B-school students will also have to fight it out with corporate houses across the country this year, thus intensifying the battle for the spoils. “The greater corporate participation levels this time will definitely widen the learning arena as we move forward with a much bigger platform for students, academics and the industry to interact and build familiarity amongst each other”, said Harish Shashidhar, a member of the Backwaters organizing committee. “This also gels well with the theme for the event this year – ‘Evolution’ that basically represents the evolving nature of the competitive spirit of Backwaters”.

The flagship event of Backwaters 2008, scheduled from January 11 to 13, 2008, will be Reliance White Knight – an event that is conceptually unique across all B-school fests. Now into its second year, it brings together the best minds of the country to solve the nation’s pressing problems. If the theme for last year brought forth innovative ideas to make the Indian growth story inclusive, the Urban Development theme for White Knight 2008 will bring the problems associated with our burgeoning urban settlements into sharp focus. Students from leading B-schools will be asked to work on a business plan that will help alleviate some of the problems facing urban development. Apart from the glory of being crowned the champions, the winning team shall take home a whopping 1.5 lakhs with an equal amount held in trust by IIMK and released to an NGO as and when the idea gets into implementation mode.

Backwaters, this year, will also feature a new business simulation game, spread across all verticals and organized in collaboration with a foreign university. While the simulation shall give an opportunity for participants to apply their classroom concepts to the real world, a huge online treasure hunt has been organized to keep them guessing throughout December. Various informal in-campus games and cultural events will also mark the three day extravaganza which shall culminate with the annual IIMK alumni reunion called ‘Nostalgia’.

International participation this year is also expected to go up, with more than 25 international B-Schools taking part, including universities that IIMK has tie-ups with, for student exchange programs.

Backwaters 2008 is being sponsored by Reliance Industries, Freudenberg, Deloitte, Bristlecone, CapGemini, TCS, Vodafone, Lenovo, ONGC, RPG, SET, Gold Simulations and Paymate. The Week will be the official print media partner while Pagalguy shall be the online media partner for the event.

For more information, please visit www.iimkbackwaters.com or contact Harish at [email protected] or Jotinder Singh at [email protected].