How does the Tejas competition work?
Step 1 – Form a team
Get the word out to friends you know might make good teammates. You need readers but you also need creative minds. Figure out who you want on this journey, who can be counted on to share the workload – whether it is reading books, mastering the content in the books, brainstorming ideas for events and most importantly who you enjoy working with. Good teammates will be your biggest asset in this competition.
(Pro tip – Make sure you form a well rounded team. Most of the events will need you to have a very sound understanding of the subject matter but you will also need to express yourself in the most creative ways.)
Come up with a team name. That is what you will be addressed throughout the competition.
(Pro Tip – Brainstorm a fun team name. You will get an opportunity to come up with a logo and energize your fan base during the course of the competition. Think of it the way you would when creating a social media handle. A creative fun name will go a long way)
Please ensure that every member of your team meets the eligibility requirements.
(Pro Tip – You don’t want to find yourself being disqualified at the end after being on this amazing journey of Tejas. The rewards for winners are handsome and not something you’d want to jeopardize)
To participate in Tejas 2024, you must be a resident in the United States of America as defined by the IRS (US citizens, permanent residents, on work visa, dependent visa, student visa). [https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/determining-an-individuals-tax-residency-status]
Divisions are based on the age of the participant on January 1, 2024.
To participate in Division 1 (14 – 18 years), the participant must be born between Jan 2, 2005 – Jan 1, 2010.
To participate in Division 2 (19 – 23 years), the participant must be born between Jan 2, 2000 – Jan 1, 2005. To participate in Division 3 (24 – 35 years), the participant must be born between Jan 2, 1988 – Jan 1, 2000.
All members of a team have to be in the same age bracket. (You cannot have one teammate who is 16 years old and another one who is 20 years old in the same team.)
Each team must have a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 3 members. (Pro Tip – Many of the events rely on creative expression. Building a 3 participant team will enable you to parallelize your effort while creating content.)
So long as participants meet the age and residential status criteria, their occupation is not a factor. They can be students or working professionals or home-schooled or anything else.
Teammates do not need to be co-located. So long as every participant meets the eligibility criteria, you can be from the same location or anywhere else in the country.
Step 2 – Sign Up (i.e. Register)
Registration for the competition opens on November 12, 2023 and closes when we reach a 1,000 sign ups or January 15, 2024, whichever is earlier. (Pro tip – Make sure you form a well rounded team. Most of the events will need you to have a very sound understanding of the subject matter but you will also need to express yourself in the most creative ways.)
In order to sign-up, you need the following:
- Your user information
- A team name that you come up with
- A detailed read through of FAQs and Terms of the Competition
- If you are a minor, you need permission from your parents to sign-up
- $99 registration fee payment
- Registration link
To register, go to https://dcfusa.org/tejas/ and click on Sign Up Now or Register button. If you have any questions while registering, email us at [email protected]
During the registration window, participants register their team with a team name. All team members can register at the same time or a single member can register and add other members later on but before the registration window closes.
Your registration is complete and counted towards the 1,000 sign-ups only after your registration fee of $99 per team is paid.
Registration fee is per team. You can pay the fee and secure your spot even if you have not identified all your teammates. You can add the remaining teammates until January 15th, 2024.
After you register, content will be made available in your portal. This will include a sample list of books, information about events and live presentations by authors that will help you prepare for the competition.
Step 3 – Read and master 4 books
Once you register, you will have access to the Tejas treasure trove which includes a sample list of books that will be part of the book competition and other material that will help you prepare for various events.
The final list of 4 books that will be required reading for this competition will be announced immediately after registration for the competition closes. There will be 4 different books for each division.
All books are thoughtfully curated to be age appropriate, non-religious, non-political and thoroughly vetted by our organizing committee. Books will be on topics such as Sciences, Architecture, Math, Medicine, Astrophysics, Music, Sculpture, Craft, Art, Language, Philosophy, History, Culture – all from Indic lens.
As with any competition, the amount of time you spend really depends on you. However, here are some guidelines to keep in mind.
Books will be under 400 pages, easy reads, requiring no more than 10 hours for average reading speed. You might want to read the books multiple times.
Prep time – For reading and mastering the content, we recommend that each teammate read every book, but split up the task of mastering the books amongst themselves. Initial reading of each book should take no more than 10 – 12 hours per book.
Pre-competition deliverable – Expect to spend 4-5 hours producing a high quality deliverable.
