The Park Plaza Hotel, 12th July 2014: It was an evening filled with nostalgia and bonhomie as we gathered for the annual IIFT Kolkata Alumni Chapter Meet. The event kicked off with Mrs. Amita Khurana assuming her responsibilities as the Chapter Head accompanied by Mr. Kushal Roy, previous year Chapter Head. The evening was hosted by the Alumni Coordinator, Dr. Meenakshi Deshpande and the Alumni Committee, and started with Dr. K. Rangarajan, Centre Head-IIFT Kolkata, welcoming the alumni from various batches of IIFT. He stressed upon the importance of the alumni networking with the current crop of students and inspiring them towards success.

He was followed by Mr. Kushal Roy expressing his joy at interacting with the alumni of IIFT. Mrs. Khurana expressed her excitement of undertaking the mantle of Chapter Head and networking with batch-mates, and fellow IIFTians at the workplace. The luminaries were followed by an engaging fun game from the students of MBA (IB) batch of 2014-16. The game was followed by solo and group vocal performances from the alumni. 

The alumni accompanied by the faculty members then interacted with each other while refreshments were served. Students got an opportunity to interact with the alumni and drew upon past experiences and memories. As the evening progressed, Mrs. Khurana undertook the task of initiating connections between the alumni of different batches. The evening ended with sumptuous meal and light-hearted banter. Nostalgic conversations graced every table.

The evening ended with both students and alumni taking to singing their heart out. We stood witness to some of the hidden gems from the stable of IIFT. It was a mesmerizing experience deeply entrenched with the sense of belonging that our alumni felt for their Alma Mater.

By  Daksh Shah & Supratik Chakraborty

With a wonderful journey of two years coming to a glorious end for our seniors, it was time for us to bid adieu to them. B School life would have been a heady mix of various challenges that they finally overcame to reach this day. As they step out of college, their minds would be clouded by apprehensions and wariness about the corporate world and at the same time enthusiasm as to what life holds in store for them.

On a heavenly night, we gathered to felicitate our seniors on the beautifully decorated rooftop of our college. The place was decked up in pretty lights all over and the occasion was such that even the skies cooperated and did not play spoilsport. The tiny IIFT badges that everybody had pinned onto their dresses conveyed the silent message- “Proud to be an IIFTian, now and forever”.  On this day, officially the last occasion on campus during their student life, various professors reminisced their experiences with the outgoing batch-in the B School tenure packed with assignments and cases, they too had their own moments to cherish and remember throughout their lives. Excitement was in the air, as the junior batch had chosen this occasion to felicitate our favourites among the senior batch, a difficult task considering the number of nominations we received. Ultimately, Haider Talat who was also the vice president of the student body, IMF along with Vartika Goel bagged the “Man of the year” and the “Woman of the year” awards. For always being a source of motivation and for guiding and mentoring us throughout, Mohit Kumar and Gaurav Bajaj won the “Kickass Club coordinator” and the “Best Mentor” awards respectively.  The student body also used this platform to felicitate each and every person who had contributed for the betterment of the batch. A very touching rendering of the song “Pal” by the juniors bought in a wave of nostalgia amongst our seniors.

Quite needless to say, what’s a farewell without some pictures!! Flashes seemed to light up the night as everybody posed endlessly for pictures, which are sure to end up as cover pictures and DP’s.  

Saying goodbye is always difficult but there could have been no better night to wish our seniors a bright and fun filled future!!

‘But monument themselves memorials need’: George Crabbe

Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Kolkata was fortunate to have as a visitor Ms Birgit Dulski on Wednesday, 20^th November thanks to our faculty Dr P.K.Das. Ms Birgit is a senior researcher in sustainable building from the Nyenrode Center for Sustainability in the Netherlands. Since 2001 she has led various projects, initiatives and research surrounding the sustainable preservation of historic and characteristic buildings. She is also involved in other research projects of the Center for Sustainability and in architectural contests where sustainability plays an important role. She combines her position at Nyenrode with a career as senior consultant at the Dutch Institute for Building Biology and Ecology (NIBE).

She gave an interesting presentation on ‘Changing Conditions for Local Architectural Heritage Management’. The presentation started with the changing scenario of the Dutch construction sector due to the European debt crisis, as a result of which all stakeholders are looking at alternative and more effective business models in order to preserve heritage sites and their sustainable renovation. Ms Birgit with the help of her team has set up a ‘Network Sustainable Architectural Heritage Management for Governmental Bodies’  which has resulted in significant changes with both private players and the government coming forward. This also shows the importance of cultural entrepreneurship and is a good lesson for counterparts in India which has a rich history when it comes to monuments.

The presentation was followed by an extensive interactive session with the students with Ms Birgit obliging the students with convincing answers and sharing her views on how she looked at the management of Indian heritage sites. It was a pleasant experience for the students with insights on cultural entrepreneurship and lessons on management and research from an experienced professional from abroad.

It happened one day…

I recently attended the graduation ceremony of my engineering college (a year too late perhaps, happened in full swing nonetheless). It was good to reconnect with old colleagues. The topics of our conversations ranged from reminiscence of the “good old days” to general curiosity about what the other person had made of their life.

