Something interesting happened over breakfast today. I'm an early riser, and was the first to reach the mess in Ganga hostel. While I was waiting for breakfast to be served, the person in charge started a conversation.
When he learnt that I was a medical student, he was quite touched. He said some encouraging things and seemed to be convinced that I'd be a great surgeon! I asked him about Saarang, and he told me that it s been every year ever since he started working at IIT Madras, which was in 1972. It was known as Mardi Gras till a few years ago, when the dean decided a change of name was in order, and so the fest was rechristened as Saarang.
The fest was first held in 1964 or thereabouts. The institute was established in 1959, along with German assistance, and till recently there were quite a few German professors teaching in the institute.
The main quiz began late, and took ages. There were two semifinals, and after taking ages for the first, they rushed through the second. The quiz was average. Too many arbitrary questions, so not much incentive to answer the questions. An arbitrary question is usually one where the quizmaster is the only one who has any idea about the topic on which the question is based, and has aaked the question only to tickle his fancy.
They had this ridiculous format of the questions being answered alternately by three different quizmasters. If that was not enought, they decided to use a Wordpad file for each question, in a separate folder for each quizmaster and each round. It would have saved everyone a lot of irritation and angst if they had used a powerpoint presentation.
One got the feeling they were doing things unconventionally because it was accepted or expected, even though it was quite obvious the format was a waste of time. Much time was wasted, and only forty questions were asked in those one and a half hours, when sixty could have been asked.
Most of the events started late today. The crossword began half an hour late, and that too only after the organisers had the brainwave of shifting participants from one half empty lecture hall to another half full lecture hall, so that everyone was in the same place.
These guys have tons of brains,but they seem to be low on the common sense
The India quiz too had its share of hangups. The audio and video files didnt play on their laptop, and they had to get another computer.
The rock music competition was today and it drew a large crowd, from around ten in the morning till six thirty or so in the evening. Bands came from all over, and the audience was not diappointed
Elsewhere events continued. The informals were a big hit, just as yesterday.
The IITians staged Five Point Someone, a play adapted from the book by the same name written by Chetan Bhagat. The dance competition was tonight too.
The sports and entertainment quiz final is tonight, at eleven. Its scheduled to go on till two in the morning, assuming it starts on time.
This is the first time I've taken part in Saarang, but those who've come earlier feel a bit let down.
Still two days to go!