The Graduates: They are the new faces of management, army style. The 2004 batch of the National Institute of Management Calcutta celebrates after its convocation ceremony, the sixth since the institute was established in 1997 by the Army Welfare Education Society, at Fort William on Saturday. Chief guest Aniruddha Lahiri, MD, ABP Pvt Ltd, delivered the keynote address. Picture by Pradip Sanyal

Smoking has become a “manly” thing to do, according to the latest edition of Student’s Dictionary. While men mirror macho images of their idols, many girls take to the different forms of tobacco due to the influences of their peer group. To keep the burgeoning statistics of smokers under control, Bhagirathi Neotia Woman and Child Care Centre has taken an initiative to spread awareness among young smokers.

Participating in the Hriday Shaan programme were 20 schools. The campaign consisted of activities like questionnaires and poetry, poster and debate competitions, eventually ending with the Student Health Parliament . The inter-school debate took place on August 26. Eight schools took part with two representatives from each, one for the motion and one against it. The topic was “The Global Tobacco Agreement will strengthen the Indian efforts in Tobacco Control”. There were various arguments for the motion, like without a beginning there is no end. The opposition said that the Framework Convention on Tobacco Framework will not be of use if people don’t realise the ill-effects of tobacco consumption.

On September 2, the Student Health Parliament took place at Kala Kunj. Issues ranging from health to finance were discussed, with occasional emotional outbursts from “ministers” adding to the flavour. The party names are worth mentioning. The ruling party was Swasti Seva Dal, the opposition, Samajdar Party. Other parties included Green-amul Party and We Can Party. During Question Hour, “ministers” were quizzed on issues relating to finance, health and family welfare.

Hriday Shaan was aimed at creating awareness among youngsters, and although it can’t be achieved in one day, the endeavour was a sound start.

Tanmoy Das Lala,
St Xavier’s Collegiate School

Song saga

They were the only team from Calcutta, but the ace dancers of Bhawanipur College rocked the stage at the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies fest in Mumbai recently. A repeat performance in Kala Mandir was lined up last week, for those who missed out. Picture by Rashbehari Das

One of the biggest national talent hunt contests, Hero Honda Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, has just wrapped up its final screening among college students in the city. From hundreds of entries for the initial selection on Friday, 13 guys and gals made it to the semi-final that was held on Saturday.

The GD Birla Sabhagar auditorium was full to capacity with cheerleaders from colleges, friends and family of the trembling 13, and music fans witnessed a three-and-a-half-hour event, which clubbed both the semi-final and the final among the top four.

A collection of Bollywood film songs from the 60s to recent releases comprised the fare offered by the hopefuls to judge Haimanti Shukla, who judged them on the basis of pronunciation, style of performance and sense of rhythm. For many, this was the first performance with a full orchestra and in front of an audience of 500. While being on centrestage robbed some of poise and calm, it acted as an energy-booster for others, who put in double the effort to win praise from judge and college mates. “I am wondering which song to sing. I want to choose something that will get me more applause,” said a confident Soptok Bhattacharya, who went on to win.

Relationship, responsibility, fear of failure, positive thinking, achievement orientation and more, through fun and games, were part of a recent three-day induction programme for students at Wigan and Leigh College. Picture by Pabitra Das

“A tough task,” admitted Haimanti Shukla, announcing the names of the four finalists, Soptok Bhattacharya, Soumyajit Das, Monalee Thakur and Ishita Chakraborty. Two rounds in the final had Soumyajit moistening a few eyes with his soulful rendition of Tu hi re, Soptok walking away with the biggest round of claps with Chappa chappa and the ladies doing their best with Monalee belting out the difficult composition originally sung by Reshma called Lambi judai and Ishita belting out Bairi piya, earlier sung by Sreya Ghosal, who is herself a find of Hero Honda Sa Re Ga Ma Pa.

The final results had Soptok walking away with not just the claps but the award, too, in the guys section, and Monalee topping the girls’ category. The duo will represent Calcutta in the various stages of the In Campus contest that will now take place between finalists from across the country.

Play for a cause

Monalee Thakur

Hitting the streets with a cause — to spread awareness on the perils of dowry, the members of the Legal Aid Society of the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (NUJS) staged Jagaran, a street play, at Sealdah station and the Nandan premises, on September 3.

Scripted and directed by the members of the society, the 20-minute production, documenting the story of Basanti, was aimed at making people aware of how the age-old system has crippled our society. It also advocated initiating a collective drive to wipe out this practice.

The response from passersby and onlookers was very “encouraging” for the 15-member team of the society, who have been organising various programmes across the state to increase awareness on various legal issues. Enthused by the feedback, the team is gearing up to take its production to other places in the city, like Victoria Memorial, and the districts.

War of words

It was a chance to live the rock-’n’-roll dream. College bands from the east made the most of it in the regional finals of Campus Rock Idols. Funeral Fire from Darjeeling emerged on top, while Afflatus came in second. They now head to the national finals in Mumbai next week. One of the bands in action at Nazrul Mancha on Friday. Picture by Pradip Sanyal

Alma Mater sentiments flew thick and fast as distinguished men fought over whether “the bureaucracy has failed the country” at the ALSOC Challenge Debate 2004 on September 5. Organised by the Alumnorum Societas and Xavier’s Old Boys Association, it saw the old boys from St Xavier’s Collegiate School and St Michael’s Patna battle it out.

The moderator was scientist and Xaverian Partho Ghosh, sporting the school tie. The first speaker, Prof N. Vishwanathan, verbally bashed the Michaelites before citing newspaper reports in which the vigilance commission had accused over 370 top bureaucrats of corruption. Michaelite Utpal Chatterjee countered that 370 of 40 million in India was an exception, not the rule.

Xaverian Roopen Roy of PricewaterhouseCoopers said the bureaucracy, not bureaucrats, had failed the country. Citing sky-high corruption levels and a redundant system, he proposed a seven-point plan.

Michaelite B. Bhaskar Rao, top cop in Bangalore, stressed on how bureaucrats had helped in nation-building. Diplomat and bureaucrat of 40 years Xaverian Dipak Rudra pointed out the problems of corruption, sloth and increasing numbers of civil servants, admitting that the bureaucracy had failed to deliver.

While general manager of Lafarge Cements Michaelite Neeraj Akhoury revealed that effective management in Indian bureaucracy had been proven to be among the best in the world, Xaverian Deborshi Barat, a first-year law student of NUJS and the youngest speaker, statistically proved how the typical bureaucrat worked for just one day in a year, how unapproachable they were, how ineffective the system was and how the “steel frame of the country” was redundant today.

Former civil aviation minister Michaelite Rajiv Pratap Rudy said it was the polity and politics, not bureaucracy. that ought to be blamed. Proof — the recent elections, which removed the apparently-progressive Andhra Pradesh government.

Xaverian General Shankar Roy Chowdhury pointed out the strategic weaknesses which unfairly make the bureaucracy an object of accusation. Former election officer of Bihar Michaelite Ajay Narayan Jha, claimed that the delivery of the service sector had not failed.

The verdict, left to the audience, was declared a hung motion, with the Xaverians and the Michaelites sharing the trophy.

Madhumita Das & Sangeet Shirodkar