Staying true to its theme, ‘Theatre of Dreams’, VIT’s Riviera 2018 was packed with a myriad of opportunities for students. On the second day of the international cultural and sports festival, ‘Aikya’, a parade showcasing the diversity and cultural heritage of India stole the show.
“The theme, Theatre of Dreams, means a place where dreams are realised,” said Eshita Singh, a student organiser for ISO and Documentation, Riviera 2018. “Accordingly, we have introduced more fun events this year. To realise the theme, we went digital and involved students this time. We conducted polling on our Facebook page for choosing the theme and pro-show artists. The theme was chosen based on the voting by students,” she explained.
Samrat Roy, manager, events and cultural committee, explained how the events were selected to keep in line with the theme. “We had 400 proposed events. Of this, we selected 200 and then, listed out 130 events based on creativity,” he added.
The highlight of the second day was ‘Aikya’ that showcased the cultural heritage of various States including Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka, Manipur, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.
International students also performed during the cultural parade. Krishna Radhakrishnan, president of Women Entrepreneurs Welfare Association, was the chief guest.
“In ‘Aikya’, we focussed on promoting poet Bharathi. A number of folk arts reflecting Tamil Nadu’s culture were performed. It featured ‘silambam’, ‘kolattam’, ‘kai silambam’ and ‘thapattam’ and a few more,” said A. Maria Sebastian, coordinator of Bharathidasan Tamizh Ilakkiya Mandram of VIT that has lined up seven events for Riviera 2018. One of the events, “Tamil Juke Box,” was conducted on Friday with 30 contestants.
One of the events that drew the attention was ‘Khalbali’, street plays reflecting social issues.
Street play
The event was organised by Dramatics Club. N.V.S. Aditya, event coordinator, said the teams highlighted different social issues by clubbing them into a street play.
“The issues included female foeticide, rape and demonetisation,” he said. Paritosh Mahajan, event coordinator, added that the aim was to spread the message to people. “When the message is through songs, it reaches people easily,” he said. Eight teams took part in the event.
VIT Roadies that saw 147 entries was another event. Of this, 16 contestants were selected. Acoustic Vibes, an event organised by VIT Music Club, had participation of seven bands.
With several new fun events this year, Roy said that VIT Ninja Warrior in which participants had to complete different tasks was one of the highlights. The VIT Gamers League had lined up several e-sports events that saw huge participation, he said.
The Hindu is the media partner for the event.
