March 25, 2010
Amritapuri Campus
A firework of creativity pulsed in the premises of the Amritapuri Campus during the last week of February; a sign that Amrita Kalotsavam, the annual arts fest was ongoing.
The Melam that was conducted to promote the festival on the evening of February 22 gave a promising foretaste. An outburst of joy was seen among the students; boys danced endlessly to the beats of the drums on the lower floors of the main building.
The off-stage events including water-color painting, face painting, cartooning, rangoli and pencil drawing all had inspiring themes of hope and love. Despite dense crowds, the beautifully-arranged and delicate rangoli designs graced the different parts of the corridors, miraculously surviving the entire festival.
After the lighting of the lamp at the official inauguration ceremony on February 25, Ajit Kumar, a student of S8 ECE, was congratulated by the Associate Dean Dr. Balakrishnan Shankar. He had won the logo contest for the arts fest.
“According to South Indian culture, the woman with lamp sitting behind the window represents beauty and prosperity,” explained Ajit. “The seven colors stand for graphic art, the mask represents drama, the violin and table, music and the pen, literature.”
In his welcome speech, the student coordinator, Abish K, welcomed the captains of the four houses Amritamayi, Jyotirmayi, Chinmayi and Anandamyi wishing them all the best for the championship.
The Jugalbhandi music competition of the evening was preceded by the performance of a magician who enchanted the audience with a sequence of wonderful surprise effects.
A variety of events — Drama, Mono-acting, Classical and Semi-Classical Dance, Mime, Instrumental Music, Western Group Music, Recitation, Debate, Karaoke, Patriotic Song, Elocution in English, Malayalam and Sanskrit, was enjoyed by participants over the next 2 days.
At the nostalgia song performances, for example, early childhood memories were evoked when participants sang and danced in costumes true to original style to songs such as Meri Sapnon Ki Rani (Hindi), Doorae Kizhakuthikum (Malayalam) or the Chitram film music.
On Saturday morning, the audience in the new seminar hall suddenly found itself in the New Yorker Bronx, when boys delivered superb rapp performances, while dancing to the rhythm of Afro Beats at the Semi Classical Solo Dance event.
Is media stronger than the government? This was one of the discussion topics at the debate contest. Here it quickly became evident that being concise and coherent was far more effective in helping convince others rather than packing in as much information as possible.
S4 B.Tech. students ran a food stall that featured culinary delights from different parts of India. The Andhra special Pullihora, and North Indian treats such as Pani Puri and Aloo Bajji sold like hot cakes. Proceeds from the stall will help fund scholarships for underprivileged children.
“The number of registered participants this year was higher than all previous years,” proudly noted Ms. Shreedha Sambhudevan, the overall faculty-in-charge. “There were 36 different dramas and 100 fancy dress competitors! We had to set up ten stages for the entire event!”
The students’ enthusiastic participation, whether on-stage or as part of the audience, was perceivable all along. The Jyotirmayi house scored 1820 points and won; it was followed by the Chinmayi house that had 1573 points.
