Listed as one of Asia’s Top 5 College Events
It all began with noted film producer and director Sandip Ray. with actors June Maliah and Abir Chatterjee in tow, formally inaugurating the Journey to the Future – Umang 2015. Expressing his amazement at the sheer depth and variety of events that were lined up across the three day extravaganza, he pointed out the absence of film appreciation and studies, putting on record, in the same breath, his desire to be associated with any such exercise in the future. True to its self, BESC was prompt in response, promising to unveil “Celluloid” a collective on films and all matters “filmi” from the next academic year itself. And that is when the applause started.
The thunder continued over three days as Umang 2015 – the Magnum Opus of the Bhawanipur Education Society College (BESC) reached its crescendo. Students from nearly 40 colleges from the city and places as far away as Vellore keenly contested with each other for the laurels in 51 events – ranging from Nail Art to Debate and Bollywood Dance, Management Simulators, Gaming and Logo Designing.
The Star of Umang trophy went to BESC super achiever Imtiaz. St.Xavier’s Kolkata emerged the overall winner, followed by JD Birla and Amity as, being the Host College, Bhawanipur had gracefully decided to hand over the title to the 1st runner up. In a gesture befitting the spirit of Umang, St. Xavier’s passed the winner’s trophy to JDB, who in turn passed it on to Amity. “The greatest thing about Umang this year was the institution of the trophy for the best College Representative” said Prof. Dilip Shah, the Dean of Student Affairs of BESC,“this ensured that while a high level of competitiveness was maintained, the acrimony that such competitiveness often leads to was conspicuous in its absence.” The Best College Representative Trophy went to SXC.
“It is indeed extremely heartening to see the BESC Signature event Umang metamorphosing into what it is today – one of the Top 5 College fests in Asia and certainly one of the most anticipated events in these parts of the country” said Miraj Shah, the Senior VP of BESC, “especially if one were to consider the fact that its beginnings were humble – starting as it had, in a room in the college in 1999.” He has a point, if the wide-eyed amazement of the participants from the other colleges were anything to go by. “BESC has professionals training their participants as a rule” said one, while others echoes her sentiments adding that the sheer amount of time, energy and resources that the institution pumps into such events is without parallel in the college scene, even unthinkable.
Smiles Prof. Shah “our aim is to provide the students with holistic, inclusive and participative education. That is why we put our monies where are mouths are when it comes to providing students the platforms to explore and experiment with a wide range of ideas and activities. Umang, is only one of the many examples and it gives us great pleasure to see the kind of positive rub-off effect it has on the students from other institutions.”
A footfall of 10,000 students from premier institutions, impressionable eyeballs that were virtually captive for three long days and a proactive organising team that was able and willing to walk the extra mile to help advertisers fighting to attract and retain their top of the mind positioning ensured, as always, a spirited response from some of the biggest names, who are naturally keen for the brand association. Needless to say, Umang is also one of the most prosperous fests of its kind in the city and the team that worked tirelessly to crack the corporates is no less revered in the campus than the dance divas who enthralled the audience with their moves or the rappers who had their version of a war of words.
Umang is literally that wave of happiness that encourages one to participate and achieve. On the face of it, it is just a college fest, albeit the most glittering and “big-budget” one among equals, but offers much, much more to the discerning eyes. The actual fest may be a three day affair, but their preparation take place for months at an end and involves no less than 500 students of the college who are teamed up in 20 functional units that look after everything from client relations to housekeeping through actual production, finance and general management. Even a cursory look will establish that the passion-play on stage is backed by an equally passionate attention to details and intrinsic planning that leads to the near glitch less execution. “And remember, we students organised, back to back, three huge programmes as part of Umang – a Fashion Show and concerts by Meet Brothers and Underground Authority” gushed one of the organisers, “organising any one of them, even as a stand-alone event, would have made any professional event management company proud. That is precisely why Umang is the umang of our hearts – it turns us into, achievers”.
Exactly. If this is not what learning Commerce is all about, then what is? And if Umang is not the proverbial phoenix that helps rise a thousand students from the ashes of an anachronistic curriculum to take the test of life by fire, each year, every year, what is?
Mr. Shah refuses to comment. But his smile of contentment is not half as enigmatic as it is tell-tale.
umang’14 was a lane of memories.
umang’15 was the time where I got to know my calibre.
n umang’16 you are badly awaited!