post news network, Bhubaneswar, April 1: Descending on public places across the city and kick starting a performance as if they were a flash mob, they mesmerise the passersby and the casual onlookers, who begin to gather around them, forming a crowd that mostly applauds their creative spirit and the sincere effort to drive home a point on an issue that touches our lives. The group, which is inspired by the motive to create awareness among the public, often organises nukkad skits, plays, besides mono acts, among other forms of dramatic expressions to touch the audience’s heart. They, generally, confine street plays to around 15 minutes, plays to around 50 minutes and mono acts to 5-6 minutes.
They are the members of the drama club of Kalinga Institute of Industrial Training (KIIT). The club is called Kalakaar, The Dramatics Society. It is the only platform where thousands of students studying at the college can come on, to share their thoughts on art, culture and society and express those through their plays and stand-up acts. The club provides the students to do something constructive as well as creative beyond their regular academic activities.
“We often hit the streets at various places across the city in order to create awareness among the public on several burning issues the society is grappling with. We make a group of 5-6 people and prepare a skit to perform as street plays. We try to include aggression and other expressions to make it more realistic and to convey the message more clearly to the public, “said Amandeep Singh, assistant coordinator of the drama club. Amandeep is a 2nd year, BTech student of the institute.
Amit Kumar Singh, another student said, “We find drama a significant art form that helps to depict emotions and thoughts. Drama and performing arts often enhance our abilities, sense of humour and creativity. It largely helps us to think beyond academics. We are often flattered by the response we get from the public through our activities. The positive responses we get often give us the strength to go ahead and keep the work going.”
Subham Vishnoi, a 3rd year BTech student from the college said, “Drama and related activities are important in a student’s life. Those play a vital role in transforming the life of the performer. It drastically helps to boost confidence and inculcate the habit of expressing oneself. It also helps in allaying the fears of stage performance.”
The club has taken part in several national and state-level events and has bagged trophies. Recently it won the V Fest at Kolkata, outperformed the others at Spring Fest at IIT Kharapur, excelled at the annual fest of BITS Pilani. All these three, incidentally, are college festivals where reputed colleges and universities from all over the country take part. The society is now planning to take part in other national events and make an impression
nationally.
The club in the latest edition of the Spring Fest performed on issues related to acid attack and the consequences it often has on the mentality and life of the victim. Through its around 50-minute play it tried its best to express how tragic the life becomes for the victim.
The society, however, performs on several issues. In the last few months, the club members have been toiling hard to focus on women empowerment and related issues. In the recent few days they have worked on issues, such as, witch hunting, acid attack, ill effects of existing patriarchal system etc.