VASANTHNAGAR: Mount Carmel Pre-University College's fest, Esplendida, which concluded on Saturday, saw colleges from across the city taking each other on.
The three-day event extravaganza, inaugurated by former Miss Earth Bhavya Gowda along with dancer, actor and alumnus of the college Varun Kumar, was themed around ‘Sekaiju no’ or ‘around the world’ in Japanese.
Around 40 diverse events were organised, including the college crowd favourites, like Imperium, Battle of the Bands, Aircrash, Mock Rock, Electric Heels, and Group Groove. But the tagline 'Unlike any other' spoke of the more innovative activities — Sanskrit Pictionary, Meladdiction and God Spell, to name a few — that the youngsters participated in.
On Thursday, the finals of Imperium, a battle between student union councils, was interesting — St Joseph's PU College emerged victorious over St Joseph's Boys High School. Through the evening, DJ Tejj had the crowd on its feet with his selection of popular chartbusters.
Day two was just as fun-packed with events like Street Dance, 59 Seconds to Fame and the highlight, Battle of the Bands, which ran on till late in the afternoon, after which the popular homegrown band ‘Beat Gurus’ took over with their exotic genre of African Trance Tribal music. The fashion show by the host college, which followed, explored the themes of narcotics and women empowerment during the French Revolution even as it featured in-house fashion designer and choreographer Shilpi Choudhury's collection.
On the last day, participants vied for the 'Star of Esplendida' title. Rahul Joshi, a first year St Joseph's PU College student, said as he bagged it, "It was just brilliant!"
And the rolling trophy went to his college too. Ronak Chabbria, president of St Joseph's PU College's student union, said, "Esplendida is the one of the best organised fests that I have ever been to. The level of competition is very high."
Dhawal, a student coordinator of Jain College, VV Puram agreed. Krithika, a student coordinator of Jyoti Nivas College said, "The vibe was great. I commend the student union members for their efforts."
A student of Presidency PU College, Shah Fawad, who participated in ’59 seconds to fame’, felt that the exposure was great. “The fest was really memorable and fun,” said an excited Supriya Hegde, student of II year, Vidya Mandir PU College.
The second fashion show, on Saturday, by the Mount Carmel PU College Fashion Team centred on historic themes like Benares Weaves, Muslim Zardozi, Rajwadas and Todas.
The three-day fest concluded with an electrifying show by ‘Kryptos’, one of the most prominent heavy metal bands in the country. Sister Sonia, principal of Mount Carmel PU College, was delighted with the response. "It is very nice to see so many participating colleges. I’m so happy to see students enjoying themselves,” she said.
With entries from 26 colleges, the fest was much bigger than expected, said Shinu S Devan, one of the cultural coordinators and a chemistry lecturer at the college.