Bhubaneswar: Xavier University, Bhubaneswar (XUB) hosted the 12th edition of Democracy Wall– A free speech campus initiative by ThePrint, on 16th November 2018. The event aimed to offer a platform to the young guns to interact with the industry stalwarts from diverse backgrounds, speak their minds and voice their apprehensions and aspirations, on some of the present pressing issues of the millennial.  It emerged as a forum for open expression and healthy questioning of established ideas and notions and aimed to help the next generation of Indians emerge as involved citizens.

This edition of Democracy Wall at XUB witnessed the esteemed presence of the Indie Rap Artist, Big Deal; a young and empowering politician, Kalikesh Singh Deo; an incredibly witty Stand-up comedian, Rajneesh Kapoor and lastly, the winner of one of the nation’s highest civilian awards and a famous actor, Nandita Das.

First to speak at the platform was Rajneesh Kapoor, who with his amazing sense of humor, set the crowd in a mood of rejoice and exult. Rajneesh talked about various issues such as religion, politics and democracy in the present era and gave a kick-start to the event.

Next in line was Kalikesh Singh Deo, who was interviewed by a representative of ThePrint, for his work and motivation towards politics in the current Indian scenario. Kalikesh had rather strong and pressing views regarding the current situation of democracy and what he thinks should be the changes to impose a better governance. Kalikesh provided a medium of free speech and very calmly and  sensitively presented his views regarding the questions raised by the audience.

Moving forward, the popular Indie-rap artist, Big Deal, set the stage on fire with his scintillating performance in Odia-raps. The audience, including those who are not very much acquainted with the regional language, also thoroughly enjoyed his performance. Big Deal also launched a new Odia-rap in his performance and the crowd was left awestruck for the entire show.

Lastly, Nandita Das calmed everyone’s mood with her soothing talk and questionnaire round, being interviewed by a representative from ThePrint. She talked about her own experience as a multilingual actor and director and also mentioned her views regarding Democracy in the Indian context. She also shared what she feels about politics and also how she thought to shift from a full- fledged academic background, to the field of acting.

Towards the end, ThePrint announced the results of the Photography and Writing contest which was organized as a prelude to Democracy Wall. The winner for the Photography contest was KB Creations and for the Writing contest was Adyasha Panigrahi, from Xavier University, Bhubaneswar.

All the speakers were presented with mementos as a token of appreciation. The event concluded with a vote of thanks by Mr. Ashutosh Chaudhary, Coordinator, IlluminatiX – The Media and PR Cell of XUB.