By Ishika Garg
It was a busy day for everyone in the college as the annual fest was around the corner. There was air of enthusiasm, joy, excitement and nervousness, especially for those who were first time performers. Some were busy decorating the premises, whereas some could be seen rehearsing for their performance. The annual fest included various activities, games and performances. The fest was open to inter college participation, hence it projected the idea of diversity and inclusion.
After days of hardwork and burning the mid night oil, the dramatics society was ready for the performance. It was a huge auditorium with thousands of young students and professors cheering and applauding, all curious for the performance to start. The dramatics society comprised of 10 talented girls who wanted to make a life in dramatics and enjoyed doing stage shows. The society had made the college proud by bagging first position in various inter college competition around the city.
It was the time when lights were dim and curtain unveiled. The theme of the act was “The Rage in Youth”. It wanted to show how the youth of our nation becomes uncontrollable when they are triggered by any unwanted stimuli and ultimately cause violence.
The play started and audience was highly engaged in it but, suddenly something unexpected happened. The scene showed a fake killing of a girl by her friend as she did not follow the advice given by the latter. It build the atmosphere of seriousness and showed how emotions can over power the humans. The audience was in a state of bewilderment when the girl who was murdered in the scene did not wake up post its completion. The team and higher authority ran and gathered around her. Even after various trials, there were no signs of her waking up.
The positive energy got moulded into string of tension and fear. Fear of “What if she is actually dead”? ; “What will happen to college’s reputation?”; “Can pursuing own passion be deadly?”; “ Is promoting talent wrong in 21st Century”?. In no minute, girl’s family, police and media was in college premises. There was huge pressure on senior authorities to justify the act. Everyone was questioning the safety measures taken by authorities, but they had nothing to answer. Soon the fest was called off and everyone was instructed to leave the premises.
As everyone started moving towards the exit, there was a shocking sight. The girl, whom everyone thought was murdered, got up and called everyone back. It was surely a sight of relief for everyone. Her parents and team members quickly ran towards her and questioned what had happened. Initially, she hesitated to speak but finally told the truth. As she was a freshman and moved in a new city, she got anxious and fainted due to performance anxiety. She had not taken a proper sleep last night as she was busy rehearsing her part. The constant pressure of performing well and maintaining the reputation of the society bothered her and affected her health. After proper guidance, the girl’s life was back to normal and now, she could perform without any fear.
By Ishika Garg
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