Songs. Dances. Extempores. Dramas.
Endless preparation. Mounting tension. Rising excitement.
Teams. Squabbles. Hugs. Shouts and cries.
Fiery competition, thirst to become the best of the best.
Now that’s Layatharang for you.
Art festivals have been an integral part of students’ lives right from their school days. All the classes bunked, the endless time spent with best buddies, the mistakes committed on stage, the teasing that followed-these are just some of the many fond memories made.
Model Engineering College’s yearly arts fest, Layatharang, is a sprinkle of happiness over the hearts of all MECians. From competitions at their healthiest best to lasting bonds of friendship to display of immense talent, Layatharang has them all, and has become much more than just a common arts fest.
This year, the participating houses included the victoriously roaring Predators, the triumphant Trojans, the Glorious Spartans and last but not the least, the optimistic and honourable Gladiators.
Oh and of course we have our angel Guardians, the heart and soul of the fest, who outdid themselves to give us a thumping Arts Fest.
It all started with the offstage events. With beautiful play of words and creative pieces of work, the English, Malayalam and Hindi literature events were very entertaining and informative. The same faces were frequently seen in most events. Clay modelling, poster making, light music, traditional dance events and movie review writing were just some of the many tight competitions conducted before the actual three day magnum opus started.
The senate members, yawning like anything, who were up and about by 7:00 and stayed back late into the night volunteering, deserve a special mention.
The quick talks and discussions, the little time spent joking and laughing around, before people sped away for their next practice session were common scenes one encountered everywhere. Those empty classrooms and frustrated teachers turned into sights too common and soon became the daily scenario during the pre-Layatharang week.
There are often different categories of people one can see during that time of the year, with arts looming over the college:
- THE NON-ACTORS
These people sit all day long in half empty classrooms never missing a class. But unexpectedly most of these first-benchers surprise us all by turning out to be avid supporters of everything Arts. With amiable hearts and probably lots of hidden talent, we wouldn’t even know some of their presence if it weren’t for their notebooks which save the day after Arts (true to the last bit).
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2. THE CELEBRATION ENTHUSIASTS
This group of people mainly include the House supporters. They can’t wait to go to the venue-auditorium or wherever everything’s happening, and get involved in full swing. They are the josh-spreaders, fondly called as “the Olam team” in MEC terms. Sunny or cloudy, they are always there to provide all kinds of help, from transportation to food. These bunch of people is definitely the reason behind everyone’s energies soaring high.
3. THE PARTICIPANTS
These are the dedicated souls taking part in event after event. There were a few people, whom I used to notice performing classical dance in the auditorium in the morning, Thiruvathira on the Main stage by afternoon, and Drama in the evening, complete with different attire and make-up. Trust me, things can get really confusing during arts. The rockstars with swinging hair, the pro instrumentalists, the melodious vocalists, all winning the hearts of the crazed audience, with their astounding performances.
“How did you find time to do all this?” I asked them, and one of them replied saying “Time is a funny thing. And managing it just happens in a blur. You feel like a clip art image being cut and pasted across scenes. I’d be practising the skit when our PoC for dance goes like, ‘you were here all the time! Dance comes first.. Come on, come on!’ If it weren’t for God’s grace, I would have mixed up all those steps.”
On the day just before arts, my friend who was sitting next to me and never sleeps except during the night, dozed off. ‘Didn’t you sleep last night?’ was all I had to ask to listen to details about the range of props, designs and paintings he had been working on, late into the night, for the past three days.
All those wonderful artisans with magic in their hands worked super hard to make the sets come beautifully alive, and were complete STARS.
Pretty sure anyone can fit themselves into one of these categories but post arts, there is just one category for everyone involved - The Lost Wanderers. Walking through the corridors and stairways reminds everyone of all the running out of class to practise, and running back in to meet the minimum attendance requirements. Every corner and turn in the campus now associates itself to some or the other sweet memory.
So now everyone just feels aimless and lost.
Layatharang 2K19 is definitely going to stay close to MECians hearts for ages to come, just like its previous editions. How could anyone ever forget the hilarious movie spoofs and the naughty song dedications?All that running around and screaming themselves hoarse in support of their respective houses, the lasting bonds of love made, the whole crazy, indescribable VIBE- Layatharang is just one hell of an experience that gets better every year, always bringing the MEC family much closer together.
