Literary & Debate Society 2016 of SCMC Presents

Maadhyam

Important Dates, Time & Venue.

Date of event: 5th August 2015 (Wednesday) Time of event: 9:30 am to 5:30 pm Venue of event: Auditorium, Symbiosis

Viman Nagar Date of eliminations: 1st August 2015

(Saturday) Last Date of registration for eliminations:

31st July 2015, 23:11:59 (11:59:59 pm) (Friday) Date for Book Design event: 3rd August

2015 Date for Creative Writing event: 4th August

2015

Event Description

Maadhyam 2015 is the literary and debate festival of Symbiosis Centre for Media & Communication (SCMC). Its roots lie in the formative years of the institute.

After a gap of few years, the festival was reintroduced in 2014. This is the second edition of the reinvigorated Madhyaam, one that continues to embrace and celebrate the creativity-bug in you. It’s a wonderful outlet for the writer, the expresser, the orator, and most importantly, the one fascinated by the worlds of literature and debate.

This year, we have nine events – five literary & four debate, with the finales of seven such events being displayed in front of an enthusiastic audience involving the students and faculty members of the institute, amongst others.

Literature Events

All events have eliminations (unless mentioned otherwise), that will be held on Saturday, 1st August from 4:45 pm. Anyone can register and attend the elims, but only the number of individuals required for each batch will progress to the final round.

Creative Writing Obstacle Course: Does not have prelims. Register directly for the final round.

Spell & Bound (Book Cover Designing Event): Does not have prelims. Register directly for the final day.

The Spoken Word (Poetry Slam Event) The Maadhyam General Quiz 2015. What’s the good word?

General Guidelines for each Event

For events such as Poetry Slam, Choose Your Teacher, where each contestant is allotted a certain duration of time to either speak or debate, the time limit must be strictly adhered to. Not doing so will lead to a heavy penalty in points.

For various events involving expression and creativity, a line must be drawn in terms of content. One must not:

- Say anything that incites the cultural and religious sentiments of any individual in the audience.

- Make sexist, bigoted, suggestive, inappropriate, unruly, and brash statements and comments.

-Overlook the presence of faculty members and other respectable members of society in the audience.

Non-adherence to these guidelines will reflect strongly in the judging procedure. The participant may even be forced to stop their performance mid-way.

Number of Participants

List of Participants for each event:

Just a Minute: 6 Finalists – 2 from 2016, 2 from 2017 and 2 from 2018.

Shipwreck – 6 Finalists – 2 from 2016, 2 from 2017 and 2 from 2018.

The Maadhyam General Quiz – 9 Finalists – 3 from 2016, 3 from 2017 and 3 from 2018.

What’s the good word – 6 finalists – 2 from 2016, 2 from 2017 and 2 from 2018

Spoken Word: 6 Finalists – 2 from 2016, 2 from 2017 and 2 from 2018.

List of Participants

Choose your teacher Debate: 3 finalist – 1 from 2016, 1 from 2017, and 1 from 2018.

Chain reaction Debate: 6 finalists - 2 from each batch

Spell & Bound: Teams of 2 – As many teams can register from each batch.

Creative Writing Obstacle Course: Individual participants – as many teams can register from each batch.

Creative Writing Obstacle Course

Description: A quirky individual creative writing event that adds various writing prompts and other interesting obstacles while you write your way to the finish line. Participants: Individual event. As many can participate from each batch. No prelims for this event.Event will be conducted a day before Maadhyam in an SCMC classroom. Results will be announced

during the festival.

Creative Writing Obstacle Course Rules: 1) No communication is allowed after the topic

is given. Basically, do not cheat. 2) There will be a time limit. 3) The manner in which your begin your story

will be revealed on at the start of the event. The obstacles (writing prompts that you MUST incorporate within your story) will be revealed during the event.

Judging Criteria: Originality, Adherence to theme, Flow, Problem Solving Skills & Creativity.

All general guidelines apply to this event.

Spell & Bound (Book designing + Novel Writing)

Description: This event combines the best of one’s design and writing process. A team of two gets together to design a book cover (hand drawn)—complete with the front, the back and the spine—and consequently also work on the first and the last chapter of the novel based on the cover design and other cues given on the day of the event.

Participants: Teams of two (from the same batch), as many teams.

No Prelims Required. Event duration: 5:00-7:30 pm. Event will be

conducted two days before Maadhyam in an SCMC classroom. Results will be announced during the festival.

