Clay to Slay

By Mudita Prakash, USBT

The day of the Preliminary round for 'Anugoonj 2019' was a day full of surprises and we could
genuinely feel the buzzing excitement in the air. The event took place in the central courtyard
which was the venue for a lot of art related events, one of them being clay modelling.
The amount of vigor and excitement emanating from the participants spoke volumes about the
kind of determination they carried in their hearts.
Before the event hitting off in full swing, all of them were given the topic on the spot. As per the
rules of the competition, individual participation was allowed. Participants had to race against
time and create their masterpieces in a time limit of two hours and 30 minutes. The honorable
jury included highly respectable names such as Dr Jasper Vikas (NLU) and Dr Kavita Solanki
(USLLS).
The event was a must attend for all the creative brains to showcase their artistic skills and really
get the feel of moulding something with bare hands. Participants could be seen conjuring up
superheroes or fictional characters while engaging their minds with the 3Ms - Mind, Muscle, and
Movement! They were showing their magic and astonishingly beautiful art could be seen
blossoming. The artists could be seen engrossed in great thought. Events such as these, definitely
require a lot of brainstorming and everyone could be seen giving their best.
We even interacted with the participants and asked them, what it actually meant for them to be
selected in the prelims and finally go to the main battle ground of ‘Anugoonj-2019’. One of them
told us that it meant the world for him. He had been practicing this art since he knew how to
walk. Being a part of this journey was already huge, but clearing the prelims made him closer to
his dream of winning the main title. The winning streak was alive like fire among these
contestants and this is what ‘Anugoonj- 2019’ was all about. ‘The place where dreams come
true.’
The clock was ticking and finally we reached at the conclusion of the clay modelling event and
could see the satisfactory grins plastered on the faces of the participants. The event was judged
by the honorable jury and they came to a fair judgement, selecting models that carried substance
and had captured the intricacies of the given themes.
Finally, the day ended on a good note with Sarthak Roy and Tanuj Handa, both from USCT
securing the first and the second positions respectively.