Saarangeti http://blog.saarang.org The Saarang 2012 blog Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:27:11 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 Saarang Newsletters – All days http://blog.saarang.org/saarang-newsletters-all-days/ http://blog.saarang.org/saarang-newsletters-all-days/#comments Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:26:11 +0000 Saarang http://blog.saarang.org/?p=398 Read the rest of this entry →]]> There are funny things that happen every day at Saarang. These newsletters  are just a lighter take on the it all, because at the end of the day, it is all about the awesome amount of fun we have during these five days.

Enjoy!

Day 1 -



Day 2 -



Day 3 -



Day 4 -



]]> http://blog.saarang.org/saarang-newsletters-all-days/feed/ 0 Visions of Forever : An Interview with Ramli Ibrahim of the Sutra Dance Company http://blog.saarang.org/visions-of-forever-an-interview-with-ramli-ibrahim-of-the-sutra-dance-company/ http://blog.saarang.org/visions-of-forever-an-interview-with-ramli-ibrahim-of-the-sutra-dance-company/#comments Sat, 14 Jan 2012 10:38:46 +0000 Saarang http://blog.saarang.org/?p=385 Read the rest of this entry →]]>
The Folk and Fusion night, which is the Professional show on the 18th of January of IIT Madras’ Extravagant cultural festival, Saarang features performances by prominent personalities in the field of music and dance such as the Manganiyar trio and Ramli Ibrahim .

