And thus began the journey of ‘more than 2500 students from more than 40 colleges in and around the city’ to SSN College of Engineering, located at, err, well, SSN Nagar. Well, at this stage, they might be forgiven for taking the decision to visit INSTINCTS v5.0, named by the nerd-heads in the college by the looks of it, for they had no idea what lay in store for them. This cultural extravaganza of 3 days was supposed to contain two dozen or so events for all and sundry to take part in and have shitloads of fun, and chief guests from all over to come over and pass on their knowledge and experience to students of the blessed college. What it did provide was a wealth of events, none of which were scripted to happen. Or were they?
Day 1:
Day 1 of INSTINCTS v5.0 saw the inauguration by the ‘Goa Team’, well technically the ‘Chennai 28 team’, or even the ‘Saroja team’, but the children in us refuses to accept the old and would rather refer to them by their worst film to date, then go with something that isn’t brand new and isn’t total LOLage. What followed was an utter cringe worthy sequence of events as the ‘team’ poked middle school fun at a fellow actor and finally concluded with
Hmmmmm…
Day 1 also featured a variety of events, like the quiz, rangoli designing, and junk art. But perhaps the most anticipated and the most participated event of the day was the Hosanna singing competition. The audience seemed happy to lap it up, as one after the other, all the participants sang out their love to the same mysterious fair lady. Contestants who chose to sing other songs were, rightly, booed.
The main event of the evening was the DJ night, which saw quite a fantastic response to possibly the shortest DJ event ever.
Sandwiched somewhere in between the two was the expected altercation between two colleges, supposedly over a bike. Children these days!
Day 2:
Day 2 has none of the glamorous chief guests or the utter ridiculousness of day 1, but still had plenty of oomph for everyone to savour. The variety entertainment show had plenty of audience and their raucous support, as everything from cricket matches to the dowry system was enacted, and ultimately, laughed at.
However, the main attractions of the day were in the auditorium, which firstly saw the puppet show. Here’s my own illustration of it:
(Apologies for the incorrect graphic, but I'm never going to draw 10 heads)
So, once again, the day is saved, thanks to Lord Rama and his brother Lakshman.
Following the puppet show was the 15 minute dance-a-thon as the crowd went visibly mad at the ‘rhythm of Chennai’ being played by members of Chennai Sangamam. The end result was a lot of tired legs and a dozen of so broken chairs.
Also, the sheer awfulness of the glow sunglasses, that was worn and, sadly, exhibited in public, should also get an honourable mention.
Day 2 also saw the bike stunt show, thankfully named stunt show and not stunts show, for the number of 'stunts' exhibited could be counted on one hand, featuring bikers losing their balance, regaining it, and losing it again. Having looked long and hard at them, I was led to believe that Arsenal’s kids had more maturity and poise.
Day 3:
The final day of INSTINCTS v5.0 saw comedian Vivek, of Minnale, Saamy and Sivaji fame, enthrall the audience with his attempt at humour. What really had majority of the students in uncontrolled laughter was his advice to all students to develop the habit of reading books, self-improvement ones at that, and his love for ‘The Other Side of Me’.
The final event of the 3 day show was the Choreo Night. This event was of such importance, that all those entering the college were searched for weapons of mass destruction before being allowed to enter. Ten dance teams, their bizarre costumes included, fought it out to win the ultimate prize, that of the ‘best dressed, most energetic and the most confident team’. Wooh!
There was yet more shirtless dancing, and people-throwing in the crowd, as the soundtrack selected by most teams proved to be a massive hit. Human pyramids were formed, and broken, as everyone set off with the aim to enjoy their time in the spotlight.
The judges were, for obvious reasons, very impressed. So impressed that they were at their most generous and in the spirit of Christmas, awarded 5 of the 10 teams to have performed with, well, the top 3 prizes. Decision making has never been so complicated!
