Intaglio 2011: IIM Calcutta’s Business Summit
(Post Event)
The weekend of 8th January, all roads led to the picturesque campus of IIM Calcutta. The ccasion - India's biggest business festival, Intaglio! With over 18000 registered participants from over 180 colleges representing 58 countries, the amalgamation of industry and academia in a flurry of competitions, an eye-catching list of speakers, heartening social initiatives and a musical grand finale, the latest edition of Intaglio left everyone asking for more!
The enchanting opening ceremony was an ideal start to the coming three days. Presided over by Mr. Mallikarjuna Rao, CTO, Aircel,and Mr. Sudeep Yadav, MD, Citibank, the event was brought alive through a rocking performance by IIMC's home band JBS BaroC and the mesmerising handshadowgraphy and sand art display by renowned artist Mr. Amar Sen, much to the amazement and delight of the jam-packed auditorium.
The next day began with participants from B-schools across India battling it out for top honours in various competitions. The star attraction of the day, however, were the talks by distinguished personalities from such diverse walks of life. The halls were packed with eager audiences and surrounded by desperate queues. Those who managed to grab their seats were treated to an enriching and interactive session. Talking about the global prospects of Indian entertainment industry was Mr. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, filmmaker of Rang de Basanti and Delhi-6 fame. This was followed by an enlightening discourse on the 12th Five year plan, straight from the horse's mouth, being delivered by Dr. Pronab Sen, Principal advisor, Planning Commission of India. Up next was Mr. Shantanu Khosla, CEO, P&G India and also an alumnus from IIM Calcutta. He talked about brand strategies and the growth of the India business as an integral part of the P&G success story.
Intaglio 2011 placed a significant emphasis on social welfare. In line with this, a conclave for Social Entrepreneurs was organized to discuss the theme ‘Does social entrepreneurship need business to achieve an impactful scale?’.
Entrepreneurs with a wide range of backgrounds attended the conclave. Solomon Prakash, the head of the Ashoka Foundation, led the discussion. Dr Alok Roy, CMD of Medica Synergie provided his insights, having run several hospitals. Gyanesh Pandey, CEO of Husk Power Systems had a unique viewpoint from his experience in sustainable rural electrification. Jay Sutaria provided the digital perspective, being the founder of charitable site bhookh.com. The founder of Swayam Shikshan Prayog, Prema Gopalan and the cofounder of Eko India Financial services, Abhishek Sinha were also part of the panel.
Prof. Runa Sarkar of the Economics department, IIM Calcutta moderated the discussion. The conclave was a one-of-a-kind event for a B-school meet, and judging by the audience enthusiasm, it was a welcome one at that!
The theme of the Women Leaders’ Conclave was ‘Women Leaders: The next wave in the India Growth Story’. The discussion was moderated by Prof Debashis Chatterjee, director of IIM Kozhikode. The panel comprised eminent women leaders, entrepreneurs and visionaries, such as: Prema Gopalan: social entrepreneur and founder of Swayam Shikshan Prayog, Nishi Vasudeva – director of HPCL who revamped their entire IT infrastructure, Sonali Roychowdhury – the HR head of P&G – one of India’s largest FMCG firms, Sumit Chadha – the director of India Microfinance and Vineeta Singh – an entrepreneur from IIMA who founded the web-startup Quetzal. With such a diverse range of perspectives, it was no surprise that the conclave received a huge turnout, with eager students filling up the aisles to hear the speakers.
Intaglio'11 took the beacon of social initiatives further with 'Intaglio Cares'. Under this umbrella was featured 'Antyodaya', in which Indian and foreign students working in the social sector got an opportunity to showcase their ideas to improve the lives of the less fortunate population of the country. A panel of Corporates, Experts and Academicians judged their ideas for feasibility and vision, and provided valuable insights. This truly global event saw competition among candidates including John Landefield, a Harvard and UC Berkeley alum who was anearly volunteer of Barack Obama’s campaign, Mr. Michael R. Glassman, a former Former White House intern & Project Manager, Oisin Kenny, a student who has worked with Chicago Climate Exchange & the UN Foundation and Debalina Dey and Kartik Sundar, current research fellows at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) putting their best foot forward and touching one and all with their remarkable projects.
The four day fest also saw participation from another international student and Fulbright Scholar Mr. Peter H. Brooks, a graduate from Harvard University who has also served in the US Marine Corps, coming down to participate in the public policy making event 'Chanakya'.
Through another initiative towards a better society - ‘Sunehra Kal’ (also part of ‘Intaglio Cares’), Intaglio has chosen to set aside a corpus of INR 4 lakhs for providing primary education to the girl children of rural families in backward areas. In its golden jubilee year, this will be IIM-C’s tribute to the cause of education for all and women empowerment.
One of the most important skills B-schools aim to impart is that of leadership. Intaglio’s flagship event Olympus tests the leadership qualities of B-school students from the very best institutes of the country, and abroad. Student voting determined the 10 finalists, selected from the various IIMs, XLRI and CEIBS. On campus, the finalists were subjected to a series of ten gruelling events designed to pit them against one another and to separate the true leaders from the rest. Events included complex negotiations, group tasks, strategy and game theory amongst others. In one innovative round, finalists took on the roles of a country’s leadership after an airplane has been hijacked. They then had to hold their own against a ruthless group of press correspondents.
The event culminated in a grand finale with 3 candidates, who were interviewed by a panel of judges made up of eminent personalities. Nikhil Uppal, the contestant from XLRI, took home the honours, beating the competition in what is undoubtedly the most challenging competition in any Indian Management School.
The final day of Intaglio was also studded with the eagerly awaited talk by Mrs. Sheila Dikshit, Chief Minister, Delhi. The audience applauded as she spoke about some of the initiatives her government had succeeded in and also urged the B-school students to realise their potential and contribute to the cause of nation building. It was amazing to see her vibrancy and forthright approach to questions posed by students. She also spoke candidly in a press conference afterwards.
The final day of the summit also saw the ultimate rounds of various competitions being held and judged by industry experts. Another highlight in the day was Quizzical, the open quiz which saw seasoned quizzers from in and around the Kolkata quizzing circuit also streaming in and passionately battling their wits for the grand prize.
One of the major attractions in the fest was the Corporate dinner held at Taj Bengal. The gala dinner was attended by top officials from Citibank who interacted with students and shared their experience with the budding managers. The dinner was also an opportunity for the finalists of 'Olympus' – one of the flagship leadership events of Intaglio – to talk about why they deserve to be the international champion in the hunt for business leaders. Finalists included representatives from CEIBS, China, ISB, Hyderabad and the six IIMs.
Another distinguishing feature of the festival was the opportunity given to students in and around Kolkata to get a flavour of the various talks and workshops being held under the banner Student Leadership Programme and the Intaglio Experience aimed at B-school and undergraduate students respectively. The undergraduate students were delighted to her a peek into life in a business school and also enjoyed participating in treasure hunts, literary events, and selling games, specially designed for them.
All in all, with IIM Calcutta celebrating the unique distinction of being the first IIM to enter its Golden Jubilee, Intaglio'11 has set the tone for the numerous events, personalities and festivities planned out at the IIMC campus in the next two years.