We are observing an interesting if not terribly surprising pattern with the bidding for Term 6 courses. The most expensive courses are ones that have the least amount of workload around the 18th and the 20th of December, leaving students free to enjoy an uninterrupted Solstice.

We’ve been told that the ISB turns 10 now. But how old is it really? If you look at the groggy-eyed, care-worn ISBian in the middle of a hell-week, you’ll assume we’ve been here working for at least the last 48 years or so. But if you look at how fast the years have actually gone by you would put our age at not more than three years. It is a topic filled with as much ambiguity as a consultant’s report.

We really have packed in achievements worth a lot of more than what would fit into 10 years, including surviving all the snakes, frogs, wild boars that the campus throws at us. We now start a journey where we live up to the high standards set by all our previous achievements (rumour has it that monitor lizards have now been spotted in SV3 and SV1). And what we need to start off on this journey is a solid, no-holds barred, unadulterated party. We need Solstice 2010.

It is a tall claim to make but this year’s Solstice is set to be bigger, grander and more exhilarating than ever. The theme is Term 10 – the best term of the year. So we have exchange students – Strings are coming down from Pakistan to play for us, international stand-up comedian Papa CJ is putting up an act. We have alum interactions – Anshul Bansal from CO2006 will be performing live. We have guest speaker sessions – DJ Rink from Mumbai speaks to us in the voice of music. And it is balanced with a number of enriching and insightful activities to build knowledge and network.

We are suffering from an epidemic of allergic reactions – we develop a serious bout of verbal diarrhoea the moment the word ‘Solstice’ comes up. So the best way for us to shut up is to actually put all stuff up on the Solstice website – www.isb.edu/solstice. Check it out, and see you all in December.

Sreeram Ramachandran, Class of 2011