While providing a wide range of fun and tech events virtually, the cultural aspect of Oculus was not ignored. Oculus 2021 was a marvellous amalgamation of some brilliant cultural events
SARGAM- JUNG SURON KI
Sargam- Jung Suron Ki, like many other events of Oculus, was conducted online due to COVID-19 restrictions. The competition was held in two rounds. In the first round, the participants were required to submit a pre-recorded video. Out of an approximate hundred participants, only fifteen made it to the final round which was held offline at a recording studio on 13th March. The event was also live-streamed on the official channel of Oculus on youtube. The judges were virtually present to judge the participants. Over two hundred people tuned in to watch Sargam, to enjoy the mesmerizing music and singing of the participants. From soulful to rock music the audience enjoyed all the performances.
The winner was decided based on both live voting and the marks given by the judges. The winner for the Hindi category was Rhutuja Lokhande and Tulsi Kabra who was the runner-up. The winner for the English category was Samiksha Gawai. As the name suggests “Sargam-Jung Suron Ki” was not less than a “jung” but both audience and the participants had a great evening.
“Initially, we were skeptical whether we would be able to pull off an online singing event. However with the hardwork of the members of Team Sargam and with the support of the Oculus team the event became a huge success”, said Naitik Jain, organiser of Sargam.
AELAN-E-JUNG
“Dancers don’t need wings to fly”. This quote was brought to life by the participants of Aelan-e-Jung when they mesmerized the viewers with their moves. The inter-college dance competition was held on 14th March 2021, via a live stream. The event commenced with the enthusiastic voices of hosts Parth Chatrapati and Shweta Joshi who announced the judging panel that included Jiggnya A. Johri and Neeraj Yadav, honouring our college with their presence.
8 teams graced the event with their performances, DADC from DAICTT, Zestreets from DAIICT, Hypnotics from Indira Gandhi Technical University, Gyrations from KJ Somaiya, Scorpians 2.0 from Jai Hind College, Misba who also had a motive to spread awareness about the conditions of transgenders in India, Hiphoppers from JSPM’S RSCOE, and Footloose DC from RAIT. The event also witnessed promising performances by solo performers Priyamwada Bhadauria from MIT WPU, Abhishek from School of Open Learning Sanskriti Yadav from Thadomal, Manas Baviskar from VIT, Shreya Kelkar from KC College, Ramya Ramesh from Symbiosis, Vidhi Shah from KJ Somaiya and a duet of Prajakta & Aditi from Thakur College.
The viewers kept the atmosphere of the live stream energetic by cheering the participants through their comments and supporting them via votes from the Oculus App. The “Best Choreography” award was conferred to Vidhi Shah and Ramya Ramesh. Zestreets stood first with Gyration and Hypnotics securing the first runner up and second runner up positions respectively.
“Overall AELAN E JUNG was an incredible success and working with so many energetic folks was a great opportunity. All of it from the start till the end was mesmerising and thrilling”, said Prerana Sawant, Head of Events of Oculus’21.
OPEN MIC
Open Mic’21 was organised by SPark in association with Mudra and Oculus on 12th March at a professional studio in Andheri. The hosts for the evening were Ramanansri Iyer and Harsh Sandesara who made sure the audience was kept entertained with their witty compering. The event began with a brilliant montage showing glimpses of Oculus 2020 hyping everyone up for the amazing events that were about to follow.
The first performer on the digitally created stage was Kevin Xavier who, with his acoustic guitar and soft singing, set the mood for the performances to follow. The next performer, Vidhita, read a lovely excerpt from her soon to be published book! This was followed by Vedang Ranmale from who mesmerized the viewers with his flute-playing skills. Atman came in next with a hilarious stand-up and concluded with a noble thought on self-acceptance. Bhuvik Thakkar delivered a dashing rap performance. Irfan Saikiyafrom followed by Harshal Vaidya wowed the audience with their singing backed by their electric guitars. The next performer, Omkar Shinde with his brilliant piano skills was definitely one of the biggest highlights of the evening. Krishna’s hilarious stand-up piece left everyone laughing hard. Midway through, the event witnessed a pulsing beatboxing performance by Sharad Sharma. The next performance was by our very own professor KK sir who, with his soulful singing and talented accompanists Aditya and Mihir, rocked the stage. The nightingale performances by Ayush, Siddhesh and Sakshi were noteworthy! The beatboxing duo Hell Fury comprising of Varun and Sudarshan lit up the atmosphere! Smiti and former EIC of SPark, Priyansh Acharya, recited their poems that left everyone speechless. The event was wrapped up by power-packed beatboxing performances by Abhiruddh and Ankit.
All throughout the event, the lovely online viewers made sure to cheer the participants and bring the energy levels up through their comments!
-A report by Krushi, Dhruvi, Anushka and Kevin