Chennai: Saarang, the annual cultural fest of IIT Madras with the theme for this year ‘Lost Cities’ promises to be fresh and phenomenal.
The five-day festival kicks off with the Classical Night tomorrow. The show will begin with an electrifying performance by the Indian Jam Project, leading the way for the enthralling voice of award-winning Carnatic singer Nithyasree Mahadevan.
Addressing at a press conference here Monday, IIT-Madras Director Prof Bhaskar Ramamurthi said, “More than 1,200 students are working on this event. It is a great learning experience for them. It is a festival by, of and for students.”
Another feather in Saarang’s cap is the spotlight lectures, for which the line-up includes illustrious names in a variety of fields like Ratna Pathak Shah, Dhruv Sehgal, Ashwin Sanghi, S Soumya, Prajaktha Koli, Anu Aggarwal and Shipra Khanna to name a few. Saarang is also venturing into new avenues; Vernacular Fest, India Fest and the Film Fest.
The night of 10 January will witness the largest inter-collegiate, semi-professional dance competition in south India, the Choreo Night. On 12 January, there will be homegrown band Parikrama taking the lead and 13 January night will see Benny Dayal’s band Funktuation entertaining the students.
Every year students run a social campaign. This year, the Saarang team has undertaken a Social Responsibility Campaign named LEAP – Learning and Education Accessibility Project which aims to create awareness about the stark reality of inequalities in access to education as a first step and to eradicate illiteracy and empower the underprivileged by bridging this gap through sustained efforts.