yes we can and we did it. the team of pyromaniacs from the batch of 2007 won 1st in mad ads in mvj engineering college fest-swayam 2009.  and believe me the feeling after winning is undescribable. however i will try my best to put forth a small recap of this whole accomplishment. after seeing the notice board about the fest, the pyromaniacs decided to take a vote if we should participate. of course the money was a motivatiing factor . but what ultimately spurred the decision to compete was the challenge of winning mad ads in a enginneering college. and after the vote was unanimously taken during pathology lab,and practise was done in the mess till 10 pm folowed by a early morning wake up call at 8 and 1 hour of practise, we reached MVJ. and lo behold we found out that the time limit has been stretched from 5 mins to 8 mins. as always in any event, the team that keeps it cool and has the ability to adapt comes out on top. with two teams left to perform before us, a quick discussion and a oral rehearsal of the extra scenes and we were on stage. when asked who the director was, out came the reply in a flash: the WHOLE TEAM.right from the first ad, till the last, the audience just couldn’t stop laughing. one could say that even they were a part of the narration for some ads as they sang along a few songs which were a part of the mad ads like hare ram ( from bhool bhulaiya).  of course there was also a BLOOPER moment when one of the team members( identity not disclosed. i leave that for u readers to guess) fell off stage and we still dont know how he got back on stage in 3 seconds and performed the remaining scenes.

well it was time for results. the pyromaniacs were confident of having put up a good show. but then it was going to be a close call cause each of the team that participated deserved atleast a prize. but then the gods were smiling on us that day nad voila, when the mc announced that the 1st prize goes to st.johns medical college, we just jumped up and down, hi-5d each other. it was a thrilling moment. probably the onlookers would have thought that mayb we were from the pschyiatric ward of st.johns!!!!!!!!nevertheless the remarks of the judges will stay in our minds forever.  i am not posting his remarks to brag or boast about our win, but the next time we go out there to perform, these remarks will serve to boost up the confidence. the judge remarked that the narration was 1 of the best he had ever witnessed and the scenes were not vulgar, yet they were witty. and the creativity in spoofing new ads nd current issuses was what clinched it for us.

one may wonder y such an elaborate post about a solitary win at a fest. maybe this comparison is a bit exaggerated but then its the sam ehype when india wins abroad. lets face it. for a medical college to win in an enginnering college against all the bias, grudges and mindset of the audience( the other mad ads frm engg teams include VTU jokes, and we cant put in rguhs jokes nor are we aware of working of vtu), does require someting special. like i mentioned previously in the post, its the ability to adapt and remain calm that made the pyromaniacs win. the mad med legacy continues truly. long live

a brief note about the other events that we johnites won. sheldon, ryan and the person who is typing this blog won 2nd in quiz. what is perplexing to me is how could we come 2nd in a quiz that asked obscure civics, geography questions like borders of european countries, 1st animal to appear in english dic ( i mean dictionary), a long 6 minute video on global warming .to test our memory as if we dont have enough on our plate rite now with trying to mug up tripathi.

nitin and jino joy of batch of 2007 came 2nd and 3rd in debate. topic was moral policing in regard to dress code. aftr the experience of a bias in the previous debate where extremism views were impsoedin a previous fest and teh judge was blind and deaf( metaphorically), winning here waswhat can be called as poetic justice.

the 2nd day was the FUN DAY. jino joy and roshan of batch of 2007 won 1st in treasure hunt. they lost a much needed 5 kgs i suppose bt gained more than a 100 times that in cash. of course jino had to drink 10 glasses of a wierd cocktail of water, coffee powder and god knows what. nd guess what . he dint puke without taking a anti-emetic.  they must now be familiar wth the entire architecture and landscape of mvj after runnig around the whole college and cracking clues to find the room where the next clue would be present. bravo. in the final round they had to purchase diffrent category of items worth rs.50. getting a bus ticket was dangerous and exciting as yours truly was crushed between the doors. the stuff that they brought was stupendous. in these times of global recession, ask theses guys on how to use money wisely. a shampoo, comb, scrubber, candy, pen, paper, a plastic cover , etc all in the range of 50p- rs1. and like shrewd businessmen who pounce on everything, even a small string of flower, a 3 cm rope and a old nut and bolt dint escape the eagle eyes of these guys who brought it fr rs 2. i expect they will soon be called by b-schools for a tlk on how to maximise your resoucres.  

yours truly ie nitin participated in we the people, a talk show. it was a privilege as the judge was a BBCcommentator. most fests these days find it irreleveant if they dont have a event with a theme and there we go. this event was about india. an aptitude test which was like my 10th std civics paper followed by a group discussion. topics covered on group discussion were moral policing, reservations, women empowerment. i spoke very less but in the 1minute talk that followed, i just concentrated on the solutions rather than ranting about the problems which is exaclty what we need. my talk consisted of the belief in power of 1, changing buearcrcy which is slower than force india car,,etc etc/. well sumhow the judge liked my points and i won. i guess if u speak both from the heart( and say saare jahan se acha hindustan hamara) and head and you have god’s grace you win. it was followed by a session where the judge gave snippets of his bloopers on air.

johnites never can be down in music. sharan of bacth of 2008 won 1st in solo sinigng titled star singer. and the mention of music and johns will be incomplete without the mention of IRONY OF FATE who jsut missed winnig 1st prize by 1 point and came 2nd. paul, sendhil, tilak, omkar, rahul were the team and the crowd really went wild when they were playing.

all in all, a fest in which we reaped huge rewards. though the money was great, the experience itself is what leaves us richer. i am sure that this has been an experience of a lifetime and i am sure jino and roshan especially will agree with me. well if you still have had the patience to have read till here and wondering what this fuss is all about, we just want to share our happiness with all our supporters nad well wishers ie johnites and also hopefully reading this will make you realsie that attending fests is fun and maybe start particiapting it.( disclaimer: at your own risk of attendance!!!!!!) anyways until the next time ie the next fest c ya. i hope the admin finds time to post sum pics .