Sensing The Future – IIMBue 2018

 

“We have to keep an eye on the future with a sense of the past in every passing moment of the present.” – Amanda Harlech

One united college. Two days. Third edition of something extraordinary. IIMBue 2018 promised to be a spectacular event from the start what with its previous editions attesting to it’s quality with the likes of Piyush Goyal, Deepika Padukone, Shahrukh Khan and Shashi Tharoor being the speakers in the past.

The leadership conclave was hosted in Taj Bangalore this year on 20th and 21st of July, where people poured in hundreds. The auditorium was as jam packed as the sessions were. Finally, the event started with all the dignitaries and delegates singing the IIMB Anthem, pride and passion pillowing every lyric. Kickstarting with speeches from the President of IIMB Alumni Association Saif Qureshi, IIMBue Convener Guru Prasad, Chief Patron IIMBue Kiran Mazumdar Shaw and Director of IIM Bangalore Prof. G Raghuram, the summit had the theme of ‘Sensing the Future’ this year as it expected to deep dive into the talents and technologies that will carry us into the coming years. Dr. Devi Shetty, founder Narayana Health, was one of the keynote speakers who initiated the conversation on the theme with brilliant insights into how even healthcare could usea business remodeling by aligning itself with AI and technology.

Karan Johar with Fatima Karan on The Future of Entertainment

The first day also saw panel discussions ranging from leading India to a five trillion-dollar economy to learning leadership values through sports led by renowned names like Dr. Radhakrishnan from ISRO and Mr. Prakash Padukone from the Sports Sector. The deliberations that manifested out of these were some of the most illuminating ones. Roopa Moudgil, first female IPS officer in Karnataka, especially took away the show with her witty dialogues about how women are an emerging force to reckon with. Another highlight came from the glamour world of Bollywood in the form of Karan Johar who talked about the future of entertainment and how its changing. The day came to an end on high spirits from the day that was gone by and high expectation from the one that was yet to come.

Roopa Moudgil IPS, Neha Satak and Dr. Radhakrishnan from ISRO at IIMBue 2018

Day two at IIMBue and everything seemed poised to only get better. The blockbuster event as they called it was the session with Sadhguru and Ranveer Singh who discussed Meaning of Life, Mating of Peacocks and everything in between. People literally laughed, danced and sang as the session went by. Next up were number of insightful sessions lined up. We heard Debjani Ghosh, President NASSCOM, talk about how there needs to be a better representation of women in the workforce, we saw the Nivruti Rai, Country Head Intel India, talk passionately about innovation in times of Jugaad and we felt a kind of rush as Thayir Sadam Project perform live with their offbeat instruments (insert iPad instead of Harmonic) and a cutting edge take on Indian Carnatic Music. Above all, the sessions beautifully lined up to the finale which were the networking sessions on thought exercise topics and surpassing speakers. The conclave ended with much appreciation and approval from the crowd towards team IIMBue.

Sadhguru with Ranveer Singh at IIMBue2018 talking about Life through many Lenses

Looking back at it, IIMBue seems just a catchy word to name a summit but a little deeper research reveals that it supposedly comes from the word ‘imbue’ which means to inspire and that certainly seems to be the theme each year as the event permeates us with a sense of pride in being able to leverage opportunities like no other and meet personalities of repute. We are, after all, IIMB.

Team IIMBue 2018 at Taj BangaloreContributed By: J K Varshika, PGP 17-19 (as published in Bheard)