UMANG 2024 – “AI OR I”

Wrapping up the year with a memorable tale, Kolkata witnessed a larger-than-life version of UMANG, 2024 edition, at the campus of The Bhawanipur Education Society College from December 25, 2024, to December 28, 2024; with 3 events that were a part of the Pre-Umang Event roster taking place on December 22, 2024. An additional celebrity concert featuring the reputed Padmashri Kailash Kher, and the Kailasa band was held on December 29, 2024, at the Netaji Subhash Uddyaan (Northern Park). Since its beginning in 1999, the BESC UMANG has been the talk of the town for many years as it provides numerous events while serving out the best competition for the students of higher education who participate in them. Its reputation for hosting many celebrated personalities under its banner has been acknowledged far and wide; making it one of Eastern India’s biggest student-organized youth fests. Recently, UMANG has become an important occasion for students across various colleges as they work hard towards bagging prizes and ultimately winning the title of “Star of Umang”. This year, particularly, the social media impressions of UMANG 2024 grew to a record of 2.5 million and the fest became the hot spot for the digital world. Keeping up with the tradition, the theme for UMANG 2024 was “AI or I”; one which was thought-provoking and deeply connected to the modern world and its future. The theme brings the increasing dominance of AI in daily routine to our notice and asks us to ponder upon the future relationship between humankind and the AI we created. The theme was skilfully personified through the backdrop of the main stage for UMANG 2024; where a humanoid robot holds its heart inside a human brain, reminding the spectators that even if AI exceeds its limits, it will always have humans at its core. The Art-In-Me Collective of BESC meticulously decorated the entrance corridor, considering the theme at hand and creating a mechanical atmosphere.

The theme inspired many new events to be held this year which led to the total number of events being 90. Setting a new record this year, BESC hosted 87 educational institutions, of which 9 were situated in places such as Bhubaneshwar, Burdwan, Andhra Pradesh, Banaras, and Jaipur while the rest were located within Kolkata. The bars were set at an all-time high as the estimated number of participants enrolling in the different events in UMANG 2024 grew to 4000. To ensure an overall smooth flow, more than 270 undergraduate students of BESC stepped up as volunteers to help with the timely execution of each event.

The opening for this grand affair took place through its Inaugural ceremony on Day 1, i.e., December 25, 2024, starting at 4:00 P.M. when the Indian Idol season 13 finalist, Sonakshi Kar, a second-year B.A. student of BESC who performed the song “Satyam Shivam Sundaram” that set an auspicious tone for the ceremony. Next to take the stage was the Classical Dance team of the Flames collective of BESC which presented a 5-minute routine on the Ganesh Vandana followed by the anchor, Srishti Jhunjhunwala who introduced all the Chairpersons of each department of UMANG 2024 by calling them up on the main stage. All the student Chairpersons on stage called up the man behind UMANG, the Rector and Dean of Student Affairs, Prof. Dilip Shah, who cheerfully addressed the crowd. In his address, Prof. Shah spoke about the vision behind this fest, its theme for this year, and the significance of the backdrop. He then called upon the present dignitaries from the governing body of BESC, Chairman, Sri Rajnikant Dani; Mr Pradip Sheth; Late Director General, Dr Suman K Mukherjee; Donor Representative; Mr Jogesh Shah, Mr Umesh Shah as well as Central Committee Nominees, Mrs Nalini Parekh, Mrs Renuka Bhatt to come up on the stage and water the plant kept in front of them as an eco-friendly way to inaugurate UMANG 2024. After this, Shri Rajnikant Dani shared a few of his thoughts and ended by declaring UMANG 2024 open, which cued the UMANG theme song. With the sun setting behind us, the dazzling stage lights became a sight as UMANG 2024 literally made a cracking start.

Before its four main days, UMANG 2024 saw 3 events on December 22nd at the Netaji Subhash Uddyaan (Northern Park) and the venue 4A beside the college campus. Sports events such as Fitness Mania and Tug of War that brought the spirit of camaraderie and sportsmanship to UMANG took place at the Northern Park; commencing at 8:00 A.M. on the clock with everyone being in high spirits and went on till 5:00 P.M. with selective teams leaving the venue as victors and the rest with high hopes of securing a prize in years to come. Mafia’s was an event under the ‘Management Events’ category which took place at the 4A venue on December 22nd with a setup that attributed to the thrill and suspense of this event. Taking calculated steps as well as identifying potential threats is what this event was all about and it left participants in a tizzy, eager for more.

