In keeping with its unique style and commitment to din that admonition into the state of mind of the student managers of IIMU, Potpourri – The Literary Club of IIM Udaipur presented the second edition of The Udaipur Leapday Lit Fest on 28th February, 2014.

Under the theme, “Odyssey of Expressions”, the event proved to be a spellbinding consuetude where some of the best minds from the world of arts and literature came together on a common platform to enrich the ever hungry literary souls of IIMU.

The precursor to the event started a week prior with The Udaipur Amazing Race, a one of its kind event held to explore the city of Udaipur like never before. Udaipur, the City of Lakes and Palaces with its rich, diverse and beautiful locales provides a unique setting for this race with a back drop of a cultural milieu.

The race is a treasure hunt competition and tests the students for their out of the box thinking, attitude, negotiation skills and a grasp on both the in campus and out campus locations to crack the clues.

The curtain raiser to the Lit Fest saw an evening filled with a dash of entertainment, drama and humor when the Society of Dramatics collaborated with Potpourri to present a satirical play, Kanjoos – a Hazrat Awara adaptation of a popular French Play by Moliere.

For the literary minds, the first panel discussion saw Nikhil Sachan, an IIT-BHU and IIMK alumnus and author of last year’s Hindi bestseller Namak Swadanusar, discussing the issues which young writers face.

He also spoke in detail about the publishing industry’s intricacies, falling popularity of Hindi and other regional literature as well as the challenges faced by budding writers.

Nikhil also recited some of the poems from his body of work which are close to his heart and through which he connected with young audience. He was accompanied well by the second panelist, Chetan Mahajan, author of The Bad Boys of Bokaro.

Chetan touched the audience with a sensitive note of his storytelling experiences, narratives which went into shaping his book, social issues and tips for aspiring writers.

Following the literary discussion, began an hour of Vidya Rao, Classical Singer and Editor, speaking from the podium.

She mesmerized the audience with her sweet and cherubic renditions of Thumri when her mellifluous voice filled everyone’s hearts in the auditorium.

Her journey of evolving as an artist and her views on people, expression, arts, music, dance, love and life left everyone awestruck.

A photography exhibition of Prof. Mahesh Sharma’s collection depicting the various shades of life in Udaipur enthralled the audience. The speakers also distributed books and CDs of their works among the participants.

The event culminated with a talk by celebrated Painter and Sculptor, Sidharth. He shared his experiences as an artist, the power of expression and the spirit of arts as a medium of communication and change. He also painted a portrait of Gautam Buddha in the fest and gifted it to IIMU as a token of souvenir.

Udaipur Lit Fest is the only Lit Fest conducted in an educational institute in India. And it conveys the very message of IIMU’s Uniqueness and Diversity with elan.

The speakers congratulated the Potpourri team for conducting the event. The event ended on a thanking note to the audience and the sponsors

And the audience left with a promissory word from Potpourri to return next year bigger, better and more opulent.

Press Release