Bhav-spandan Youth Festival 2024

Bhav-spandan Youth Festival 2024

Hello Everyone 🤠,

In this blog, I want to share my experience of the 2024 Youth Festival held at Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University. When I came across about the news of Youth festival and when I finally see circular about it, I felt so excited and couldn’t wait to attend it and participate in events.

   This blog is based on a task assigned by Dr. Dilip Barad Sir to demonstrate our literary and critical skills by reflecting on the events we attended at the 2024 Bhav Spandan Youth Festival. 

 The Youth Festival is a major intercollege event held annually to celebrate the vibrant energy and talent of young people. Students from various colleges and departments participated in multiple competitions, displaying their diverse talents and creative abilities.

The festival included a total of 32 competitions organized into five categories: Literature, Music, Fine Arts, Dance, and Theatre. Each category was hosted at a specific venue, with each venue named in honor of a famous figure:

1. પંડિત ઉદયશંકર નૃત્ય મંચ : એમફી થિયેટર

2. પૃથ્વીરાજ કપૂર નાટ્ય મંચ : અટલ ઓડિટોરિયમ

3. અવિનાશ વ્યાસ સંગીત મંચ : નવો કોર્ટ હોલ

4. રાજા રવિ વર્મા કળા મંચ : બાહ્ય અભ્યાસક્રમ ભવન

5. દુલા ભાયા કાગ સાહિત્ય મંચ : અંગ્રેજી ભવન

 Kalayatra 2024

The festival started with a colorful “Kalayatra” on October 16th, and a range of events took place over the next few days, from October 17th to October 19th. The Youth Festival, called "Bhav-Spandan," was a great place to learn new things, experience creative performances, explore new ideas, and enjoy a mix of arts and innovative activities. It was a perfect space to gain fresh knowledge, meet talented people, and have fun with all the events.

   As it happens every year, this year's festival also began with Kalayatra and ended with a closing ceremony, running from the 17th to the 19th of October. Although the festival brought a lot of excitement, it felt a bit rushed because many events took place at the same time. Because of this, it was hard to watch all the performances, especially the dramatic ones like Mime, Skit, and Akanki. But the event was managed well, with good food and water arrangements, and they even provided a place to stay for those who had to travel daily. However compared to previous festivals, this one seemed to be shorter.

The festival started with Kalayatra, an event that brings all departments together to present social themes in a grand procession. Our group’s theme was the "Condition of Education," and we aimed to highlight how social media, short-form videos, and even increasing drug usage among teenagers can harm educational quality. Marching through the city from Shamaldas Arts College to Swaminarayan College, we felt proud to bring attention to such a pressing issue. Other groups took on important themes like women’s safety, making it feel like a true gathering of voices for social change. The festival started with a big procession that felt like a party with colors, music, and energy. Walking with many other students in our cultural outfits made it lively and fun. Everyone was excited, and it was great to be part of such a lively event.

There was also a change in the type of participation this year. Fewer people joined group activities like quiz, Skit etc., while more students chose to enter individual events, like elocution, clay modeling, mono acting, on-the-spot painting, photography, and cartooning. In this blog I'm going to capture what it felt like to be part of this festival, both as a participant in some events and as a friend cheering on others during the competitions. 

Dramatic Events:

The theatre events are the highlight of the Youth Festival, attracting many visitors from outside the university. There are four main types of drama performed during the festival: One-Act Play, Skit, Mono Acting, Mimicry and Mime.

Skit:

Watching and acting in the skit was a different experience. The skit addressed social issues in a satirical way, and many performances depicted this well. It covered topics like unemployment, problems in education, and the challenges women face, especially highlighted in Stree 3. The skit stressed the need for women's empowerment and raised thought-provoking questions with themes like “Gandhi Marte Kyun Nahi Hai,” while bringing everyone together with the message “Hum Sab ek Hai”. The skit included the experiences of those who do not fit into the male-female binary, highlighting their discrimination and lack of opportunities.

By using humor the skit balanced serious topics with fun moments, making it both engaging and memorable. The combination of music, different voices, and changing speeds kept the audience interested and left a lasting impression, encouraging us to think about the important issues it raised. Our skit, titled "Baki Sab Thik Bas Chal Raha Hai," was performed by us, and I will share more about it in this blog later.

