Verba Maximus

Verba Maximus (abbreviated VM) is the annual literary festival of BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus. It is one of the 4 fests (Controversial) conducted in the college, the other 3 being Atmos, Pearl and Arena. It is a national event, held usually in the last weeks of January or the first week of February. Regional rounds, preceding the main fest in Hyderabad, are generally conducted in major metropolitan cities like Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam and feature events like Just a Minute (JAM), spell bee, and debate.^[1][2]

Verba Maximus
Verba Maximus 2018 Logo
Genre	Literary festival
Location(s)	Hyderabad, India, India
Founded	2011
Sponsor	BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus
Website	bitsvm.in

History

Eight editions of the fest have been conducted over the years, the latest of which was held over 19–21 January 2018. The multi-lingual fest is organised by English Language Activities Society (ELAS), Journal Club and Hindi Tarang, which are student organisations at BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus.^[3] The first edition of the fest took place in 2011, less than three years after the campus became fully operational.^[4]

Verba Maximus 2016

Verba Maximus 2016 (VM16) was held on 30th and 31 January 2016.^[5] VM16 had events like Yin Yang (writing two sides of the same story), Words of a Feather (weaving a story around words that are announced one at a time), Picture Perspective (writing stories around a picture shown), apart from the regular events lit-quiz, group discussion and debate.^[6][7] Harimohan Paruvu, cricketeer and author, hosted a session at the fest.^[8] Stand-up comedian Biswa Kalyan Rath performed at VM16, which features a stand-up show every year.^[9][10][8]

Verba Maximus 2017

Verba Maximus 2017 (VM17) was held from 4–6 February 2017 and featured authors Ashwin Sanghi and Indu Balachandran, popular Quoran Balaji Vishwanathan as well as a show by stand-up comedian Kenny Sebastian.^[11][12]

Events

The fest has literary events like picture perspective (writing about a picture or image that is presented), a Hindi mock parliament called the "Youth Sabha", lit-quiz, debate, group discussion and Sherlocked, an investigative journalism event in which participants have to investigate a crime based on hints given to them. Some editions of the fest also had events like 'Pada Vinayasam', a Telugu crossword and writing event.^[13] Recent editions of the fest, including Verba Maximus 2018, have newer events like Man from Amorium (write a story around a given skeletal plot), Symphonies of the Soul (write about a clip of music that is played) and Devil's Advocate (defend an unpopular opinion or ideology).^[14]

External links

• bitsvm.in - official website of Verba Maximus
• Instagram Handle

References

1. "Verba Maximus fest at BITS Pilani from Jan 3". The Hans India. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
2. "Are you ready for Verba Maximus?". The Hindu. 30 December 2013. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
3. Nadadhur, Srivathsan (1 March 2016). "College fests: More than just memories". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
4. "BITS Facts & History". bits-pilani.ac.in. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
5. "Verba Maximus 2016-BITS Pilani Hyderabad". Retrieved 31 December 2017.
6. Kar, Suchit. "Verba Maximus 2016 - Campus Karma". Campus Karma. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
7. "Verba Maximus 2016". timeout.com. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
8. Nadadhur, Srivathsan (28 January 2016). "Verba Maximus at BITS Pilani, Hyderabad:Put on your literary caps". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
9. "Biswa Kalyan Rath - Stand Up Comedy at Verba Maximus - Buy tickets". goeventz.com. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
10. "Biswa Kalyan Rath - Stand Up Comedy at Verba Maximus | RITZ". RITZ Magazine. 16 January 2016. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
11. "Kenny Sebastian Live at BITS Pilani Hyderabad". timeout.com. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
12. Sebastian, Kenny (28 January 2017). "I am performing on the 6th of Feb at BITS :)https://twitter.com/tanmaiy_sri/status/825557653535485953 …". @knowkenny. Retrieved 31 December 2017. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
13. Nadadhur, Srivathsan (28 January 2016). "Verba Maximus at BITS Pilani, Hyderabad:Put on your literary caps". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
14. . bitsvm.in. Archived from the original on 28 December 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2017.