Manipal: The 36th Edition of Revels was inaugurated at the Library auditorium on Tuesday. The opening ceremony set the tone for this year’s “Revels” and gave people a taste of what is to come. Categories ranging from new type of quiz competitions to daredevil adventure sports have been introduced for the first time. The organizers, Students’ Council of Manipal Institute of Technology said, “This fest will give gilded wings to talent.”
Besides being a cultural fest, Revels also lays emphasis on sports. The Revels Cup is a sports extravaganza with an overwhelming participation from over forty colleges this year, and it features a medley of 12 sports and games. Cultural competitions are happening online as well. Script writing for dramatics, photography, creative writing are some of the online competitions being held. This year for the first time competitions in Hindi have also been introduced. “Irshaad” which is akin to a kavi sammelan, “Bahas” a Hindi debate and “Abhivvyakti” creative writing are the programmes introduced this year.
Over the next four days MIT will be agog with teams from about 30 colleges participating in the cultural and sports events. Teams from IIT Guwahati, IIT Bombay, NIFT Hyderabad, SRM Chennai, VIT Vellore, Christ College Bangalore are some of the teams taking part in the four-day festival considered to be the biggest show by an institute in South India.
The President of the Student Council Harsh Ranjan Das delivered the welcome address at the formal inaugural function after which Dr. M V Kini, Associate Director, Alumni and Public Relations, introduced the Chief Guest, Prof. T. Ranga Pai, Principal of Dr. TMA Pai Polytechnic Institute. Among other dignitaries present for the evening were Dr. Vinod V. Thomas, Director, MIT , Col. CMS Kalakoti, Chief Warden, MIT, and Dr Veena Maben, Associate Director of Student Welfare, MIT.
The chief guest, Prof. Pai implored the students to inculcate a basic knowledge of the arts, for we live in a world littered with charlatans in the name of art. He urged the students to be people of enlightenment and not just entertainment, for there is entertainment in enlightenment, but not vice versa.
Dr. Vinod V. Thomas then declared Revels 2015 open, to the jubilation of all present in the auditorium. Following that, those present were treated to fine music split into two acts.
The first act was The Lungi Band, a student band that delightfully fused violin solos, guitar riffs, and gripping vocals. The second act featured none other than the chief guest himself, who went up on stage with his own team and performed classic Hindi melodies by the likes of Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar.
Revels 2015 will conclude with a big bang as Farhan Akhtar and his band “Farhan Live” will bring down the curtain with a performance on March 14, 2015.
