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Antaragni’19, the annual cultural fest of IIT Kanpur was declared officially open on 17th October 2019. The four day fest culminated on 20th October 2019.

The fest began with an inaugration ceremony held in the Main Auditorium. The guest of honour was DGP Om Prakash Singh and District Governor DC Shukla, with Director of Institution and many distinguished IIT alumnus. This year marks the diamond jubilee of the institution, hence to add to the festivities many cultural performances were organised like a upbeat song amalgam sang by IIT students to welcome outstation students and a soulful classical rendition to highlight the grandeur of the fest. The opening ceremony also marked the collaboration between IIT Kanpur and Rotary Club of Kanpur North to make Antaragni’19 more socially responsible.

The first day of Antaragni commenced with an EDM night. Even the heat of Kanpur couldn’t stop people from enjoying the night to their fullest and sweating profusely. The pronite was started by Ravator. He took over the stage and made the crowd jump off their feet with some of the most amazing beats and drops. Later, DJ Bonka,took to the stage and lit up the stage with some amazing songs. They even played some Punjabi tunes along with EDM, a combination you don’t get to experience that often. At last, Giannobille came up and made the crowd grooved to the amazing beats. After the pronite, a DJ war took place at The Club in the Open Area Theatre. Artists performed their remixes to qualify through the prelims. The event had seven participants, out of which only five were to be qualified for the finals. The event saw about 200 people dancing off their feet with a lot of cheering and hooting. It was judged by Spin Guru Academy, best DJ and Music production academy of India. The participants won everyone’s heart by playing all kinds of music.

Day 2 of Antaragni 2019 began early and bright with a plethora of creative and competitive events lined up.The prelims for duo music event ‘Pair of Stage’ and prelims for the solo singing competition ‘Antargini Idol’ were organised, and saw participation from students across different colleges in different cities.

The venue for the prelims of Pair on Stage was shifted from L-16 to L-19, and saw about 44 mesmerising performances. About 15 pairs qualified for the finale. On the other hand the prelims for Anataragni Idol witnessed 150 participants out of whom only 20 would qualify for the final event. This competition was judged by Naman Sharma, the vocal coach at culture root foundation.

Mayanagri, the comprehensive quiz organised by Hindu Literary Events (HLE) with topics ranging from mythology to literature, and with different qualifier rounds including word games and pictionary was conducted along with a general quiz. HLE manging committee also conducted prelims for Aamna Saamna, a hindi group discussion competition. The participants were divided into random panels and topics were provided, each team was given a 2 minute preparation time. The Panel Discussion would then go on to reach a constructive conclusion.

The Anime Quiz saw Anime buffs enjoy answering questions posed to them. 8 teams , out if 18, qualified the prelims with 3 to 4 members in each team. 1st Round was Bounce, 2nd Round was the Pokemon Round, while the 3rd Round was the Giant Slayer.

Estampie, the prelims of Solo Western Dance competition followed by Jitterbug, the prelims of group western dance competition. Taking place in the main auditorium, the event was a full house. 46 dancers participated in the solo competition out of which only 8 qualified for the finals, and 17 teams partook in the Group Dance Competition, out of which only 7 made it to the next round. The event was judged by Ravi Verma, prominent dancer and Rahul Suryavanshi from Hip-Hop India championship. The dancers successfully lit up the stage and left the audience awestruck.

Synchronicity, the western rock band competition took place at the Synchro stage. A total of six bands from all over India took to stage with different kinds of genres. The performances had people dancing and banging their heads to the beats. The event was judged by Gautam Sarkar, owner of music label Ditto and Hickson V. George.

A creative writing event was conducted channeling the inner writers of participants. The event had about 15 teams of two people each. It consisted of two rounds. In round one, four words were displayed on the screen with one word every ten minutes and the participants had to write on that word. In the second round, participants were given five prompts and had to write on one of them, but it had a good twist. After halftime, the team had to exchange their pieces within them and continue writing in their teammates piece, which made the participants scratching their head. The event was judged by the English literary society of IIT Kanpur.

