Group Dance #day-2..!!

Reported by- Manisha Das

Written by- Ashmita Ganguly

Edited by-Roden Chettri

Dancing, has always been a mirror to the soul of the dancer. It is the art of the body to express the rhythm of the music and it is dancing that has brought together mankind in times of celebrations, spoken the depths of the heart in times of turmoil. Here, as we stood on the grounds on Day 2 of Kaalrav 2015 at noon, we, The Chatter, took the privilege to interview the five groups who performed and fought for the winning position of the Group Dance competition, Kaalrav 2015. Here is an insight as to what they had to say regarding their performance and certain other factors.

With the formulation of a routine that expressed the treacherous yet ongoing practice of honour killing, following which they portrayed the very intoxicating scenarios of drug addiction and the serene calmness of being rehabilitated after going through the tumultuous life of a narcotic, we had the team 'Illusions', representing our very own college, SMIT. When asked about their on-stage experience, they spoke to us about just how important a part dancing is in their lives. The seniors of the group spoke highly of their juniors, especially for their cooperation.

And as the crowd cheered on for the next performers of the noon, which was the dance group representing SMIMS. "It is a dance routine showing the transformation of the previously much dominated and submissive female world into this new, evolved, independent kind, who places her foot down when wronged. This performance speaks on a retrospective view and hopefully shall benefit, in its own small ways, to this gender", said the very enthusiastic voice of one of their team mates when interviewed by the Chatter.

The group from SMIMS expressed their appreciation towards the well organised stage put up by SMIT, and in every way expressed their love for the crowd present. They said, " Kaalrav, with its zest and liveliness, is undoubtedly one of the most awaited events of the year. We loved the audience for its support and for all its appreciation. We love performing here, it feels warm and comforting every time we come. We look very forward to coming here again to perform next year", the group expressed.

And what was interesting that it was just not from SMIMS, but in fact it was a common beautiful fact that we noticed amongst every participating college. Every college there held the same level of anticipation and longing as we, SMITians, held for Kaalrav in our hearts and minds. This shows just how many lives Kaalrav has touched along its due course of happening over the years.

The next interview was with the dance group Cyclones, representing SMIT yet again."I feel alive, dancing is my passion", said a voice amidst the group members and it was quite understood by that voice that it is truly a deep connection they feel with their dancing. Theirs was a rather different and unique theme. They shed light on violence on women in the modern era. A very delicate and much palpable danger which every system is trying to eradicate, this dance group from SMIT managed to bring forth awareness in their own special way on the stage of Kaalrav.

The dance group representing SMCON was next on our list of contestants to have been interviewed. The participants said the following during the interview, "It is an honour to be performing on such a platform. The respect we receive from here for our work is truly and deeply appreciated. We are grateful to SMIT for having us over and we would love to come back to Kaalrav, back to our audience". When asked about their theme, they explained it as a theme devoted to the versatile nature of the women-kind. It was mainly to show that women, today, lead the world on every field.  They spoke of the equality amongst the men and women that should prevail.

Our very last interview was with the girls of the Sikkim Government College(SGC). Having taken us through the journey of evolution of dance from jazz to their popping and locking and all its other forms it has encountered along its course of action. During their interview SGC spoke to us about how they love the crowd and enjoyed the energy present around. They added the fact that it is rather intimidating when you see so many good performances being put, but none the less, it was a very pleasant and enjoyable experience they had.

Finally, the results were declared and team Cyclone were announced as the winning group of the Kaalrav 2015 Group Dance competition, SGC having come second in position.

What India is all About…

Written by: Rishav Nandi

Rich and Poor, probably a very controversial topic, isn’t it? So today I am going to elaborate, what is a rich person and what is a poor person. I am in no sense going to compare them but will just state the facts that why rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer…….at a little deeper level.

Let`s first talk about the community, community is a group of people carrying the same characteristics or thoughts in the form of religion, cast, business etc. `N` number of reasons are available in India to form a community. People here like to be in the form of environment where they get a feeling of being praised and think the way they feel. We as Indians, we hardly like to explore the situation outside our comfort level. We are scared all the time, and the reason for it is also very silly, we think that if we are out of our comfort level then we won`t be able to sustain mentally over there. We as an Indian lack the mental strength to face the dim lights of the world. The problem with us is that we like to keep a stable thing in life, stable forever, rather than trying to uplift our life in all sense, I mean financially, educationally, mentally(learning new things), etc…..facts never end in this case. As we like to say “chal raha haina chalne do, kyun badalna hai, kuch ho gaya toh!!”. Very well then, I am sure Dhirubai Ambani didn't have the thought permanent stability, rather he risked his life and showed the world that how one can become from rags to rich. If we have the mental confidence and high determination then nothing in this world is impossible to achieve.

