Hyderabad|India|September '2012: Campus Festivals and the customary
welcome parties organized by colleges have come of age. From being held in
the confines of the college they have grown into big events with
involvement of service providers such as Fashion show choreographers,
Dance Instructors, Caterers, Event Management agencies, DJs, etc.
Management and students vie with other colleges for one-upmanship in
organizing the parties welcoming the newbies with style and splendor.
Fashions Shows, Talents Shows, Games, Contests, Mr. & Ms. Fresher
Competitions, etc. give the new students their share of fun and glamour.
The parties are funded by the students themselves with college managements
too chipping in. Sometimes the celebrations continue ever after the
Freshers’ Party in the colleges in the form of various talent shows,
contests, etc.
Though most the roles are taken up by students, professional help is
required as the parties have grown in size and stature. Campus festivals
and parties by some institutions have in fact acquired cult status, says
Mr. Vishesh Singh of Page3 Events, Hyderabad. Roping in sponsors, managing
crowds, security, parking, catering, sound & light, décor, etc. makes
organizing college fests an uphill task but the students with their youth
and interest make it happen. College festivals have are changing with
time… from cultural festival to college festivals to management fests and
now technical festivals are gaining popularity. Compared to college
festivals, fresher parties are organized on a smaller scale. But they too
are witnessing changes.
Freshers’ party as the name suggests is a party offered to the Fresher.
It’s an introductory function for the new comers where they get to know
about the adopted culture of the institution of which they are a part now
after. The introductions happen in a friendly manner and to establish a
friendly-cum-respectful relationship between the seniors and juniors, said
Prof. B.P. Padala, Chairman of Roots, Hyderabad-based International School
of Business and Management which held it Freshers Party at a city hotel
recently.
Instead of the management, students involvement is important says Prof.
Padala, as they learn to take on a greater role of a senior, learn to
arrange and organise things and nurture and nourish their new friendship
with the new students. Right from designing the invitation to successfully
organizing a good show, our students toiled hard, he added.
Freshers Parties give an opportunity for seniors to know and mingle with
the juniors in a jovial atmosphere says D. Rakesh of NRI Junior College,
Madhapur who took an active part in organizing their party. I learned many
things such as event and crisis management, optimum usage of resources,
etc. The experience enhanced my life skills; I improved time management
and organizational abilities states D. Rakesh.
Freshers Day parties filled with excitement, joy and music turns the
spotlight on the new students giving them an opportunity to showcase their
talents and skills says Ms. Nidhi, a student. Why fuss about money being
spent on Freshers’ Parties. Aren’t we spending on ourselves in many
different ways, she questioned.
These parties have become fad with students. They insist on the
managements that they should conduct them, said Prof. Rajkumar Pillay,
Dean of Academics of a College. Shreya, another student in a city college
says it gives us an opportunity to know all well. It is a good practice,
she felt. We look forward to these kind of college parties and festivals.
They are a happy occasion. Everyone gets to mingle. We also learn a little
bit of management, opined Gaurav Sarkar.
Villa Marie, St. Francis, St. Mary’s are some colleges which take lead in
conducting visible students activities, festivals and parties. They are
also serving for some institutions as buzz generators for the
institutions.
My son’s college charged him with Rs 2000/- and Rs 200/- subsequently when
there was a short fall. These kind of huge sums, sometimes are a burden on
parents, opined Mrs. Kalpana, a mother.
Fresher parties have also become stylish welcome parties. One will be
astonished to see the trends in the vogue. Now that Engineering colleges
admissions are in full swing, soon Engineering colleges will start welcome
parties and talent shows. The styles adapted by some of these colleges are
on par with the best of the corporate in the city. Mostly they are
organized in five star hotels. Recently, a college in city footed a bill
of Rs 1.75 lakhs on freshers party!
These parties have also emerged as fashion statements. These parties have
themes. There are website offering and suggesting themes for the Freshers
Parties, Youth Festivals, etc. There are guidelines also given on speaking
on the occasion etc. Performing artists are also invited from far off
places and different cities. Facebook and YouTube are flooded with
photographs and videos of these parties. Talent Shows such Ms. Fresher,
Mr. Fresher, Ms. Personality, Mr. Personality, Ms. Charming, Mr. Charming,
Singer, Actor, etc are also organized.
Characters such as Steve Jobs, Osama Bin Laden made a guest appearance in
a Freshers party Aamanthran 2012 recently.
Keesara Karthik who has been adjudged as the Mr. Fresher in a recently
organized Roots School of Management Freshers Party argues that these
events do more good to students. Take for instance, to win this coveted
title I was posed a question: “How are you different from others?”. My
reply was “If life gives me 100 reasons to cry, I will have 1000 reasons
to smile. This is how I am different from others” he said.
Fashion Shows, Skits, Group Dances, DJ Shows have become order of the day
at these parties. I have acted in a Mime Cricket Skit and discovered my
acting skills. Many colleges with or without grounds, big halls, students
hardly concentrate on extracurricular activities. Occasions like these are
unique platforms for them to showcase their talent, said Ms. Nivedita,
Choreographer who choreographs for Fashions Shows held in Colleges. Extra
Curricular activities are very important in the student’s life. But, at
the same time, they shouldn’t become lavish affairs, opined Mr. Mahesh
Yadav, Corporator from Ameerpet.