Amidst all the catching up and laughter, I happened to bump into my project mate, a friend who I had spent most of my last semester with, designing (watching him design?) a fancy vehicle locking system. Ashwin squealed out “Sruti, you got everything that you had asked for!” Honestly, I was very confused. Until that day, there hadn’t passed a single day in my life when I hadn’t whined about how I never get what I want. He continued, “It was exactly a year ago that you told me you wanted to do your MBA and that sometime in life you would like to go to France, walk the streets of Paris, admire paintings in that museum- what was it? - Louvre? And oh yes! Eat their food, sip their wine. .6 months into a B-School and you have it all! Some luck woman!” It’s funny how it took a-year-late convocation to make me realize that the world wasn’t conspiring against me after all. While Ashwin, being the enthusiast that he is, chattered on, I took a minute to thank the universe (Rhonda Byrne claims gratitude is key in her latest- “Magic”).

I can’t even begin to explain how/why IIFT has been right for me at so many levels, and the exchange program most definitely tops the list of reasons. When I learnt that I had been nominated to study at IESEG School of Management in Lille, it wasn’t just the fact that I was going to spend a trimester abroad, in “foreign land” that gave me the shivers; people go abroad all the time with their families these days. No, it was about the journey that awaited me, the adventure that I knew that I was going to embark upon with four other friends, some old, some new.


  It was the fashion capital indeed…

I remember when we landed at the Charles De Gaulle Airport of Paris, in time for new year celebrations. Just when the fact that we had reached started sinking in, few of us were shown out of the airport by a huge scary cop. Soon after, a cab ride to the hotel that cost us an equivalent of Rs 6000, did not help much either. My French, that I took so much pride in previously, failed me miserably at each and every step. It was definitely not a kickass start, so to speak. But as the night unfurled, things started looking up, more than looking up.

A walk on Champs Élysées (http://bit.ly/12hzOQj), the most commercial street of Paris, was definitely an eye-opener for a fashion lover like me. Hidden under layers of clothing and a thick black jacket and looking at French girls strutting about in their skirts and high-heeled boots, I felt like the quintessential monkey-capped bong. They were impervious to the 3 degree chill- I was going to follow suit very soon, I just didn’t know it that time. Marked by two significant monuments at its either ends, Champs Élysées was a vision to behold, the whole of it- beautiful people walking on a beautifully decorated street, obnoxiously priced and yet very charming pubs and restaurants, a jazzy ice skating ring, crêpe counters, a real-but-fake snowman, cuddly couples, stalls serving Vin Chaud (http://bit.ly/1bo3z8O) and Louis Vuitton.

As we reached the end of the street, in front of Place de la Concorde (http://bit.ly/11CcUrM), and looked to the right, there it was glimmering in full might, the Eiffel Tower. It was just as gorgeous as the world claims it to be. I was half expecting “Michel Adams presents FTV” to pop up mid air. Delighted with our discovery, we paced towards the Eiffel.

Walking along the Seine late at night was fun. Amidst the gaping-at-the-cars and the getting acclimatized to the grandeur of the buildings, the jokes and comments never stopped coming in. And that’s the best part about traveling with friends. No matter what the situation is, you’re bound to have a good laugh! That is really what makes the journey so memorable and worth it.

As we walked, we came across a hell lot of couples, smitten by each other, completely in love. Honestly, I don’t blame them. There was something about Paris; it was almost designed for love. I don’t know whether it was the weather, the open roads, the empty spaces, the imposing structures, the river, the perfectly arched bridges or the cliché associated with it but something about the city definitely screamed, “Love!” The silly-romantic-non-MBA girl in me kind of resolved to come back here with someone special someday (no offense to my lovely friends!).

After a never-ending walk, we finally reached our destination. The Eiffel didn’t look that perfect anymore. It was just a lot of metal and lights (it does look exceptional during the day, but that was something that I learnt at a much later stage of my visit). It was a wonder of the world nonetheless, so the photo clicking session began. Meanwhile, some Indians and Bangladeshis tried selling us Eiffel Tower key chains, offering us the best of deals. They even tried to please us with their Hindi. But I couldn’t care less. I was all about France and the French that time. The language, the clothes, the mannerisms, the crêpes- all of it. Crêpes! Now I could write a novel about the Nutella strawberry ones made in front of the Eiffel. They were most definitely the BEST that I’d had all across Europe! A soft but crispy crêpe smeared generously with the godly Nutella and add pieces of the sweetest, juiciest, reddest strawberries on earth and tadaaa! You have for yourself, what I’d like to call, “An experience divine”.

The following days we celebrated New Year’s, visited the Louvre, Sacré Cœur (http://bit.ly/12hB5a0) and Notre Dame (http://bit.ly/152Rpxr) and relived our childhood in Disneyland. Paris was my second favorite city in Europe (narrowly defeated by Rome). I can go on and on about each of these experiences, whether it is the evening mass at the Notre Dame or the Tower of Terror in Disneyland. But the fact is that I’d just end up boring you with a lot of details that might seem inconsequential to you, the way I bore some of my friends who missed exchange.
Because you’d never know with what passion and enthusiasm I’m writing this, because you never felt or experienced what I experienced. And hence I’m going to be limiting these blogs only to the fun and exciting parts…

 Next stop, Amsterdam!

By Sruti Chatterjee