From morning till night, the main stage of UMANG 2024 was a hub for activities as most of the events under the ‘Star Events’ and ‘Performing Arts’ categories occurred here. Events such as Beat Boxing, Fashion Show, Mock-A-Band, Mr and Ms Umang, Umang Idol and War of Rappers were only a few examples in which participants poured their creativity and talent to impress the judges. On the other hand; Group Folk Dance, Antakshari, Western Group Dance, War of Sounds, Indi Pop, Classical Group Dance, Western Band, and Bollywood Group Dance were events that consisted of teams who brought the best of coordination to their performances to awe-inspire the audience.

Among the usual events taking place in the ‘Literary Arts’ and ‘Voices-In-Action’ categories, UMANG 2024 saw the addition of an Open Quiz event as well as an Open Jam and Verteez contest where anyone, irrespective of age and institutional affiliation, could take part and claim the winning title. Hence, it allowed the students to witness competition far greater than their skill set. Drawing inspiration from the theme certain events under the two categories such as Beyond The AI where participants had to transform a script generated through AI, A.B.C.S. – Any Body Can Sing where participants were asked to re-dub and re-edit any song through the use of AI, and Fusion Ad-Lib Act where participants had to come up with a 5-minute act on an impromptu situation involving a human and robot; sought to combine the elements of AI and human intelligence to create a perfect challenge to participants ready to take the challenge.

The ‘Fine Arts’ category of this year added new exciting events that catered to the youth populace having an artistic streak particularly those who seek a challenge along with old favourites such as Doodle Art, Caricature Painting, and Lippan Art. Crowned in Colors is a helmet painting competition where the participants use their art supplies to create their dream designs on plain black helmets. Similarly, Icons in Motion was an event where individual participants were provided with 3 random emojis that were to be incorporated into their paintings. Again, Pixel Palette was an event that combined technology and human creativity through the task at hand, where the theme was disclosed on the spot and the participants created awe-inspiring art compositions using their devices and via specialised software such as Ibis Paint and Photoshop

Having 13 events under its category, ‘Management Events’ saw the involvement of participants who were innovative and had a knack for problem-solving. Using presentations to portray their ideas in front of the moderators, students enthusiastically took part in brand-new events like AI for All: Enhancing Rural Livelihoods where participants used AI to tackle challenges related to agricultural techniques, Catalyst: AI Robot Showdown where participants presented cutting-edge developments in modern AI, and Mindtech Challenge where participants search for solutions to mental well-being through the use of AI.

The ‘Umang Gaming Console’ category stimulated gaming enthusiasts and gave them an adrenaline rush through an ideal setup to participate in 8 different events such as BGMI, Bullet Echo India: Gun Game, Forza Horizon 5, Valorant, and Mortal Kombat 1. On the other hand; events such as Carrom, Chess, Darts, Pool and a new addition of Arm Wrestling took place in the Sports Arena under the ‘Sports’ category in UMANG 2024 which required accuracy and strategic gameplay to win them.

UMANG 2024 drew to a close on December 28, 2024, at 8:00 P.M. with the beginning of the Closing Ceremony.  The ceremony included the felicitation of Naman Chandak from St. Xavier University as the Star of Umang, for his accolades achieved and ultimately making him entitled to an E-vehicle by Mudit Ridh after UMANG 2024. In the end, The Bhawanipur Education Society College secured the title of Overall winner of UMANG and kept its legacy alive by passing it on to the ILead College which secured the position of 1st runner-up and St. Xaviers College securing the position of the 2nd runner-up. Also, the Goenka College of Commerce and Business Administration bagged the title of the most disciplined college of UMANG 2024.

UMANG’s four days of festivities ended with an enchanting evening filled with music and nostalgia among volunteers and participants alike. The day became fruitful with the performances of Ms Sonakshi Kar, DJ Dhruv Bhatia and finally, Padmashri Kailash Kher and his band Kailasa. The crowd gathered at Northern Park was near to 10,000 strong and witnessed an out-of-this-world experience through and through.

BESC UMANG 2024 is thankful to the 65 sponsors who collaborated with the institution and supported our endeavour. In his final remarks, Prof. Dilip Shah declared that the college proudly opens UMANG 2025 and the crowd cheered for BESC and Umang 2025.

Reporter – Aniket Dasgupta.