Sponsors Speak: Union Bank

Union Bank, India’s 5th largest bank, partnered with KMC Manipal’s Student Council as the Platinum Sponsor for the inter-collegiate fest INVICTUS for the year 2018. Union Bank offered monetary support for the event while the Student Council advertised the company through display of their logo on the crew t-shirts, awards and certificates, banners and through social media coverage.

 
The head of the Sponsorship committee, Reem Hunain received a delegation of 4 managers from Union Bank for an interview. Led by Mr. Dharmaraj V, the delegation expressed their enthusiasm and happiness in sponsoring an event that hosted 40 colleges across India.

 

They stated that despite being established almost a 100 years ago, the company maintained an active outlook and were pioneers in the automation of banking in India. They have several programs in place that are student faced and support medical professionals an example of which, is ‘Union Health’, a program that assists in the establishment of clinics, purchase of ambulances, etc.

The team of managers were shown the facilities of the campus such as the sports complex MARENA, the TMA Pai Halls and KMC Greens. The team showed great admiration of the world class facilities present and appreciated the vast expanse over which they were spread out.

 
Union Bank of India has over 4200 branches across the country and sought to increase their visibility in the Southern states. To achieve this, they partnered in KMC Manipal’s hallmark fest INVICTUS which proved to be fruitful. The managers reiterated that Union Bank was present to support students and doctors every step of the way, aptly phrased through: “You take care of health, we’ll take care of wealth.”

 

-As told to Zeshan Syed

Verve | Day 3

Results

Street Play
1st position: Slot 2 (4th sem)
2nd position: Slot 3 (6th sem)
3rd position: Slot 1 (2nd sem)

Collage
1st position: Slot 2 (2nd sem)
2nd position: Slot 5 (4th sem)
3rd position: Slot 3 (2nd sem) & Slot 1 (4th sem)

General Quiz
1st position: Team 4 (6th sem)
2nd position: Team 2 (TIPS)
3rd position: Team 7 (6th sem)

JAM
1st position: Slot 8 (6th sem)
2nd position: Slot 3 (2nd sem)
3rd position: Slot 4 (6th sem)

Mad Ads
1st position: Slot 3 (6th sem)
2nd position: Slot 4 (6th sem)
3rd position: Slot 6 (4th sem)

Western Vocal Solo
1st position: Slot 10 (4th sem)
2nd position: Slot 9 (2nd sem) & Slot 4 (6th sem)
3rd position: Slot 1 (2nd sem) & Slot 2 (4th sem)

Western Vocal Group
1st position: Slot 1 (6th sem)
2nd position: Slot 2 (4th sem)
3rd position: Slot 3 (2nd sem)

Battle of the Bands
1st position: Slot 3 (6th sem)
2nd position: Slot 2 (2nd sem)
3rd position: Slot 1 (4th sem)

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Scoreboard

2nd Semester: 159

4th Semester: 210

6th Semester: 266

8th Semester: 24

TIPS: 38

Verve | Day 2

by Vivek Mahapatra

The second day of Verve began with a war of minds waged by slings and arrows carved of words and intent. The intense concentration of the debate contestants made the air tingle with palpably electric tension. The victors were from the 4th semester followed by 6th semester and 2nd semester as second and third respectively.

Close on its heels followed the face painting event, where the topic of a ‘Blast from the Past’ evoked the fun bygone times it references. The good cheer of the patient human canvasses combined with the rapturous skill of the brush-wielders to create vistas melded with the visage of those nostalgic for the same. The winners of the event were the fourth semesters.

Simultaneously, over at Greens, dulcet tones accompanied by skilled strumming serenaded the fresh and vibrant weekend audience with the excitement they so clearly craved. Rhythmic claps broke out in waves to pair up with the coupled voices of the Creative Vocal Duet contestants. The winners of the event were once again, the fourth semesters.

India can be sketched on a map, but it can just as easily be envisaged via its various cuisines, musics, and dances. The latter concerned the Eastern Dance Solo, as the contestants drew portraits of India through their graceful movements and much practiced perfection. The winners of the event were the fourth semesters, with the second semesters bagging second place and third place going to the fourth semester students as well.

