OLD MAN – Disappearing in the Good Old days

Suddenly it is the end of yet another December - We realize that within a blink of an eye, 2006 is on its back. Today is the last day of the year, 31^st of December, and I can still recollect those days when we used to anxiously wait for this day to make an OLD MAN and place him in some corner of a road, trying to stop people and asking for financial help for his funeral.(That money always helped us to buy a new cricket bat or a football) It was not for those few pennies that this was being done but it was more for all the fun and also as a part of competition so as to make the best OLD MAN among all.

It was really a pleasure to watch kids getting together at every street corner with an OLD MAN and using bamboo sticks or ropes to stop people and ask for money. Not forgetting the fear that was always present in the minds that the cops may visit us any time and punish us for the act.

But the world is moving too fast and people are getting more and more busy. Nobody has time for such things today and slowly and slowly the flavor of such joyous thing is moving out of the scene. I happened to travel to Margao today with one of my friend and we were surprised to find only two groups with OLD MAN present on the entire stretch from Quepem to Margao. We did stop at both the places, I even clicked a pic of a group.

These guys were fearless to stop vehicles on the highway and ask for money. Looking at them in a joyous mood full of excitement to stop the vehicles, in a flash, I remembered my childhood. Those good old days when we too used to make an OLD MAN, stop people on the road, hide the OLD MAN and disappear from the scene when the cops took a round, then coming back with the OLD MAN, singing the popular song Old McDonald had a farm, then jus before the going for the midnight mass burning the poor fellow and finally counting the days collection.

It was a way of burning all bad thing of the old year and making a new beginning, trying to burn all our bad habits and practices and thus hoping to clean the slate and start a new chapter in a better way.

But at this moment I really fell sorry for the coming generations who might not even know of this wonderful tradition and may yet again miss another great day full of fun and joy. Few years down the line we may not see any OLD MANS in the street corners. We too are changing with the fast moving world, but why are we putting such great and joyous practices in the grave? Will the children of the future know about this OLD MAN? Will they ever get a chance to experience this fun? Or will the last day of the year be spent as just another ordinary day? All these questions remain un-answered as the OLD MAN quietly walks away with those good old days.

INFOFEST: It got Bigger n Better

It was February 2006, and there was no INFOFEST.The idea of having it did rise in some minds but was Concealed as the zeal was missing.

Then came the voices: Why DCST has discontinued INFOFEST?? And excuses had to substitute the answers. It was difficult to accept that our batch would put INFOFEST into the graave. Everybody knew we could do it differently but nobody wanted to endeavor. It was really difficult to digest and some hearts had tears to shed. A shame was breeding and emptiness was creeping within.

But some souls are intransigent and some ideas don’t die easily. And so did this idea of organizing infofest didn’t fade from all minds, but it was budding bit by bit. And on one day it just popped out, this time with more power, more passion and more fanaticism. Although the response was not so good earlier, later people did show enthusiasm in making it happen. Getting permissions and support from the faculty did not take much time and soon was the green flag shown. We all knew that now its no looking back. To some it was unrealistic but for others impossible was nothing. Plan was put down on paper, all hands together and all minds united, raring to overcome all hurdles to revolutionize dreams into reality.

Since then we know how much each one of us (we along with the juniors and sub-juniors) have worked, the efforts that we have put into, the sacrifices that we have made, the troubles that we have taken. For me it was a very simple job, just to coordinate all your hard work. It was really nice working together with all you people in true spirit of unity towards a common cause, a big biig biigg thank you to all of you for all your contributions towards the grand success of INFOFEST 2006.Its rightly said that good things take time to come. No wonder why INFOFEST came late in December when it was supposed to come in February. We surely have made INFOFEST bigger and better. The memories will last forever for sure.

We have proved that DCST is different, DCST is far ahead of the rest and DCST continues to strive for excellence. Our determination and dedication has led to this great achievement. Long Live INFOFEST. Long Live DCST.

Dreaming big is easy but transforming big dreams into reality is not easy. We have shown that we got what it takes to change big dreams into reality.

Who imagined that we could accumulate so much of funds ???

Who imagined that we would give away a laptop as a prize ???

Who imagined of live bands performing in the campus ???

We imagined and we made it a reality, and that’s because v r SIMPLY THE BEST!!!

NB: pic's to be uploaded soon....