It’s ‘mayhem’ at BITS Pilani as carnival spirit takes over

ZUARINAGAR: The lights came on, the cameras began to roll, but, even before a word was spoken, it was mayhem.
Over a thousand anxious students from all over India roared in exclamation as ‘Waves 2014’ was declared open at BITS Pilani- Goa campus. The ninth edition of the cultural festival, powered by The Times of India, will include 40-odd events over the next three days.
“We recently celebrated the festival of lights, now let us celebrate the festival of arts,” said director K E Raman, as he calmed the carnival crowd that were in no mood for speeches.
The speakers at the inaugural sensed the moment and kept their speeches crisp as the tired visitors, who had traveled many miles to get to the venue, desperately awaited performances by the host college.
The mime club’s satirical piece on their life at BITS – Goa campus received a thundering applause from participants that represent colleges from around two-thirds of states in the country.
Around 1,500 students from 115 colleges from all over India are camping at the institute’s sprawling property. ‘Waves’ is branded as one of the best and fastest growing inter-collegiate festivals in the country and the organizers take special efforts to up it a notch every year with improved production standards.
One of the star attractions this year is the live performance by popular singer Shankar Mahadevan on the second day, while DJ night on day one will feature VH1’s Candice Redding. This year, the organizers have tied up with Coke Studio and the culminating act, on Day 3, will feature popular bands such as Junkyard Groove and Baiju Dharmajan Syndicate. ‘Waves’ will also continue ties with Femina Miss India – the audition rounds that would be judged by Femina Miss India International 2013 Zoya Affroz.
Besides this, the winners of the drama competition ‘Rangmanch’ will have an opportunity to work with National Centre for Performing Arts.