Edited By: Aneesha Chandra
The air was festive. Clubs and societies were on their feet — planning, ideating, and organising for the Clubs and Societies’ Showcase of the monsoon semester 2019 at Ashoka University. Siyahi, Rotaract, Mad Batter, Vistaar, Abhinaya, Enactus, to name a few — very few mind you — put up stalls and performances to display their talent and the work they’d done over the semester. The constant pinging of our emails was a reminder to prise ourselves away from our academics and refresh our minds by engaging in the creative space provided to us by the many clubs and societies on campus.
This was Swetha’s first Jashn-e-Jazba performance as the co-head of the Indian core team of Abhinaya, the dance club. She felt that this would be a test of her abilities to lead and manage a team. The show the team puts on is the final product of coordination, choreography, and dancing to a medley of tunes. But every success story has a backstory that consists of sweat, heat, anger, and exhaustion, but also includes fun times of team bonding. Swetha captures this aptly as she says, “It was hectic and crazy, with practice in the middle of mid-sem week, smog week, and numerous setbacks.” Nonetheless, she believes it is all part of the process and every bit of time spent working together was a path towards progress. Sitting before the audience she says, “I was proud to see my team up there. I was happy to see the first-years showcase their talent and was glad to see the improvement in each of my older team members.” She also thanked Ayushi, her co-head and all the team members for making it a delightful experience.
“This was my third time performing at Jashn-e-Jazbaa, ” says Prashanthi, a member of Vistaar’s Indian choir. Each time was a unique experience for her. In her first year, although absolutely naive, she had heaps of passion, enthusiasm, and interest for Indian classical music. Performing in Reddy’s auditorium was a huge deal — a matter of pride. “In my second year, I had settled in more comfortably with the rest of the Indian Choir team. Yet, I was still very conscious. I would constantly doubt myself: Am I singing phrases correctly? What value am I adding to the choir?” Performing at Reddy’s gave her confidence in her voice. Although she performed multiple times at Reddy’s during various occasions, this Jashn-e-Jazba was really special for Prashanthi. Being the Point of Control of Indian Choir, she had to take care of logistics, communication, practice, booking of rooms, and ensure that everyone learned the songs. Due to this, she got the chance to interact with a manyfirst-years and YIF musicians. It was exciting for her to see how differently these musicians — in their first year and new to the team — felt about their first performance. In these years, she has grown wise enough to realize that it is not about how well you remember lyrics or being conscious of how you are singing. “There was this unprecedented confidence that told me that I would be okay, and that I had practised enough to let go of the worry about the lyrics. The important takeaway is to sit on stage, sing, and enjoy myself — everything would turn out just fine. And this, this is where I have always wanted to get.”