IIT-BHU comes alive with 'Spardha'

VARANASI: The air of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Banaras Hindu University (BHU) was different on Friday. The institute was abuzz with students from different parts of the country in the three-day annual sports festival - Spardha 2016 that began on Friday.
The hostel road, near the Limbdi Hostel of the institute, wore a colourful look with floating umbrellas suspended over the sunny street.It was the prime attraction for participants, who were seen capturing the colourful canopy on smartphones and cameras.
In order to make the participating teams from different colleges, universities and technical institutions feel at home, posters reading 'Keep calm and Homecoming' were seen affixed on the barks of trees around the hostel road.
At Rajputana ground, students from different institutions were seen exercising before participating in sporting events and martial arts. Many of them were occupying separate corners to prepare for the events. "It's the first time I am participating in any event outside my college and I want to secure first position," first year student of IIT-Kanpur Bala Sundaram, who had participated in taekwondo, said.
Students of IIT-Roorkee, Shrutika Yeola, Sonali Mittal, Prapti Rathore and Saraswati Nanoti also seemed excited. They were looking forward to explore the campus after their game. "Today is just demonstration of the moves in taekwondo and the bouts start tomorrow. We are looking forward to the game and to explore the sprawling campus," they said.
At the basketball court, students of different institutions like FET, Agra, IIT-Kanpur were seen practicing. "The best thing about such events is that you get to meet so many new people. I got an opportunity to learn new techniques and make new friends," second year CS student from FET Agra Abhiyanshu said.
As many as 240 students from NIT Trichy had registered for participation in all of 19 events in Spardha. TOI caught up with third year and final year students Raju Jarpula and Ganesh Vasam who had participated in volleyball. "We have already emerged victorious in two matches played against teams from Bhopal and Noida and are prepared for pre-quarter finals," they said.
Athletics, weight and power lifting (practice sessions), kho kho, football, boxing, handball, squash, cricket, chess, table tennis, hockey, kabaddi, lawn tennis, badminton, volleyball and basketball were played throughout the day on Friday. Among informal events, maze runner, darts, 7 up 7 down and archery attracted the students. Zorb football and hot air ballooning also attracted many.