Non-stop action on stage

The enthusiasm and energy of 500-odd students was palpable during ‘Yuvtarang - The Waves of Young Generation’, a one-day youth fest held at the Indian Academy Degree College.

The first-of-its-kind fest, ever organised by the college, drew a good response with more than 20 colleges participating in full strength.

The college management did well in limiting the number of events to five or six. This seemed to have worked well among the students who participated in all the events.

Winning or losing was secondary and all that mattered to them was to fall in line with the spirit of participation. Among the events were group song, group dance, mad ads, adaptune and fashion show.

Dr T Somasekhar, chairman, Indian Academy Group of Institutions seemed excited about the whole concept. “We have always had an intra-college fests and every department in the college always has something going on.

But this is the first time that we have put together an inter-collegiate festival and I am overwhelmed by the response and hope to make this an annual affair. It is only through fests like these that the students get a good exposure and it also balances out the academics and extracurricular activities,” said Somasekhar. 
 
Talking about how the idea of ‘Yuvtarang’ came about, Dileep Mohan, a lecturer with the department of computer science said that the college was keen on organising something for the students, one where they could showcase their talents in music, dance and fashion. “‘Yuvtarang’ meaning waves of the young, was put together in less than eight days. It was a real challenge in terms of bringing so many colleges together, but this is our first time and I think we have done a pretty good job.” 

Among all the events, mad ads, adaptune and the fashion show drew the maximum numbers of participants. Mad ads had the students conceive, design and market a product created by them. And they left no stone unturned to exploit their creativity.

There were a group of students from Sindhi College who conceptualised the Unga Unga Spray and did all they could to sell it. “This is our signature product. Mad ads really tests your creativity and does well to bring out the best in you. Fests like these really boost your confidence,” said Vijay Vigesh of Sindhi College. There was another group that presented the Kanchana product.    

Another popular event was ‘adaptune’ where a couple of tunes were played one after another and the participants had to adapt to the change in tune. Sini Simon, second year BCom, St Claret College did well to adapt rather quickly to the change of music in ‘adaptune’. “I participated in all the events and it’s been a thrilling experience right through. I owe my dancing skills to my choreographer who gave me the confidence to pull it off,” said Sini.

Prabhu, a student of  RBNMS College said, “I never thought I would participate in any of the events but when I came here I couldn’t resist the urge to participate in as many events as I could. It’s been great all through.”

Putting the fest together has been a learning experience for the student co-ordinators. They said that this experience gave them the confidence to manage multiple things at the same time. S Shivankari, a student of Indian Academy said, “It was hectic managing the events and money while planning the fest. It gave us a feel of the real world.”