Competition time – The team should expect to be booked up most of the weekend when the competition round is held.
Through the competition season, teammates get together, delight in exchanging narratives they’ve explored, and prepare to demonstrate their unrivaled expertise on these literary works in the upcoming challenge.
Step 4 – Compete
Teams compete in 3 rounds over 3 weekends in Spring 2024. The rounds are Qualifiers, Semis and Finals.
Before round 1, teams will be required to send in an entry. The specific deliverable and the prompt for the deliverable will be shared 3 weeks before the due date. This is aimed at helping you prepare for the competition. The deliverable will be announced in February 2024. An example of the deliverable might be ‘Send a 200 word review about _________ book’.
The competition will have 3 rounds. Each round is weekend-long, with up to four events to demonstrate their knowledge of the books and show their creative expression. All teams participate in the first round – the qualifiers. This round will be online.
They will get points for their pre-round 1 submission plus for the events during round 1 weekend. A certain number of top teams (40 – 50) will make it to the 2nd round – the semis.
The semis will take place 2-5 weekends after the first round. There will be up to four events to demonstrate their deeper knowledge of the books. These events will be longer, with greater engagement from participants. The top 10 teams in each division will go to the 3rd and final round – the finals. This round will also be online.
The final round will take place in person over a weekend. This round will also have up to four events. The top winners of this round will take home huge prizes as detailed below.
For the pre-round entry and the first two rounds, you can use your laptop throughout the duration of the round. Feel free to use any resources online or offline. However, for round 3, which is an in-person round, you will not be able to use any online resources.
You cannot outsource the production of any information/ content to anyone other than your teammate. If found to do so, you will be immediately disqualified.
Tejas Awards
The journey of the competition is an award in itself. In addition to that, here are some of the awards at Tejas 2024.
The winning team will earn an award of $11,000
Finalists will have an opportunity to collaborate with bestselling authors in a variety of ways. Based on the fit between the authors and the participants, the following type of opportunities can be offered: doing research for an upcoming book, creating abridged versions of their books, re-writing their books for a different audience group or age group, creating an illustrated book using their content.
Opportunities to intern with DCF, partner organizations, next season of Tejas, other DCF initiatives like podcasting, conferences.
Every participant who completes the first round will get to post a linked-in badge on their profile.
Every participant will receive a certificate of participation
The monetary and opportunity rewards are huge. However, the biggest reward for participation might well be that you find your tribe. You will get a chance to build connections and network with like minded people. You will get to strengthen your bonds with your teammates and your roots while expanding your horizons.
Uncover a world that you’d likely not on your own
Discover entirely new genres of books, opening your mind to new ideas and philosophies that never surface in mainstream media.
Uncover the world’s largest literature collection you’ve missed out on.
Immerse yourself in must-have titles for your bookshelf
Examples of books that might be part of the reading list. Final list to be unveiled after registration closes on January 15, 2024.
Types of events
Dive into a variety of engaging events, each meticulously designed to put your literary prowess and innovative thinking to the test. Guaranteed enjoyment awaits as you immerse yourself in these uniquely crafted experiences.
Memefy This
Get creative with Memefy This – craft unique memes that encapsulate irony or convey powerful messages from provided prompts.
Essay
Unleash your literary flair by composing thoughtful essays inspired by handpicked prompts in the Essay event.
JAM
Test your verbal agility with Just-a-minute – speak uninterrupted on a given topic for 60 seconds!
Podcast
Deep-dive into stimulating prompt for a specified duration.
Mad Ads
MadAds calls for innovative advertisements promoting or explaining chosen topics/characters.
YouTube Shorts
YouTube Short encourages budding videographers to produce engaging shorts based on provided prompts
Spot It
Spot It challenges your acumen, as you discern differences between Indic and Western perspectives on various subjects.
Illustrate
Distill It engages you to encapsulate expansive books or ideas into concise sentences or paragraphs reflecting their essence.
Distill It
Test your verbal agility with Just-a-minute – speak uninterrupted on a given topic for 60 seconds!
Booklet Me
Booklet Me invites you to compile an engaging booklet revolving around a specific theme or prompt.
Who is organizing Tejas?
Tejas is organized by Dharma Civilization Foundation. Check us out at dcfuse.org.
DCF is a US based non-profit with the mission to bring you an Indic perspective on all aspects of life. We believe that ancient Indian wisdom has answers to many of our contemporary problems and making them accessible and relatable to you is our mission.