Saathi Trivia Weekend #Finale

With the end of Day 1, and spirits pumped, came Day 2. The second day of the Saathi Trivia Weekend was one to be filled with nervousness, competitiveness, and anticipation. Anticipation for the fun, the games, the interaction, and the much-awaited prize distribution.

The four teams Jagat Bhari, Nusta Rada, Bass Ka Bhava, and Vishay Hard came guns blazing for the finale which was conducted on May 2, 2021, at 5:00 pm. With the attendance of 87 volunteers, including the alumni of Saathi, the event started.

Bhavesh and Dhiraj, the student coordinators of Saathi, began the session by inviting all the teams, the alumni, and the audience. Like all other finales that begin with some singing and dancing, this one could not be left out. Aniket Bende, India’s first blind rapper, who has received recognition worldwide, graced our stage and set it on fire with his hardcore rapping skills. This sent our blood rushing and made us even more excited for the activities to come.

With all the teams hyped, and the need to win buzzing in the air, began the first activity. In this game, the teams were given a letter from the alphabet, and they had to bring two common items starting from this letter. For instance, Team Nusta Rada was given the letter L, with the decided objects being a lemon and lighter. One member however brought a highlighter which left everyone in splits.

The next game’s premise was set in the very beloved Gokuldham society. Titled Saathi’s Scavenger Hunt, this game had 3 stages. The first was Khana Khazana where Jethalal was sad because of the pandemic and was craving a three-course meal. In starters, dishes like Masala papad, in the main course Paratha and Biryani, and in the dessert Sheera was present. The second stage was to make some refreshing drinks like the special Chai, Mattha, and summer lemonade. The contestants had to raid their kitchens (much to the parents’ chagrin) in search of the ingredients that made up these dishes. After this round two teams, Nusta Rada and Bass Ka Bhava were eliminated.

The third and final stage of Saathi’s Scavenger Hunt was played between Vishay Hard and Jagat Bhaari, one who would become the winner of the Saathi Trivia Weekend. This round was called Sabka Saath Sabka Vikaas. This premise was set in the Big Boss House’s Living Area. The teams were given two riddles, one at a time which they had to solve amongst themselves on WhatsApp. Once the answer was guessed by either of the teams and confirmed by the organizers, contestants of both teams could bring the object.

Team Vishay Hard won the round by a large margin and was awarded the Spotify Premium membership. The blind student in the team won the subscription to Storytel.

The next in the schedule was the farewell ceremony. Bhakti, the third coordinator, introduced Vishal Palve, Vaishnavi Bagde, Yogesh Mitkari, Amol Masalkhamb, Raju, Karishma, Sumit Honwadajkar, Nachiket Kharote, and Anirudh Lele, the alumni of the year 2019-20. A video was presented to honor their dedication and commitment towards Saathi. The video was filled with nostalgia and was a celebration of their unique traits, their endeavors, and their experiences during their time in A3.

Bhakti then called upon the #Aatank Vishal Palve, the ex-coordinator of Saathi, who undertook the Let’s Record initiative. He was in all praises of the volunteers and the coordinators and was proud about the number of activities conducted, even with the difficulties the pandemic presented. Yogesh Mitkari, the most positive person of Saathi, was called upon next, who kept his speech extremely short, appreciating the effort of his seniors, classmates, and his juniors. Vaishnavi Bagde, one of the core members spoke next, appreciating the very existence of Saathi and how it sets apart Fergusson College from other distinguished institutes for disabled students.

Then came the much-awaited awards ceremony. Dubbed as the Virtual Awards Evening, coordinators and volunteers were presented with some comical awards increasing the entertainment factor of the evening. A surprise came in the form of Ashish Talreja, the ex-coordinator of Saathi when he graced the evening with his presence. He appreciated the efforts taken by the coordinators and the SET (Saathi Executive Team) to manage Saathi and their ability to conduct such activities in these bad times.

The Trivia Weekend, which was the last one for the academic year 2020-21, was concluded with a vote of thanks and the hand-over of the responsibility to take forward the legacy of Saathi and to reach new and greater heights.

Some feedback from volunteers:

“It was the best part of this activity. I was not able to join initially due to network problems at my place. But later when I joined, I realized I missed a big part. I loved the comfortable environment between seniors and us. It was fun interacting with last-to-last year’s coordinators and getting to know about Saathi and how did it start and developed in these years. The competitions were fun, though we lost, we earned beautiful memories from this activity. I can’t find words to describe how relaxing and interactive this session was.”

“Coordinators were good as always, the way they planned and executed it online was amazing. They tried hard not to make us feel that we missed all the fun of the first year due to Covid. I really want to thank coordinators and leaders for arranging such activity and making us feel like we are in college.”

“Our visually impaired friends got involved with a lot of enthusiasm and we enjoyed each other’s company. They played the games with us and interacted freely with us and we had great team spirit together!”

“Yes!! I had never expected that the boring Teams screen could be made so entertaining and joyful but our coordinators did it and help us get relaxed and chilling time. It was fun knowing our fellows and blind students with whom we are working for a year.”