The Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Kozhikode hosted its annual flagship business festival Backwaters from October 30 to November 1. The event comprised of business simulation events, as well as opportunities to interact with powerful speakers during its TEDx event, which was a part of the main event.
White Knight
White Knight was an event where business plans were invited from students across the country in three broad categories – social innovation, gen-next technopreneur, and products and services. Over a 37-day window, there were 305 registered participants from colleges across the country, out of which six teams presented their plans. The event was judged by industry experts from Nabard and TiE Kerala, on the basis of feasibility, profitability, scalability, innovation and presentation prowess. The winners were awarded a cash prize worth ₹50,000, and ₹25,000 for the runners-up.
TEDx at Backwaters
The highlight of the main event was TEDx at Backwaters, which was a huge success among the student fraternity. TEDx talks were given by eminent motivational speakers from varied paths of life, including Sugata Mitra (professor of educational technology), Prasant Nair (district collector of Kozhikode), Malvika Iyer (bomb blast survivor and disability rights activist), V S Sudhakar (entrepreneur and IIM-A alumnus), and Archana Sardana (adventure sports junkie).
Nair, who is also involved with a social welfare activity named Compassionate Kozhikode, spoke about the importance of compassion in the lives of many polished professionals graduating from places like IIMs, in contrast with millions of underprivileged citizens.
Iyer’s speech pressed upon the message that “bad attitude is the only disability in life”.
V S Sudhakar, who is the co-founder of BigBasket, and former founder and CEO of Indiaplaza Pvt. Ltd., talked about the pros and cons of being in a start-up, and concluded his speech to address the issue of depletion of water, stating that “water is the next big thing”.
Archana Sardana, who is India’s only woman master ccuba diver trainer certified by PADI, USA, the country’s only woman BASE jumper, and also the first Indian to skydive with the Indian flag in the USA and to BASE jump the KL Tower, Malaysia spoke about her life and its motto to explore, dream and discover. With 335 skydives and 45 BASE jumps done, she shared interesting stories about her life including getting married to an army officer and spending seven days of her honeymoon doing adventure sports.
Social outreach
As part of IIM Kozhikode’s social outreach initiative, Backwaters organized a workshop for 68 school children from classes 8 to 10 was conducted. Students from 31 schools all over Kerala participated in the event. The second and third days were meant for undergraduate students from various specialisations like engineering, commerce, and arts. The prime motive behind the workshop was to give undergraduate students a look into life at IIM. Many of the students were CAT aspirants who required guidance and clarity. There was a variety of sessions on topics like self-discovery, public speaking, working in diverse teams, and self-confidence.
Avatar: the ultimate CEO challenge
The CEO challenge of Backwaters had 22 colleges and 38 participants competing. Participants were put through stressful conditions spanning across three days, in challenges encompassing all verticals of management including marketing, finance, strategy, operations, and HR. Their creativity and general knowledge was also tested through storyboard making and a quiz. The event also included a venture capitalist pitch and a self-pitch to conclude with. The event was planned keeping in mind that a CEO has to perform well in all spheres of management under stringent deadlines.
Model United Nations
Model United Nations, which is a simulation of United Nations’ workings with delegates represent countries, saw ‘delegates’ using United Nations rules including various motions and pleas to come up with a working paper on the Syrian refugee crisis.