Manjunath,
who fought and sacrificed his life for a cause, is an inspiration not only for
IIM fraternity but also for the entire youth of India. It was the brainchild of Panchu,
Manish and Tanuj to build a mosaic of Manjunath on his tenth death anniversary,
so that the very ideals of honesty and integrity be conveyed to all. The ideals
for which Manjunath stood, fought and died.
Panchu,
a second year student of post graduate program of IIM Lucknow, is a Rubik’s
cube veteran. Manish and Tanuj are also Rubik’s cube enthusiasts.
Manish loves photography and Tanuj is a member of Dramatics club of IIM Lucknow.
To conceptualize a first of its kind oval shaped image (as per the best of our
knowledge) made of Rubik’s cube was a natural artistic instinct for these born
artists. Khusboo developed the image in Photoshop and they went deep into the
image up to the pixel level.
White,
Yellow, Red, Orange, Blue and Green are the six colors found on a cube. A face
of the cube comprises of nine squares and there are, of course, six faces. Each
of the pixels on Manjunath’s photograph was thus mapped with one of the six colors
of Rubik’s cube. The image was then transformed into an excel type sheet, grids
with rows and columns. Each of the boxes on the sheet now has a unique color. Several
micro images of size 15 by 15 pixels, which is equivalent to 5 by 5 Rubik’s
cube grid, were isolated from the main image. Prior to the mega event, several
groups of volunteers were given lessons on solving Rubik’s cube by experienced
cube solvers. The team managing the record breaking attempt, assigned a set of
pre-decided grids to several teams. The teams consisted of an experienced cube
solver, a few beginners and intermediate cube enthusiasts. The teams working in
shifts, during the night and breaks between the busy schedules of classes, volunteered
to form pre-assigned complex patterns with the cube on its top face. We started on the night of 18th November and worked in shifts till 19th
night to form the patterns with the cubes. A unique number was assigned to each grid.
Another team of students volunteered in placing the small grids of 5 by 5 Rubik’s
on the stage.
A
candle march was organized by the students and we also took a pledge of
integrity as a homage to our beloved alumnus. After 21 hours of work what emerged
on late evening of 19th of November was a truly stunning piece of
art, a smiling face of Manjunath formed with 23278 Rubik’s cubes. 23rd February 1978 happens to be Manjunath's birthday. It is a new record. We are sure to find a place in Limca Book of Records. Our tribute to a hero, who died fighting corruption.
