St Xavier’s campus as the college hosted its three-day annual festival Malhar

Malhar 2013: A mecca for talent

    Excitement and enthusiasm coursed through the St Xavier’s campus as the college hosted its three-day annual festival Malhar, in association with Bombay Times, from August 15 to 17. With the theme ‘Zara Hatke’ this year, Malhar 2013 was indeed very different from the usual fare in terms of its scale and innovative events.
    The first day witnessed the fest’s signature event — Malhar Conclave — with several intellectuals discussing youth-related issues. The conclave began with the key note address by sociologist, historian and author Dr Ramachandra Guha who spoke about Indian democracy’s mid-life crises, followed by a panel discussion on ‘The rise of radicalism: A 21st century perspective’. Later, classical pianist Anil Srinivasan won the hearts of the audience with his performance.
    The next day was pumped up with energy, as every nook and corner was buzzing with activity. From sports to dance to creative writing to gaming to painting to beat boxing, the events catered to varied tastes. The day’s highlights included ‘Behind The Screens’ — the shadow dance event that had the judges Suchitra Pillai and actress Evelyn Sharma marvelling at the innovative performances — and Malhar’s quintessential street dance event. The temperatures soared further on its last day, as college kids turned DJs and battled in the consoles for ‘In The Mix’. While ‘Salaam Bollywood’, a Bollywood dance event saw the participants move to desi beats, students performed with UV lights for the ‘Illuminati’ event. Moreover, there was a lot that one could do at Malhar besides participating in events, be it scouring through all kinds of books that were a part of the book sale or participating in workshops like martial arts, mocktail-making or even visiting the art exhibit.
Celebs like Vivek Oberoi, Aftab Shivdasani, Riteish Deshmukh, Malaika Arora Khan, Aditi Rao Hydari and Shilpa Rao among others upped the glam quotient at the three-day fest. With footfalls of more than 1000 a day, the college turned into a mecca of sorts for students, providing a huge platform for them to discover their talents, socialise with peers or just walk through the colonial corridors absorbing the euphoria that was truly contagious.

Students at a dance workshop

A performance of the fusion band event

One of the performances for the shadow dance event

A Xavierite flaunts his eccentric side

Aditi Rao Hydari

Participants at a street dance event

Riteish Deshmukh, Kainaat Arora, Maryam Zakaria, Vivek Oberoi, Karishma Tanna, Manjari Phadnis, Sonalee Kulkarni, Bruna Abdullah and Aftab Shivdasani enthrall the audience