DU fest season begins: Stebin Ben ko thoda thoda pyar hua JDMC se!
Live concert by playback singer Stebin Ben mesmerised everyone at Janki Devi Memorial College’s cultural fest, Symphony ’23. The first fest of Delhi University this season was all about campus feels, Insta reels and memories aplenty. The kiosks for face painting and K-Pop merch were a hit, too.
The long lull has broken on campus, with the fest season finally dawning in the new year. Kick starting the much awaited masti and mania of Delhi University fest season was the recent Symphony ’23, the annual cultural festival of Janki Devi Memorial College (JDMC). Saturated with tales of how college fests used to be, the students were elated to finally get the real feels and make reels of some unforgettable moments! All this courtesy the playback singer Stebin Ben, who was the star performer on the concluding day and needless to say, a true crowd puller in the fest that was themed on Peace: Fly Above The Unrest.
‘Mujhe kabhi itne goosebumps nahi aye’
“Pehli baar main show ke pehle nervous hua,” says Stebin Ben, who was consumed by the enthusiasm of thousands of youngsters cheering in the audience, waiting to hear him perform live. “I could barely feel the bite of winter. This crowd was crazy, energetic, and electric. I loved it!”
He treated the audience to his original Thoda Thoda Pyaar, and covers of popular tracks like Gulabi Aankhein, Jinne Mera Dil Luteya, and Desi Girl, which he dedicated to all the girls in the audience. Thrilled to be amid such a supportive crowd, he even leaked his unreleased song ahead of its release, saying: “Yahan vibe hi aisi hai, main apna unreleased gaana release karunga!” He then prompty invited eight girls from the college’s student union to dance with him on the stage.
His love for the crowd even made him tell the female bouncers to stop making students back off. “Ye saare ache bache hain. Sab aag lagayeenge. Inki tension mat lo. Discipline maintain karenge don’t worry,” he said in between his stage act and later told us that “The crowd was super well-behaved. Mere gaane massy hain. The crowd is what makes me who I am! So I was happy to have everyone here and to be able to start their fest season has been my honour.”
‘Ben should have called me yaar! I love him!’
The students of the girl’s college couldn’t have been happier seeing a sea of them rush to the popularly called Open Auditorium, much ahead of time, to be able to enjoy every second of Ben’s concert. “I waited for two hours to grab a good spot to catch the show. When Ben arrived, I couldn’t control and cheered at the top of my voice. Pure concert mein we were screaming like crazy fans. Baad mein chahe cough syrup peena pade ghar jaake,” says Nikita Rawat, a first-year student.
Saumya Vig, the final-year student who got the chance to dance with Ben, says, “He is so hot! I felt like a queen. Honestly, he is the lucky one that he got to dance with me (laughs)!” But some broken hearts like Ritisha Kalra, a final-year student, rues: “Ben should have called me yaar! I love him!”
DU wali feeling, finally
Returning to the old, normal, incredible vibe of DU fests was everything that the youngsters could ask for. “We spent all three days dancing in front of the DJ. Our expectations from DU fest are finally met,” says Arti Rani, first-year student of BA (Hons) Political Science, who revelled in the fest with her friends Swati Jaiswal and Sonali Singh. “Seniors se online fest ke baare mein sunke toh darr hi gaye the,” quips Rani, adding that the offline experience made them feel like they are in a movie! Jaiswal adds, “CUET ke baad, exams ke baad, itni saari thandi ke baad, finally aaj DU ki masti dekhne ko mil rahi hai.”
Alongside the all-day long DJ, a face-painting kiosk, a nail extension stall, and stalls selling K-Pop merch, kept the young guns engaged in merriment. Such was the vibe that even the teachers felt compelled to join in the fun. “The energy level is absolutely incredible! We had the fest virtually for the past two years, which was a feat in itself. But after this two-year hiatus, we are back. Just the curtain-raiser event, Munadi Street Play Competition, had an audience of close to 600 people,” says Swati Pal, principal, JDMC.
Love is in the air!
Many students brought their fashion A-game on campus, and among these were the boys who got a rare chance to mingle at the all-girls college. Sankalp Sharma, a student of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, shares, “This was my first time in an all-girls college fest! All the beautiful girls were so well dressed up, but my girlfriend is looking the prettiest!”
Besides the love birds, even the singles had their hopes high. “Crowd toh zabardast hai. Shayad koi mera dil bhi le jaye,” quips Priyanshu Bansal, a student of Motilal Nehru College.
Dressed to the nines
“We decided to theme our own days. Like day 1 was all western with short dresses and boots, then day 2 was for sarees, and on the third day we decided to be in all black for Stebin Ben,” shares Ayushi Gupta, as her friend Deeksha Singh adds, “Fest ki masti toh apne gang mein hi aati hai!”
Face painting, nail extensions, K-Pop merch, and more...
The kiosks at the fest offered young entrepreneurs a chance to rake in some moolah by capitalising on their skills. Priyadarshini Singh, a student of BA (Prog) at Gargi College, set up a stall to promote an exclusive all-women audio-based app. She says, “What better place than a fest to draw attention to our cause? I’m getting to meet such interesting ladies who’ve signed up to create their own channels for tarot reading, veganism, feminism, and even spoken poetry. The fest is such a fabulous space for this generation of content creators to mingle and get fresh ideas. I got to meet a lot of them.”
Western dance ka jalwa
The western dance competition was a huge hit with more than 600 attendees in the audience. Students sat on the floor, climbed the railing, and even peeked from the balconies of adjacent buildings, to catch a glimpse of the performing teams. Shaheed Bhagat Singh College’s team, Spardha dazzled the audience with their energetic performance. “Andhar ghuste hue aisa laga ki bas ek nazar mil jaye dancers ki! The performances were so good that I felt like dancing, too,” added first-year student Nikita Rawat.
Female bouncers hired for star night
With a footfall of over 6,000 students over the three days of the fest, authorities beefed up the security ahead of the star night. Saumya Vig, president of JDMC’s student union, reveals that this was the first time boys were allowed for any event on campus since colleges have reopened post the pandemic pause. “We really had to push for it, but in the end we won! We wanted to make the fest an open zone for everyone to enjoy,” says Vig. Tarun Sharma, an assistant professor at the college, informs that 15 female bouncers were hired just for the star night. “It’s an all girls’ college so security concerns were high. But, even without any additional measures the fest took place in a much relaxed manner, without the fear of stampede unlike the pre-Covid times.”
Author tweets @KritiKambiri