The 21st of March… A day when energy levels are at its peak! When a million activities are organized and the celebrations go on into the wee hours of the day. A day that marks the genesis of Light & Life Academy. A day that marks the culmination of an entire batch’s hard work and creative expression… and this year was no different!
From students, staff, alumni and faculty, everyone works together to ensure that the 21st of March is a day that won’t be forgotten anytime soon.
This year, the celebrations were spread over 2 days, the 20th and 21st of March.
Day 1: 20th March
The halls of LLA rang with the all too familiar howls, shrieks, yells, hugs, high fives and laughter of the graduating ‘Batch 17’. The ‘meet and greet’ quickly turned into a ‘meet- and eat’, with a scrumptious lunch to ensure that the students got their fair share of nutritional intake before the fun and games were to start!
Competitive spirits were unusually high as both the current and the graduating batch were ready to face off in sports like Football, Table Tennis and Tug-of-War! The current batch had also organized several fun games like Suck it up, Cookie on my Face, Paper Ball in a Bin, Marshmallow Basket, Hoop Luck, Hit the Pyramid, Blindfolded Bowling and so on.
That was just the beginning of all the fun for the day. Little did the graduating batch know that their beloved Akkas and Annas had a surprise for them waiting in the Auditorium! The surprise- A fashion show by the Akkas and Annas in which they walked the ramp to popular film numbers! The audience went ballistic and thoroughly enjoyed the very spirited performance… At the end of the show was a mad scramble for selfies with the Akkas and Annas. No one’s forgetting this show anytime soon!
Having spent sometime in awestruck wonderment at the performance of a lifetime, the students then ascended into street food heaven! LLA invited the most popular vendors in Ooty to set up their stalls in the parking lot. The result: Unlimited cotton candy, raw mango, boiled peanuts, puffed rice mixture, Vada Pav and Bhel Puri!
All the students then came together and brought a wonderful day to a close with some great music around a bonfire in the football field.
Day 2: 21st March
The eagerly awaited graduation and annual day was finally here! The campus looked resplendently beautiful with the reception area, the auditorium and the dining areas decorated beautifully by the students. Environment friendly cloth banners were placed at different areas in the campus with messages to welcome the students and the guests. The auditorium was packed with Parents, Alumni and guests besides the graduating batch.
The Chief Guest and Keynote speaker for the day was Mr D Shivakumar, Group Executive President – Strategy & Business Development at the Aditya Birla Group.
Click here for Mr. D. Shivakumar’s speech
Degrees were then handed over by Mr.Iqbal to all those who had successfully finished their One Year Professional Photography Course as well as to those who completed their Diploma courses in Photo Journalism and Travel & Nature, respectively. Alumni and parents were invited to speak and share their thoughts and experiences. This was followed by musical performances from Abhijit, Avez , Surya Nair and graduating students Ishaan Agarwal and Chandrasekhar.
Lunch was a really sumptuous, buffet affair with a delectable spread of dishes lovingly cooked and catered by The Sulllivan Court.
Post that, it was time for photographs. Students vied with one another to have pictures taken with their Chief Mentor, Mr Iqbal.
The evening was then spent by students of all the batches celebrating Holi and their final moments on campus, together
The time I spent in LLA was the best year of my life!
Whatever we got in college was just amazing and we truly loved it! The sessions, explanations, critiques, constant feedback, the way we were taken care of, the love we got, all the fun we had, the list can just go on. (We often used to cook in the kitchen with the Akkas, and I’d never felt that it wasn’t my kitchen.)
Yes, we had to deal with hectic schedules, the deadlines, strict discipline, scolding etc, but what we received was beyond all this and all of it was for our betterment only.
We got to meet Iqbal sir, whose persona is something that needs to be felt and can’t be described in words. He is such a great personality with a humble heart. And a great sense of humor of course! We got to learn so much in each and every conversation with him, be it formal or just casual, it didn’t matter.
This institute is the best Photography institute in the country for all these reasons and many more.
I constantly keep looking for reasons to come back to my College, my Home- Light & Life Academy.
– Anurag Katailiha
Batch’18 did a brilliant job of recreating old memories for us. Rewarding us with some snacks for the one minute games reminded us of the times we shared food during tea break, the matches reminded us of when we used to run to the table tennis room between shoots. The fashion show put up by the annas and akkas just showed us that they would still do anything to put a smile on our faces. Arranging cotton candy, kadala and manga for evening snacks just brought back memories of us strolling around the Ooty market in the evening. The idea of making one-liners describing us along with a caricature was the highlight of my day. I still cannot believe I have graduated already. Light and Life has taught me more than just photography. Right from the faculties to the akkas and annas, they have taught me to be a good person first. I will cherish these days for the rest of my life and will do it all over again in a heartbeat.
– Thurrya
It was a proud moment to be graduating from one of India’s finest photography institutions. It felt complete. We move from college into the real world with so much confidence in the technical aspects of photography.
– Yuthe Parthiban
First off I’m thankful to the college for giving me an opportunity to host one of the most important events at LLA.
I was a bit nervous when it first came to me as I had never done this before but as I started working on it, things started coming together and I started to learn quite a few things about myself.
It was absolutely fantastic to be a part of the organizing team and hosting the event.
2 days full of madness, fun, inspiration & encouragement.
While I was given the responsibility to manage & plan the games & engaging activities for the students of Batch 17 & 18, I learnt that no matter how old we were, there’s always a child in all of us and we constantly keep that fire burning.
Organizing and managing in the two days made me understand the importance of communication. Which is one of the key aspects to becoming a great photographer.
All in all, I had an absolute blast and would never a take a backseat in the face of such opportunities! Thank you.
– Daksh Chindalia