Deepwoods 2006
First Day’s Report
7th December 2006
It’s that time of year when Madras Christian College (MCC) transcends its usual rhythm.
It’s an energy that surpasses the tranquillity of the Margazhi Utsav and the warmth of the Yuletide spirit, reaching a higher plane of cultural frenzy.
This is Deepwoods - a festival soaring in creativity, in crowd scale (and the intricate art of crowd management), and in its food stalls. The ‘C’ list, indeed, goes on and on.
Today, the first day of this magnificent cultural extravaganza, was a true testament to the festival’s legacy.
The initial advertisements in the daily newspapers were the cynosure of all eyes, and soon enough, all roads led to MCC! And how!
Day One of Deepwoods proved to be more of an aesthetic treat than an intellectual one. The centrepiece, the magnificent edifice of Samson, ironically depicted with wings yet tied to pillars, rendered in pristine snow white, was a breathtaking sight.
The college entrance also offered a different visual appeal this year, its threshold adorned with vivid hues of pink and white - an obvious and eye-catching element of the Hutch campaign - the highly successful and iconic advertising campaign for the Indian mobile service provider Hutchison Essar, featuring a small boy and his loyal pug dog named Cheeka who followed him everywhere.
In fact, Business Today had featured this Ad as the Top Print Ad for 2003, and it is considered one of the most iconic and successful advertising campaigns in Indian history.
In a long time, the CUS Cabinet had done some real hard work resulting in the famous Hutch agreeing to co-sponsor the Fest!
What’s more! Quite interestingly, this ad has resulted in a “pug mania” across India, with the demand and price for pugs (often nicknamed the “Hutch dog”) having soared, with sales more than doubling across the country.
Entry into MCC and into the Quadrangle was strictly regulated, allowing only students with valid ID cards on them. Participant colleges soon began to trickle in. The day’s events kicked off at Thomas’s, starting with AD-ZAP, where, coincidentally, I served as the adjudicator. We had a robust participation of around ten colleges - a crowd size rarely seen for a first-day event in recent memory.
The student body excelled in organisation and discipline. The sheer volume of attendees was remarkable. By late afternoon, the quadrangle was overflowing on all sides, anticipating the mega-event of the day: The Fashion Show, that saw an overwhelming response from the crowds that were swelling by the number each passing moment.
To sum up, it was a truly lovely day, full of energy and spectacle. It was a day worth every minute spent, deep out there in the woods!
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