By Bipin Sharma
New Delhi (26/02/2024): The annual sporting event of Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology (TIET) Patiala named “URJA” has always been one of the most awaited students event.
Quite naturally, URJA 2024, being no exception, too lived upto its full expectation as it evoked an overwhelming response from one and all.
The URJA 2024 tournament commenced with a grand opening ceremony on the evening of 16th Feb’24. It was a sight to behold when participants from different Universities and Institutions joined in the customary contingent march past ritual with their flags.
URJA signifying spirit and determination has been the hallmark of Thapar’s emphasis on all round holistic development of the student fraternity.
Cricketer Manpreet Gony who graced the event as the Chief Guest, unfurled the Thapar flag, drawing huge cheers from the enthusiastic crowd of students.
This was followed by the lighting of the URJA torch, and a spectacular flash mob performance by the talented Thapar artists.
Dr. Inderveer Channa, the Dean of Student Affairs, TIET made the official declaration of opening of URJA tournament. It was ensued by the release of balloons in the air. With Udit Munjal, the principal student coordinator, taking the oath, everyone followed suit, in the true spirit of URJA. The event kicked off with the URJA Anthem by Amnone” followed by the Thapar Band “GNK’ that enchanted the audiences with their mellifluous tunes.
The various sporting activities included Football, Badminton, Volleyball and Cricket. The 3 day URJA event, was a perfect blend of athleticism, camaraderie, and sportsmanship.
After an exhilarating Day 1, Day 2 was also no less exciting with a fine spectacle exuberance & excellent sportsmanship.
The key highlight of the day was an eclectic symphony of guitar riffs and soulful melodies by the gifted Mayank Maurya.
The morning of URJA Day 3 began by winding up the remaining matches, some of which were dead rubber, while others were “deciders’ for determining which team was to go to the finals. The most awaited moment was the finale of different games, which was predominantly dominated by the home team Thapar. Chitkara University stole the thunder in cricket, and managed to emerge victorious. In the process, Chitkara University became the only team to secure a tournament win in URJA 2024. In Volleyball, BMU displayed a formidable performance, yet it was the Thapar’s team that staged a remarkable comeback to clinch a 3-2 victory.
The mega sporting carnival culminated with a scintillating dance and music event titled “CINEYOUTH”. Held at OAT, “CINEYOUTH” was a joint initiative of URJA & TMC.
Stand-up comedians Rohit Bhatt and Krishna Pandey brought smiles on everyone’s faces, but the real star of the show was Rajat Chauhan, whose hilarious college based anecdotes and faculty jokes had the audience in splits.
The force behind URJA and various other such mega events at TIET has been the Dean of Student Affairs (DOSA), Dr. Inderveer Channa who has incessantly been playing a sterling role in various student related activities since the last few years.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Inderveer shared, “At TIET, our focus has incessantly been on providing Value based Education. The integration of academic excellence with co-curricular activities is the hall mark of TIET. The most splendid facet at TIET is the perfect integration of various student societies and clubs with academics. No two thoughts, that this is what clinches the battle for us, thereby giving us an invincible edge over other prominent Institutes of the country. Being firm believers of holistic education, we lay colossal emphasis on all round development of a student, and ensure that he or she inherits and integrates the best of human values and cultural traditions, besides being good with academics.
Beyond a single minded pursuit of academic excellence, we also focus on the student’s all round development. We have a rich assortment of co-curricular activities. The diverse programmes and activities aimed at fostering quality of mind, ethical standards, global vision & social cognizance, let the students shape their own TIET experience and grow. A Kaleidoscope of highly stimulating and innovative activities and events have played a key role in developing Exploration and Innovative Problem Solving, thus enabling the students to become more assertive and pro-active learners. The different societies and clubs at TIET provide the students an opportunity to explore, experiment, evaluate, adopt and apply what they have learnt and their outstanding performance in various events like hackathons, debates, dance performances, best design of formula car etc is the endorsement for the same. We advise the fresher students to become part of any society or club of their choice at TIET, as it’s a great stress buster. Indulging in co-curricular pursuits is akin to meditation, and therefore, students must balance time between academics and hobby pursuits. We have always believed that academics and sports supplement each other in realizing and unravelling the student’s full potential. Sports empower students to cope with the challenges of an increasingly competitive world. We have numerous sports facilities in the campus namely Basketball, tennis, lawn tennis, swimming, cricket, football, volleyball, handball, hockey, badminton, chess etc. In addition, we have the yoga room and the gym hall.”
Congratulating the winners of URJA 2024, and lauding the painstaking efforts of all the members of the organizing team, Gurbinder Singh, Registrar TIET said, “URJA 2024 has been a grand success, and every student and staff member who contributed in making this possible, deserves all round plaudits. Thapar Institute is a name to reckon for students from all over the globe as our curriculum is designed to ensure the all-round development of each student. We organize student events at a frequent pace, and this is what makes life so fascinating.”
