vish writes " Rites of passage
VISHNU MENON M takes a look at `Demo Week,' which is one of the highlights of CET
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`Demo Week' is a farewell celebration of the final-year students
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COLOURS OF YOUTH Students of College of Engineering, Trivandrum, celebrate `Demo Week' with gusto
Each college has its own customs, fetes and celebrations diligently handed down from seniors to juniors. These annual celebrations become a part of the annual calendar of events and finds space in the hearts of students.
One such celebration in the College of Engineering, Trivandrum (CET), is the famous `Demo Week.' Demo Week is essentially a farewell celebration of the final-year students who make it a point to celebrate their last few days in college in the weirdest and most entertaining of ways.
Dress code
`Demo week,' which began in the late Eighties, soon found favour among CETians. One whole week is devoted for this and each day has a theme and a dress code. From Monday last, CET was a riot of colours and fun as each day found the students in tune with the theme. `Black Day,' `Pandi,' `Cross Dressing,' `Goonda' and `Beach Days' were just a few of the themes. The apparel and accessories that go with the themes were something to be seen.
Black magic
On `Black Day,' the students wore black and smeared black dyes, paints and ash on their faces. Some of them formed groups and mimicked black magicians with custom-made magic wands and skulls. `Matrix' and `Men in Black' were hot favourites when it came to choosing movie-based apparel and props. The `Pandi day' was the best of the lot. Screams of `Thalaivar Vazhge' and `Final Years Pandi' rendered the air and batches of students in bright colourful dresses roamed the campus with their face painted with coloured powders. Certain unlucky and unsuspecting students in white shirts fell prey to their coloured powders.
`Cross Dressing' came next and the seniors' set aside all inhibitions in their quest to enliven the day with bizarre dresses and costumes.
`Goonda day' was a tribute to the neighbourhood anti-social who makes pick-pocketing and thievery his livelihood. Veerapans and Phoolam Devis mushroomed on the campus. One or two `policemen' were chased away as well for effect.
Bermudas, shawls with embroidered flowers, volleyball and ice-cream vendors made `beach day' colourful and enjoyable.
The final years' set aside their labs and drawing classes to keep the continuum going. Each year passes with a different batch and a different demo week but the spirit remains the same.
http://www.hindu.com/mp/2006/04/01/stories/2006040111150300.htm
Note: The Hindu Link to Article
