Lights. Camera. Action.
It's all set. The lights are lit. And the cameras are ready. The big cameras of cameramen, the small old cameras of participants and their friends, digital cameras of all those interested and the cellphone cameras of all those who keep it with them even after the ban on camera phones in the college.
Soon, that is, morning of 30th January they'll cry out 'action', that will last for four days.
And yet another Riviera will be over.
That was really some 'kitni-aasani-se-tumne-keh-diya-riviera-will-be-over' expected dialogue because there is a lot more to Riviera than I concluded it with. Uncounted number of students and even staff members shall be working and have worked day and night for these four days. Preliminary rounds for the selection of local teams have been going on for almost a month. Lot of students have been working for the preparations of sports, culturals, games and what not.
Let me take a look.
Enter the VIT. Go to the reception that has been working already, two days before the start of Riviera, day and night. You get past the Rangoli made there without ever realizing that there were at least 4-5 people who made it sitting there for hours. You cross the main building and see the big posters of gaming that catch your attraction for once even if you are not a gamer. You reach the back of the the main building, at Anna auditorium where these people are selling tickets and saying thank you just like the guy sitting at the billing counter of the nearest supermarket.
No exaggerations, they have made the ticket buying system this complex this time. Give your name at one counter that is according to your block, get the copy of your identity card stamped there and get the tickets at another counter that is serving only tickets. No names asked.
Come out of Anna. Most probably you will be using the back door because the ticket window is there just in the back corner of the auditorium. Can you listen to the voices of bands and some guy singing? (or shouting, depending on your taste) Most probably, Yes. Because whatever the time be, the bands there are practicing. Probably this is the other thing besides the reception counter that is working day and night.
That was just one side. Well, not of Riviera, but Anna. On the other side, there is Riviera control room. Colored in the colors of Riviera from the time when these colors were not even decided. Riviera control room is the place where everything is there, except time. The room is in a rush always, people come and go, plans are made, preparations are done, posters are colored, dance practice is done, volunteers come to 'do something' and register, experts are called and assigned works. So much happens there and this is the center. Which is standing still but running at an unmatched pace.
And then you pass through the road in front of library, where labour is removing the sand castles that were made yesterday, one by one. Sand castles, that are not just hardwork, but something that contain ideas, thoughts, a desire to win, and simultaneously, innocence. You sit there in sand for hours just to make something that you know will not be there tomorrow. Though, there are no waves from the sea, Sand castles are sand castles only and they are made to vanish.
And then there is the shade in front of the LH, where dance practice is going. Almost any time of the day I pass through that area I can see people dancing there. Be it an evening with the sun shining over or 8.30 night when I'm back from the food court.
And that all is happening when the Riviera has not started. When it starts, I hope it will be really much more enjoyable.
So, keep fast forwarding to rewind.
20080129
20080128
Sand Castles
It's all Riviera-Riviera. well, just two days to go for the Riviera, starting 30th Jan and 28th was looking all colored in Riviera, though I could not go to collect my Riviera T-shirt and tickets for the Shankar Mahadevan and Bandish and the from-where-are-they-coming Junkyard Groove. The dances are going all the day it seems and I can see boys and girls working hard to get their steps in right in rhythm throughout the evening, in the open shade. (God only knows what that term means. I don't know how an open thing can be a shade simultaneously but they call it so)
Today the most interesting thing on the show was the 'Sand Castle Sculptures' preliminary rounds in which people made beautiful designs of sand. It was near the ladies' hostel in front of the library. The game was probably scheduled at 5 because when I reached there people were ready to start with their piles of sand and it was sometime after 5:30.
Although the event was good, the organisers failed to realize that by the time the event will be over, the sun would be no more there over us and people there would need lights. The light available, when I reached again after 7, was too less and people were using cellphones' lights to keep their work going.
But unaffected from light problem, there were some beautiful designs to be seen. the first on I saw was a simple football field design. (Hope it's that only, as I would not be able to differentiate even if it was for hockey)
There were different type of designs. Some of them simple, but beautifully carved, almost perfect. Some were complicated designs, but not that accurate. Some were complicated, and still very accurate. Though the lack of light there posed problems for spectators also, it was altogether a great experience that reminded me of beaches and the sea.
It was nice to see that people were interested in the event irrespective of the troubles with light etc. and there were still some clicking pictures.
In short, though the event was not as good as it could be conducted, the organisers of the event should be appreciated for the innovative idea and a new start. Hope it gets only better in the future.
