Nov 6, 2009
School of Medicine, Kochi
 

Odyssey — the very name conjures up the vision of an exciting journey. And what a journey it was! For the 400+ students of 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 batches of the Amrita School of Medicine that participated in the Arts Festival on the Health Sciences campus, this was a voyage of discovery and learning.
 

Creative Writing, Poetry Writing, Painting, Pencil Sketching, Poster Designing, Cartooning, Face Painting, Mehndi, Rangoli, Scrap-Art, T-Shirt Designing, Pot Painting, Clay Modeling, Vegetable Carving, these were only some of the usual and not-so-usual competitions, 51 in all, organized during the period, September 22 – October 28.
 

“This artistic kaleidoscope provided a platform for students to explore their artistic talents and learn from seasoned artists among the medical students,” stated Rahul Lakshminarayanan of the 2006 batch, one of the main organizers. This cultural extravaganza was organized by the senior batch of students, in keeping with a long-standing tradition.
 

Oct 29-31 saw the culmination of Odyssey ’09. Renowned playback singer and cine artist, Shri. Vineeth Sreenivasan, the Chief Guest at the inaugural function sang some of his popular numbers for the gathering. “We had this unique opportunity to be dazzled by the rich, melodious voice of our Chief Guest,” said an energetic first year student.
 

The inaugural function also included a video presentation made by students that paid tribute to preceding years’ Arts Festivals. It concluded with the Girls Group Dance Competition that was won by the senior batch 2006.
 

The following days saw active competition between all batches of students in events such as JAM, Pictionary, Dumb Charades, Spin-a-Yarn, Mime, Extempore and Recitation. There were melodious renditions in Western, Eastern, Light Music, Eastern Classical, Group Songs in both Eastern and Western categories.
 

The icing on the cake, quite literally, was the hugely popular Food Court run by the students. There was also a popular T-shirt stall. In addition, the three days were interspersed with entertaining fillers — Arm Wrestling, Treasure Hunt and even a Cacophony, a competition to ascertain the worst singer in the School’s history.
 

The final evening had it all. On October 30, 15 Amrita TV superstars, participants in the Superstars II reality TV show, dazzled the audience with scintillating performances. Foot tapping music, dancing and tremendous crowd participation. “You had to be there to experience the energy and life in their show,” rejoined Sanjay Mohan of the 2005 batch.
 

The superstars sang popular Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi songs. The hall was packed to capacity. Fast and trendy numbers has the whole house on their feet. The Closing ceremony saw the prize distribution. And thus another Arts Fest carved out its niche in the annals of the Amrita history.