Kanpur (The Hawk): After two long years of passiveness and distress, the much-anticipated cultural festival of IIT Kanpur, Antaragni began in the offline mode with utmost zeal and enthusiasm.
The inauguration ceremony was presided over by none other than a man of phenomenal excellence - Mr. Awanish Awasthi, the Additional Chief Secretary under the Government of Uttar Pradesh. The ceremony began at 11:00 am in the Outreach Auditorium with the lighting of the lamp to symbolically mark the beginning of Antaragni. Several memorable speeches were made by the extremely putative panel. The audience was enthralled to hear the words of IIT Kanpur director, Prof. Abhay Karandikar. He hoped that this festival would give people an opportunity to exhibit their talents in fields other than academics and thanked Mr.Awasthi for inaugurating the festival as nobody could’ve been a better fit than this supremely ingenious alumnus of IIT-K.
The esteemed chief guest of the event, Mr. Awanish Awasthi concentrated on how the sky's the only limit, sharing memorable stories from his life at IIT Kanpur and how that has shaped him into the person he is now.
Further, in the series of line-ups the event had “International Carnival” wherein the celebrated illusionist, Brendon Peel charmed audience with his unique wit and magic tricks. He was followed by the exceptional artist Ekaterina Ermilkina, who welcomed all into the realm of colours and created a piece of beauty in just 15 minutes.
The fest stage was then taken over by India's largest Fusion and Eastern Rock Competition- Junoon. The audience was awestruck by the combination of rhythm, dynamics, melody, harmony, timbre, texture, and form displayed by the prelims qualifiers in their final set of performances. These fusion rocks swayed the viewers into a land of music less explored and left them tapping their feet in sync.
As a part of India Inspired, organisors were graced with the presence of Dr. V. Anantha Nageswaran - the Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India. He instilled in the audience learnings from his experiences having taught at several business schools across India and Singapore and a corporate career spanning over seventeen years. His expertise in the economic sector definitely made a lasting impression on young minds.
The stage also got to witness a fierce battle of music with Sangam, where varied groups from across different states of the country came together to commemorate the beauty of some rich traditional tunes.
Kick-starting the dance competitions under Antaragni’s umbrella was “Dance Battle”- a solo dance tussle that saw overwhelming participation with each one putting their best foot forward, literally. Some of the smoothest dancers of the nation were seen vying for the winning title, mesmerising the judges with their balletic moves.
In Nrityangana, the classical solo competition, the judges Bijal Haria and D. Padmakumar claimed to have been blown away by the high standard of the performances and found it very difficult to choose a winner. In the evening, the performances of Sonroopa Vishal, Azhar Iqbal, Sudeep Bhola, and Ekagra Sharma at the Kavi Sammelan became an unexpected success as it was assumed that there won’t be many takers for Poetry and Ghazals in a youth festival. A classic story of negligence turning into a star attraction.
The highlight of the day was the first celebrity performance of the fest by India’s leading experimental indie rock band, Delhi Indie Project. The enthralling concert swept the crowd off its feet. The band gave a power-packed performance with the crowd's favourite songs like Rehnuma, Guzaarish, and Yeh Dilli Hai Meri.
The first day came to a close with a live poetry slam - a spoken word poetry competition that witnessed several alums pouring their hearts out through literature as they reminisced about their college days. It was indeed heart-warming to see the institute's forebearers of the identity of their college experiencing the jolts of longing, nostalgia, and comradeship.
—KA