Our Indian constitution clearly mentions “Right to Equality”, but from which point are we equal? We have a discriminating mentally at every point of time in our life. It is just not our fault, it is also the fault of the person who is making us feel discriminative towards him too. We, as a whole, need to develop at each and every aspects in our life for the things that we lack in. No one is asking us to think of others, we should think of ourselves, the moment we start thinking of ourselves, path will land us to think for others. By thinking for our own self, I mean thinking that how do we make our life perfect or adorable. Now the question comes what is a perfect life? The thought of having a balanced life and executing it is a step toward a perfect life. A balanced life is to have everything in the correct proportion. If I have an excess amount of money, I would use it for the development of my nation and helping the poor and uneducated people by showing them a path in which they can make their life a better place to stand. Now people may say, if I have earned something then why should I share it? In the Holy book of Gita and Bible, it is written that God has made everything for everyone in the equal amount, but the day when people become greedy and their demand increases more than they require, that day poverty will set foot on earth and inequality will take place. No doubt about the fact that we are greedy in some way or the other, now a days the smaller level of it are unnoticed.

We can change the whole scenario of the world the day we work as one whole organization, the day we unite as a single race and not distinguish and categorize in class, that will be the day of a perfect united race, living in planet earth.

Story after an Year....

                 Reported by: Satyaki Bhattacharjee.

August 2013 was when I insinuated into SMIT. The atmosphere seemed prodigiously assiduous. The most attractive entity enclosing this college is the natural piece of art bestowed upon us by the almighty, which is the pristine nature that was, is and always will be an effective Center of Attraction for every tourist travelling to this corner of the world. A few distinctive changes in the structural development of SMIT were brought into the act.

LIKE:

        Around the period 2012-2013, an Amphi theater better known as Amphi amongst the students, was built up. The amphitheater is spacious enough to occupy huge number of students comfortably. Although used less in the initial stages of its inception, the amphi is now being thoroughly utilized by the students for purposes like holding meetings of recreational groups like,“The chatter”, “GSC”, “Reverbs”, ”Halla Bol” etc. The movie club showcases movies on Saturday evening where every student and member of the SMIT family is invited.

Moreover whenever a large crowd is needed to be addressed by a group of students or teachers, Amphi is the place to be made full use of.

        The civil block alongside the Workshop labs was being constructed since the beginning of the year 2014. Currently in the month August 2014, the creation of this block has been completed and the students of the civil department attend their classes in these blocks. 

    Added to this change, the Amul parlor behind the academic block was built in the early months of 2014.

This food parlor has turned out to be a big hit amongst the students who quench their thirst with the juices and soft drinks and enjoy a handful of snacks in the evening.

      Currently, a massive sports complex is being built in the open area alongside the two boys hostels. Which is expected to finish up by the year 2017-2018. Rumors say that a swimming pool, an advanced gymnasium and couple of other indoor sports will be introduced inside the complex.

        In the initial months of 2014, the food quality and the sanitation level of the college mess degraded considerably, to counter act this downfall, all students of SMIT grouped up together showcasing the immense understanding, brotherhood and teamwork amongst the students who protested peacefully to bring in a change, in order to enhance the quality of the food served everyday.

Power Searching With Google

If you think you know how to use Google Search, think again. The workshop conducted by the Google Student Club (GSC) of SMIT which took place on the 4^th of April, 2014, at the AC Lab of the college, amplified a person’s knowledge on how to use Google search even more effectively.

The event saw a big turnout from students of all years, who were present there, in order to know what more could be done with the giant search engine, “Google”. The third year seniors, Rima Borah and Aman Shah were the speakers.

The event started with a video on “How the Google Search actually works”. It was followed by the speakers explaining the significance of Google Search in our day to day lives and the importance of precision in a search. They taught how Google is experimenting with new features like Alerts, Trends, Scholar and Patent. Other features like Operators, Define, Recursion, etc. were also dealt with.

