| Alcheringa | |
| Organisation type | Student Run, Non-Profit Organization |
|---|---|
| Genre | Cultural |
| Founded | 1996 |
| Place | Guwahati, India |
| Institute | Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati |
| Major events | Juggernaut, Crescendo, Saaz, Rock-o-Phonix, Electric Heels, Mr. and Ms. Alcheringa, Hot Couture, etc. |
| Prize money | Worth ₹ INR 15 Lakhs |
| Website | http://www.alcheringa.in |
Alcheringa, popularly known as Alcher, is the annual cultural festival of the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, India. Alcheringa is a student-run non-profit organization which caters primarily to the youth of the country and is generally held around the first weekend of February and lasts for three days and four nights. It consists of several competitions, informal events, workshops and showcases professional performances. It was started in 1996 and is now in its 16th incarnation. Alcheringa 2012, carries the theme "Urban Odessey" and is scheduled to take place from February 2 to 5, 2012.
The word 'Alcheringa' comes from the Australian aboriginal language of the Aruntas. It is roughly translated to mean: "the Eternal Dreamtime". The festival aims to create a euphoric atmosphere of celebration and world-class competition by bringing together the best in the cultural world.
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The first edition of Alcheringa took place in 1996. Only a few events were organised and most of the participation was local from in and around Guwahati. Over the years, the festival has grown. Today the festival receives participation from around 150 colleges[1] and other art institutes from across the country, as well a footfall of more than 30,000 during the festival itself.[2] In the past Alcheringa has featured performances from performers including Sonu Niigaam, Shaan, Strings, KK, Euphoria, Parikrama, The Raghu Dixit Project, Shankar Ehsaan Loy, Advaita, Motherjane and RDB. Alcheringa 2010 also played host to the Swiss folk metal band Eluveitie, and Italian Embassy’s sponsored tour of Giuliano Modarelli.
Alcheringa is entirely a student-run non-profit organisation. The team of Alcheringa is made entirely of students on campus.
The event structure of Alcheringa is divided into a number of methodical modules that envelope various aspects of cultural forms of entertainment.
The module's flagship event, called Electric Heels, witnesses participation from all parts of the country. Group, solo, street, classical, and couples events are held. All the competitions come under a Dance Championship which is awarded to the overall winner (college or institute).
The Music module features solo competition for instrumentalists, called "Rhapsody", and a band event. In 2012, Alcheringa will also host a solo singing competition called "Voice of Alcheringa" along the lines of a TV reality shows.
This module features a Rock Metal Band competition in the country, "Rock-o-Phonix". It also has a fashion contest "Haute Couture". Other competitions include "Mr and Mrs Alcheringa" - the personality contest, "Crossfade" - The DJ Contest, and a version of the popular TV reality show Roadies.
The flagship event, "Theatrix" features Participants being judged based on their performance in acting(dialogue delivery, expressions, body move¬ments), presentation encompassing costumes, music, props, use of stage etc. Successful depiction of the plot or theme, and marks are awarded for originality. Other events include Alcher's equivalent of Nukkad Natak, called "Halla Bol", and stand-up comedy challenge whose namesake, "Why So Serious?", is a tribute to the DC Comics character The Joker.
The Fine Arts module features a paint-on-canvas competition called "Strokes of Genius" where participants can participate as teams of two. "Side-Walk Chalk" is a street painting competition, painters paint T-shirts in "Graphic-T" and a collage making competition is also held. For each competition, participating artists are given a theme on the spot and the necessary materials are also provided to them.
This literary module is organised by the IIT Guwahati Debating Society, this year Alfaaz will also be host to the 4th National IIT Guwahati Parliamentary Debate with prizes worth INR 70,000. The other competition, "What's the Good Word" combines literary trivia, anagrams and vocabulary questions.
"Brainstorm" pits participants against each other. Other quizzes are incorporated in this module based on Alcheringa's theme itself. This year, "Cities of the World" will test quizzers and how they know the world around them. Other theme based quizzes are also held during the festival.
