A diary of Scuffed Events

Table of Contents

1. Inter IIT Tech Meet 9.0
2. SPIC MACAY
3. Republic Day Celebrations
4. Tirutsava
5. Mobile Science Laboratory
6. GCU
7. NSO
8. NSS
9. Suspension of classes
10. Conclusion

Inter IIT Tech Meet 9.0

The Inter IIT Tech Meet’s ninth edition was hosted by IIT Guwahati this year from 26th March to 28th March 2021. The event was hosted completely online for the first time ever, in view of the pandemic situation.

A contingent of 35 students from our institute participated in various categories of the event. IIT Tirupati secured an overall 17th rank with a total of 445 points. Our team bagged a bronze medal in the AgroBot challenge, a design-based event. Despite the challenges faced in the online mode, we had passionate and motivated teams that worked hard and gave their best.

SPIC MACAY

The Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Amongst Youth (SPICMACAY) is a non-political, nationwide voluntary youth movement that fosters the traditional Indian values and generates awareness of the cultural traditions and heritage of India by organizing events of Indian classical music, classical dance, folk arts, crafts, etc. in educational institutions. The SPIC MACAY Heritage Club at IIT-T conducts events that give some sense of recreation to the students in these rough times and maintains the Indian cultural importance along with it.

On April 17, 2021, the SPIC MACAY Heritage Club organized an online Carnatic Vocal concert by Dr. S Soumya, one of the world’s leading exponents of the Carnatic tradition of vocal music, accompanied by renowned artists Embar Sri S Kannan on Violin, Neyveli Sri R Narayanan on Mridangam, and Sri Chandrasekara Sharma on Ghatam.

This was a very successful and refreshing event for all and deserved every bit of the praise that it received!

Republic Day Celebrations

The celebrations for the 72nd Republic Day were organized online. The entire program was streamed live on YouTube for everyone to enjoy. It started with the unfurling of the National Flag by the respected Director, Prof. K. N. Satyanarayana. After the National Anthem and March Past by the security staff, the members of the cultural clubs had various pre-recorded performances planned.

There were delightful song performances, dance performances, monologues, all dedicated to the nation. It was a commendable effort by our students and staff, not only a treat to watch but also a splendid tribute to our country!

Tirutsava

Despite the online barriers, this year’s annual techno-cultural fest Tirutsava proved to stand against the restriction and didn’t let the pandemic keep us away from celebration. Along with its very own merchandise sale, the fest housed a plethora of competitions and also invited pro-shows, including a Stand-up night by the hilarious Kenny Sebastian and a Musical night by Gajendra Verma. These shows were thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated, and the night proved one to remember.

The fest kickstarted with an inaugural ceremony and spanned over 3 days, maintaining the joy and enthusiasm throughout its course. In addition to this, a workshop titled “Ignite” was conducted to help JEE aspirants understand the importance of engineering and its branches. The Tirutsava team also collaborated with BookLustic and organized a mini book fair offering pre-owned books at low prices exclusively for the students of IIT Tirupati, to kindle the spirits of enthusiastic book readers. Apart from this, technical workshops were held on various informative topics including IC engine, App development, and Ethical hacking.

With the events being conducted online and the boundaries of physical distance nullified, the fest proved to be one of its kind by witnessing participation from all over the country. The clubs made sure to not let the online medium restrict the stage from showcasing talents and continued the events from the previous years with the same energy. A variety of social media platforms were made use of, to conduct the events successfully. Event performances were judged using recordings rather than live performances to minimize the possibilities of technical issues, and deliver a fair experience for all the participants.

The fest covered a wide range of extra-curricular fields, ranging from technical events like Biz-Quiz and B-Plan to cultural events like Enigma and Solo-Singing. Additionally, the team made sure to also organize various gaming events for the talented game enthusiasts. Overall, even with the online platform limiting the fest to screens and devices, Tirutsava proved to be a great success in showcasing talents from across the country and served as an eventful break away from normalcy. Most importantly, it helped us realize how we can make the best out of any situation we are restricted to, if we put our mind to it.