Spell & Bound (Book designing + Novel Writing)

Rules: 1) No ripping off existing covers. 2) For the design part, you can only work on sheets of_A3

paper (we will provide the paper, but all pens/sketch pens/color pencils/other stationary must be brought by you.)

3) As a team, you also have to work out how to manage the DESIGN as well as the WRITTEN CONTENT. (Eg. Both of you can design first and write later, or one of you designs while the other writes. It’s up to you how to manage your two and a half hours.) But remember, the book cover & the written word HAS to perfectly match (and all cues have to be incorporated. Don’t worry, they’ll be easy).

3) Judging Criteria: Creativity, Originality, Relevance to design, Adherence to cues given.

All general guidelines apply to this event.

The Spoken Word (Poetry Slam)“We need people to talk poetry to each other. That's how we communicate our values, our hearts, the things that we've learned that make us who we are.” – Marc Smith (Founder, Slam poetry movement)

Event Description: Theatre, literature and creativity combine to conjure the realm of Spoken Word Poetry. The slam event promises healthy expression and articulate elocution.Participants will perform their work on stage and shall be judged accordingly. Each poem has to be restricted to 3 minutes, and must be of these three themes: “In Memoriam” (emotional/poignant): In memory of anyone or anything. It need not have to be sad, or a lament. Happy memories, anyone? However, it must appeal to the audience’s emotions. (Examples: Robin Williams, my childhood, etc.) “If I were…” (Imaginative; fantastic): Be creative and spew an entire spectrum of colors on the canvas of your imagination. For example: If I were Batman, if I were a packers & movers’ truck, etc.) Also, the poem does not have to begin with ‘If I were’. and “And this is how I tickle ribs” (Humor): This is a broad theme and means only one thing: it must be humorous. Use any tool—irony, sarcasm, self-depreciation. Just make the audience laugh.‘Theme-bender’: You are free to combine any or all of the abovementioned themes. For example: A highly emotional poem about your childhood imaginary friend Bing Bong and the astounding inter-galactic adventures you had with him, spoken in a humorous manner. (Inside Out, anyone?)

Please prepare any one poem for the elimination. It has to be self-written, but it need not have to be of of the abovementioned themes. Participants: 2 members from each batch.

Duration: Each poem must remain *strictly* under 3 minutes.

Rules

Strict 3 minute time limit. STRICT. Minus points if you exceed it.

Time begins the moment you speak your first word. Poems (for both the eliminations as well as the

final event) must be original. No musical accompaniment. No props. No costumes. Creativity and performance to be judged.

Adherence to theme as well. No rants. No inappropriate content, crude humor,

or anything that hurts the sentiments of individuals in the crowd.

What’s the Good Word?

Walk down the street, and you see a friend approaching. Clap his

shoulder, shake hands and tip your hat, with a 'What's the good word for today, mate?’

But that's for YOU to find out!

Description: A fairly creative and simple vocabulary game where a participant guesses a word based on three clues. While the first two are regular clues, the third could either be just that, or a something rhyming with the initial word. That’s the confusion—and that’s where the fun lies.

Participants: Teams of 2 from each batch.

Rules

A team consists of two players, where one player is given a word, and the other must guess the word, based on the clues given by the first player, before the ticker counting down from sixty seconds to the last second runs out.

A team can only use up to five clues. Points will be awarded for guessing the right word on time, and an extra point will be awarded if guessed within a single clue.

The team with the most number of points wins the game.

All general guidelines apply for this event.

The Maadhyam General Quiz Description: It’s the second edition of

the Maadhyam General Quiz – and there’s a pleasant surprise for you!

Knowledge is everything, but real talent is connecting the question with what you already know. Can you win this or can you win this?

Participants: 3 per batch (total 9

Rules

The Quiz Master is the real Master. No arguments at all.

No abuses/distractions hurled during the rounds.

Five time based rounds, with one team of three people from each batch.

All general guidelines apply to this event.

Debate Events

All events have eliminations (unless mentioned otherwise), that will be held on Saturday, 1st August from 4:45 pm. Anyone can register, but only the number of individuals required for each batch will progress to the final round.

Choose Your Teacher Shipwreck JUST.A.MINUTE (JAM) The Chain Reaction Debate.

