July 15, 2017: A date that would have been highlighted on the calendar of every student belonging to the F17 batch of LIBA’s PGDM program. After all, the much-awaited, much-discussed Fresher’s Day of 2017 was finally upon us. And yes, like everything else at this premier b-school, it brought with it the promise of being something beyond awesome!
There was a palpable sense of excitement on campus all through the day despite the event being held at the end of what had been a pretty tiring week. Given the fact that this would be the last instance when each one of us would be having a Fresher’s Day organised for us, the situation was very much understandable. A lot of hype surrounded the proceedings for the evening and the theme of Hawaiian beach party (the tagline of #beachplease summed it up perfectly) certainly added an element of zing to it all.
Dressing up for the evening posed a unique challenge, not because I had never attended a “beach party” as such (okay, you can put that down as an excuse) but because my idea of dressing for heading down to the beach involves a sleeveless vest, boxers, and flip-flops – certainly not the attire you can wear to college, Fresher’s Day or otherwise! Anyhow, that aspect was soon taken care of and any possibility of a self-inflicted embarrassment was put to bed by a considerable degree. It was time to hit the beach.
The words “Hawaii”, designed to reflect the jolly and colorful nature of this beautiful American state in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, stood like a sentry at the entrance to the main college building. The theme repeated itself in the decoration at the main gate of the auditorium, the venue for all the fun and excitement of the evening. The beat of music playing on the loudspeaker was clearly audible from outside and we knew what to expect as soon as the door opened. However, we were not quite prepared for the burst of cold air that accompanied the beats – surely, winter was not due for another 24 hours, wasn’t it?
The proceedings of the day involved everything that you would have come to expect from a Fresher’s Day celebration – song, dance, some more singing, and a whole lot more dancing. To prevent the atmosphere from falling flat, there was the usual camaraderie in between as certain “lucky” ones got called up on stage for some tasks – tough luck for some of those who had thought they had escaped the fall once the signature campaign had come to an end!
Now, I am going to spare myself the trouble of giving in-detail accounts of what happened over the next couple of hours or so, not because I feel lazy to put so much of information down on paper but because words cannot do justice to the kind of talent that was up on show from both the F16s and F17s – put the superlative degree of every adjective you can think of against the performances and you will still fall short of a worthy description.
Towards the end of the two hours, a sense of restlessness was evident among the crowd. Everyone was hungry and it was close to dinner time for most. Amidst some high-decibel cheering that accompanied the announcement of Mister and Miss Fresher’s for 2017, the group dispersed for a sumptuous, lip-smacking, mouth-watering dinner.
So is that it? Are we at the end of the celebrations for the evening?
On the contrary, the star attraction of the evening was still preparing herself in her vanity van!
As the clock inched its way towards half-past-nine, the crowd gathered back in the auditorium – a place that resembled a dance floor for a change. If you have not guessed it yet, this was time for one last hurrah for the evening with DJ Night!
Notwithstanding the consumption of biryani in high volumes just moments ago, everyone was eager to shake a leg. As the night wore on and the loudspeaker belted out one popular hit after another, spanning a multi-linguistic domain comprising Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam songs, the party reached fever pitch. Space was at a premium but nobody took notice for letting your hair down was all that mattered. Finally, after an hour of relentless dancing that at times bordered on the lines of aerobics, the show came to an end.
To say that all of us had a whale of a time and enjoyed ourselves to the fullest would be an understatement – again, words fail to describe the feeling. We retired to our rooms with a feeling of content in our heart, extremely glad in the thought that if this was going to be the last ever Fresher’s Day of our lives, it had been a worthwhile experience.
It’s about time the members of 360 Degrees – The Student’s Affair Committee get a mention for their efforts in organising and conducting the entire event of the evening. As they say in Hawaii, mahalo nui loa 360 from all of F17!
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