BIFROST 2021

A Time to Remember
St Joseph's Boys' High School successfully hosted the fifth edition of Bifrost, an inter-school, international commerce fest from 30 August – 5 September 2021. Bifrost 2021 was a successful virtual event. It was the second edition to be held on an international scale and had over 400 participants from 51 schools.

The organizing committee for Bifrost 2021: Pinnacle of Parallels consisted of: -
Project Directors – Mr. Jishnu Vipin, Ms. Akshitha Irene
1) Krishang M - Head of Marketing and Sponsorships
2) Pratik Badrinath – Head of Logistics and Tech
3) Royston Menezes – Head of Designing and Marketing
4) Sania Sabu – Head of Events
5) Maria Lewis - Head of Operations, Webinars and Opening ceremony
6) Simar Kaur Kaler – Head of Hospitality and Tech
7) Laasya Priya – Head of Registrations

28 event heads and over 150 people worked to make Bifrost 2021 a resounding success. Bifrost 2021 featured ten ground breaking events that addressed a wide range of topics related to trade and business. Due to the online nature of the fest, four new events were added to the already impressive line-up of events.

1) Empresario – The Entrepreneurship Development event
2) Novac – The Economics and Corporate Governance event
3) Loki’s Gambit – The Corporate Investigation and Law event
4) Bandersnatch – The Flagship event
The previously established Bifrost 2020 events were:

1) Best Manager
2) Corporate Sabotage – The PR and HR event
3) Excelsior – The Marketing event
4) Overture – The Product Launch event
5) Eschaton – The Crisis Management event
6) Finergize – The Finance event

Bifrost 2021 being an international commerce fest had participants residing in India and overseas. SJBHS was host to a total of 10 schools outside of Bangalore and 2 international schools that included GEMS OOEHS, Dubai and Trinity College Kandy, Sri Lanka. In total there were 90 judges from different industries who helped make Bifrost 2021 a stellar experience for the participants. This year there was an international judge from New Zealand, making the event truly global!

During the course of the event, Bifrost 2021 hosted three webinars. A tradition carried forward from the previous year. Guest speakers addressed the participants and students about their fields of interest and work, as well as providing an in-depth expert perspective of what it was like to work in the corporate sector and what they could expect in the future. The webinars allowed for an interactive Q&A session. The webinars included the following erudite speakers: -

1) Mr. Vijay Singh - Mr. Vijay Singh is a veteran in his field with a wealth of experience in myriad eminent organizations such as HDFC Bank, ABN AMRO Bank and SMC Wealth. He joined Anand Rathi Wealth Services in the year 2014, where he is currently Associate Director. Mr Vijay Singh manages assets to the tune of INR150 crore with clients from 30 families hailing from Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow and Bangalore. He spoke to our students about the nuances of wealth management, principles of investing and the power of saving in one’s life - topics that a student definitely needs to be aware of. Students were then able to clarify doubts regarding the field of finance.

2) Mr. Nikhil Kamath - Mr Nikhil Kamath is India’s youngest Billionaire. He founded Zerodha with his brother, Nithin Kamath and also co-founded True Beacon, a client-aligned asset management initiative. In 2020, the Kamath brothers bagged the ‘GQ Entrepreneur of the Year’ Award as well as the coveted ‘Economic Times Start-Up of the Year’ award, for Zerodha. He is the youngest member on the Forbes India’s 100 richest 2020 list. Mr. Nikhil Kamath spoke about how important it was to start out early in life, how hard work and perseverance go hand in hand and how he had gained experiences on his path to success. He, patiently, answered all the questions posted in the Q&A box.

3) Shri Mohandas Pai - He is one of India’s most dynamic entrepreneurs and a person who personifies leadership in the truest sense of the word. Mr. Pai is currently the Chairman of Aarin Capital, Chairman of Manipal Global Education, an Advisor to the Board of Manipal Education and Medical Group, member of the Board of Havells India, and was the Founder-Trustee of the Akshaya Patra Foundation. He was awarded the Padma Shri by the President of India in 2015 and the Karnataka Rajyotsava Award in 2004. Shri Mohandas Pai spoke about living in a digital world and provided some insights into what our future could potentially look like. Participants were then able to clarify their doubts during the Q&A session.

Mr. Thomas Thekkethala, an alumnus of St. Joseph’s, was the keynote speaker for the opening ceremony.

This year SJBHS had their very first filter battle with the Bifrost filter “Elysian” and were also featured on the radio (Indigo 91.9 FM). The school also partnered with Yourdesign Store, India to release their very own merchandise line. The founder of the store, Mr. Vivek George, is also an alumnus of St. Joseph’s. The merchandise line had a twin purpose. It not only created memorabilia for the students but also helped a good cause as all the proceeds from the sale went to charity.

BIFROST 2021 may have come to an end but it helped to showcase the immense talent pool, the cut throat competition among the millennials and the sagacity of the youngsters of today. Last but not the least, it the camaraderie of the organizers that shone through as they gathered experiences, build bonds and friendships that would last a lifetime!

Maria Lewis,
Organizing Committee