Kashiyatra is the annual socio-cultural festival of IIT Bhu-Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. It is one of the most colossal events of this Region, which started in 1982 and the custom follows up till today. This was the 36thedition of the festival with the slogan A Stygian Dawn, held over a span of three days from 19th-21stJanuary 2018 with great footfall of over 25,000 and over 50 alluring events. The chief motive of the festival is not only to promote creativity and imagination; but also to brew the disciplines of music, literature and arts into a fest of humongous proportions; captivating a lot of crowd from all over the North India. The festival was loaded with fun and entertaining events branched on the sub-categories namely, Abhinay (The Dramatics Event), Toolika (The Fine Arts Event), Crosswindz (The Western Music Event), Natraj (The Dance Event), Miraj (The Lifestyle Event), Samwaad (The Literary Event), Bandish (The Indian Music Event) AndEnquizta (The Quiz Event);all of these included many interesting activities from every province.
The team of Kashiyatra ‘018 is entirely a Student run, Non-Profit Organization; consisting of student volunteers who work and perform for the smooth functioning and success of the festival. However, the team- The Fore-Bearersof Kashiyatra 2018 was divided into several teams like Marketing Team, Publicity Team, Events Team, PR Team, Operations Team, Media Team & the Tech Team; all headed by the Convenors and Co- Convenors along with the Core Team Advisor and the General Secretary Cultural Coubcil. However, any festival or event is hopeless without the chief supporters i.e. the Partners and Sponsorsof the festival; the few partners and sponsors of Kashiyatra ‘018 were- LAVA (Title Sponsor), Maruti Suzuki:Colors of Youth(Powered By), IFFCO(Co-Sponsored By),The quint (Co-Presented By),Atlas (In Association with),B Natural (In Association with),Atlas Cycles (In Association with),Sparx(Footwear Partner),MAX LIFE INSURANCE (Insurance Partner),Fastrack (Online Event Partner),spykar (Style Sponsor),o’cean (Hydration Partner),CODE FLOW TECH (Technology Partner),OLA (Cab Partner),SONATA (Time Partner),Career Launcher (Cat Coaching Partner Partner),FRU2go (Energy Partner),Toppr (Education Partner),PeTA YOUTH (Animal Right Partner),ZNETLIVE (Web Hosting Partner),ixigo (Trip Partner),ZEBRONICS (Audio Partner),MADE EASY (Publication Partner),Hertz Digital (Event Sponsor),KOOLDERS (Cafe Partner),DOWNTOWN PIZZA (Pizza Partner),Silk (Dressing Partner),EaseMy Trip (Travel Partner),cifa (Fashion Institue Partner),TRENDS (Lifestyle Partner),BABA SHREE(Food Baazar Partner),Indian Idol Academy (Music Academy Partner),Telr (JEE Coaching Partner),Ambition GURUKUL (Online Payment Partner),Camlin(Stationary Partner),celio (Fashion Partner),Edu-Vitae (Start-up Partner),OXFAM (Social Cause Partner),ATKT.in (Media Partner),EMBASSY OF ISRAEL (Cultrural partner),inshorts(Online News partner) and more.
EVENTS AND PROCEEDINGS
Kashiyatra 2018 was declared open with the commencement of various competitions and events, sports activities, fashion shows and more. The events were loaded with performances from every dimension; be it art, dance, photography, street plays, fashion shows and what not!? Many events in various fields and cultural genres were held. The three days socio-cultural extravaganza was a complete assortment of revelations and celebrity aplenty. These Events & Competitions always motivate the students to enhance their intelligence so that they can create and innovate for a better tomorrow. However, all the events were held in the College Campus itself and few of the interesting features of the festival were:Mr. & Ms. Kashiyatra 2018, variousFineArts events, Word Games, Mirage, Design Elegante, various quizes and more.
DAY ZERO- 18THJANUARY, 2018
The Day Zero of Kahiyatra 2018 was celebrated in order to give a warm welcome to the official festival to be held from the next day onwards. It included various fragments which certainly raised the curtains of Kahiyatra 2018 beautifully. The activities held on this day included: Mr. Kashiyatra & Miss. Kashiyatra, the Opening Ceremony, the Design Elegante and the Kavi Sammelan-the last activity of the day which gave Kahiyatra 2018, the perfect start.
