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The Amritsar campfire
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Our boys and girls made a mark at the National Inter-Collegiate Youth Festival at Punjab held recently. M. KRISHNAN talks to the jubilant team
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Lloyd never fancied much about his dream team's chances at the National Inter-Collegiate Youth Festival at Punjab.
But here they are, back home, beaming, from the land of paneer and tikka, by winning the first place in Drama and Quiz (both group items), second place in group music and collage, third place in classical dance and finally coming fourth in cartooning.
Twenty-one students from the Mahatma Gandhi and the Cochin University had joined hands to form a strong and contending team to represent a buoyant Kerala at the National Inter-Collegiate Youth Festival at Amritsar.
Lloyd, the windows to the team, knew he had the finest of talents by his side, yet victory always required that vital underscoring support from the House of Gods!
So even before stepping aboard the Mangala Express, he asked his team to join a morale-boosting prayer, appealing to shower them with confidence that the zestful Sardar scene called for.
The arts competition was held during the first week of February at some of the beautiful venues of the Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.
Our folks added that extra glitz to most of the stages there with their glittering, mind-blowing performances.
During the day, they showcased their talents to an enthusiastic audience and at night, they had undiluted fun.
At the same time, they found time for their preparations as well. These frolicsome nights gave that much needed colour and gaiety to the tour. By weekend, Lloyd was hallucinating.
His side could now return home, all smiles. The Balle Balle hearts had been conquered!
There couldn't be better evidence to it than the end results itself.
The jubilant team returned home, baggage full of sweet memories and trophies. As a member of the Department of Student Services (MGU) and also as the director of the touring team, an elated Mr. George Joseph was at a loss for words. The passage to Punjab was not easy.
``But ultimately today, our students have even crossed the Pacific,'' said an ecstatic Thulasi, the woman escort of the DSS.
It was Lloyd and friends' astounding show at the quiz that won the team their first medal.
Right from the word go, the team was on the front, beating others at the grey cells event.
They virtually led all the rounds and by the time they reached the final round -- the rapid-fire circle, they had bagged enough points to wrap up the contest.
``I knew most of the answers to the fast questions in the final round, but both Hari and Tom (his partners at the event) urged me to be quiet.
Then, I suddenly realised that we were already thrown to the top. If ever I blundered, then we would have finished bad, with those negative scores piling up,'' said a spirited Lloyd.
Some logic! From the quizzing venue, it was now time to cross over to the theatre.
Here our folks from CUSAT presented a eunuch's pathetic life in society. Manikandan, or Mani as the team members call him, won the audience, with his breath-taking acting skills.
Nithin played the sinful villain and Dhanya played the dedicated heroine.
``But, all our feats were shadowed by Mani's superb performance,'' says Dhanya, who played the supporting actress in the drama. Arun, Rose, Sudeep, Rahesh, Mini, and Surya were all playing their best: and that added to the depth of the story line, feel directors Manoj and Vinod, artistes from the School of Drama, Thrissur.
On stage, Mani wore a sari and even had an attractive mehandi work done on his hands.
But these things remained unnoticed.
His eyes played the vital role and that remarkable feminine touch, which further intensified his body language, lingered on to the air to capture those in sardari-land.
Soon after the show a horde of Punjabi drama lovers greeted Mani.
But, when asked on the kind of reception he got upon reaching college, Mani indeed had a strange reply. "I got all the hugs and handshakes for the first few days. But now things are changing. People out here are really questioning and teasing my identity,'' he lamented!
Now at the collage spot, John Xaviers from Sacred Heart's College, Thevara, had selected `musicians' as his theme for work.
After the specified time he came up with a masterpiece collection.
The paper cuttings were so well arranged that John's friends knew there should be a prize.
``However, that work earned our team a second prize. I was always a happy man. I knew I had done a decent job. Criticisms are just a part of competition,'' says John, whose main field of interests are painting and clay modelling. Asianet VJ, Savitha, was the star attraction at the group music hall. However when it came to the rendering part, Sanil seemed to overshadow her. Ambili, Nithin, Divya and Kuldeep were all on the forefront and with the kind of support extended by background instrumentalists, Kiran and Vijay, the entire venue was easily keeping time to the tune. Each team had to present two songs; a patriotic and a folk number each. For the patriotic song, the status of modern Gandhi was the theme and for the folk song, our singers sang a typical, naadan piece.
``We owe it to our composers, R. K. Damodaran sir and Seby Nayarambalam Sir,'' says Sanil. They had to fix suitable lyrics and then compose the tunes to suit each of our abilities. "It is no easy job, you know,'' adds Savitha, a final year B.Com student at St. Teresas College, Ernakulam. And they missed the top spot by a whisker.
The classical dance venue highlighted the graceful movements of Remya Raveendran, Miss Talented at last year's Miss Kerala competition. Remya presented in style, the traditional Bharatanatyam to win the viewers' ovation.
This venue again saw a tough competition and in the end Remya, the girl from the South, was pushed off to the third position. ''I liked the platform very much as I had a lot of space to move around. Certainly, I would consider this as one of my career-best performances,'' rates a euphoric Remya. And at last for sightseeing, our team was taken to the Wagah border, the Golden Temple and to the Jallianwala Bagh memorial. "Back home, we are all bankrupt, now. We had to shower our friends with heavy treats. Those cups and trophies have taken such a mighty toll on our pockets. Yet, we are a courageous lot,'' the gang was all laughter as John made this comment.
Inter-collegiate buddies, Aha!
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