Grandeur was what Neev ’08, the annual event organised by Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resource Development, was to be about; and grand it was, right from the onset to the very conclusion! ‘Neev’ is a Hindi word which literally means “foundation”. The event Neev, true to its name, is all about laying a strong foundation upon which the students can build sky-kissing careers. However, since all work no play makes jack a dull boy, the serious events (which, by the way, were fun in their own way) were supplemented with “informal” events, wherein the participants could let their hair down and have one heck of a time!
The theme for Neev ’08 was “duality: from the dark emanates light”. Spanning over three days, it consisted of various events to keep the three target groups: students, alumni, and the corporate people busy and happy. The flagship event of Neev ’08 , the “Augustus”, was about finding the best manager among the participants. Carrying a prize money of Rs 2 Lakh, it certainly rendered justice to its flagship status. Other events such as “Antinomics – The Economics game”, “Alter Idem – The Online Marketing game” etc were also of the same ilk, namely business based competitions. Then there were events like “Veblen Vogue – The Media & Lifestyle Game”, “Schizorama – The Mock Interview Game” which were as fun as competitive.
While the budding Narayan Murthys were busy racking their brains at the competitions, the others were having fun at informal events collectively called: “Contrapunto The Informals”. These included the usual Treasure Hunt, movie screening, sports etc. But the real highlights were: Roadies (based on M-TV show of the same name), Canvas-Spit – where participants spit on canvas to form the shape of the logo of “Duality”, and Face Painting competition. There also was a Tarot card reading stall, a tattoo stall, Graffiti competition, and Dance Therapy Workshop. The show stealer however, was Force India Formula 1 racing car dummy with a couple of British models; apparently signifying the British links of Force India F1 team (Force India is based in the UK and has only recently cut a deal with British constructor Mclaren), alongside which a “pit-stop” game was organised, where competitors tried to change tyres in the least possible time a-la F1 pit crew.
Then there were exclusive events for the Alumni and Corporate people. They had Corporate-Lunch, since the corporate types aren’t used to being hungry for a prolonged time and wine tasting workshop for obvious reasons. The best part, for the audience at least, was Corporate Playoffs where people from big companies were pitted against each other; sample this: the team from SAIL (Steel Authority of India) called themselves “Greyhounds” since only they had gray cells; it is a different matter the cells in question were those of the hair!
What grabbed the headlines though, was live performance by KK. Although the turn-out of crowd was a little disappointing, nothing seemed to dampen KK’s spirits who got everyone dancing to his tunes. The ease with which he rendered the songs was astonishing; slow track or fast track he hit all the right notes, prompting the female audience to respond with “KK we love you!” He made a grand entrance singing “Beete Lamhein”, and got everyone on their feet with “Oh humdum soniyo re” which was followed by other chart-busters like “Tu hi meri shab hai”, “Aawarapan”, and “Yaaron dosti”.
Over all, Neev was a great experience for the audience, participants, students and the Corporates. Thank you SCMHRD for hosting such an event. Also a huge thanks to Prachitosh for being a gracious host, showing us around and obliging to the vanity of the media people (read: us). One thing is for sure: We, the Tossed Salad Team, will certainly be looking forward to Neev ’09.
Ashwin Mehendale
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