Scoring High

Like all good things, Verve, too, came to an end. The fun and games over, it was now time for speeches and applause. The Ground Auditoriu...

Like all good things, Verve, too, came to an end. The fun and games over, it was now time for speeches and applause. The Ground Auditorium was packed, with collegians waiting for their trophies. And EYF chairman Rajesh Rane and chief guest Vishwanath Karad wasted no time with their speeches.

Rane informed the impatient crowd that Verve was part of history. The cause of Pepsi-Verve 99 was also assisted by BLP Mobile, whose help ensured great communication amongst the organisers.

8220;Nowhere in the country has there been an event that has had 144 colleges participating.8221; But that was not all. There was another surprise. Verve of the next millennium would go national. Colleges from the four metros 8211; Mumbai, Chennai, Calcutta and Delhi 8211; would be participating. That means more competition for Pune students. Not that the students were worried. They cheered gustily when told that they8217;d have to prove that they were indeed the best in India. Karad, in his speech, acknowledged that, 8220;this was not an occasion to speak elaborately.8221; He kept his speech short and thanked the chairman and the EYF presidents Vishal Sharma and Anand Kumbojkar for maintaining the 8220;decency, decorum and discipline the function demanded.8221;

Speeches over, it was now time for the distribution of laurels. This was the moment the students had been waiting for. Every college had its students cheering and clapping wildly for their winners. All this despite the huge amount of dust assaulting the lungs.

There were 57 prizes to be distributed in all and each winner was accorded huge applause and cheers. But the moment all the students were waiting for was the overall winners category. The overall winners were the Army Institute of Technology, whose students went into a frenzy when their name was announced. They were yelling, shaking hands, congratulating one another while their representatives went in a huge group on stage to collect their trophy. Bharati Vidyapeeth College of Engineering came second and the third prize went to College of Engineering, Pune.