If word games and literature give you a high, here’s an exciting festival that’s all set to begin on February 9. Presented by the Department of English, St Xavier’s College, Mapusa, the second edition of Words Up, a competition for college students promises to be a treat for wordsmiths.
The event will kick off with the curtain raiser event Writers’ Corner on February 8 which is open to all language and literature enthusiasts and will attempt to analyse what qualifies as literature in the 21st century.
The first session will see Goan fashion designer and author Wendell Rodricks talking about his recent book Poskem and other things close to his heart.This will be followed by a panel discussion on the topic What qualifies as literature today: Reviewing literary discourse post Bob Dylan. The panelists will include poet Salil Chaturvedi, Jose Lourenco, author and a founder-member of the Goa Writers group, literary critic Jugneeta Sudan and Vivek Menezes, writer and co-founder of Goa Arts and Literature Festival (GALF).
“At GALF, I have enjoyed my interactions with students from Xavier’s. At Writers’ Corner I am looking forward to more direct conversations and dialogue to get an idea of what is interesting to students and perhaps learning enough to better our festival in the future,” says Vivek Menezes.
This year as part of Writers’ Corner, St. Xavier’s will throw its doors open to all lovers of language and literature through the Open Mic session.
“In Goa we don’t have a proper space for people to put out their work and receive constructive feedback. The focus at open mic will not be on using fancy fonts or keeping to the ‘correct’ structure but on how one can convey their emotions. We want everyone to be given an opportunity to express themselves,” says Komal Bodke, one of the student coordinators of Writers’ Corner. Aspiring poets, monologue artists and short fiction writers all over Goa are encouraged to come showcase their talent.
The two day Words Up festival will include a number of interesting events like YouTube video, spelling bee, double trouble, poetry, e-scrabble, illustrated missives, wall painting, street play, treasure hunt, debate, theatre, singing, hangman, rap battle, quiz etc.
“Words Up is a fun way for learning and participating in literature. While this is an intercollegiate event, this time around we will be keeping the festival open for outsiders to come and watch too. An estimated of 10 colleges are expected to participate in the festival this time around and we have added a number of new competitions,” says Adriel Alvares, one of the student organisers. “We will also be getting some big names to judge the competition like Mark Rocha who will be judging the rap battle.”
In addition to this there will also be a pop “ up bazaar at the venue and a lot of other entertainment. The Coffee Cats are expected to perform at the event as also The Waking Grunt. Stand up comedian Ashish Acharjya will keep things in a lighter mood with his inmitable sense of humour.
Embracing differences
At the same time, Goa College of Architecture, Altinho is all set for yet another edition of their annual and hugely followed college fest Vistara. The 2018 edition will see the celebration of different cultures from around the world with their theme ‘Culture Shock’.
“Goa is a culture hub. Its variety of communities, language dialects and cultural identities, while being broken, are tied together by being a member of this pristine place. A sense of belonging and fitting in the fabric of our society. This year, we from the Goa College of Architecture, choose to celebrate and encourage this diversity, while still being a part of the greater world,” says Chinmay Soman, student.
Each of the college teams participating will have to choose a culture other than India as their theme and their contest submissions have to be based according to the culture chosen.
The two day event which will be held from February 9 to 10 will include a host of formal events like Drapes and Wraps ( fashion show), Beauty and the Beast ( Mr and Miss Vistara), Bounce ( Dance contest), Lucifer’s Wrath ( third degree), Hunting the El Dourado ( treasure hunt) etc.
There will also be informal events like street play, t-shirt design, rubix cube, sand art, wipe out waste, carpool karaoke, flash mob and sport events like control cricket, futsal, badminton, tug of war.
Apart from this there will also be a number of intriguing casual events like Peer Pong, Wicked Carnival, Happy Feet, October Fest, In Tomatina, Mid-day Meal, Bondera, Big Fat Dowry, where participants are kept in the dark as to what the contest is about until the last moment.
Also, Sahil Shah, the comedian who refuses to grow up, and Goan comedian Ashish Acharjya will be entertaining the crowd with their wittiness.
Creating K-OSS
SS Dempo College of Commerce and Economics, meanwhile recently organised their popular K-OSS 2018 at the college campus in Cujra. With a participation of almost 400 students from all around Goa, the theme chosen this time around for the two day event held on February 2 and 3 was Make in India.
The event witnessed enthusiastic participation in a number of events like Bhool Bhulaiya i.e. a treasure hunt, Natrang (street play), framed (photography), 3rd degree (street interview), doodled in India, face off ( dance competition), brush strokes ( flag painting), fashion show as well as sports based events like dhool mitti aur pasina ( kabaddi), chhota IPL, Bal Pradarshan.
The two day event also witnessed the traditional crowning of Mr and Ms K-0SS. In addition Nikhil Chinapa and Nawed Khan spun some magic on the decks.
St Xavier’s College, Mapusa were adjudged overall winners of the event while Goa University, Taleigao and MES College, Zuarinagar took first and second runners up place.
