Dastaan: From Revel to Revels

dastaan

Every year scores of students participate in the sports and cultural competitions taking place at MIT Manipal. The plethora of activities are met with an unmatched aura of energy and gusto. An empty quadrangle transforms into the central hub for this convocation which is known to all as Revels. Within these four days, it feels as though a spell has been cast on the place thousands of students call home; a spell that binds us all together as MITians.

But have you ever stopped to muse on how this all came together? How it all began? Well here goes the Daastan of Revels…

Here, we would like to introduce you to a very special person. One whom everyone regards as the first ever curator of Revels; someone who can be seen as the protagonist of this very astounding journey: Mr. Vineet Kumar, a graduate of the batch of 1982 from MIT Manipal. As our honorable director, Dr. G.K. Prabhu introduced him to the crowd, everyone could see the voluptuous swell of emotions emanating from the gentleman who is now known as the founder of Revels. The quadrangle was the one place he regarded as home; the one place he felt most comfortable in, and once again he stood before a heartfelt crowd, ready to tell us the journey of Revels.

“Given the chance, I would jump in the crowd with all of you”, said a very ardent Mr. Vineet Kumar. He went on to reminisce how this event went on to be the one true cultural fest of MIT; the one event that would go on to bind us together as a college for years on end. It has almost been thirty-four years since students of the college felt the need of having an event that was unlike any other at that time; not a formal celebration, but an event that brought the entire college together. It is here that the idea of a campus fest originated; one that would cover a diaspora of activities, ranging from music, dance and drama, to debates and sports.

Whilst deciding the name for this newly concocted college fest, Mr. Vineet Kumar recalled how he and his team listed down about thirty different names. “Euphoria and Revel were my two favorites on the list”, he remarked. He went on to describe how he had finally decided on the name ‘Revel’ and submitted the paper to the president of the college union. The paper; however, was misplaced, and the name had to be submitted by the president of the college union through mere recollection. It is here that the word Revel ushered in the extra ‘s’, to make it a name no MITian will ever forget: Revels.

Mr. Vineet Kumar prided himself on going against all habitual mannerisms at that time, and getting the first ever girls clique to perform on the quadrangle stage. Not only this, he believed in making MIT a place where we not only dream, but create. His legacy lives on through every subsequent chapter of Revels, showcasing the true might of our college.

Everybody has a story.

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