Ram Sharma, a commerce student at Piprahiya Public College, Peero was kind enough to share the experiences he had with us at Alcheringa. Before we say anything, it would only be fit if you read what those who have seen us have had to say. The below is entirely Ram Sharma’s work and though his views might be slightly embellished, we reproduce it here as he wrote it. Feel free to send us your opinions, however critical they might be. Cheers!
It was in the Fall of 2010 that the entire story began. Our Art teacher, Sanjay Sir, had summoned us to his home for evening tea. We were to meet some other College kid who studied in the Far East and had come to tell us about their College cultural festival. At college, gossips had been doing the rounds about how this festival was really taking youth and celebration by the scruff of the necks and leaving them enchanted, and how this was the next big thing on the Indian College scene. Someone had told me the other day that it was an IIT, one of those premium engineering institutes that had recently become the source of our neighbour Mr Patel’s income who had opened ‘JEE-For-Sure Coaching Classes’. That evening, for lack of anything better to do, I went and met that guy from IIT Guwahati.
He was enthusiastic, and yet precise. And convincing. He gave us ten reasons as to why we should come and be part of their festival. And some 4 months later, on a pleasant Spring morning, we boarded our train to Alcheringa (that is what they call the cultural festival at IIT Guwahati). It took me 3 complete naps of sleep, or some 20 hours in the outside world, to complete that first journey to the North East of India. Now that I look back at that serendipitous sleep on the train, I feel grateful, for the next time that I really slept properly was only on the journey back!
The North East, often misconstrued as notorious and unsafe, is one of the most beautiful places I ever had a chance to visit. Right from the moment you land amidst the mountains, by whichever means, a feeling of awe and veneration starts to seep through you. From the Railway Station, we made our journey to the college across the mighty Brahmputra. I have seen a few rivers and will see a few, but I have a feeling I won’t see anything like this river anytime soon. Flanked by hillocks on both sides with the mountains peering over in the distance, it is grandiose! The IIT Guwahati campus is, simply put, beautiful. Now, this is the handicap you face when you start writing about your journey to this festival. In the first few lines of the first few hours, you start to run out of adjectives! We had arrived on Day Zero of the festival, and after a glamourous opening ceremony and beautiful performance by Advaita, we settled in for the night. So much had already happened, I was having trouble sleeping. Ramesh and me roamed the campus till past midnight amidst a milling crowd that had come from all parts of the country. It was only when Sanjay Sir insisted that we find some sleep, that was necessary for us before we took part in our events, that we went back to our beds.
The next three days were a blur of activity and celebration. From stunning performances by professional artistes, to break-neck competition in all events, to dancing to the tunes of Bollywood maestros under the night sky, to donating blood for the needy, to playing with poor children Alcher had brought together, I was awed, inspired, exalted and in the end, very happily tired. In fact, the only trouble most of us had was that we couldn’t see everything, because there was so much going on all the time! At Alcheringa, there is everything happening for everybody, at all times of the day. And the bottom line if you have been to this festival, is that you realize that you cannot possibly successfully describe to people on the outside all that happened. Alcheringa is one of those things you experience, not one you read about. And since I have had that thought, I think I will stop.
PS : Do not miss this festival, for the world.
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