The last few weeks have been really eventful, with some of my closest friends having their birthdays and the Theatre Society holding a Jazz Ball (Hello, gowns and heels!) during its annual fest, Camus. With JGU and its relatively liberal outlook of how hostel life can be, by allowing events such as prom nights to happen on campus, it has made some of my favorite college sit-com sequences come to life.
You do not realize what a decent deal you have gotten with a curfew of 1am until you can actually be the one smashing cake in your guy friend’s face at exactly 12:00 am and celebrating without breaking any rules, as opposed to dismally wishing him at 10pm because you are not allowed to stay out beyond that. While I personally wish there was no curfew at all because I don’t see the point. (Why 1 am? Why any restriction at all?) But it is amusing to tell people from other colleges who come for fests and watch their eyes widen as they silently calculate and realize our curfew is 3 hours (in some cases, even 6 hours) after theirs. Anyhow, back to the birthdays. The food court, with its plethora of choices (Who wouldn’t want to cut a giant pizza instead of a cake?) and the convenience store all stocked up with cheesy party supplies like hats, balloons, candles and confetti spray makes planning a party for friends and roommates really easy.
The Jazz Ball itself was a giant party, as well as a jolt to some conservative minds. The fact that it was not necessary to go with someone of the opposite gender made it even more beautiful, with many same-sex dance partners setting the dance floor on fire. The set up was gorgeous, complete with a jazz band that played peppy music, and amazing food that everyone embraced as a welcome change. While you could easily spot the members of the dance society amongst the dancing couples as they effortlessly showed off their elegance, even the dorkiest of non-dancers and people with left feet showed up, all suited-up, to be a part of the night.
“What makes events like the jazz ball so special is that it shows the spectrum of things that the students of JGU happily explore- from Bollywood night to Jazz Night- You get a taste of different cultures each time. It shows how invested the student body and university is in making each experience something so completely representative of the idea it began with. No stone is left unturned to make it perfect, down to the tiniest of details. Events like these show how committed the JGU community as a whole is in bringing about excellence and perfection in everything they do, even in events that go beyond academics…plus I got to eat lots of good food that night!” – A person who can absolutely not dance and does not like social events.
The sheer number of events that JGU has, albeit only after there is some amount of pressure from the students, is refreshing, especially after you hear about colleges that don’t have much except a couple of fests.
I understand these small things might seem too shallow to warrant an article, especially in the wake of some serious issues of accountability being brought up recently amidst the student council elections, but I believe it is important to just pause and think about the cake you ate and the cool step you learnt after getting prom-esque photos clicked with your plus one.