Be it about cooking or cricket, fashion or fights, many people across the globe are plugged into talent shows.
M S Ramaiah College of Arts, Science and Commerce conducted its own programme to bring out the best in their first-year students.Freshers were in full swing to unwind amid classes and perform their best. There were no prizes but students who took part were given a participation certificate.
They created an ambience of joy and friendliness and got along well with their seniors and teachers. "The talent hunt is conducted in our college to make the freshers feel comfortable. It is an open event without judges and competition from seniors," explains Adhisakthi, a member of the cultural committee and teacher in the arts department.
The talent hunt programme was held to familiarise the students with some of the extracurricular and cultural activities. Students were aware of the watchful eyes that followed their creative side and performed brilliantly.
There was enthusiastic participation in face-painting, dancing, nail art, pencil sketching and tattooing, cooking, mehendi and rangoli competitions. Face-painting and nail art provided a colourful experience to the youngsters for innovation without a boundary. From butterflies to monsters, every painted face was a treat to the eye.
Some students even managed to depict natural scenes on nails as a part of the nail art competition. The highlight of the day was the event where students created dishes without using fire. From salads to chaats, chikki and pudding, every dish was mouth-watering.
While seniors had no business in the talent hunt, they took a sneak peek at the various activities on campus and encouraged the newcomers to shake a leg.
"This college has never observed a dearth of talent. We manage to constantly tap new talent every year," says Lalita Santosh, chief of the cultural committee.
"Our college rocks," exclaims S A Rimsha, while the crowd repeated the same with louder cheers. "This stage offers a lot of freedom to showcase our talent without hesitation," she adds.
Shobha R says she heard her teachers cheering louder than her batchmates. "It's a great opportunity to bring out their talented side. Besides, teachers here are like friends, they are very supportive," she explains.
Many students were intimidated and nervous about taking part in various activities, but were relaxed as they were not being judged.
Some students even danced on the stage spontaneously."I have always had stage fright, which is why I didn't enrol for anything. But when I saw so many people dancing comfortably, I walked up to the stage and got rid of my fear. It was an amazing feeling," explains Afsha Banui.
Urvi Mehta confesses that she was very nervous when she was introduced to the stage by her friends for a dance.
"I was so tensed when we started dancing but once everyone started to cheer loudly, I was confident that I could make it," says Urvi.