Ramli Ibrahim, globally phenomenal Odissi dancer, hailing from Malaysia and the Sutra dance theatre bring their widely acclaimed production “Visions of Forever” to the Open Air Theatre at IIT Madras on this night. When we spoke to the passionate and enthusiastic man and his team, there was something in his words, in his vision that instantly struck a chord with us.
NL: We know that you were educated in the field of mechanical engineering. What caused this transition in you from an engineer to an Odissi dancer?
Ramli Ibrahim: There was a time in Malaysia where the emphasis was on technological advancement. Things are changing now; I am one of those people who eventually followed my bliss as I was artistically inclined as a child. Though, I was good in the mathematical and science subjects, my sister herself has a Ph.D in engineering, but I felt I needed to do something that I wanted for myself. In the university itself, I was involved in theatre and dance, honing my skills even in ballet. However, I wanted to be a part of the Asian experience and not a ballet dancer as such though I felt the technique is important for the body. Sometimes, I see dancers not giving importance to the body. I feel that the body is an instrument of the art and where the spirit dwells and hence it will be the temple of the spirit.
NL: When you first decided to pursue your passion of becoming an odissi dancer, what were the obstacles you faced coming from a conservative background
Ramli Ibrahim: When you are young, you never look at obstacles; you just go into it because you are following something this is true call for you. True, going to Orissa, going to Chennai faced a lot of problems and it was difficult, staying in a one room place, however, going to classes, like going to Adyarlakshman’s house provided great joy. Today, however, we see a problem as few youngsters pursue their actual interest as we are in an age of instant gratification. We need everything quick, so is not the case with classical form however, you need to slowly gain an understanding of it and even them you may not be good enough. As Krishna said, If you are sincere and engage in your duty and do not worry about the outcome of the duty, you will be successful and the journey even becomes very interesting
NL: As far as your style of dancing is concerned, what do you say are your major influences?
Ramli Ibrahim: I have an extremely modern and contemporary style and you can’t see me as a traditional guru. With experience, one truly imbibes the cultural excellence and understanding of the world. With great respect, you see very traditional work based on tradition but presented and conceived in an extremely contemporary style. I have enormous respect for solo dancers but we have been known for productions based on group work.
NL: Can you please tell us your experience and memories of the time with your Guru?
Ramli Ibrahim: My guru was guru Deba Prasad Das, the youngest of the trinity of the odissi pioneer gurus, the most senior being guru Pankaj Charan and then Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra and then my Guru Deba Prasad Das. However, he died the earliest on 16th July 1986. If you see them, especially, Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, who is a very well-known Odissi guru everywhere who took Odissi all over the world. However, even before odissi became recognized, together with Indrani Rehamn had performed all over the world, the five continents. After coming back, he never went out again. His approach was different from the other Gurus as he had a strong tantric style, he was not a big Krishna devotee like Kelucharan Mohapatra who comes from a village called Raghurajpur, not far from Jagganathpuri. The work is slightly lasya and slightly madhurya, meaning sweet. However, I loved learning here.
NL: So performing in front of Indian audiences must be like homecoming to you?
Ramli Ibrahim: I would say that Indian has been like a home away from home. In addition to performing in theatre, I love performing in temples such as Udipi Sri Krishna temple when touring Mangalore. I feel that looking at the context of work; tradition is the part of evolution. Modernity and evolution is a continuum of tradition here, where as in some of the western, we see that modernism rebels against tradition. I also feel a strong connect whenever I perform in front of Indian and Asian audiences in general as compared elsewhere. Here, if someone likes your style of performance, they will love you forever and revere you with great admiration as you see in the case of actors. However, the same extends to everyone here and that is what is good
NL: We recently saw an article of you where you said that the Guru-Shishya parampara, whose popularity is decreasing, is the right way to learn art. You have also argued that today’s youngsters are expected to be all around performance for survival and hence may not spare enough time to follow this. Your opinions on this?
Ramli Ibrahim: The Guru Shishya parampara produced the kind of artists of depth that dance academies may not be able to produce. Though the institutions have greatly increased the popularity of the work, so that the people understand the classical form in a much wider scale, the artists themselves are produced by Guru Shishya parampara. Especially in art works of Asia, there are esoteric, spiritual elements which you need to imbibe along with the technical aspect. I don’t know how this can be done with the instant gratification attitude today. However, there are now emerging a different younger generations of guru who are dedicated to the promotion of art and bringing something, but are fighting a losing war due to popularity as everyone wants stardom and recognition instantly. Classical dance gives a character building and meditative experience, where the micro-movements indicate the freedom of a person. Sadly, when I see the kind of junk content being targeted at young people on some of the television programs presently, I find that it can be a major problem in producing a totally integrated person of depth as far the current generation is concerned
NL: Can You please tell us about your production “Visions of Forever”?
Ramli Ibrahim: It is an Odissi repertoire from three major gurus of this tradition: Durga Charan Ranbir, Gajendra Kumar Panda and my guru – Deba Prasad Das. It unleashes powerful images from the Shaivite and Tantric traditions. It mainly symbolizes the spiritual awakenings of an acolyte who eventually encounters the vision of glory of the universal spirit through dance.

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]]> http://blog.saarang.org/visions-of-forever-an-interview-with-ramli-ibrahim-of-the-sutra-dance-company/feed/ 0 The Gras roots of Saarang : LSG Reminisces http://blog.saarang.org/the-gras-roots-of-saarang-lsg-reminisces/ http://blog.saarang.org/the-gras-roots-of-saarang-lsg-reminisces/#comments Sun, 01 Jan 2012 06:54:11 +0000 Saarang http://blog.saarang.org/?p=344 Read the rest of this entry →]]> Prof. L. S. Ganesh, our present Dean (Students), was a student in the MTech (Applied Mechanics) programme of our Institute during 1977-79 and then in the PhD programme (Humanities and Social Sciences) from 1980-84. After brief stints in Air India (Aircraft Maintenance), National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (Educational Policy and Planning) and Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (Education Management), he joined the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences in 1987 as an Assistant Professor.

He was involved in the organization of Mardi Gras (named so from 1975 to 1995) and Saarang (from 1996 onwards) as a member of the Steering Committee between 1978 and 1984 while he was a student, and then between 1988 and 2009 as a faculty. He is among the handful of people on campus who have coordinated every function of our cultural festival – events, professional shows, facilities/general arrangements, finance, security, hospitality, transport, stalls, ……… well! He served as the Advisor (Cultural Activities) from 1997 to 2000.

