Channel V IndiaFest

Goa has been a haven for the young and the restless for a variety of reasons. If I start counting on fingertips, my hostel would run out of hands.

Channel V Indiafest added itself to the list this year.

A huge mass of students (including yours truly- the GIM family) congregated at the Baga Beach on 27^th and 28^th of January to be a part of the Indiafest, a nationwide event which encompassed a wide variety of activities and competitions (apart from the usual music, dance, fun, frolic etc.). There were rounds of Launchpad (channel V’s flagship amateur rock event) in both hindi and English, Singing competitions, debates, quizzes and what not. Participants had come from far and wide (Chennai to chandigarh) with a plan to go back home with the riches and fame.

GIM being basically the supreme authority on everything that’s cool in goa had two of its students as event managers for the entire program (Gerard Menezes and Charu Sirohi put that MBA degree to good use!). There were busses arranged to ship students from the campus to the venue. Free passes for one of India’s biggest College fest is just one of the many benefits of studying here no?

The highlight of the night was definitely the mega concert organized by Channel V on the evening of both 27^th and 28^th. 27^th evening witnessed DJ Diamond performing the first act followed by Edward Maya (yes. Him.) following up with foot thumping, heart crashing, morning-after-head/neck-ache inducing music.

28^th night saw performances by KK and Mika. KK started off with his chartbusters like ‘pal’ and ‘yaaron’ putting the audiences in a pied piper like trance. Before we could really recover from all the love and romance KK had infused in the air, Mika came and saw and conquered. He did not perform, he exploded on stage. Unlike most explosions though, the after effects were ecstatic.

The night of revelry came to an even better close when GIM made its mark at the prize distribution ceremony. The following are the highlights:

Dikshant Bag and Jose Paul, our in-house debaters and experts on ‘globaal’ won the First Prize for “My Worthy Opponent”- A parliamentary debating tournament. They won a cash prize of INR 10,000 each and have sufficiently treated their friends and family.

Rutul Mehta and Veena G Menon stood second and third respectively in the spray can painting competition winning INR 7,500 and INR 5,000 cash prize.

Rutul has an exception eye for the arts and an unmatched flair for poetry- one of his most memorable couplet:  i m ur jam, u r my ketchup. i m ur RAM, u r my backup (sic) is almost gathering a cult status at GIM.Veena personifies creativity and is most renowned for her festive rangoli’s and her stunning Samriddhi frescoes! 

We won’t say more as their treats are still pending.

Last but not the least, Nandini Chaudhury, The nightingale of GIM cleared the Zonal rounds and represented GIM for the Pop star Finals. Her rendition of ‘Pyaar hua chupke se’ made the MC remark- ‘Kavitha Krishnamurthy must be really happy somewhere at this moment!’

A night of wins eventually came to a close. Nobody wanted to head back to college that early, so at 1 AM in the night, the GIM family started over and headed out on the beach with the intention of retiring only at dawn.