Medha Patkar, Mohit Chauhan Grace IIM Amritsar for Aarunya 6.0

Amritsar, Punjab:IIM Amritsar successfully concluded Aarunya 6.0, The Annual Management, Cultural, and Sports Fest on the 13th of February, 2022 in Video Conference mode. Aarunya was earlier inaugurated on the 12th of February. The flagship festival of IIM Amritsar, Aarunya saw a more than 100% increase in participation: 10889 registrations as opposed to 5319 in 2021. All the events were conducted in online mode owing to the pandemic situation, but that didn’t take away from the students the enthusiasm and drive.
The theme for this year’s Aarunya was ‘Navarasa’, representing the 9 basic human emotions. Setting a stage for students to express their emotions, competitions from all domains within management, cultural events, and sports events ran online for more than a month. The days of the fest saw the finals of most of the events, and shows from the likes of music maestro Mohit Chauhan, stand up comics Harsh Gujral and Vipul Goyal, and the rock-band Apricot.
Delivering the welcome address at the inauguration function, Director Prof. Nagarajan Ramamoorthy explained his rationale in recommending Navarasa as the theme for the festival; how there are dominant and recessive emotions for everyone during different times and how it is important to be mindful of them. The chief guest for the inauguration function was Ms. Richa Singh, co-founder of YourDost, one of India’s largest emotional wellness platforms. Narrating her story behind the inception of her company, she said that it is imperative that we talk about emotional well-being. She addressed concerns including the societal stigma attached to mental health, and remarked that Navarasa are the ‘proof of our living’ having and we have to learn to embrace them and express them. Addressing the gathering, the Media Chairperson Prof. Mukesh Kumar talked about the key differences in the fest being online and offline, enumerating the advantages of organizing the event in either form. He also congratulated the student community for having organized the event seamlessly. The day saw a mesmerizing performance by Apricot, a famous rock band, and it ended with standup comic Vipul Goyal leaving the students with tears of laughter.
The closing function of Aarunya was blessed with the presence of Medha Patkar, one of India’s most respected social activists. Recounting stories of her crusade against various social evils, she said that it was important for everyone to express their disagreeing emotions without fear. “We cannot think about progress or development without happiness” was one of the simple yet incisive messages she delivered in her address. She urged the management students of the institute that they learn to manage and control their emotions as well, right from this stage onwards. She said that the emotion of happiness is not just found in so called recreational activities, but true happiness can also be found in working hard for others. Talking about all 9 human expressions and narrating incidents from her life where the impact of these emotions were profound, she mentioned the festivals celebrated by the Adivasi community and how dancing and expressing were an integral part of it.
The Students Affairs Chairperson Prof. Chetan Chitre thanked everyone involved in the festival including the sponsors and congratulated the Aarunya team for pulling this off. Following the function, the students were enchanted by the legendary singer Mohit Chauhan captivating the audience with his mesmerizing singing, leaving the students with a smile throughout the event. The event came to an end with the famous standup comic Harsh Gujral performing, working the crowd and making them laugh throughout the event without breaks.
With the hopes of going offline, Aarunya will return with its 7th edition next year. If the present trend of increasing participation continues, it is for certain that Aarunya will be one among India’s largest fests in the near future.