic schedule of a B Schooler.
These are just some of the things that were palpably present throughout the meet. The idea was conceived by Colonel Indrabalan and his handpicked team of twelve would be executives, three ladies and nine gentlemen from the class of 2009. The presence of IIT Kharagpur alumni made the event even more memorable as they acted as the torchbearers to help VGSoM herald into a new beginning. Prof. Parameshwar P Iyer, Principal Research Scientist and Head Placement and Industrial Liaison at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore was the Chief Guest for the meet. The meet was also graced by the presence of Mr. Ramesh Hariharan, who is the founder Director of Deffusion Consulting and Managing Trustee of LeadCap. Mr. Ravichandran Rajamannar also found out time from his busy schedule to apprise the alumni about the initiatives taken by the PAN IIT Alumni Association.
The alumni started trickling in and were received by an exceptional performance of the Madras Engineers' Group Pipe Band which has incidentally been a part of many 'Beating the Retreat' at the Republic Day parade. The characteristic and enchanting notes of the Saraswati Vandana laid an auspicious foundation to the official start of the alumni meet followed by a spirited speech by the organizing team. The call for greater accountability of the alumni was made and their feedback along with their resounding spirit to view VGSoM as a B School to reckon with the best in the world was invoked. As part of the alumni meet, a small video capturing the moments of VGSoM right from its inception was shown to the 80 people strong alumni who became nostalgic about the past memories and found out time from their busy schedules to be a part of this great evening. An open house discussion about the role of the alumni in strengthening the brand of VGSoM, enthralled the audience.
The fulcrum of the discussion was how and what best we as brand ambassadors of VGSoM can do to enhance the effectiveness of the alumni association, increase the alumni connectivity/affinity and sense of pride and build a perception of the philanthropic worthiness of VGSoM by creating a 'giving' culture.
The felicitation of the two of the senior-most members, in order of the year they graduated in, stood out as a humorous moment coupled with nostalgia and a moment where the tide reversed, current students felicitating the ex-students. To add glamour to the event was the presence of the major sponsors Canon,
Golden Gate along with the beverage partners United Breweries and Red Bull. As is the norm in alumni meets, a sumptuous dinner along with some fine drinks in tow followed. Tweaking the famous movie title as it aptly defines one of the most cherished days for every VGSoMite "An Evening at Chinaswamy
Stadium" celebrating VGSoM turning fifteen this year, a coup of sorts literally.
(Contributed by Akshat Mohindra, Class of 2009, IIT Kharagpur VGSOM)