Comic Kaun participation vividly and was one of the most celebrated event with crowd more than 500 people sitting in one event. The event was platform for budding comic to show their sets and test them in front of such a large audience. The event organised with a great initiative seemed to miss the purpose of a platform because of the participants and the audience.

The third day of Antaragni had wonderful energy. A number of events took place simultaneously. Starting with Mela quiz, a quiz covering questions from Music, Entertainment, Literature etc. A total of 9 teams participated in the event, out of which all 9 of them made it to the finals. On the occasion of the Korean Culture Day, the quiz had a separate session covering that as well. The quiz was conducted by prominent quiz masters Somnath Chanda and Anindita Roy.

Not just quizzes, the day also witnessed some other entertaining events. Antaragini Idol, The prelims for the Solo Music competition took place at lecture hall 8. The contest had 150 on the spot participants, harmonising beautifully. It witnessed Naman Sharma, The vocal and instrumental coach of Cultural Roots foundation as the judge. Only 30 people qualified through the prelims for the finals to take place on 20th October.

Drishtikon, The Hindi extempore taking place at Lecture hall 2 added some traditional values to the day. The participants were shown a random picture and were given 30 seconds to analyse to speak on it for 2 minutes in Hindi. They were judged on the basis of choice of words, hand gestures and presence of mind. Out of a total of 35 participants, 15-20 were expected to qualify for the finals. Famous editor Arun Dev and Professor of Humanity and Social Science Department of IIT Kanpur, A.R.K. Verma judged the event.

The fest had supervised another quiz, TLC quiz as the name suggests, covering questions about Travel, Culture and Lifestyle. The questions were displayed on a screen and the team had to give on the spot answers. Correct answers gained a team 10 points, judged by the Quizmaster, Anandita Roy. There were 52 questions comprising of 14 questions from each of the 3 categories. The event was a tie between two teams, so it witnessed a tie-breaker round which was won by Vallari Srivastava who took the first position home.

Another extempore came about called the Jam Finale. The Jam masters supervises the event and gives the participants 3 words to speak on them. The event had about 9 participants and they were judged on the basis of grammatical errors and hand gestures. The event was highly informative.

The Stage Play finals took place at L7. Six teams qualified through the prelims and made it to the finale. Teams gave a splendid performance with beautiful storylines. The event lasted for 7 hours and every team had a unique concept. Lady Irwin College, University of Delhi won the first prize, whereas the second prize was won by the Dramatics society of IIT Kanpur itself. Miranda house, University of Delhi took home the third prize.

Day three of Antaragni, IIT Kanpur also witnessed the dance events- Tour De Force, group street dance event and Estampie, the solo dance battle event adjudged by Rahul Suryavanshi, Hip Hop india champion and Ravi varma, B-Fab Crew.

8 teams participated in the Tour De Force. There were two rounds- the performance round and the battle. Satyawati College emerged as the winner while the second position was given to Delhi Technical University.

Estampie held 3 rounds, the performance round out of which four participants qualified, the two two-way one-on-one battles, and the finalists then fought a three-way battle. Rahul Rao, from Outbreakers, ARSD College emerged as the winner of Estampie.

Mr. and Ms. Antaragni, delayed by two hours, began at the Main Auditorium in the campus and witnessed a large audience. 8 participants fought tooth and nail in four rounds- Introduction, Talent, Improvisation, and Interview, to win the title. Judged by Christeena Biju, Miss India Finalist from Odisha, and Abhishek Dubey, a Splitsvilla and Roadies contestant, the event saw a lot of heckling of the participants by the rowdy crowd. Vikhyat Singh and Jivika Wadhwa from Delhi Technical University won the title of Mr. and Ms. Antaragni respectively.

Lokalz, a K-Pop band graced the stage at Antaragni in association with the Korean Cultural Festival to celebrate a Korean Cultural Day on Day three of Antaragni 2019. Their energetic performance, even though delayed, energised the audience.

