Ethnic Day is unarguably one of the most highly anticipated events of the year. Read on to know how SSE celebrated its Ethnic Day this year.
The Big Fat Indian Wedding: Raj weds Simran (DDLJ anyone?)
Credits: PicClick
The Ethnic Day of Symbiosis School of Economics was held on the 25th of September 2019. The theme for this year was ‘The Big Fat Indian Wedding’ and, indeed, the event kicked off like any quintessential Bollywood nuptial would do — with a grand Dhol band whipping out classic tunes that got the student body of SSE dancing in no time. The pinks and blues of the ghagras and the gold and oranges of the kurtas swirled into a resplendent mix on the steps of the Vishwabhavan and the air rang with laughter and claps.
Dholaks whipping out classic tunes. Credits: PicClick
It was soon time to enter the auditorium and to commence with the main function. The event kicked off with the inaugural lighting of the lamp by the Director, Dr. Jyoti Chandiramani; the Deputy Director, Dr. Debdulal Thakur; and Program In-Charge, Dr. Deepa Gupta along with other faculty and staff members. Dr. Jyoti then addressed the gathering and concluded with a call for the festivities to begin.
Jyoti Ma'am, seen here, lighting the lamp.
From L-R: Debdulal Sir, Jyoti Ma'am, Avani Darne (MSc General Secretary), Para Rajeshwari (MSc President)
Credits: PicClick
The BSc. and the MSc choirs enthralled the audience with their respective performances. The diverse cultural heritage of India was exuberantly depicted through the numerous pieces performed by the students. Special mention should be made of the BSc Raaga Third Years who gave an electro-pop tinged rendition of the famous AR Rahman composition “Jiya Jale”. The captivating performance was then followed by the BSc. Theatre Club, Streetlights, delivering a skit titled ‘Siyappa’. The MSc. students were not far behind in entertaining the audience either. MSc. Epilogue delivered a strong piece showcasing the various stages of a girl's life as she leaves her family behind to enter a new one after marriage.
BSc Raaga Third Years enthralling the audience with their rendition of 'Jiya Jale'. Credits: PicClick
To entertain the audience further, the hosts engaged them in a shayari battle, pitching the ‘ladkawalas’ against the ‘ladkiwalas’. If this wasn’t enough, BSc Epilogue performed lyrical poetry to set the tone for the wedding of ‘Raj and Simran’. MSc Streetlights followed with a humorous skit around Desi Wedding Stories which was highly appreciated by the audience. The event also witnessed fresh stand up comedians from BSc Streetlights dishing out one-liners and leaving the audience in splits.
The event reached its final leg with the Inter-Batch Dance competition, indisputably the most anticipated event as every batch looks forward to winning. Highly competitive but undeniably campy and fun, students see this as more of a celebration and cheer throughout the performances (one need only look at the rows at the back, the aisles near the stage, and the seats on top to see a bevy of students dancing to their heart's content). The judges of the competition, Professor Krishna Kanta Roy and Professor Shilpi Singh addressed the gathering following all performances and felicitated the winners of the competition. BSc Third Years (woohoo!) bagged the first prize while the BSc. First Years placed second. The event further saw a Best Dressed Competition towards its closing. The BSc First Years won the Best Dressed for both male and female categories.
The event concluded with the BSc. President Riten Dhawan and General Secretary Nikhil Punwani of the Student Council congratulating the achievers and delivering the Vote of Thanks. Ethnic Day was an enriching and entertaining experience for all present.
Editor's Note: For those wishing to relive their Ethnic Day memories, a bit more viscerally, you can always check out the Ethnic Day story on our Instagram page!