Embracing the Joy of Youth: My Experience at Bhav Gunjan 2025

This blog is about my experience at the Bhav Gunjan Youth Festival 2025, an event full of energy, creativity, and new ideas from young people. It is part of my observation task, where I try to connect the performances I saw with the literary theories we learn in class. I wrote this with the helpful guidance of Prof. Dilip Barad, who encouraged us to watch and enjoy the festival carefully, thinking deeply about each performance while also appreciating its beauty.

Bhav Gunjan — the very name radiates youthful enthusiasm. The 33rd inter-college festival at Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University, held from October 8th to 11th, 2025, was a lively mix of creativity, knowledge, and inspiration. In this blog, I share my experiences — shaped by the colorful events, thoughtful literary connections, and memorable moments I gathered throughout the festival.

Here’s the event brochure and schedule:

8th October 2025

The Youth Festival began on October 8th, 2025, with the lively Kala Yatra — a vibrant parade that moved from Shamaldas Arts College to J.K. Sarvaiya College. Different colleges and departments participated, presenting creative displays that highlighted important social issues. The performances focused on topics such as the increasing number of rape cases, the preservation of Gujarat’s cultural identity, problems in the education system, and the harmful effects of social media. Among them, Swami Sahajanand College’s powerful performance “Operation Sindoor” stood out, turning the parade into a strong message of social awareness and change.

                         

9th October 2025

Opening Ceremony of Bhav Gunjan

The inauguration was filled with beautiful music and joyful energy. University leaders and special guests delivered inspiring speeches about the power of youth and the role of cultural festivals in building character. I felt truly proud to be part of an event that perfectly combined creativity and intellect. Students from our department also gave a warm welcome to the guests by performing a chorus song with great enthusiasm.

To watch the live broadcast, check out these videos –

This video features the “SURGUNJAN” performances held at the New Court Hall.

This video highlights the “RASAGUNJAN” event that took place at The Atal Auditorium.

These videos feature the Tribal Dance – “Adivasi Nritya” performances. They beautifully showcase Gujarat’s rich cultural and literary heritage, turning regional myths and folk tales into expressive dance movements. By bringing these traditional art forms to an academic platform, the festival honors the deep connection between literature and performance, keeping oral and written traditions alive while giving them new meaning for contemporary audiences.

10th October 2025

This video features the dramatic performances “Ekanki,” also known as Single Act Plays.

This video highlights the Ekanki or Single Act Play performances organized by the university to encourage both literary and performing arts. These plays vividly bring literature to life through dramatic expression, adapting stories, themes, and characters from both classic and contemporary works. By performing these monodramas, students not only develop their creative and expressive abilities but also help build a rich literary atmosphere that connects audiences with social, moral, and cultural themes.

This video features the “Western Instrumental (Solo)” performances.

This video features a solo Western instrumental performance from the third day of the Bhav Gunjan Youth Festival at Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University (MKBU). Showcasing individual talent and artistic variety, the performance blends Western classical and modern styles, encouraging cultural exchange through music. In harmony with the festival’s literary and artistic vision, instrumental music reflects emotions, stories, and ideas much like poetry and prose. The event beautifully demonstrates how music and literature work together to inspire creativity and build a shared cultural experience.

This video features the “Mime” performances.

This video highlights the “Mime” performances, where performers convey stories and emotions entirely through facial expressions and body language, without speaking. Deeply connected to literature, mime transforms written and spoken stories into visual art, expressing universal themes such as love, sorrow, and justice. At youth festivals, these performances creatively reimagine literary concepts, uniting art and literature while captivating audiences beyond the limits of language, celebrating storytelling in its most expressive and pure form.

This video features the performances of the “Folk Orchestra.”

This video features the “Folk Orchestra” performances, highlighting traditional instruments and tunes that honor regional culture and heritage. Folk music shares a close bond with literature through its poetic lyrics, storytelling, and preservation of oral traditions passed down over time. By showcasing these performances, the festival demonstrates how music acts as a living form of literary art, blending narrative, poetry, and cultural identity to enhance its artistic richness and cultural diversity.

In the Classical Instrumental (Melodic) category, Sandipkumar Jethava from the Department of English delivered a soulful and captivating performance. His precise rhythm and graceful melody created an atmosphere of serenity and devotion. Every note he played revealed his deep passion and commitment to Indian classical music. The audience listened with full attention, absorbed in the purity and flow of his music. His performance perfectly illustrated how music, when filled with emotion and mastery, can move people in ways that words cannot.

This video features the performances under the “Creative Choreography” category.