Day four, the last day, of Antaragni 2019 was full of event finale’s and wild spirit and energy.  It commenced with quiz  based on the world of Cinema and movies. The quiz consisted of a total of 35 questions from Movies. The quiz had two rounds in which the participants had the liberty to ask for hints. The first round had 25 participants out of which only 6 qualified for the second. The event covered every aspect of cinema from Bollywood to Japanese movies and from the 70s to the 21st century. The event was supervised by quizmaster, Anindita Roy.

In today’s world of westernization, when it’s getting harder and harder to stay in touch with your roots, Antaragni conducted Kavyanjali, a Hindi Poetry Event. The event invited online registrations through samples which had a count of almost 175 participants. The samples were then shortlisted and 20 contestants made it to the final round. Judged by Manglesh Dabral, prominent contemporary Indian poet and winner of Sahitya Akademi Award, Pankaj Chaturvedi, winner of Bharat Bhushan Smriti Puraskar and Geet Chaturvedi, winner of Bharat Bhushan Agarwal Award. Poetry enthusiast had filled the venue and people poured their heart out through poetry.

The finals for Antaragni Idols, Solo Music Competition took place at lecture hall 14. The venue was filled with a beautiful and soothing aura. The audience was full of music enthusiasts and witnessed the participants performing all kinds of music, making it diverse. The competition was judged by Naman Sharma and Akansha Grover, Vocal coaches at Cultural Roots foundation. 16 finalists took to the stage and sang their hearts out for the title. Apart from the singing abilities, participants were also judged on the basis of their knowledge of classical music.

The most robust event of the day was the finals of Jitterbug, the Western Dance Competition. After the prelims of 17 teams, 7 teams qualified for the finals. The event was hosted by none other than G.D. Suyal. Judged by Rahul Suryavanshi, Gold Medalist at Dance World Group, Canada and head teacher at Korean culture Dance Academy and Ravi Verma, the founder of VFab, the event was a full house. There were two rounds and the teams successfully lit up the stage. The audience didn’t stop cheering which showed their excitement level.

 

The finals for Steet Play event, adjudged by Mr. Anjan Srivastava, Indian film, television and stage actor, and Indian People’s Theatre Association affliant, of which he remained Vice-President for several years, and Mr. Darshan Jariwala, Indian film, television and stage actor who the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for Gandhi, My Father. 9 teams performed out of which, The production ‘Dharam Sankat Mein’ by Fursat Mandali, the dramatics club of IIT Kanpur was placed first at the Nukkad Natak Finale on the last day of Antaragni 2019 ‘Tujhe Kya Naam Du’ by Anubhuti from Sri Venkateswara College placed second. Aayam from Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology, and Dramanomics from College of Vocational Studies were placed third and fourth respectively. Despite being apprehensive of giving out individual results, the judges on deman by the organisers gave out individual acting prizes. Consolation prize was given to Dadi from KMV, while the third and second position were won by members of Shivaji College’s dramatic society, while a member of Lady Irwin College won the first position.

Kavi Sammelan at Antaragni witnessed Ankita Singh, Madhyam Saxena, and Aman Akshar deliver their poetry on social issues, current scenarios, and other topics with passion and grace. The audience at Open Air Theatre enjoyed the poetry with immense enthusiasm and cheer.

The Auditorium in the evening witnessed popular performances by the musical duo on Sacophone and piano Jerry and the Pelicansystem, and the immensely celebrated comedian Karunesh Talwar. The packed audi was impressed by both these talented artiststs, enjoyed music with the first, and laughed along jokes with the second.

The popular musical trio, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy closed Antaragni 2019 with their strong, energetic, and eclectic performance.  The audience danced to the tunes of their famous songs including Zinda and Gallan Goodiyan.

 

Avni Dhawan 

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Sakshi Arora

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Chhavi Bambha

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Backbeat, the music society of Ramjas College of DU, alleges being harassed and thrown out by the administration of IIT Kanpur at Antaragni 2018.

