Monday, January 24, 2011

The last quavering note...

The first online Pre-Revels 2011 event, "FishEye" celebrates and relives the memories of Revels 2010 where participants had the opportunity to showcase their photography skills by uploading a single photograph which best captured the essence of Revels '10.
After several brilliant entries and fierce "likes" we have a winner!
The winning entry is by Sahil Assadi featuring NerveRek at Battle of the Bands last Revels!
As promised, here's what this picture brings to our mind's eye:

The last quavering note in a lead guitarist’s solo that echoes in your head, the feel of the bass thumping along with your racing heart, singing the chorus of a song along with a few thousand people.
Music is beyond just the melody or rhythm, it is an experience. It is magic.
It makes you feel alive, aware of all your senses relishing the visual and musical feast.
It makes you believe that you live and not just exist…

No, I’m not the lead guitarist of some college band, I’m no songwriter or poet, I’m not a profound thinker either, if that’s what you’re thinking!
I’m just an average student writing this down as I sip my coffee (it’s not even Irish!) listening to Kings of Leon as random thoughts come to my mind.
What prompts me, then, to think this way, you might wonder.
Well close your eyes for a minute if you will…
Imagine you’re standing on stage in front of a thousand people, guitar in your hands, the microphone at your lips -almost waiting in anticipation…
The lights play around the sides of your head like a halo as the Marshall amplifiers shine…
Your palms are slightly sweaty, there’s a small catch in your throat, your heart is thumping with excitement…you can’t wait to begin.
It feels like the final few seconds of agony you feel while holding your breath before you break the surface of a pool…the tension is sweet...
The bass kicks in and the crowd screams its approval as you begin…the music picks up and you feel it wash over you like the breath of fresh air you’ve been wanting…
That’s the picture in my head and I feel the rush in my body at the mere thought of it…
Music is in our very blood, it is everywhere, all you have to do is listen and experience it.

Come relive the experience anew this year, as we plunge into the vast pool of talent and festivity that Revels is!

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

It's back. It's big. And it's yours to love.


To say Manipal is composed of different cultures would be akin to fib. At the very core of its essence, Manipal is but a culture on its own. Revels, the annual cultural fest of MIT, is a glorification of the same. Revels is MIT's own ode to the poets, portrait for the artists, encore for the musicians, victory march for the sportsmen who, somewhere in the history of time, made the world a better place, just by sharing with it their talent.

Four days of dazzling lights and sleepless nights, of competition and merrymaking, of learning and imparting, of sharing and befriending, with each moment acting as a salve to the crumbling roots of culture beaten by the hustle-bustle of modern life. Four days of a unique carnival, with streamers made with laughter, and joyrides of wet Earth. With lights made with lustrous eyes, and curtains of words. With fireworks made up of dancers in the sky, and garments crafted with fashion.

Sportsmen. Singers. Musicians. Writers. Debaters. Elocutionists. Dancers. Bands. Painters. Models. All under the same roof, all but links in the same chain, all for the same cause, all with the same interest- Culture. All because of Revels.