SPIC MACAY Chapter

Fourteenth of November (Children’s day) was aptly chosen for the inauguration of the IIT-BBS chapter of the Society for Promotion of Indian Classical Music And Culture Amongst Youth. The event was held at the auditorium of the institute on Saturday. The event started with a talk by Dr. Kiran Seth, one of SPIC MACAY’s founders on their attempts to encourage young men and women who were more interested in western music to return back to the deep-rooted melodies of their ancestors. Even though their initial achievements were not very encouraging, the organisation blossomed and now stands tall with many branches across the world. The hallmark of the event was most certainly, the concert by Ustad Abdul Rashid Kahn, the 102 year old veteran musician whose presence that day made the event more memorable. His singing created a transcendental atmosphere, while leading the audience through his experience of music as it should be. His expertise in singing dhrupad, dhamar and thumri made the day a truly blessed experience etched permanently in our minds. His troupe, which included his grandson on the tabla, supported him well. The event concluded with a request to the students to attend classical music concerts and imbibe in themselves the good moral values the Indian value system has to offer. Everyone left; feeling contended that their valuable time was invested at the perfect place.

-- Sricharan R

Sufi Concert

On 21 August 2009, The Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Amongst Youth, often known by its initials (SPIC MACAY) organised a Sufi music performance by the Qutabi brothers in the IIT Bhubaneswar auditorium.

This Friday evening served as a perfect start of the weekend for the hundreds of students and faculty members, who remained hooked to the very beats of Qawwali, throughout the show. The soul stirring music and inspiring lyrics left audience mesmerised and yearning for more. Each one of the artists performed right from their souls making audience a part of their rhythmic journey. And as promised by this 700 year old classical music style, each of the listener was transported to a state of ‘wajad’-a state where one can reach out to Allah and hold on to him for the peace of his mind and soul. The intermittent quick-witted and spontaneous ‘shero-shayari’ made the auditorium to ring out with thunderous laughter and claps. And as the evening proceeded the tempo inside the auditorium shot up, ending with a standing ovation for the incredible performers and also leaving behind the song-‘Dama Dum Mast Kalandar’ on every one's lips.

-- Anurag

Novus - 2009

In the autumn of 2009, The Indian Institute of Technology, Bhubaneswar organised its first ever student symposium– NOVUS.

The young aspirants, for the first time, got an opportunity to showcase their latent talents. The first symposium in IIT Bhubaneswar was just the perfect outlet for the student’s ideas to prove their mettle. Novus-09 was the brainchild of Prof G .Panda, Head of School of Electrical Sciences.

As a new trend, the nomenclature of the symposium was left to the students as an open competition, and thus the event got the tag "NOVUS"- meaning ‘innovation’ in Latin.

NOVUS'09 was organised at the campus of IIT Bhubaneswar. The events in the symposium included paper presentation on any topic from the field of Science & Technology, but outside the IIT curricula. The symposium also consisted of an E-Magazine competition and Student Database designing aimed to enhance the software skills of the students.

The paper presentation was an intra-department competition that included both the first and second year students, in which one group could have a maximum of 2 students of the same department, whereas the e-magazine and database competition was conducted irrespective of the department and the team size was restricted to 4.

The Director, Prof Madhusudhan Chakraborty inaugurated the two day event with an inspiring speech followed by the four head of schools giving an overview of the event. This was followed by the students elucidating their papers, exploring various topics ranging from illustrative “Special theory of relativity” to innovative “Witricity” and engineering marvels like the “Bandra Worli sea link”. The interactive quiz sessions, in between the presentations, added an extra shade to the whole episode. Moreover, the guest lectures by eminent personalities added to the glamour of the event.

About a week later the results were announced and all the prize winners awarded.

Chronicling this as a significant start, we shall move on with hopes for another year of diligence, and conclude greater works to put down in our archive of success. The event will be back next year with greater events and prizes!

