Strong ideas come forth

Indian Academy recently hosted a one-day inter-collegiate festival titled, Yuvtarang, which saw more than 20 colleges participating.

The first think that strikes you when you see the poster of the fest is the word ‘MAD’. A closer look reveals that it is the short form of music, arts and dance. The management says the idea came from the students, who were in charge of the fest right from conception to execution.

The college management did well in limiting the number of events to six. This seemed to have worked well with the students, who participated in all the events. Participation, rather than winning or losing, was what was important to them. Group song, group dance, ‘mad ads’, ‘adaptune’ and a fashion show were some of the events that were conducted.

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

When we decided to hold Yuvtarang last year, we didn’t think it would evoke such a huge response. We’re glad that the fest has been well-received. It is only through fests like these that the students get a good exposure. It also balances academics and extracurricular activities,” feels Somasekhar.

Somasekhar also points out that the fest has been entirely designed, planned and executed by the students. “It is 80 per cent students’ effort, supported by faculty members. We have lots of talent in the college and we want to nurture those talents and encourage them,” he adds.

‘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.

They left no stone unturned to explore their creativity. Mohit, a first-year student of Army Institute of Hotel Management, did a skit. “The skit was based on religion and giving alms. People are not very kind to the poor, especially when it comes to giving alms. This is what we tried to showcase and we got a good response,” he says.  

The fashion show saw the students merge their ideas and talent in the most creative manner. Priyadarshini, a student of NIFT, and her team, wove garments around the theme ‘Ravaged’. “We used jute bags and waste paper, which we collected from classrooms and from the canteen, and knitted them together. The idea is to portray a woman in a war field. A woman is strong and her innate powers come out best when she is in a tough situation,” she says.

Eshita, a fourth-year engineering student of Sambhram Institute of Technology, chose to portray Greek gods and goddesses. “We have used cotton and leaves for decorative purposes. The idea is to showcase how people clothed themselves in the past. They lived using whatever they could find around them, such as leaves. We made our accessories from waste paper and peacock feathers.”

Viki, a second-year degree student of Seshadripuram First Grade College, Yelahanka, worked around the theme ‘Beauty and the Beast.’ “The women were dressed in formal clothes but the guys, portrayed as beasts, got their faces painted. They wore mismatched shoes and even the show had been choreographed around this theme,” says Viki.