This video presents stunning performances from the “Creative Choreography” event, highlighting imaginative dance sequences that blend various styles and themes to express the creativity of today’s youth. The connection to literature is seen in the storytelling and emotional depth conveyed through movement, as many routines draw inspiration from literary themes, characters, and symbols. Through this expressive art form, written and spoken ideas are transformed into powerful visual stories, allowing the audience to experience literature through dance. The event beautifully reflects the festival’s aim to celebrate both traditional and contemporary art forms, encouraging young performers to explore creativity in a more meaningful and unified way.

This video features the “Classical Singing (Solo)” performances.

11th October 2025

This video highlights the closing events of the “Bhav Gunjan” Youth Festival.

My Interpretation and Observation Regarding BHAV GUNJAN YOUTH FESTIVAL 2025

The Bhav Gunjan Youth Festival 2025 was a truly wonderful experience, giving me the chance to see the wide range of talents and creative energy within our university.

At the Opening Ceremony, I felt especially proud watching our classmates Radhika Mehta and Shruti Sonani from the Department of English perform in the Folk Group Singing category. Their sweet voices and confident stage presence wonderfully showcased our department’s talent, blending the charm of folk tradition with the vibrant energy of youth.

Quiz

In the Quiz Competition, the brilliant team from the Department of English — Rutvi Pal, Sanket Vavadiya, and Rajdeep Bavaliya — displayed exceptional quick thinking and impressive general knowledge. Their teamwork, confidence, and sharp presence of mind made them shine among all the participants. With consistent performance across every round, they earned the 2nd Rank, bringing great pride to our department. Watching their hard work and intelligence being appreciated at the Youth Festival was a truly joyful and proud moment for all of us.

                                   

                                      

                                         

Besides these events, I also attended the Debate Competition as part of the audience, where our department’s participants, Shehzad Chokiya and Bhargav Makwana, delivered strong and well-structured arguments on modern issues like politics, mass media, and other current affairs. Their clarity, confidence, and depth of thought made their presentations truly impressive.

Here’s a photograph of the participants and volunteers from the Department of English, along with our professors.

In the Paper Collage Competition, Vanita Baraiya from the Department of English showcased her creativity and dedication through a stunning artwork crafted entirely from small paper pieces. Her collage, depicting beautifully arranged earthen pots against a colorful background, artistically captured the beauty of everyday simplicity and cultural warmth.

My first experience at the university’s Youth Festival was both inspiring and memorable. As a newcomer, I was deeply impressed by the range and quality of performances that celebrated student creativity and culture. The event offered a vivid introduction to the university’s dynamic spirit, leaving me eager to participate in more such moments ahead.

Thank you...

 

Women, Voice, and Power in Aphra Behn’s The Rover

Exploring Angellica’s View on Marriage and Virginia Woolf’s Tribute to Aphra Behn

This blog is part of a Thinking Activity given by  Megha Trivedi Ma'am  on The Rover By Aphra Behn. In it, I will reflect on a few key questions about the novel and attempt to answer them.

Introduction

Aphra Behn (1640–1689) stands as one of the most remarkable and revolutionary figures in English literature. She was not only the first professional woman writer in English but also one of the earliest voices to challenge the patriarchal values that dominated the Restoration period. Her play The Rover (1677) offers a vivid portrayal of love, desire, and gender politics in a society where women were often viewed as commodities. Through sharp wit, bold female characters, and complex moral questions, Behn exposes the hypocrisy of men and the double standards of society.

In The Rover, Behn gives us two striking female characters—Angellica Bianca, a famous courtesan, and Hellena, a witty young woman determined to choose her own destiny. Both women challenge the conventions that bind them, though in different ways. Angellica, in particular, expresses a radical idea for her time: she equates marriage negotiations to prostitution, questioning the moral foundation of a system that reduces women to objects of economic exchange.

Centuries later, the modernist writer Virginia Woolf praised Aphra Behn in her essay A Room of One’s Own (1929). Woolf wrote, “All women together ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn, for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds.” Woolf’s tribute recognized Behn’s courage to live by her pen and to assert women’s intellectual and creative independence in a male-dominated society.

This blog will explore two key questions inspired by Behn’s The Rover:

1. Does Angellica Bianca’s comparison of marriage to prostitution hold truth?

2. Was Virginia Woolf right in calling Aphra Behn a pioneer who gave women the right to speak their minds?

To answer these, we will discuss Behn’s life and context, analyze her characters, and understand how The Rover continues to inspire feminist thought even today.

Aphra Behn: The First Professional Woman Writer

Before we explore the play, it is essential to know the woman behind it. Aphra Behn lived in a time when women were not encouraged—or even allowed—to write professionally. Born around 1640, Behn’s early life is somewhat mysterious, but it is believed that she traveled to Surinam (in South America) in her youth, an experience that inspired her later novel Oroonoko (1688).

