Opening Doorz

By Alancia Menezes | Opening Doorz Editorial | August 27, 2022

Malhar, the most-awaited annual intercollegiate festival of St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, during the monsoons, is back in full force. Keeping its 43-year-old legacy intact, Malhar 2022 known as one of Asia’s largest college festivals, has kept up to its expectations over the years. Year after year, it exceeds expectations. Malhar draws people from all over the country to participate in an array of events and gives them a platform to shine.

This year, the spectrum of Malhar 2022 events ranges from Indian and World Performing Arts to the Fine Arts and Literary Arts. That’s not all! Personality pageants such as the ‘Malhar Icon’ take you on an entertainment spree. The famous first day of Malhar called ‘Conclave’ has witnessed eminent guests in the past including our former President Late APJ Abdul Kalam, Dr. John Lennox, the Dalai Lama, and many more. 

Last year, we witnessed the ‘Parallax’ at Malhar 2021. The festival converged the physical and the online world with its virtual spin. This year, however, St. Xavier’s College is back after two whole years with an in-person Malhar experience like no other. 

Malhar 2022: Malhar Aurora—Transcending Horizons

The theme for Malhar 2022 which begins on Sunday, August 28 to Monday, is ‘Malhar Aurora—Transcending Horizons’. Inspired by Aurora, the Greek Goddess of Dawn, Malhar 2022 aims to open new avenues for students and help them reach beyond their potential. At Malhar 2022, one will break the barriers, rise beyond what limits them, and transcend horizons. 

The first day of Malhar called the ‘Conclave’  is a platform for enlightening discussions. This year, Malhar transcends its horizons and explores unheard of, unspoken, and untouched topics. The ‘Conclave’ consists of five segments—Keynote Session, General Session, Interactive Session, Panel Discussion, and the Performance Session.

Malhar 2022 Conclave speaker line-up (Keynote Speakers)

Bezwada Wilson: Honoured with the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2016, Bezwada Wilson is an Indian human rights activist and one of the founders and National Convenor of the Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA), an Indian human rights organization that has been campaigning for the eradication of manual scavenging, the construction, operation, and employment of manual scavengers which has been illegal in India since 1993. Wilson will speak on ‘Towards Transformation: Initiating Change Through Dialogue’.

Palki Sharma Upadhyay: Palki Sharma is an award-winning Indian news anchor and journalist who currently serves as the Managing Editor and news reader at WION and hosts India’s most-watched prime-time English news show called Gravitas Plus. Her illustrious career includes working for distinguished news channels like Doordarshan, CNN-News 18, and the newspaper Hindustan Times. Upadhyay will speak on ‘Objectivity and Opinion in Journalism’.

Kimberly Crasta: Vice Chairperson (Events), Malhar 2022

“It was a little sad not to have had Malhar these last two years in person. Everyone I’ve interacted with knows that Malhar and St. Xavier’s College are synonymous. Malhar is a rite of passage for a Xavierite and some of us who joined in Degree College missed out on that. This fresh batch that’s seeing Malhar after a gap of two years is all fired up. We’re offering a new perspective and interpreting Malhar in our way. At present, we’re leveraging the hybrid mode and ensuring that our workforce has a balance between the time spent on campus and working from home. Of course, certain departments need additional offline man hours.”

Aakarsh Nair: Vice Chairperson ( Management), Malhar 2022

“Missing out on an offline Malhar experience was upsetting for a few people who graduated from Xavier’s during the pandemic. However, we tried encompassing the feeling when we conducted an online Malhar last year. Overall, we have received a lot of positive feedback about the pre-events and general preparation for Malhar 2022. Be it the organisations that have collaborated with us as our partners, the contingents that are participating in the different events, or the attendees who have been a part of the different pre-events; we’ve delivered to our expectations. I feel the excitement and energy that surrounds Malhar has matched the standards it had set for itself before the pandemic, and we’ll be looking to witness that ‘live’, on August 28 and 29.”

Stay tuned to the official social media handle (@malharfest) for latest updates.

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