When the best of the best compete

Fun-filled event

One of the most awaited fest of Delhi University, ‘Reverie 2012’, organised by Gargi College, witnessed an overwhelming response with about of 13,000 students from all over Delhi participating.

Spread across three days, the festival introduced a number of new competitions and recorded an overwhelming participation from almost all the colleges of the City.

 The theme ‘Before and Beyond Bollywood’ dominated the cultural extravaganza. The inaugural ceremony on the first day saw star-performance by Kailash Kher and culminated with a musical evening by Nizami Brothers on the last day. Explaining the theme of the festival, principal Meera Ramachandran says, “We utilised the institute as a platform to do away with the usual trend of Bollywood presence in college festivals and expose the students to diverse traditional arts of Indian cultural milieu.”

A mesmerising Manipuri dance recital by Padma Shri Singhajit Singh and Charu Mathur inaugurated ‘Reverie 2012’. The duo along with the troupe presented a variety of Manipuri dances, including Ras Leela and Vande Mataram. Meera says, “It was great to see the students enjoy the various genres of tradition. The applause that filled the auditorium after the Manipuri dance recital says all about the success of the concept.”

 An array of competitions, which was introduced for the first time, followed the sublime start. Among this was ‘Battle of Bands’, which was judged by Ashish Chauhan (drummer for Nasya) and Gaurav Balani (bassist for Parikrama) who declared Soul’d Out as the winner. The recitation of Sanskrit shlokas in melodious ragas and Sanskrit Natya Abhivyakti saw a good response. Another premiere competition was ‘Stand Up Comedy’, which was aimed at maximum entertainment of the audience and judges.

An out and out crowd-puller was the unusual competition titled ‘BAD: Singing and Dancing’, which saw nearly 50 registrations. Vice-president Varsha Chaudhary says, “The competition was designed to please those who could not make it to the dance or music society and still wanted to showcase their talent. Though the theme of BAD Dancing was Baraati, the participants of BAD Music were allowed to sing any genre. It was a sight to see the whole ‘Art Quad’ filled with students gathered for an event that searched the worst among the bad singers and dancers, to be crowned as the winner!”

The ‘Choreo Night’ judged by Shashank Dogra of Dance India Dance fame, was the main attraction on day one, with Sri Venkateswara College bagging the first prize.

 The second day saw a short film competition, which was organised for the first time in Delhi University. Almost all the film societies of colleges participated in the competition that was organised by The Film Club Society of Gargi. Street play was another grand success and was won by Kirori Mal College. Beyond the competitive spirit, the entertainment was at full-throttle, with the alumni of the college exhibiting their talent at ‘The Return of the Legends’.

 On the same day, Reverie’s literal meaning (state of thinking about pleasant things) was transformed into an action-packed reality when girls shouted at the top of their voices and climbed the available chairs and tables, for just a glance of Kailash Kher. The singing sensation cracked jokes about his initial residence in Delhi where being a neighbour of Gargi he wondered about the mysterious talks of this girls’ college.

 An inter-college Qawwali competition in collaboration with Culture Council of Delhi University, was organised on the final day and was much-appreciated by the audience. On the same day, the western dance performances stole the show with boys from IIT Delhi walking away with the first prize.

Among the stalls, the Adventure Island Fortune Wheel and Mystical Tarot were instant hits. The Lahori tikka at Pakistani food stall and Dhani Ram’s Bhelpuri were savoured by all. The gala festival ended with a Sufi qawwali performance by Nizami Brothers.