Behn later served as a spy for King Charles II during political conflicts in the Netherlands. However, after being left unpaid by the Crown, she turned to writing for her livelihood—something almost unheard of for a woman in the 17th century. She became one of the first women in England to earn her living by writing plays, poetry, and fiction.

Her success came during the Restoration period (1660–1700), a time when the monarchy was restored after the Puritan rule and theaters reopened. The Restoration age was marked by lively, often bawdy comedies that explored themes of love, wit, and desire. However, these plays were also dominated by male playwrights who often portrayed women as secondary characters or mere love interests.

Behn changed that. She wrote plays that gave women complexity, intelligence, and moral voice. Her heroines were not silent or submissive—they questioned men’s hypocrisy and demanded the right to choose their destinies. In doing so, Behn laid the foundation for later generations of women writers and thinkers.

Understanding The Rover

The Rover was first performed in 1677 and quickly became one of Behn’s most popular plays. Set in Naples during the Carnival, the play follows a group of English cavaliers (including Willmore, the “rover” or wandering lover) and several women—Florinda, Hellena, and Angellica Bianca—whose lives intersect in a web of love, lust, and power.

The Carnival setting is symbolic—it represents a world turned upside down, where normal rules of class and gender are temporarily suspended. Masks and disguises allow characters to express desires they usually suppress. This atmosphere allows Behn to explore serious social questions under the guise of comedy.

The play’s central tension revolves around freedom and constraint—especially women’s freedom to love, speak, and choose. Through Angellica and Hellena, Behn examines the limited choices women have in a patriarchal society and the ways they navigate those restrictions.

1. Angellica Bianca and the Economics of Marriage

 Who is Angellica Bianca?

Angellica Bianca is one of the most complex female characters in Restoration drama. She is a famous courtesan, admired and desired by wealthy men, including Don Pedro and Don Antonio. She charges a high price for her love, symbolized by the portrait she hangs outside her house—an open invitation to bidders. Yet beneath her glamour and confidence, Angellica is deeply emotional and vulnerable.

When she meets Willmore, the charming and reckless English rover, she experiences genuine love for the first time. However, Willmore’s love is fleeting; he betrays her, reminding her of the harsh reality that women like her are judged by different standards than men.

Angellica’s View: Marriage and Prostitution

One of the most striking ideas in The Rover is Angellica’s claim that marriage itself is not so different from prostitution. She observes that in both cases, a woman’s body and affection are exchanged for money or financial security. The difference, she suggests, is only in social respectability, not in the underlying transaction.

In the 17th century, marriages among the upper and middle classes were rarely based on love. They were economic arrangements—families negotiated dowries, property, and social alliances. Women had little say in whom they married, and their worth was often measured by the wealth or status they could bring.

Angellica’s insight exposes the double standard of her society: a courtesan is condemned for selling her body, while a wife is praised for doing the same thing in the name of marriage. Behn uses Angellica’s voice to criticize a world where women’s choices are limited to being a wife, a mistress, or a nun—each role restricting freedom in a different way.

Do We Agree with Angellica?

From a modern perspective, Angellica’s statement carries a strong feminist truth. While marriage today has evolved beyond its purely economic basis, Behn’s era was steeped in patriarchal control. Angellica’s comparison is not meant to insult marriage itself but to highlight women’s lack of agency in choosing their partners and defining their worth.

Her words echo through history as a powerful critique of gender inequality. Even today, in many societies, the financial aspect of marriage remains significant, and women’s autonomy can still be limited by cultural expectations.

Thus, agreeing with Angellica means recognizing that Behn used her character to expose hypocrisy—to show how society condemns one form of female “exchange” while accepting another under a respectable name.

Angellica as a Tragic Figure

Angellica’s tragedy lies in her desire to experience love as a woman, not as a commodity. When she falls for Willmore, she abandons her professional control and opens her heart. But Willmore treats her as one more conquest, reflecting the broader male tendency to exploit women’s vulnerability.

In the end, Angellica is left betrayed and furious, pointing a gun at Willmore in a moment of desperate rage. Yet her pain is not merely personal—it represents the betrayal of all women who trust in love in a world that values them only for what they can offer men.

Through Angellica, Behn gives voice to the emotional and moral complexity of a woman who refuses to be simplified into the role of either sinner or saint. She is both victim and critic of the patriarchal system—a woman aware of her exploitation yet striving for dignity and affection.

2. Virginia Woolf’s Tribute: Aphra Behn and Women’s Right to Speak

Centuries after Aphra Behn’s death, Virginia Woolf—one of the most influential feminist writers of the 20th century—recognized her immense contribution. In A Room of One’s Own (1929), Woolf argued that for a woman to write fiction, she must have money and a room of her own—symbols of economic independence and personal freedom.

