By Simrat Pal Singh & Arushee Sharma, Batch of 2019
Year after year, after a frenzied unofficial freshers’ party, everyone waits for the real deal – the official freshers’ party, the same official fresher’s party which was cancelled this year for the batch of 2020. It is annually set in the Moksha ground (that unruly area behind ICE block, which stretches into wild nothingness? Yes, that!). The land is transmuted into the sets of the Official Freshers’ Party with a stage, tent and HT City boards. An inter-branch carnival-of-sorts is held wherein the freshers leap, scramble and vault their way to winning the prize. Points are awarded for each event; dance, dramatics and music, and the jury comprises of a team of HT City and the faculty members. Drama performances are a laugh riot; playful, satirical and accompanied by soulful music performances and energetic dance performances, setting fire to the stage.
What other things have been taken off the juniors’ plate? The Mr. and Ms. Freshers event and a chance to feature in HT city newspaper.
The entire event is characterized by an official off from academics, girls in dresses and heels, boys in tucked-in shirts and done up hair, hooting crowds, a slightly off putting humid weather and just a teeny-weeny bit of hype. Last year, ECE and ICE were joint winners with COE as runners-up. This year, we had Jena sir stealing the limelight (*wink wink*).
It is highly tragic that the official freshers’ party, which more often than not, forms the basis of interbranch interaction, was cancelled. The sole reason it was scrapped was that the unofficial freshers’ party, organized by seniors as a way of welcoming their fuchaas into college, was very much to the utter distaste of authorities. Demonstrating his opposition to such escapades, Dean UGS, J. Jena, issued a notice on 24th August 2016, labelling the unofficial freshers’ party as an illegal activity because it had caused a college-wide mass bunk to be organized. It was clearly mentioned in the notice that those involved in the party were to submit an undertaking, stating they wouldn’t participate in such illegal activities and mass bunking in future, failing which would lead to direct cancellation of the official freshers’ party. But regrettably, no one paid much heed to this notice, the price of which we all are paying in full.
On September 12, all the first year students were summoned by Dean UGS and made to fill a form, stating the venue of the unofficial freshers’ party, the name of organizers and the amount paid for the party.The party organizers had been using the brand name of NSIT to promote their parties, when in reality, they had no legal prerogative to do so and hence blemishing the name of the institute. But then again, this wasn’t the first time such parties had been organized. So why this hue and cry all of a sudden?
Needless to say, some party organizers were petrified to the core, as it had been made very clear that a strict action would be taken against them. They tried to meet Prof. J. Jena and apologize for their miscreation but he didn’t pay any heed to their requests. While no disciplinary action was taken against them in particular, but all the first and second years were deprived of the official freshers’ party.
For those blaming their seniors for this mishappening, we’re afraid that things aren’t always so black and white. Firstly, since when has organizing a mass bunk been deemed an illegal activity? Secondly, since when have the activities happening outside the campus of the institute, become a reason of concern for the administration? Unofficial freshers’ party has been organized since times immemorial and branding it as illegal, all of a sudden, and making it the cause for cancellation of the official freshers’ party, which is publicized in great length in the prestigious HT City columns, seems a bit extreme.
Nonetheless, all this belongs to the dead past. It is quite evident that administration isn’t going to keep mum about what they deem isn’t fit for the institute and are willing to impose punishments on those they deem guilty of such actions. So perhaps, it’d be better to tread carefully from now onwards and hope that any fest in 2017 wouldn’t share the same fate as that of Resonanz last year and official freshers’ party this semester.