BENGALURU:On day two of Pravega, the science, technical and cultural fest at the IISc, the very popular Biology event Who’dunnit was held. This event appeals to the logical and deductive abilities of the participants who get the chance to play Sherlock for a day, that too for a skilfully crafted murder scene. Seventy 70 teams (with three members) took part in the preliminary round. Maximum participation was observed from St Joseph’s, PESIT, RVCE and Christ University. Out of these 70 teams, the top five qualified to reach the next round - the Forensic Round. This is where the real action began. A crime scene was staged and the five teams were given the case file of the murder. The victim was a professor and his daughter and the suspects included son-in-law, younger daughter, lab student among others.
The most interesting part was that the participants could actually interact with the suspects and some other characters such as the bartender and former lab student. These characters, using subtle hints, would direct them to other characters and unravel some layers of the plot. A small-scale laboratory was also set up where the participants had to use their analytic skills to identify the mechanism of murder.
Using all these and a significant chunk of grey matter they needed to arrive at a conclusion and then proceed to the final round, where they had to state their reasons in front of a judge. And then, on the basis of the judge’s verdict, the teams were given scores.
And it was three students from St Joseph’s College who came up with the right conclusions.
Other events in the fest included Science Quizine, talks and other competitions.
Participants Usha and Vidyashree of Jain University said they liked “the pure science approach” and added that it “gets you to think in a different way, which is rather inspirational”. Aswin Srivatsav of St Joseph’s College said, “The events were harder than the previous year. That’s what makes you want to come back again.”