It was a Sunday, and the local time at Amrita - 7:30 a.m. A bit early for most people, but here the air bustled with excitement and activity, with coordinators running hither thither to make things fall in place in time. For on this day, Amrita School of Engineering, Ettimadai, was to hold its first ever intra-university literary fest. Aptly named Aitreya ’09, the day reflected a confluence of poetry, prose and drama. Contestants from the Bangalore and Kochi Amrita campuses, along with those from ASE Ettimadai, were amongst those battling it out for the much coveted Aitreya championship. The event had last been conducted in the year 2007 on a local inter-collegiate scale, with PSG Tech. walking away with the rolling trophy.
The Dean of Engineering of the Ettimadai campus graced the inaugural ceremony. His address to the students primarily focused on encouraging hearty participation in fests such as Aitreya, as well as emphasizing on the need to ‘come forth’. Following this function, the events were doled out one by one to the eagerly awaiting participants. Contests like declamation, debate, quiz, crossword, treasure hunt, and persona had the contestants giving it their best, each one vying for the first prize. The declamation contest was an arena for students to enact out world-famous speeches, and soliloquies from famous literary works. The debate was indeed a ‘tussle of wits’ with the four finalist teams verbally battling it out onstage. ‘Quizophrenia’, the quiz programme, was a roaring success with the participants as well as the audience equally enjoying the various rounds of trivia. Although the crossword contest turned out to be a real challenge, the participants managed to crack the codes, displaying astonishing vocabulary skills. The treasure hunt had the participants decoding clue after clue, each team scrambling to be the first to unsheathe the final treasure. Persona had the contestants put through two entertaining rounds of Just-a-Minute, as well as a decisive round of stress interview. For an element of surprise, a blurb-writing contest was announced on the spot (the participants had been asked to read George Bernard Shaw’s ‘Pygmalion’ before coming, to this aid). The end of the day came with the valediction ceremony, and the Bangalore campus was adjudged the overall winner. When asked for feedback, most students from the other campuses seemed to be captivated by the beauty of the campus, not to mention enthralled by the standard of the competition. Kudos to all the teamwork that lead to this event being a stupendous success!
The Dean of Engineering of the Ettimadai campus graced the inaugural ceremony. His address to the students primarily focused on encouraging hearty participation in fests such as Aitreya, as well as emphasizing on the need to ‘come forth’. Following this function, the events were doled out one by one to the eagerly awaiting participants. Contests like declamation, debate, quiz, crossword, treasure hunt, and persona had the contestants giving it their best, each one vying for the first prize. The declamation contest was an arena for students to enact out world-famous speeches, and soliloquies from famous literary works. The debate was indeed a ‘tussle of wits’ with the four finalist teams verbally battling it out onstage. ‘Quizophrenia’, the quiz programme, was a roaring success with the participants as well as the audience equally enjoying the various rounds of trivia. Although the crossword contest turned out to be a real challenge, the participants managed to crack the codes, displaying astonishing vocabulary skills. The treasure hunt had the participants decoding clue after clue, each team scrambling to be the first to unsheathe the final treasure. Persona had the contestants put through two entertaining rounds of Just-a-Minute, as well as a decisive round of stress interview. For an element of surprise, a blurb-writing contest was announced on the spot (the participants had been asked to read George Bernard Shaw’s ‘Pygmalion’ before coming, to this aid). The end of the day came with the valediction ceremony, and the Bangalore campus was adjudged the overall winner. When asked for feedback, most students from the other campuses seemed to be captivated by the beauty of the campus, not to mention enthralled by the standard of the competition. Kudos to all the teamwork that lead to this event being a stupendous success!
