Udaan 2018: Pre-events

With the start of 2018, preparations for the S.P.I.T cultural college fest, Udaan began. Laughter and excitement were in the air and so was the stress of a successful fest. To kick off the fest, the Udaan team hosted a few events as the pre-events to udaan:

Rubik’s Cube Championship

From an impossible geometrical figure to the best selling toy in the world, Rubik’s cube has become allure to all. While less than 6% of the population of the world is able to solve this Magic cube, few can do it in the blink of an eye. Speedcubing battles have reached another level.

In the pre-events of Udaan, WCA’s Cube Championship was organized on 27th and 28th of January, in association with Cubenama. More than 130 speedcubers from various states of India, twisted their fingers on cubes for the title. The competition was held in 10 groups having 3x3x3, 2x2x2, Megaminx, Pyraminx, Skewb, One-Handed, Blindfolded and fewest moves. Winners from these categories bagged prizes worth INR 1.7Lakh. Winner of 3x3x3 cube and Megaminx, Nikhil Soares set the Guinness World Record for the most number of Megaminx solved on a caster board. He solved 60 Megaminx in 75 minutes, riding a caster at the same time. The streak of records continued, Nikhil also set the National Record for Megaminx solving, during the event. Winner of 4x4x4 and Skewb, Chetan Roger Dhanjal set National Record in Skewb. Prior to the competition, all of them united and created a marvelous mosaic at the entrance of the college. The mosaic took 1000 cubes and 5 hours of hard work.

Witnessing the breaking of records and the birth of champions, the Rubik’s Cube Championship in S.P.I.T was a treat for the eyes and a huge success for the organizers.

Open Mic Event

None have witnessed the evolution of artists from Eminem to Birdy, politicians from Roosevelt to Trump, and Comedians from Papa CJ to Zakir Khan, better than an Open Mic. ‘The microphone jabs the fear in you and pulls the best out of you,’ they say and it was proved true as Udaan’s own Open Mic Event enthralled the audience on Valentine’s Day evening.

The event was graced by singer, songwriter and Youtuber Shreya Jain and Navaldeep Singh, a story-teller/fabler and Youtuber from Tape A Tale. The line-up included poets, musicians and singers, stand-up comedians and master story-tellers all from S. P. I. T. Being Valentine’s Day, there were a lot of stories and jokes on love in the modern-day era of flings. The performances on women empowerment boldly outlined their agenda while standup comedy lit the evening up just like crackers on a Diwali Night. The evening ended with the guests.  Shreya Jain created heaven for music lovers by singing while Navaldeep Singh entertained the crowd with jokes, shayaris and fun anecdotes.

“Overwhelming response, beautiful decor and on-point performers – everything added up to make it the best it could’ve possibly been.”, Nishant Bakhrey, chairperson quipped.

Poking the Artist within – Wall Painting

Holi came early this year for SPITians when they were asked to paint their thoughts on the wall but ended up coloring each other. Wall painting, being a signature event of Udaan, was held on February 12th, 2018. Students were asked to paint an image of what they feel is Magical about Mumbai on the wall. Inner artists emerged as people took up brushes and colors and began painting the walls with colors. The pathway witnessed giggles and some great art. The walls are the evidence to what engineering students go through, some of them being, “Pyaar ek dhoka hai!”, and “Sab Moh Maya hai.” This legacy of S.P.I.T truly captured the magical essence of the city that is Mumbai from the vada pav and chai to the Mumbai locals. The decor committee of the college took it upon themselves to paint the unallocated walls, to complete the beautiful gallery right at the entrance.

– Report by Edward Cullen, Flame Alchemist Roy Mustang, Hermione Granger and Erza Scarlet