The robust extra curricular environment in NUJS demands of various committees affiliated to Students' Juridical Association (SJA) the selection of University teams that represent the college in various competitions throughout the academic year. This ritual is to be completed within two months of the formation of the new committee. The youngest committee (what else can one call it with the average age of committee members being 19.25 years?!!) took the task seriously and finished the job (yes, i said JOB...we take it very seriously but then at the same time it is loads of fun. Don't trust me? Well, ask any of the people who have been there, done that) in 1 month & 5 days!!
It all began with University Team Selections for Vocals (Eastern & Western). D. Divyanshu lays out the details:
With the guitars perfectly tuned and the voices modulated to the right pitch, one could easily sense the nervousness especially among the first years for their first ever vocal audition for the university vocals team. Obviously this was not just any audition; we had actually got amplifiers for it with the whole auditorium rigged. It was supposed to be a big thing, well at least that’s what we would like to contemplate. But contrary to my expectations the turn up was quite good. How could I have ignored the fact that music is so intrinsically instilled inside every noojie (I am still trying to get used to this word!) I was late for the audition. I was supposed to play the guitar for couple of my friends and to the utmost horror of the audience I did show up. As I entered into the auditorium, the amped up guitar resonating in the stairway, and the first singer Shomendu of second year singing ‘In Dino’ from the movie ‘Life in a Metro’ and with adequate use of my common sense I figured that the eastern rounds were on.
The second singer Siddarth Tiwary of second year sang a song which one would call the latest chart topper, a song from a movie which oozed with femininity, Aisha. Expectations played an important role in the audition with many experienced singers who had represented NUJS in numerous fests expected to sing well. Then came our turn, the so called fresh meat of the college. Numerous positive interaction sessions had established the fact that Amritesh was a fantastic singer and now was his turn to prove it. We stepped on to the stage, and in no attempt in being poetic I would like to state that the floodlights did blind me. I could see Amritesh was nervous. I was offered the jack which I readily declined knowing pretty well that connection my guitar wasn’t the smartest option. With the microphone at a safe distance from my guitar we started the song. Amritesh’s voice soon captivated the whole audience and we scraped a pretty decent performance. With the song done, us back in our seat, content that we did not make a fool of ourselves we were now ready to critically analyze everyone.
The next singer Vivek Kumar of third year encompassed the whole stage while singing obtaining full marks for stage presence. Then it was first year Abhilaksh Gaind’s turn with his rendition of ‘Aye Khuda’. Rajshree of fourth year sang classical, brilliantly. Arjun Bhagi’s (first year) loud and emphatic voice along with Yash on the guitar did justice to the song Bhula Do. When we thought that the eastern round was over, there was an enthusiastic and impromptu performance by Rishabh Mishra of second year. He performed Shankar Mahadevan’s Breathless (he sure was breathless after every two lines).
The judges for this round were Yathindra Dev and Nikhil Joseph, unarguably masters in their field.
The western round was judged by Amoolya Narayan and Vishnu Sriram, who require no introduction; Unlawful Assembly- the two words say it all. This round began with a bang with a patriotic rap by Ashwini a.k.a Brassic Bhai, and the rapper almost falling off the stage. The lyrical content was strong enough to set ablaze the whole auditorium with a sense of patriotism. The next singer, Neha Mathen of first year truly rocked the show. Her voice enthralled each and every one in the auditorium and people were awed by her. Nidhi Rao was a pleasant surprise. Amritesh Jha again bedazzled the audience with John Lennon’s Imagine. Suvesh and Joachim of first year was an incredible pair. Rajshree of fourth year gave a superb performance as she sang ‘My Immortal’. And finally Tanvi Verma of first year took to the stage to and gave a wonderful performance. The auditions were almost wrapped up when the audience began chanting a name which can be heard in almost every public function, the omnipresent Charu was requested (forced to the stage would be a better interpretation of the act) to sing Last Christmas, which she did sing, sportingly enough, for about 30 seconds. She was well within time limit. And with that ended the search for the greatest singing talent in NUJS who would rule the fest circuit with their remarkable voices, if not at least we got our vocals team for the year. On that note (musical or otherwise) I would end this entry.
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