Aitreya '10 Report

Thrice has the clarion call been sounded: and thrice has it been responded to...

Aitreya 2010- the largest confluence of literary talent in Amrita lit up the campus like never before on the third weekend of March. The much awaited intra university literary competition by Srishti, featuring the brightest and the best of what Amrita had to offer saw very active participation from the campuses of Ettimadai, Bangalore, Mysore, and Kochi. The entire set of competitions ranging from conventional declamations to the unconventional Persona (personality contest) had the participants vying for more than just the prizes- It was glory, both of self and one’s institution, which counted more in one’s hearts.The event started on the morning of the 20th March with the auspicious opening ceremony presided over by the chief guest Dr. M.P Chandrasekharan, Dean- Engineering. Dr. Chinnaswami, Professor, Students Welfare, and Dr. Ranganathan, Chief Warden were the Special Guests. With the formalities done and over with, the event got underway at the Amriteswari Hall, with the prelims of the various competitions. Saturday morning saw both the prelims and finals of “Intersection” (Crossword), with the competition being hijacked by a team from Bangalore who eventually ended up taking home the prize for the same. That was followed by the prelims for “War of the Wits” (debate) and the “Gladiator” (Persona) both proceeding simultaneously. The debate saw a team of two, one speaking for and the other speaking against a given argument. Four teams were selected from amongst more than fifty to participate in the finals scheduled for the next day. Persona event had the prelims in the form of a written test with the answers being adjudged on the basis of their creativity and wackiness. The session got its much needed respite in the form of the lunch break.

The afternoon had in its itinerary two competitions both of which had a considerable literary slant. “The Pulpit” (Declamation), the contest in which the participant had to impersonate any famous literary figure and deliver any lengthy dialogue or soliloquy, had people stepping into the shoes of characters ranging from the Venetian Portia to our very Abdul Kalam. At the end of the considerable use of lung power and a few comic scenes where the participants stared blank having forgotten their dialogues, the first and second prizes were bagged by Pavithra and Nikshep both from the Bangalore campus for their very realistic portrayal of Helen Keller and the protagonist of one of Ayn Rand's books.

The skit competition which followed the declamation saw four plays being put up for show. The plays being adaptations of various literary pieces, promised a high density display of talent. The participants didn’t disappoint as each play left the judges in a position more difficult than they were in before. The props, acting and dialogue delivery had the audience and the judges left at their wits’ end. The play that won the most accolades and also bagged the prize was ‘My Fair Lady’, from G.B Shaw's Pygmalion. Thus the first day of the competition drew to a satisfactory close.

The second day began with a great deal of expectation as it had in store the finals of all the competitions. The day began on an active note with the “Treasure Hunt” making sure that all the participants literally set a brisk pace for the rest of the day. The various teams, from the host campus and outside, had a fine brain teasing session in trying to get through the puzzles and making it to the various check points. Finally the team that made it through the gruelling session first was Nithya, Rishab, Mukund and Aishwarya.

If the treasure hunt kept the participants busy outside the Amriteshwari hall, the scene inside was just as intense. The ‘War of the Wits’(debate) finals saw the audience sit in rapt attention and witness the various arguments, which the participants let fly at each other. The topic - Should foreign varsities be allowed to set up their campuses in India?- had the participants fork out valid arguments for both sides of the motion. The two teams of four (one for and one against) made sure that each argument of the other side was made mince meat of, with logical rebuttals getting appreciative applauses from the crowd. Finally the team that stood out was the team that had very good coordination and team work among the participants- the team that spoke against the motion.

The debate then was followed by the Gladiator (Persona), a personality contest which had six participants try and outdo the others in various literary obstacle courses that were set for them. If the talent round saw the finalists show off their capabilities with the one playing the piano receiving a great applause, then the innovative product marketing saw them team up in groups of two with teamwork being the watch word. The last round, the stress interview with Mr. Prasanth Nair and Dr. Murali Rangarajan peeling through all layers of defence brought out the crème de la crème of the interviewees. The judges opined that Asher of Amrita Bangalore and Shivasubramanian of Ettimadai deserved the prize with their calm and cool demeanour seeing them through. With that the competition took a breather with a break for lunch.

The afternoon session saw the last competition of the event- the ‘quizophrenia’. The brainstorming prelims saw teams of two trying to work out the answers for twenty questions put up on screen. The answers-some innovative, some expected and some more downright bizarre- were then evaluated to sieve out the top six teams who were to go on stage for the finals. The finals saw two teams from Bangalore and four from Coimbatore vying with each other to turn up trumps each. The competition also saw active participation of the audience with answers being put up by them making sure that the teams on stage stay on their toes. At the end of six rounds of gruelling questions two teams made it to the top. Nithin and Nisanth from Coimbatore bagged the first prize and Vignesh and Sai Kripa of the same campus took the second.

As the afternoon session advanced, the results for the off stage events “Parchment” (Ragmag), “Scittura”(Blurb writing), and “The Oscars” (Documentary Film Making) started coming. The prize for ‘Ragmag’ was shared between the School of Dentistry, Kochi and ASAS, Mysore. The half-burnt parchments with colourful cartoons and lively comments covering the events were testimony to their wonderful creativity. The prize for “Oscars” went to ASAS, Kochi for their informative and interesting documentary on the mangrove forests of Lakshadweep islands. The first and second prize for “Scittura” was bagged by Samuel of Bangalore and K. Gowtham of Ettimadai respectively.

The final proceeding of the day was the much awaited valedictory function of Aitreya which was presided over by Dr N.S. Pandian, Dean, PGProgrammes, Amrita University and Dr. Harini Jayaraman, Faculty Coordinator, Srishti. The tension kept rising as the prizes for each competition was announced in anticipation of the much awaited rolling trophy announcement. And when the final announcement did come through it turned out to be a rather anti climax as both Coimbatore and Bangalore were adjudged joint winners. However, with a spirit of sportsmanship and as a goodwill gesture from the host’s side, the trophy was given to the Bangalore contingent who received it with open arms to be kept on display for another year running.

Thus the curtains drew to a close on one of the most fun filled but professional display of talent and grandeur, with each member going away either as a winner or with the knowledge of having given his best to try and beat the rest.