he final day of Spandan 2015 saw a surprise in store for the audience with folk rock fusion band Bengaluru band Lagori taking the stage.
Following last year’s edition, this year too saw Sunburn Campus closing Spandan, the annual inter-collegiate festival of Jipmer, with DJ Kash Trivedi ensuring the students partied till the wee hours of Sunday morning.
The Starry Night
The final day also saw Dernier Cri, the fashion show of Spandan, injecting a dose of glamour to the proceedings. With six colleges participating, the team from Pondicherry University walked down a different path showcasing designs based on North East Indian fabrics, drapes and interesting headgear. The men from Crescent University and New College, Chennai, proved that the ramp is not just the women’s domain. While the team from Vellore Institute of Technology had students in clothes high on glitter, the team from SRM University, Chennai, proved to be the most comfortable and sophisticated on the ramp, upping the fashion ante. The models from SRM University also seemed to have received the maximum whistles from the audience. However, it was the home team Jipmer’s designs featuring art works was the most creative. If on canvas, The Starry Night by Van Gogh is mesmerising, on a gown it was magical.
In sports, Jipmer teams were placed first in volleyball and futsal, while Stanley Medical College, Chennai, won the honours for hockey. The team from Christian Medical College, Vellore, won in men’s basketball, while the Armed Forces Medical College won the first place in football. With only throw ball and basketball open to women, the team from Vellore Institute of Technology took the top place for women’s basketball.
Quizzing enthusiasts Gopal Kidao, Ravi Mundoli and Jayakanthan R. walked away with the top honours in the Open Quiz competition, with team ‘CIDs of Kerala’ comprising Kiran Vijaykumar, Jithin and Hrishi being runners-up. There were around 20 teams from outside Puducherry who participated, said Ayesha, secretary of the literary committee.
Teams from the Vellore Institute of Technology made a clean sweep of the Western Music category.
For Pondicherry Engineering College student Piyush, the best experience was the Benny Dayal concert. “It was crazy. It started raining in between and we danced in the rain,” he said. His college also has its own festival soon, but he admits that Spandan has an edge because “programmes run as per schedule here. In our fest, some of them get cancelled sometimes.”
Behind the evening programmes and concerts is a team of technicians led by Joe from Puducherry, who owns Sound Garden here, which has arranged for the sound, light and truss. He is assisted by sound engineering students from Audio Academy, Bengaluru, doing their internship here. Mr. Joe is a veteran here, having attended 11 editions of Spandan so far. Spandan 2015 has won his approval. “There has been a good mix of shows. This batch of students is pretty good,” he said.
Overseeing the huge event has been a dedicated team of more than 100 Jipmer-ites, apart from a large batch of volunteers as well. Sleepless nights and endless running around have been a given for the organisers. With just Sunday to catch up on some rest, it is back to classes for the students on Monday. “Hosting Spandan 2015 has changed us. We have learnt human resource management. Our batch has been supportive. While I was at first disappointed to have missed on all the programmes and on playing basketball, seeing the crowds enjoying at the Benny Dayal show made up for it,” said Ritvik Janardhanan, General Secretary, Jipmer Students Association. He added with Puducherry resident Ram Prakash as president of the JSA, it was useful in getting things organised at a local level. “Spandan has a benchmark that each organising batch has to live up to,” he says.
There has been a good mix of shows. This batch of students is pretty good
Joe,Technician, Sound Garden
