“ITS was a striking example of how each person in a batch contributes in their own manner to make the event a success.”
Symbiosis Centre for Media & Communication is well known for its prowess in academics, excellent placement offers and the many extracurricular activities such as football, swimming, basketball, dance, theatre and music that it offers. As one of the sports coordinators for SCMC, the onus of organizing the inter-batch sports festival known as In True Spirit lies with me. Every year, each batch battles it out in various indoors and outdoors sports for the coveted reputation of being the batch that excels in both, sports and academia. An event of such scale requires meticulous planning and organization, and securing the chance to be a part of the organizing team in my first year was a priceless privilege.
Before the actual event can take place, there are countless things that need to be taken care of. Despite the hectic schedule, errors in planning, and short deadlines, it was one of my most enthralling experiences here at SCMC. Our batch designed an impressive marketing campaign before the onset of the games that glorified each participant and built up the excitement. As part of this campaign, we had a batch video. Shooting for the video was one of my most favourite aspects of ITS. We had to reach our shoot location at 6 am for the perfect lighting and mood. My part in the video began as a girl walking towards a sunrise in an elegant dress and built up to a scene from a football match. I had never been part of a shoot before, and it was new experience to battle my camera consciousness and deliver what the cinematographers expected of me.
To increase batch unity, we decided to design batch sweatshirts. Getting the entire batch to decide on a design was challenging. However, once the final sweatshirt design was printed on the backs of everyone in the batch, it was an extremely relieving and satisfying feeling. When the days of the tournament finally came around, it was the biggest test for our unity. One of the major tasks that had to be handled was marking the racing tracks on the field before the athletics event. It was a tedious process that required reporting to the field at 4:50 am and drawing up the lines with chalk dust before the event began. It was a pleasant surprise when people not only from my batch, but also from all three years lent us a helping hand, due to which the mammoth task was completed efficiently in under an hour.
ITS was a striking example of how each person in a batch contributes in their own manner to make the event a success. Whether it is the marketing team, or the photographers, the editors or the sportspersons, every aspect of the event was perfect in its own manner, and it is this that makes it one of my most memorable times through my journey in SCMC.
Article by: Ira Gopal (Batch of 2019)
Photograph by: Bharat Madan (Batch of 2019)