An iconic figure in our Institute, we all know him as “LSG”. Read on, as he takes us back to Mardi Gras and the good(?) old days, which preceded the glory of Saarang as it is today -

While a student, he was the lead vocalist of our Institute’s Western Music band and the rhythm guitarist in Light Music, and has won top prizes and honours in the biggest cultural festivals of India. He also coordinated both the events for several years and managed the “Music Room” in our Institute. An accomplished rock, blues and jazz vocalist, LSG has performed professional concerts on stage with the likes of brilliant lead guitarists such as Cheyyur Vijji and Prasanna (both IITM alumni), bassists such as Keith Peters and Karl Peters, and drummers such as Ricky D’Costa, Ranjit Barot and Sivamani, and continues to present concerts with our students’ music band almost every year. He was actively involved on the cultural front in debate, extempore, dramatics, skits and quiz. He was the quizmaster for three years in the Mardi Gras Quiz, a legendary quiz in those days, which was the climax of Mardi Gras in OAT and received participation from all over our country. He also organized and conducted IIT’s first Science, Engineering and Technology National Quiz in 1989. He was a much respected judge in Debate, Dramatics, and Western and Indian Light music competitions.

The reason for his active participation – “The idea of such a large festival goes well with the flow of life in an IIT. Students having a lot of talent in a wide variety of events, organizing a cultural festival, including many fun events, can experience a relatively more balanced life. All studies must be mixed appropriately with fun”, he says with a smile.

During the early 1970’s, Mardi Gras grew from simple inter-hostel competitions into a city-wide event. It went on to become India’s most anticipated students’ cultural festival from the late 1970’s until the mid-1990’s. In its early days, it used to be a one weekend affair, with the final prize distribution ceremony being held in OAT. In 1979, Mardi Gras was accompanied by a two-day fun and games Carnival in our campus. Mardi Gras grew from being a simple weekend festival into a 6 nights and 5 days mega event in the late 1990’s. Today, it is spread over 5 nights and 4 days. There used to be a “curtain raiser” night show back then, which was meant to provide a dream start to the festival. Legendary artistes such as M. S. Subbulakshmi performed for the curtain raiser.

Events wise, Mardi Gras wasn’t very different from today’s Saarang. The main events, including Dramatics, Light Music, Western Music, Debate, Extempore, and JAM enjoyed full audiences. Dramatics used to be held at the KV IIT’s small open air amphitheatre. Light Music used to be organized in Shanti Kunj, a large, tree-covered open area located between our Central Library and OAT. Visual arts competitions (painting, sketching, rangoli, collage, photography, etc.) enjoyed less than the desired level of patronage.

For many years, Mardi Gras did not feature professional shows, which were started only in the early 1980’s. Earlier, ProShows included pure classical music concerts by internationally acclaimed artistes such as Lalgudi Jayaraman, N Ramani, Chittibabu, TN Krishnan, Mandolin Srinivas, Pandit Ravishankar, Amjad Ali Khan, Shivkumar Sharma, Ustad Bismillah Khan and Zakir Hussain, light music concerts by SP Balasubramaniam, Yesudas, Chitra, Anup Jalota, Pankaj Udhas, Vani Jairam and Usha Uthup, fusion music concerts by L. Subramaniam, L. Shankar, Shakti (minus John Mclaughlin), Ganesh and Kumaresh, and dance performances by Yamini Krishnamurthy, Sonal Mansingh, Padma Subramaniam, Dhananjayans, Uday Shankar and Kalakshetra. The first international Western Rock group to perform in OAT was Uriah Heep in 1982, when LSG was a doctoral student. It was one of his favorite bands, and David Byron one of his favourite lead vocalists, at that time, and even now.

