Bolly to bond, bass to body zorbing, it was a busy three days at IIM-C
TT Bureau
Published 14.03.17, 12:00 AM
Hey, how you doin’? seemed to be the buzzword at Carpe Diem, the annual cultural fest of the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, partnered by The Telegraph, from January 27-29. The theme of the 16th edition of Carpe Diem was TV Series, a celebration of the growing popularity of English television among the youth. Besides the big acts like band Lagori, DJ Nucleya and Bollywood composers Sachin and Jigar, the three-day fest had 4,000-plus students from more than 100 colleges across the country battling it out in 30 events.
Students put their adventure spirit to the test in Joka Roadies. The finalists posed in front of a giant cut-out, specially made and put up on the Joka campus for Carpe Diem 2017.
Fun activities such as body zorbing (top), paintball (above), laser tag, LAN gaming and Joey’s Food Challenge kept the adrenaline pumping at the three-day extravaganza.
Confidence, charm and talent won Imtiaj Haq, a second-year student of Bhawanipur Education Society College, and Jasmine Sahoo, a first-year student of IIM Calcutta, the Mr and Ms Carpe Diem titles. Jasmine wowed all with her sense of humour and sporting attitude. Imtiaj entertained the audience with his SRK act. “Seeing these young students, I realise there is fresh talent everywhere. As a judge, I had a difficult time choosing winners,” said Pranati Rai Prakash (centre) of India’s Next Top Model fame, who judged the fashion show and Mr and Ms Carpe Diem 2017.
Abhinay, the stage play event, saw students turn actors. “We chose to perform on Autocracy vs Democracy,” said Ankita Deb, a fourth-year engineering student of NIT Durgapur.
Friend Fahad Taslim was the canvas for Soumi Chatterjee who brought marine creatures to life on his face. “This is more of a fun event than a competition,” said Soumi, a first-year student of St. Xavier’s College, Calcutta.
The lush green campus was dotted with eye-catching canvases made especially for the three-day event by Hues, the creative society of IIM Calcutta.
When the theme is TV series, how can F.R.I.E.N.D.S be far behind? Asha Shashi Kumar, a first-year student of IIM Calcutta, tries her hand at the jigsaw puzzle in the Hues Art Area.
The students of Indian Institute of Information Technology, Design and Manufacturing, Jabalpur, enacted the positive and negative aspects of Indian police at Halla Bol, the street play competition. “We always choose topics related to the government, Constitution and politics as we wish to spread awareness,” said Sunny Rajak, team coordinator for Jazbaat, the dramatics society of the Jabalpur institute.
Actions spoke louder than words as participants performed in Nishabd, the mime competition. The winning team of Sandeep Pandey and Sushmita Das of NIT Durgapur was asked to perform — ‘Son is smoking weed and mom enters the room’. The audience was left ROFL.
Glamour ruled the second day of the fest as students walked the ramp for Razzmatazz, the fashion show competition. Showcasing their collection of tribal costumes, the students of NIFT Calcutta owned the ramp with their creative and bold designs and cat-walked off with the first prize.
The child in everyone was all smiles as Ruskin Bond, the keynote speaker of the inaugural ceremony, engaged in an interactive session. The grand old man narrated his life experiences and shared memories like how he felt homesick in England to how difficult it was surviving in his initial days of struggle. The author had the students in splits with his sense of humour.
Kriti Gupta wore a champagne-coloured A-line dress with a self-made velvet maxi skirt over it. “This is my fifth Nucleya concert. I love him and his songs. Aaja is my fave,” said the fangirl.
“When you play Game of Thrones, you win or you die.” Vipul Kundnani, a student of IIM Calcutta, happily posed on the recreated iron throne of the cult fantasy drama series.
