Landmark Vol VIII Iss II

Transform

EXPLORING THE
UNEXPLORED
BOOK REVIEW
CELL ACTIVITIES
AND MORE

DR. HARI IYER AAYUSH KALRA SAYAN DASGUPTA
FACULTY MENTOR EDITORIAL HEAD CREATIVE HEAD

CONTENTS

01 From the Editor

transform

03 I Live Under a Violet Sky
05 A Souvenir
07 No Pauses

evolve to resolve

10 One Day

12 Hoping for a better tomorrow
14 From Soul to Sole

transformational tales

17 Stepping up with confidence
19 From Amateur to Somewhat
Different
20 Our Scales Lie

book review

22 Becoming Michelle Obama TANIKA GOYAL
24 The 5 AM Club
26 Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a
Long and Happy Life

faculty interview

28 Dr. Amrita Bansal

cell activities

34 Student Council
35 Social Responsibility Forum
37 Finomenon
39 Not Just Marketing
40 Optumiz
42 SummIT
43 HRuday
44 Mantavya
45 Nepathya
46 Ecolibria
47 E-Cell
48 Adverb
49 Prabodhan

51 behind landmark
53
Meet the Authors
The Team

from Dear Readers,
the
editor As another trimester goes by, the Editorial team of Student
Council proudly presents the Quarter 2 edition of Landmark.
This edition revolves around transformation stories, becoming
better versions of ourselves and teaches us to embrace the
challenges in our life as they are nothing but opportunities for
self-improvement. The articles also emphasize the importance
of having consistency and persistence because real
transformation needs patience and cannot be achieved

overnight. Every bit of effort we put in is counted and adds up

to a big result. Transformation is not just an action but a

journey in itself which happens only if we realize our mistakes

and stay true to ourselves.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Ms. Amrita
Bansal, Assistant Professor at SBM, NMIMS for sharing valuable
insights and for her piece of advice to students entering the
corporate world. I strongly urge all our readers to visit the
faculty interview section for the same and to understand how
her teaching style has transformed when shifting to online
classes.

The Editorial team congratulates the winners of the article
writing competition, Jijnyasa Patowary, Apoorva Vashishtha
and Chitra Sureka and thanks them for sharing their
enlightening entries. Do not miss the book review section as we
have some great recommendations by Kanak Daga, Simran
Mirchandani and Ananya Saxena.

Aayush Kalra Lastly, I invite feedback on our work to ensure a better reading
experience for you, each quarter.
Editorial Head
Student Council Happy Reading!

LANDMARK VOLUME VIII ISSUE II PAGE | 01

TRANSFORM

JINAL KOTHARI

I LIVE UNDER A transform

1VIOLET SKY
Jijnyasa Patowary

Would you mind if I wrote a little something for this little girl I once was?
Would mind including these lines in the love stories you will read today?

You see, I have written for so many who had my heart beating;
Some covered it in warm, fuzzy blankets,

Some stuck needles in it to see how many it could take.
I have written for so many,
But her.

You see, she was born with such wild curls,
Grass blades and fallen flowers would play hide-

and-seek in them every afternoon.
There were so many pages of violet skies, yellow rivers
And she never drew the moon too far from the mountains because

She thought they ached to be together.
She loved her grandmother's stories and when she read
That stars were made from gas and dust, she said no -

they are the tiptoes of fairies running around at night.
On Holi, she'd buy every color she laid her eyes on
because finally,

The world in front of her eyes had as much color as the one in her mind.
She'd often take papa to the swing in the garden
And talk about which book to read next, and
You see, she was a little bossy -

She wanted her glass of orange Glucon-D exactly at 7 pm and made sure
A glass of iced lemon juice was ready at 5 pm
When ma came back from work.
And don't tell anyone, but ever so often,
She'd stay up at night to direct, script, and act
In imaginary movies; it didn't matter
If the dark circles were as big as her eyes.

LANDMARK VOLUME VIII ISSUE II PAGE | 03

I LIVE UNDER A transform

1VIOLET SKY
Jijnyasa Patowary

But you see, over the years,
The curls straightened out, and she had to write
About the gaseous composition of celestial bodies
Because red ink didn't look good on answer sheets, and
So much of the magic she had cooked expired

Because the world
Is not

A fairytale.

Now she has become me,
And while some tried to rip her out of me

Completely
By throwing shards of glass,
I held on to her for dear life,
Turned the glass into silver powder,
And made balls of snow instead.

You see, I have loved knowing her
But could you also tell me
If she'd love to know me?

LANDMARK VOLUME VIII ISSUE II PAGE | 04

2A SOUVENIR transform
Apoorva Vashishtha

As I settle by the window
With my cuppa of hot chocolate on a rainy Sunday evening,

A souvenir; a red wrist-band with silver detailing
From a mid – September rendezvous three years ago

Catches my eye; I am hit with a sudden nostalgia
Of the places visited, experiences created…

Some new people encountered along the way,
And the forever constant beings,

Bearing with us through all our phases and moments….
“How did this red band manage to escape my memory box”, I pondered.

The box of memories – taking me back
To the first time I saw the sands of a beach,
And felt the warm waves brush against my feet;
To the December winters spent in anticipation of

Christmas every year at school,
With the carols echoing in the halls and Pine trees at every nook;

To the multiple failed attempts at riding the bicycle,
The crazy laughter following a college banter,

And how some eyes gleamed with joy, and some crinkled at the corner;
Funny how these little bits have fit together perfectly

Like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, to create what we have grown to become;
Who are we?

We are the collective of the sunrises cherished on 6 A.M. April mornings,
The sudden sugar rush after having a new flavour of a dessert,
Of the cities we have been to,

Leaving behind an imprint of us and taking away a part of its own;
The hideous song that we have grown to like over time;
And a thousand lifetimes we live in a single one

By drowning in the ocean of words with every new book;

LANDMARK VOLUME VIII ISSUE II PAGE | 05

2A SOUVENIR transform
Apoorva Vashishtha

The songs sang at the highest decibel levels in the car rides with homies,
And the million dreams achieved, not, and changed over the years…
To say people are defined by certain milestones in their lifetime
Is perhaps a misapprehension?

For growth is a free-flowing process, with the cumulation of all moments
Little or Huge, Relevant or Irrelevant, Ecstatic or Agonic;
Never making it easy to cram us in the lines of a ballad,

For there are flavours yet to be relished, places yet to be visited,
Sunsets yet to be cherished,

And paths yet to be pivoted…
Hold on, memory box; it may all not rhyme,

The red wrist-band is not all,
Many more remainders from the future await to enter your realm

For we are a never-ending prose, and not a psalm.

LANDMARK VOLUME VIII ISSUE II PAGE | 06

3NO PAUSES transform
Chitra Sureka

What is this mystery? Isn’t transformation the most conspicuous yet abstruse
phenomenon? Can we ever pick the exact moment when we transformed or
embarked on our internal transformation? When a pupa metamorphoses into a
butterfly, it is for sure unaware about the entire change. But, to become that
spectacular butterfly we see around, it has to necessarily undergo the
transformation. This is the hidden beauty behind this word, Transform.

An incessant process that helped me realise that acknowledging change and
incorporating it for better will always help me evolve. It can be a combination of
positive and negative transformations, but what is imperative here is the fact
that without transforming into a butterfly, it cannot yet fly.

I write this sitting at the brim of the year, with a list of resolutions like most
others. A need to transform always present at the sub-conscious level but the
zeal to accomplish the goals stronger than ever, because the changes, however
little, have had a positive impact on me and around me.

Two things, very fundamental in this process of transformation would be ‘Why’
and ‘How’. Why would I want to transform? Personally, it’s all about growth for me
and that exactly would push me to accept changes and inhibit transformation.
How should I transform? It’s a game of permutations and combinations. Only
persistent belief and resolution can help me tick each box before moving
forward.

To transform is to adapt
To adapt is to accept,

So traverse without fear
Transcend without an intercept.

LANDMARK VOLUME VIII ISSUE II PAGE | 07

3NO PAUSES
Chitra Sureka

Not all of us can vision the end goal clearly. It is a complex process and there
are many stages of evolution one undergoes to reach there. So go on,
traverse on the journey to transcend and transform as many times as
required. Those are the intercepts called for, not once you’re close to
transcending. No pauses, that’s all. The process, however complex, should be
continual.

transform

LANDMARK VOLUME VIII ISSUE II PAGE | 08

PRAGYA SINGH

EVOLVE TO
RESOLVE

1ONE DAY evolve to resolve
Chavi Malik
PAGE | 10
There will come a day
when we will look back
on the peculiar time that just went by

when we felt as though nothing made sense
and thought we would not be able to survive

There will come a day
when we will look back
and remember the times that we spent
with family, at a place called home

doing things, we never thought we'd do
crying and dancing, yet breathing

There will come a day
when we will look back
and thank God for the memories we did make
and the barriers we could break

traveling through life
but not going the distance

There will come a day
when we will look back
and recall the times we ventured within

instead of out
meeting the loneliest soul
we should have befriended early on

LANDMARK VOLUME VIII ISSUE II

1ONE DAY evolve to resolve
Chavi Malik

There will come a day
when we will look back
and it would dawn upon us
that it actually made perfect sense

perhaps nature needed to heal
and so, did we

and when this day will come
we would realise

that we have in fact
transformed.