In terms of organization, there were no sponsors in the early years of Mardi Gras, which entirely depended on Institute funding and limited ticket sales. Well, there were no ProShows then, and the nights in OAT were filled with competitive events in music, skits, and quiz. The budget used to be under a lakh and grew to around 2-3 lakhs only in the early 1980’s. Sponsorship only started in 1982-83 after the advent of ProShows.

“The infrastructure and facilities used for Saarang are more sophisticated and complex. State-of-the-art sound and light systems are used in OAT nowadays. The variety of participants hasn’t changed much though. But, the non-participating audience and crowd (footfalls) have grown phenomenally over the last few years. A significant number of youngsters were also more smoked up in those days and ‘grass’ was not uncommon. In the late 1970’s, we even had an ‘incident’ of streaking by two young men on the OAT stage during the Western music competition finals” LSG describes with a mischievous smile.

Earlier, workshops used to be different. In contrast with the current magic and cartooning workshops, back then there were workshops on Astrology, Pranic Healing and even Yoga! There were Case Study, and Story Telling competitions too. Traditional performances such as Ashtavadanam and Dasavadanam, very unique performing art forms patronized in South India, were organized in CLT. The first national Scrabble championship was held in 1978 with LSG as the promoter-coordinator. It later on grew to be a part of Saarang. Similarly, Cluedo was introduced in 1998. Debates saw a changed format, from a ‘for’ and ‘against’ mode to an ‘open’ mode, viz., topics such as “India’s greatest strength is ………” Indian Classical Music competitions were infused with a larger variety by including competitions based on composers (Thyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar, Syama Sastri, Purandaradasa, etc.) and composition forms (thillanas, bhajans, ragam-thanam-pallavi, etc.)

In the mid 1990’s, Professor Kolar (Mechanical) was the Advisor (Cultural Activities) and he wished to change the character of the festival. He felt, like several others, that it was too “Westernized”, and thus the more Indian name of “Saarang” was chosen with the cooperation of the then Cultural Affairs Secretaries. However, the fundamentals of the festival did not seem to change.
One of the more interesting events attempted a few years after the festival’s name change was a Fashion Show that was held in OAT during the Saarangs of the mid-1990’s. It turned out to be a mixed bag, with many clean competing entries and an occasional ‘distasteful’ one (including show of underwear, and a wardrobe malfunction), to the shock and surprise of many people. Naturally, it was discontinued later. There was also a noticeable level of participation from many post graduates then. There was a whole set of 6 events, including Cluedo, Case Study and Mime competitions, and Personality Assessment services, conducted solely by post graduates.

“Fundamentally, the character of the festival hasn’t changed much apart from the induction of foreign bands like Led Zepplica, Opeth, Pain of Salvation, etc. I’d even say that the festival is a bit more Westernized now, despite the change of name. Saarang village, Paintball and short films are interesting new additions”.

“Mardi Gras and Saarang have showcased many rising stars. AR Rahman – his name then was “Dileep” and he was a keyboardist for the Loyola College group called “Down Sterling” – participated in Mardi Gras”, remembers LSG. “Even Sivamani, the great drummer, was given a chance to play at Mardi Gras. He was a very small boy, when his father or uncle brought him and requested the organizing team to allow him to play the drums to showcase his talent in the OAT. Sivamani began stroking the drums, and the rest is history.”

Looking forward to the future, LSG says “I expect a shift in the character of events at Saarang. Participants in various events are showing increasing creativity every year. Nowadays, Indian LM and some WM bands still play covers. However, they have also started playing original compositions. The same trend can be observed in many other events. As long as the events are full of talent, creativity, enjoyment and fun, the going will be good. Saarang will be sustainable only if it clings to its unwritten spirit of “clean fun and entertainment”, without any significant adverse effects on our academic programmes and schedules.” In closing, he poses a few difficult and controversial questions:

  • To what extent should our Saarang festival feature a predominantly Indian context, or is it time to make it regional or even international by nature and stature?
  • Should we restrict competitions to only college students or expand them to include budding semi-professionals?
  • Which would be better for us – if we host a variety of events/competitions across the academic year or continue with the concentrated 5 nights and 4 days form of our festival?
  • In what ways and how can we increase the “Indianness” context and content of our festival?
  • Should a cultural festival like ours be dominated by more of fun (with little of culture as it seems now) or by more of culture (including the necessary amount of fun)?
  • Is it really necessary that in a country like ours almost every college and school should host a cultural festival for at least two days?

