The Name Cult of Culfests

On the day when Mother Earth quaked in Haiti, I was lost in my world, doing something shatteringly unconstructive. I was putting together a list of ingenious brand names, minted in India. I expected this exercise to be a cinch. But, believe it or not, even after hours of mining, I was unable to spot one shimmering name that made my day. I felt as underwhelmed as an Obama supporter. That’s when I realised one fact: the names of some college culturals pack a lot more pizzazz than any Made-in-India trademark.

Take Mood Indigo, the IIT-Bombay gig, legendary for its babes, booze and boogeying. Perhaps named after the Duke Ellington song, Mood-I has everything going for it. It’s bluesy, newsy, and very Indian (Indigo the dye, originated in Mera Bharat Mahaan). The closest I can think of in terms of aptness is BITS Pilani’s Oasis.
Catering to the parched lives of bored engineers nestled in the desert bosom of Rajasthan, Oasis is a splash of hot spring to legions of world-weary campus foot soldiers, tired of losing the Battle of the Yawn.

But the one that takes the cake is IIT Guwahati’s Alcheringa (Australian aboriginal word for ‘dream time’). This 4-syllable name is catchy, intriguing and almost sounds like a bindaas rhino from Kaziranga.

If the Guwahati Geeks looked Down Under for inspiration, the Jokers from Joka (that’s my pet name for my friends from IIM Calcutta) turned to a poem by that Roman lyricist Horace. They’ve christened their Annual Fest as Carpe Diem (Latin for ‘Seize the Day’). In my opinionated opinion, it’s a lot more pedestrian than IIM-A’s ironical choice - Chaos. Or for that matter, National Academy of Legal Studies And Research’s The Summons.

The best named women’s college culfest to my mind is, Mount Carmel’s very clever Cul-ah. Phonetically it’s an allusion to Kala (Sansrkit for art and crafts) and morphologically it cues a sigh-worthy, nostalgia-filled talent fest. Osmania’s All-go-rhythms tries to be cute but somehow feels contrived. Nevertheless it’s a notch better than the many bland names that masquerade as brand names in our shop shelves.