Too many cooks have spoiled many a metaphorical broth. However, when a group rallies their skills like cogs to a machine, each individual movement can interlock to create something far greater than the mere sum of its parts. With their enthralling routines, the groups contesting the Eastern Group Dance held the audience spellbound in a state of nigh constant amazement and cheer through many a winning performance. However, at the end of the night, the ultimate victory lay in the arms of the sixth semester students.

In the course of time and tide, the student inevitably becomes the master. But a part of that mischevious student persists, and the Interdepartmental Competition allows that unbridled spirit release through wildly astonishing creativity as the various departments of KMC went head to head. Tightly plotted scripts tinged with humour, zest and brilliant dance numbers; the sight was impossible to look away from. While all the departments etched themselves into the memory of the audience, the one which stole away the prize was the department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

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Day 2 Scoreboard (Cumulative)

2nd Semester: 89

4th Semester: 136

6th Semester: 158

8th Semester: 24

TIPS: 28

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Results

Debate
1st position: Slot 4 (4th sem)
2nd position: Slot 3 (6th sem)
3rd position: Slot 2 (2nd sem)

Face Painting
1st position: Slot 5 (4th sem)
2nd position: Slot 3 (8th sem)
3rd position: Slot 4 (2nd sem) & Slot 7 (6th sem)

Creative Vocal Duet
1st position: Slot 2 (4th sem)
2nd position: Slot 4 (6th sem)
3rd position: Slot 3 (4th sem)

Eastern Dance Solo
1st position: Slot 5 (4th sem)
2nd position: Slot 7 (2nd sem)
3rd position: Slot 1 (4th sem)

Eastern Dance Group
1st position: Slot 3 (6th sem)
2nd position: Slot 5 (4th sem)
3rd position: Slot 4 (2nd sem)

Interdepartmental Tug of War
1st position: Anaesthesiology
2nd position: Community Medicine
3rd position: Pathology

Interdepartmental Variety Show
1st position: OBGYN
2nd position: Anaesthesiology
3rd position: Pharmacology & ENT

Verve | Day 1

by Aarushi Goel

‘A Trip To The 90s’

KMC’s inter-semester cultural and sports competition commenced on 2nd March 2018 with the theme ‘A Trip to the 90s’. Students eagerly awaited this competition since it gives them a platform to showcase their talents, try new things and prove which semester ruled them all. This was the first Verve for both second years and first years, so spirits were high all around.

Verve was kicked off by the 90s quiz, which was filled with questions relating to obscure trivia about the 90s. TIPS and 6th sems prevailed. (This reporter presumes that it was on account of them actually having lived through the 90s.)

The topic ‘An Evening in the 90s’ ensured that the sketches made in Cartooning were incredibly creative and witty. Sketches showcasing old movies, cartoons, children’s games, Doordarshan were skilfully portrayed. The participants of English Poetry expressed their thoughts and emotions on the topic of Nostalgia with beautiful and riveting words. The poems were well-written and portrayed wit, deep thought, introspection and engaging points of view of all the contenders.

Potpourri was a highly engaging event with multiple rounds. The qualifying round was an entirely written round with rebus puzzles, fill in the blanks for pun headlines and anagram riddles. The second and final round contained challenges like Taboo, Psych (come up with the funniest meaning for a gibberish word), and Charades (all three members had to enact 3 separate movies simultaneously in two minutes). TIPS and 6th sems mastered these quirky and offbeat challenges.

In the evening, the events at KMC Greens started. Under the sweltering heat of the sun, Verve was officially pronounced open by the Associate Dean, Dr. Rajgopal Shenoy. It then continued on a lovely note with dynamic and highly enjoyable performances by the enthusiastic residents of Asare.

This was followed by an intense game of Tug of War between semesters. It was a highly aggressive game, but ultimately with their bulk and strength overwhelming the rest, 6th semester emerged triumphant.

After the opening ceremony, Greens was alive with the sound of music. Instrumental Solo saw, or rather heard, quite possibly the most melodious and diverse notes of music. The contestants created magic as the audience sat enraptured. Featuring performances on electric guitars, acoustic guitars, drums, keyboards, tablas and a mohanveena, the variety of instruments and melodies played were immense. The hauntingly beautiful ‘My Heart Will Go On’ on an acoustic guitar, followed by a fusion of eastern and western on the mohanveena – an Indian raag merged with Shape of You and Tere Liye – proved to be an absolute delight to listen to.