He adds, “I wish for the day when students will change their belief systems from what-i-don’t-know-can’t-be-great to what-i-don’t-know-could-be-great.” LSG ends by suggesting philosophically: “Time is the great revealer of truths. While the questions and debates are on, may we have cultured fun and enjoy”

]]> http://blog.saarang.org/the-gras-roots-of-saarang-lsg-reminisces/feed/ 0 So we have an announcement to make… http://blog.saarang.org/so-we-have-an-announcement-to-make/ http://blog.saarang.org/so-we-have-an-announcement-to-make/#comments Sun, 25 Dec 2011 07:37:13 +0000 Saarang http://blog.saarang.org/?p=327 Read the rest of this entry →]]> “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask who’s coming for the proshows” -
John F Kennedy (not)

“Oh god. They’re quoting me again. No, I do not know which band is coming for the rock show” – Oscar Wilde

We guess all of you may be wondering right about now. “What’s going on with Saarang”.
So our team has been working round the clock for about 3 months now.
Eager for a taste? Let’s put an end to the wait, shall we?

So, this is our line-up for the professional shows this year –

The Rock Show :

Yes, for the first time in India the Swedish ‘ambidjent’ band performing live only at Saarang. Their music is characterized by harmonic minor riffs that will set the ambience with layers of reverberant guitars. Ambidjent is a genre the band has created for itself with its truly original and unique sound.

‘Vildhjarta’ means ‘wild hearts’ in Swedish. A truly apt name for the band and for this show!
Come be part of this wild extravaganza. You do not want to miss the night Vildhjarta hits Indian shores!

We also have 2 very good opening bands.

This Groove/thrash metal band was formed in the year 2007 in Chennai. Blind Image has released 2 full length albums. After touring India several times over the past few years, the band became the first band from India to tour Australia this past November where they played the East Coast region also headlining the Australia’s own Whiplash festival. The band also supported UK metal giants – Cradle of filth earlier this year.

Formed in 2005, Scribe is a hardcore experi-metal band from Mumbai, India. The band has built a reputation as one of the most technically proficient bands in the Indian Music scene. Their music is extremely catchy with hits like ‘I love You, Pav Bhaji’, ‘Street Archana vs Vice Varsha’ amongst others with three amazing albums.

The Popular Nights :

The stage at Saarang 2012 is all ready to be set on fire by the young and dynamic Devi Sri Prasad. Well known for his very energetic on stage performances DSP, as he is lovingly called by fans, is one of the top music directors in South India now. Though he can churn out melodies and fast paced numbers with surprising ease, he has of late gotten extreme popularity for his chartbuster “Item Numbers”. Be it ‘Ringa Ringa’ in the South or ‘Dhinka Chika’ in the North, children, youth and adults alike can’t stop moving to his very catchy tunes. Be sure to be there at OAT come 20th January to witness a performance of epic proportions. There’s sure to be a lot of dancing and dancing with 8000 other people, we assure you, is one experience you don’t want to miss!

Saarang 2012 is proud to present Vishal and Shekhar, one of the leading music director duo of Bollywood, live in concert. Rising to prominence with Jhankaar Beats which included the hit song “Tu Aashiqui Hai”, they’ve recently achieved tremendous popularity by combining traditional Bollywood music and techno sounds, like in the case of the international rage, “Chammak Challo”!
Apart from being excellent music composers, both Vishal and Shekhar have repeatedly shown their individual singing prowess. Vishal & Shekhar will be the pioneers in a live audio show which may put them in the Guinness Book of World Records. Having recently worked with international artistes like Akon and Imogen Heap, Vishal & Shekhar are already leaving their mark in the music industry not only in India but across the world as well!
The most striking fact about them, though, is their incredible stage presence. Chennai, for the very first time, is all set to witness a performance that is sure to rock audiences on the 22nd of January, 2012, at the Open Air Theatre!

