For Sakina N Olia, a BSc psychology student at Women’s Christian College, Chennai, the final-year of college is proving to be a year of “prioritisation and making the best of the time that is available”.

Sakina is part of Ayamara, which was initially conceptualised by Raghavendra Ramesh, Vineeth Ramesh and Srutanjay Narayanan, students of CEG, Anna University, Chennai. It is a student-run event management company that was started in August last year.

As a part of this 17-member group that manages various events across the city, she explains, “Our service charges are separate from the expenses incurred for that event. So we are able to manage our expenses pretty well. My payment depends on the kind of shows we do.”

They take care of events, both corporate and social. They have hosted a pan-Chennai car rally, launched a website called Paperhut, organised Secret Santa (Ayamara’s own initiative to give back to society in a unique way during Christmas), managed MYTF (a national-level theatre festival curated by Creashakthi), and organised and managed The Epic Show in association with 578 entertainments.

About the group Sakina says, “Each one of us are completely different individuals. But we work extremely well as a team. The advantage of having so many members with different talents is that we get the best product.”

Says Sakina, “I love being a part of Ayamara. I manage to find time to balance both work and studies. At times it’s hectic but equally fun and challenging. I want to pursue my master’s in human resource and in terms of Ayamara, we, the 17 of us hope to take it to larger and bigger heights!”

— kaviya@newindianexpress.com

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Education> Edex / by Kaviya Sanjeevi – Chennai / November 18th, 2013