Adios amigos!

It's the end of another academic year and the start of the farewell season. Farewell parties where juniors perform or organize a get together has become old fashioned. Youngsters these days are thinking out of the box to give their beloved seniors a memorable send off! They are coming up with unique ways to share and express your love — Be it Facebook posts, YouTube videos, the Gen-X believes in speaking out loud!

These seniors who ragged them, helped them with notes and assignments,  gave them survival tips, helped them in organizing college tests, competitions, etc. Are more than just strangers who live in the college along with them. They’ve become very good friends. To break the ritual, new trends are being created. To bid the journey through college goodbye in a different style.

Sravani, a Mass Comm student says “When you first enter college, you know nobody. But as time passes, you share many endeavors and adventures that you become a family. Three years pass in a daze. The day you leave all you can see is how familiar these strangers become to you. Our last day of college, was so much fun, so emotional and memorable. We closed the doors of our soundproof lab and danced our guts out to ear throbbing music. Our juniors organized it for us and we were thrilled!”

“Our college management is usually against farewell parties but when we were asked to make a farewell documentary, we were more than happy.   ‘Senior Sayonara’ is a dedication with a difference, for our seniors . It isn’t exactly a documentary its a film that depicts their memories, right from the beginning. It was a priceless feeling when a few seniors would come up to us and tell us that the documentary touched their hearts.” says E.A. Abhishek, a student of Loyola Academy, Old Alwal. He along with his friends Nitin Lawrence, Kedar Patwary, Omar Roy, Sanya Quadri, Keerthana Muralidhar, Ranjana Singh Rathore, Srivanth Kumar, Harshit Joseph and Srivanth Kumar, shot the film and made it a huge success.

An engineering third year student, Anshul says, “ Our seniors inspire us. They show us how to be responsible and show us how to get things done. When you first enter college, clueless of whatever is happening around, they guide you. To top it all they provide you with healthy competition that will make you better. We are planning to organize a surprise party for our seniors and show them how special they are for us.”

“College is nearing its end. Another year just flew by. We made hundreds of memories. It's now the end of the roller coaster ride. It all comes back as deja-vu. And if someday in life, somebody from the crowd just pops up and gives you a hug, you just know it will be one of these guys. We become their part time siblings in their journey through college and its feels wonderful that they give you special attention. We haven’t left yet and there are messages, dedications and love showering from juniors all over Facebook. They created a separate group online that tells you how much they’ll miss you. It feels great.” Johnson Nishant, a B Com final year student says.

Colleges have traditional themes. The St Frances college had a Halloween themed party. Some have prom themed parties, some have an awards night, So this farewell season what other way would be better to say Adios Amigos than say it ‘hatke.’

Building the virtual bridge

Meeting them at a popular food joint with music screaming out aloud, this bunch of youngsters was bubbling with energy. All of them below 30 years age stood out from the normal crowd not only for who they are but for what they do with a passion to bring a change in the education system.

Abhilash, Bhanu, Apeksha, Sahitya and Srikar are a part of the &beyond team. It is a six month old Hyderabad based socio-academic student portal with over 10,000 of their kind already registered. They call themselves a smart ecosystem that bridges the gap between students, colleges, alumni, institutes and also companies offering placements.

"&beyond is a one stop solution for all things 'student.' We aim to make communication and collaboration very much easier for students. While getting relevant information is almost impossible for them, we take the burden upon us to sort it and customize it the way they want it." says Abhilash Bandi, co-founder of &beyond.

Abhilash, Bhanu and Srujan, founders of &beyond are 2007 alumni and also childhood friends. Srujan Gottemukkala is from IIT- Madras while the other two are from the Gokaraju Rangaraju Institute of Engineering and Technology.

"A common friend's brother applied for his engineering supplementary exam at JNTU. He paid the fees but the authorities failed to record it later, and he had to repeat his whole year. That's when we were discussing that there is a pressing need for a smart and organized channel for students where all their needs are addressed." says Bhanu Prakash Kantala, co-founder &beyond.

After conducting a survey of about 52 colleges across AP and gathering feedback from hundreds of students, the outcome shocked them. They laid the foundation stone for their cause early in 2012 and did a lot of ground work. In June 2012, they tentatively rolled out their beta at  a Computer Society of India event. They have been running in beta mode till now but a plan to release the main product soon is in process. Also, they have expanded the web services to Karnataka and Tamilnadu apart from AP.

&beyond is a platform for students to vent out and reach out to other students so that they are informed and also entertained. There are academics, fun and connect options. They provide a virtual replication of the college notice board and information about projects, college directory, mentors, lecturers, scholarships, notifications, exam dates, results, career path, education clubs and more. In fun option, students can upload photos and challenge others like ‘who can eat more ice creams in one minute.’ Show off is where you can flaunt a newly bought watch or phone. Filmy-meter where you can rate newly released films moreover throw ends at films. The connect option helps students reach out to other students, lecturers, mentors, company executives and alumni.

“We conduct different events all through the year. Currently, the dope awards are going on where the natural talents of students are recognized and a democratic voting system helps them win prizes. The six categories are Book worm, Best student, Mr and Ms Looker, Mr and Miss Show off and Nautanki Baaz that is open till June 30." add Apeksha Badagavi, Operations lead, &beyond and Srikar Chepuri, Marketing head.

While Abhilash did his masters from Bond University in Australia, Apeksha, Bhanu, Sahitya and 
Srikar are software professionals. They all are also founders and volunteers of Helping hands society. They have been mentored by Satyam CEO, IIM alumni and Serial entrepreneurs.

“We aim to reach a stage where &beyond becomes a commodity for every student across India. We are rolling out city by city. But, we have locally customized features. We have our own team of technicians. Our motto is 'you don't have to reach &beyond. &beyond fits into your lifestyle.” They all say collectively.

By Uma Pranathi Narayan

Published in DC during its 75 year anniversary celebrations