When the performers are stupefying then why not the opening ?!
All set to ignite the fire and liven up the atmosphere, Faridkot shall be opening for Vishal Shekhar this Saarang 22nd of Janaury Open Air Theatre IIT Madras.

Faridkot is a Delhi based band formed in 2008 and is for sure one of the most exhilarating bands in India. It is one amongst the few Hindi bands that has made it big with their heady mix of pop vocals, bluesy guitar playing, funk bass lines, melodic electronic layers and with a pinch of jazz-based drums along the lines of “Confused Pop”. Having performed over 100 shows all over India, they have already stepped into Bollywood with their debut recording releasing soon.

Classical Night :

Opening the festival, Classical Night this year will witness some of the most leading and creative minds of traditional performing arts in the world today present their rare collaborations and productions. The lineup begins with “Sammilan”, a rich confluence of carnatic, hindustani and folk music put together by maestro Shashank Subramanyam, the internationally acclaimed WOMEX performers – the Manganiyar trio and their team. We also host world renowned and revered Odissi exponent Ramli Ibrahim and the Sutra Dance Theatre from Malaysia as they bring their widely travelled grand production “Vision of Forever” to Indian audiences. We invite you treat your senses to a once in a lifetime experience of the highest class.

]]> http://blog.saarang.org/so-we-have-an-announcement-to-make/feed/ 0 Saarang 2012 publicity teaser is here! http://blog.saarang.org/saarang-2012-publicity-teaser-is-here/ http://blog.saarang.org/saarang-2012-publicity-teaser-is-here/#comments Mon, 05 Dec 2011 07:27:09 +0000 Saarang http://blog.saarang.org/?p=301 image

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

]]> http://blog.saarang.org/saarang-2012-publicity-teaser-is-here/feed/ 0 The Head Bang Theory http://blog.saarang.org/the-head-bang-theory/ http://blog.saarang.org/the-head-bang-theory/#comments Tue, 08 Nov 2011 14:54:10 +0000 Saarang http://blog.saarang.org/?p=279 Read the rest of this entry →]]>


So the good folks at Headbangers India have been visiting Saarang for quite a while. They obliged to our request and wrote a small review about it -


When you picture a college fest, your mind might probably conjure up the image of a messy campus, with everything going haywire. You might picture student unions having no clue of what’s going wrong, or right, for that matter, and youngsters all over the place, frolicking in the chaos. At least from my days in college, that was all it was about. But when I went to IIT Madras for ‘Saarang’ a couple of years ago, this mental picture was altered… greatly.

‘Saarang’ is a large scale cultural festival that is executed to perfection. Honestly, I don’t know how students can put together something of this magnitude. So, after attending ‘Saarang’ in 2009, I decided to associate my website, i.e. Headbangers India with the festival.

Being in the music business, I have, from personal experience, seen how badly organized shows are. There have been instances when major international bands have stood waiting in the sun for their dressing rooms to be set up on the morning of the show. Sound is invariably a problem, and there are so many gigs that have been unsatisfactory because of the lack of a decent audio set up. Even full fledged event companies haven’t scored in areas that the IIT Madras students have. From the gist of my (lengthy) introduction, you might know that I have been sufficiently impressed with ‘Saarang’. But here are some highlights that might tell you why:

