Experience Spring Fest (part 2)

As expected the next day mostly went into practice.Of course there were certain distractions,and other formalities,but practice for the play remained at the centre stage.The major attraction for me was the much awaited Hasya Kavi Sammelan during the evening.Unfortunately the general excitement for it,was nothing in comparison to the one they people had for "kal ka chhokra" KK.There is a reason why Hindi is regarded as being neglected in present scenario.Anyway we were yet to have a run through of our play,and we were quickly approaching the evening.I was begining to get anxious.Finally when the Kavi Sammelan was just few minutes away,we managed our 1st run through.It indeed was a very good performance,and as soon as we were done with that I rushed for the Sammelan.The situations played a sort of joke on me,and the next few hours were pretty much eventful for me.Unexpectedly the response for the Sammelan was amazing,but I somehow amanged to get inside the audi.I was surprised to discover that we were treated to a classical and westerm music fusion program,with the name of hasya kavi sammelan.The program was amazing and I thorughly enjoyed it.I had no complains from this event,just when it was announed that Hasya kavi Sammelan will now be starting..at a different venue.This meant that I would miss out almost completely on the drama practice,I had to take a decision,and there were no second thoughts.Interests can be curbed,maybe even passions can,but then there are few things which are even over this,this was too special for me.We had the 1st slot for the play the very next morning and I had hardly practiced my part,but I knew I could not miss this opportunity,something inside me was telling me to go for it.My gut feeling was proved right,the next couple of hours turned out to be among the most special moments in my life.Among the poets was the young poetic sensation Dr. Kumar Vishwas,someone who has been a hugely inspiring figure for me lately.It was great listening to all the poets,it certainly was the most special event for me.One of the poets very much impressed me by his views,and the passion with which he put forward his ideas.Yet it was watching Kumar Vishwas live on stage that made it a god level experience,I knew I wont regret missing out on my practice,I knew I would always be proud I came for Spring Fest,my trip was already a success.Those were purely magical moments for me,moments of sheer ecstacy,no doubt it was once in a lifetime experience,an experience which will stay very very close to my hear always.I did get some scolding as I returned after "7" long hours,but I decided not to argue over it.Already a couple of other issues had been raised earlier which pointed towards my temperamental aspect.In my heart I knew,there are right and wrong things,but then there are certain things,which are just necessary.It was the conclusion of another very eventful day.The next day,we had our rangmanch as well as the nukkad.I was pretty confident about performing well in the play...I went to sleep a satisfied and a confident man.

Third day at SF was when we performed our both group acts.Everyone played their parts in the play beautifully,what i loved the most was the ease with which we conducted it,there was hardly any pressure on anyone.Everyone was more than satisfied at the end of it,I personally believe we presented on stage,a dramatic act of really superior quality,and like many others,I was pretty confident that this would be a prize winning act.I would like to make a special mention here,as a note of thanks,to one of my friends from Kgp,who came to watch the play.The gesture meant a lot to me,as she was the only one to turn up,when I had invited about 5-6 friends of mine,anyway no regrets,I wastotally immersed in a feeling of satisfaction then.The nukkad was to begin shortly,and I didnt even have my lines,as the narrator.We practiced for some time,and we really enjoyed it.I feel it maybe the funniest nukkad for almost everyone who got to witness it.Again the systematic nukkads that most teams performed did make us a little nervous,but once again our team came out trumps.The nukkad also turned out to be a big hit,it got more claps,more smiles,more laughs,than any other nukkad(I didnt see all of them,but am pretty sure about this).Unfortunately no video of nukkad was made,but those images shall remain in my memory,those again were proud moments for us.It was like a mission accomplished.Dramsocs was a happy unit,Vivek Bhaiya and Kuldip Bhaiya(2 of the most important people behind this) must have been highly relieved men after this.As for the expectations,we had hopes from both the acts,and really high hopes.I personally,knew the fact that our nukkad wasnt technically very correct,not withstanding the fact that it was easily the most entertaining one,so I was a little sceptical about it.

The relieved souls just roamed about,most of the time doing the most important thing of the SF,trust me you get to see plenty of pretty faces.Everyone was involved in certain formalities like packing for some time,some tired ones took rest,I was still miles away from inaction,and kept myself busy in some or the other act(like getting the accomodation refund,which again happens to be a lengthy process).The evening had a couple of rude shocks for us,as we didnt win in either play or the nukkad.Different people took it differently,but one and all in our team were affected.For me,it was a great learning experience,prize or no prize,I was still a satisfied man,and in my heart,I knew that we were just unlucky not to be considered among the top 3 in the play.It was getting a little emotional for me,also because we were nearing the end of the fest.Also I was indirectly scolded by one of my seniors for a stupidity of mine during the play,I just hope I learn from the mistakes that I made,which will make the trip even more sucessful.I spent most of the time during the closing hours with one of my school friends,and a kgpian now,and it was great talking to him.We chatted on a variety of topics,and I wished that it could continue for a lot more time.The senti minutes ticked by,got converted into hours and soon it was bye bye time.

The expressions on some of our faces when we returned to Ranchi station summed up the nostalgia and the level of involvement that we had displayed.Most of us were exhausted due to the sustained energetic attitude that became synonymous to our presence,there for those days.I personally,was already missing the days,like many others.What a lovely trip it has been...Yo KGP,yo SF..and above all..Yo Dramatics society..."kachmachaa" diya hum logo ne!! :)

Experience Spring Fest-09 (Part1)

sair kar duniya ki gaafil,zindagani fir kahaan...zindagani gar rahi to naujawaani fir kahaan...

