Richness of rural India, with a Bollywood tadka @ Ramjas
As the annual college fests continue to attract students from across Delhi University colleges, department fests are not too far behind. One among these was Sangam ’23, the annual fest of department of BA (Prog) at Ramjas College.
From food and art stalls to the Bollywood Bonanza on day 2, there was a lot in store for the youth at the two-day fest, themed on Gramotsav. Singing along and dancing to the songs prepared by the department, was Aayaz Ali Khan, a final-year student. He says, “The theme of the fest was rooted in rural imagination, involving the arts and artisans from rural background. The way the stalls were set up also exuded the juxtaposition of rural and modern
India. My favourite was the one that offered rural tattoos... Rural crafts are something that we see everywhere, but the craftsmanship is often taken for granted.”
Calling such “cultural exchanges vital to one’s college experience”, Navya Divakar, a first-year student, shares, “Cheers to the theme and its brilliant execution. Looking at the culture and art of rural India makes me realise how rich our heritage is.”
A Kathak presentation by Navras, the classical dance society of Ramjas, opened the fest on the first day, while the second day saw Bollywoodthemed dance performances, with a rural twist. “The idea was to get back to the roots and at the same time, have something different and interesting,” says Chaitanya Sharma, a final-year student, adding that the students sang Bollywood songs on folk beats. “Ghar More Pardesiya (Kalank; 2019) and Samjhawan (Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania; 2014) were some of the songs that were performed,” shares Sharma.
The event also witnessed talks by guest speakers, who enlightened the students as they shared their insights on the theme. Among them were Ruma Devi, fashion designer and social worker, and writer Varsha Das. Mesmerised by Das’ speech, Khyati Sharma, a first-year student, says, “For me, this fest was all about learning and evolving. When Varsha Das spoke about Gandhi’s ruralism while quoting books and articles, I wanted to become a sponge to absorb all the information... I even checked out the stalls and bought one of the books that was mentioned in the talks.”