‘After two years of disappointment, justice had finally been done to the brand name Venky is’. This was the general opinion after Nexus 2012, the annual cultural festival of Sri Venkateswara College came to an end. This year’s event stood out in a number of aspects from its previous arrangements, having 5 professional shows being just one of them.
From a spectator’s point of view, the three days were certainly eventful. I list the 10 things you couldn’t have missed at Nexus 2012:
- The Rangoli’s. Every other fest is marked by a beautiful Rangoli to greet the participants, and Nexus 2012 was no different. Made at the centre of the foyer, it made for a pretty sighting. So much so that not even a single person stepped over it, careful of not disturbing its beauty.
- Celebrating Delhi’s 100 years. A number of events showcased this year’s theme of celebrating Delhi’s 100 years as capital of India. Upon entering the college, you could see a cutout of the Lotus temple placed in front of the entrance. Apart from that, the Rangoli competition, Collage making among others incorporated the same.
- The photographs, which were pinned to the walls in front of the seminar hall, in the lobby, in the foyer, almost everywhere were a hit with the audience as well.
- Security. After the hap hazard handling of the audience during Celeb nights the previous year, the security handled the situation very well this time round. Though at one point of time the Delhi Police authorities did not allow anyone to enter the college including the participants. What followed were the typical Dilliwallah dialogues – ‘Sir, organizing authority mein hun mai, XYZ se puch lo aap’, ‘ Bhai gate pe hun, entry karwa de meri’ among others.
- The organizers. Dressed in their suits running from one end to another with a walkie-talkie in their hand, responding to the numerous requests from sponsors, celebrities and the participants.
- The impromptu b-boying to some videshi numbers was a huge crowd puller. The back spin, turtles, hand glide, six steps were among the various moves these performers pulled out of their magic hat. You can find the video on DU Beat’s facebook page.
- Even though Parikrama rocked, strangely enough there were seats deployed for a ‘concert’, and the audience was supposed to be sitting during numbers like Highway to Hell and But it Rained. While the audience in the front often got up, some cranky fellows sitting at the back who had apparently come for a movie started cribbing. One of them even said – ‘Baith jaoo oyee, warna aag laga dunga sab mein’. He was with a girl, so the crowd let it be.
- The rattled expressions on your face when you were thoroughly stumped by the questions in the Delhi Quiz, wondering if you have been living in a parallel universe for the past 12 years.
- Razzmatazz, the western dance competition was marked by a few technical stoppages, but kudos to the teams which kept on performing even with minimal sound and were rightfully cheered on by an appreciating audience.
- Finally, after the enthralling performances by Parikrama and Advaita, next was the turn of Shibani Kashyap. But, even her ‘Sajnaaaaa ‘performance could not match up to the levels set by the two bands. If this was not enough, a shimmering dress and a pointless Guitar prop did not help her case, entertaining none the less.
Shashank Gupta