After this, the most awaited events of the day started – the dances. Creative Dance Duet saw marvelous and intricate performances, with performers paid tribute to the actresses of the 90s by dancing to their iconic songs. All the dancers gave highly energy packed performances.

Western Solo Dance saw participants flaunt their dancing expertise by pulling off extremely complex moves to songs like Stereo Love, The Ketchup Song, Talk Dirty, Single Ladies, Baby, and Uptown Funk with ease. Western Group Dance had their usual orderly chaos which never fails to impress. The groups gracefully pulled off intricate moves on 90s songs like Thriller, Tiptoe, and Boom, egged on by the cheering and hooting crowd.

All in all, the night ended on a high note, and everyone was left looking forward to the next day with high spirits.

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DAY ONE SCOREBOARD

2nd Semester: 54

4th Semester: 64

6th Semester: 118

8th Semester: 16

TIPS: 28

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Results

Tug of War
1st position: 6th sem
2nd position: 2nd sem
3rd position: 4th sem

90s Quiz
1st position: Team 2 (TIPS)
2nd position: Team 3 (6th sem)
3rd position: Team 1 (6th sem)

English Poetry
1st position: Slot 10 (6th sem) & Slot 7 (2nd sem)
2nd position: Slot 5 (2nd sem)
3rd position: Slot 2 (6th sem)

Cartooning
1st position: Slot 2 (4th sem)
2nd position: Slot 6 (6th sem)
3rd position: Slot 1 (2nd sem)

Potpourri
1st position: TIPS
2nd position: 6th sem
3rd position: 6th sem

Instrumental Solo
1st position: Slot 7 (4th sem)
2nd position: Slot 8 (6th sem)
3rd position: Slot 5 (6th sem) & Slot 9 (6th sem)

Creative Dance Duet
1st position: Slot 1 (4th sem)
2nd position: Slot 3 (2nd sem)
3rd position: Slot 4 (6th sem)

Western Dance Solo
1st position: Slot 4 (2nd sem)
2nd position: Slot 1 (8th sem)
3rd position: Slot 3 (4th sem)

Western Dance Group
1st position: Slot 2 (4th sem)
2nd position: Slot 1 (6th sem)
3rd position: Slot 3 (4th sem) & Slot 4 (2nd sem)

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iPhone X – A perspective of a college student

Statement one: The iPhone X is the most expensive iPhone ever built

Statement two: The iPhone X is the best iPhone Apple has ever made

While both the statements are true, it all comes down to the one lakh rupees, does it not? Living in a hostel and struggling to live the last ten days of every month with the meagre amount you have left off your monthly allowance, purchasing an Apple device comes off as exorbitant. Nonetheless, in an era where a greater threat is perceived when there is no internet connection over other things, the luxury of the past becomes the necessity of the present.

 

 

The iPhone X – the long overdue brainchild of the late Steve jobs and Jonny Ive has finally arrived. A phone that has been two years in the making and has been the vision since the advent of the company’s first ever phone represents the bridging of the company’s long history and the future of where it can go. However, for a college student does all this matter and more so, should it?

Aesthetics and sentiments aside lets ‘dissect’ the phone shall we? This year’s iPhone in keeping up with its predecessors has been a recipient to very different and dividing reviews to say the least. It seems that the more parts you remove from a phone the more expensive it becomes in the world of Apple. When the headphone jack was removed it hurt almost every single user (and it continues to do so) but we could get behind the reasoning that Apple gave us. But to remove something that represented the iconic feature of the iPhone for the past decade seems…. well redundant. The home button/touch ID continues to be in its siblings this year and forms an argument as to the 8 and the 8 plus being a smarter buy than the        iPhone X. The home button is not the only thing Apple got rid of, they also refreshingly removed the bezels (well not entirely) sporting a 5.8 inch Super Retina HD AMOLED screen. The only part to not have this awesome display forms the second major controversial decision – the top notch containing the face ID. Until recently people were getting around to accepting or tolerating to be more precise the face ID until a company of 4 years from China that goes by the name of One Plus decided to drop a phone that’s literally half the price of the iPhone and has a much faster face ID along with a touch ID on the back (as it should have been the case) and the final nail on the coffin – a headphone jack!! Obviously the features of the iPhone X are very good but they seem to come with an asterisk sign that asks us to comply according with what they want and not the other way around. The dual camera setup similar to the 8 plus is among the best in the world, with a 12 inch megapixel snapper and a telephoto lens with optical zoom in another. But the camera bump is much more prominent than it has ever been and it just cannot lie flat and the change in the orientation means that sometimes your finger can get into the snap of your cat or your coffee that you have been trying to take for the past ten minutes. The face ID also introduces us to Animoji, one of the coolest things on the iPhone X but it’s not something that is an absolute necessity. Elsewhere, Apple has finally caught up with the modern world by introducing wireless charging and fast charging. The catch? Neither of these elements will be available if you simply buy (999 dollars is not simple by any means) the phone on its own; wireless charging pads are extra and Apple doesn’t even include a fast charger in the box- you need to buy one which as you have probably guessed by now is not cheap. It seems like this time around Apple has put more than a single asterisk sign on the phone that is more expensive than the above mentioned one plus 5T and the recently released Xbox one X combined…. Yes combined!!