The team from Ramjas College reached Kanpur on the 24th of October. Members of the team allege that there was a delay of about three hours to get them checked into their rooms. They claimed that the rooms allotted to the girls hadn’t been cleaned at all and were unhygienic to the point that there were sanitary napkins thrown here and there in the washroom. The second problem was that the room wasn’t entirely allotted to the girls from Ramjas College. The administration had apparently told them that only six-seven more girls from different colleges would be staying in the room, and yet, the next morning 30 more girls barged into their room.

After a heated argument that ensued with the coordinator, the girls were provided a three-bedroom flat in the non-teaching staff area of the campus. At around 1:15 – 1:30 a.m. of the penultimate day of the fest, the girls received a call at their accommodation, assumingly by the IIT Kanpur electricity board on grounds that there is a logistical complaint regarding their flat. However, the girls claimed that they had neither made any such complaint nor was there any issue regarding the electricity. The callers kept on asking for the house number of their accommodation even after they had been told that there is no problem or complaint made by them regarding the electricity. Eventually, the girls cut the call without divulging information about the house number, thinking it to be some silly prank. However, they claimed that they were alarmed and called the other members of the society about 20 minutes after the incident had taken place. The male members had been given an accommodation facility about 2.5 kms away from that of the girls and had to walk the whole distance in the night.

After half an hour of the phone call, there was heavy knocking on the door. The same persisted for around five to ten minutes, without any voice or explanation. The Backbeat members further claimed that in an attempt to protect themselves, they went to the end of the room and armed themselves with whatever they could find and did not open the door. Ten minutes after the banging had ceased, the male members reached the girls’ accommodation and made the guards check the whole building. The guard did claim that a certain individual from the students’ team was there at the door and then kept changing his statement as to who it was. Later, the police arrived at the scene and the security guard apparently changed his statement and admitted to be the person who knocked on the door saying that it was a routine patrol.

While on the way to a new accommodation, the students were stopped by the officials who claimed that they had a meeting with the chairman who deemed them (Backbeat) as ‘anti-social’ elements and a threat to the fest. The officials then demanded the students to vacate the premises at the earliest. The students immediately asked for an official notice for the same and were told, “Fifteen-twenty minutes main bhago nai toh maar ke bhagayenge” (Evacuate within fifteen-twenty minutes or we will hit you till you’re forced to leave).

As the male members made way to their hall, they were greeted by a horde of guards who were stationed to ensure that they pack and leave immediately. After a while, a car stopped outside the hall and the IIT Registrar allegedly stepped out and started pushing the society kids around. The members claimed that this behaviour also hurt one of the kids who had visual impairment.

 


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Regards to everyone, First of all we’d like to state that we’re thankful to each and every society in the university circuit who stood up for us and would also like to show some very heartfelt gratitude to ‘Escape Artist’ who even came with us to the police station and stood by us, after the whole incident went down, we’re grateful to people who actually did boycott the competition and to all those who didn’t, we’re grateful for your verbal support too, we realise that everyone invested a part of their heart in making, practicing and finally polishing their piece, and the only reason to come to a 6-7 day long fest is to perform it, so we’re sorry to ask all of you to boycott the competitions, the request to boycott all competitions and the fest was something which got added to the verbatim in the heat of the moment, Now addressing the elephant in the room, this is not about the struggle of a single society, rather an attempt to make people aware of what goes down behind the curtains and how recklessly as important issues as physical safety, health and mental health are handled by a college fest administration, So it all began on the very first day, students of our society reached the IIT Campus at about 9:45 – 10:00 pm on the 24th of October, we had to wait for 2-3 hours to just check in and then rooms were alloted to us, The girls’ room was not cleaned at all and it was unhygienic to the point where there were used sanitary napkins just thrown around in the washrooms (find attached pictures), the commode had blood stains on it, it was already a very tiring day for everyone from the journey and then the whole registration process, the hospitality team of Antaragini was informed and they blatantly refused to take any solid action then and there, and instead laughed and chuckled about the whole situation, they were willing to take no action, after a lot of deliberation they gave the students a key to a common room, The coordinators assured us that apart from Ramjas female participants, only 6-7 more girls will stay in the room, which did happen eventually only till about 7:30 in the morning, 30 more girls from a different college barged into our room,(to be cont.)

