There was a distinct aura embezzled in humid air of Chennai on 20th August. For once the small family at IFMR whole heartedly got entangled into woven fabrics of love and affection spraying all over them in bulk. Erstwhile heroes, mesmerizing faces and vibrant smiles intoxicated the whole environment. Every face had a story to tell what they have been up- to all these days, but the parity was that sad grin expressing “oh wish I would have been here now- why did it all end so fast”.
Effervescence and sense of achievement was percolating all over as our beloved alumni received their degrees from the podium which catapulted yet another batch of talented management professionals into highly challenging corporate environment. For the first time the reunion canvas moved beyond the campus and a grand party was organized at Ambassador Pallava, Egmore at 8 pm. There was certain nervous excitement in the air as it symbolized the union of past and present IFMRIANS at one place. Various fun -filled events kick-started the party and set the tempo to a level which just got better and better the whole night.
The party started with recitation of tongue-twisters by alumni randomly picked from the audience. Even this simple game had audience involved deep into it and touched upon various management concepts like on the feet thinking and pressure handling. The next event had audience in splits as it involved literal translation of flashy mid-90s Hindi songs to English. It led participants to revisit memories as one of the Batch 5 member –one of our esteemed alumni also participated in the event. For once everyone in audience wanted the event to never end as it brought back memories and innocent fun they had in IFMR.
Dedications were pouring in from various corners in the audience with people venting out their unsaid feelings through medium of melodious tunes. The love and cajoling, the blushes, the pain of separation, the never ending goodbyes and those moist eyes- all the emotions were on display. This was followed by breath-taking dance performances by Batch 12 reminding others how proud they were to be associated with such a lovely IFMR family.
There were few speeches; notable among them was of Mr. Amit Gupta from Batch 5. He spoke in length about what it feels like to be from the first batch of Financial Engineering and how terribly he misses the learning mode which he experienced at IFMR. The appreciation from crowd in form of loud thundering claps in sync were proof enough how much every single soul there connected to the speech.
Innovation continued and for the first time Yearbook was introduced carrying memoirs of batch 10 and how they felt about each other. Yearbook was a bible to whatever the batch has done for 2 years, their emotions and relationships nurtured by them over the period. A video followed containing clips of alumni speaking about how they feel about IFMR and various other things wrapped into IFMR ecosystem.
The surprise package of the meet came in form of an event which unfurled a young rapper from batch 12 onto the stage and he rapped away in glory involving everyone in the mesmerizing performance of his. The popped collar, the tilted cap and the nonchalance in the voice electrified the atmosphere as he picked up random people from audience to jam alongside him. For a moment it felt like Eminem has just announced his arrival in grand style at IFMR. Awestruck would be the only word which would come to anyone’s mind if you mention about his performance. The participation was amazing something which comes very naturally to IFMR management professionals.
Networking was at the forlorn while munching dishes were being served at dinner. There were so many stories to talk about, too many events to catch up. The party came to an end with a group dance sending out a message that though we are sad that our alumni are not there with us anymore in the campus but their memories live on and how happy we are to see them scaling such great heights in their professional careers. No matter how much ever is the physical distance between us, but there will always be an emotional connect. This campus will always tell their stories in some way or they would be with us in some form always. IFMR is indeed close to our hearts and will always be.
As it has been said “Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost”. This is not the end; just the beginning. The next chapter will resume in Mumbai soon and yet again we will revisit all such emotions. We would like to thank all those alumni for taking time out of their busy schedules and gracing us with their presence. We would also like to thank everyone who were part of this great occasion and brought it to such level. And lastly we are highly indebted to IFMR for giving us such lovely people to work for. Signing off for now and promising to meet you all very soon
Alumni Committee