Choose Your Teacher Debate Description: The world’s most highly and freely

traded commodity stands as opinion. This time, the trade is across the windows of generations, it’s ideas v/s experience, it’s you v/s a teacher. Born-knowing babies and wise individuals, it’s your day against their day.

Participants: 1 per batch. Duration: 15 minutes per debate.

Rules.

A systematic debate wherein a student discusses a topic with a teacher.Participant gets to pick the topic and then picks a chit that determines the teacher that he/she must debate with. One participant per batch, 15 minutes per debating session.

The debate shall be undertaken in a logical, argumentative, rational, and respectable manner. Of course, the student-teacher relationship must be respected.

Shipwreck

Description: The ship you’re on has hit an iceberg colder than humanity, and you’re all sinking at sea.You may be Courage the Cowardly dog, Justin Beiber or Anna Hazare, but the Captain has only life jacket and you’ll have to word your way to win it.Convince the one-eyed devil on a sinking ship, why the world needs you, and why the jacket should worthily be thine.

Participants: 2 per batch (total 6) Duration: 10 minutes per individual (1 hour

total)

Rules.

Each participant is given a character on the spot, and he must then convince the Captain why he/she is important for the world and why he must be the one to live amongst all the celebrities sinking at sea.Participant will be judged on the basis of convincing mettle, wit, humor and creativity.

Caution: This event has a tendency to become suggestive/inappropriate. Please respect the presence of faculty members in the audience, and maintain proper etiquette. A lack of subscription to this will cause instant disqualification.

All general guidelines apply to this event.

JUST.A.MINUTE

The challenge is set. To reach that one-minute mark, all you have to

do is talk. Just be your smooth-talking, winsome self and you're sure to make it!

Description: Just.A.Minute is an absolute test of one’s ability to follow the rules of Queen’s English. Before long, someone will hit the buzzer and point out a mistake. Multiple rounds with exciting variation will add an absolute sense of fun to this already exciting event.

Ah - but what's the catch?

Participants: 2 per batch (6 total) Duration: 55 minutes.

Rules

Participants need to make it through 60 seconds of non-stop talkingwithout hesitation, repetition, and deviation. The participants speak for one minute on a given subject

(given on the spot) without "hesitation, repetition or deviation". "Hesitation" is watched very strictly: a momentary pause

before resumption of the subject can give rise to a successful challenge, as

can tripping over one's words. Even pausing during audience laughter or applause can be challenged. "Repetition" means the repetition of any word or phrase,

although challenges based upon very common words such as "and" will be rejected, except in extreme cases.

Rules

Deviation means deviating from the subject. Several other speech

defect rules shall be explained to the participants beforehand. You score a point for making a correct challenge against

whoever is speaking, while the speaker gets a point if the challenge is deemed incorrect.

However, if a witty interjection amuses the moderator, even though it is not a correct challenge, both the challenger and speaker may gain a point, at the chairman's discretion.

The participant who makes a correct challenge takes over the subject for the remainder of the minute, or until he or she is correctly challenged. The person speaking when the 60 seconds expires also scores a point. An extra point will be awarded when a participant speaks for the entire minute without being challenged.

All general guidelines apply to this event.

The Chain Reaction Debate. Bang, a series of chaotic reactions, and the

world was born. Bang, a series of debating elements, each arguing the previous one in a chain, and Maadhyam’s scariest debating hotbed is on fire. Rebuttals are raging and the cosmos of creative comments is stirring. The sharpest of good-heads and bad-asses are invited.

Participants: 2 per batch (5 total) Duration: 55 minutes.

Rules

1) An even number of participants sit in a line.2) The topic is given. First participant chooses to oppose or support the motion, which sets the stance on the motion for the consecutive odd numbered participants.3) The job of each participant is to oppose the argument of the previous speaker.4) The previous speaker gets a rebuttal. But this argument is then passed on to the third speaker in line.

Rules

5) Each speaker must present his argument in exactly six sentences, a pause being considered as the beginning of a new sentence.6) A speaker may randomly be assigned a character, and he must then propose his argument on the topic as the respective character would. Wit is welcome.Eg. Barney the dinosaur would vote against the death penalty as hundreds of innocent victims are convicted in trials every year and this might mean more orphans and a mis-led generation. 7) Points for every argument based on sharpness, creativity, wit, logic.8) The judges or the moderator might raise a ‘Catalyst Enquiry’ / ‘Point of Information’ at any time during the reaction/debate.9) All general guidelines apply to this event.