The annual inter-college cultural fete ‘Dhwani,’ organised by the College of Engineering, Trivandrum, is back and it looks like the fun and festivities are going to be bigger and better than ever before. ‘Dhwani 2013’ will be inaugurated at the college by actor Pratap Pothen today (March 7) at 6 p.m. If last year the footfall was 40,000, this year, the organisers, most of them final year students of the college, say that they are expecting hundreds – if not thousands – more students from colleges across the country.
“This year we have an incredible line-up of three ‘pro-show’ concerts – the popular night with singer/actor Suchitra (March 8, 7 p.m.), a folk night with Bangalore-based Raghu Dixit Project (March 9, 7 p.m.), who are performing for the first time in Kerala, and as the grand finale the ‘pro show’ DJ night with DJ Gino (March 10, 9.30 p.m.),” says Anjana S. Kumar, a final year student of electrical engineering and one of the programme conveners.
Another highlight of the fete is ‘CET Roadsters’ contest, a one-of-its-kind unofficial MTV Roadies event. Says Anjana: “This event was last held at Dhwani `10 with MTV VJ and former ‘Roadie’ Rann Vijay hosting the show. This time it’s being hosted by MTV Roadies patron Raghu Ram and his crew. Raghu Ram will also host the Mr. and Mrs. Dhwani personality contests!”
Dhwani celebrates March 8 – International Women’s Day – with talks by dancer Rajasree Warrier and senior police officer Sreelekha. Another special event for the year is the ‘Film Symposium’, organised by the college’s film club, to celebrate 100 years of Malayalam cinema. Legendary actor Madhu will be honoured by CET (March 8, 6.30 p.m.), prior to which there will be an open forum with the actor. Luminaries from the film and television world will share their views and opinions on the topic ‘Retrospective of Malayalam visual media’ (March 9).
Then, there are the much-awaited contests. Dhwani is set to host a range of events – some 45 in all, from debates, Just-a-minute (JAM) and film screenings to mimicry, apparel designing, dumb charades, mehndi designing, cartooning, face-painting, short film contest, and gaming…
There are several online events too such as ‘Treasure Hunt’ for Dhwani. “We have a total prize money and goodies worth half million rupees. The winner of the Rock concert, dubbed ‘Decibels’, will win a record label contract worth Rs.1.5 lakh!” says Anjana.
As part of the fete, the students have taken up various social causes such as blood donation drives and organ donation awareness campaigns, and cleaning drives following the Attukal Pongala.
Registration fee for Dhwani 2013 is Rs.250 and each participant is eligible to compete in any number of events. The pro show tickets (all three) will be free for all the participants and will be made available to non-participants for Rs.150. For details and registration, visit >www.cetdhwani.com
