Heres the last of my blogs on Saarang. I wasnt able to write earlier because I was tied up taking part in events.

The sports and entertainment quiz began at 1 in the night, even though it was scheduled for eleven. It went on till three; at it was easily the lousiest quiz of the fest. Some absolutely ridiculous questions, put in by the quizmaster to show his access to pieces of extremely trivial trivia, and not so the participants could give a ghost of an answer. They had just cut and pasted data from various websites, without bothering to research properly. Added to the fact that one of them was exceedingly rude, no one was really bothered as to whether they won or lost.

The main quiz finals are an all-nighter. Tradition dictates the last question of the quiz is read out at sunrise, and after that everyone packs off to bed. Though the quiz lasted five and a half hours, scheduled to start at eleven, but starting at one, and going on till five thirty, not many questions were asked. The quiz masters had this ridiculous idea of preparing separate files for each question, and much time was wasted in their needless shuffling between folders.

This time though, the questions were good, and some were brilliant. A special mention must be made for the IIT Professor, (whose name I didnt get) who set the best questions of the quiz. There were only two people actually answering, Thejaswi from IIMB and Pota (His nickname. Derived from Planet Of The Apes. See him and youd know why. I have absolutely no clue as to what his parents call him) from IITM, with Pota winning off the last question of the quiz. Everyone else was just watching, and few were able to answer. By about five it was just a struggle to stay awake.

And its not just the participants who had a tough time. With even the quizmasters struggling to stay awake, one wonders for whose sake it was going on. I asked one of the quizmasters, and he ascribed it to tradition. Its extremely silly on their part to continue a tradition which benefits no one, especially when most IITains see them selves as non-conformists and a breed apart (which they are, because of the institute as well as themselves). Perhaps thats what makes them go through the entire charade. They need to prove they are different. Why? Dont we know it?

The buzzer quiz was the best quiz. Short, sweet, and genuinely different. Overall the quizzes were just like most other good quiz fests. Their weird scheduling of the finals and numerous delays took the sheen off a decent job.

I was unable to attend any of the rock concerts, much to my regret. I spent most of the fest running from one event to another, but no regrets. I had a wonderful time. The best part was meeting new people, however clichd it may sound. Some of these people are absolutely brilliant, and while few are arrogant, most are like any other college student.

A few words about the campus, as rightly pointed out by Priya. Its massive, and they need buses to take you from the gate to the hostels (bus rates did go up!). The buildings are interspersed with plenty of trees, especially banyan trees. Most of the paths between the buildings are flanked by dense vegetation. There are lots deer all over the campus. They dont seem to be afraid of humans at all and graze peacefully. Ive heard there are black buck on campus too, but I didnt get to see any. Saw lots of langurs too.Most wereon the trees.

They have a Caf Coffee Day near the girls hostel (only 2 girls hostels and more than ten guys hostels. This is another sex ratio to worry about!). Theres an open air theatre (OAT) where movies are screened every week, usually English, with a one Tamil and one Hindi movie every two months. They have an Olympic size swimming pool and a fitness centre with a gym near the hostels. Just opposite the pool is a student activity centre (SAC) with badminton and table tennis facilities.

Food used to be served separately in each hostel, but now its at a common mess called the Himalaya Mess. The girls have their own mess, and this is called the Mega Mess. Since the Himalaya mess came later, and is bigger, the guys call it the Giga Mess! Just next to Himalaya is Gurunath Stores. Its actually a collection of small shops. Ones for mobile phones and another for Xerox and printing. Theres a shop where one can buy stationary, buckets, soap and other stuff for daily use. They have a gift shop where there are tons of mementoes, pens, t-shirts and caps with the IIT insignia, apart from the usual gift items. Theres a canteen with lots of cakes, pastries, biscuits and soft drinks (they sell Red Bull too!) and the usual juices, and chaats. The coffee shop also sells cold and hot chocolate, lemon tea, and badam milk. Posh!

This was my first and unfortunately, last Saarang. Im glad I went for it!