Convention Colours

Here is an account of the SpicMacay's Jammu Convention held in late June. FINALLY!


Zero Hours: 10 people. 10 days. B'lore City Rly Stn is where it all began. Lots of enthu and equal sense of anticipation for what was in store in the days to come.


Chugging Along: Of the 10 days that were a part of the entire episode, almost 6 days were spent onboard trains. What came out of it is something beyond my literary abilities.


Lets Phase It: When it comes to train journeys, they inevitably go through 3 phases (or so I say!). The first phase is the ice breaking time, where everyone get to know 'every other one' and comfort zones are redefined. The next and possibly the longest one is phase II. Its THE fun part, inclusive of all the animated discusions on the wildest of subjects, dumb charades, cards...you name it. Groups may be unfortunate enough to enter the last phase, wherein the whole arena tranforms into an intense reading(and dozing) zone with occasional interrupts only at stations.


Hey! Somebody's put on weight: 10 people squeezed into one compartment. Though the group did show signs of drifting into phase III from time to time, we never really did! We were hell-bent on not entering it.
Result: 6 immemorable fun-packed days.


Pant Pant...: Delhi. A huge station choc-a-block with people. Throw in lots of confusion and you have 10 clueless students lugging all their baggage along, running from one corner of the station to another. At the end of all the drama, we did manage to refill our batteries, our cellphone batteries(I din't say by how much) and catch the connecting train to Jammu.


Hang On: An overnight journey from Delhi to Jammu on the Shalimar Express. All around, there were people. And then, there were people and yes, how can I forget? There were more people!


Everyone's Invited: All weary and worn out, we finally made it to venue - Jammu University.


Surround Sound: And what a place it turned out to be! Lush green and tranquil. Birds chirping from canopies and squirrels scampering on tree trunks. A quick stroll around, and we knew that we were going to have the time of our lives during the next 5 days.


DND-Great Minds @ Work: In contemplation of things to come...


Naavu Surathkal inda bandiddeve: After the initial formalities for room allotment was an intro session with participants from known and unknown realms of the country coming forward to introduce themselves in their native tongue, or otherwise.


Dorm Sweet Dorm : An anagaram for dirty room, we din't have to do much to make the dormitory live up to its name!


Boy o Boy: The grand Zorawar Singh Auditoriam was where it would all happen in the days to come. A splendid, posh auditorium built at a cost of a staggering 40 crore, its was flattering just to be present there. A/C, plush push-back seats and a hi-fi audio system... you couldn't have asked for more.



So sweet: A dash to the sugarcane juice centre for the mint laced juice. Everyday. Just to give us the kick!


Love thy neighbour: And yes! I made friends at Jammu, irrespective shape, colour, age, and species.



Family Reunion: Lunch Time. Fun Time. We all got together to discuss the days happenings at our respective intensives.


A Feast: Amazing performances at the close of every single day. These included folk and classical dance forms, instrumental and vocal concerts.


Spellbound: An out of the world performance by Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma


Intense Intensives: There were intensives held in the mornings where one could get to learn popular and also some rare and dying out art forms from the great masters themselves. This is one of the puppets made at the puppetry workshop conducted by Shri. Sudeep Gupta


Plotting the plot: Working under mouting pressure towards the end, to put up a great performance for the other delegates to see.


Show Time: Participants of various intensives showcased their art forms on the last day. This one is a Kathak performance in full flow.


Lend me thy ear: The Sankhavadyam performance, a folk dance with its roots in Orissa, was note worthy.


Dark Arts: The puppetry workshop junta also came up with a shadow-puppet show after a whacky round of glove puppetry.


Night Out: Drawing the convention to a close were the overnight concerts - a marathon series of 5 elevating concerts held through the night to the break of dawn. Dr. Kiran Seth set on our shoulders the responsibility of this grand finale. We carried it out with finesse, with Sayari bearing the flag.


System Standby: Having woken by 4:00 and having been through a long and tiring day, the exhausted body did at times get the better of the fervent souls' thirst for music...


Kudos: The sun was out and the concerts were over. A glad Saranya putting on a tired smile 'at the end of the day'...


Comrades in the war against deculturisation: The Surathkal platoon with the Commander-in-Chief, Dr.Kiran Seth himself.


Gale Force: At the end of the convention, our chapter had collected accolades from different quarters to take back.


Laree Chooti: The field trip that was scheduled for the last day got cancelled due to incessant rains. But the rains did not dampen our spirits. We took a bus and hit the roads!


Field Day: We spent the last day in Jammu visiting Jagannath Temple and shopping. At the end of it all, we had bags full of souvenirs to take back home.


Belly Dance: Adding to the uniqueness of the return journey was the state of the art condition of my belly. I had moths in my stomach! I dont want to loose talk by delving into the gory details...


Back on track: More adventure and fun on the way back home. Mention worthy is Logik's (unintentional) attempt to belittle Amir's 'Ghulam' stunt. And yeah, we are still trying to figure out who's playing Rani...


Pit Stop: Our return journey brought us to Chennai. Where we were glad to treat ourselves with fingerlicking South Indian food. What a relief! Unfortunately for me though, my stomach begged to differ...


Crown Prince: An incidentally senti farewell to our beloved Jakra. Miss you...


Drama in real life: Just in case the element of suspense was absent... Well here it is. Guess that completes the script.