There was active participation from the audience. They enjoyed learning something new. At the end of the event, they were asked to fill up a feedback form about the conduction and content of it. GSCTalks- an initiative by GSC and Reverbs, both active student clubs of the college, was also introduced. Overall, the event was a big success.

-  By Aakanksha Singh

Day zero

Reported by:- Mayank Arora

High adrenalin rush, excitement and a lot of expectations. Yes that is how the cultural extravaganza Kaalrav 2K14 began. On 28^th Feb at around 5 p.m.  7 emcees gave the perfect boost to this fest, giving a brief introduction of the 7 continents in their own way and thereby introducing the theme “Around The World in Three Days“.

The chief guest for the evening was Air Marshal (Dr.) G S Janeja. The lamp lighting ceremony and Khada Presentation marked the official beginning of Kaalrav 2K14.

The first event of the day was the welcome song, sang by a group of students, their melodious voice made the environment more soothing.  The next event was the welcome dance, performed by a group of girls, the girls were truly flawless, and their expressions were as good as their dance steps, mesmerizing the crowd with their performance. This was followed by speeches by VP and the Director.

With the hope to see the world in three days, Kaalrav presented the vast and rich culture of the world in the form of theme dances. There were 5 different groups which showed the cultural dances of Australia, Scotland, Greece, Korea and India. Every individual had put in a lot of hard work and this showed in their performances, the Indian dance was exceptional and appreciated by one and all. The theme dance gave a glimpse of the cultural diversity around the world.

To add to the marvelous evening, there were some exuberant stalls set up, ranging from food stalls to handicrafts, which delighted all the SMITians. The Kaalrav video showed a man walking around the globe and highlighted all the great marvels of the world. The video was simple, yet informative.

The last event of the day was the Dj hunt. There were four contestants who played for 5 minutes each. Though the performances of all the Djs were awesome, the crowd still wanted a bit more from them. In short the ‘masala’ was missing.

With this day 0 came to an end. The first day of Kaalrav 2K14 was over. With this, the level of Kaalrav reached its elixir and the expectations for day 1 increased even more.

Rep

Kaalrav 2014-My Experience - Aakanksha Singh

The annual cultural-techno fest of Sikkim Manipal Institute of Technology, Kaalrav was held from 28th Feb to 2nd March, 2014. Known to attract the best student talent from across the North-East, Kaalrav took things to a greater level this year. Dedicated to the celebration of creativity, the theme for this year was “Around the World in 3 Days”.

With competitions in the field of dramatics, dance, music, debating, creative writing, and techno events like programming contest, hacking, robotics and gaming contests, sports events including athletics, badminton, basketball, Fifa , etc., Kaalrav was an unforgettable event for all SMITians.

Being a fresher, I was really enthusiastic about my first Kaalrav. I was a volunteer in the Judging and Prize Distribution Committee. This gave me an opportunity to witness many events at a closer level. As an audience, we do not get to know that for every small to big event, different committees come together to make it successful. But as a volunteer, I got to know the amount of hard work and coordination put up backstage to show the audience the best of both worlds on stage.

All the volunteers were assigned some events. In every event, my work was to ensure that all the judges were present at the right time and venue of the event, to provide them with the score sheets and collecting it from them thereafter, to calculate the marks and declare the winners. For prize distribution, to ensure that all the winners were present backstage on time for receiving their prizes.

The first day of the fest, Day 0, was marked by staff performances and the much awaited DJ Hunt which went late into the night and got everyone dancing and grooving to the rocking soundtracks made by the DJs.

The second day, Day 1 started with my first event, which was Hindi Jam. It was very short in duration but interesting to watch as the participants spoke on intellectual topics like female foeticide, education system in India, etc. for one minute. My second event was the Quiz which was conducted in many rounds including the audio, visual, and connection and choices rounds. It was great to actually watch it since the quizmaster gave us information apart from the topics as well. The Solo Dance event was a great success as many participants from different colleges took part in it, showing off their moves on latest dance tracks to which the audience hooted and enjoyed along. There was also a special traditional Bihu dance performance by the SMIT students which was mesmerising to watch. The professional band performance by Gingerfeet, definitely upped the fun quotient of the fest. From singing along to the head bangs and dancing, everyone present enjoyed to the fullest.