  • All the student organizers, from the core team to the orange-capped security team, know what has to be done. And if you’ve been in India long enough, you know what a boon decent communication is. Especially to a sponsor, like me, who’s coming in from a different city, the ‘Saarang’ team has been very helpful, and very professional.
  • If they promise, they deliver. Once you sign the MoU, you can be sure that the deliverables will come through. Everything happens as planned.
  • Bands from across the country come all the way to Chennai to compete in Decibels and Powerchords, and why? Simply because the level of the entire festival is such that you can watch all the best talent on one stage, with good sound and lighting. In most other places, competitions are not looked into with much regard, and bands usually have to compromise in one way or the other.
  • The headlining acts are always something to look forward to. Thanks to IIT Madras, we’ve watched artists we never imagined that we’d watch anytime soon in India. Also, from the point of view of a rock journalist, meeting and interviewing the bands has always been a painful procedure, and this, not because of the bands but the middlemen. But I, touchwood, haven’t experienced this at IIT Madras, where the organizers have stuck to their word and haven’t cooked up strange excuses to not make this happen.

In all, Headbangers India has associated with IIT Madras’ ‘Saarang’ for two years now, and I have been very happy with the experience. I know what I have written is largely glorifying the festival, but I’ve not been paid to say any of this! I’ve genuinely been happy with our association and look forward to the coming years’ versions of the festival too. It’s my one annual trip to Chennai, and I’ve never returned disappointed!

Finally, a word to the team behind ‘Saarang’- you’ve got a hell of a lot of expectations to live up to, so do it well! *Thumbs Up!*

Written by:
Vilasini Muralidhar
Chief Editor
www.headbangers.in


(For other articles on Saarang by Headbangers India, head over to http://headbangers.in/tag/saarang-2009/)


]]> http://blog.saarang.org/the-head-bang-theory/feed/ 4 What’s in a name? http://blog.saarang.org/whats-in-a-name/ http://blog.saarang.org/whats-in-a-name/#comments Mon, 24 Oct 2011 17:39:49 +0000 Saarang http://blog.saarang.org/?p=247 Read the rest of this entry →]]> Confused by the name? We at Saarang felt that we offer a rich, wild and fun experience to all of you out there. And so, in a wild moment, we decided to call our blog “Saarangeti”, derived from the Serengeti, which is an ecosystem rich in flora and fauna. You can read up more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serengeti.

Just kidding. Don’t study anything. We’re serious.

]]> http://blog.saarang.org/whats-in-a-name/feed/ 0 We’re Back! http://blog.saarang.org/were-back-2/ http://blog.saarang.org/were-back-2/#comments Mon, 24 Oct 2011 14:26:51 +0000 Saarang http://blog.saarang.org/?p=232 Read the rest of this entry →]]> It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No wait, it’s another cliched phrase. For lack of a better beginning, we’re back people. Saarang 2012 is here. It promises to be *better* (and possibly bigger, but let’s leave that for the crowd to decide)Last year we had a lot on our plate. A mind-boggling set of 60 events which included dramatics, choreo, speaking events, music, quizzes etc.

It was 4 days and 5 nights of pure bliss. And not to mention, we also got the ISO 9001:2008 certification last year. You know what that means? It means we’re certified “awesome”!

Usually, lectures are thought of as boring. We, however, beg to differ. We had a host of lectures by eminent personalities such as Shriya Saran, Bombay Jayshree, Shaji N. Karun, Hari Menon, Alarmel Valli, Thotta Tharani and many more. Also, for the first time, we hosted an MUN (Model United Nations) right here at Saarang (in collaboration with the UN office for India and Bhutan), which turned out to be quite interesting with everyone walking around in formals at the IC&SR auditorium.

We also set a new standard for Professional shows last year. Apart from the usual Rock Show, Popular night and Classical night, we had a set of “Mini-Proshows” featuring Havikoro, In Vivo, Laurent Decol, Asaf Avidan and the Mojos under the banner of a “World Culture Show” which had all of SAC brimming with excitement. The cultural night with Mallika Sarabhai and her dance troupe, Darpana was enthralling. They put up a show like no other on the OAT stage. The popular night had KayKay wooing the audience with his songs and who can forget the night on which Pain of Salvation rocked OAT!