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In the video posted by Backbeat on its Instagram page, an adult can be heard saying, “Thappad marunga keech ke, dimag theek ho jayega sab“, in response to “Bhaiya, haath mat lagao.” 

The incident caused a major stir in the music circuit of Delhi University, with several societies sharing the video on their respective platforms. “It is important for people to know what really happened and to voice out against this unjust behaviour and call out the perpetrators to accept punishment for their wrongdoings. Stand with Backbeat. Stand with Justice,” said Neeraj Brahma Boro, a member of the Music Society of Kirori Mal College. There can be valid reasons to debar the participation of any society for misconduct, however, to ask an outstation society, with female members, to vacate accommodation immediately in an unfamiliar city (Kanpur) compromises the safety of students. The organisers should address this issue with the utmost importance as it sets a wrong precedence and may discourage the future participation of outstation societies.

DU Beat correspondents contacted the members of Antaragini’18 team but didn’t get any statement as the representatives refused to comment.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat

Haris khan

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With jam-packed events, finals, international and national star attractions, the last two days of Antaragini were hectic, cheerful, and tinged with the sadness of conclusion. 

The day three of Antaragni was jampacked with the most number of events. It began at the main auditorium with Roots, the folk dance competition. After a string of performances which showcased dance forms like Sambalpuri, Lavni, and Bhangra, the distinguished jury panel of Kavita Dwibedi and Radhika Kathal adjudged the team from Shri Venkateswara College for their Haryanvi dance performance as the winners. Miranda House stood first runner-up for their performance of Kalbeliya dance form and Maharani College, Jaipur were the third runner-ups.

The other event of the day was Junoon, the Eastern fusion band competition. It was judged by the panel of Udit Beerbaliya, Sagar Garg, and Kalpesh Maru who declared 519, the western music band of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College as the winner. Deliver My Tomorrow, the western music band of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College stood second. Costume Designing competition was organised at Open Air Theatre. It saw the participation of 18 teams with five members each. After being closely judged by Mr. Rajesh Sharma, the University Maharani College stood first which had members Anjani Sharma, Himani Sharma, Ayushi Patodi, Kinshu Bamnavat, and Prerna Jhangid. College of Vocational Studies took the second prize and Ramjas College stood third in the competition.

Tour de Force, the street dance competition, had both preliminary and final round on the same day at the Events Ground. After a sequence of brilliant performances, which showcased all the major contemporary dance forms, ABC Lock from Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College was adjudged the winner, while Deepak E Boy stood second and Dig Vig from Motilal Nehru College stood third.

Tubonika, an Austrian musical duo, gave a mesmerising and joyous performance as a part of the International Carnival initiative by IIT Kanpur. Their performance which took place in the golden light of late afternoon became an unexpected success as it was assumed that there won’t be many takers for instrumental European music in a youth festival. Their music was a fresh take on Austrian folk music, which resonated very well with and left the audience asking for more. The musicians combined two instruments: tuba and accordion.

 

In the stage play competition, three teams from Delhi University made it to the finals. The prelims that ran for over eight hours were judged by eminent stage actor, J. Brandon Hill (also known as Johnny Bonzella) and veteran actor Harish Patel.

Just a Minute was a competition where participants had to speak on the given topic in a minute. As told to DU Beat by a member of the organising team, the winner of the event was “God’s Dick” from Delhi Technological University. When asked about the obviously false name, the organiser said that’s what was written on the paper from which he was reading from. He also added that people often use false names. The star attraction for the day was a legendary guitarist, Guthrie Govan. Unfortunately, except the first two rows of niche fans who enthusiastically appreciated Govan’s exceedingly masterful skills, the rest of the crowd seemed underwhelmed by the music.