LANDMARK VOLUME VIII ISSUE II PAGE | 11

HOPING FOR A BETTER evolve to resolve

2TOMORROW

Harshvardhan Ramachandran

Today was a day just like the one before
Working in front of a screen leaving the eyes sore
Stuck in a world where the goal is to make the highest score
Making one question the meaning of life, leaving me sore
Was this the best that life had in store?
Voices in my head begin to implore asking me to explore an attempt to
restore my core
So what could be done furthermore
To ensure this constant is nevermore?

Yesterday, I woke up in the morning and attended my classes, just a face
amongst the masses
A multitude of us expected to keep our video on,
but this was not a time for brawn
The goal is to learn and be able to have a discourse
With learned minds who would teach us this course
We all were here by choice, no force
Some said it till their voices went hoarse
But no matter what the source and I don’t mean to be coarse
A few joked wondering how this was different from a correspondence course

The truth is that we joke and chide, for it’s an easier way for the time to go by
Acknowledging that the world has changed dramatically, it’s only obvious
that we must act practically
And in the darkest of times, one resorts to see reality sarcastically
Studying in a silo like this on a dime, all of this has come too drastically

So how are we meant to transform for tomorrow?
Is it a metaphor asking you to reform or to conform into sorrow?

LANDMARK VOLUME VIII ISSUE II PAGE | 12

HOPING FOR A BETTER evolve to resolve

2TOMORROW

Harshvardhan Ramachandran

We have all found ourselves thrust on the stage at an elevated platform
Stepping into unchartered waters was never going to be easy
It might have been a fantasia expecting it to be breezy
But this can be our moment to seize
Maybe not worry about the rat race, and try just to do our best
Not stress about the most passing things,
Struggling with each passing day hanging by a string
Let’s take a moment today pledging to shed
Negative selfishness and build some bridges
Let’s work together and make these moments the richest
For we are living in a truly transformational age
Potentially a moment for us to turn to the page
From what has always been to what could be
Happy Holidays and all the best with the MBA degree!

LANDMARK VOLUME VIII ISSUE II PAGE | 13

FROM SOLE evolve to resolve

3TO SOUL

Debashrita Panda

Getting to know thy soul
Is such an experience

That lets you ahead of others,
But you still lag behind.

The spirit inside you is a unique one,
We all are unique,

We struggle to be like others
But actually, who bothers?
In this vast, yet tiny life
We get many things to see,

The births and deaths astonish us,
But yet we are to know the truth within.
The world’s a great stage and we’re merely actors,

We are given roles to try out,
One role goes and comes another,
If it gets bad, there’s no need to ponder.
When things really go to get worse,
Believe in God, and complete the course.
Without your knowledge, one day your acts will vanish into thin air,
You’ll be lost somewhere, without a care.
Who knows when you’d arrive again in a new style?

A new character?
The directors and producers will never mind,
Because they have seen things of such kind.

You’d be the only one alone.
So, let’s start from today,
The art of pray,

Pay for all the sins when you’ve got pain,
And reap happiness for your best.

LANDMARK VOLUME VIII ISSUE II PAGE | 14

FROM SOLE

3TO SOUL

Debashrita Panda

This is the reality of life,
Here you have to live by and by.
Let your sadness be washed away and happiness stay,
Peace thrive and conscience strive.

evolve to resolve

LANDMARK VOLUME VIII ISSUE II PAGE | 15

DISHNU GHOSH

STEPPING UP WITH transformational tales

1CONFIDENCE
Priyam Chhaparia

What were you before you transformed yourself?

My name is Priyam Chhaparia. I was born and brought up in the city of joy,
Kolkata. I did my schooling at Our Lady Queen of the Missions School, Kolkata
and have graduated from St. Xavier's College, Kolkata. In school, I used to
believe that marks were everything, and hence, was academic-oriented. My
only goal was to secure the highest marks. In college, I realized that academics
aren't everything, and that one needs to have a holistic approach to life. When I
was little, I wanted to become a model and my favourite pass time was
watching beauty pageants and imagining myself as a contestant. I used to
stand in front of the mirror and answer random questions thinking that one day,
I will be answering those questions in front of millions of people. Growing up, I
realized that it is not as easy as it looks, and that I too had my set of
imperfections. The closest I could get to becoming a model was by
participating in intercollege fashion competitions and trying on quirky outfits. At
NMIMS, I was eager to become a part of the fashion club, Verve, because I
knew I would cherish the experience. When I found out about the Mr. and Miss
NMIMS competition, I was extremely delighted, but at the same time, a little
afraid to participate. Before participating in the competition, I was very
diffident and weak-kneed. Today's version of Priyam believes in learning and
experiencing, and gives a lot more importance to inner beauty, because beauty
is what shines from within.

Where have you reached now?

Winning the Miss NMIMS title was indeed the greatest moment of my life. It took
a while for the feeling to sink in. I was ecstatic; on cloud nine! More than
winning, what was more incredible was the whole process. The competition had
various rounds, right from talent showcase to quizzes. Each round helped me
discover more about myself. I thoroughly enjoyed the last round of the
competition and did not care about winning or losing. In a way, I was already
feeling like a winner because I had made new friends during the process and

LANDMARK VOLUME VIII ISSUE II PAGE | 17

STEPPING UP WITH transformational tales

1CONFIDENCE
Priyam Chhaparia

they were extremely supportive and loving. I still cannot forget how magnificent it
felt when I was declared Miss NMIMS 2020 because that is when I realized that
conventional beauty standards are just that convention. My journey was key to
my understanding that confidence is the key to feeling attractive. My life has
changed quite a lot after that experience, I no longer run away from challenges. I
tend to participate in competitions without worrying about the results, because
what is there to lose? I would like to say that once you start loving and believing
in yourself, you're halfway through. I aim to inspire and encourage more and more
people to go for what they want, without being afraid of the consequences.

What was your motivation behind the transformation?

"Seize the moment because some opportunities don't come twice ". When we
hear the word 'transformation ', we tend to believe that it is confined to physical
transformation of a person. I have always been a little under confident, and had
the ideology that others are far better than me. My transformation happened
when I discovered the path of self-love. I recently realized that we cannot give
something we don't have, which means that we can only spread love when we
are full of love. I was extremely skeptical about participating in the competition
because I thought I did not have what it takes to be Miss NMIMS. My family and
friends motivated and supported me every second, and my zeal to become a
better version of myself made me take part in the competition. One lesson that I
learned from my experience is that life is all about chances and if we won't take
chances, we surely will not be able to make the required changes, and the fact
that I was able to abide by this and put my real self out there is a big
transformation for me. It is just extremely overwhelming when your dreams turn
into reality because it immensely adds to your growth. I believe that we humans
keep transforming all our lives and I'm just very thrilled to see what lies ahead of
me.

LANDMARK VOLUME VIII ISSUE II PAGE | 18

FROM AMATEUR TO transformational tales

2SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT
Sengupta

My experiences have moulded me into who I am, and my journey has been key to
my transformation. Maturity came later in life, during my college years, as did the
initiative to try new things.
College has played a key role in teaching me that an attitude to never give up is
very important. The first few days of college were particularly difficult because
of my candid attitude.
While adapting I converted all this negativity into growth, learned the value of
control, silence and diplomacy. I learnt the difference between reacting and
responding. More importantly, I learned that not every situation demands a
response and one’s response should be catered to the people they are dealing
with. Most importantly, I never failed to grasp the opportunities that I was
presented with.
Bit by bit, with every opportunity realized, my name became clearer and I
became tactfully bolder. My efforts were recognized when my teachers and
peers appointed me as the cultural convener of my college.
Convenorship compelled me to develop a new set of skills. I understood the
necessity of streamlined transfer of information, resourcefulness and working
under pressure. As a cultural convener, I was accountable for every event.
Therefore, to do justice to my role, I improvised, innovated and more importantly,
I considered every opportunity as my last which compelled me to perform to my
absolute best in every scenario.
Innovation considerably came into the picture when I had to streamline the entire
process of performer management. My vision was realized after I managed to
convince my teachers to have a club system formalized and assigned on the
basis of seniority and skill. This led to the construction of five different clubs
under the banner of cultural department, which in turn formulated a ready team
of performers who were available to perform at short notice. All these
experiences gave me an aptitude for looking at the big picture. Furthermore,
understanding everybody’s perspectives drove me to be more considerate and
empathetic, helping me grow as a person.