The One-Act Plays:

The One-Act Plays this year had interesting titles like Jamni, Sukh-Dukh na Sathi (both inspired by Pannalal Patel's short stories), Kariyavar, Kali – Ek Pavitra Rang, Aykha ni Chopat, and Karna.

The themes of the One-Act Plays varied widely. The plays made good use of props, and the lighting and background music added to the overall performance. Kali – Ek Pavitra Rang highlighted realism, and Karna included elements of mythology. Plays like Jamni and Sukh-Dukh na Sathi focused on sentimental themes, while Karna and Aykha ni Chopat dealt with tragedy.

Unfortunately due to our practice sessions, we weren’t able to watch many events in person, which was a bit disappointing, but all the events were steamed live in youtube so we watch some events as recorded video.

Karna

In one play we can find heartfelt depiction of Karna's life. It beautifully portrays Karna's tragic life, using lighting and flashbacks to show a young Karna expressing his pain to Kunti, his mother, who abandoned him. The actors cleverly used the stage to show the emotional gap between Karna and Kunti. We also looked at the play The Curse of Karna by T. P. Kailasam, which tells the story of the Mahabharata from Karna's point of view. This play shows how Karna's life felt like a curse because he faced suffering from many characters, including the Gods.

Aykhani Chopat

   The story in Aykhani Chopat is straightforward. The Story revolves around, one brother kills another for his wife. The sister-in-law, who is unaware of the truth, starts preparing to marry him for the sake of her child. Throughout the play, the game of Chopat symbolizes the characters' lives, showing how destiny plays with them. 

In the end, there's a surprising moment when the sister-in-law realizes her brother-in-law killed her husband. 

Click here to watch One act play: Day 1

Note: Due to some issues, I couldn't embed the videos as direct links in this blog. Instead, I’ve provided hyperlinks, so you can click to watch them directly on YouTube. 

Click here to watch One act Play: Day 2

Singing Event:

The singing event included various performances, such as folk songs, Western songs, bhajans, sugam geet, and more.

Bhajans often focus on themes like solitude, spiritual searching, love, and self-discovery. While English literature also explores these topics, bhajans highlight them in a way that reflects Gujarati culture. In structure, bhajans can feel like personal stories that take us on a journey, similar to novels or essays. The variety of bhajans performed showed the wide range of themes and personal experiences within this art form. This makes bhajans both poetic and meaningful, offering a Unique way to explore the human experience. 

Click here to watch bhajan event

Sugam geet:

Sugam geet was also part of the singing events, featuring light and pleasant music. Here are the titles of the songs performed:

1. આવું શાને થાય છે

2. મહેકતી હવામાં કંઈક તો સમાયું છે

3. ગાતા ખોવાયું ગીત શોધો હવે કલરવની ભીડમાં

4. આખિર ઇસ દર્દની દવા ક્યાં છે

5. દિલ એ નદાન

6. કૌન રે છેડે ઓલા, તારે રે દરબાર મેઘરાણા

7. ઓ વાલમ, તારી આંખોમાં ઉડે રંગ ફુવારા

8. કુચી આપો બાજી

9. સૂરજના અંધારે ગળેલી રાત

10. એક પથ્થરમાંથી બનાતા શિલ્પને અદર મળે, જો માથરું જીંદગીને તો જ નકાર મળે.

Click here to watch Sugam Geet Event:

Other Fine Arts Events:

This section featured various events, including cartooning (Participant: Riya Bhatt), painting (Participant: Tanvi Mehra), paper collage (Participant: Reshma Bilakhiya), poster making (Participant: Sanket), rangoli  (Participant: Divya Paledhdhra), clay modeling (Participant: Bhumiba Gohil), and installation.

Cartooning

                        

                                                 By Riya Bhatt

Paintings:

Topics: College Campus, Garden, and Festival

                          

Clay Modeling:

By Bhumiba Gohil

Paper Collage

Topics: Fish Tank, Dancer, and Portrait

                                          

By Reshma Bilakhiya

Poster Making

Most posters focused on themes like ecocriticism, global warming, and tree plantation. Raising awareness about these topics among the youth is crucial for helping them understand the importance of the environment and ecology for a sustainable green future.