The star night was opened by The Last Train to Paradise, Confuzone, and 519, the winners of Synchronicity, rock/metal band competition. Day four of Antaragni 2018 began with the finals of street play. The event was adjudged by Akhilendra Mishra, who has acted in several TV serials and films like Lagan and Veer Zara. Along with him, other panellists included actor Kavin Dave, Indian social worker Smita Bharti, and casting director Vicky Sidana. The finale of the flagship competition DJ War was “The Colour Run”. A fun-filled run amidst a burst of beautiful colours culminated with a power-packed performance with the finalists of DJ War.

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The finale of flagship competition DJ War was the Colour Run. A fun filled run amidst a burst of beautiful colours, culminated with a power packed performance with the finalists of DJ War. Photos by Surabhi Khare (@nooralainphotography) for DU Beat.

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Jitterbug, the western dance competition saw teams competing with full enthusiasm and power. Verve Dance Crew of Sri Venkateshwara College bagged the first position in the competition while the second and third position was won by Spardha of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College and the Western Dance Society of Lady Shri Ram College for Women.

The other event of the day was the Modern Art Competition. The event witnessed participation from across the nation. Arpit Mudgal from Sri Venkateswara College, Upshant Saini from Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies, and Yashna Singh from KNIT Sultanpur were declared as the winners in the order. Kavi Sammelan saw poets like Padma Shree awardee Sunil Jogi, Shambhu Shikhar, Padmini Sharma, and Rupesh Saxena in attendance.

Amit Trivedi’s much-anticipated performance was the final star performance of the fest. Trivedi’s two-hour long performance was divided into three parts. The first part had indie, less famous, but equally mesmerising numbers, which included several Coke Studio productions. The segment section was a sing-along segment, where the audience sang their hearts out like a karaoke party. The third and the last segment consisted of dance numbers and loud-upbeat hits.

In the later hours of the night, the campus saw packed luggage, the sound of baggage wheels dragging on the smooth roads of IIT, and hostel checkouts which were often accompanied by nostalgic goodbyes with the guards who diligently kept a check on the exits and entries. As most people began leaving for the railway station, those who had late or delayed trains stayed behind and maintained the raunak of a 53-year-old fest for a little longer.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat
Anoushka Sharma
 
Disha Saxena
 
Nikhil Kumar
Niharika Dabral

The highly anticipated cultural fest of IIT Kanpur (IIT K), Antaragni, began on 25th October and is scheduled to go on till 28th October. The four-day extravaganza witnesses teams from across the country and hosts numerous events dotted throughout the day. We bring to you the report of the first two days.

The first day of Antaragni’18 began later in the day with the inauguration ceremony and was followed by the preliminary rounds of the fusion band competition and DJing competition.
Ritambara, the fashion show competition, also held it’s preliminary rounds at later hours of the day. The event saw messages on social issues being conveyed via dramatic costumes and sequences. The fashion society of Manav Rachna University payed tribute to Sikhism in their performance and the fashion society of Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women based their theme on queer rights.
The highlight of the day was the first celebrity performance of the fest by India’s leading Hindi-rock bands, The Local Train.
The concert was enthralling and swept the crowd off its feet. The band gave a power packed performance with crowd favourite songs like Aaoge Tum Kabhi, Dil Mere, and Aaftab. 
Day two began with the photography workshop by Vikram Singh Rooprai, renowned art, architecture, and monuments photographer. He addressed the bits and nuances of outdoor photography, making the audience understand what sets a picture apart from the rest. Talking about the understanding of a subject and idea behind a picture, he said, “A lot depends on reaching the right place at the right time.”
In Nrityangana, the classical solo competition,
Sreelekshmi Namboothiri of Lady Sri Ram College came first, followed by Ann Afreen of Janki Devi Memorial College, and Aadya Kalia of Miranda House at second and third position respectively. The judges were Ms Kavita Dwibedi and Ms Radhika Kathal.
Pair on Stage, the duo singing competition, adjudged by Mohit Dobhal, Sagar Garg, and Radhika Kathal ended with 12 finalists. The parliamentary Debate competition was almost delayed by five hours, leaving the participants extremely anxious. The next event of the day was the stage play competition. The jury panel of Harish Patel and Rahul Khanna shortlisted plays for the final round.
The Creative writing competition saw the participation of over 70 people who had to write on one topic out of four within 2.5 hours. The participants had to put their thinking caps on in the Movie Quiz. Under quizmaster Anandita Basu Roy, the cinema enthusiasts competed to win the title of the ultimate movie buff. In the General Quiz, Ankur Banga, Nallapati Chaitanya Sathvik, and Shardul Singh from IIT K won the first prize. The second and the third prize also went to IIT K students.
 
