ISBF XENIA 2021Concludes a Celebration of Young University Talent from Across the World
New Delhi: Indian School of Business & Finance, a top global teaching centre of the University of London here in Delhi, concluded the 12th edition of Xenia, an annual cultural festival hosted by the institution. The two-day festival held between February 12 and 13, 2021 was hosted virtually owing to the ongoing pandemic. However, it witnessed a participation of more than 800 students from about 600 institutions across the globe.
The festival spearheaded by the Student Societies and the Student Relations department at ISBF had as many as 16 competitions on schedule and with over INR 2 lakh of prize money to be won, apart from other awards. The competitions were designed so as to bring out the diverse talent and skillsets of the participating students including art, storytelling, creativity, debating, general knowledge, music and dance, analytical and decision-making skills.
In keeping with the theme of XENIA 2021, Disconnect to Connect, the first competition on Saturday titled ‘Terribly Tiny Tales’ focused on storytelling. It challenged participants to help people ‘Disconnect’ with their present thought process and ‘Connect’ with each of their emotional and powerful short stories.
Aditi Sood of Delhi’s Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology won the competition, while Aratrika Chakraborty of Bengaluru’s Christ College came second and Aishwary Trivedi of Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), Mumbai, won the third prize.
The final competition on Sunday was a Chess competition, titled Bishop’s Endgame, and was won by Neil Franclin of Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Raipur followed by Arjun RM of Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda College, Chennai, who was the runner up. Colleges from Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, performed particularly well at XENIA 2021 winning a host of prizes, while Delhi bagged the lion’s share.
Among colleges which did well and won more than one prize were the likes of Lady Shri Ram College, Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies and Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology from Delhi; Symbiosis of Pune as well as NMIMS, Mumbai.
The festival received appreciation from participants for its unique and engaging ideas and smooth execution of the overall event. “It is interesting to see how the faculty and students are working in a coordinated manner to ensure that the event turns out to be a success. And it has been a great experience to be a part of this well-thought festival. What is even more compelling about the festival is that it is led by students,” a participant from the USA commented while sharing his thoughts on the event.
Addressing the students on the occasion of the Prize distribution ceremony, the final event of Sunday, Dr. G.L. Tayal, Dean, ISBF, said, “It is delightful to watch such diverse young talent from all over India and indeed from across the world this time, showcase their skills in a spirit of healthy competition. The idea behind XENIA has always been to inculcate the value and importance of extra-curricular and co-curricular activities in life, so as to promote all-round development of today’s youth for a better tomorrow.