COMFEST 2013

This year, the Jaipuria Computer Club’s annual Computer Festival, Comfest took place from the 24th to the 27th of October. With the elements of Literature and Arts, the event was one of the most anticipated school festivals. At their 13th anniversary, the JCC took Comfest to the next level, with newer events, more teams, and an entertainment evening featuring top performers of the country. This year, the JCC had a tie up with the Whistling Woods, which is renowned filmmaker Subhash Ghai’s academy.

A total of 53 teams from all over the country and abroad took part in Comfest which is one of India’s biggest school-level student organized festival. The members of JCC are responsible for every activity, from the events, management, hospitality to fund collections and showcase utmost diligence and precision in making the event a success. This year, the JCC core team, having nine members, was lead by Shubhankar Seth and Shlok Gupta. Excellent guidance from our Principal, Mrs. Shikha Banerjee and H.O.D. Computer Science, Mr. Manish Sakseria, an omnipresent enthusiasm and a spirit that refuses to accept anything but an impetus from what it receives has enabled JCC to evolve over the years and make Comfest a bigger success each passing year.

The first day of this four day extravaganza started off with a fete, ‘Roll Camera, Action!’ where the participating school had to set up photo booths and display their team’s creative talents. The event was a four hour affair where the teams set up photo booths on these like ‘Harry Potter’, ‘Chinese New Year’ and many more while interacting with each other and familiarizing themselves with the atmosphere.

‘Roll Camera, Action!’ was followed by the electrifying cultural evening. The gathering was welcomed by Niharika Khanna, Executive Secretarty and Rishabh Gupta, Vice President at JCC with their humble words. The entertainment evening featured the nationally acclaimed playback singers Tochi Raina and Aditi Paul, who ensnared people in their melodious tunes. With the spirits high, these performances were followed by an act by DJ Soham Bakshi, who set the stage on fire. With this, the remarkable Day Zero came to an end with a dinner for the out stationed teams and the teams prepared themselves to take the challenges of the next three days head on.

Day 1 of Comfest started with the Opening ceremony. Dr. Abhishek Mishra, the Minister of State for Science and Technology to Hon’ble Chief Minister Mr. Akhilesh Yadav, obliged to preside over the ceremony. Dr. Mishra is a PhD in Business Policy fron the University of Cambridge. Addressing the august gathering, he inspired everyone with his words of knowledge. Ghazala Lari, the MLA of Rampur Karkhana and Sabha Pati of the Mahila Kalyan Bal Vikas Sanyukt Samiti, was the esteemed Guest of Honor for the event. Manju Rana, the Director Principal of Seth Anandram Jaipuria School, Ghaziabad also graced the occasion with her esteemed presence. Shubhankar Seth, President JCC and Anandita Misra, Secretary JCC delivered speeches and renewed JCC’s confidence and determination to put up a great show.

Post lunch to the opening ceremony, the competition took off in full vigor. It started with the preliminary rounds of various gaming and quizzing events, such as ‘The Season Begins’ and ‘IT Quest’. Competitors from each teams were tested on their video making and editing skills in ‘A/V’ and the participants fought tooth and nail, quite literally, in ‘Robowars’. The preliminary round of ‘Tech Talk’ saw a neck to neck competition, with the top four teams qualifying for the semi-finals. We also showcased the ‘Spybot’ and ‘Flamethrower Robot’ designed by the students. The event ‘Graffiti’ also took place, which featured one of the largest graffiti in the nation. The final act of the day was a performance by Satan Decoded, an upcoming band of Kanpur.

Day 2 of Comfest began with even more vigour than the previous days. It began with ‘Junk’s the Punk’, a treasure hunt where all the teams were required to find and solve the intricate clues to qualify to the final level, where they are required to make a model from junk. The semi finals of the quiz, ‘IT Quest’ and the debate, ‘Tech Talk’ as well as the ‘Tee Splash’, ‘So You Think You Can Solve’, ‘Silent Treatment’, ‘The Season Begins’, ‘Wiz Pro’, ‘Deeds on Sheets’, ‘Pen A Tale’ and ‘Picsel’ were some of the other events that took place on Day 2. The highlight of the day remained, ‘J-A-M on H-A-M’ an extempore competition which proved to be a delightful experience for the participants as well as the audience. After the day’s hard work, the participants enjoyed a marvellous performance by the Jaipurian Rock band, ‘The Stuck Psychedelic,’ while JCC geared up for the final day of Comfest.

The final day saw teams proving their mettle in the final rounds of every event. The finale of ‘IT Quest’ was conducted by Ronnie Chatterjee, an ex- Jaipurian and one of the most famous quizzers of India who acted as the Quizmaster. Following this, teams emerged victorious in events like ‘Tech Talk’, ‘So You Think You Can Solve?’, ’The Season Begins’, ’Web Tech’ and ‘Pandora’s Box’ after facing the excruciating final rounds. Post this came the most awaited moment for one and all, the prize distribution ceremony which was presided over by Brig. K.B.Yadav. The winners of the various events were felicitated with prizes. The arena resonated with a round applause and appreciation as M.G.D Girls College, Jaipur bagged the overall winner’s trophy while V.S.E.C Kidwai Nagar were the first runner’s up.

With this came the end of Comfest13 and the JCC retired a happy lot after the commendable success of the event. ‘It’s not about us. It’s about the things we leave behind. It’s about legacy’ were the last thoughts of JCC as they signed off leaving behind a legacy, an entity, Comfest, only to make it bigger and better the next year.

Day 3, the final day of Comfest14, started with the finals for IT Quest, which was hosted by one of the most famous Quizmasters in India, Mr. Ajay Poonia. Following this was the finals for Tech Talk where the final two teams battled it out in a heated debating session, the Season Begins where the finalists battled it out to be declared the best gamer of Comfest14, Lost in Rendition and more events like Web Tech, Minds of Kinds and Pandora’s Box.

Post this came the most awaited moment for one and all, the final leg of the entire festival, the Closing ceremony. Dr. Mr. Murli Manohar Joshi, M.P, Government of India, obliged to preside over the ceremony. The winners of the various events were felicitated with prizes. The arena resonated with a round applause and appreciation as M.R. Jaipuria School, Lucknow bagged the overall winner’s trophy. The closing ceremony ended with a vote of thanks by the Vice President of JCC, Pranshu Nigam.

With this came the end of Comfest14 and the JCC retired a happy lot after the commendable success of the event. ‘It’s not about us. It’s about the things we leave behind. It’s about legacy’ were the last thoughts of JCC as they signed off leaving behind a legacy, an entity, Comfest, only to make it bigger and better the next year.