DAY ONE- 19THJANUARY, 2018
The first day blended the cool weather of January with the cool chilly winds from the spiritual capital of India, with exciting events including the prelims of the events like: The Street play event- Hullad (amongst the Abhinay section) and the Group Singing Event- Sargam, Indie Rock Music Event-Advaita (amongst the Bandish section). The other events which were held on the day were the literary events- Scripturesque, Battle Front (Prelims), Vaadvivaad (Prelims), Alfaaz, Word Games (amongst the Samwaad section), the fine arts events- Soap Carving, Ink It, Spoil The Tees, Live Sketching (amongst the Toolika section), the Dance Workshop (amongst the Natraj section) and theMela Quiz (amongst the Enquizta section).The evening was influenced by the finals of the Fashion Event- Miragewhich featured Miss Grand India 2016-Pankhuri Gidwanias the Chief Guest. However, the headliners of the day were the Professional Night: with the featured EDM artists- Sartek and @Switchers;theawesomeness quotient that they added to Kashiyatra was amazing as they lighted up the atmosphere with their heart throbbed, energy packed performances so much that the audience couldn’t stop grooving to the beats and the night surely had to end on a high note.
Day Two- 20thJanuary, 2018
How could the second day leave itself behind? With The exceptional events and performances including the Prelims of the events like: the Stage Play Event-Rangmanch andthe Mono-Act Event- Asmita (amongst the Abhinay section),Cut – A – Rug (Prelims and Finals), Ecstacy, and Dance Workshop(amongst the Natraj section) judged by the very famous dancer and choreographer Ashish Bhatia. The other events held on the day were: theRapid Fire, the Fine Arts Workshop and the Live Sketching Submission (amongst the Toolika section), the Prelims and Finals of Battle of Bands(amongst the Crosswindz section), amongst the Samwaad section were the activities like-the Word Games – English, the Semi Finals of the English Debate Competition-Battle Front, the Finalsof the Hindi Debate Competition Vaad Vivaad, the Prelims ofthe English Elocution Event-Shipwreck Cove, the Poetry Slam Event-The Legend of Sir Speak – A – Lot and theLiterary Workshopwhich was all about “How to become a Published Author” with the authors: Nilotpal Mrinal (author of the novel- Dark Horse), Priyanka Nawalgariya(author of the novel- Black Coffee)and Prabhat Bandhulya (author of the novel- Banaras wala Ishq), the India Quiz and theGeneral Quiz (amongst the Enquizta section) and the Prelims of the solo singing competition- Sur (amongst the Bandish section).
However, the flashing highlights of the day was the Live Standup Comedy Act with Sumit Anand who is the brain behind the show ‘Many Mistakes of My Life’; his performance certainly refreshed the audience from their monotonous schedule as it tickled the funny bones of everyone with his great sense of humor. The evening was proceeded by the band which famed Hornbill International Rock Competition in 2013-Underground Authority; their concert rocked the stage and lightened up the blazing experience at the Professional Night of and surely won the hearts of the audience with their electrifying performance.
Day Three- 21stJanuary, 2018
The last day surely had to be a memorable one with jaw-dropping events and competitions including the finals of many events and activities like Rangmanch andAsmita (amongst the Abhinay section); Sur, Solo Instrumental competition- Sanlayan and Kriti (amongst the Bandish section); Bliss, Nritya, Ecstacy (amongst the Natraj section) judged by the very famous dancer Ashish Bhatia; A Jester’s Courtwith One of the youngest authors Anubhav Shrivastavawho launche his new book ‘Letters in The Rain’ in Literary workshop; theShipwreck Cove, Battle Front, English Extempore competition- Ashubhashan(amongst the Samwaad section);Paper Costume Designing, Clay Modelling, Rangbazzi, Vastra Shilp (amongst the Toolika section) and theSports Quiz, Biz Tech Quiz(amongst the Enquizta section). The other highlights of the day was the performance byWinner of Maruti Suzuki Colors Of Youth Season 6- Vaani Behland by the Singer & Composer who writes in both English and Bengali and believes that when it comes to music, the power to connect transcends barriers of language; the Winner of Maruti Suzuki Colors of Youth Season 1 – Abhishu Rakshit. The evening was proceeded to the Bollywood Night- Antarnaad by National Award winning Music Director Amit Trivedi, his performance gave the audience goose bumps with their electrifying performance. It was the biggest of all the Professional Nights of Kashiyatra 2018 and his concert didn’t fail to give the fest the perfect ending and this dropped the curtains of Kashiyatra 2018.
CONCLUSION
The festival ended on a comprehending note, with great achievements and new heights. Kashiyatra 2018 gave the audience, the inspiration to grow and to never stop creating anything new for the development of one own self and for the society as well. The hard work and the dedication of everyone came out with flying colors as the festival went off smoothly and turned out to be a success. This crazy journey in the spiritual capital of Indiaenthralled the audience with that flair hidden inside them and therein energized them to strive for more. With so much to learn, gain, grow and innovate for the students; and excitement and high hopes for more for the next year, Kashiyatra 2018 IIT Bhu, Varanasi signed off.
