Delhi University students take star craze to crazy levels at college festivals
While star nights are the most awaited event at a Delhi University college fest, they often turn into the students’ union’s biggest nightmare.
With bigger star power comes bigger chaos - and one could witness it at Delhi University’s college fests! Although, the annual cultural fests should be about talent, there is no matching the attraction quotient that a star night has here. For instance, at Crossroads 2017 – the fest of Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), excited students brought down the house quite literally when they jumped barricades, tore wing curtains, climbed up the scaffolding, and pushed and pulled each other. Police had to intervene to control the situation.
“The situation became really chaotic. People were climbing on trees and barricades at Armaan Malik’s show. Kuch bacche even came into the restricted area near the stage to get a better view. And then ek ko dekh ke, aur agaye, then it all went crazy,” says Bharatendu Verma, students’ union president, SRCC.
He adds, “Itni bhasad sirf isliye ki star unki taraf dekh ke hi karde... students forget their limits yar. aur hum logo ka har taraf se sir dard... First, ki fight na ho. Secondly, kahin star upset hoke cancel na kar de.”
Some students were upset about the whole thing. “Whatever happened is not cool! If you want a better view, come early and take a good position. Some people came at three to stand in front, and then, some came really late but wanted to come in front and created the ruckus. The situation was so bad that the police had to intervene and get people to climb down the trees and barricades,” says Priya Keswani, a student of Hans Raj College. “It was so crammed we could hardly breathe.”
Some blame the lack of security for the chaos. Akshat Aggarwal, another Hans Raj College, student says, “We had all gone in a group, when the frenzy started, our biggest priority became to ensure that our female friends were fine... Things were okay in the beginning but then security started letting even more people inside and that is when things got out of hand. They need to know when to close the entry for students.”
“We had student volunteers, police, and bouncers at the venue, aur kya karein? Students should act more responsibly, maybe,” says Verma.
But some students say that incidents like these are very common. “Fest ki feel nahi ati, if you don’t jump around, or climb a tree to watch the concert. Matlab, kuch toh tafree karo yar,” says Mayank, a second year DU student .
“Dude, when you are going for a star night, you expect all this bheed bhadaka. The energy is so high, everyone is so excited, toh chalta hia. Thankfully, no groping-type gross things happen, at least hasn’t happened to me or my friends in the five years in DU,” says Vaishnavi Saxena, who has done her undergraduate course from DU and is now pursuing law.
Follow @htlifeandstyle for more.