It’s the season of fests in Delhi University (DU), and the Hindu College celebrated its annual extravaganza ‘Mecca 2012’ in a grand style. Spread over three days – the fest attracted at least 10,000 students from various colleges of DU. Of course, with big names from the music world performing and huge cash awards on offer, the presence of so many students wasn’t surprising.

The whole fest involved an expenditure of at least Rs 35 lakh and attracted nothing less than 16 to 17 sponsors. These included the title sponsor Lipton Ice Tea, Airtel, ITC, Lotus Infra, Nikon, Woodland, Reebok, Cocoberry, DU Blog and Red FM. No wonder the big budget fest was a cake walk for the organising students.

The coordinator of ‘Mecca 2012’, a statistics (hons) student, Raghavendra Singh informs, “What impressed the sponsors the most was our line up of events. There was something to cater to every kind of taste and interest. We began the fest on a spiritual note with the performance of the ISKCON rock band. Their rendition of Hare Rama Hare Krishna songs in a rock fusion style drove the students crazy. The teachers loved it too.” This was followed by street plays by 15 colleges of DU, including ‘Ibtida’ – the street theatre group started by alumnus and director Imtiaz Ali.

Simultaneously, a choreography competition, judged by Jason Tham of Just Dance fame, was held, and followed by an event called the ‘War of Bands’. No less than 15 bands from all over the country fought it out for the first spot and a band called Soul’d Out won. The evening ended with a DJ session in which Delhi-based DJs Gaurav and Krish enthralled the students with dhol beats and popular Bollywood songs.

On the second day, the Western and Indian music societies Arya and Alankar performed first which was followed by the Western dance competition that was won by Daulat Ram College. During the day time, science and maths quizzes, movie screenings, essay writing, clay modelling and poster writing competitions were held, while in the evening, the music fever continued. The first to perform was Hindu College alumnus and popular singer Padamjeet Sehrawat followed by Javed Ali mesmerised the students with qawwalis and Bollywood hits like: Jashn-e-Bahara and Kun Fayakun.

The third day drew in the largest crowd with ‘Mr and Ms Mecca’ contest, followed by the most awaited event of the year – the fashion show that was won by the Hindu College. Then it was time for a performance by the UK-based band RDB. The group belted out Punjabi chartbusters like Saadi Galli, Singh is King, Paisa Paisa and Aloo Chaat and left the crowd asking for more. Raghavendra informs, “In spite of installing 65 bouncers, all barricades and hostel gates were broken by the crowd towards the end of the performance.” A unique contest, which concluded the fest was the ‘Last Man Standing’.

Modelled on the popular show Roadies, the contestants had to perform challenging tasks like selling a large number of cold drinks in the college campus in a given time, doing an impromptu song and dance, and answering questions on current affairs. With a cash prize of Rs one lakh on offer, it drew huge number of participants. No wonder with its variety, vibrancy and glamour, ‘Mecca 2012’ lived up to its tagline – ‘The Baap of all Fests’.