                              

Rangoli:

Installation:

Topics: Worship (Pooja), Happiness (Emotion), and Accident

In the installation competition, Aakash Chavda, Yashraj Sodha, Parthiv Solanki, and Rajdeep Bvaliya from our department chose "Accident" as their theme, focusing on AI and gender bias. The concept depicted an AI-controlled train forced to decide whom to save, highlighting gender bias by choosing to save a man over a woman.

Poetry Recitation:

Poetry Recitation brings words to life, giving voice to emotions and letting each line dance with meaning. Here are the topics of the poems:

• પ્રેમ એટલે કે...
• કાશ એવું બનશે કે...
• હું એવો ગુજરાતી
• દોસ્ત! તું વાત તો કર
• મારું ગામ ખાલી થઈ રહ્યું છે
• વૃદ્ધ માતાપિતાની વેદના

    

Essay writing Competition:

Topics for Essay competition:

● કોણ સરહદો ઈચ્છે છે?
● યશગાથા ગુજરાતની
● નારી અસ્મિતાનું ગૌરવ - જાગવું જરૂરી છે.
● સ્વચ્છતા - ફરજ કે ફરજિયાત?
● જીવનમૂલ્યોની કમી માટે જવાબદાર કોણ?
● કલા - એક રામબાણ ઔષધ

                   

Elocution:

Topics for the competition included:

• Mara Sapna nu Gujarat Kevu
• Exams Every Day
• Suicide: Is It the Final Solution?
• India's Foreign Policy and Its Impact
• What If the Internet Disappeared?

Many students chose to speak on Suicide and Mara Sapna nu Gujarat. Dhatri Parmar also gave her speech on the topic "Suicide: Is It the Final Solution?"

Here you can find glimpses of Dhatri's performance:

                            

The folk music orchestra:


The folk music orchestra competition was an incredible experience, one that I feel fortunate to have witnessed live. Even though only two competitors participated, their performances filled the atmosphere with an energy that I could feel in every beat and note.


The rhythm they created was truly mind-blowing, each beat seemed perfectly timed, and it was amazing how in sync everyone was. Watching them tune their instruments with such skill and precision, you could tell they had practiced tirelessly to get everything just right. The sound flowed together in perfect harmony, creating a rich, layered music that seemed to carry the spirit of folk traditions.

Their attire was also striking; each performer wore beautiful, traditional clothing that added a visual grace to the performance, complementing the music in a way that made it feel like a cultural celebration. Every detail—from the colors to the accessories—seemed to reflect the essence of the music they played. And their expressions, You could see the passion in their faces as they played, as if they were completely lost in the music, carrying us along with them. It was truly unforgettable and gave me such an appreciation for the power of live folk music.

My Experience:

I had the opportunity to participate in three events: Kalayatra, Skit, and Mono Acting. Each of these experiences was unique and rewarding in its own way.

Kalayatra:

The festival started with Kalayatra. Our group’s theme was the "Condition of Education," and we aimed to highlight how social media, short-form videos, and even increasing drug usage among teenagers can harm educational quality. Marching through the city from Shamaldas Arts College to Swaminarayan College, we felt proud to bring attention to such a pressing issue. 

The next day, we moved into the competitive events after a formal opening ceremony, where my friends Kusum Sarvaiya and Jay Vaghani participated in the prayer group. On the first day, we had our Skit performance as our first event. We spent only a short time at the opening ceremony since we needed to focus on rehearsals and preparing the stage with props.

Skit performance:

"The Skit" competition was a highlight for me. As after many years, our department participated in the skit competitio n.I had the pleasure of performing with a fantastic group of six girls: Kusum Sarvaiya, Rutvi Pal, Krupali Belam, Smurti Vadher, Bhumi Mahida, and Me. 

Our director, Alpa Ma'am Ponda, guided us through the process, and we were lucky to have incredible support from our backstage crew: Jaybhai Solanki, Chirag Sir, Ronak Sir, Meghraj Sir and Naitik Sir. Their help made a huge difference in our preparation and performance.

The title of our skit was "Baki Sab Theek Bas Chal Raha Hai," where we tackled some serious issues in our performance, such as corruption in education, workplace exploitation, paper leaks, unemployment, stress, rape cases, and the narrow-minded views often held by society. Each theme was important, and we aimed to highlight them in a way that would make the audience think.

