33rd Annual XLRI – IIM Calcutta Sports Meet to witness a no-holds-barred clash of two “traditions”

* Oldest and only Event of its kind in Indian Post Graduate Institute Circuit kicks off today

*

The thirty third edition of the annual XLRI – IIM Calcutta Sports meet will kick off today at the XLRI Campus. The three day event will conclude on September 26. The oldest and only event of its kind in the Indian Postgraduate Institute Circuit – that too between two of India’s premier B-Schools – the Sports meet is tipped to be a clash of two “traditions” for the prestigious Crown.
*

This year, a panoply of about 20 events ranging from Football, Cricket and basketball to Chess, Squash, Carrom and XLRI’s homegrown sport – Frisball are in the offing. The winning team will take home the Tata Tinplate XLRI – IIM Calcutta Trophy. A specially designed trophy and prizes await the Best Sportsman and Sportswoman of XLRI and IIM Calcutta.

*
The event is being sponsored by The Tinplate Company of India Limited. Says Navinder Singh Dullat, Secretary, Sports Committee of XLRI, on the frenetic pace of activity on Campus: “Hosting a meet with 20 events over two days, with 400 XLers and 300 IIMCians on a charged campus is a logistical challenge due to the sheer hectic schedule planned. But both campuses view it differently: as an opportunity to prove their mettle amidst never-ending academic schedules.”
*

Continues Dullat, “We have the task of continuing the over three-decade old tradition, which both our alumni identify with: our special thanks are due to the support of Mr Bhusan Raina, XLRI’s National Alumni Chapter President and MD, Tinplate Company. The XL-IIMC Meet is all about playing hard on the field and having a great time off it.”

*
On the other side of the “border”, Sulabh Aggarwal, Secretary, Sports Committee of IIM Calcutta says, "The students at IIM Calcutta have been waiting for this with bated breath and the sheer enthusiasm will be on full colour when XLRI hosts 300 IIMCians this weekend."
*

A Rock Show which features the music bands of both Schools in a Jugalbandi will be an added attraction, and is expected to bring out the spirit of camaraderie and bonhomie that prevails during the event.

*
The meet also throws up its fair share of surprises. The goalkeeper of the XLRI Men’s Team in the tough and bruising hockey event is a woman! Says the Hockey team captain, Anshuman Mohapatra: “The best player is in the team. Gender does not matter.”

*

XLRI – IIM C MEET: A HISTORICAL 'PERSPECTIVE'

In the early 1970s, the students of the two Schools felt the need for an interaction, a lasting relationship that would facilitate an exchange of ideas and thoughts and also to have some fun. Though the institutions were separated by only a few hundred kilometers, there was hardly any meeting between the two Institutes prior to that.
*

So, they planned an annual rendezvous wherein they would participate in academic seminars, presentations and some sports over a weekend in winter. Over the years, as new generations entered the portals of both Institutions, the raison d'être behind the meet - exchange of ideas, thoughts, etc. - started tilting more towards another arena, which forms the mainstay today: what was originally included along the sidelines to generate interest and have fun - sports - started taking centre stage.

*
Now, every year in September or October, the students of the two Institutes meet at either of the Campuses in what has been dubbed the "mother of all sports meets". The venue alternates between Jamshedpur and Calcutta.
*

The popularity of this meet can be gauged by the interest shown by the alumni of both institutes in this event. Folklore says that the first question an alumnus of either institute asks is not about his favourite professor or anything academic, but “Who’s winning the XL-IIMC Meet now?”

*

From The External Linkages Cell Newsdesk