Sangamitra – I : Unmasking the other side of us
Volume One of the annual cultural fest of Great Lakes- Sangamitra was conducted with barrels of spirit and glee. It was an evening long event and served exactly the right mix of songs, dances, cat walks, mimicries, skits, poor jokes and claps.
Some of the preparations begun a little more than seventy two hours before the show and others, a few minutes. The preparatory time passed on a nice break from the otherwise stretched-to-the-elastic-limit schedule that we always carry in our bags. Extracurricular stuff has always been something of an unwinding business and moreover all of us are here at Great Lakes a little because of our past involvements in places apart from books. So when it came down to Sanghamitra , the adrenalin pumps went on full throttle and worked overtime creating a whole new experience among the junta . It was titillating to see people brainstorm ideas other than entrepreneurial ventures or business plans or how-to-keep-sleep-off-for-another-two- hours. Practice and more practice suddenly took centre stage and at that point in time, for a wonderful change, we felt that it was not where we were- attending the evergreen classes and assignments that stuck to our post-its and excel spreadsheets since April the 23rd.
***
THE day arrived. Venue was Green Meadows Classes were scheduled in the morning so that we could have this done in the evening. By three in the afternoon, all were free and started moving towards the venue. Green Meadows is a resort in Chennai that lives up to its name – with greenery generously sprayed all over the premises. Rolling, well maintained lawns, tall palms, flowers of umpteen kinds chipped in with the refreshing feel that evokes once you are in the lap of nature. One of the central lawns was where the event was to happen. A temporary stage was put up with state of the art sound systems.
Between three and six, the class saw the preparation syndrome taking its peak shape. Guys and girls were scattered all over the place trying their best to give a final shape to their upcoming performance. Animated expressions beamed in from different corners. The dance teams were frantically getting together their respective costumes, some of which were hired. The skit team took on the serene privacy behind the stage in the shade of a few trees to rehearse.
The curtain was raised just after sunset when the anchors took over. Next few hours took all of us in a virtual realm of joy, appreciation and frolic. It was assuring to see Uncle Bala singing a famous Tamil number “Kannae Kalaimaane”.Songs like Roja, Wonderwall, Valai Osai, Pehli Nazar, one of Madonna’s filled the otherwise quiet air with sweet decibels. A number of scintillating dance performances were aptly sprinkled - Asatya, Western Easter, Salsa , Tamil Rockers etc. ; all of them were well rehearsed and made everyone tap their feet to the tunes. A skit depicting the life at Great Lakes was pinned in too - the classroom-goof ups, unquestionable questions, the library-dwellers, a handful that has helped improve the topline of ITC by taking their daily share of filtered cigs. A couple of mimicries and a comedy show entertained the audience. Also an off the trot couple game lightened the mood further. It was nice to see the married batchmates walking the ramp with their spouses. The show had a medley, a lovely touching video on our campus life. On the spot prizes were given out at regular breaks. All in all it was three-DVDs full of fun, dance and a much-needed-break.
Nice job by the Events Team who conceived, thumped a few backs before they put together the show.
Some of the preparations begun a little more than seventy two hours before the show and others, a few minutes. The preparatory time passed on a nice break from the otherwise stretched-to-the-elastic-limit schedule that we always carry in our bags. Extracurricular stuff has always been something of an unwinding business and moreover all of us are here at Great Lakes a little because of our past involvements in places apart from books. So when it came down to Sanghamitra , the adrenalin pumps went on full throttle and worked overtime creating a whole new experience among the junta . It was titillating to see people brainstorm ideas other than entrepreneurial ventures or business plans or how-to-keep-sleep-off-for-another-two- hours. Practice and more practice suddenly took centre stage and at that point in time, for a wonderful change, we felt that it was not where we were- attending the evergreen classes and assignments that stuck to our post-its and excel spreadsheets since April the 23rd.
***
THE day arrived. Venue was Green Meadows Classes were scheduled in the morning so that we could have this done in the evening. By three in the afternoon, all were free and started moving towards the venue. Green Meadows is a resort in Chennai that lives up to its name – with greenery generously sprayed all over the premises. Rolling, well maintained lawns, tall palms, flowers of umpteen kinds chipped in with the refreshing feel that evokes once you are in the lap of nature. One of the central lawns was where the event was to happen. A temporary stage was put up with state of the art sound systems.
Between three and six, the class saw the preparation syndrome taking its peak shape. Guys and girls were scattered all over the place trying their best to give a final shape to their upcoming performance. Animated expressions beamed in from different corners. The dance teams were frantically getting together their respective costumes, some of which were hired. The skit team took on the serene privacy behind the stage in the shade of a few trees to rehearse.
The curtain was raised just after sunset when the anchors took over. Next few hours took all of us in a virtual realm of joy, appreciation and frolic. It was assuring to see Uncle Bala singing a famous Tamil number “Kannae Kalaimaane”.Songs like Roja, Wonderwall, Valai Osai, Pehli Nazar, one of Madonna’s filled the otherwise quiet air with sweet decibels. A number of scintillating dance performances were aptly sprinkled - Asatya, Western Easter, Salsa , Tamil Rockers etc. ; all of them were well rehearsed and made everyone tap their feet to the tunes. A skit depicting the life at Great Lakes was pinned in too - the classroom-goof ups, unquestionable questions, the library-dwellers, a handful that has helped improve the topline of ITC by taking their daily share of filtered cigs. A couple of mimicries and a comedy show entertained the audience. Also an off the trot couple game lightened the mood further. It was nice to see the married batchmates walking the ramp with their spouses. The show had a medley, a lovely touching video on our campus life. On the spot prizes were given out at regular breaks. All in all it was three-DVDs full of fun, dance and a much-needed-break.
Nice job by the Events Team who conceived, thumped a few backs before they put together the show.
posted by Suryya Sarkar at 2:47 AM
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