LANDMARK VOLUME VIII ISSUE II PAGE | 19

3OUR SCALES LIE transformational tales
Aman Kanungo

Weight loss journey from 85kgs to 73kgs!
At 85 kilos, I realised that I needed to lose weight if I wanted to avoid the health
risks of being overweight. With sheer determination and will power, I was able to
lose 13 kilos in 4 months! There was a time when I did not care about my health
and weight and ate junk food without wondering about its consequences.Soon,
the kilos started piling up, my clothes started getting tighter and my health took
a dive. People started passing unsolicited comments about my weight and I
realized that enough was enough. In fact, I could not bear to see myself shirtless
in the mirror as I did not like what I saw. All these factors combined together
made me feel really low.I knew I needed to get back in shape, so I started my
weight loss journey and there was no turning back!
One of the biggest changes that I incorporated was to start eating healthier,
avoiding junk food and soda. I also started working out 5 to 6 days a week. There
was no one to guide me except for a few friends of mine, so I depended on
online tutorials for exercising. My workout included weight training, HIIT and my
favourite, cross-fit. During the initial days of my workout, even ten push-ups
would be pushing my limits. This was the time I realised I have to be patient, work
hard, and most of all stay consistent with my efforts. I still remember I had Oats
with fruits and dry fruits for 100 days. For the first three months, I did not have a
cheat meal. From not being able to do ten push-ups at one go, I reached a point
where I was doing 100 push-ups in 12-15 minutes. There were days I used to feel
like I should take a rest today but as I had experienced the joy and happiness I
get after a workout it became difficult for me to take even a day off. The
satisfaction was incomparable. One of the biggest motivations for me to get
back in shape was that I felt very confident when I was in decent shape and for
me, that was very important. One should not expect results overnight and it is a
concept that many still struggle to understand. It takes hard work, consistent
efforts, a balanced nutrition program, and most of all ‘time’. At the end of the
day, results come from having a consistent and sustainable fitness routine.
Getting fit is not a sprint it’s a marathon.

LANDMARK VOLUME VIII ISSUE II PAGE | 20



BECOMING MICHELLE book review

1OBAMA

Review by: Kanak Daga

Eight years in the shoes of the First Lady of the United
States, Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is an
inspiration to this generation and its progeny. Her
blockbuster memoir, also filmed into an Emmy-nominated
Netflix original documentary, is a candid and thought-
provoking narration of the course of her life from the
south side of Chicago to the White House and beyond.
Hers has been a journey of self-creation and sacrifice. A
journey that has the power to transform the personality,
attitude, and worldview of any human.
Many would hop on to the bandwagon of bestselling
autobiographies or memoirs but not all turn out to be a
page-turner like this one. The former first lady has
penned down her perspectives on race, marriage, family,
elections, and friendships.
The writing strikes a perfect balance between the
reflection on Michelle’s individualistic views and her
otherwise intense political opinions. The telling of this
story in three parts- Becoming Me, Becoming Us,
Becoming More…, makes it both comprehensive and
enriching for a reader to delve into.

Becoming Me

This section encompasses the beginning years of her
education and youthful career at Princeton and Harvard
and finally her stint as an attorney working at one of the
best law firms. Michelle grew up in a family where faith in
one’s utility was of prime importance. Her father, a victim
of multiple sclerosis with high resilience and her mother,
a straight -down the line realist had raised Michelle and
her brother to adapt rather than complain. This part of
the book reinforces the impact that education and
principled upbringing can have on the character and
psyche one displays as an adult. Relative

LANDMARK VOLUME VIII ISSUE II PAGE | 22

BECOMING MICHELLE book review

1OBAMA

Review by: Kanak Daga

to the next two, this section is more honest and appealing to a reader and does not seem to
have something more hidden to the story than is on the paper.

Becoming Us

The book beautifully captures the essence of friendship and respect that binds the relationship
that Michelle and Barack share. Even so, like many other women, Michelle’s role changed to that
of a supporter with the arrival of Barack in her life
Her ambitions sidelined, if not foregone, under the pressure of Democrats campaigning for the
presidential race. However, it is inspiring how gracefully a lady, who hates politics and despises
the vanity of patriarchy, accepts all that is required of her to contribute to her husband’s dream,
and more importantly the American dream.
Unlike other books written by political celebrities, Becoming is revolutionary because of the poise
that the author has maintained while describing the unguarded personal affairs such as
miscarriages, loss of her father, and the longing for her spouse to be there for the family.

Becoming More

Even though the life events of the Obama family during incumbency are well documented, this
part of Michelle’s memoir is insightful for all that was unerring about Barack Obama’s
administration. This account could have been more compelling had it revealed the dim side of
their direction as well.
If one were to enlist the recollections from this section from the 421-pages account, her
advocacy for programs such as Let’s Move would be on the mind. What started as a kitchen
garden at the White House to promote a healthy lifestyle bloomed into something very
meaningful for the nation. The most amusing fact about her efforts is that the role of FLOTUS is
undefined and unpaid. That role is all about the man she married.
However, simply put, she willed to bring about positive change as Michelle rather than as the
wife of the 44th President of the states. The program is associated with Michelle even after the
Presidential tenure of Barack Obama has ended.

The audiobook in Michelle’s voice and the ‘Becoming Me’ journal, which can be brought from the
official website of the memoir compliment the ending of this book to perfection. The journal has
prompts and questions that Michelle personally sought answers to and provokes the buyers to
reflect on the aspects that matter to him/her the most. This makes for one of the most incredible
reading experiences that one can savor.

LANDMARK VOLUME VIII ISSUE II PAGE | 23

2THE 5 AM CLUB book review
Review by: Ananya Saxena

“Own your mornings, elevate your lives!” – Robin Sharma
Robin Sharma is known for his leadership and elite

performance sessions and books that he hand-crafts with
great passion for his audience. His most hyped books like
‘The Monk who sold his Ferrari” and “Who will cry when
you die?” made him win millions of hearts across the
globe, over the years.
His books are pure bibles or guides for self-
transformation. He writes such life-transforming self-help
books that captures the minds and souls of anyone,
irrespective of the age.

The 5 AM Club is one such life-transforming self-help
book that is making its way to the audience since its
initial phase of writing.

As I read through this wonderful book, I found that the
initial half of the book isn’t engaging as Robin Sharma
has tried to incorporate many fictional characters in the
first half of the book that makes it difficult to stay
gauged.
Although the second half of the book has some amazing
takeaways. A few takeaways are:

The smallest of implementations is always worth more
than the grandest of intentions.
World-class begins where your comfort zone ends.
Becoming legendary is never easy. You have to
endure hardship.
The place where your greatest discomfort lies is also
the spot where your largest opportunity lives.
Walking into the very things that scare you is how you
reclaim your forgotten power.
You can fit in, or you can change the world. You
don’t get to do both.

LANDMARK VOLUME VIII ISSUE II PAGE | 24

2THE 5 AM CLUB book review
Review by: Ananya Saxena

The book is based on a revolutionary morning routine that has helped business
tycoons and leaders across the globe in maximizing their productivity.
I am sharing the three major takeaways from the book here:

The first being the “20/20/20 Formula’. With this formula, Robin Sharma has
tried to explain the readers a routine they should follow in order to transform
their lives. He has broken down the time from 5 AM to 6 AM into three parts.
First 20 minutes of the day dedicated to movement or exercising, next 20
minutes should be dedicated to reflection or meditation, and the last 20
minutes should be dedicated to growth or reading books.
The next takeaway for me was the “90/90/1 Formula”. Here he suggests his
audience to spend the first 90 minutes of the work time in one activity for 90
days. This is how tycoons and leaders have mastered their own field, one
activity at a time.
The third takeaway was the “60/10 Rule”. This rule suggests to spend 60
minutes on one activity with complete focus and then refuel in a break of 10
minutes. After all, progression is better than perfection.
Reading the second half of the book will make you understand how business
titans start their mornings to produce the outcomes that the world can gaze at.
He has also shared the neuroscience behind the behaviours of people who rise
early and own their days.
This book on a whole will be very influential and will create a magnificent impact
on your life. It’s hand-crafted by Robin Sharma over a period of four long years
and is already a best seller. This book has helped people accomplish their goals
in a way that no self-help book ever did. He is known for creating an impact on
his audience that he did well through this book.
A must-read book for anyone who wants to transform in their best versions, own
their mornings and elevate their lives!
Happy reading!

LANDMARK VOLUME VIII ISSUE II PAGE | 25

IKIGAI: THE JAPANESE book review
SECRET TO A LONG AND

3HAPPY LIFE

Review by: Simran Mirchandani

“Only those who remain busy want to become hundred.”
– Japanese proverb
The term Ikigai derives from Iki (life) and Kai (the
realization of hopes and expectations), and has many
meanings and explanations, my favourite being ‘a
reason for being’ or ‘raison d’etre’. According to the
Japanese, everyone has an Ikigai - a reason for living,
for jumping out of bed each morning. Intrigued by the
longevity of life in certain areas of Japan, the authors,
Liebermann and Garcia conducted rather in-depth
research on the secret of the elderly in Japan.

The book focuses on the people of Okinawa island in
Japan, where there are more centenarians than
anywhere else in the world. Not only are these people
long-lived, but also active and happy — and that right
there is their secret. In addition to explaining the deep
art of staying young while growing old, the book also
has references to Western concepts such as
logotherapy.

The central theme of the book is focusing not on what is
urgent, but what is important. According to the authors,
the term Ikigai can be translated as the bliss of always
being busy. Being busy has often been associated with
tedious work, especially in today’s cutthroat non-stop
world. However, Ikigai is explained to be a combination
of one’s passion, mission and profession. The elderly of
Okinawa never retires, they have found a purpose that
keeps them going.