Mobile Science Laboratory

Mobile Science Laboratory is a joint project initiative taken up by EPICS(Engineering Projects In Community Service), Purdue University(Indiana, USA), and IIT Tirupati to provide a hands-on learning experience to students of rural schools in the Tirupati local community. This project aims to develop a laboratory-on-wheels that brings science experiments to rural schools which do not have such infrastructure. Recently, the project partnered with NSS-IIT Tirupati for an increased pace of progress while working towards the common goals. Due to the sudden outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and the work from home scenario, the project was shifted to focus more on the technical aspects of the project. Even in tough times like these, efforts have been relentlessly taken towards developing the laboratory, hoping that it positively impacts students and consequently, society.

GCU

With the pandemic and ensuing situations, it’s important that the mental well-being of all is prioritized. Sarathi, the guidance, and counselling unit of IITT stepped up, conducting regular counselling sessions for the IITT family as well as consistently dispersing information about dealing with anxiety, stress, and emotional well-being. A webinar conducted by Mrs. Bhooma Krishnan (Counsellor and Psychotherapist) on “Building Resilience & coping strategies” was of great help for the same.

Apart from this, UG Buddies, an initiative of GCU organized an interactive session for freshers to educate them on various careers and opportunities in their respective branches, as well as help clear any doubts regarding the same. The event was appreciated, with freshers taking the opportunity to interact with and learn from their seniors.

NSO

To encourage students to maintain their physical health despite the online semester, the sports department organized an online fitness challenge called “Battle of the Fittest Branch”. This was exclusive to freshers and required the participants to upload videos of them performing a mentioned set of exercises which would gain them points for the branch. The challenge proved to be a great chance for all sports enthusiasts to showcase their talent and help their branch win the title. The department also resumed the online fitness challenges series and completed the series with the 5th and 6th rounds and announced the winners. This series helped motivate the students to keep fit and stay healthy. In addition to this, the Fitness Club conducted webinars on various topics highlighting the importance of yoga and healing science. The club also resumed regular online yoga classes to help de-stress our minds amidst the pandemic.

NSS

Despite being forced into online interaction, NSS IITT has conducted a number of engaging activities. On account of the National Science day on February 28, the students were to volunteer to assume the role of content creators to explain and demonstrate science experiments utilizing videos to students of classes 9 and 10, which would be uploaded to their YouTube channel. The NSS team conducted a best out of waste contest where the students created innovative projects out of waste found in their surroundings. They held an open school science contest for school students. As the AP state board announced the SSC class 10 exams, members of NSS decided to assist the school students in their preparation, by preparing summary notes. Furthermore, they conducted an activity to make the society more eco-friendly by identifying eco-unfriendly practices in the society and finding alternative solutions for the same, and implementing the change.

Suspension of classes

As the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic cut through the country with the situation reaching alarming heights, the institute management made the call to temporarily suspend the conduction of online classes, taking into consideration the fact that students, faculty, and staff, along with their families were affected by the pandemic; and online classes, deadlines, and exams were proving to be a strain and a toll on students’ mental health. The decision was taken at an appropriate time as students weren’t in the mental state to concentrate in online classes or write the exams.

This goes in line with the institute’s wider response to Covid and the ever-evolving situation. Setting up a COVID committee last year has not only ensured the well-being of the on-campus junta but also provided help to the wider fraternity at home. Regular dispersion of guidelines and precautions along with a weekly Covid bulletin providing information regarding covid cases in the institute has ensured transparency as well as easy access to updated information for all. Kudos to the administration as well as all committee members who lead the institute through these tough times.

Conclusion

It’s certainly tough to take time out of our tight academic schedules and participate in events, but organizing events is even tougher than that. The online environment has had a huge impact on the way people interact on a regular basis, and those who worked to organize events were forced to adapt and innovate and come up with new ways to engage the students. While it’s easier for most people to think “What can we do in this situation?” and give up, all the wide variety of activities and events that have been conducted represent the answer to the question “How can we do what we want to do?” The fact that we seek order despite the enormous amount of chaos around us, that’s commendable in itself.