RANGOTSAV '05

When I entered into the auditorium of St.Xavier's Collegiate School.the Rangotsav had just started.The first sound that I heard were ear splitting shouts of "XAVIERS XAVIERS" and then began the program. The judges had come from all the turns and corners of the acting industry some good orators other anchors of the television. The rangotsav is one of the biggest inter school drama competitions and this was its third year.The first two times it was Xaviers that gave the other schools the run for their money and emerged comprehensive winners and so a lot was expected from them. "Devi or sanjano let us present Rangotsav tritiye" said MC Rahul De a student of Xaviers and also the son of our beloved geography teacher.The show was exquisite starting with the Loreto's and Birla High's and ending with Xavier's and La Marts for Boys.The topics were vast some about female infanticide ,some on the dirt in politics ,some on the false sense of secularism while others on the turmoil between the "conscience" and the "Satan". The comedy was well placed and so was the seriousness.Most of these one act plays which portrayed the country's several problems and tried to give a deeper insight into some of the well known phrases like a "Jack of all trades is a master of none". Calcutta Girls presented an one act play called the "Maidan e Cricket" which portrays the commentary skills of a beggar ,soldier and a eunuch in a sarcastic yet satirical note.The third character of course brought the largest applause and the people for once thought these girls would run away with the first prize after the exemplary performance by them. The strong and social problem that is prevailing now and was even greater in the previous years is female infanticide was portrayed by Birla High .How a young and innocent lad of 16 is forced to become a terrorist was portrayed by "St James"in their performance called "Majboor". The next play by FAPS was the portrait of the wicked politics that is devouring on the country's heart in front of the naked eyes of the public and administration trough a great performance of the little girl and her mother.The drunk father was not of much notice but the silent grandma did her bit quite well.Laxmipat Singhania's "Insaniyat Ki Bhik" showed the terrible shape that the anti secular feelings in the country can take and how humanity is the sufferer for the cause.It showed how a beggar dies of hunger in front of four men following the four religions but none following humanity....... The "Jadui Baksha" of the MP Birla Foundation showed that through practice,guidance,confidence,and devotion a man can reach the peak of any and every field of the universe. Then came the MC again and said a little adjustment had to be made and so it would be Xavier's and not "L M B " who performs the penultimate drama and roared again the audience and the chanting of the name of the school was accompanied by our self created slogans of "YOU SEE WHAT I SEE,I SEE SXC" and then the stage was theirs. The beginning tune by Anirban Karok on his violin was enchanting and then what we saw on stage is still hard to believe and even SRK would have been proud of the performance. The play potrayed a poor man Akhilesh Gupta the director and the script writer of the drama being in a turmoil between the words of his conscience and Satan, the black robed Anshuman Bagri whose made the crowd go mad with his idiosyncrasies..The boss of the poor man and his secretary brought in humour in the otherwise serious play but then the plot deepened.The death of the poor mans son due to poverty ,his vengeance for the boss, the boss's murder and finally repentance showed two sides of a "Sikka" which was also the name of this piece of gem. The view of man differs from one another though both are correct was explained by Abhishek Sanyal who played "conscience" The ending was with Godfather's Theme music on Anirban's violin.The dialogues became the girls heart throb and people chanted Anshuman's dialouge "Jiska Koi Nehi Hota Uska Shaitan Hota Hai"................. LMB was the last participant and they showed through a chaotic drama.Trying to portray the different suspects of an apparent murder they had weaved their characters who preferred the back seats rather than the back stage for entry.An Arab Sheik went up the stage sprinkling money(fake) over the teachers and female audiences and turned them a shade of magenta while "Kajra Re" by the second eunuch of the competition brought the crowd on their field.Finally Bunty and Bubli ended the play with dance sequence with a sweeper. The next big thing was prizes and all were waiting eagerly for it to be announced.The best script went jointly to Calcutta Girls And Loreto House whose exuberance was worth noticing and it brought another feather in the Rangotsav's cap. The best director award Xavier's opened its prize account and from then on it was like opening the flood gates of a river in a hurry.The giggle that made the girls skip a beat made Anshuman Bagri the best actor in the best drama category it was CGS who were third,Loreto bagging the second prize and the winners were none other than the one and only St.Xavier's... The flurry of prizes changed the third Rangotsav as if it was Xavotsav.The stage performance of Xaverians was great and so was the audience built up to its reputation of being the best motivator and so it was Xaviers the third time in a row that came out the champions of Rangotsav.Thanks to the teachers in charge who made such performance possible and it was Xaviers all the way in this famous competition.The meet brought out talents in the all the performers and we hope to see the Rangotsav again the next year,all the schools present increased the glory of the competition and thus all together it was simply fascinating...........