SAMBANDH, literally meaning relationships and the celebration of the same, is the Sociology Fest organized by the Department of Sociology and Social Work Student Association. With the past two years standing as a testimony to the collective vulnerability of human society, this year's theme is Melting Pot which commemorates the centrality of inclusivity, a need that is felt across the world.
The fest aimed to establish an active platform for students to traverse the range of their creativity and talent by allowing them to be a part of many events. Sambandh was a mix of group and individual events to encourage the participation of students with varied interests. The fest began on 5th April 2022 and continued until 11th April 2022 with a wide range of events from literature to culture to conversations.
Sambandh aims to identify and explore the multiple hues of human connections in an irrationally dynamic environment to empower free-minded students by revealing the essentiality of having a voice, hoping that its expression would make discrimination-based adversity less likely.
Inauguration
5th April 2022
The session started with the invocation song sung by Vandhana Reddy of 2PSECO followed by the watering of the plant by the dignitaries. The welcome address was given by Dr Victor Paul, Head of the Department of Sociology and Social Work, who talked about how Sambandh is a celebration of Sociology as a discipline. Dr Tony Sam George, Dean of the School of Social Sciences then graced the session with his thoughts about college fests and the value they bring to a student’s life. The session was then addressed by the keynote speaker for the evening Dr Kshitij Urs, who is an advocate and an adjunct professor at National Law School Bangalore. He questioned the audience about what is the true meaning of inclusion and how it came into our vocabulary. He further gave anecdotes from his life and examples from his reading to provide a unique understanding of inclusivity and inclusion. The music performance by Moses of 2MSoc marked the end of this session.
The event was concluded by the Vote of Thanks given by Ramya Mohini Yerram of 4PSEco to all dignitaries, faculty members, and the audience.
Open Mic
6th April 2022
Open Mic was an event primarily meant for all those students who wanted to showcase their talent. Be it Music, Dance, Poetry or even Stand-up Comedy, no stone was left unturned during open mic. Both of the phases were hosted by Ishita Kapoor of 4PSEco. The crowd was hyped up and excited with cheers and claps abound. The open mic was a great opportunity to invite the participation of students belonging to different cultures promoting the theme of Sambandh'22, Melting Pot - Celebrating Inclusivity.
Open Mic began with a melodious performance by Steewa who performed – Always Remember Us This Way from Star is Born just like how all of us will remember this beautiful fest. It was then followed by several performances of poetry, music and dance. The event came to an end when Sambandh volunteers presented a very enthusiastic flash mob which attracted the crowd and it marked the perfect beginning to Sambandh 2022.
Short Film
6th April 2022
The short film was a group event conducted online. It gave a wonderful opportunity for students interested in cinematography and other related fields to showcase their skills and help to digitalize sociological perspectives.
The theme of the Short Film event was " Same Story, Different Perspective". It was conducted online. Each film required a maximum of 10 members including writers, actors, editors and directors. The duration of a short film was between 3-10 minutes. The submission of the film was online. The volunteers were constantly tracking the incoming submissions and collected them for judgement.
Finally on the valedictory the results were announced, where the winner of the event was Vishruth Bajaj and his team members from 2PSEng. The topic of their film was " Perfect Day" which aligned perfectly with the expected theme of the event along with the overall theme of the fest's inclusivity.\
Reel Making
6th April 2022
Reel Making Competition was another online event of SAMBANDH. The topic of the reel was Food: A Universal Emotion which was revealed 24 hours before the submission on 5th April 2022. Submissions came in, before 11:59 pm on 6th April 2022.
The reels started flooding in the next 12 hours and our volunteers were actively tracking all the reels. The variety and creativity used in making those reels were fascinating. Everyone had their unique take on the topic where some highlighted their home food and some their favourite. There were people who used our campus as a setting and some who got their family members and friends equally involved.
The result of the competition was revealed at the Valedictory event held on 11th April 2022. The first position was awarded to Prerna Jain of 4PSECO and the second place was taken by Rushali Arora of 2PSECO.
Face Painting
8th April 2022
Face painting was an event which provided every artist to display their skills through face painting. It was an event where the artist got a unique canvas to paint their hearts out which was their team member’s faces. This event took place at Gazebo in Birds Park. This event was coordinated by Monica and Teethi of 4MSoc.
The theme for the event was Mandala and Tribal patterns. All the participants entered the competition in pairs. There were 8 teams and each member brought their own brushes and paints. The competition lasted for 90 mins. After the time was over, each participant's face model was photographed for judgement. It was observed by the documenters that people started with smaller strokes in the beginning to bold and more experimentative painting styles in the ending stages of the competition.
The event was judged by Dr Maya M where the first position was awarded to Biyankah and Asees from 4PSEng and the second position was awarded to Sibani and Shinjini from 4EPS.
Art Relay
7th April 2022
Art relay is a painting and sketching competition that was held on 7th April 2022 in Birds Park from 4-6 pm This event was hosted by Sara Jain, 2PSEco. Art Relay was a unique event where we mixed up Chinese whispers along with art to make it a fun and energized competition.
