Eastward Ho!

When Mood Indigo announced its theme for this year as ‘The Oriental Quest’, several eyebrows were raised regarding the extent to which this theme could be executed. To those who appreciated the theme, it will be a delight as several plans are now falling in place and to those who visit Mood Indigo; it will be no lesser than being teleported to the lands of the Far East.

Mood Indigo is trying its best to deliver promises that it made in the month if June when it announced the theme. The theme is being incorporated in the form of ambience elements, showcase events, exhibitions, lounges, creative projects, mainstream performances and competitions.

Showcase performances

A traditional Korean mask dance, the Bonsantal Dance will be performed by artist who will be flying in all the way from Korea. The dance will take place on all four days during dedicated slots. The Korean masks have a long tradition with a use in a variety of contexts. They were used in war, on both soldiers and their horses; ceremonially, for burial rites in jade and bronze and for shamanistic ceremonies to drive away evil spirits; to remember the faces of great historical figures in death masks; and in the arts, particularly in ritual dances, courtly, and theatrical plays.

Taekwondo demonstration and workshop

Experts from the country where it originated will demonstrate the defensive art of Taekwondo during all four days of the fest. The experts will also take special workshops for people to get a hang of Taekwondo.

Chinese Lion Dance

Lion dance is a form of traditional dance in Chinese and Indonesian cultures, in which performers mimic a lion's movements in a lion costume.  Unlike a dragon dance which needs many people, a lion dance is operated by two dancers. Basic Chinese lion dance fundamental movements can be found in most Chinese martial arts. Artists from China will perform the traditional dance in the Eastern Carnival that is to take place during Mood I.

Indonesian Fan Dance

The traditional dances from Indonesia which reflect the country’s diversities of ethnicities and cultures will be showcased during the fest, performed by dancers from Indonesia itself.

The lantern project

A unique project will see 3,000 Korean lanterns being assembled together by a joint effort of 10 Korean and many IIT Bombay students. These lanterns will then be put all across the campus to give an authentic Eastern feel to the festival. This project is likely to see a lot of interaction between the Korean and Indian students. Students who come to the fest a bit earlier from different cities will also be invited to be a part of this project. It has already generated a buzz among a lot of enthusiastic first year students who will be seeing the festival for the first time. 

Oriental Lounge

A lounge will be set up having exhibitions showcasing the cultural elements from the Eastern countries. A Japanese fan exhibition and origami exhibit are planned in the lounge. An attempt will also be made to break certain world records by the artists who will display their creations in the oriental lounge. Thematic board games like Chenga and checkers would be made available to the crowd to play with. An installation of dominos is also being planned in the oriental lounge.

Livewire and Guwahati

The team realized that despite having one of the best music environments, the Eastern part of our own country lacks representation in major music and cultural festivals. The combination of these two factors led the team to conduct eliminations for Livewire – India’s largest semi professional rock band competition in Guwahati as well. Livewire is the competition which brought bands like Parikrama, Vayu, Pentagram, Zygnema to fame. The winners of Livewire will get a five city Hard Rock Café tour this year and several recording opportunities with labels. This is for the first time that college students from across India will get acquainted to the music scene from Eastern part of the country.

Papon and the East India Company

When Mood Indigo announced that Papon and The East India Company will be headlining the Fusion Nite, it received a thunderous response on the online world in the form of tweets and comments. Thousands of fans from North East were delighted that their music will be showcased and appreciated among the mainstream audience. Fans of Papon in Mumbai, who has sung super hit Bollywood songs like JIye Kyun from the film Dum Maaro Dum and Kyon from Barfi!, were pleased to know that the Coke Studio Sensation will give them a taste of authentic North Eastern Music while combing with it notes of popular Indian music.

Sportsfest

Instead of focusing on popular sports like Cricket, football etc, the fest will bring to its patrons unique sports found in the Far Eastern Lands. These sports will be traditional in nature and would not require any pre requisite skills. These will resemble their modern counterparts and thus would provide a historical background about the modern day sports to students from across India. Sportsfest is planned across all four days.

Photography opportunities

Students in the campus will have opportunities to get clicked in traditional Japanese and Korean dresses which will be imported from the respective countries. This concept was developed keeping in mind that everyone who visits tourist places likes to get clicked wearing the dresses of that particular region. Given that Mood I receives a large influx of people from outside the city, their intrinsic nature is that of a tourist and it is always important to cater to this particular segment of students.

“We received several reviews last year that the theme should have more incorporation into events and ambiance. We have taken those reviews seriously and are confident that our followers will be happy to be a part of this Eastern experience. We have not just looked at the Eastern hemisphere across the globe but have also taken steps to bring in the Eastern culture from our own country to the fest,” said Vaibhav Antil, the overall coordinator of the festival.

- Written by Sapan Shah, IIT Bombay