Today the most interesting thing on the show was the 'Sand Castle Sculptures' preliminary rounds in which people made beautiful designs of sand. It was near the ladies' hostel in front of the library. The game was probably scheduled at 5 because when I reached there people were ready to start with their piles of sand and it was sometime after 5:30.
Although the event was good, the organisers failed to realize that by the time the event will be over, the sun would be no more there over us and people there would need lights. The light available, when I reached again after 7, was too less and people were using cellphones' lights to keep their work going.
But unaffected from light problem, there were some beautiful designs to be seen. the first on I saw was a simple football field design. (Hope it's that only, as I would not be able to differentiate even if it was for hockey)
There were different type of designs. Some of them simple, but beautifully carved, almost perfect. Some were complicated designs, but not that accurate. Some were complicated, and still very accurate. Though the lack of light there posed problems for spectators also, it was altogether a great experience that reminded me of beaches and the sea.
It was nice to see that people were interested in the event irrespective of the troubles with light etc. and there were still some clicking pictures.
In short, though the event was not as good as it could be conducted, the organisers of the event should be appreciated for the innovative idea and a new start. Hope it gets only better in the future.
20080127
Riviera
Riviera, the annual cultural festival of VIT is about to begin soon. For details you can view the official Riviera site:
http://www.vit.ac.in/riviera/main.html
Other links on Riviera:
http://tubious.com/riviera-culfest
http://letmeknow.wordpress.com/2008/01/25/riviera-08-culfest-at-vit-vellore/
http://campus-indiarockz.blogspot.com/2008/01/riviera-08-vit-vellore.html
The korean link to Riviera is:
http://home.kookmin.ac.kr/~world/technote/read.cgi?board=announce&y_number=314&nnew=1
And you can see the translation here.
http://www.vit.ac.in/riviera/main.html
Other links on Riviera:
http://tubious.com/riviera-culfest
http://letmeknow.wordpress.com/2008/01/25/riviera-08-culfest-at-vit-vellore/
http://campus-indiarockz.blogspot.com/2008/01/riviera-08-vit-vellore.html
The korean link to Riviera is:
http://home.kookmin.ac.kr/~world/technote/read.cgi?board=announce&y_number=314&nnew=1
And you can see the translation here.
Hostels
It was F block I started with. Most of the students do that. And all did back then. It was a great hostel. There used to be 6 students in a room such big that we could just adjust. But still, life was intersting. In fact it was the start of learning in my life. This was the place where we learnt what the hostel life. It was, enjoyment-wise, the best hostel I ever had, and it goes the same for my friends. In fact for most of the people, first year is the best as they learn to live life in an altogether new way.
The food at the F block was a thing with which I took some time to adjust with as there were no separate messes for the South Indian food and North Indian food. But after I got habitual to that, I feel it was better than separate North Indian and South Indian foods as we hardly get the taste of the other than we opt for.
Then came the second year and we learnt a new lesson, we got rooms as early as we submitted our drafts. Thankfully I got a good enough room, and I shifted with 3 of my friends of which one left for a single room. Life in the second year, that is, G block was great too, except that people were more busy as many of them had got their computers and laptops, including myself and were busy with themselves rather than in 'addas'.
One thing to be noticed. G block mess food was one of the worst I have ever had. Though I was a regular at my mess, and remained, I can say it was the most difficult food I had to cope with. In fact, some of my friends left for the Special mess, which was known as International mess at that time, the trend now increasing more.
The third year I lived in A block, the administrative block. The good thing was that the block was a traditionally built hostel which gave a good feeling, and the bad thing was that I was away from all the friends of my group who lived in the newly made J block, as I had got my hostel fees draft late.
In my final year I was able to join my friends back and life was better again, eating in the H block mess that I had gone to during my third year too. The mess was almost as good as the one in the first year, being run by the same caterer.
That is what was about my hostels. Currently there are ten mens' and 5 ladies' hostels already running with more under construction in VIT. Most of the hostels providing good residential facilities, although the first year students generally have to face some difficulty in getting accomodation for the first few months. Also, there are number of restrictions, good and bad, useful and completely useless, and sometimes things are comlpetely out of logic too. But that is not too big a price for the securities and facilities provided by the hostels.
The food at the F block was a thing with which I took some time to adjust with as there were no separate messes for the South Indian food and North Indian food. But after I got habitual to that, I feel it was better than separate North Indian and South Indian foods as we hardly get the taste of the other than we opt for.
Then came the second year and we learnt a new lesson, we got rooms as early as we submitted our drafts. Thankfully I got a good enough room, and I shifted with 3 of my friends of which one left for a single room. Life in the second year, that is, G block was great too, except that people were more busy as many of them had got their computers and laptops, including myself and were busy with themselves rather than in 'addas'.