In this context, Woolf celebrated Behn as a trailblazer:

“All women together ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn, for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds.”

This statement is more than praise—it is an acknowledgment of Behn’s courage to live by her writing at a time when women had no voice in public or intellectual life.

Watch this video for more information.....

Why Aphra Behn Deserved This Praise

1. Breaking Gender Barriers:
   Behn was the first Englishwoman to earn her living through writing. By doing so, she proved that women could be professional artists, not merely muses or readers. Her success challenged the notion that intellect and creativity were masculine qualities.

2. Writing Women as Individuals:
   In The Rover, Behn gives her female characters agency, wit, and sexual desire. Unlike typical Restoration heroines, they are not passive objects of male pursuit. Hellena, for instance, actively pursues Willmore and refuses to be silenced or confined to a convent. This portrayal was revolutionary.

3. Speaking Bold Truths:
   Behn’s plays often addressed taboo topics—sexuality, hypocrisy, and social inequality. She used comedy and irony to reveal moral contradictions. In doing so, she spoke her mind in a way few women dared to in her time.

4. Inspiring Future Generations:
   Woolf’s admiration shows that Behn’s legacy endured. Every woman who writes today—whether fiction, poetry, or criticism—stands on the foundation that Behn helped build. She proved that a woman’s voice could command the public stage.

Connection Between Behn and Woolf

Both Aphra Behn and Virginia Woolf fought against silence—though in different centuries. Behn fought to exist as a writer; Woolf fought for women to be heard as equals.

Behn’s achievement was practical—she earned money through her art, proving women’s economic independence possible. Woolf’s was philosophical—she gave women the intellectual tools to claim their creative space.

Together, they form a lineage of feminist thought: from Behn’s defiant heroines to Woolf’s reflective essays, both writers argue that women must have control over their own minds, bodies, and destinies.

Women’s Voice and Freedom in The Rover

Aphra Behn’s The Rover is not just a romantic comedy—it is a subtle social protest. Her female characters—Florinda, Hellena, and Angellica—each represent different responses to patriarchal control.

• Florinda is the obedient daughter, yet she fights for the right to marry for love rather than wealth.

• Hellena is witty and rebellious, determined to avoid a life of confinement in a convent.

• Angellica represents the woman society condemns yet secretly depends upon—a woman who sees through the hypocrisy of men.

In a world where women are expected to be silent, Behn’s heroines speak their minds, pursue their desires, and question authority. This defiance reflects Behn’s own struggle as a woman writer who refused to remain silent.

Feminist Themes in The Rover

1. Double Standards:
   Men like Willmore can freely express their sexual desires, but women like Angellica are punished for doing the same. Behn exposes this moral hypocrisy.

2. Freedom and Choice:
   Behn’s women desire freedom—not just sexual but intellectual. Hellena’s playful wit is a weapon against male control, while Angellica’s speeches are cries for respect.

3. Love and Economics:
   The play links love to money, showing how both marriage and prostitution are bound by financial negotiation. Behn suggests that true freedom for women can only exist when love is separated from economic dependence.

4. Masks and Identity:
   During the Carnival, masks allow characters to escape social boundaries. For Behn, this represents a temporary liberation—a glimpse of a world where women can define themselves.

Conclusion

Aphra Behn’s The Rover remains one of the most powerful plays of the Restoration era because it dares to challenge the moral and social structures of its time. Through Angellica Bianca’s sharp critique of marriage and her tragic longing for genuine love, Behn exposes the commodification of women in a patriarchal society. Her voice—bold, witty, and fearless—calls for women’s emotional and economic independence.

Virginia Woolf’s tribute captures Behn’s legacy perfectly. By living and writing as a woman in a world that denied her both respect and equality, Aphra Behn earned not only her livelihood but also the right for all women to speak, write, and think freely.

To agree with both Angellica and Woolf is to recognize the truth that runs through centuries: women’s liberation begins when they gain control over their voice and their value. Behn’s courage to write was an act of rebellion; her words opened a door that has never been closed since.

As modern readers, we continue to “let flowers fall upon her tomb”—not merely in tribute, but in gratitude—for giving us the courage to question, to speak, and to create.

Refrences

        The Rover by Aphra Behn Plot summary | LitCharts. (n.d.). LitCharts. Retrieved October 9, 2025, from https://share.google/fof9L5OjnKGY4GXwQ

     Contributors to Wikimedia projects. (2025a, September 5). The Rover (play). Wikipedia. https://share.google/Jyc2fBvQG3LVfX0wa

           https://youtu.be/mJT_AIdn2xg?si=cwtKZ3GHBcvw-pa5

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