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Be it acting, JAM, obstacle race or making a video, it was fun all the way at Saarang 2004. A round-up
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DO YOU know the slang for those who "mug up tomes" just like that? They are "muggus" and the disease they suffer from is called "mugguosis". A virulent form of this disease is termed "hypermugguosis". Courtesy: Saarang 2004. The Titan fast-track video-making contest at the just-concluded student festival explained the dynamics of this disease.
Brainchild of four IIT(M) students, the three-minute video film "Muggusamy" is about a "master-mugger". Muggusamy (portrayed by Ravish) is studious to a fault. He cannot think of anything but studies. Having burnt the candle at both ends, he falls sick and is hospitalised. His disease is diagnosed as "RGritis" (RG for relative grading), which is the most virulent form of "mugguosis". An IIT underground jargon, "RGritis" is about wanting to be always ahead of others. Back to the story, the doctors pronounce a grim verdict - Muggusamy will live for only three more days. The rest of the story details how Muggusamy wins the battle with Yama, the god of death, and undergoes an image makeover - from a grade-conscious plodder to a "cool dude".
"Muggusamy" is one of the three videos that won prizes at the video-making contest. Saarang 2004 (presented by IIT Madras in association with e-Serve) was replete with such contests, which tickled your creative bone. Though most of them were not part of the main fare, they, all the same, had an interested audience. "Four play" (never mind the double entendre) tested the participants' ability to think on their feet. Each team comprising four main characters, was given a topic to chew on. On the spot, they have to enact a play with a credible and interesting structure.
Mr. and Ms. Saarang 2004, held at Bindaas Park on January 26, was a crowd puller. Four girls and four boys were in the finals. Earlier, selection to this round was made on the basis of answered questionnaires. The questions were novel - most were funny imperatives. One of them just said "Comment". Another said "Lift one eyebrow at a time".
The judges for the finals were Srimati, choreographer from Dreeamcast.com, MTV VJ Ramona and model Shamshad. The finalists were asked to act out situations and put through a mini jam. The topics and questions were irreverent, in-the-face and full of sexual innuendoes. Sample this one from the "mini JAM" round: "I see your face when I am dreaming. That's why I always wake up screaming." B. Arjun from CMS, Bangalore, was adjudged Mr. Saarang and Srividya from UNRWIET, Andhra Pradesh, was crowned Ms. Saarang.
The Reality Show allowed the students the opportunity "to play god". With 52 teams in the fray (and each team having a minimum of eight members and a maximum of ten), the contestants alone constituted a huge figure. But the organisers and volunteers made up a larger number. They were on their toes putting up "sets" around the campus. These "sets" were based on close to 60 storylines. Some of them were taken from films ("Silence Of The Lambs", "Phone Booth" and "Matrix", to name a few) and some from books such as "Treasure Island". The participants had to map out their way to their final destination by obtaining clues from "actors" lodged in the sets.
Pics. by N. Sridharan
The "Choreo Nite", which registered participation from many colleges, had the students hopelessly trying to squeeze into the Open Air Theatre (OAT). The police had to resort to strong measures to chase away the overflowing crowd.
The Graffiti Corner provided space for creativity and imagination to have a free run. There was plenty of advice for anyone remotely interested, "Frown, `coz you never know who will fall in love with your smile!" read one scrawl. "I was born intelligent but education ruined me!" screamed another bit of writing on the wall.
There were numerous opportunities for leg-shakers to showcase their talent. Waves of boys and girls descended on the e-Serve stall to bebop to their favourite numbers. The songs kept changing like images in a kaleidoscope - one moment it was "Manmatharasa' and the next it was "Brazil", then it was "Mambo No. 5" and so on.
There was no dearth of challenges. Pots were hanging precariously from trees to be broken. If you were one for surmounting hardships, there was obstacle race for you. If you fancied rough games, you could put your name down for a three-way tug-of-war. The adventurous could climb a fake mountain, play on inflatable greens and try to ring hanging dolls at the mountain dew extreme zone.
PRINCE FREDERICK and AKHILA SEETHARAMAN
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