I was away from blogging for some time,as I had a good 10 busy days lately(which was upto 26 jan,but stayed idle for some more time).I was a member of the team from Dramatics Society of my college(team of around 20 people),which reprsented the college at Spring Fest,IIT Kgp.This meant that I had to miss classes,a gd session in my college,and I was supposed to miss out on a computer course as well,I decided to make all the sacrifices,because "passion first" has been my motto,and am glad I took this decision.

SF-09 was soemthing which I was always expecting to be a special experience,becuase I had a godly experience at Kshitij(tech fest of IIT Kgp) last year.The expectations were sky high,on proffesional terms,our team had to perform a play and a nukkad at SF.The plannings were being done for a good amount of time,but making this whole thing work out was a challenge in itself.The prospect of watching KK perform got many people even more interested,which eased out the things a bit.I wrote a 30 minute play's scipt,which I would frankly admit,has been one of the most challenging and satisfyibng things that I have done.Nukkad's script was finalised during the last moments,the various elements of decision making process again intensified the challenge.At one stage,the play was even scrapped,but finally we went to Kgp,as a happy bunch of people,well prepared for both Nukkad and Rang Manch(play),at least mentally,and I for sure,knew that Kgp will again provide me with a lifetime experience.

Things didnt start out well for us,as we had to wait for over 4 hours,sitting in the open,with all our luggage,due to certian "technical' problems.After a good amount of sustained effort from certain tired souls,our team finally got registered.We were begining to come into the 'nautanki' mode then itself,as we kept ourselves,and others who had gathered,entertained with out antiques.In fact the fun and frolic had began during the train journey,and the drama society,in its first such visit,was coming into its own,and quite confidently so.Summing up the situation so far...we had reached kgp at around 4.30 in d morning with an average sleep of say 3-4 hours(and that after significant efforts by varios TTs and security persons).We were 'accomodated'(the word really suits here) in a hall,it probably was 4 times the size of our hostel room(for 1 person) and 70 of us took guard,along with the bag and baggage.I deesperately wanted to have some rest,but then few of us decided to enjoy ourselves in an event called break free.
5-6 of us somehow pushed ourselves for it,after completing the couple of daily activities.It was an event where we were supposed to do anything in 60 seconds,was a great concept,but I had never been a person confident of facing such events.Most of my friends decided for comedy during the 1 minute,while I was suggested on trying something poetic.When we reached the venue,the event had started,I had not thought of anything,and my turn was a few minutes away,now I was begining to get the true feel of the Fest.I somehow managed to jot down a few lines on "main ek minute mein kahee gayi baat hoon",but soon things turned ugly for me.IIT Kgp students just cared for 3 things in the e,vent,GIRLS(didnt matter much how they looked),Kgpian performers and comic performers..I didnt fall in any such category,and judging by the proceedings I was sure to receive the kind of response I had never seen in my life.I almost dropped the idea of participating,but when the moment came,I gathered the strength,and recited my lines confidently,though I did face my share of hooting..though not to the extent I had expected.6 of our grp members took part in the event,and it was fun for most of us,though it was a pretty anxious for me.Finally we decided to have the best thing we could at that time,it was time for lunch,breakfast,snacks or whatever category one could think of.Jut as we were about to be seated in the cheapest dhaba of kgp(I love it,even though food isnt good),we came to know that 5 of us had qualified for 2nd round of break free which was about to begin,now I was totally getting into the fest mode.Even the so called basic necessities of life took a backstage during those moments,and thus we made our way back to the auditorium.Now for some stats,14 out of around 60 registered people qualified for second round,and 5 of the 6 in our group did.We were high on confidence,I surely was,it was like passing a test which was making me go real nervous.High on confidence,but low on ideas,thats what I was,60 secs had changed to 90 secs now,I had no clue what I would do now."main dedh minurte mein kahee gayi baat hoon" didnt seem like a good idea,and would have been a 'touch' repetitive too.But as things turned out,the 2nd round of break free turned out to be a truly amazing experience for us.Ideas came out of somewhere,most of us performed standups,and BIT was at its vintage best.No Kgpian came even close to our performances,it was a proud moment,where one and all present in the audi,must have realised the class that this drama team displayed.We easily bagged the 1st 3 positions(and I think would even have secured 4th and 5th if they would have been given).I got the 3rd prize,and the 1st thought was about the moment when I was trying to pull out due to fear of humiliation.My second act was a standup cum mimicry act,where I indirectly conveyed my view that SF for Kgpians only means looking around for girls(and quite desperately I must say).Needless to say it was party time after that,we finally managed to feed ourselves at 3.30 pm.I was in tears when I gave the news about the event at my home,the next couple of hours were really cheerful for all of us.It was followed by KK's show,which was the major attraction for most people.It started out in the most boring fashion for me,as I have never been a fan of KK,but slowly I got into masti mode with my friends,and in the end I managed to have a good time even though the songs were pretty much uninteresting for me.It was a mixed day for us,there were moments of frustation as well as moments of ecstacy.I had my first meal at tikka,which also made me nostalgic.We didnt practice even for a minute the whole day,which meant that the next day was supposed to be a busy one....(contd)