The informal events module consists of events like "Crush", "Etopia", "Blind Date", "Amazing Race", "Oceans 14", "Queen of Sheeba", "Lan Gaming" and many others. An integral part of the module is "Alcher on the Move" where Alcheringa, by virtue of its many student volunteers goes out from campus to other cities. Events are organised locally and winners are given prizes. "Alcher on the Move" conveys the essence of Alcheringa to those who were not present by themselves to see it.
Aimed to interact with the youth of the country before and after the actual festival, Alcher Online is a recent offshoot of Alcheringa. It shares random tid-bits with its users, lets them indulge in on-line competitions and is the forum of interaction between the youth and the festival throughout the year.
Alcheringa started with a Sports Module in 2011 and become one of the few cultural festivals in India to have an elaborate sports module. An "Arm Wrestling" competition is also held under this module. This year, in tandem with Alcher's theme, a "Joga Bonito" challenge will also be held to find the best skilled footballer at Alcher.
The four nights of Alcheringa feature four Pronites where professionals from the entertainment industry perform in front of the crowds. Artists of national and international renown have been part of the Pronites at Alcheringa over the years. The four nights are Saaz - The classical night, Blitzkrieg - Expect anything, Crescendo - The popular night and Juggernaut - The rock night.
* Saaz - The Classical Night
The first pronite in the Alcheringa itinerary, Saaz is the classical night dedicated to a genre of music that is inherent to any culture. Started as a night dedicated to only Classical Indian Culture and music, Saaz has grown over the years to encompass other cultures and their music as well. Performances have included The Violin Duo, the italian Guiliano Modarelli Trio and the virtuoso trio of Vinayak Chittar (sitar),[3] Arnab Chakrabarty (sarod)[4] and Aditya Kalyanpur.[5]
* Blitzkrieg - Expect anything
Blitzkrieg is Alcher's surprise night. The last night to be declared way after the other three have been announced. Over the years, it has featured a mix of performances from a variety of fields including Swarathma the Folk Fusion Band from Bangalore, Vir Das and his comic rock band Alien Chutney, The Raghu Dixit Project - a Folk Fusion Band from Bangalore.
* Juggernaut - The rock night
Juggernaut is a rock and metal themed event. The highlight of Alcheringa '10, also called Alcheringa Xtreme, was the performance from Swiss Pagan/Folk/Death metal band Eluveitie in Juggernaut. Other performances include that of Scribe - the hardcore metal band from Mumbai, Junkyard Groove the Alternative Rock band from Chennai and Motherjane.
* Crescendo - The popular night
The last nite at Alcheringa, Crescendo features Bollywood music industry performances perform for the crowds. Its namesake was motivated by the fact that it was the last night at Alcher. Over the years, its has seen performances from Shaan Sonu Nigam Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and KK.
In 2008, Alcheringa had a 1970s theme.
Highlights:
The 2009 edition of Alcheringa was presented with the theme Around the world in 3 days
Highlights:
In early February 2010, Alcheringa presented its “Xtreme edition” which featured Swiss metal band Eluveitie and Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy.
Highlights:
Alcher, for the first time in its 15 editions, introduced a Sports Module, with 5-on-5 Football and Arm Wrestling competitions. The Lights Camera Action edition featured the virtuoso trio Vinayak Chittar (sitar),[6] Arnab Chakrabarty (sarod)[7] and Aditya Kalyanpur.[8] Other performers included Advaita,[9][10] Motherjane,[11] RDB[12] and KK[13][14]
Some of the social initiatives taken up over the last few years are Fight against Aids, Bachpan - Setting Innocence Free, Drops of Hope - Blood donation camp[15][16] , Promoting North-East tourism, save the Rhinoceros, save Gangetic Dolphin, etc.
Drops of Hope is Alcheringa's blood donation drive. Initially restricted to the college campus only, Alcheringa's blood donation camps have spread to other parts of Guwahati City.
An offshoot of Alcheringa 2012, in association with the NGO Pratham, Udaan intends to work with a few of orphanages in India. During the vacations of December, IIT Guwahati students would reach out to various under-privileged children in their locality in more than 25 centres all over India and spare a weekend of their time. This would be followed by an essay writing on 'I and India 2020' for the older kids and video shoot with the young ones. All these essays would be used as a tool to understand mindset of these kids with the particular guidance and help of the NGO. The Top 3 essays would fetch a prize and also print in the national media.
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