The authors briefly speak of the Japanese concepts of
“hara hachi bu” and “moai”. Hara hachi bu means ‘eat
until you’re 80% full’. This 80% secret is spoken of in

LANDMARK VOLUME VIII ISSUE II PAGE | 26

IKIGAI: THE JAPANESE book review
SECRET TO A LONG AND

3HAPPY LIFE

Review by: Simran Mirchandani

terms of food but is then linked to one’s purpose. Whatever we achieve is always
80% of our actual purpose. There is always a scope for betterment, there is
always a chance of doing something more. This 20% can be our next 100% to
achieve.

In Okinawa moai means the informal groups formed by the people with similar
interests that look out for one another. These moai can also help people find
their purpose or through them, serving others in the community becomes your
Ikigai. Thereby the people of the island grow as a community rather than as an
individual. Another concept explored by the authors is that of “Wabi Sabi”, or the
technique of finding beauty in imperfect things.

An important point to note is that the book does not declare how or what is the
‘proper’ way to live life, but instead emphasizing on the fact that every individual
has their own Ikigai and that they must discover that for themselves. Like many
other ordeals, the process and journey are equally as important as the
destination.

A couple of lines from this book that caught my eye is something I’d like to
reiterate, not only because of the meaning behind them, but the crispness and
simplicity with which they sum up the underlying philosophy behind a long and
healthy life, “Life is not a problem to be solved. Just remember to have something
that keeps you busy doing what you love while being surrounded by the people
who love you.”

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SERETKAUR CHAWLA

1DR. AMRITA BANSAL faculty interview
Transformation is the theme for this edition of Landmark. So, we want to start off by asking How do you
define transformation? What does transformation mean to you?
Transformation is constant, like the way we say that change is constant. But I think when we talk about change, it is
mostly when it can be under control and when it cannot be under control. But transformation is different from that. I
think transformation is when you have more control over it, as you can work for it. It is different from what change is
all about. Transformation is basically that you might have an aim in front of you (can be personal or not) or maybe
you decide to learn an art form. Maybe you want to do something different in your career. So, any aspect of life on
which you can have more control by the sense you would see what you would like to be is called transformation. I
think that our whole life is like that, as we keep on thinking about what we want to be and we keep on working on
that. So, that is what transformation means to me.
Role models play an important role in the transformation of a person. Do you have any role models that you
look up to?
Honestly, I don't like the concept of role models because we keep on telling each other all the time that everyone is
different and everyone has their potential and we keep on reading about those things too. All the leaders who
normally are role models for many people also preach the same thing. So, I don't think the concept of role model
stands valid. Maybe in my childhood, I might have grown up with a role model but now as I have grown up, I do not
believe in the concept of a role model. Although you can get inspired from people if you keep on looking at one
person or a couple of person and aspire to be like them, I don't think that works. Your life, achievements cannot be
similar to anyone else. It needs to be different because instinctively we are different people. But yes, I can comment
on taking inspiration from different people. I think inspiration means that you need to have a thought of learning all
the time. Being curious and enthusiastic towards learning actually inspires you. So, if you are a curious person, then
even a very small thing can intrigue you and there will be many such things in your life that will be an inspiration for
you. In my case, since I am a professor, a lot of professors have been an inspiration for me. But the biggest
inspiration which I had drawn was from my professor who used to teach me in my Ph.D. classes and was at the age
of 73. He was a curious person and he used to ask many questions regarding technology because he was not tech-
savvy. He inspired me because even at that age he used to love to learn new things. He had the enthusiasm for
teaching students although he was teaching them for the last 40 years. I would rather not have a role model but I
would take inspiration from different people from different walks of life. You should always be curious like children
because it helps you to learn more and more which may transform you. I would like to add one more thing which is
that we stop questioning our role models. We follow our role models blindly which is wrong. Even in my classes, I
believe that teachers are not always right. Teachers are people who have just studied a bit more than you and they
facilitate the knowledge because they have more resources with them. So, in the same manner, you must also
question your teachers because while you question, then only the interaction happens which results in an amazing
lecture.

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We can observe a major transformation in the education system as it has changed from classroom teaching faculty interview
to the online mode. How did you adjust to this drastic change?

Yes, it was a big transformation both for students and teachers. Earlier it was just understanding the tools while we
were shifting from the offline classrooms to the online ones. But for me it has been a journey because I love the
classrooms as I believe that being a professor you are actually a performer, you have a live audience that is ready
every day just to listen to you. Come on now, tell me where will you get even the greatest actors or the comedians
would also not get such a huge number of live audiences to sit every day and listen to them. This is the most
enjoyable part of my profession and it is one of the factors that derived me towards this profession. This is what I
miss the most because now even though the technology is great, the students can grasp everything that I teach but
still, the essence of the classroom learning is missing especially the brainstorming sessions where the students are
just doing nothing but brainstorming in the classes. I miss when the students used to sit in the canteen and discuss
not only about studies but about life values and aspects also. These things are the ones which the technology cannot
give us, as the technology still lags behind these aspects. Although the technology has helped in conversing with
friends very frequently such that nowadays you can conduct zoom calls as and when possible. But for my profession, I
don't think so anything can be compared to classroom learning. So, I would like to say that adjusting to the
environment was a bit more difficult task rather than adjusting to the tools. I wish that those days could come back
because there are some students with whom you can interact more in the classroom environment by teaching them
face to face rather than conversing with them on this online mode.

Please tell us about your student life? When did you decide to join the teaching profession? What made you
choose this at such a young age?

First of all, I would like to break the myth that people who come for Ph.D. or teaching are the studious kind of people
in the world. There might be some nerdiness to us but we are not studious. Throughout my life, I have been an active
person who used to take part in all the extracurricular activities whereas I was an above-average student as per my
studies. I used to be dependent on my school teachers and professors a lot for my studies. I have never taken any
tuitions in my life. So for me if I have to learn anything I could only learn from my classroom professors and teachers.
During my undergrad and my MBA, I was more kind of inclined towards the clubs and the activities wherein I
managed fests. We had a grading system in our MBA so I used to think about which subject I could take on.
Marketing used to be my subject where I could secure the most marks. but when I decided to do my Ph.D. that was
the time when a major transformation happened to me. I realized that now I need to be serious because MBA was a
group journey where you talk about placements, case studies etc. but a Ph.D. is a lonely journey. No one understands
in a Ph.D. what you are going through. I did courses on gender studies and on communication which opened my mind
and transformed me into a better individual. After my MBA when I got my placement, I left my job within 8 to 9
months because I was thinking about my life. I am the kind of person who thinks that I don't want to count the money
which I will be earning. My priority was on what kind of life I want to spend. During my corporate job, my package
was really good but I realized that this is not going to be my life. I had to work for five days just to party on
weekends. Then I understood because when I was in my second year of MBA a couple of professors used to give me
their sessions to teach the first year. I realize that I used to enjoy teaching it was a fun thing to do. After one year of
my job I decided that I am going to teach and that's why I did my Ph.D. course. So that was more of a transformation
in me. That's what I tried to tell my students also that don't get stuck with what you read in the class. Just don't read
the things which are related to business, it won't give you more ideas. If you are reading a serious life history or an
autobiography you will also learn that it also teaches you the same thing that you need to venture out the different
aspects in your life. Whether you want to be in the corporate or not, whether you want to do business or not, there
should be something unrelated to your work life. That will always make a difference in your life and you will stand
out. Because you are looking at the picture from a different angle.

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The pandemic and lockdown have been extremely tough for all of us? How did you deal with this phase? faculty interview

The pandemic and the lockdown made me realize how privileged I am. As privileged individuals, our biggest
concerns were not being able to meet friends, not being able to decide which cuisine to try at home, or not being
able to go out. But it is important to realize that different people from different walks of life were facing much larger
issues on survival. So, I just hope that we, as people, become humble and kind to each other after such an
experience. But on a personal level, I was happy that I was at home with my parents after almost 14-15 years. It was a
great experience staying with them again because I have always been out of home right from my 10th standard due
to studies and later work. I also spent a lot of time watching different movies and series as I am a thorough movie
buff. I spent a lot of time shopping and I ended up giving the bug of online shopping to my parents as well. (Laughs) I
write poetry so I got a lot of time for that as well. I have a group of like-minded people and we share our ideas and
poems so that was a very refreshing hobby for me during the lockdown. I also got a lot of time for myself and this
was a phase of introspection. It so happens that we get very busy with our professional lives and get so busy that we
don’t get time to stop and think about ourselves. I think the pandemic gave us a lot of time to look back, think and
understand what we’ve gained/lost in this process and how we have progressed as human beings. So, I would say
that gratitude has been the overarching emotion for me during this lockdown and I’m sure most of us, including me,
have transformed during this pandemic.

How do you unwind and relax after a stressful day at work?

Whenever I have a long teaching day with multiple classes I generally relax by listening to retro music. I also spend
time talking to my parents and friends after a stressful day. But the best way for me to unwind is cooking. Generally,
people do not prefer cooking when they are tired but I make it a point to cook as I get engrossed in it and forget the
entire day’s stress. If I’ve had a day involving a lot of mental strain and academic exercise then I prefer watching a
comedy or something light and just laugh it out to unwind. I also love staring outside the window with my cup of tea
and enjoying those moments of silence. I also try to do that before classes as it helps me to relax and focus.