The Day 2, started with Treasure Hunt, witnessing maximum participation of all the events, had everyone running and searching for the “treasure”. It was good to see the enthusiasm of the teams even from other colleges, in spite of the scorching heat. The second half of the day, the most awaited competition of the fest, Mr and Miss Kaalrav 2014 Finals, took place. There were five contestants each in the male and female categories competing for the title. The competition started with their introduction and ramp walk, followed by a rapid fire question round, after which each of them showcased their talents, judging on which the winners were announced. The highlight of the day was the Fashion Show sponsored by Max Clothing. The student models walked the ramp showcasing creations by different student designers and also from the sponsors. The winners were decided on the basis of their walk, confidence, design and X-factor.

The star guest performer of Kaalrav was Meiyang Chang, who had everyone swaying to his romantic tracks. My day ended with getting a lot of photographs clicked with my friends, seniors and teachers, dancing all the way. These three days gave me a break from the mess food as I enjoyed eating from the food stalls setup in the football ground where all the action took place.

All in all, my first Kaalrav was a memorable one. I was inspired by my seniors’ and teachers’ dedication to participate actively in the future fests. I hope that Kaalrav gets bigger and better next year.

Technology

"If Necessity is the mother of invention, Laziness is definitely the father."

                                                                                                                                                                 -Anonymous

Admit it or not, we are all very lazy (Or atleast want to be.) The human race has been looking for ways to reduce labour ever since its dawn. From wheels to Cellphones, we have always been looking for ways to make our life easier.

One such step was the invention of Portable/Wearable Gadgets, and another leap was the conception of Google Glasses.

Google Glasses are yet not in mass production, but they surely do promise us a very easy and comfortable life ahead. Using these glasses, you can have the whole of your social life in front of your eyes, that too, with just a blink.

These glasses help you to click photos, record videos, have video calls, send messages, search for answeres, translate your voice and what not-  all with the blink of an eye.

You could take pictures of all those moments you wish to cherish, without even having to move your finger.

The Glasses are capable of taking snapshots and videos of exactly what you are seeing, in real time, without the hassle of manually focusing and clicking pics. No more missing out on those precious and memorable moments.

Now you can never get lost. With google guiding you and directions right in front of your eyes, Take as many detours as you want, but always stay on track of your location.

 

No more waiting. Get all the updates that matter-right on time. Google Glasses are able to sync with google Calendar and notify you of events that might be of importance to you.

   Imagine the impact of this when it hits the streests. Talk to your friends while looking at the teacher. Revise your notes on the way to the examination hall- the possibilities are infinite.

So go on, have fun and be carefree. Google is here to take care of all your big and small needs.

-          Madhup Sukoon & Yash Sharan

PUTTING A DENT IN THE UNIVERSE

           “You see things and you say “Why?” But I dream things that never were:

                                                    And I say Why not?” 

    

 The above lines testify the limitless power each and every human being has been given and that is the power to dream and to create. And what is limitless? Touching other people’s heart with your creation, that is limitless.

                                                   

 IMAGINATION is the immense power bestowed on human beings. This ability itself is the gateway to our freedom, expression and well-being. Being born into this world, every human being searches for the meaning of his or her life. Some people are born snugly surrounded by the love of their family while some are born looking at the drab unruly truth of the world. Amidst all the circumstances that we are born with and live with, there is one thing common in everybody’s life which is the power to imagine, to get inspired, and most importantly to love and to be loved. With this ability to imagine and to love, the wonderful journey of a person starts who takes the courage to face anything in his life and spread happiness, tapping in with the infinite source of positiveness and abundance.

                                                           

 Imagination and creativity are the two sides of a same coin. All the revolutionary works in this world have been done by people who dared to imagine and took the courage to give their imagination, a perfect, tangible result. In the process, it was not the fame and riches that lured them to do their work but it was the sheer curiosity of knowing how it feels when you create, by being connected to the source of infinite power and inspiration and that your creation is bringing happiness to others.

  “When you hold it in your mind, you hold it in your hands.”

    We read inspirational books and hear tales of miracles but I dare you to embark on a fearless journey, where you will follow your heart, keeping faith, filled with creativity and enthusiasm to do something that will blow your mind off and give you the sense of being. To follow your heart it needs courage and faith, and these are the two things that can move mountains. Courage and faith of a person compel the Universe to move in every circumstances and sequences in his life for him to reach that particular goal of his life.  

                                             So be the pirates of your life instead of being the mere safe sailors.

                                                                                                            

  Neha Rai