I would like to clarify that Milagro was actually started in 1994.

Praveen Moorthy and myself along with a few others used to attend inter collegiate fests in early 1994 and wanted UVCE to have a festival of its own. The thought was daunting as we were still in the 4th semester and were not sure if UVCE could attract the crowd as seen in other colleges. I have to say it surely was an arduous process trying to get sponsors.

The idea started taking shape and Shashank Hedge who was the President in 1994 got involved as well. He was instrumental as well in making the first Milagro happen. So here are a few interesting snippets from the first Milagro in 1994. It was a 2 day festival.

  • (i) We were desperate for any kind of sponsorship. I remember roaming around the industrial belt of Peenya asking establishments which were basically nothing but 4 walls with a tin roof for sponsorship.
  • (ii) We intended to have a tech fair on the first day (Rs.5000 per stall) and approached many companies, but none were interested. Praveen and myself were given an earful from a Cranes Software guy for not being really clear about the focus of the tech fair. In the end though, they did take a stall and sadly enough, they were the only ones.
  • (iii) Pepsi agreed to sponsor the rock show on the 2nd day of the festival, but backed away at the last minute. Praveen and myself camped out at the Pepsi office for a few hours until we got a cheque for Rs.50,000. I still remember riding through the rain with Pepsi banners wrapped all around us.
  • (iv) The rock show on the 2nd day was by a trash metal group called ‘Warden’. Some of Warden’s members went on to form ‘Millenium’. The rock show was a huge success and laid the initial foundation of Milagro I suppose.

The second Milagro in 1995 was relatively easy and was a 3 day festival.

The third Milagro in 1996 was the year we were passing out. Praveen Moorthy became the President and did a fantastic job of seeing the festival through. Hero Honda was the main sponsor, but they also backed out towards the end. The group of about 20-30 students went to the Hero Honda office on M.G.Road and staged a protest. Finally they relented and provided sponsorship. Millenium was the main attraction for the rock show on the 3rd and final day.

There were a lot of folks involved right from the beginning, who without their contributions, Milagro would not exist. If I start naming them, I fear that I would leave someone out.

Nonetheless, Milagro was one of life’s lessons that I carry with me till this day, that nothing is impossible. We were able to start something that has grown so monumental and left an indelible mark in UVCE’s history.

Praveen has maintained all the memorabilia from the very first Milagro and am sure would be happy to share them, to include in any future newsletters.

I thought that this piece of history needed to be presented accurately for present and future UVCEians going forwards.

Vijay Subramaniam, 1996 EEE