Students from IBS Calcutta present their skit at Brio ’09. Picture by Bishwarup Dutta

WHAT: Brio ’09, the annual inter-institute fest of Icfai Business School (IBS) Calcutta, in association with t2, took place on December 17 and 18 on the IBS campus on Day One and at Swabhumi on Day Two. The first day’s line-up included games on marketing, HR, finance, IT and entrepreneurship, as well as corporate dumb charades, quiz and debate. At Rang Durbar the next day were the more fun events: the finals of Chakravyuha, Glitterati, a skit and All-Go-Rhythm, before the prize distribution and performance by IBS band Strange Avenues, and the grand finale by Krosswindz. Finally, IBS Calcutta came first, Indian Institute of Planning and Management Calcutta (IIPM) stood second, and Eastern Institute for Integrated Learning in Management (EIILM) came third.

THANDA EVENT: Was the fashion show Glitterati, which despite being much anticipated, turned out to be quite unstylish. Three institutions took part — IBS Calcutta, IIPM Calcutta, and EIILM. And though EIILM started off with the Karzzzz theme, and IBS with Michael Jackson’s Beat It going on to Black Or White, the participants with unrehearsed catwalks and not-so-cool outfits had no place on a ramp. IBS Calcutta was placed first, IIPM second and EIILM third.

FUNDOO EVENT: Undoubtedly Chakravyuha. Initially 19 students took part in a quiz, out of which the four lowest scorers were evicted. The remaining 15 formed five trios and were made to build a tower out of straw, with the best team winning immunity. The weakest members of the remaining four teams were voted out and they then participated in another quiz, the winner of which made it to the next round with the other 11 contestants.

An extempore round was in store for them next, where four more were eliminated. The Judge’s Grilling Round claimed two more contestants. The remaining six were named finalists and each was assigned a character — Ayatollah Khomeini, Ramalinga Raju, Nathuram Godse, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Idi Amin and Salman Khan. In the finals, the contestant had to give a speech in character, and then respond in a Q&A round with the judges. Abhigyan “Nathuram” Chakraborty from IBS Calcutta bagged the first prize while Rajesh “Salman” Bhargav, also from IBS, came second and Ankit “Khomeini” Agarwal from IIM Calcutta came third.

THE ONE THAT ROCKED: Was All-Go-Rhythm, the dance competition that saw stylised choreography and funky costumes as students from IBS Calcutta and EIILM were pitted against each other. IBS grooved to Black Eyed Peas’ Don’t Phunk With My Heart, switching to Hum dum suniyo re with chairs as props. Their final sequence, with a couple dancing on two sides of a screen, earned the male dancer in front of the screen rave reviews. EIILM started off with some funky moves to a remix of We Will Rock You and even did some moonwalking to MJ’s Black Or White, ending with Ishq Bector’s Aye hip-hopper. IBS Calcutta took the prize in this category.

Ranjabati Das
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Drumming it out

Who: While most actor-director sons and daughters are getting busy in front of the camera, this son of a director has chosen to take the plunge into music instead. Ishaan Ghose, 22, son of director Goutam Ghose, recently debuted at a concert jamming with jazz guitarist Arthur Gracias and veterans like Pandit S. Shekhar and Deboprosad Bhattacharya.

Why: Strongly protesting regimented life in school, Ishaan grew up loving music and movies and dabbling with his father’s collection of spools and vinyl records. “I just hated school. I felt that such institutions restrict a child’s thinking and growing beyond uninspiring textbooks and inject fear to live a controlled life. I was in search of a tool to find my own expression and realised how peaceful and therapeutic music is. Gradually, I got addicted to drumming,” says Ishaan, who started off with lessons in
violin before switching to the drums.

Style: Keen on testing his skills a little more, Ishaan is currently studying Carnatic rhythms in Bangalore. “Drumming is my priority but I don’t want to restrict myself to one particular form. Learning Carnatic drumming will be a whole new school of education for me,” says the ex-student of St James who spends some of his time writing music using audio software.

He agrees that there are challenges making music in the city but chooses to look at the brighter side. “The city does offer platforms. There are some great original acts but I feel the focus is more on overnight fame. I feel sad that some people are just happy listening to the same old songs being played in pubs. I’d like to do something different from that,” feels Ishaan.

Influences: To explore other possibilities with his rhythm pad, after eight years of training under Bachchu Roy, Ishaan went to New York last year to study at the Drummer’s Collective. “While in New York, I had the chance to study in private with greats like Dennis Chambers, JoJo Mayer and Kim Plainfield. I also played with some local drum-and-bass acts. All this opened up a whole new world for me and changed the way I look at music,” he adds.

Sign-off: Ishaan is not averse to trying his hand at films as long as it is on the musical ide. “Films are a great source of inspiration but I’ve never really got into the technical aspect of filmmaking. That takes a life of dedication and perseverance. I’m more interested in film scores. I’m still a beginner. I won’t really know till I create something,” he believes.

Mohua Das
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