Now comes the million dollar (or 999 dollar) question. How good of a phone is the X for students. Is the 150 dollar price difference between the X and its’ siblings justifiable? Can a student not do the same things that one can do on the X as on an 8 or 8 plus? Would it not be a better bargain to get the 8 and the infamous apple air pods for the same price as the X?

On the grand scheme of things, it just doesn’t matter. This phone too will end up selling. How else can you explain the fact that the most popular watch in the world right now is the watch made by the same company? So while people from both the hemispheres will continue to revere the company and what it sells, one simply cannot ignore the X, whether you hate it or love it.

Ashwin KP

Zeshan Syed

The Art of Nolan

 

In the age where a plethora of films are released year after year, where directors play to the gallery and producers chase big returns on their investment, the audience is left yearning for movies that break tradition and raise the bar for modern film-making. Christopher Nolan, an English-American director, who needs no introduction, has managed to consistently amaze both the public and the film industry with the quality of films he not only writes but also directs.

At the gentle age of 11, Chris Nolan decided to become a professional director and pursued his dream right through college to become what is today known as an auteur filmmaker.

Xerxes Rahman

Home

This is not your conventional reminiscence, but quite the opposite. My worldview on  home has changed so much since I have left and it has become so much more concrete over this past week that I have spent in Calcutta.

 

I know not why I feel this way, I just do: The bed is not soft enough, the chairs are uncomfortable, the dinner table is the wrong height. I remember how during some of my difficult days in school I would yearn to get back home; that sort of want just isn’t there anymore. There seems to be no reason to stay here or even revisit, save for the few people I call family. This place is not home anymore.

Vivek Mohapatra

The Myth of Humanity

There are many aspects that would seek to define the human race, and only time will tell which one finally will. However, in the vein of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, I am wont to think that what defines our humanity are stories. We transform ourselves into theater, our lives transmogrified to fit one of the thirty six dramatic situations. And in doing so, we achieve immortality. Not as ourselves, but as a form of our selves that fits the human condition.

History seeks to be objective, but our earliest histories are in the form of stories. We draw an objective truth from the clues hidden within, but to look at the picture from another angle, the hard facts could not find purchase in the imagination of the peoples to persist through time. The stories did.

Vidyottama Rawat

ZERO

A newborn’s open eyes see your smiling face for the first time

You’re swelling with pride

Not being able to contain all the happiness.

 

THREE

You hold a little girl’s little finger and walk her to school

As she cries and screams to be parted from you the first time

Veeradithya Ballal

DEFORM TO FORM A STAR – GRACE FOR DROWNING

Steven Wilson – Music Producer, Multi-instrumentalist, Vocalist, Songwriter extraordinaire, delivered to us in 2011 a mammoth two disc album, Grace for Drowning. He describes his intensions with this album as “…making an album that brought forward the spirit of improvisation and jazz into the music, as well as the spiritual qualities. In this context, spirituality means something that comes directly from the heart or soul without any kind of intellectual process getting in the way… ” This seems very out of character for the architect that is Steven Wilson, whose productions are always carefully planned and executed down to each and every note.
This very notion is what makes this album special to someone who closely associates with the idea of spirituality in music, where the general notion is to put yourself out there. Pure. Uncorrupted.