One of the most exciting parts of our skit was the need to change roles quickly. Each of us had to be versatile and adapt to new characters in a flash, which kept everyone on their toes. This fast-paced switching made the performance lively and engaging. We had to concentrate hard, not only on our lines but also on how to convey different emotions and personalities. It was a lot of fun to dive into different roles and bring each character to life.

The experience taught us a lot about teamwork, presence of mind, and many other things. It was rewarding to see our hard work pay off on stage, and the applause we received at the end was an amazing feeling. Unfortunately, we couldn’t secure a rank in the skit, which was heartbreaking. However, hearing positive comments from the audience and directors from other institutes assured us that we gave them tough competition, filling us with hope for the future. For me, being part of this skit was a memorable highlight of the Youth Festival.

Here are some glimpses of our skit performance:

On next  day we have our skit's photo in news paper:

Click here to watch live stream of Skit event (If you want to watch our Skit performance check out the timestamp : 02:05:25 )

Mono Acting experience:

"Mono Acting" was another event I enjoyed, and it was also one of the more challenging ones. Unlike Skit, Mono Acting required me to be on stage alone, completely responsible for delivering a strong performance by myself. This event allowed me to dive deep into my character, and I could feel the audience’s attention focused solely on my act. It was both exciting and intense, but I’m glad I had the courage to take it on. This experience taught me a lot about expressing emotions and how to hold an audience's attention.

Mono Acting was another event that I truly enjoyed, and it turned out to be one of the most challenging experiences I’ve had. This was my very first time performing a mono act in front of such a large audience, which made it a huge milestone for me. Being on stage alone meant I was entirely responsible for delivering a strong performance, and it pushed me to confront my fear of being in front of so many people. Honestly I was to scared to be infront of such large number of audience.

The preparation for this act was quite intense, as we had very short time to get everything ready. I wrote the script myself, and the title of my performance was "Nayika." The story revolved around a stage actress who left her passion behind, As I stepped onto the stage, I felt the audience’s attention on me, and that made the moment both exciting and nerve-wracking.

Diving deep into my character allowed me to express a wide range of emotions, and I worked hard to connect with the audience through my performance. Although it was intimidating to be alone on stage, the experience taught me a lot about maintaining focus and keeping the audience engaged. In the end, it was incredibly rewarding and humbling to perform "Nayika," as I not only shared a meaningful story but also overcame my own fears. Just like Nayika I myself tumbled from one emotion to another.

I would like to take a moment to thank Alpa Ma'am Ponda for helping and guiding  me in the Mono Acting event. Although I didn’t secure a rank in the competition, which can be disappointing and heartbreaking but I have to  chose to focus on the positive aspects of this experience. I received so many compliments from random audience members, including those who were watching live at Atal Auditorium and those who were watching it live in Youtube . It was heartwarming to hear from people I didn’t even know, as well as from my friends and teachers who appreciated my efforts.

 Click here to watch live stream of Mono-acting event

(If you want to watch my performance check out this time stamp in the video: 01:05:00)

  One of the most special memories for me was when I received compliments from the judges, Writer Raam Mori and famous Director Vijay Giri Bawa. They both mentioned that they liked my work in Mono Acting and even came over from the audience to meet me and encourage me personally. Their acknowledgment truly made my day. 

          

  Raam Mori also commented on our Skit, expressing his enjoyment of our group’s performance. Those words of encouragement from such respected figures were incredibly motivating and made all the hard work worthwhile.

On the next day there is my photo in news paper:

   In the end, these memories and compliments are what I will cherish the most. They remind me that the experience was valuable beyond just the competition results, and I look forward to taking everything I’ve learned into future performances. I would like to thank our teachers, Dr. Dilip Barad Sir, Megha Ma'am, and Prakruti Ma'am, for encouraging us, giving us strength, and motivating us. 

Conclusion:

So I will say that these events gave me unforgettable memories and helped me grow, both as a performer and as an individual. Being a part of Bhav-Spandan wasn’t just about competition; it was also about pushing my limits, learning new things, and connecting with others who share the same passion for art and performance.

Thank you so much for visiting 😊