April 23, 2010
Amrita School of Engineering, Coimbatore
Students of the literary club, Srishti, at the Coimbatore campus have organized Aitreya, the literary fest, for three years now. Below is a student report of Aitreya 2010.
Thrice the clarion call has been sounded, and thrice it has been responded to …
Aitreya 2010, the largest confluence of literary talent in Amrita lit up the campus like never before. This much-awaited intra-university literary competition, saw very active participation from the campuses of Bangalore, Coimbatore, Kochi and Mysore.
The entire set of competitions ranging from conventional declamations to an unconventional personality contest had participants vying for more than just prizes. The glory, both of the self and the institution, counted more in one’s heart.
The event started on the morning of Saturday, March 20. Prelims were conducted for War of the Wits, a debating contest that saw four teams being selected from over fifty, to participate in the finals scheduled for the next day.
Among the afternoon events was The Pulpit, where students delivered a lengthy dialogue or a soliloquy, impersonating a famous literary figure. Students stepped into the shoes of characters ranging from the Venetian Portia to our very own Abdul Kalam.
At the end of the considerable use of lung power and a few comic scenes where participants forgot their dialogues, the first and second prizes were awarded to Pavithra and Nikshep, both from Bangalore, for their very realistic portrayal of Helen Keller and the protagonist of one of Ayn Rand’s books, respectively.
The skit competition that followed had four plays that were adaptations of various literary pieces. The props, acting and the dialogue delivery impressed both the audience and the judges. The play that won the most accolades and also bagged the first prize was ‘My Fair Lady’, from G.B Shaw’s Pygmalion.
The second day began on an active note with Treasure Hunt. Teams had to solve puzzles and make it through the various check points. The team that finally made it through the gruelling session first, was that of Nithya, Rishab, Mukund and Aishwarya from the host campus.
Simultaneously, the finals of the War of the Wits had the audience indoors sitting in rapt attention while debaters argued about whether foreign varsities should be allowed to set up their campuses in India.
Two teams of four made logical rebuttals to one another as they spoke for and against the motion. The team that won showed good coordination and team work among the participants; this team had spoken out against the motion.
In the afternoon session, the results for off-stage events were announced. The prize for Ragmag was shared between the School of Dentistry, Kochi and School of Arts and Sciences, Mysore. The half-burnt parchments with colourful cartoons and lively comments about events were testimony to the students’ wonderful creativity.
The prize for Oscars (documentary film making) went to School of Arts and Sciences, Kochi for their informative and interesting documentary about the mangrove forests of Lakshadweep islands. The first and second prizes for Scittura (blurb writing) were bagged by Samuel of Bangalore and K. Gowtham of Coimbatore respectively.
Finally it was time for the valedictory function. Presided over by Dr. N. S. Pandian, Dean, PG Programs and Dr. Harini Jayaraman, Faculty Coordinator, Srishti, it brought the curtains down on one of the most fun-filled albeit professional displays of talent and grandeur. Both Bangalore and Coimbatore were adjudged joint winners.
