The excitement was palpable as singer Mohit Chauhan took the stage at Delhi University’s Sri Venkateswara College, for its fest Nexus ’24, on Wednesday evening. The adrenaline rush was already high since the fest was taking place after a gap of four years, and thus the gusto fed by high budgets and higher aspirations led to unmanageable crowds turning up at the college campus.
MC’s melody magic
Chauhan let his singing do the talking. Regaling those present he belted out, one after the other, his chartbuster melodies that included Jo Bhi Main (Rockstar), Yeh Dooriyan (Love Aaj Kal), Abhi Kuch Dino Se (Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji), Masakali (Delhi-6), Tum Se Hi (Jab We Met) and Tujhe Bhula Diya (Anjaana Anjaani). After his stage act, Chauhan spoke to us about performing for the young and “vibrant” crowd, and said, “It’s always amazing to perform for students and young people because they have an amazing energy, which is completely infectious! Delhi is very special to me… The last time I performed at a DU college was back in 2015, and sometimes things don’t work out — you may have commitments, prior work, et cetera. But I was really happy to be here and I look forward to performing at DU more often now!”
Chaotic crowd control
Delhi Police and CRPF personnel were deployed at the gates and inside the college on all three days of the fest, but on the final day, when only Venky students were granted entry upon showing their ID, the college gates were closed at noon in anticipation of huge crowds turning up for the star performance. “We got to know that many students from other colleges forged Venky ID cards to gain entry illegally,” shared Akash Maurya, a second-year student, from the fest’s organising committee, adding, “Several of my juniors were stranded outside, and couldn’t enjoy the fest.”
Guarded gates = glittering success?
After the gates closed early on the final day, over a thousand students were left waiting to seek entry inside, which included Venky’s students as well. Angry, some tried to break the college gates and started shouting, ‘Haye haye, principal!’” Principal Vajala Ravi told us, “We have incurred losses in terms of the gates being manhandled and several benches were used to barricade the entrances. But, none of these reasons could move us. We already had a crowd of over 10,000 inside the campus. How could we have allowed anyone else to enter the premises? It was due to our strict measures that Nexus, which happened after so many years, was a glittering success.”
After a gap of a few years, Nexus is back with a bang! Its intensity is higher than ever before. – Principal Vajala Ravi
Managed or mismanaged?
However, some students felt that the fest — organised by and for the students — could be a success if only everyone gets a fair chance to witness it. “I was among the students left outside when the gates closed early on the final day. It’s sad that I was unable to get entry at my own college fest, and this is when I even volunteered as part of the team on day 1 and 2,” lamented Aditya Ghosh, a first-year student.
