ON GUARD: Manipuri danseuse Priti Patel and her troupe strike a pose

Virasat, Spicmacay?s month-long festival, was celebrated with much gusto in Mahadevi Birla Shishu Vihar between September 21-24. There were some enthralling performances by the likes of eminent Hindustani vocalist Ustad Waseem Ahmed Khan, who attributed the slow death of Indian culture to the lack of publicity and exposure.

Danseuse Priti Patel gave a lecture-demonstration on the four aspects of Manipuri dance. There was also a performance by a group of disabled children.

The Gotipuas from Orissa left everyone spellbound with their superb, gymnastic movements. They are actually men, who dress like women.

Shruti Agarwal, Class X, Mahadevi Birla Shishu Vihar

CALCUTTA
Freshers? pageant

The freshers? welcome is an important event in all colleges. There is a lot of enthusiasm associated with it and we, at the English department of New Alipore College, were no exception.

Apart from the stock dose of dance numbers and songs, the event managers (the second-year students), decided to go for something different.

A ?Fresher of the Year? contest was organised. There were four rounds, and really tough ones at that. The newcomers were up against it in the ?Question-Answer? round. Their speaking prowess, general knowledge and common sense were enough to put the judges themselves in a spot of bother.

After a gruelling 45 minutes, a girl called Sayanti held her nerve to clinch the first prize. Special mention must also be made of Sayan and Sukanya who were the anchors and kept the audience engrossed with their anecdotes and jokes.

Sayan Aich, second year, BA English (honours), New Alipore College.

STAGE MANAGE: Action during the British Council one-act play competition

CALCUTTA
Proud to be a Lawrencian

Being an ex-student of St Lawrence High School is something I feel really proud of. When I was in school, it was like heaven and I was always quite regular with attendance. Our playground is the second largest in the city and it has numerous trees of various species.

The canteen is another favourite haunt. The caretaker, who we used to call ?Mithai? was very fond of us. The St Lawrence library has a huge collection of books, which made the entire learning process great fun.

I remember our Scout Troop belonged to the 22nd group of the Bharat Scouts and Guides. I was quite an active cadet. Music classes were compulsory. We had to learn to sing Rabindra Sangeet and patriotic songs and the teachers would ensure that our renditions were perfect.

Quizzing and debating were intrinsic to our school life. But above all, the emphasis was on academics. We were extremely fortunate to have affectionate and able teachers like Fr Bouche, Fr Carvalho and Fr Wavreil among the Jesuit priests.

The all-round training we received at St Lawrence helped us excel in whatever we chose to do later in life.

Jayantabishnu Mukherjee, second year BA English (honours), New Alipore College

ALMA MATER: St Lawrence as it looks from Ballygunge Circular Road

CALCUTTA
Play it again

The second British Council inter-college one-act play competition, ?Drama-ties?, was held at Presidency College on September 25. Out of the many entries, eight scripts were chosen. The one by our college was also selected.

Our play, Aubade, talked about the story of a loser, a man who is preparing for his journey towards the inevitable ? death. However, the man eventually realises his mistake when a salesgirl befirends him and teaches him to hope.

The other colleges which participated in the contest were Presidency, Loreto, Lady Brabourne, Ashutosh, Jadavpur University, National University of Juridical Sciences and South Calcutta Law College.

We were lucky to have eminent theatre personality Gautam Haldar, film director Gautam Ghosh, Debesh Chattopadhyay and Sujata Sen as our judges. The entire event was a mega hit with the students enjoying it to the hilt.

Ushashi Chakraborty, first year, computer science engineering, Future Institute of Engineering and Management

SILCHAR
So long! Farewell!

Recently, the mass communication students of Assam University witnessed an incident that underlined the strength of the teacher-student relationship. The occasion was a farewell party for our beloved teacher, Dr B. Balaswamy.

That day, everything seemed so different. Gone was Dr Balaswamy's usual business-like demeanour. In fact, he was actually in tears. We too were overcome by emotion as we bid farewell to our favourite teacher. We presented him with a Manipuri shawl as a token of our love and gratitude.

In return, ?Sir? gave us two wall clocks, which will keep ticking in his memory long after he has gone.

Ashim Bhattacharjee, third year, mass communication, Assam Central University

TEZPUR
Eye-opener

It was a memorable day for all the newcomers of Tezpur University. We partied all night with our seniors. At first, we had been really scared of them but that day, we saw that they could be great fun. They sang and danced along with us, and we realised that they were actually quite kind and full of enthusiasm.

As a newcomer, I would like to say a big ?Thank You? to each one of them. After all, it was the seniors who made that day a great success.

Jutika Boro, Tezpur University

ROURKELA
Auspicious start

September 18 was a special day for us. It was the auspicious occasion of Ganesh Puja and the god of prosperity was worshipped in all the departments.

After the ceremony, the boys decided to have some fun and began dancing to latest hit numbers like Jawani Phir Na Aaye, Mujhse shadi karogi, It?s the time to disco, Mahi ve etc. Seeing us, the girls in our class, who had always been somewhat shy and reserved, decided to join us in the festivities.

We ended up having a rollicking time. The day went a long way in bridging the gap between the boys and the girls.

Subhajit Majumdar, Government Autonomous College