Students enjoy the inaugural performance at Milieu 2005, the Presidency College annual fest, on campus on Thursday evening (Top). Tabla maestro Bikram Ghosh performs at the event (above). Pictures by Amit Datta

Fuzon from Pakistan, Hariharan, Bangla band Bhoomi, Bangladeshi band Miles, Usha Uthup, Kabir Suman... Milieu 2005, the Presidency College annual fest, promises to rock and roll all those who venture onto the campus in the next few days.

Held in association with The Telegraph, Milieu promises a whole lot of off and on-stage events, from dance and drama to art and music, to showcase the talents and skills of college students.

This year, breaking from the norm, passes will have to be bought for Rs 20. But the money raised will be donated to the ABP Tsunami Fund.

Inaugurated on Wednesday, the five-day fest will end on February 28. The first day featured a performance by Bikram Ghosh. Every evening will feature a special performance.

The daily contests will be held from 11 am, at the college. Turn up to take part or cheer the participants.

In addition, you can cut the queue at the venue with Airtel Friendz. Call and book tickets. For each booking, the caller will have to pay Rs 10. A logo appears on the phone. Show it at the gate and walk through.

Plus, Presidency Special Ringtones are on offer. Dial 646 and get one of the five: Coffee houser sei addata by Manna De in Bengali, I love you to want me by Lobo in English and Sholon si from Shabd, Sun zaraa from Lucky and Hum hain is pal yahan from Kisna in Hindi.

On a mission

Fundraising for tsunami victims, fun and games for underprivileged kids, free cataract operations for the poor... Phew! The youngsters of Chowringhee High School have been busy. The students raised money for tsunami victims through a rally in their area on January 8, collecting Rs 15,000. Of this amount, Rs 5,000 they gave to the ABP Tsunami Fund, and the remaining was handed over to minister Sunil Dutt on January 29. The next day, they held a sit-and-draw contest for the students of Ghoshpur, their adopted village, with gifts for the winners. The young boys and girls of Chowringhee High School also helped 12 patients get cataract operations for free. The pre and post-operative care was arranged by students Premnath Thakur and Ajay Kumar Das. Put your hands together for these youngsters, ladies and gentlemen. They surely deserve it.

Students of IICP perform at a programme organised by the institute recently.

Question hour

Answering tough questions is a classroom classic. But it?s obviously something we can?t get enough of. Three quizzes have done the rounds of the city ? and the country ? recently. First up, on February 8, was the Wai Wai Quiz eastern region final. About 32 schools participated, with eight teams vying for the challenge trophy. And the winner was... Birla High School (boys), represented by Siddhant Agarwal, Nikhil Jhanji and Shourodip Roy. The first runner up was Apeejay School, Salt Lake, followed by Don Bosco, Park Circus. Then, on February 18, was the Junior Inter-school Quiz organised by Birla High School (girls). There was reason to cheer for the little ladies ? St James came out on top of the 10 teams, but in the second and third place were the host and La Martiniere for Girls. And finally, Tata Crucible ? The Campus Quiz national finals was held on February 21. IIM Calcutta made it to Mumbai for the event, but ICFAI Business School, Chennai, took home the trophy.

Time to talk

Communication skills was the focus of two seminars this week, from tots to teens and beyond. Let?s start with the little ones. The workshop on behaviour modification at Little Champions Montessori House was for their parents, actually. Dr Aniruddha Deb, psychiatrist, and Zena Deb, psychologist, spoke to parents about programmes that aim to stop undesired behaviour among kids. The stress should be on developing communications skills, rather than simply speech, added Deb. