Journalism of Courage
Shoppers at the Phoenix Marketcity,Nagar Road,were in for a surprise last week. The mall joined hands with Maadhyam,an inter-college festival organised by the Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication (UG),to organise a ‘Flash Mob’,an event where a group of youngsters at the mall randomly broke into a dance. More than a 100 youngsters from different colleges performed a mix of hip-hop,disco and ballroom dancing. After recovering from the initial surprise of being surrounded by these dancers,shoppers took a break from money-spending and window shopping to cheer them on.
The flash mob was a curtain raiser to the inter-college fest. In fact,this was the first year that the fest,which sees participation from colleges across the country,moved beyond the college premises to organise such events. A fashion show and a ‘Battle of Bands’ was also held on a public stage at the mall.
The annual fest,which was themed around ‘Revolution’ this year,had a three-day long seminar and workshop in public relations,advertising and media. In the line-up to it,the youngsters also organised a fashion show-cum-competition. The Armed Forces Medical College,Cantonment,won the first prize. Their ‘ethnic fusion’ theme showcased lovely flowing gowns with an Indian touch. Students of the School of Fashion Technology (SOFT),Gujarat,presented an ‘Ethnic-English’ line representing the British era.
The other exciting public event was the Battle of the Bands judged by Abraxas,a city-based metal band. Point Blank from Mumbai won the competition and also got an opportunity to sign its first album with a record company. Talking about the advantages of off-campus locations,Samyak Singh,head of production – Maadhyam,says,We did not have to look into security,lights and other technical aspects. The authorities helped us in putting up flexes and provided us with a separate entrance for practising till the wee hours. Hosting fest events outside the college premises might just become the new trend. We went out,people noticed our college and others and there was an instant rise in viewers, adds Singh.
