Tribute to whistleblower through Rubik’s Cubes

The Indian Institute of Management-Lucknow (IIM-L) has decided to pay a tribute to its alumnus S. Manjunath on his tenth death anniversary by making his mosaic portrait with Rubik’s Cubes.

S. Manjunath, an officer with the Indian Oil Corporation, was killed in Lakhimpur district by the oil mafia on November 19, 2005 when he tried to expose corruption and adulteration in the oil.

The Supreme Court, in 2015, held six men guilty and awarded life sentence to them in the murder case.

The idea of paying a tribute to Manjunath on his tenth death anniversary was initiated by Panchu Ghorui, a second-year management student of IIM-L, along with two others.

“I am very fond of the Rubik’s Cube and I first thought of making a mosaic of Manjunath in 2014, but it did not work out. This time we will execute it to mark his tenth death anniversary. The Rubik’s Cubes symbolise his sacrifice, courage and integrity,” said the student.

The IIM-L students will be using 23,278 Rubik’s Cubes to make the portrait which will also include Manjunath’s birth date, 23-02-1978.

The students are attempting to break the current Limca Book record of making a mosaic using 16,120 Rubik’s cubes.

Supported by the alumni community, the event will take place on November 18 and 19 at the convocation grounds. The mosaic work will be finished just before 6 pm on November 19, the time when a candle march will also begin.

The proposed mosaic will be kept in public area on IIM-L campus for display during Manfest, said students and later it will be dismantled. All Rubik’s Cubes will later be sold to recover the funds. The students plan to use the funds raised for scholarship to the students.

“There are more than 100 volunteers who will make the mosaic,” said Tanuj Lodhi, a member of Manjunath Shanmugam Trust student cell at IIM-L.