“A day will come when there will be no battlefields, but markets opening to commerce and minds opening to ideas.” 

-Victor Hugo

The Commerce and Economics Department of Delhi Public School, R. K. Puram hosted their annual Inter-School Eco-Commerce Festival ComAstitva – 2022 on Saturday, November 19, 2022 under the able guidance of the Heads of the Departments Ms. Reena Mehta and Ms. Anu Bhandari respectively.  It was conducted in a hybrid mode with events happening both on-campus and online. The fest created a platform for young business enthusiasts to come forward and showcase their entrepreneurial skills in a series of challenging engagements. 

The events endeavoured to expose students to the working and economic environment of business, commerce and industry, and to provide a hands-on experience into the world of entrepreneurship. 

A number of innovative and creative competitions were planned to help the students of classes XI and XII to learn, explore and reach beyond their expectations and emerge as ‘winners’.

The Online category consisted of:

• Nit-Picker 

In this event the participants were required to find loopholes in the four business applications provided to them, challenging them to present possible solutions for the loopholes.

• The Comic Act
  In this event, participants were required to send a video of a stand up performance, showcasing their comedy skills and testing their relevance to the business world. The topics given to them were based on certain happenings and elements in the economy.

• Spoils Of War

As a part of this challenge, participants were required to make a one-minute video explaining either the negative or the positive impacts of the Russo-Ukrainian War on the Indian Economy. It gave them a platform to think creatively and sensitise them about the various economic instabilities caused by the war.

 The Offline category included: 

• Chronicles Of Business

The participants were asked to present their views on Nordstrom’s Liberal  Return Policy highlighting the positives and negatives, and analysing the business strategy from an economic point of view. Participating schools were represented by teams consisting of two members, one for the motion, and the other against the motion.  The judges were-

• Ms.Paavani Gupta, a recipient of the Diana Award. She is currently working as an Analyst in Strategy Consulting at EY-Parthenon.

• Ms.Ekagrata Arora from who is currently studying in Hansraj College, Delhi University.

The event ended with a short presentation showcasing the endeavours and achievements of DPS RK Puram  and the events that took place over this academic year. 

• Treasure Hunt

The treasure hunt’s motto was “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”, this event tested the accounting skills and business awareness of the participants. In order to win, the teams had to decipher the clues and reach the final location. There was one team per school consisting of 2 members each.

The preliminary round started at 9am with 18 teams participating. Participants were tested on their knowledge and speed. They were then given 20 minutes for a Quiz and  6 teams qualified.

For the next part of the quest the students were sent to the rooms where the treasure hunt took place.

Each room challenged them with escalating difficulties. The tasks ranged from crossword puzzles to identifying the logos and musical audios. The final task required them to make a balance sheet using the given information. All in all the event was extremely invigorating and kept the participants on  their toes.

•  FIX-IT

Taking their imagination to greater heights, the participants in this event were challenged to create something invaluable out of something worthless. Each team was given 45 minutes to make their product with the use of waste materials. After this, Each product was pitched to judges by the teams as they decided which among them was the best and most relevant to the current market. Teams from different schools presented varying business ideas to the judges- 

• Simran Kaur (B.A. (Hons) Economics, St. Stephan college) 

• Yuveer Bagai (M.B.A., Jindal Global Business school) both alumni of Delhi Public School, R. K. Puram. 

These ideas ranged from day-to-day  eco-friendly gadgets to big scale gamechangers. Some of the products presented were as follows, An Auto-Sorting Eco-Vacuum cleaner that sorted the intake into recyclable, non-recyclable waste, Another product was a Container for easy handling of plastic waste.

At the culmination of the ComAstitva , Mr. Mukesh Kumar, Vice Principal, DPS RK Puram extended his gratitude on behalf of the Principal Ms. Padma Srinivasan to the Principals of all participating schools, and highlighted the importance of such events to motivate students to embark on their own entrepreneurial journey. 

The ceremony drew to a close by singing the School Anthem and the  National Anthem.