It has happened before and it’s happening again. It’s the time of the year when a new semester shall dawn again and everyone shall be talking only about one thing in IIT Madras. SAARANG. Whether asking questions about it, or boasting about it, or coming to terms with coordinating it. It engulfs our lives like a tide. It’s the time of the year where excited murmurs are shouted and the twisted trail of thoughts settle at the obvious.

Yet again, talent is busy pampering its hues, while wardrobes are draped in new colours. The stage is set for young Shakespeares to break a leg. What is a good word that isn’t written down with creativity and chained into other words ebbing poetry. Colours splash across at Saarang and the town is painted red, or blue or pink or any other colour one might like. Music and lyric will find there way across performances as love finds its way in song and dance. Food, frolic and fun ring in the air. And many a fun game is played over and over again.

After watching the talents soar through the day, one usually expects the hectic activity to slowly come to rest as dusk creeps in. But, it is not so with Saarang; its spirit remains palpable in the air and peaks again at the power packed Open Air Theatre.  The night comes alive with the audience moving to the groovy beats of the voices that enthralled India; rocking performances by world famous artists and much more. When you think it’s over, it begins. Every next day begins with a fresh memory of the night before and with more to offer along.

It’s not the words, not the events, not the pro-shows but Saarang in itself that makes it an experience. To love life is to live a Saarang.

This is about the time we wave our arms and say Ta da!

Guess who?!!

And oh ya, the website is up, in case you haven’t noticed yet. www.saarang.org

Does the term Cavallino Rampante ring a bell?

No? Even so, spare a moment and use those grey cells, awakening them from their holiday.

This isn’t meant to be a discourse on etymology and strategies to figure out word origins. Nevertheless, hear me out. If you’ve played Age of Empires, you’d have come across the term “cavalier”. Cavalier refers to horse mounted cavalry, and this gives you an indirect reference to the word “Cavallino” – which you could now guess, has something to do with a horse.

Now, “rampante” could be connected to other commonly used English words like rampage and rampant – which mean: “violent in action or spirit” and “the act of an animal standing on its hind legs” respectively. Some might call it prancing.

So there you have it –

Cavallino Rampante = Prancing horse

It is a signature of Ferrari’s dominance and it’s ever dynamic spirit. It’s a stamp of class and the mark of product that’s a class apart. In a class of it’s own.

A warning for bubble headed optimists though – much as all of us at Saarang would love it– Ferrari isn’t sponsoring Saarang.

The objective of the opening paragraph was to drive home the fact – that every must-have product, and by a logical extrapolation – every must-visit event has a symbol that defines what it is, a mascot that distinctly identifies with the forte/charm/USP of it – and this time around, Saarang shall be no different.

Presenting, Ana and Rags.

Get it?

How about now –

“Saarang is the coming together of Ana and Rags”

If the rather un-subtle wordplay still escapes you, try visiting http://wordsmith.org/anagram

Ok, so it’s official. “Ana and Rags” is/are the mascot of Saarang. Ana is your typical girl-next-door girl and Rags, your everyday, down-to-earth boy. And you know what they say about irresistible force meeting immovable object. Together, they are going to rock Saarang.

Did you notice by the way, how gracious and gentlemanly it was of us to refer to the mascot as “Ana and Rags” and not “Rags and Ana”?