Sankalp 2015: Social flagship event of SIMSREE

Thoughts do more. Words do much. Actions do much more

Following the above quote, the Student Social Responsibility (SSR) Committee organized the annual social flagship event of SIMSREE i.e. Sankalp on 7^th March 2015. The theme Sankalp’15 was ‘Theory into Practice’, which means not just giving ideas, but carrying out necessary actions to implement them. The theme highlights how each individual can make a huge impact in bringing out a positive change in the society.

In line with the theme, the SSR committee came up with an initiative ‘LAKSHYA- aim to educate’. ‘ LAKSHYA’ is an initiative wherein the students of SIMSREE will be actively involved in educating the children of a local BMC school, with the ‘Lakshya’ of enabling them to not only clear 10^th grade, but also develop a strong foundation for the bright and promising future that awaits them. This will be implemented from July 2015 at SIMSREE.

The Chief Guest for the event was Dr. Madhav Chavan, CEO and Co-founder of Pratham Education Foundation. He is also a former Member of the National Advisory Council of India and member of the governing council of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Mission (SSA) of the Government of India.

The event started with an address by our Director Dr. Sandhya Dhabe introducing the theme of the event and emphasizing its importance. Our HOD Finance, Prof. Sangeeta Pandit, explained the students the importance of being involved in social activities. This was then followed by an inspiring speech by our chief guest focusing on the need and methodology of educating young kids. His emphasis was on motivating the kids to learn, rather than focusing on how to teach them i.e. do not teach them concepts, but increase the curiosity in them so that they will learn even when you are not there. This will also help the mentors learn a lot in the due course. He urged the students to actively volunteer in this initiative. Also, it was very kind of him to extend his support for the implementation of ‘Lakshya’.

After the initial inauguration, we moved to the final rounds of the competitions held during Sankalp’15. SSR committee along with ESSAR FOUNDATION organized the social b-plan competition, which saw the highest participation among all competitions. Top 5 teams were chosen for the final round, which was judged by Mr. Neerav Parekh (Director, Iksula) and Mr. Nilesh Halde (Director, AppLions Pvt. Ltd). The teams presented their ideas of a socially motivated profitable business plan, with top 2 teams being declared as the winners.

  

Other competitions included

a.       A case study competition: Solving the issues of secondary education in government schools in India (in line with the initiative Lakshya)

b.      Social vision competition: What will be your tipping point? (inviting people to share their socially motivated dream)

The case study was judged by our HOD Finance, Prof. Sangeeta Pandit and Dr. Arvind Dhond (President and Treasurer of all India Teachers Association), where top 6 teams presented their solution.

 The ideas and enthusiasm of the participants in each of the competitions, the involvement of the jury and the support of ESSAR FOUNDATION significantly raised the standard of the event. We would also like to thank the students of SIMSREE for their active involvement in the initiatives and events by SSR committee.

“We are all born with a divine fire in us. Our efforts should be to give wings to this fire and fill the world with the glow of its goodness.”

-A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

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OSTC UK organises Open Day for SIMSREE students

Onscreen Trading and Trading Connections i.e. OSTC had invited the students of SIMSREE to its premises on the 13th of January to interact with them and provide them with insights on how the world of trading moves as a juggernaut and also provided a hands-on-experience on the intricacies of trading at live terminals.

The visit commenced with a short presentation by Mr. Chintan Thakkar, wherein he started by describing in brief about the founders of the company and the course through which the company progresses, from a small office in the UK started by 4 friends to a multinational corporation. The students were very fascinated by the world of proprietary trading and had several doubts regarding the same as a career option. Mr. Thakkar clarified these by explaining the functioning of the organization and the duties and responsibilities of a trader.

Some students from the delegation, having prior experience in trading, shared some of their own experiences in the field. Subsequently, Mr. Thakkar explained the career growth that the vocation of trading offers and what would the career trajectory look like for a fairly successful trader. He emphasized on the importance of discipline in trading; OSTC lays greater emphasis on sound strategies in trading rather than one-off gains.

This was followed by an explanation of the trading terminals used at the OSTC office and the different types of trades carried out. After a short introduction about the bid and ask rates of various asset classes and the rules that are to be followed by traders, the students were allowed to try make trades on the terminal. This was perhaps the most exciting part of the open day experience for the students since most of them had never operated a trading terminal before, most certainly not on the scale that professional traders at OSTC were used to.

OSTC organized an hour long trading competition among the student delegates to trade four different products out of the 100 plus products that OSTC traders work with, in a way that would maximize gains by hedging risks efficiently. The announcements about key macroeconomic indicators kept beaming across the PA system and kept the students on their toes. At the end of the trading hour, the students were very enthused and the team with the highest gains was awarded a surprise present from OSTC.

The open day ended with the students being allowed to recce the OSTC office and interact with traders to further understand how trades were carried out. This concluded a very engaging and informative open day and SIMSREE students were thankful to Mr. Sanket Joshi and Mr. Chintan Thakkar for making it happen.

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Guest Lecture by Dr. S. Srinivasan

On Wednesday, 7th January 2015, Dr. S Srinivasan delivered a lecture at SIMSREE on the topic of 'Stress Management by Staying Alert'. He is the Chief Learning Officer at Wockhardt Foundation and MD at Wellness Consultant and has four decades of experience in healthcare and human behaviour.

He started off the discussion on a lighter note by explaining how stress forms an integral part of our lives. He stressed upon the importance of wellness and life skills by demonstrating several examples. Striking a balance between work and personal life is of essence and stress management involves mutually balancing the two in order to lead a stress free life. Stress is not what happens to us but how we react to whatever happens to us. In order to manage stress, we have to manage our reaction and not the stressor. And only an alert mind can manage its own reaction. So it is imperative that we stay alert and control our emotions and reactions to a particular situation.

He further emphasized the importance of 5S management in lifestyle which includes – sleep, sex, snacks, stamina and spirits. By using the 5S, we can manage the 6^th S i.e. soft skills and get ready to tackle the 7^th S which is ‘Stress’.

Dr. Srinivasan explained the concept of 'Amygdala effect' and also how different parts of the brain help generate different emotions and responses to a particular situation, sometimes increasing the stress levels. He emphasized upon the difference between 'high road' and 'low road' and how managing the two leads to effective management of individual stress levels. He then shared some anecdotes of how people who overcome their limitations and inhibitions lead a 'Balanced Life'.

We are really thankful to him for giving us great insights into the literal meaning of the word 'Stress' and giving us some tips in order to overcome it. The entire session ended on a positive note and it turned out to be a great learning lesson for all of us.

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