NEXUS 2025

“Never start a business to make money, start a business to make a difference.
– Marie Forleo

The Bhawanipur Entrepreneurship and Start-Up Training (BEST) Collective of The Bhawanipur Education Society College hosted its annual business and management event, Nexus 2025: Independence Vs Interdependence, on October 13 and 14, 2025.

The day started with the opening ceremony in the Jubilee Hall of the college campus from 9:30 A.M.  onwards where Prof. Minakshi Chaturvedi welcomed the guests with a few words of wisdom followed by a short speech by the Rector and Dean of Student Affairs, Prof. Dilip Shah giving an example of how the world works like the game of poker where we should think independently but act interdependently. The closing ceremony ended with the sound of a gong, which is similar to the sound in the Stock Market, that spread through the hall with excitement and cheerfulness.

PUBLIC SPEAKING: The first day of the event was held in Room No. 530, with five participating teams, each comprising 1-2 members. The judges for day 1 were Jennifer Helen Ghosh and Raunak Agarwal. Each round of the event was scored and judged with a unique set of parameters. Three rounds with two sub-rounds each were conducted on the first day. Some of the rounds expected the participants to write the full forms of given abbreviations, pitch objects that they landed through the spin wheel or solve a crisis presented to them. Day 2 began in the Concept Hall of the college campus, with the judge being Mr Jai Shankar Gopalan. On the second day, 2 further rounds were held where the participants were judged based on fluency and content. To conclude the event, Prof. Dilip Shah felicitated the judges on both days.

HUMAN RESOURCES: Day 1 of the event was held in the Placement Hall with five participating teams comprising three participants each. The event commenced at around 10:30 A.M., the judge for the day was Mr Rohit Bhoot. The event began with teams analysing resumes to identify fake ones, select the best candidate, and justify their choices. Round 2, People Poker, featured a life-sized Monopoly board testing crisis comprehension, strategy, empathy, ethics, and communication. Round 3 focused on crisis management, where teams tackled three major crises under similar judging criteria. Day 2, held at Jubilee Hall and judged by CA Moushikha Sarkar, began with Round 4. Teams of three voted out one member before analysing resumes and a case study. They were assessed on their public apology, mental health initiative, stakeholder handling, company resilience, ethics, and reputation rebuilding. Round 5 required teams to create an employee payslip, evaluated on accuracy, strategic alignment, innovation, defence, impact, and presentation. To conclude the event, the judge was felicitated with a memento and a potted plant by Prof. Minakshi Chaturvedi. The first runners-up of the event were The Bhawanipur Education Society College, and the winner was St. Xavier’s College.

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT: Day 1 of the event was held in the Jubilee Hall of the college campus from around 11:00 A.M. onwards, with eight teams of two participants each. As it was a preparation round, no judges were required. Teams received a resource document to build housing projects while adapting to shifting market conditions. Day 2, held in Room 528, was judged by Rohit Prasad and Shivani Jain on profitability, strategy, adaptability, compliance, presentation, and pitching. Teams presented their assets, deciding whether to rent, hold, expand, or sell, followed by a Q&A session. Judges questioned inconsistencies, and other teams were allowed to cross-examine the presenters. To conclude the event, Prof. Minakshi Chaturvedi arrived to felicitate the judges with potted plants and momentos.

The second runner-up of the event was St. Xavier’s College, the first runner-up of the event was The Bhawanipur Education Society College, and the winner was NSHM College.

AUCTION: The IPL Auction was a dynamic event that gave participants from various colleges a taste of the real IPL pregame experience. Nine teams, each with three members, took part. Day 1 began at 10:30 A.M. in the Concept Hall of the college campus, where teams were given a set budget to build their squads. The day featured sequential auctions for franchises, Icon players, Indian players, and international players. Day 2 started at 9:00 A.M. in Room 530 with a cricket-themed questionnaire round, followed by a rapid-fire Q&A. The event concluded with a PPT round judged by Mr Shreyansh Rohatgi.

The second runner-up was NSHM College, the first runner-up was The Heritage College, and the winner was The Bhawanipur Education Society College.

FINANCE: The event focused on planning, organisation, and risk management. Day 1 began at 12:00 P.M. in Room 547 with seven teams, each comprising up to two members. Teams analysed a list of verticals before participating in an auction using their allocated corpus. Day 2, held in the Placement Hall from 12:00 P.M., featured two rounds. Teams first prepared and presented a PowerPoint showcasing their vertical, startup, and chosen assets. They demonstrated their strategies, problem-solving approaches, and investment plans before judge, Sanjay Saraf. Afterwards, teams were cross-questioned to test their reasoning and composure. The final round required each team to defend why they should not be eliminated.

The second runner-up was The Bhawanipur Education Society College, the first runner-up was The NSHM College, and the winner was St. Xavier’s College.

ENTREPRENEURSHIP: Based on the idea that startups thrive under pressure, the event began on Day 1 at 10:30 A.M. in Room 548 with nine participating teams. It unfolded in two phases. In the first phase, teams activated the power cards earned during the mini reveal round, each granting unique advantages or challenges that reshaped strategies and tested adaptability. In the final startup-building round, teams created and pitched startup ideas within their assigned sectors, covering the concept, target market, resource use, financial structure, and future projections. Judged by CA Shivam Bajaj, the event tested participants’ grit, business acumen, creativity, and time management.

The second runner-up was Goenka College of Commerce and Business Administration, the first runner-up was St Xavier’s College, and the winner was The Bhawanipur Education Society College.

MARKETING:  With the motto, “marketing shines in chaos,” the event challenged participants to rebuild brand identities under pressure. It began in the Society Hall at 11:00 A.M. with eight teams bidding in an auction to acquire struggling companies using mock currency. Each team received a company profile outlining its USP and had one hour to prepare a ten-slide presentation covering target audience, brand positioning, creative campaigns, and customer engagement strategies. The venue later shifted to the Placement Hall for the Jenga Block Round, which combined rapid-fire and mini marketing challenges. Teams had just one minute to think and 90 seconds to respond to judge Mrs Kusumbhi Kothari Sett, testing their creativity and quick decision-making. Day 2 began at 12:00 P.M. with the Board Room Pressure round, where teams presented their revival strategies to a panel featuring a CFO, an investor, a customer representative, and judge Mr Angshuman Sett.

The event concluded with the felicitation of Mr Sett by the Rector and Dean of Student Affairs, Prof. Dilip Shah. The second runner-up was EICASA College, the first runner-up was St Xavier’s College, and the winner was The Bhawanipur Education Society College.

CLOSING CEREMONY: The closing ceremony of Nexus 2025, held in the Jubilee Hall of the college campus, marked a vibrant and memorable conclusion to two days of creativity, competition and collaborations, nurturing future promising entrepreneurs. Eventually, the final results of each event were announced, including the overall winners. The first runner-up was St. Xavier’s College, and the emerging winner was The Bhawanipur Education Society College.

The ceremony featured a heartfelt speech by the coordinators and college representatives of Nexus 2025, reflecting on their journey of planning the event while expressing their gratitude and appreciation towards the teams, volunteers and event masters for making this event a success. As the formalities concluded, the energy shifted to celebration as DJ Dhruv took over, and the participants and organisers alike danced, celebrated and connected, ending Nexus’25 on a high, unforgettable note.

Reporters: Aanya Singh, Rudrayan Dutta, Saptak Roychowdhury
Photographers: Spandan Samanta, Agrag Ghosh, Dev Sinha, Sagar Dey, Naina Roy, Ridhi Lodha, Abhishek Kumar Ram, Drishti Drolia, Nishant Agarwal