Teachers have the ability to transform and mould students. What is your opinion about this?

In my honest opinion, teachers do not transform students. Yes, teachers have that ability when the child is in his/her
formative years but at the MBA level, we as teachers can only provide the right kind of environment for you to learn
and grow. You have all the resources available with you to learn and hence our job is to only inculcate curiosity in
you. For example, I always encourage students to ask questions in the class and put forward their thoughts. Be it
peer review during presentations and groups asking each other questions or me asking students to justify their stand,
questioning is an important part of my classes. I feel asking valid questions and interacting in class is the best way to
learn for students and I consciously try to conduct my classes in that manner. As a teacher, my focus is more on
instilling values in students than teaching core concepts. Concepts can easily be learned by you at all times but it is
more important for students to have the right kind of values. I consciously try to introduce values like being critical,
being inquisitive, and having a sustainable approach. When you will be in a position to take key decisions in
organizations, I just hope that such values will be subconsciously ingrained in you and will reflect in your decision-
making. Hence, I feel more than teachers we’re facilitators who will provide you the right kind of platform and
environment to grow as professionals.

What is the one advice you would like to give students entering the corporate world amidst the pandemic?

When it comes to decision-making, we are very result-oriented in our approach. If a person takes a risk and if it pays
off then we praise him for his bravery and sixth sense. If a person takes a risk and if it does not work out then we call
him foolish for taking the risk and blame him for not being competent enough. Results tend to dictate our decisions
and hence I would suggest students enjoy the process more than worrying about the result. Learning and evolving
through the process is more important than success or failure. Another important suggestion would be to start
unlearning things because we always learn but forget to ‘unlearn’ a lot of things. I feel unlearning is important and it

LANDMARK VOLUME VIII ISSUE II PAGE | 31

will help you to transform into better individuals because erasing is as important as painting on a canvas. At the faculty interview
same time, I would say, keep learning all the time. Do not have a ‘Know-it-all’ attitude just because you’ve earned an
MBA degree so always stay curious to learn new things. New things not only in terms of the business world, even in
terms of personal hobbies. Keep following your passions and nurture your talents as well. As human beings, do
remember to stay kind and help one another. We are so engrossed in our own lives and stressed that we forget to
stay kind but I feel kindness will take you a long way in life.

The topic for this year’s Landmark is ‘Traverse Transform Transcend’, it’s about the journey that you go
through in life and discover yourself. Any story about your life resonates with our theme.

So, this incident was more like a realization that happened during my Ph. D days. I was a very result-oriented person
and always wanted to be the best in whatever I do. Be it academics or extracurricular I was always focusing on the
result but I realized much later that it is more important to cherish the journey and enjoy the process. For example,
when I meet my friends from MBA, we never discuss grades, placements, or packages and we only end up relishing
our memories, retelling those stories and how we have grown together in our journeys. So, understanding that it is not
just results that matter was my moment of transformation.

Closing thoughts: I would suggest students just keep doing what they are doing with conviction and not think about

factors like destiny that are beyond our control. Focus on the things that are in your control and do your best. Do not
try to stick to formula because life just happens. If you love what you’re doing then results will not matter but it is your
efforts that will matter.

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SIMRAN KATYAL

STUDENT cell activities

1COUNCIL

The final quarter of the academic year saw an exciting buildup of events as organised by the Student Council.
November began with Paragana 2020, the annual business festival of SBM, NMIMS. The theme for Paragana 2020
was “Quest for the Unknown”. Despite the many challenges that came with the shift to a virtual setting, the festival
was carried out across various platforms, with events being conducted on Zoom, and the Annual Corporate Seminar
on Airmeet. The four-day-long festival consisted of various intense and challenging events as organised by the
various cells at SBM, NMIMS. These competitions include The Perfect Candidate, Last Marketeer Standing,
Moolyankan, Ace the Case, Chocolate Factory and Indian Biz League, to name a few.

The Corporate Seminar is the cornerstone of Paragana, and gives the students an opportunity to interact with and
gain insights from prominent names from the corporate world, as well as understand business and corporate
dynamics from their perspective. The speaker line-up for this year included professionals like Mr. Ashish Chandra
(CEO & MD, Airtel Sri Lanka), Mr. Bob Koopman (Chief Economist & Director of Economic Research and Statistics
Division, World Trade Centre), and Dr. Ananta Duraiappah (Director, UNESCO, MGIEP), along with Mr. Ankit Agarwal
(Founder & CEO, DareToCompete), Mr. Pranav Rasoon (Head of Human Resources, Renault India), Mr. Avishek
Banerjee (Partner, EY), Mr. Saurabh Chaturvedi (CEO Innolabz Ventures, TedX Speaker), Mr. Dhiraj Nayar (Director of
Economics & Policy, Vedanta), and Mr. Mukesh Khandelwal (VP & Head of Engineering, Ace Turtle Servives).

The Perfect Candidate was the flagship event at Paragana, organised by the Student Council, with prizes worth 3
Lakhs up for grabs. It tested multiple dimensions of business management in a candidate, across verticals such as
Finance, Marketing, Sales, Operations, PR, HR, Legal, CSR,
and so on. Mr. Siddhesh Deshpande from NMIMS (?), emerged as The Perfect Candidate, displaying immaculate skill
and versatility across the various dimensions that were tested.

Samarthya ‘20 brought in the spirit of competition and liveliness, albeit on a virtual ground, in December 2020.
Participant colleges included SPJIMR, FMS, SIBM, IMT, IMI, FORE, SIMSR, SJMSOM, IITs, as well as IIMs. Sports had
taken on a new meaning for the duration of the three-day-long event, where multiple teams competed in a glorious
battle.

January 2021 witnessed Illuminar 2021, the Annual Business Conclave of NMIMS Mumbai, organised by the Student
Council, in collaboration with Finomenon- the Finance Cell at SBM, and Not Just Marketing (NJM)- the Marketing Cell
of the college. The event saw eminent speakers from both the Financial and Marketing domains, to provide students
with incomparable insights through their Keynote Speeches, Panel Discussions and Student Q&A Sessions. The theme
for the Finance Seminar was ‘Broadening of Financial Markets’, and that for the Marketing Seminar was
‘Persistence to Pivot Pioneering Entrepreneurship’.

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SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

2FORUM
The Old Age home e-visit was intended to bring about a memorable day in the lives of the elderly who were not
fortunate enough to spend the years with their children. The idea of the visit was also to offer the students an cell activities
invaluable learning experience in addition to bringing about a cheerful day in the lives of the elderly. This year, the
SRF team virtually visited NGO Swarag and Radhika Old Age Home over a zoom call on 21st and 23rd of September.
Along with the volunteers of SRF, an additional group of 23 volunteers also received an opportunity to be a part of
the visit, the duration of which was around 2 hours each day.

The residents of the Old Age home were congenial and extremely happy to see faces even on a virtual screen. The
people were divided into breakout rooms and games were conducted to evoke their fond childhood memories. To
further break the ice, the volunteers even performed a few songs, followed by a memorable conversation between
the attendees. The residents also shared their experiences in life and the visit turned out to be an eye-opening
experience for the students.

Around 2nd October, SRF collaborated with NGO Guzarish to support them in their social initiative, “BooksForAll”.
The NGO aims to make books affordable for underprivileged children. Till date, they have been able to
distribute 1.5 lakh + books to underprivileged students from government schools. This year, since the world is
functioning digitally, Books for All decided to celebrate Daan Utsav (India's festival of giving, celebrated every year in
October) by conducting an online digital fundraising contest. SRF provided a helping hand to the NGO by spreading
the news amongst the students of NMIMS and encouraging participation in good numbers.
The contest provided the students with an opportunity to get training from the top experts from the industry for
raising funds for a cause, building social media campaigns and even how to run digital advertisements.

SRF in collaboration with Rotaract Club, Bombay Mid Town launched Project Roshni on Tuesday, November 3
providing a chance to our citizens to express their gratitude to the real heroes manning our borders. The heroes
fighting for all of us, away from their families standing by the oath to protect the nation. SRF organized the project
by reaching out and requesting citizens to convey their appreciation and wishes in the form of some heartfelt
messages/poems/artworks to our brave soldiers who unflinchingly perform their duties of guarding our national
borders day & night. People of all ages and gender participated with great enthusiasm including students, alumnus
and faculty of SBM, the little toddlers and teenagers who mesmerized everyone with their artwork and heartfelt
messages. By Saturday, November 7, SRF’s volunteers sent the packages to the borders along with boxes full of diyas
to brighten up their surroundings and bundles of messages to brighten up their smiles.

On November 26, SRF received an emotional and heartfelt video from the border where the soldiers expressed their
emotions about their Diwali celebration and the love they received. It was such an honour for the entire team of SRF
and Rotaract Club to witness their efforts get translated into a beautiful emotion. The event was a success as the

LANDMARK VOLUME VIII ISSUE II PAGE | 35

soldiers celebrated their Diwali with smiles and hearts full of happiness. The volunteers who participated in the event cell activities
were delighted to share their messages and thank their heroes.

