Invictus: Day Three

On its third day, Invictus jumped from strength to strength, pushing participants to demonstrate their talent and teamwork yet again. Instead of satisfying everyone’s desire to see more, the array of events only succeeded in whetting appetites for the days to come.

 

Debate

“Freedom is hammered on the anvil of discussion, dissent and debate.”

The Debate was the ideal arena for spirited discussion, which form the bedrock of the democratic setup –  of which India is the largest example. After a fiercely contested preliminary round, the finals took place from 2-4pm in the air conditioned atmosphere of TMA Pai Hall, which was heated up by the battle of wits which took place on the following topic: “In an attempt to make students more ‘patriotic’, Rajasthan’s government has directed all state colleges to put up statues of Vivekananda on campus if they do not have statues of such ‘inspirational personalities’ on the premises already. This house believes such acts of patriotism to be entirely superfluous.”
The event followed the pattern of a British Parliamentary debate, and was presided over by the judges Dr. Meera Baindur, faculty at Manipal centre for Philosophy and Humanities, and Dr. Aravind Bhatt from the Centre for European studies, professor of literature, intellectual history and German. The debate touched on the fundamental topic of what patriotism truly entails, and took into account not only the topic given, but also the events that have been in the minds of the general population in the recent times, and turned out to be an evenly contested battle with a lot of cross questioning from the participants as well as the judges. In doing so, it reaffirmed the idea of democracy that discourse is the way to go, and not blatant misdirected action.

 

M.E.L.A. Quiz

“Pop Culture is a reflection of social change, not a cause of social change.”

The M.E.L.A Quiz, ‘Magnum QI’, held at TMA Pai Hall on the third day of Invictus Culturals, was the perfect measure to gauge the knowledge of participants on four categories – Music, Entertainment, Literature and Art. The quiz, hosted by the ‘Ingenious Basterds’ consisted of a preliminary round, with six teams then qualifying to a final. The questions were as diverse as from being about the distinction between broadway and off broadway, to the secret ingredient of the Powerpuff girls. The most ‘ingenious’ part of the quiz, was the fact that the answers could be worked out from the question itself thus leaving the contestants in a perplexed state of simultaneous awe and vexation when the answers were revealed. The quiz’s amalgamation of trivia and teams’ competitiveness injected the perfect adrenaline high with which to end the literary events of the day.

 

Street Play

 

Coordinated, fierce and wildly opinionated, the street play teams gathered at the KMC Greens to voice their rage and anguish at the evils that pervade our society. With a combination of catchy dialogues, cleverly parodied songs and complex formations, they wove stories of the way injustice is often ignored or deemed as innocuous, narrating the tales of the victims, perpetrators and the ultimate spectators – society at large. The team from JNMC Belgaum bagged the first prize with their piece on marital rape, which struck a chord with the audience, while the KMC Manipal team spoke about the dangers of social media.

 

Mad Ads

Like the Goa trip of all fest events, Mad Ads is famous for showing everyone a good time. Biting, witty, and sometimes even downright silly, the participants kept the audience and judges doubled over with laughter, by finding innovative ways to market banal daily objects. The wonderful ludicrousness of the script was matched by the participants’ animation on stage, and they seemed to be having as good a time as anyone else. The event ended with the home team, KMC Manipal, winning first place for their take on the Alok Nath Water Purifier.

 

Painting

Despite it being Day 3, Invictus’18 had yet another gem in store, the painting competition. With 45 minutes to prepare, the eager participants were given the prompts for the event – ‘Storm’ and ‘Upside Down’. A silent Biochemistry demonstration room shone with eloquent strokes and a vivid display of colours, as each contestant mesmerized the onlookers. The final pieces of art baffled the judges as to who would win this extremely well fought competition. But all the paintings alike, at the end of the day, pointed to a powerful message: Prize or not, all of them were unconquerable, much like the spirit underlying Invictus.

 

Eastern Dance Solo

From grooving to Desi Kannada beats, to roller skating and performing Kathak at the same time, the Eastern solo dance event was the perfect entertainment package. The performances were tuned to popular medleys in Kannada, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. Themes like ‘An ode to dance’ and ‘Women of Hindi cinema’ left the audience gasping in awe. The last performance, which also happened to be the show stopper, was a Kathak rendition on roller skates. The participant’s creativity, precision and grace left the spectators speechless. As the evening sky ripened, the event ended with a violet rim encircling the horizon. Amber lights lit the stage and amped up the energy until it was palpable.

 

Eastern Dance Group

“Dance is the hidden language of the soul of the body” – Martha Graham
The world emanates from the dance of the Creator, according to Hindu Mythology. With the depiction of themes from the ancient Mahabharata and Ramayana, to those from popular movies like Bahubali, the performers took the audience through an entertaining journey of the evolution of Indian Fiction. The lineup also included a depiction of the Navarasas through dance. A troupe with the theme of clinical depression, gave the audience a glimpse of lives being sucked down by the whirlpool of emotions, and also introduced them to positive energy and professional help that can rescue them. Thus, the Eastern group performances were not only a delight to the eyes, but a collection of messages regarding pressing issues to ponder about.
– As reported by Shrey Srivastava, Rohan Basak, Vinay Reddy and Dharini Prasad.

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