by Anjani Balu, Rohan Karkhanis and Saba Firdaus
With Dobby welcoming you and Voldemort demanding an “intro”, it quickly became apparent to anyone who walked into the SAC on the evening of September 22nd that even Lockhart would have trouble “Obliviating” the experiences of Freshie Night 2013, which was themed on Harry Potter.
Freshie Night was looked forward to with much interest this year, since it is the first Freshie Night after the shifting of UG first-years to the PG hostels, and seniors wondered if the same kind of ‘enthusiasm’ would be displayed as in freshie nights in the past. This year, freshies from the four freshie hostels were assigned Hogwarts houses based on hostels. Presumably, this was done so that freshers would have a hostel identity at Freshie Night, even in the absence of seniors from their hostel who would otherwise have thrust that identity upon them. The freshies showed up dressed in hostel/house appropriate attire – ranging from wearing House t-shirts to accessorizing with buckets and towels, like the residents of Pampa hostel did.
The evening began auspiciously with a classical music performance, followed by the entrance of the emcees, clad in wizarding attire. The skits were notable, with the freshies putting up a modern, comical reinterpretation of the Ramayana – with a crossdressing Sita. This was followed by a performance of what would happen if popular Telugu heroes wrote an exam together.
The most appreciated event of the night was undoubtedly the dance performance, which consisted of all-boys, all-girls and couples dance segments. The general consensus about the girls’ choreo was that it was thoroughly enjoyable and was excellently appreciated by the ever-present Bucket Drums. The boys choreo team was also quite energetic.
With a lineup including songs like Enter Sandman and Price Tag, the WM performance was head banging. LM’s medley of popular songs – Madari, Jiya Re and Sajni – was very well received. The Pampa buckets blared in tandem to the beats as the well choreographed couple dance marked the end of an eventful night.
The crowd was… aggressive at best, enthusiastically asserting their loyalty for their respective hostels, with some hostels being more vigorous than others. They were egged on by a hilarious trip screen. Run by the second-years, it was a source of wry sarcasm and hilarity and garnered a lot of laughs.
Although this year is different from those before due to the change in hostel arrangements, the night still came through as a success. However, in the absence of subtle senior ‘encouragement’, the freshies were dressed in a more comme il faut manner than the previous years. Hostel loyalties were established to some extent, if not as firmly as the previous years.