The NukkadNatak prelims lived up to the hype with a plethora of stirring performances. Out of the many participants, ARSD College, Shivaji College, Delhi Technical University, Keshav Mahavidyalaya, Venkateswara College, Hansraj College, Hindu College, and Maitreyi College have adjudged the finalists. In Synchronicity, the rock/metal band competition, 519, Last Train to Paradise, and Confuzone emerged as the winners.
In the literary contest Word Games, Vallari S. Aditya of St. Stephen’s came first. Priyanshi Singh, Siddhy Raman, and P. Upasana of Indraprastha College for Women came second, and Vartika Pandey, Aditi Kishore, and Anshi Srivastava of KNIT Sultanpur came third. Teams of three from various colleges participated in the event, where they were given two hours to solve a combination of puzzles.
Aamne Samne was a competition where participants were given a topic on the spot, on which they were to have a discussion. For the same,  48 participants were divided into groups of six. Giriraj Kishore, Neladhar Jagudi, and Ravindra Prabhat, believed to be pioneers in Hindi Literature, were the judges. Participants were marked on the basis of the content of their argument and expression. Out of the 48 participants, 20 have been selected for the final round.
 
The preliminary rounds of Antaragini Idol, the solo singing competition, was held at L- 8, Academic Block. It was judged by two members of Culture Roots Foundation. 150+ students participated in the competition.
The auditorium was jam-packed with an audience during Jitterbug, the group western dance competition. A total of 19 participating teams competed for a spot in finals that is set to be held on the 28th of October. The performance by the home team was met with a thunderous applause and the chants of “IIT K ka tempo high hai” (a signature chant of IIT K that signifies unity). Out of 18 teams, eight teams made it to the finals based on the judgement of Mr Ricky Sethi, Akash Ambedkar, and Pankaj Roy.
Ms Sunipa Bhowmik and Mr Rajesh Sharma judged Naqaab, the mask- making competition. The participants were judged on the basis of innovation and neatness. The winners of the competition were Gaurav Singh and Sneh Sharma and the runner-ups were Labdika Sharma and Gaurang Garg.
 Comic-Con, the stand-up comedy contest, the finals of Ritambhara, and classical music concerts are also scheduled post-midnight.
Feature Image Credits: DU Beat
Anoushka Sharma
Disha Saxena
Nikhil Kumar

Odd semesters usually start with a burst of energy, (which is visible in the first week only) and give hope to many as a means to seek redemption for the erroneous mistakes committed in the past year. The fest scene is definitely lackluster in the Delhi circuit when compared to the even semester; there are, nevertheless, many moments to compensate for that. We take you through a recap of the semester gone by and dive head-first into the highlights that make the odd semesters so endearing and special.

1. The Admissions Hullabaloo: Clueless freshers and even more clueless professors regarding the syllabus, the first month is a spectacle to cherish — seniors reminisce their college life, and juniors eagerly look forward to interviews and freshers’ parties and competitions. This phase lasts roughly until the end of August and is followed by the reality of elections dawning upon us.

2. The Elections Turmoil: After many days of throwing pamphlets in the air and shouting out manifestos, the entire process of campaigning boils down to one day, the day of elections. Many controversies marked this election season eventful — from AISA’s panel yelling ‘Go back ABVP’ in Miranda House to Rocky Tuseed being barred (the ban was later removed),  from contesting for elections, two days before the election day. This year, elections were conducted on the 11th of September and saw an increase in the voter turnout. Rocky Tuseed and Kunal Sehrawat from NSUI won the positions of DUSU President and Vice President respectively, while Mahamedhaa Nagar and Uma Shankar from ABVP won the positions of DUSU Secretary and Joint Secretary, respectively.

