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A few days ago, The Auburn Umbrella dished out a couple of fashion trends for you all to follow as you participate in DU’s much-talked about ‘Fest Season’. As we visited various campuses to collect fest coverage, we were thrilled with the kind of fashion statements that were made by our stylish student body.

Although the weather over this season has been uncertain, flip-flopping from warm to hot to suddenly nippy, it appears that our trendy DU chicas have already declared summers! We got to see a lot of summery, short dresses, denim shorts and sleeveless shirts. Crop tops from last season are also back! Strappy sandals and leather back-packs on the accessories side were trending items too.

The dapper men chose to dress casually in long shorts, chappals and sporty tees. Western clothing was more frequently seen, with kurtas, Nehru jackets and khadi shirts from last season missing in the scene.

It’s very important to own a balanced wardrobe, i.e a good blend of branded, as well as street fashion and our students certainly know how to strike that equation right! So we saw girls sporting branded jeans with chunky jewellery bought off the street; or street sandals worn with branded skater dresses. In the brand category, the evergreen labels Zara, Promod, Forever 21 and the latest high-street fashion brand to enter Indian markets- H&M were popular choices; whereas flea markets like Janpath and Sarojini Nagar are still the places to shop at when one is on a tight budget.

As far as fashion disasters are concerned, thankfully, there were few that met the eye. People who are still holding on to their woollens and other items from winter were looked upon with contempt. Also, too much bling, too little clothing, excessively high heels and overdone make-up were unanimously regarded as fashion faux pas.

We have our avid DU fashion blogger, Sejal Kumar, corroborating our findings in her latest video. Watch her flit around the SRCC campus as she investigates what DU is wearing this fest season!

 

Delhi University fest season is one such phenomenon that students all over Delhi look forward to. The fame of the star nights, reputed college campuses and the crowd, are some of the reasons.

But there is a flip side to this view, the side of backstage preparations and frenzy. From the organising committee to the participating members, everyone is equally involved and occupied. The audience gets to see the flashy costumes, made up faces and the elaborate productions on stage but they miss the hours of backstage practice, the last minute panic, and those jitters right before the final team call.

Once on stage, it’s easy for the next few minutes. We do what we do best, we dance, we act, we sing. For that instant, we lose ourselves in the act, in the art and in the audience. We aren’t individuals here, we are part of a team; our identity isn’t our name but it’s the art that we give ourselves to. The madness returns after our moments on stage are past along with the nervous tension of results, sneaky assessments of rival teams and the adrenaline before the announcement.

This happens every single time, every fest and stage experience. But this isn’t even a challenge any more, because often four or five fests clash on the same day, and the teams perform in all of them! That’s when the grit of the participants really shows, their passion and commitment to their teams is inspiring.

Fest season is so much more than just a hip crowd and food for societies; it is months of hard work, dedication and competition. It’s the paycheck for their blood and sweat.

Feature Image Credits: Chirag Sharma for DU Beat!

Lady Shri Ram College for Women hosted its Annual Cultural Fest, Tarang ‘16 from 5th to 7th February, 2016. Amidst a huge footfall on all three days, the star catches of the event were performances by East India Comedy; Jochen Miller, the first international performer in LSR’s history and the band Agnee for final showdown on day three.

Day One: Inauguration, Indian Music Competition and East India Comedy with The Local Train

Day 1 began with a series of events and competitions ranging from the quiz competition and photography exhibitions to informal events and tote bag painting sessions. Among the formal events were Women Development Cell’s, Lutalica, following the concept of soliloquies which was won by Neha Diwan and Simran of LSR.

The Indian Music Society hosted Malhaar, the classical solo competition and Sugam, the semi-classical/light solo competition. The first prize in the classical solo category was claimed by Alish Mohan of Hindu College. In the semi-classical category, Gurdit of GTBIT bagged the first position.

The other events spread across the campus were photography competitions: Emakimono, Projektions, Spot On and Kairos. Projektions was won by Alex Arthur of SRM and Ishaan Sengupta of Motilal Nehru College. With these, a parliamentary debate competition, Stage Play Competition and Hindi Poetry Competition was also hosted. Informal events like ‘Taste test’, ‘Beg borrow Snap’ and Art Exhibitions managed to gather a huge crowd.

The highlights of the day were performances by East India Comedy and the band, The Local Train. Sourabh Pant and Sahil Shah of the former led the crowd into an almost-hysterical fir with their witty remarks on names of DU Colleges and how the canteen in LSR needs to be called Cafeteria. The Local Train played the tunes of their compositions like ‘Aaoge tum kabhi’ and ‘Bande’, drawing the curtains for day one.

Day Two: Battle of Bands and Choreography Competition

The Indian Music Society kick-started day two with the Indian Music: Choir Competition. A total number of 23 teams participated out of which 11 were shortlisted for the final round. The first position in Indian Music (Group) category was bagged by Hindu College.          

