Helios 2008 Memories - Chiranjit Mandhata

Its been a year since I attended Helios, the flagship event of XIMB dubbed as “only B-school event for undergraduates”. Not to forget this was our first live experience of life at a top B-school. However timing was not on our side. We were in the midst of our semesters, CAT was round the corner. I and my partner, Chandan Dubey pondered over should we even give it a try. We did eventually. And we didn’t and don’t regret that decision. We cleared the prelims by hair’s breadth I was told. We arrived on the fateful day and 15 other teams joined us. Imaginations swept us all over and we kept guessing what will be the format like, what kind of games. The organisers replied by a sweet smile or the status quo “Wait and see” message. We were given the first shock when we were told 10 teams will be eliminated then and there barely an hour after we had landed. Everyone scratched their heads to solve the braintwisters and by the end of the test every team was sure they were the ones going back home. To our surprise we were told it was a prank. Well the day had begun with a note of unpredictability and it would end with it too. We were made to slog through the various modules of Finance, Marketing, HR, Soft Skills and finally Quiz. We got to know our strengths better and our weaknesses even better. Sometimes the results were better than expected, like in Quiz and sometimes we just bombed like Marketing. It was complete journey of Ups & Downs for all the teams alike. And in the end the team that showed higher consistency won. We finished 6th.But it was an experience not to forget in a hurry. Starting from our Buddies assigned to us to everyone in the campus all seemed chilled out and willing to guide you to XIMB life in particular and MBA life in general. It was grilling and exhausting experience yet fun all the way. And finally if not anything, coming and experiencing it in person will definitely give one clear idea of whether to further MBA as career or look for alternatives. The decision of what next gets lot clearer after going through these two days of unique learning experience and unabated fun and games.