Sachin-Jigar had the audience on its feet from the very first song — Bezubaan from ABCD. “How are you guys doing?” asked the energetic Sachin as the boys and girls gathered in front of the stage and swayed to the music. After every song, the duo interacted with the audience — the guys got a tip or two on dating, the girls swooned over the singers. “We love college concerts because we can connect with the crowd and relive our own college days,” said Sachin. The night’s playlist included Babaji ki booti from Go Goa Gone, G phaad ke, Naach meri jaan, O re piya, Gulabi, Jeena jeena and Saibo besides a Bolly retro medley with Aajkal tere mere pyaar ke charche, Eena meena deeka, Aaja aaja main hu pyaar tera, Chhukar mere mann ko, Nazar ke samne and more. Ending the night with Ganpati Bappa Morya from ABCD, they set the stage on fire with a super energetic performance. “Joka is not a place, it is an experience,” signed off Jigar.
Paul Restani (second from right) flanked by friends (left to right) Clara Vaugelade, Claire Vanel, Matthias Flacher and Lord Josue Duchatel were in the country for a student-exchange programme. t2 spotted Paul matching a step or two with the other students on Bolly tracks!
Team IIM Choreo grabbed the second position in Euphoria, the group dance event. They danced to the theme of Breaking Bad apart from Aigiri nandini, the Nike song Da da ding and others.
Bikramjit Bhattacharya and Tanya Karmakar, students of NIT Durgapur, won the duet dance competition performing to a medley of Thousand Years, Humdard and Enrique’s Hero. “We rehearsed for two weeks till we were drained. We really had to win this and make our college proud,” said Tanya.
t2 caught up with Sachin-Jigar for a quick chat just before their performance
What are your special college memories?
Sachin: My most special memory is that I had no clue about my classes, lecturers and subjects in my final year. Classes began at 7am and I would never be able to wake up. So I didn’t even know who my lecturers were till I was refused a ticket to the examination hall because of poor attendance!
Jigar: I was a good student. I was never mischievous and so I shared a special rapport with my principal.
Sachin: Jigar was an outstanding student and I was a student standing out!
What are your expectations tonight from IIM-Calcutta?
Sachin: Masti is the word. I want to relive my college life.
Jigar: Absolutely. We’ve come here to do some music, which we hope everybody will enjoy.
How does it feel to be in Calcutta? Any Bengal connect?
Sachin: Who doesn’t want to have a connection with Bengali girls (winks)? Well, honestly, I have a sweet tooth and I love rasmalai and kheer kadam. This morning, too, I gulped down a few. Also Babughat and its boat rides.
Jigar: The musical connection. Calcutta has a good taste in music. Whenever we are here, we go back with some good music. I think I’ll buy a tabla from here because you get really good ones.
Sachin: Oh yes. Musical instruments. Tablas, harmoniums, guitars...
Chants of “Nucleya! Nucleya!” filled the air as the Bass Raja appeared on stage on Day II. He opened the night with Bhatakti atma and the crowd threw their hands up in the air. Playing one hit after another, he slayed it with Aaja, Jind mahi, Lights and Take Me There. Nucleya then dropped the bass with his Mumbai dance and Chennai bass. As Jungle raja hit the speakers during his 120-minute set, he asked everyone to turn on their mobile phone flashlights. Nucleya’s trippy beats and the open-air basketball ground blew everyone’s mind. The crowd pick? Laung gawacha.
Nucleya’s performance or, even the first glimpse of him, had the audience roaring. They clapped and screamed their hearts out the moment he set foot on stage.
“I’m here to support my sister, who is participating in a couple of events at Carpe Diem. When she told me Nucleya was going to perform tonight, I decided to stay back. I love Nucleya’s Laung gawacha,” said Namra Islam (right), a commerce student at Shri Shikshayatan College, who was accompanied by her friend Ekta Kesharwani.
The students were Lagori-fied as the Coke Studio fame band performed Boom shankar, Emotional atyachar, Aasma, Darbari and Saiyyan. The basketball court echoed with some soulful tunes as the folk-rock fusion band took the stage on the first pronite.
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