Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) wore a festive look as students moved around the campus which was reverberating with Kollywood and Bollywood songs. Food courts and mehandi stalls dotted the lawns.
Students participating in various sports and cultural activities held at the auditorium, lecture halls, and grounds took a break to grab a snack at the different stalls.
Images of a feather, lion, eagle, and tribal art with a message of hope was inked on the neck, upper back, and shoulders. It was not professional tattoo artists at work but students from different colleges.
Aura 2016, an annual sports and cultural festival organised by PIMS, gave an opportunity for students to realise their talent by participating in the inter-college tattoo competition.
Manickam, a final year medical student from PSG Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Coimbatore, inked images depicting ethical voting. “People can either choose the good or the corrupt in a democracy. It is by exercising the right choice, we open up to a better world with hope,” he says.
Manickam and his friend Priyanivedhan bagged the first place in tattoo art competition. Vinothini and Arvind, final year students of PSG College, won the runners up.
Different cultural activities were held simultaneously in different venues. The PIMS auditorium was packed with students and faculties from different colleges to watch the spectacular dance performance of students in the “Duet Dance” competition.
Several cultural programmes were scheduled through the day. The best bands performed in the “Battle of Bands” programme.
Many students played games which tested their concentration and acuity. Several fun-filled tasks for the participants lent variety to the proceedings.
And finally, PSG, Coimbatore took home the first and second place. In ‘Pictionary’ competition, students’ imagination, understanding, and drawing skills of 12 pairs of students from various colleges came to the fore.
‘Wealth Out of Waste’ game saw participants create something of their choice out of anything that they brought. In “adaptunes” game, students from various colleges danced to the variety of random genres of music.
Skrats Band and the Thalli Pogathe fame Sid Sriram enthralled the audience.