SRF organized an e-visit to an orphanage, Satkarman Ashram from Thane, Mumbai on Tuesday, 10th November, and
to Sunaayy Foundation on Wednesday, 11th November who work towards providing education to children coming from
families of daily wage labourers and underprivileged backgrounds. SRF conducted this event with the sole purpose
of celebrating Diwali with these little bundles of joy. The e-visit included an interactive session between the kids and
the volunteers from SBM, NMIMS Mumbai. This was followed by games, conversations and more fun activities. This
was an amazing opportunity for the children to talk about their passions, their dreams, their favourite games, food
items, and so much more. To make the day memorable, members of Treblemakers took over the virtual stage and
sang their hearts out for the children and volunteers, as everyone swayed to the beats of the melodious
songs. The event was a success as the children went back with smiles and hearts full of happiness. The volunteers
who witnessed the event were delighted to meet these children. “This event took me back to my carefree childhood
days. They were super excited to be on this call and it was heartening to see their eyes light up with joy. Thank you
SRF for this wonderful experience, it truly made my day!” shared a first-year student at NMIMS Mumbai.

This festive season, SRF was proud to present the students of NMIMS with a unique platform to do so through the
Secret Santa 2020 organized on 13th and 14th December. The students truly spread the cheer and joy of
Christmas by fulfilling the wishes of 250 kids under the protective wing of an NGO named Sunaayy Foundation.
Although the children’s ages varied from 4-year olds in playschool to students in 7th-9th grades, yet the wide smile
on their faces after receiving their gifts remained constant. The participation from the batch was truly heart-
warming. So amazing was the response that wishes were adopted by the batch in a mere 30 minutes. Later on, the
SRF volunteers received pictures of these smiling children when they received their gifts, the NGO was delighted to
share that the anticipation, excitement and happiness of receiving a toy car, barbie doll, a pencil box, a water bottle
and a plethora of other items amongst the kids truly made their Christmas merrier!

Organized between 19th to 24th December, NGO Mela provided the students with an ample amount of shopping
options from a wide range of products offered by 9 NGOs working towards a diverse set of social causes and
problems. In the online setting, SRF utilized the resources available to the fullest and curated an online shopping
experience for the students. Every NGO had an Instagram account for conducting the sales, promoting their
products and connecting with the target audience. The event witnessed active participation from NGOs like Srujna,
Muskaan, Kshitij among the others. There was something to offer for everyone: dainty jewellery, handmade artefacts,
block-printed kurtas and stylish cotton bags, decorative key chains, wallets, notebooks and lamps that enticed the
students. The students came forward in large numbers to pocket the products as soon as possible. The exciting part
was that the products made their way to people across the country with the help of SRF volunteers and the students
of NMIMS. The event garnered a lot of positive reviews from students across NMIMS. One of the students described
the Mela as “A chance to help others in such an impactful way”.

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3FINOMENON
The Samriddhi team released Samriddhi Intelligence Report (SIR) on the FMCG sector to start the trimester. It delved
deeper into the FMCG Sector focusing on growth leverage, COVID impact, segment analysis, recent M&A cell activities
transactions and analysis of the impact of retail consolidation on the sector. The report covered market performance
summary of key players like Britannia Ltd, HUL, ITC Ltd etc. This was followed by the October, 2020 edition of the
bi-annual magazine “The Financial” which was centred around the theme “Mergers and Acquisitions: Delusions of
Grandeur”. It explored the shortcomings of M&As, activity during and post lockdown, different mechanisms, the
importance of strategic M&As during times of crisis and guidelines to follow for a successful merger.

Finomenon’s Pan-India Equity research competition: Moolyankan was a key highlight. The competition gave
participants a chance to try their hands at equity analysis. The competition was divided into three phases. Phase 1
included an online quiz; Phase 2 & 3 required preparation and presentation of valuation models to the panel of
judges consisting of industry leaders. A webinar with Mr Pranav Parikh, Managing Partner and Head of VC&PE
Business Edelweiss Financial Services Limited, who has 18 years of experience, was conducted to give students
insights into workings of the world of VC&PE. The session gave students a peek into the daily life of a VC and a
chance to clarify their doubts regarding the functioning of the Indian PE Industry.

Finomenon also organised a two-part series on Investment Banking: Fundraising from Capital markets by Dr Durgesh
S. Tinaikar, Senior Adjunct Faculty at NMIMS Mumbai, who has over 38 years of experience in various capital market
roles in marquee financial institutions. He gave insights into the working of capital markets and how investment
banks add value to the process of fundraising.

Samriddhi’s first Market Impact Report (MIR) was released this Trimester, which focused on the effect of COVID on
various asset classes such as commodities, foreign exchange, equities and global financial markets as a whole. It
compared the policy actions taken by various countries vis-a-vis India, in response to Covid-19. To help second-year
students prepare for Final Placements as part of its Winterthan Initiative, Finomenon shared with them preparatory
material like industry reports, a summary of analyst con calls, articles related to technical concepts in the domains of
derivatives, fixed income, economics, M&A etc. and interview transcripts of previous year’s students.

Two editions of “Article of the Month” were released this Trimester. One was centred around asset bubbles and
delved deeper into the 2008 global financial crisis. The other explored “The Economics of Cannabis Trade” delving
into the growing popularity of Marijuana and its legalization prospects in the US and India and jobs provided by the
industry.

Finomenon conducted its annual equity valuation competition “Finshodhan”, exclusively for its JC members to
highlight the significance of skills in equity valuation and imbibe its importance among them. It provided a great

LANDMARK VOLUME VIII ISSUE II PAGE | 37

opportunity to learn and witness a competition analogous to CFA-RC. It covered research on multiple cell activities
companies and valuation techniques judged by Finomenon alumni.

Finomenon organized a webinar, “Financial Analytics: What is the minimum requirement now?” with Team Actuators.
The two seasoned mentors Ms Prachi Patwari and Ms Shivange Agarwal highlighted the importance of analytics in
finance and the basic set of analytical tools needed to build an enduring career in finance.

True to their motto of “Investor First”, Samriddhi conducted their Annual Investor meet on 13-December, 2020, for the
investment calendar 2020-21 to give investors an idea about the fund’s performance, its investment philosophy and
an overview of the key sectors it has invested in. The meet served as a platform for investors to have their questions
clarified and provide feedback to the fund.

Finomenon felt the need for the “Broadening of Financial Markets” that would maximize the reach of financial
instruments to all to meet the investor’s quest for a diverse set of asset classes to suit the risk-return profiles and
channelize their savings. Finomenon on 16-December, 2020, launched their Article Writing Competition that invited
articles on the above theme. The winning article will be featured in the January edition of “The Financial”.

Finomenon launched “Walk the Stock” competition to provide students with a taste of the trading world. The
competition involved three rounds- virtual trading, portfolio construction and its pitch in front of seasoned industry
leaders.

Lastly, Finomenon celebrated Samriddhi Day on 19-December, 2020 by conducting a session with the authors of “The
Victory Project”, Mr Saurabh Mukherjea, author of “Coffee Can Investing” and Mr Anupam Gupta, host of the famous
podcast ‘Paisa-Vaisa’. They spoke extensively about their book, their inspiration for it and how it would help readers
put their best foot forward and achieve professional excellence without burning out. The session was followed by an
inter-division stock simulation game where participants had to create portfolios using virtual currency while meeting
the target.

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NOT JUST cell activities

4MARKETING

Team Not Just Marketing, the marketing committee at NMIMS, successfully conducted various events in the fifth
trimester. These helped students explore various dimensions of marketing through a concoction of marketing
competitions, workshops, projects, sessions and new initiatives. Last Marketeer Standing (LMS), the biggest marketing
competition of NMIMS, was launched and conducted successfully with over 650 registrations. The grand prize of the
competition was INR 4,00,000 (Cash Prize-1.5 Lakhs). With all the rounds being virtual this time, LMS grilled the
participant teams through multiple rounds, testing their marketing knowledge and making them apply all that Kotler
taught them. The competition eliminated teams round after round, in search of that team that is able to withstand
the pressure and challenges. The members of the surviving team were broken into individual participants and
competed against each other to find out the ‘Last Marketeer Standing’ tall.

Three new initiatives were launched under the names of The Marketing Prime Time, Markopedia, and Log Sheet.
These involved focusing on one company and describing various characteristics of it to educate the audience about
the nitty-gritty of different companies. Our flagship decade-old research initiative named ‘Conquest’ was launched.
The major brands associated with Conquest this year were Kurl-on, Nippon India Mutual Fund, Times Group, Mahindra
Manulife Mutual Fund, Marriott International.

The first edition of Buzz, the markazine, for the current academic year was launched with the theme ‘SoLoMo’ which
stands for Social, Local and Mobile referring to the integration of one's social media platforms and physical location
with one's mobile device. To stay relevant, businesses need to get social, think local, and spend on mobile. Our
markazine explored this dimension of marketing. This edition of Buzz also involved an article writing competition
which was hosted on Dare2Compete. It was a national level competition that received good registrations from
colleges in different parts of the country. We selected three of the best articles and featured them on our website
and their authors were awarded with cash prizes. The magazine also included a Buzz Podcast Series, wherein we
interviewed a few eminent personalities and got to know their thoughts on different topics. Following are the
personalities who were interviewed:

· Yashraj Mukhate, Music Producer, Composer and Social Media Personality
· Dr. Hitesh Kalro, Assistant Professor,Marketing, NMIMS Mumbai
· Nidhi Raj, Founder and Editor, GemsBond

Preparation material for different subjects, in the form of dossiers, and GDPI experiences of last year’s processes
were shared with the batch of 2019-2021 to assist them during the placement season. These were highly
appreciated by the students since they found it helpful not only in placements but also in their preparation for 5th
trimester exams.