With this, Projekt, the photography society of LSR held the Silent Film Making Competition, Musidora. ‘Tangent’, of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College was declared the winner. The Quiz Society hosted The India Quiz where Apratim Chandra Singh (St. Stephen’s College), Jayant Verma (Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies), Bishal Kumar (Department of Buddhist Studies, Delhi University) won the event.

The Battle of Bands, on purely western format and ‘Amalgam’, Fusion Band Competition were a huge attraction. Amalgam was won by The Hans Raj Projekt of Hans Raj College, while Kirori Mal College’s High Time claimed the first position in the Battle of Bands.

Mudra, the Classical Dance (Solo) Competition was also held in the auditorium which saw a total number of 24 participants. Annanya of Daulat Ram College was declared the winner in this category.

 

As the Sun closed the horizon, one could observe long queues of spectators outside the auditorium, awaiting the Choreography Competition, Izraz. A total number of seven teams participated in the event which was eventually won by Srijya, the Choreography Society of Hindu College which rightly gathered the maximum praises from the jury and audience alike!

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Srijya, The Choreography Society of Hindu College. demonstrated themes of vengeance through their performance at Izraz…

Posted by DU Beat on Saturday, February 6, 2016

The most awaited event of Day 2, the EDM Night brought with itself a huge footfall where the ground was witnessed to by jam-packed with enthusiastic audience. DJ Sameer, Aerreo and Jochen Miller’s foot-grooving beats ensured each person in the audience was left enthralled and ecstatic.

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Day Three: Fashion Show, Western Dance Competition and Star Night with Agnee

Day three at Tarang ’16 started with exhibition of drama skills at ‘Nukkad Natak’, the street play event. ‘Pitch Please’, the Western Music Competition on Acappella format saw 15 teams participating. The auditorium reverberated with beats and musical notes as the teams performed their pieces meticulously. Kirori Mal College was declared the winner of the event.

Along with Pitch Please, the fashion show competition Anarchia- Breaking Stereotypes took place. The competition witnessed a participation of 7 teams, with the winner being Hans Raj College. There were many other events like TV Show Quiz, Turncoat, and Elocution. The Indian Music Society also hosted a duel competition called Jugal Gaayan.

While most events culminated before dusk, the Western Dance Competition, Daila continued till early evening. This was one of the most awaited events of the entire fest, a fact which was evident by the long queues that waited for entrance into the auditorium. Misba, the Western Dance Society of Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce claimed the first position. Their performance was acclaimed both critically and by popular opinion.

The Western Dance Society of SGGSCC, Misba
The Western Dance Society of SGGSCC, Misba

Following the western dance event was the Star Night where the band Agnee performed their popular songs like Aahatein and Yaariyan. A performance that was equally mesmerizing and enthralling, the three day extravaganza Tarang 2016 ended on a musical note and with zeal and happiness dripping from the faces of union members and faculty of the college.

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Tarang ’16 in an overview-

Here’s all what Tarang 2016 at LSR was all about.

Read highlights of individual days:

Day 1
Day 2, First Half
Day 2, Second Half
Day 3, First Half
Day 3, Second Half

Check out DU Beat’s entire album of Tarang ’16 here

Arushi Pathak
[email protected]

(Picture this in black & white and slow- mo) You’re grudgingly dragging yourself to an early morning class, the world around you is a scene of despondence and despair as your classmates are unwillingly following suit, when suddenly (shift to colourful mode and normal speed) something on the notice board catches your sleep deprived eye. You move in closer, inspect the poster announcing a college fest and with a thankful tear in your eye you mutter, “It is time!” (Cue hallelujah- type music, confetti optional).

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Theatrics aside, fest time has to be the most exciting time of the year, especially (but not only) for freshers. Plucked from the maddening board examination pressure and jolted into the prickly thorns of the FYUP, it is finally time to revel in that glory of DU which we had painted rosy pictures of in our heads. The anticipation for a great month and a half ahead is already evident. The definite dates are up, the Facebook event pages have been created, and I’m sure that in the secret garden of our hearts, the outfits have also been, or are in the process of being, decided.

But let my overly- evident thrill not take away from the venting space my laments against the four year programme that it deserves. Foundation course teachers have decided to finish off with a majority of the presentations and projects before the fests arrive, resulting in a mad rush to get everything done. Scuttling from the World Wide Web to the library and back again, the coming month has turned way more hectic than what we bargained for. Staying up All Night to Get Lucky has taken a whole new meaning with us, burning the midnight oil hoping against hope to meet the onslaught of deadlines. On the plus side, we do get one extra fest season.

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So here’s to looking forward to a great fest season that surpasses expectations. Wait, let me rephrase that, optimism and expectations will only get you so far. So here’s to looking forward to a fest season which isn’t a complete dud, or at least, to a few flattering profile picture- worthy photos!