Dec 4, 2009
School of Pharmacy, Kochi
 

Students of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham’s School of Pharmacy were busy organizing Dhwani 09 – Echo of Youth arts festival last month.
 

The purpose of the arts festival is to identify and encourage creativity in students, and promote student participation in all facets of institution life.
 

Third-year Bachelor of Pharmacy students are traditionally given the responsibility of organizing the festival. This is done to ensure each batch of undergraduate students has the opportunity to hone their organizational and leadership skills.
 

A variety of contests were held during the festival. The week of November 9-14 saw active participation from all students in cartoon drawing, pencil drawing and extempore English speaking competitions.
 

The grand culmination saw all students come together on November 20 and 21 for a plethora of extracurricular campus events. Classical music, light music, folk song, western music, classical dance, non-classical dance, fusion dance, split dance, group dance and fancy dress competitions — all saw spirited participation from students.
 

The 2008 batch that depicted the deplorable conditions in government medical colleges within a one-minute time span won the tableau contest. Their seniors, the 2007 batch, won the mime contest for beautifully illustrating misuse of mobile phones with actions alone, without using any words.
 

Renowned lyricist and music director Sri Kaithapuram Namboothiri was the chief guest on the final evening of the celebrations. Sampoojya Swamiji Poornamritananda Puri was also present, as a guest of honor. In addition, Dr. K. N. Unni, Principal of Amrita School of Dentistry and Mrs. Sheela Pavithran, Vice Principal of the Amrita College of Nursing were special invitees on the dais.
 

Certificates were distributed to all prize winners. Aneesh S. A. (2007 batch) and Anjali G. Nair (2008 batch) were honored as Kalaprathibha and Kalathilakam respectively for their exceptional performances. The overall trophy for arts fest was claimed by third-year students of the 2007 batch. Anas A. of this batch was honored for overall coordination of Dhwani 09. He and his peers had demonstrated all qualities necessary to successfully organize a large-scale event such as this one.