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5OPTUMIZ
Paragana 2020, the flagship business festival of NMIMS, saw the return of “The Chocolate Factory”, one of the most
enthralling events of Team Optumiz. This year, it was bigger and even more grand, with a record number of 919 cell activities
registrations. The first round was an online quiz, in which Top 24 teams were selected for the main event which was
spread out for three days. Teams had the herculean task of impressing Mr. Wonka with their skills in optimizing
processes and saving costs, maximizing profits. In the second round, teams put through a series of bidding,
negotiating, and case-based challenges. Impressed with the performance of the top 12 Teams, Mr. Willy Wonka
rewarded them with franchise licenses to expand his factory overseas. But to do so, they have to set up the factory
and the production facility which was the theme of the third round. Teams were given the challenge to choose
between various countries to set up their factory. This was followed by an interesting barter round, which the teams
could use to make up for lack of production. The round ended with the final phase of production and the teams with
the most numbers of chocolate produced in this round were promoted to the final round, which was a distribution
challenge. Teams had to make crucial decisions on the channel, service provider, size of the vehicle, etc. to fulfill the
monthly orders which were sent to them. Each round had its own set of surprises to derail the teams and send them
back to their whiteboards. In the end, the team with the most profit was declared the winner.

In spite of change in the mode of operation, Team Optumiz came up with even more passion and enthusiasm for the
flagship pan India B-school case study competition, Op-Era’20. In association with Nurserylive
(https://nurserylive.com/), we got a challenging operations and supply chain related business case which brought in
extensive participation from the top B schools across India, with 332 participants registering in the first round. 50
teams managed to clear the first lap of the race and got the chance to brainstorm and submit their business solution
to a live problem. Top 6 teams who paved their way to clear the second round, got the chance to present their
solutions in front of our esteemed panelists from Nurserylive, Mr. Pratik Gaonkar (M.D. Operations, Nurserylive) and
Mr. Ayush Jain (Director - Special projects, Nurserylive). The event followed the same suite of securing a win-win
mark for the company and participants by giving the winning team an opportunity to implement their solutions
in an internship with Nurserylive.

Team Optumiz launched the recent edition of its bi annual magazine Catena Aurea on 24th December 2020. The
theme for this edition was: “Post Pandemic World: Operations takes center stage”. As the COVID-19 outbreak
highlighted how pandemics can wreak havoc on supply chains around the globe, the onus lay on Operations
Management to streamline the supply chains, thereby making them more responsive, efficient, and resilient against
future shock s. This year's magazine contains an introductory note by our beloved faculty head Dr. Ashu Sharma, a
glimpse of the events carried out by our team in this year and winning articles from our national article writing
competition. It also contains interviews from two supply chain industry experts who were kind enough to share their
views on the theme with us. This careful and well-articulated curation makes Catena Aurea a worthy read.
With the legacy of 13 years, Optumiz, NMIMS has established itself by actively conducting a plethora of events

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ranging from logistics to the automatization of the supply chain. This year, in association with CII (Confederation of
Indian Industry) and CII Institute of Logistics, the cell conducted its 8th edition of Optitude - The Operations Concave
of NMIMS Mumbai, on 13th December 2020. The event brought together young and aspiring future managers to gain
valuable insights from industry veterans on this year’s theme - "Post Pandemic World: Operations takes center stage”.
Approximately 300 registrations were done for the event via the Dare2Compete platform, spanning across 50 cities.
With 48% of the total attendees, women demonstrated significant participation in the event. The participants list
consisted of 31 organizations including Ford Motor Company, General Mills, Vedanta Limited etc and students from
various premium business schools across India. The event witnessed enlightening sessions by Dr. Ravi Mathur, Vice
President – Supply Chain, Dr.Reddy’s Laboratories and Ms. Reena Fernandes, Vice President – Operations, Accenture.
Moreover, the esteemed panel comprising industry experts discussed the pivotal role of operations & supply chain in
the pandemic response. Transcending the boundaries of geography, Mr. Tom Allen, the founder of SCM Basics, USA
shared his insights with the audience. The management of the conclave was highly appreciated and received
impeccable compliments by the faculty, speakers and attendees.

cell activities

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6SUMMIT cell activities

SummIT in association with Henry Harvin Education organized 'Certified Business Intelligence Specialist' (CBIS)
Course, using Power BI. The Course was delivered by Senior Industry professional with 10+ years of experience having
extensive experience of Business Intelligence in diverse domains and industries. The course curriculum included
Business Intelligence concepts, how to do Data modelling using Power BI, How to build Reports/Dashboards in
Power.

Ace the Case, organized from 3rd to 7th Nov 2020, is a Business Case Study organized annually which is
meticulously designed with unique and cutting-edge real-world use cases. Prizes worth 50K. An Inter B School
Article writing competition was organized on the theme “Digital Migration of India”. The article could have been sent
on Cloud Computing, Edu tech culture, India’s IT infrastructure or any other topic which could complement the
theme. Prizes worth: 2.5K

Once every 2 weeks we bring to you Techshots, in which articles that are laser focussed on the latest business trends
and are specifically aimed to help students prepare for their summer/final placements are published. Latest topic
that was covered was “Understanding Ghost Kitchen”.

An Inter B School Info-graphic competition was organized on the theme “Digital Migration of India”. The info-graphic
could have been sent on Cloud Computing, Edu tech culture, India’s IT infrastructure or any other topic which could
complement with the theme. Prizes worth: 2.5K

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7HRUDAY
HRuday conducted the Batch Preparation for both the Junior and Senior MBA HR Batch to equip them for the
forthcoming Summer Placements and Final Placements, respectively. As a part of the preparation, GDs were cell activities
conducted and Interviews with the faculty as well as the Alumni were conducted. Further, for the Senior Batch of
MBA HR, sessions were conducted on various subjects important from the placement point of view to facilitate
revision and foster group learning. These sessions were spread over a period of three weeks and the recording as
well as the PPTs, along with any extra material were shared with the students. This entire process was carried out for
a span of 3 months to cover the entire MBA HR Batch, taking into account the schedule of their exams.

‘Pankh’ 20-Giving Wings to the Summer Internship Projects’ - was the Flagship Summer Internship Project
Competition of HRuday. It is a PAN India competition. The competition was open to all full-time second year
students, pursuing MBA or equivalent program, irrespective of their specialization. The platform gave them the
opportunity to present their Summer Internship Projects, executed in the Summers of 2020. They could present their
incredible projects in front of illustrious industry experts and seek valuable inputs and insights from them.

The competition involved 2 rounds. The first round involved submitting a mini report, describing the projects in not
more than 750 words. The mini report had to cover certain aspects like Project Title and Description, Research
Methodology, Analysis and Recommendations. This was an elimination round. The shortlisted students had to prepare
a presentation for their projects, to be presented in front of the esteemed judges.

Held over a period of 2 days, Battle It Out was a part of the intra-college business festival Paragana’20, and
involved two round rounds of verbal battle of words. Round 1 was Just a Minute Competition, in which each team was
given a topic and a member of the team was to be nominated to speak on that topic for 1 minute. This was an
elimination round. Round 2 was a Debateround, in which teams were pitted against one another. Participants were
supposed to express their views for or against the motion. It truly tested a student’s business acumen as business-
related topics were given during the Debate.

A peer learning initiative was also launched by HRuday, in association with some juniors of the MBA HR batch. This
was mainly launched to assist the students of MBA HR Batch in the on-going Summer Placements as well as the Final
Placements. As a result, a set of important topics and reading material was compiled and shared with the MBA HR
Batch. This was frequently updated for the inclusion of more reading materials and topics, relevant for the
placements.
HRuday started with its own HR Newsletter, called HR Compendium. Six editions have been launched up till now. This
was done to share some latest updates related to HR with both the Junior as well as the Senior Batch of MBA
Core, HR, DSA, Pharma. It helped the students to dive deeper into the HR world and understand its dynamics and
have all the latest news at the tip of their fingers.

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8MANTAVYA cell activities

A series of events spanning from 30th October to 1st November was organized branded under Mantavya Lit Fest.
Following were the events: The Lit Fest was flagged off with a quiz based on Indian Literature. The quiz was hosted
on Dare2Compete portal on 30th October. The event had close to 500 individual registrations from colleges all over
India. The quiz duration was ten minutes and 20 questions. Three winners were declared at the end of the event on
Dare2Compete portal.

The first Author Connect was organised on 31st October, 2020 in the virtual mode. Manjul Bajaj authored ‘In Search
of Heer’. She is a graduate of LSR College in Economics and later went on to do Rural Management from IRMA. She
is a JCB Prize 2020 nominated author. The event saw participation in large numbers and received great feedback.

