The 52nd edition of Antaragni, the annual fest of the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur was inaugurated on the evening of 26th October by Mr. Rajiv Garg, National Sales Head of Jindal Stainless Ltd. On this occasion, Mr. Indranil Manna, Director of IIT Kanpur urged the students to go beyond the limits of textbooks and contemplate and strive for all-round personality development. The inauguration was followed by electrifying performances by different DJs. The most awaited DJ KSHMR filled the crowd with enthusiasm who couldn’t resist grooving to the beats. After the EDM night, the Ritambhara fashion show prelims were conducted. Several other social events were organised which included ball dance and poker.
On the second day of Antaragni, the participants were all set to deliver their best in the competitions. The stage play societies of the numerous colleges of the country captivated the audience with their myriad themes ranging from oppression of the girl child, domestic violence, mental illness, the Kashmir issue, and more. The actors kept the audience glued to their seats. The nukkad natak prelims were conducted in the events ground and the jury consisted of eminent personalities the likes of Rajesh Sharma and Prithvi Zutshi. The performers enacted plays which highlighted many social and emotional issues and forced the audience into deep contemplation.
In Synchronicity, the musical event, bands from different colleges battled it out to emerge victorious. Highway 69 and Submarines were the bands which were declared the winners. Nrityangana, the classical dance competition, witnessed several forms of classical and folk dances from different parts of the county. The audience was in awe of the graceful steps staged by the dancers. Nimisha Devi from Janki Devi Memorial College won the first prize. Raghav Monga of Sri Venkateswara College and Arundhati Roy of Jesus and Mary College bagged the second and third positions respectively.
General Subrata Saha began his speech by joking about the chaos at IIT Kanpur’s fest which is similar to the chaos at the battlefield even after a lot of deliberation. He shared his stories of friendship and mischief from his military school days. He narrated incidents of the past where he risked his life and saved his fellow comrades, which resulted in lifelong camaraderie. He ended with the quote “If you want to do the possible, think with your mind and if you want to do the impossible, do it with your heart.”
Mr. Ashutosh Gupta opened his talk by engaging the students on their opinion of politics and the politicians they elect. In response to the questions put up to him, he taught the students that one shouldn’t vote on the politicians’ oratory skills but rather on their ideas and ideologies. He motivated the students aspiring to be future journalists to have the guts to write and speak about whatever is wrong by being fearless. He also engaged the students on the heated debated of patriotism and anti-nationalism.
The fun-filled night is yet to unfold as several other events are still lined up for tonight which includes performances by Euphoria and a comedy night.
Feature Image Credits: Hemant Goyal for DU Beat
Sandeep Samal
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Prachi Mehra
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