Winners:

Event Title Competition : Sujit Bharti (3^rd Semester)

Event Poster Competition : Himanshu and Yalla reddy (3^rd Semester)

Event Webpage Design Competition : Pradosh Kumar Sahoo and Raghav R. (3^rd Semester)

Paper Presentation: -

School of Infrastructure

1st Prize: - Anurag & Nimish Shrivastava (3^rd Semester)

2^nd Prize: - Mudit Sharma & Pradosh Kumar Sahoo (3^rd Semester)

3^rd Prize: - Rushendra Kumar & Praveen Kumar Reddy (1^st Semester)

School of Electrical Sciences

1st Prize: - K Krishna Chaitanya & Rohit Patnaik (1^st Semester)

2^nd Prize: - Mihir kr. Roy & Sumeet Keshkar (3^rd Semester)

3^rd Prize: - K Sai Santosh & TNS Nihar (1^st Semester)

School of Mechanical Sciences

1st Prize: - Shikhar Srestha & Pritish Astik (1^st Semester)

2^nd Prize: - Raghav R & Koustav Bandyopadhyay (3^rd Semester)

3^rd Prize: - Sukesh & Karthikeyan (1^st Semester)

E-Magazine Competition : - Sai Santosh, Benny Stephen, TNS Nihar, Krishna Sumanth (1^st Semester)

Student Database Competition: - Utkarsh Srivastava (3^rd Semester)

-- Rohit Khattar

Diwali Dhamaka!

A certain dark night that witnessed a splendid sparkle of flickering flames and fireworks, a certain Diwali that shall remain a fond remembrance!

Diwali ‘09 was the first student managed event organised at IIT Bhubaneswar. Celebrations commenced on the eve of Diwali. That evening began with an invocation to the Lord above, as everyone geared up for a night of surprises. The dramatics society, ‘Fourth Wall’, presented a street play “Nukkad”, that triggered a laughter riot in the audience, as it subtly delivered its noble message of a smokeless, noiseless and a cracker free Diwali. An excellent portrayal of a diya and a cracker bickering, it was the noiseless diya that gives itself away, quite unselfish as it exhausts, which ultimately won a deafening applause. A series of melodies that followed made the audience all the more retrospective, the place buzzed with anonymous hums as people revelled in the songs. Onlookers were dazed by the rhythmic moves of dancers from our Dance society which put up the next show. “Minute to fame” a programme meant to involve the spectators, had an overwhelming participation, toddlers and kids with oodles of confidence climbed up the stage to show off their talents. Just toning the cheer, making fun funnier, the game “Just like that” kept the confusion sustained. It had everyone wondering “just like what”, even as it was an engaging game!

Yet another night ended, the young and old rocked the dance floor, inebriated with an unbridled festivity of life.

The festival day invited its own essence. Our Fine Arts society held a mass Rangoli competition. One concluded life indeed is a symphony of colours, while watching rangolis taking shape. Each one had an inherent theme to ponder about. A magnificent illumination highlighting our institute logo was the charm of the evening.

Every year, Diwali shall remind us of this manoeuvre, rake up our memories to remind us of the scent of oil lamps, flickering flames that we persevered to save from the breeze and the exact festive moods that we bore. Ah! How well we shall remember!

-- Lipsa Bharati

Alma Fiesta-The first Socio Cultural Fest of IIT BBS

Well first we wish you all a very Happy New Year 2010…..Well the answer is out! What we were cooking for these days was nothing but the first socio cultural fest of IIT BBS-Alma Fiesta....Visit official website at www.almafiesta.com

On 23rd July, 2008 IIT Bhubaneswar bestowed on itself an obligation to pass on the rich culture and trends of the brand IIT. As Indian Institute of Technology is known both for the famed academic aisles and for fostering social and cultural prowess and we at IIT Bhubaneswar intend to keep up this legacy and are thus in a march to take up this venture. Moreover, being an IIT in Odisha it carries with it the social responsibility to reflect the rich heritage of the state. And the panacea to all these features is Alma Fiesta – the brainchild of the first batch of IIT Bhubaneswar all ready to build a milestone in the history of Odisha. The first ever Socio – Cultural Fest of IIT Bhubaneswar bears with it space for social awareness, promotion of cultures and tradition, channelizing the youth enthusiasm and excitement by giving them a line of thinking and creation of a platform in Odisha that grows the young buds into a flowery tree. With a promise to be filled with fun and exhilaration Alma Fiesta is lighting its candle in this march. Be there and witness the greatest event till now.

Festivity translates to fun, gala, fête, carnival, celebration- all of them put together and escalated to a grand scale – A Fiesta. Add to it, the redefinition imbibed into the frame by way of innovation –u get Alma Fiesta – Redefining Festivity. Hold no bars for your imaginations and let them run amok, for this is going to surpass them all. Keep watching this space from time to time to know about our latest updates! And meanwhile, do gear up and shed your inhibitions as you are all invited!