3. Outstation fests, Part 1: Antaragini, IIT Kanpur, cultural extravaganza was a 4-day affair from 26th to 29th October, that had a cumulation of the best talents across India. The audience grooved to the tunes of famous artists like Euphoria, the famous duo Vishal-Shekhar, and KSHMR along with other DJs.

4. Outstation fests, Part 2: Oasis, BITS Pilani was a 4-day fest from 30th October to 4th November that witnessed thousands of students from all colleges all across India competing for the top prizes in various performing competitions. Renowned filmmaker and director of Baahubali fame, S.S Rajamouli declared the fest open. The famous duo Vishal-Shekhar sang their all time famous tracks on the 2nd night, while Candice Redding and, other international DJs performed on the EDM night for day 3. Ashish Shakya and Karunesh Talwar successfully called the fest to an end and threw everyone in fits of laughter in the process.

As ridiculously long this semester seemed to be, it officially ended on the 15th November. Here’s hoping for an even more eventful next semester, with fulfilled promises and newer heights to accomplish.

Image Credits: DUB Archives

P.V Purnima

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Vijeata Balani

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IIT Kanpur got completely transformed during these four days, transcending all barriers of enthusiasm. Antaragni hosted a plethora of events blending as series of fine arts, socio-cultural and literary events along with variety of workshops, exhibitions and informal events.

Taking a deeper look into Antaragni revealed its magnificence even better. The exuberant line up of events culminated on the 4th day.
The final round of the Western Dance Competition involved enacting a movie plot without using any dialogues, signature steps or songs of that movie. Teams were given movies like Golmaal 1, Bajirao Mastani, Bhool Bhulaiyaa and Gabar is Back. Desi Hoppers, the judges explained the nuances of the dances which all the teams could improve in. First position was bagged by Sri Venkateshwara College. Gargi College and IIT Kanpur bagged the second and third positions respectively. The judges welcomed the students to take individual feedback and check their individual marks in the marking sheet.

Western dance competition was followed by LED Dance performances. The illuminating lights sparked in the auditorium and the performers used props like hula hoops. After necessary arrangements were made, Duet Dance Competition ensued. Dyal Singh College (Morning) bagged the first position and their dance performance was applauded the most, followed by Shaheed Bhagat Singh College and University Maharani College (Jaipur).
Antaragni Idol witnessed participants from different colleges who entertained the audience with melodious songs of different genres. Shyam from Shri Ram College of Commerce won the special mention award and a cash prize worth Rs. 1000 while the ‘Performer of the Evening’ title was won by Nitika Kundra from Deen Dayal Uppadhaya College who also has been offered a music contract by the judge. Vaibhav Sakhsi from Miranda House won the first prize followed by Vaibhav Sati from Hindu College and Lakshya from Ramanujan College.

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Sky Harbor Music performing

Nukkad Natak Finals were conducted in the event grounds and the jury consisted personalities who were the likes of Danish Khan. The street play actors captivated the audience with their myriad themes ranging from oppression of girl, molestation, mental illness and more. JMC and IIT Kanpur jointly won the first prize followed by Sri Venkateswara College, taking the second spot and ITER bagging the third prize. In Junoon – the battle of bands, the participants performed energetic songs which was received enthusiastically with ebullience by the crowd. Common thread of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College won the first prize, 6 in the evening of Hansraj College won the second prize and Tapas of Motilal Nehru College won the third prize.

Later in the night, a concert by Vishal-Shekhar lighted up the entire event. And, with that Antaragni’17 drew its curtain for this year.

 

Feature Image Credits: Akarsh Mathur for DU Beat

Image Credits: Akarsh Mathur for DU Beat

Sandeep Samal
[email protected]
Prachi Mehra
[email protected]

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
[email protected]