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BITSAA Blog BITS Alumni Association Blog SearchHome About Bridges to the Future Leaders Register Write to us Post navigation ← Older posts Celebrating the success of BITSians’ Day 2017! Posted on September 3, 2017 by Rahul Priyadarshi 205 The beginning of August is close to every BITSian. It not only marks the beginning of the semester and ghoting for the CDCs but an occasion which acts as strengthening factor for all BITSians , the BITSians’ Day. BITSians’ Day started in 2013 and has come a long way since then becoming grand every year. BITSians’ Day 2017 was celebrated on 4 th August around the world. The celebration venues were announced with a unique Game of Thrones themed map to create zest among the BITSians . On this day, BITSians came together in more than 200 locations all over the world to connect with their fellow alumni and re-live their BITSian memories. BITSians’ Day was also celebrated across the BITS campuses. Apart from the celebrations planned in specific cities, this entire weekend witnessed several impromptu meetups in offices, universities and neighborhoods, and an outpouring of the BITSian spirit. But BITSians also proved that BITS will always rule their heart, with or without a huge celebration. Whether it was a peek into the BITSians’ Day celebration in the armed forces, a lone BITSian in Nairobi, a BITSian at Tesla celebrating with a drive or an inspiring message from Campbell Island, Great Nicobar, the day witnessed BITSians utilizing the power of social media to connect to their Alma mater and alumni. On the Social Media Platforms, there has been huge increase in responses from BITSians across the globe this year. Twitter impressions increased by 200% whereas Facebook posts showed remarkable 280% increase from 2016. For increased engagement on social media, BITSAA launched Back2BITS Weeks”- contests on social media for every week leading up to BITSians’ Day lasting for around one and a half months. The initial events were focused on sharing memories from the BITSian life like their Hangout places, food they ate at BITS and their customs and traditions which provided a Social media outburst from BITSians from all decades. The later campaigns were more personalized, and focused on individual experiences and expectations. Meet Your Alumni event aimed at connecting the BITSians Alumni with the other BITSians for guidance and help, and received a spectacular 500 responses. Most of the BITSians seeking help have already been matched to their mentors, enabling them to resolve their queries regarding their future endeavors. The BITSian Heroes event brought forth the stories about how a person from his/her BITSian life has been helpful and built a special bond. In the last week, quiz related to everyday life of BITSians was organized on social media. A prelude to BITSians’ Day video was also launched and struck a chord with BITSians. News platforms – The Hindu and Inshorts covered the success of BITSians’ Day this year. This BITSians’ Day, BITSAA also launched the annual magazine , ‘The BITsian’ with the theme ‘BITS Then and Now’ . The magazine features interviews from Directors of all the campuses from BITS Pilani, highlighting how BITS has grown and changed over the years. It encompasses stories across a gamut of its alumni and topics. from life of the first BITS batch of 1946 to more recent stories like lifting of the curfew from BITS Girls’ hostel which set a precedent for the country. The magazine can be read here: https://issuu.com/bitsaa/docs/bits_then_and_now A 36-Hour group fundraising campai gn- The BITSians’ Day giving campaign was organized as a run up to BITSians’ Day and the two biggest groups got to dedicate 10% of the ENTIRE amount raised to a BITSian cause of their choice. And finally, as BITSians Day dawned, several BITSians put up small video clips as their Whatsapp Statuses and Facebook stories to show solidarity as a BITSian family, which further contributed to the BITSians’ Day frenzy. Needless to say, the event was a huge success. BITSians’ Day concluded in a spectacular manner, and looking forward for more amazing experiences the next year. Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged BITSians’ Day | 205 Replies Meet BITSians in Sports: BITS2Fitness Thirteenth Interview: Sneha Mehta (BITS-Hyd’14) Posted on August 27, 2017 by Praharshitha KV 587 #MeetBitsiansInSports Our 13th Interviewee for Meet the BITSians in Sports” series is Sneha Mehta (2009B4A7PS639H). Sneha served as the Sports Secretary(Girls) in Bits Pilani Hyderabad for the academic year 2012-2013 batch. She was also the team captain for girl’s basketball team in Spree(Bits Goa’s Annual Sports Meet). She has co-organized Bits Pilani Hyderabad’s first ever sports meet, Arena in 2012. Currently pursuing her PhD in Data Mining at Virginia Tech, Sneha shares her fitness story with us.. Name : Sneha Mehta BITS ID : 2009B4A7PS639H Q. What motivated you to pursue fitness in the first place? When I was very young, my mom made me join a nearby Basketball coaching center. As I grew up, I became really good and passionate about it. Eventually I got selected to represent my district in multiple state level championships. Good performance in one of those championships got me selected to represent my state of Maharashtra in a national level championship that was to be held in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. This tournament was memorable as we defeated the then defending champions Chhattisgarh in extra time at semi-finals and finally went on to win the championship by defeating the home team. This win was special because Maharashtra girls hadn’t won a gold in 13 years . This experience motivated me even further and I continued playing semi-professional basketball until 12th grade. Along with that, in school, I was part of the local NCC battalion and went on several camps. One of them was especially memorable because it was a one month national trekking camp and I got exposure to real camping in the wild. So I’ve been athletic from a very young age and fitness has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Q. What are the sports/activities you are involved in and how did you get into playing these sports? I got introduced to Basketball at a very young age. Being good at Basketball gave me an an advantage in picking up the basics of other sports quickly. So in the 9th grade, I was the vice-captain of my school’s Throwball team that represented Vidarbha in National Throwball Championship held in Thane, Mumbai. Besides that I also played Volleyball and Shot put in school representing my ‘house’. In college, I’ve mostly spent time playing Basketball and we formed a team that represented our campus at Spree 2011 (BITS Goa Sports Fest). We lost the semi-finals to the home team by a whisker in a nail-biting encounter. I’ve also been involved in administrative activities pertaining to sports in college and was elected as a sports secretary for the year 2012-2013. After graduating, I’ve mostly played badminton (I had taken a bit of a badminton coaching when I was still in college) and Table Tennis. I was also into long distance running (mostly 10K). My best timing for 10K was 55 mins. A couple of years back I joined grad school as a PhD student. Here, I’m involved in badminton, Table Tennis and Wallyball ( a fun version of Volleyball played on a squash court and you’re allowed to bounce the ball off the walls!). I’ve played intra-university badminton, singles and mixed doubles tournaments here for two years. In 2015, I was the 1st runner-up in singles and our team was the 2nd runner-up in mixed doubles and in 2016 our team was the first runner-up in mixed doubles. Q. How often do you engage in each of them? Any routine you follow? I engage in the activities mentioned above 2-3 times a week or as often as my schedule allows me too. There’s no specific routine, but I make it a point to not let a week pass by without some form of physical activity. Usually I hit the gym 4-5...