We swear, at one point in the show, PoS left the stage, only to return two minutes later in an auto-rickshaw!    (God knows how much he charged them for going a distance of 20m, considering they were Firangs!)

Does anyone remember the Saarang village last time? It was a traditional Kerala village, set up next to OAT. (There was also a sign mentioning “Useless water”, although we suspect it meant “Use Less water”). The food there was exquisitely Malayali cuisine and tasted awesome. Eating jaggery chips and Payasam, followed by a rock concert at OAT – how much more “Mallu” can you get! The sweltering Chennai heat (and not giving a damn about it), music blaring at all corners, people dancing all around, awkwardly asking that girl to accompany you to the dance workshop, chilling at the lounge, jumping up and down during proshows – all this makes up your regular Saarang.

Saarang 2012 resolves to be *better*. Come and experience it to see how.

Oh, and did we mention the name of the band we’re having for the Pro-show this time? Well, this time it’s going to be… not so soon folks! It’ll be revealed in due time. Keep coming back for more info!

We're literally "back"

]]> http://blog.saarang.org/were-back-2/feed/ 1 Saarang 2011 T-shirts http://blog.saarang.org/saarang-2011-t-shirts/ http://blog.saarang.org/saarang-2011-t-shirts/#comments Sat, 15 Jan 2011 04:37:04 +0000 admin http://blog.saarang.org/?p=222 Read the rest of this entry →]]> If you are the kind to wear your heart on your sleeve, then here is a reason to rejoice. Saarang 2011 has decided on its apparel line and they are a joy to behold. Traditionally, Saarang has always featured three t-shirts in varying colours and designs that promote and permeate the Saarang spirit among all and sundry during and long after the extravaganza is done with and locked up. This time, the good people at the design and finance departments have put their heads together and their crayons on their papers to provide us with t-shirts in blue, white and black. Featuring Saarang on their fabric is Derby Clothing, a premium Indian company in the business of clothing the species over a rather large part of the globe.

If this hack’s meticulous study of the pomp-rock-soundtracked mid-1980s action drama movie genre has taught him anything, it is that you can only ever really claim to have hit rock bottom, looked yourself in the eye and begun the long climb back up to the top once you’ve enjoyed a moment of proper fist-clenching emotional catharsis, some power chord-laden transformational freak-out basically equivalent to Emilio Estevez doing rock fight-dancing so enthusiastically all the windows suddenly smash. Such and more severe moments were endured as the team blurred the thin line between days and nights to churn out what they thought Saarang would crave to be seen in, from here till the last thread falls off. One can quite see a designer, peering glaze eyed at a screen full of designs, striking a la Camilo Villegas pose and muttering cliched abuses at the mundane limts reality sets on creativity.

Saarang is sure to turn on the style and you can be every bit as awesome as four day jamboree by making sure that you are seen in the official colours of Saarang 2011. The t-shirts are so irresistible; you would not want to come out of those, a trait they share with its parent event. Be there, in a Saarang 2011 t-shirt.

]]> http://blog.saarang.org/saarang-2011-t-shirts/feed/ 0 The Fable of the Rock Show http://blog.saarang.org/the-fable-of-the-rock-show/ http://blog.saarang.org/the-fable-of-the-rock-show/#comments Thu, 06 Jan 2011 05:19:35 +0000 admin http://blog.saarang.org/?p=215 Read the rest of this entry →]]> Inviting the legendary Progressive metal band, Pain of Salvation to rock our socks off as part of the ProShow here at Saarang 11 has provided the perfect excuse that the so called anti-metal brigade were looking for to get into the OAT: “They are extremely rhythmic and not mindless thrash! They base their compositions on classical and jazz sequences. Their syncopative runs push the boundaries of contemporary music. “

Q.E.D. Saarang gets the top artists in the world to perform here.

So, get off your high horses and join us on 29th January, 2011, for what is definitely going to be one of the biggest concerts in India, when Daniel Gildendow and troop astound us with their signature polyrhythmic styling.

Miss it at your own risk!PoS performing

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