One thing to be noticed. G block mess food was one of the worst I have ever had. Though I was a regular at my mess, and remained, I can say it was the most difficult food I had to cope with. In fact, some of my friends left for the Special mess, which was known as International mess at that time, the trend now increasing more.
The third year I lived in A block, the administrative block. The good thing was that the block was a traditionally built hostel which gave a good feeling, and the bad thing was that I was away from all the friends of my group who lived in the newly made J block, as I had got my hostel fees draft late.
In my final year I was able to join my friends back and life was better again, eating in the H block mess that I had gone to during my third year too. The mess was almost as good as the one in the first year, being run by the same caterer.
That is what was about my hostels. Currently there are ten mens' and 5 ladies' hostels already running with more under construction in VIT. Most of the hostels providing good residential facilities, although the first year students generally have to face some difficulty in getting accomodation for the first few months. Also, there are number of restrictions, good and bad, useful and completely useless, and sometimes things are comlpetely out of logic too. But that is not too big a price for the securities and facilities provided by the hostels.
more buildings??
Yesterday I was not in a very good mood. So I decided to take a walk. A long one. Started parallel to the college and after walking a considerable distance I saw somewhere there was construction going on. I went inside and it seemed that the construction was for VIT only as it was pretty close to the new block of ladies' hostels. But then the question is, how can a place be made this distant from the college? It was not less than a kilometer I had walked. Or are they really planning to make the ladies' hostels as far from the college as the mens' hostels are. For sure these hostels couldn't be mens' hostels as they were all on the other side of line.
Well, in case u do not know, the ladies' hostels in VIT are separated from the mens' hostels by a line, a railway line. The college and the ladies' hostels are on one side of the railway track and the mens' hostels on the other. So to meet any girl, boys need to cross the Indian railways' 'Laxman Rekha'.
Anyways, no complains with the track, but one thing that makes it bad is the distance of mens' hostels from the college. The average distance a guy has to walk from college to reach any building in the college is more than half a kilometer. Thanks to the railway underbridge, we don't have to go through the regular railway crossing, otherwise the average distance would be more than a kilometre I think. In fact the new way made to the technology tower (TT) is a great work from the college. [Why didn't they do it 3-4 years earlier? :( ]
Sorry for not being able to bring photos as I do not have a camera and camera phones are not allowed in the college. (an my dad wouldn't have got me one anyways, whether it's allowed or not)
But I'll try to arrange a camera and put some photos of the construction site and the other things I like here. But still, all depends on the availability of camera.
If u r a student of the college, u can try to get to the site on your own. It's on the way to Brahmapuram, the place where Shrishti Vidyashram is located.
Well, in case u do not know, the ladies' hostels in VIT are separated from the mens' hostels by a line, a railway line. The college and the ladies' hostels are on one side of the railway track and the mens' hostels on the other. So to meet any girl, boys need to cross the Indian railways' 'Laxman Rekha'.
Anyways, no complains with the track, but one thing that makes it bad is the distance of mens' hostels from the college. The average distance a guy has to walk from college to reach any building in the college is more than half a kilometer. Thanks to the railway underbridge, we don't have to go through the regular railway crossing, otherwise the average distance would be more than a kilometre I think. In fact the new way made to the technology tower (TT) is a great work from the college. [Why didn't they do it 3-4 years earlier? :( ]
Sorry for not being able to bring photos as I do not have a camera and camera phones are not allowed in the college. (an my dad wouldn't have got me one anyways, whether it's allowed or not)
But I'll try to arrange a camera and put some photos of the construction site and the other things I like here. But still, all depends on the availability of camera.
If u r a student of the college, u can try to get to the site on your own. It's on the way to Brahmapuram, the place where Shrishti Vidyashram is located.
to start with
Well, this blog is all about VIT, Vellore. A college which hardly needs an introduction now. I have started it here just because there are so many people out there who ask me about the college. It’s about how good is the college and how bad, simultaneously. It’s about why you should be here, or why you should not. It’s about what you like about it, and what you don’t. At the end, it’s all about what you want to know about VIT. Sorry, VIT University now.
So any doubts you have, just ask me. I will try to give you the best I can.
All the Best!
PS: To ask anything, use 'Post a Comment' as I have not made my email id available.
So any doubts you have, just ask me. I will try to give you the best I can.
All the Best!
PS: To ask anything, use 'Post a Comment' as I have not made my email id available.
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