The second day of Nexus, the annual fest of Sri Venkateswara College commenced on the morning of 9th March 2018, with several events around the campus. One of them was Goonj, the Indian classical group singing competition. The seminar hall in which the event took place was given the necessary aura by being decorated with dim fairy lights. Eleven colleges enthusiastically participated in the event, including Kamla Nehru College, Hansraj College, Ramjas College, etc. Though the societies of each college filled the auditorium with great vigour with their voices, the highlight of the event was a special performance by the host team Alaap, the Indian music society of Sri Venkateswara College.
The competition was judged by Ujwal Nagar, an exceptionally talented musical artist from a famous collective called Advaita. Geetanjali, the Indian music society of Miranda House, bagged the first position and a cash prize of INR 8000 through their beautiful blend of Raga Puriya-Dhanashri and Raag Jog. The second position and a cash prize of INR 6000 were won by Alankaar, the Indian music society of Hindu College, which mesmerised the audience with their mixture of the three raags – Rageshree, Jogkauns, and Gambheera Nattai Talam. All societies were very supportive of each other and the event seemed like a celebration of music.
The MELA Quiz organised by Conquiztadors, the quiz society, and saw active participation. Gokul of Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College and Gourav Jena of Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies bagged the first position as a team and won INR 2500 as the cash prize. The second position was bagged by Akash Verma of Delhi School of Economics and Rabin Jacob of Department of Anthropology, the University of Delhi (DU).
Anubhuti, the street play society Sri Venkateswara College, organised Madari, the street play competition. Natuve of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College (Morning) bagged the first position. Their impactful performance was based on depression. DramaNomics of College of Vocational Studies won the first runner-up trophy, and the dramatics society of Lady Shri Ram College followed as the second runner-up. Kshitij of Gargi College received a special mention. Shilpa Marawaha of Sukhmanch Theatre was one of the judges. She said that all the plays were very contemporary and thought-provoking. Abhishek Kumar Singh of Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies won the Best Actor award and Best Actress was given to Spraha of IP College for Women.
Leonci, the Fine Arts Society organised a Story Illustration Competition, out of six participants, Nibedita Roy of Shivaji College bagged the first prize and Shivangi Rao of Maitreyi College secured the second position.
Effulgence, the Film, and Photography Society organised a short film competition which was judged by Mr. Imran Raza, Director of IG Productions. The first position was bagged by Symbiosis College, Pune and second was won by St. Stephen’s College.
Alaap, Indian Music Society of Sri Venkateswar College, organised Gamak, a classical solo competition. Mr. Kshitij Mathur, an Indian Classical vocalist based out of Delhi judged the event. Vasundhara of IP College for Women won the first position while Shreerag of Kirori Mal College secured the runner-up trophy.
The action at the main stage began with the Battle of Bands. The various bands from across universities locked horns for the top spot. The competition was judged by Abhay Sharma and Varun Rajasekhar. At the end of the showdown which extended for more than two hours, Six in the Evening, the western music band of Hansraj College and Jokes Apart- Flip, the collaborative group of DU colleges shared the first prize. Common Thread, the western music band of Audiophile, Shaheed Bhagat Singh College was ranked second.
Unni Vishwanathan of Hansraj College was adjudged the winner of Mudra, the solo Indian classical dance competition. Nandita of Hansraj College was the runner-up. Judges Disha Rawat and Nisha Rani further appreciated the efforts of Sanskriti Sharma of Janki Devi Memorial College and Reetu Purna of Lady Shri Ram College.
The next event on the roll was Dyad, the western vocals (duet) competition. Ashisha John and Miriam Matthew of St. Stephen’s College were awarded the first position for their rendition of Billie Jean by Michael Jackson. Vinayak Arora and Shikhar Lakhumna of Delhi Technological University stood second for their cover of Beat It, another Michael Jackson song.
The slam poetry competition was the venue of new-age poetry wherein the participants mesmerised the gathering with their poems, based on varied themes such as feminism and the melancholy of having a broken family. While Seep Garwhal from Sri Venkateswara College secured the first position, Prashant from Bhartiya Vidhya Bhawan bagged the second position by a close margin.
The Hindi debate competition was a battleground of raging thoughts as participants engaged in a verbal battle on the topic – This house believes that world peace is a myth. Harshit from Shivaji College outsmarted his competitors and bagged the first position while Shubhangi from Shaheed Bhagat Singh College won the second position.
The choreography competition which commenced at 3 p.m. was the highlight of the day with zealous teams competing neck-to-neck. The themes ranged from ‘spirits’ to the ‘foils of an arrogant king’. The judges were Arpita Kaul and Ragini Bhajanka, both of whom are seasoned performers. Sensation of Kirori Mal College won the first position and was followed by Sparx of Gargi College which emerged as the runners-up.
Musician Haider Saif closed off the eventful day two of Nexus with soulful songs.
The third day saw the star night performance by Armaan Malik, which oversaw a huge audience in thousands to witness him singing. He sang famous hit sings like Gulabi Aankhein, Kar Gayi Chul, and Vajah Tum Ho, among a plethora of other songs to which the audience grooved heartily. His closing act concluded a yet another successful Nexus!
Feature Image Credits: Ayush Chauhan for DU Beat
Khyati Sanger
[email protected]
Nikhil Kumar
[email protected]
Prachi Mehra
[email protected]
Vaibhavi Pathak Sharma
[email protected]
Comments are closed.