Sara hosted and hyped up everybody and provided them with all the guidelines. Participants came in groups and were allotted group numbers. Eventually, the topic was revealed to one participant from each group. The theme for the event was Inclusivity in Relationships.
Each group was timed for 5 minutes and monitored to avoid the revelation of the topic to other participants. The competition lasted 45 mins which consisted of three rounds of 15 mins each. By the end of the competition, all the paintings were collected and sent to Dr Reena Cherian for judging this event.
The result of the competition was revealed at the Valedictory event held on 11th April 2022. The first position was awarded to Steewa, Bhadra and S.Gopikarani from 2EPS. The second position was awarded to Eliza, Ishita and Gaurika from 4PSEco.
Just a Minute
7th April 2022
Just a Minute or JAM was one of the literary events of SAMBANDH and was held on 7th April 2022 from 4-5 pm in a classroom set up in Block I.
This event began with the host Ramya warmly welcoming the judge for the event, Miss Dipali Mallya, Assistant Professor from the English Department. There were 2 rounds that were conducted under the event where in the first round the participants were given a topic on the spot and after a brief moment they were expected to speak on the topic. The range of topics was appreciated by all the participants and the judge. After that came the second round of the event Just a Minute where the topic is given was 'More Money, More Problems' where the participants had to voluntarily start talking about the topic and if the participant stumbled, somebody else could pound over that chance and speak smoothly. The participants were so engrossed with the discussions that their dialogue continued even after the 5-minute allotted time.
Overall, the event went smoothly through and through. All the participants really enjoyed exploring their talent for dialogue. Upon getting the judge's remarks on the event Ma'am felt that the material that was spoken on in both rounds was relevant and didn't lack quality at all. Ma'am personally enjoyed JAM which was round 2 of the events. The result of the competition was revealed at the Valedictory event held on 11th April 2022 where the first position was awarded to Aryaman Shukla 2PSEco and second place was awarded to Ananya Sunil Nair of 4PSEco.
Literary Potpourri
8th April 2022
Literary Potpourri the creative writing event of SAMBANDH held on 8th April from 12-1 pm. The Ramya Mohini Yerram of 4PSECO hosted the event.
The session started with a total of 8 participants from EPS, PSECO and the media department. The brief of the event given to the participants was that they were supposed to write an original piece of writing on the given topic and in the given writing style within a limited period of time. The event started with the participants being given a topic to write a “Haiku”. Haiku is a Japanese form of poetry with three lines of five, seven and five syllables. The topic for writing the Haiku was “Resilience” and the participants were given a total of 15 mins to complete their writing. After the end of 15 mins, the participants were then given the topic of “Struggle and hope” to write flash fiction.
The participants were happy about the event's location as they enjoyed writing in nature. They felt that the prompts given were open-minded and challenged their creativity in the best way possible.
The winners of this event were Saniya Gariyali, 4PSEco bagging the first position and Ananya Srrikant, 4PSEco the second position.
Fluid Fashion
8th April 2022
The Fluid Fashion event was conducted on the 8th of April, 2022. This event was based on the theme of gender fluidity, and expressing one's gender identity through their clothes, in their own unique way, with the message that they want to send across. One of the most unique and novel events of Sambandh, 2022 was the Fluid Fashion Show, held in Birds Park on the 8th of April. Along the lines of inclusivity, which was the theme of Sambandh 2022, this event was designed to celebrate gender fluidity and gender expression. The event was judged by Miss. Taskeen Bhat expressed her excitement and interest in the theme. She also said that such an event is extremely important in today's world and appreciated the endeavour of the student body in organizing the same.
Before the main event began, Poorvi Mishra and Sara Jain of 2PSEco engaged the crowd’s attention with a short yet enthusiastic dance performance. There were 4 participants who walked the ramp in their own self-curated outfits, Sundhar V. of 6EPS, Asees Singh Sibia of 4PSEng, Allan Lepcha of 4PSEco and Kumarjit De of 2PSEco. Asees walked the ramp first, in jeans, a shirt, a corset, blazer, boots and makeup, with a theme of 'dissecting the dichotomy'. He believes that gender roles are created and with his look, made an attempt to shatter gender binaries.
Up next was Sundhar, in a simple traditional outfit of a shirt and veshti, with the theme of 'expressing oneself without keeping in mind the gender norms posed by society.' He emphasized the importance of natural beauty and inner beauty. Following this was Allan, who wore a long skirt, and a traditional top which was a symbol of his roots, along with makeup and earrings. He wanted to represent "an amalgamation of masculinity and femininity with some tribal influence" and was a crowd favourite with his story and childhood analogy. Last but definitely not the least, was Kumarjit De.
"Shattering gender norms in a black attire, as a symbol of protest against the imposition of gender binaries". In a black shirt, black skirt and maroon corset, with beautiful makeup, Kumarjit walked the ramp with pride and confidence; and was later declared the winner.
This event proved to be an extremely novel and one-of-a-kind experience, for the judges, participants, volunteers and audience alike. The concept was very well received by everyone and the event was a success, as the vision of the student body that went into designing this event was upheld and the participants portrayed the theme perfectly.
