Onam celebrations enliven the campus

Onam celebrations enliven the campus

Anila Backer A P

Lekshmi A Vijayan

Kariavattom: Onam is celebrated in the Kariavattom campus with traditional gaiety and enthusiasm. The five-day pre-onam programmes organised jointly by the Departments’ union and Researchers’ union ended yesterday evening with a ‘tug of war.’

            The festival brought together the students of all 41 teaching departments.

”This confluence, this great mingling help in building cameraderie”, said the Departments’ Union General Secretary Sumith Kumar.

            The Athapookalams and the girls clad in traditional mundu and neryathu recreated a Mavelinadu in the campus.

            The celebrations began with a three-day sports meet on 2 September. The last two days were devoted to literature, arts and entertainment. The Department Union’s magazine titled ‘For Sale’ was released by Shri. Muhammed Perambra on 5 September.

            The sports meet for men had only two teams- Men’s Hostel and Researchers’ Hostel. The Department of Sociology also participated in the cricket competition. The Researchers’ hostel won the trophies for football, cricket and badminton doubles. The Men’s hostel bagged the cricket trophy. The entertainment activities on the next day like musical chair, lemon and spoon race and breaking the pot witnessed equal participation from both men and women. The day was also gifted with a special Onam music feast by the students of the Dept. of Music.

            The Dept. of Aquatic Biology won the prize for floral decoration, the most beautiful and exclusive event of Onam. After a concert by the troup ‘Heart beats’, Trivandrum on the last day of the Onam celebrations, a highly spirited and entertaining ‘tug of war’ was held. The Researchers’ hostel and Dept. of Sociology won the prizes in the male and female categories respectively in the ‘tug of war’.

            Union General Secretary Sumith said that there were no conflicts during the celebrations.  It is conducted in a friendly atmosphere. The cooperation and participation of the teachers and staff enriched the celebrations, he added.

The teachers of many departments accompanied the students to the venue of various events. The HOD of Chemistry, Dr.Anirudhan said the festival is most delightful. ’It brings back my childhood memories’, he added.

The security staff, Mr. Suresh Kumar has good words about the organisation of the festival .He enjoyed his participation in the tug of war.

            In addition to Dept. Union’s celebration, most of the departments organized their onam celebrations with feast and other various cultural programmes. Jeeja Jayakrishnan and her friends of 2 MSC Botany claimed that their dept’s Onam had many unique features. Mr. Sreejith A.S of MSC Chemistry stated that this year’s celebrations were not very enthusiastic when compared to last year’s. It is due to the delayed admission of juniors, he added. But Vidya V. and Jerin Paul are very much excited about the festivities. They however said that the participation is limited to the hostel students. Rechitha and her friends of MSW complained about the lesser coordination of the events.

                The general mood in the campus in the last five days reflected gaiety, enthusiasm and happiness.