The second Author Connect was conducted on 1st November, 2020 in the virtual mode with Jahanvi Baura. She is an
Indian author hailing from Assam, who has written Next Door, a critically acclaimed collection of short stories. She
has also won the Man Asian Literary Prize for the same. Her recent novel, Undertow was longlisted for JCB Prize
2020. The session was extremely lively and enjoyable. The event saw participation in huge numbers and received
excellent feedback.

An Article writing competition was hosted on Dare2Compete portal. Single registrations were invited from colleges
all over the country to submit a write up of maximum 800 words based on a prompt. The event received more than
200 registrations. The winners were declared on the portal.

The flagship event of Mantavya – ‘Business of Brands’, was held virtually for the first time ever. The competition, as is
the norm, was open to students as well as professionals from across the country and received 675 registrations. The
prelims round comprising of 10 mins quiz, was conducted on 5th November, 2020 on the portal. The final round was
conducted on zoom and was hosted by the experienced Quizmaster, Mr. Souvik Basu. Eight teams battled it out in a
tight virtual competition. The winners were awarded cash prize and certificates. The yearly online quiz – ‘Qriosity’, is
scheduled to be conducted on 30th December.

In continuation with the tradition of the cell, weekly newsbytes consisting of the week’s top 5 news content from
each segment: National, International, Business, Start-ups and Ecommerce, Technology, and Sports. In addition to
these segments, an extra section: Pager has been continued that gives an end-to-end perspective on a single
relevant topic.

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9NEPATHYA cell activities

The grand event of 2020, Farmaish-e-Diwali conducted on 11th Nov 2020, was a culmination of extravagant efforts
by all the clubs of SBM NMIMS – Zephyr (Dance club), Treblemakers (Music club), Rangpunch (Drama club),
Xplore(Photography club) and Verve ( Fashion Club). To make up for the lack of physical interaction and offline
workshops, what could be a better way than to collaborate with the dazzling talent houses of the institute. The event
was ethnic themed around Diwali, The festival of lavish celebrations. It consisted of various performances by the
clubs that brought meaning to the evening. It was filled with soulful performances around ‘HOPE’ by Treblemakers, an
ethnic showcase of fashion by Verve, timeless captures of ethnic day by Xplore, theatrical Show by Rangpunch
around gifting your loved ones and last but not the least, entrancing moves by Zephyr. The event also had specially
curated performances by the clubs for students who wrote beautiful messages for their near and dear ones in the
form of dance and music. This was enhanced by the designing of Diwali postcards for sending messages to one
another, by Xplore. The event was graced by faculty members who wished the students a happy festival time, with a
hope that we get to replicate this grandeur on-stage at our beautiful campus next year.

The event Shortcut’20, pour annual movie making competition under Paragana’20; saw the same zeal and vigour this
year too. The lockdown has been messing with our sense of Time-Space Continuum. And with Dark and Dr. Who on
our minds, it’s only justified we set a topic that takes us into a world of time-travel. The theme was ShortCut '20 -
#PastToPresent. The competition is meant to see the world through a creative lens within the themes presented. The
participants had to imagine the personalities of the past coming alive in the present times while using a minimum 2
of these personalities to curate an interesting short movie- Mahatma Gandhi, Charlie Chaplin, Adolf Hitler, Birbal
and Princess Diana. These personalities could be seen as either B-School students, board of directors or as Together
in Quarantine. ‘Cutting Chai hails’ from NMIMS Mumbai emerged as the winner and the runners-up was Team
Dramebaaz from IIM Amritsar.

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10ECOLIBRIA
The Corporate Connect 6.0, an online event organized by Ecolibria, took place on the 25th of September, 2020. The
event was open to both first-year as well as second-year students. The Guest Speaker for the event was Mr. Ashwini cell activities
Bajaj. Mr. Bajaj is the CEO of a Finance Based Consulting Company ‘Leveraged Growth’ and is a qualified CA rank
holder, CFA, CAIA, FRM, CIPM, CCRA, CIRA, CIIB, and AIM. He has been a Guest Lecturer at NSE, BSE, and top B-
schools, where he shared his expert views on various topics. Mr. Bajaj has also received the ‘Best Finance Trainer in
India’ award at India Education Awards, 2019.

The topic for the event was “How to Ace Interviews the Smart Way?” Mr. Bajaj gave the students some insightful
advice about how to conduct oneself in an interview. He mentioned the challenges posed by virtual interviews and
how we can turn these challenges into opportunities. He emphasized upon the importance of being well read about
the company, job profile and technical aspects of a particular specialization. He also stressed upon general finance
questions that can be asked in an interview and how to answer such questions. The session was highly interactive
with several participants asking relevant questions.

The attendees showed high enthusiasm and curiosity while interacting with the speaker. The session enhanced their
horizons and awareness regarding appropriate ways of answering questions and which areas to focus on when
sitting for interviews of companies from different sectors. He stood by the fact that the interview needs to be felt like
a conversation between the panel and the interviewee and that the interviewee should try to drive the interview
as much as possible.

Consigliere 7.0 was a flagship case study competition organized by Ecolibria on 10 Nov 2020, under the umbrella of
Paragana, which is organized by the student council of NMIMS, Mumbai. The teams that qualified the quiz round
were the given a case study and for the second round, the qualified teams had to send in their case solution
presentations. These solutions were analyzed on the basis of their applicability and scalability and 6 teams were
shortlisted for the final round. For the final round, the shortlisted teams were supposed to present their solutions in
front of the jury consisting of industry experts. Each team was given 8 minutes for the presentation and 5 minutes of
the questions and answer round on their presentation.

Eco bytes is an ongoing initiative that has been going on for quite some time and the main motive is to inform the
audience about the economic news prevailing in the country and what measures is the government or the central
bank taking to deal with financial or economic issues, if any.
Read the Feed is an ongoing initiative that has been started to provide the audience all the current economic and
business news in a snippet form. The motive is to transfer knowledge in an efficient manner so that audience doesn’t
need to go through huge articles. We create a summary of the relevant news articles and present in an easily
understandable manner on our social media platforms.

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11ADVERB cell activities

During October, November and December, Adigital was conducted which was a series of classical Ads, Topical Ads
and original creatives on social media handles of ADverb. This activity was led by the creative team of ADverb in
order to generate engagement and interaction with their social media followers. It also helped in keeping the
students abreast with the latest trends and advertising tactics in the industry. As a part of the ADdigital journey,
famous campaigns were analysed and insights were drawn from them which were shared in a creative way.

The Marketing AI workshop was organised on 18 Oct, 2020, in association with CodeVector; to make the students
participate in a case study based workshop which dealt with applications of AI in the field of retail marketing. It was
a one-day 8 hours interactive workshop with take home case studies and hands on skills training in marketing AI.

ADverb's flagship event under Paragana 2020, Indian Advertisement League 8.0 witnessed over 685 participants
across 50+ B-schools from all over the country. The event was spread out over 4 days involving preliminary quiz, fun
rounds, and a business case solution presentation in front of an esteemed panel of judges including the CEO of
Yourspace and our Faculty Mentor, Prof Neha Sadhotra.

After the event, the top 3 teams were announced post the culmination of scoring from all the rounds. Digichamps,
an instagram contest exclusively for ADverb junior committee members was organised, where the team was divided
into sub-teams and these sub-teams came up with weekly content on instagram in forms of videos, podcasts, posts,
or original creatives to connect with the instagram followers and to analyse the reach of the content. Teams were
judged based on popularity and creativity of the content

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ENTREPRENEURSHIP cell activities

12CELL

E-Cell continues to take steps in the direction that shall act as a catalyst for our students to venture into the
unknown territory of entrepreneurship and creativity as a business model, which shall help them excel in their career.
The various activities include association with E-Cells of other esteemed B-Schools, bringing opportunities to e-cell
members and the whole batch to associate them with corporates and startups. E-cell conducts events that intrigue a
student’s skill to ask pertaining questions about the problems that present themselves as business opportunities
around them.

E-Cell conducted ‘Summers Ke Keemati Gyan – Marketing & IT Consulting Bootcamp’ on September 27, 2020. Two
speakers namely Ashwin Doke – Senior Executive FIS and Dhruv Kothari – Senior Consultant Deloitte, helmed the
session. They gave examples of how to handle rejection and failure to ultimately get selected in a particular
company and how to learn from each of the opportunities irrespective of the end result. The two hour session
seemed to be an eye-opener for many of the students.

E-Cell in Association with EUREKA, E-Cell of IIT Bombay, opened up an opportunity for the students to participate in
‘Road to Business Enterprise 2020’. It was Asia's Largest Business Model Competition. The event opened the gateway
for our students to learn more about where and how to start working with their idea and turn it into a full-fledged
startup.

E-Cell conducted ‘An Advanced Digital Marketing workshop’ in partnership with ‘Step Up Student’. The session was
conducted by Mr. Mohit Verma on October 17, 2020, and October 18, 2020. Students showed an enthusiastic
response to the opportunity which was provided to them. The topics that were covered included Search Engine
Optimization (SEO), SERP, Moz, Social Media Marketing, Trends in Instagram, Instagram as a business environment
and scope for experimenting in digital space.

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