Students, teachers gear up for youth festival

CHANDIGARH: Youth festivals are not necessarily festivals of the youth, for the youth and by the youth. Apart from students, volunteers and teachers of different age groups are involved in preparing for them first, enjoying them when the time comes and cherishing them for even more time.
It is no mean job signing 2,000 certificates and having them filed under the right category of event for the right college.Dr Umesh Vinayak, organising secretary, is busy doing just that on the day before Dussehra when colleges are closed for the festival. A team of 50 teachers and an equal number of students is keeping him company. The entire team is busy making all kinds of preparations for the Zonal Youth Festival and Zonal Heritage Festival to be held at DAV College, Sector 10, from October 25 to October 28.
"We have given codes to different colleges for easy identification so that no one comes to know which college is being called and there is no possibility of partiality for judges,’’ informs Vinayak.
Another faculty member is checking the sound system. "Many colleges have given us specific needs, we have to meet them all,’’ says the person looking after arrangement of the sound system.
Most of the team members are not professional managers but the extent of their involvement and sheer enthusiasm makes up for lack of training. "We are here from 8 am to 8 pm, no one has compelled anybody to work, it is all voluntary team work,’’ says Dr Shruti.
Four different venues are to be prepared and looked after by the teachers for various events.
If preparations are keeping college staff and volunteers occupied round the clock, the participating teams are enthused with competitive spirit. "We are participating to win, we enjoy only when we win’’ declares a DAV College team member, practising for the one act play. Each college is allotted a time slot to have stage rehearsals.
Each tries to snatch more time, trying to be better prepared than the rest.