(From top) The medley competition at Xavotsav 2009; the western band competition and another glimpse of the medley contest. Pictures by Pabitra Das and Rashbehari Das

What: Xavotsav 2009, in association with The Telegraph, the annual fest at St Xavier’s College. As cries of “Do you see what I see? I see SXC” rent the air, it was hard not to be infected by the spirit that this fest always brings with it. As t2 found out, the kids are zealous about everything — security checks (everyone was frisked, from SXC students to members of the media), song dedications, dressing on the cutting edge of fashion....

Mush Overload: Came with Rhythm Intoxication, the western music competition, rendering the event quite thanda. Not that it lacked crowd support. While Techno India impressed with its Decibel-inspired Naagin soundcheck, the mushy original certainly did not impress. The first team from SXC was up next, disappointing heavily despite the cheers. A nondescript rendition of Always by Bon Jovi dedicated to the frontman’s “baby” did not help. The second team from SXC did justice to the deafening roar, though. With impressive covers of Lenny Kravitz’s Are You Gonna Go My Way and Be Yourself by Audioslave and Creed’s One Last Breath, the band was on a par with the best in the rock set in Calcutta. Yet just as we thought college pride had been restored, out came the girl drummer with a faintly familiar tune playing in the background. “This day last year was the happiest day of my life. Happy anniversary!” she announced, promptly breaking into Shania Twain’s You’re Still The One, with a very happy looking boy standing around the stage grinning from ear to ear. Guts, mush and drama. What a rollicking time it all added up to!

Fundoo event: With questions like “What is it that the Greek have the longest, Japan the shortest and Saudi Arabia doesn’t have at all?” (national anthem) and “What makes the son of king Khafre, king Khufu famous?” (the Sphinx’s face was the face of king Khufu ), there were fundas galore at Choc-a-Bloc, the quiz, on Day One. Did you know that the film Anand was a dedication to Raj Kapoor, since he used to call Hrishikesh Mukherjee Babumoshai? Well, the die-hard quiz heads did!

Events like Live Journalism saw budding scribes grab their share of time. While most colleges covered serious issues like killing of tigers in Sunderbans to 9/11, Bhawanipur Gujarati Education Society College chose to do a spoof on the shoe throwing incident involving George W. Bush.

The One that Rocked: Was Fashion Fiesta, the ethnic fashion design competition, with designer Agnimitra Paul and model Jessica as judges glamming the event up further. First up was Shri Shikshayatan College, whose theme was rural and urban ethnic. With the modern look of backless blouses paired with georgette, an aatpoure sari a-la Devdas, Kashmiri phirans and Anarkali-cut salwar kameez, their theme was well explored. But the institute that really impressed was Kingfisher Academy, with a white and gold story and innovative ways of draping the sari. They turned a sedate ivory and gold sari into a lungi and teamed it with a kurti, a bolero and an interesting turban. For another look, they brought romance to a sexy low-waist drape of a beautiful taant sari by using flowers as accessories. By draping a garland as a chandrahaar (worn around the waist) and another around the model’s long plait, their collection was all grace and beauty.

Sign-Off: You weren’t with it in the fest if your cellphone wasn’t an expensive model. An announcer described two lost cellphones that could be claimed after 9.30pm from the office as “cheap” and “basic”, implying that the owners were perhaps too embarrassed to claim them.