The last day of this year’s intercollegiate event at Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), AURA 2016, started early with a marathon after the exciting and energetic performances on Friday cultural night.
In the sports and cultural events, at least 50 colleges and more than 2,000 participants duelled to take home the glory. At least 600 to 800 participants from 30 colleges showcased their abilities at the various sports conducted from volleyball to hockey, table tennis and athletics.
On Saturday morning, over 25 runners from various colleges gathered at 6.30 am for the annual marathon run. This year, the students participated in the marathon with a purpose. They ran to create awareness on kidney transplantation.
Prominent athletes
The event was inaugurated by two prominent members of the athletic community — Sebastian Xavier, an Olympic swimmer and Arjuna awardee, and Abraham Verghese, a national footballer.
They created awareness through banners and flyers. Flyers were passed out to the various schools and campuses around Puducherry. They took out a bike rally with helmets on and held posters and placards throughout the race. Indira Gandhi Medical College, Puducherry (boys) and Madras Medical College, Chennai (girls) bagged the first place.
PIMS students won the first place in hockey. Besides, the track events included 100 metres, 200 metres, 1200 metres and relay.
The best player for athletics was Ajit Kumar (Indira Gandhi Medical College, Pondicherry) for boys and Beryl Hudson (Madras Medical College, Chennai) for girls.
In the singing competition, Pondicherry Central University was declared the winner while PSG, Coimbatore and Ethiraj College for Women, Chennai both came in second. Over 30 participants from various colleges participated. The cultural night on Friday was rocked by three-piece garage rock band from Chennai performed live to start off the evening here at PIMS on August 5.
The band includes T.T. Sriram (guitar and vocals), Jhanu Chanthar (bass), and Tapass Naresh (drums and backing vocals), who got the crowd cheering, both students and faculty.
Following this, Namma Ooru Boys Band’s Josh Vivian played some of his hits such as ‘Cosmopolitan Kadhali’ and featured his music video ‘Senthamizh Penne'.
Energetic performance
Sid Sriram also performed many of his hits for the first time ever in Puducherry at PIMS. Starting off with a prayer song, everyone was in awe with the energy and life that oozed through his songs. The 26-year-old American Indian artist enthralled the audience with his songs ‘Adiye’ and his biggest hit ‘Thalli Pogathe’.
The four-day event came to an end with a laser show and DJ night.
This year cultural event started early with a marathon and saw the participation of 50 colleges
