The indoor stadium National Institute of Engineering (NIE) reverberated to the sounds of music as thousands of youngsters witnessed the cultural programmes held as part of inaugural day of ‘techNIEks’ here on Thursday.

Deccan Herald is a media partner to the three-day techno-cultural event organised by NIE. As the crowd egged them on, more than 15 teams danced to the tunes of hit numbers of English, Kannada and Hindi songs. While the cultural programmes started with a powerful performance of Bharatanatyam from the Bhuvaneshwari troupe, the ‘Blue Birds’ set the stage on fire with their colourful dance. Manju and Group set the crowds roaring with their vigorous dance moves to a fusion of a modern Kannada film song.

With more than 2,500 people witnessing the programmes, the indoor stadium was overflowing, leading to LCD projectors beaming the visuals to the youngsters waiting outside.

A group of young children from the ‘Divya Deepa Trust’ drew the attention of the audience, by describing their aspirations of making it big in the mainstream. Dance troupes from various colleges across the city participated in the event.

Skits by Vishal, Nandish, Maniacs (Pramod) and Sandeep were also interspersed throughout the cultural programmes.

Earlier in the day, gaming competitions such as Counter Strike saw huge participation from students of colleges such as Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering (SJCE),  Vidyavardhaka College of Engineering and TTL College.

While nearly 15 teams participated in the tug-of-war, dumb charades led to quite a hilarious exchanges as students tried to decode the answers.

It wasn’t just fun’n’frolic at the festival, as many were subjected to intense stress tests in the ‘Roadies’ competitions. Also a workshop on software coding was organised by ITgiant IBM.  Renowned violinist Dr Mysore M Manjunath inaugurated ‘techNIEks’.

Speaking on the occasion, he said that any country is represented by its culture rather than its economic status.

He said that even though IT development started recently, India was known across the world for its rich heritage. While mentioning that traditional art should be supported, he said that more interest has to be taken to make the city a cultural centre. NIE Principal Dr G L Shekar inaugurated the techNIEks website.

Student Welfare Officer Dr P M R Bhandarkar, Student Co-ordinator Sushanth K V and others were present.

Finals of gaming competitions  will be held on Friday. Other programmes include C-coding, Pictionary, Brainie, CADD 3D modelling, slow bike race, documentary, treasure hunt, bull’s eye, JAM, SMS contest, sports and India quiz, short story writing contest, lagori, Mad ads and minute to win it. Cultural programmes including skits and ‘Nage Sanje’ will begin at 5.45 pm.