AGHAAZ, curtain riser ALMA FIESTA

When beauty meets attitude a star is born.

The platform of Aghaaz- the Cultural Theme Show of IIT Bhubaneswar was one such arena. The handsome hunks and lovely ladies from colleges all around Bhubaneswar set the stage ablaze as the curtain riser event of Alma Fiesta 2014 rolled out at Reliance Trendz, Shaheed Nagar.

Aghaaz- the Cultural Theme Show was a prelude event to Alma Fiesta 2014, the annual socio-cultural fest of IIT Bhubaneswar. The cultural theme show was an effort by team Alma Fiesta to bring the glamour of the youth and the colours of culture together.

With over fifty participants from various colleges, Aghaaz was one of its kinds. The show was judged by eminent faces of fashion world, Shagoon Satpathy; a popular name in Mumbai for creativity in fashion and an actor himself. Amongst other judges were Chabbi Mahali winner of Navy Queen 2007; an actress in Odiya movies and an active member in the drive for uplifting tribals. Accompanying her was Sunita Garabadu, one of the state’s top anchors in television and an actress herself.

The event was being hosted by Dhananjay and Surbhi of IIT Bhubaneswar who carried the audience through a thoroughly entertaining event. The competition had three different rounds of casual wears, formal wears and party wears with question-answer round at the end. Each round was followed by elimination.

The crowd was kept hooked up to the show as in between the mesmerising ramp walk of models there were small competitions. A small game ‘Jaane tu ya jaane na’ brought out the essence of friendship present in the crowd. The Dance Society of IIT Bhubaneswar won many hearts as they hit the floor to the party beats. The crowd joined in with them and festivity began as Aghaaz, prelude Alma Fiesta 2014 turned out to be a complete entertainer.

The event serenaded with the winners Bidya Misra of OEC and Svetlana Mahapatra of IIIT Bhubaneswar being crowned Mr Alma Fiesta and Miss Alma Fiesta. The winners received gifts worth seven thousand rupees including a portfolio being made by Cliquers Group. The gifts of the evening were sponsored by VLCC. Team Alma Fiesta also thanked their associate sponsors Honda, IMS and UCO Bank for their support.

Following the successful beginning to another edition Alma Fiesta 2014 scheduled to be from January 10^th to 12^th is being anticipated to be a complete package of fun. Once again Alma Fiesta, IIT Bhubaneswar has kept up to its motto, redefining festivity.

   

All that is good or bad ends

You know, all those instances when you have an epiphany, for a moment you think, Eureka! I have found the truth, one of the absolute ones but a minute later you realize it’s just an adage which somehow your sub-conscious fed you as a Deja-vu. Yeah, I just had one of those. So it has been raining cats and dogs here and the chill during the morning is not all that pleasant when I think of taking bath and thus I get myself a bucket full of steaming hot water. The sheer joy that I get while pouring each bit of the water is much like the tender rays of morning sun in winters. It’s warm, oh yes it is warm and caring not blatant but strong enough to fight the cold. It’s also like a compendium of springs of past all put altogether. I remembered my mother, in that one fine summer morning when she was running behind me to get me dressed up for school and there were these most warm parathas that were waiting for me. But even before the bucket was half empty, I started to have grief that it would soon end and all I’ll have will be the chill of the rain. All that springs of childhood is long gone.
In that moment, that short-lived moment, I had the epiphany. Anything that is good or bad, that is dead or alive, that is material or idea has an inevitable destiny to meet. That it will end, is sure. And what I have at hand is me, young, oh yes young and exhilarating but soon will this end. Don’t take me as a cynic but I am not sure what to take out of this, is ‘moving on’, man’s righteousness? Sure it is that of the dead because they don’t have a choice.
You know, what else is like summer? Raghav Sachar’s Gulaabi Aankhein. I have been listening to it as I was writing this piece and highly recommend it. Best part, you can always replay it! No end to that!

Not Just Another Friday at IIT Bhubaneswar.

Inspite of our personal favourite debate on the irony behind Women Empowerment programmes (I’m pro, just in case you were wondering), the Workshop held this Friday on the topic felt as fresh and impactful as it could be. The speeches and the videos probably had the desired effect it could have asked for, but what stole the evening’s limelight was the cultural programme that followed it. From the Dance Society’s medley, to the Music society’s melody and the Dramatics Society’s portrayal of the malady, the evening turned out to be a HUGE success. I mean, literally, huge. The auditorium was filled with more than it could accommodate, for which we should maybe thank the High Tea arrangement. But even if it was the food that made the calling heard, the cultural societies must be grateful that they were watched. And appreciated, for that matter.

The evening’s first programme, the dance, was a pleasant variation from the usual matter (of girls’ dance that is) that we have been made used to in the last 2 years that I’ve been here. The choreography was beautiful, the song choices were good, and the boys paired with the girls couldn’t have been any more cuter. Just the one suggestion though, please have the costumes fit done before the show. None of the girls were looking comfortable in that horrendously tangerine thing. Thankfully, the overall performance more than made up for it. So, cheers for the feat.

Next, the music. It is funny how before every music production, the whole audience is filled with the only chatter, “This sound check is going to take forever.” Pleasantly, this time it didn’t. At least relatively. The songs that followed were nice to listen to, but the music society had definitely seen better performances than that. Remember the Independence Day performance? That was more like it. But, they delivered the message the evening had been set up for, with some lovely, lovely songs, and for that we are thankful.

The Stage Play, Humne Kuch Nai Dekha, basically stood out to be the star of the whole evening. The direction, the acting and the whole screenplay, deserved great applause. The use of the lightings on the harassment scenes, and the imagery of the female destroying the root cause of the violence that held the reins of the society, was beautifully executed, though a teeny-tiny bit amiss was the background score that should have supported the tandava dance. But that little mistake can be dusted off, thanks to the wonderful execution of the whole play. Kudos to the Dramatics Society on that.

The programme ended with the food of course, the call that was heard. I don’t know how it was, cause I didn’t wait in that ridiculously long queue that you met right out the door of the auditorium, but it did the wonder that none of the however well managed cultural society programmes could do. Filling the auditorium up. Have a good day.