Blindfold Conversations Chapters 1 & 2
Blindfold conversations was an event which was held in two chapters because of its overwhelming response. The first chapter was held on 7th April 2022 in Panel Room, and the second chapter was held on 9th April 2022 in Birds Park’s Gazebo. The art of listening without judgment is somewhat cathartic in today’s world. Therefore, we had this event, which aimed at providing a safe space for the participants to interact without any preconceived notions.
Participants were given the option to choose from heavy prompts and light prompts. Volunteers took charge of putting blindfolds on the participants and helped them be seated with people who decided on similar prompts. Volunteers timed the conversation for 10 mins; after the conversation, volunteers asked the participants if they wanted to reveal their identities to the other person or not. The participants who chose not to disclose their identities were escorted out. This event even had several on-spot registrations. After the conversation, we had a direct chat with the participants who gave their reviews about the event since we wanted to know if the aim of the event, which was to create a safe space and an environment to talk, was achieved or not. Samyak from 2BBA said,” It was a heartwarming experience. I could rant without fear of being judged”.
It was very heartwarming to see people making new friends that day, which was facilitated by honest conversations. We also saw outside the venue how people were having an open conversation regarding the prompts being present.
Cultural Booth
11th April 2022
“With Darpan you went around the globe, with Cultural booths come have a look at our own country” This was quoted by one of the participants and as clearly seen this was the enthusiasm for the event. The Cultural booth event was held on the 11th of April 2022 at Garden Street.
The event involved classes from the Department of Sociology and Social Work setting up stalls alongside the garden street to represent the different states of India. The session started with a total of 5 groups from EPS, PSEco and PSEng.
Each class was given a set of four to five states that they represented through posters, games, folk music, dance and cuisine. 4PSENG portrayed the culture of the North-Eastern States through their display of 6 different types of teas and a game that they set up that revolves around recognizing flavour profiles. 2PSECO displayed the culture of the South Indian states through their display of ethnic costumes and cuisine. 4PSECO portrayed the culture of North India through a wide range of activities and posters along with food tasting of the ethnic cuisine. 4EPS displayed the culture of India with home-cooked food representing the different cultures.
Dr Suparna and Dr Sudipta judged the event. The judges said that all booths were very interactive and did their best to depict the cultures of the given states. In the end, it became extremely difficult for them as well to judge the event since all the teams performed extremely well. The activity became a way through which the Cultures of India came to life at Garden Street.
Valedictory Ceremony
11th April 2022
The Valedictory Ceremony was organized by the Student Association of the Department of Sociology and Social Work and was attended by Dr Victor Paul, Head of the Department of Sociology and Social Work, Dr Omprakash L.T. and faculty members of the Department. The ceremony began with the ceremonial watering of plants by the HOD along with the faculty, and Office Bearers of the Student Association. Alongside this, the invocation song was presented by Vandhana and Shreya of 2PSEco. This was followed by the Welcome Address delivered by the President of the Department of Sociology and Social Work Association (DSSWA) - Keshavi Agarwal of 4MSoc, who welcomed the crowd and expressed her gratitude to the department, volunteers and faculty for their participation and constant support throughout the culmination and execution of Sambandh.
The history and essence of Sambandh were then highlighted by Dr Suparna Majumdar Kar, a faculty member of the Department of Sociology and Social Work. In her address, Ma'am spoke about the zeal and energy that students at Christ have showcased in creating and conducting Sambandh, an event which has now been completed for 19 years. The cultural performance at the event was a graceful and engaging dance performance by Aparajita of 6PSEco, which followed the address. Finally came the most awaited part of the event, the announcement of the results. Winners for all the events were announced by Nikita, Vice President UG of DSSWA and Ramya, General Secretary UG of DSSWA. The winners were felicitated by Dr Victor Paul, HOD; and faculty members, Dr Suparna Majumdar Kar, Dr Sudipta Garai, Dr Rajeev K., Dr Omprakash L.T., and Ms Taskeen Bhat.
The event-wise winners were:
- Reels Making: 1: Prerna Jain (4PSEco), 2: Rushali Arora (2PSEco)
- Just a Minute (JAM): 1: Aryaman Shukla (2PSEco), 2: Ananya Nair (4PSEco)
- Short Film: Vishrut Bajaj (2PSEng) and his team members.
- Art Relay: 1: Steewa, Bhadra and S.Gopikarani (2EPS), 2:Eliza, Ishita and Gaurika (4PSEco)
- Fluid Fashion: Kumarjit De (2PSEco)
- Literary Potpourri: 1: Saniya Garyali (4PSEco), 2: Ananya Srikant (4PSEco)
- Face Painting: 1: Biyankah and Asees (4PSEng), 2: Sibani and Shinjini (4EPS)
- Cultural booth: 1: 4EPS, 2: 2pseco
The overall winners for the fest were 4PSEco for their commendable participation and volunteering in all the events.
The concluding address was presented by Dr Omprakash L.T., who spoke about the meaning of 'Sambandh' and the importance of human relationships, using various analogies. He also praised the student body and congratulated them on the event's success. The event came to a close with the Vote of Thanks, presented by Sara Jain, Association Representative of DSSWA.
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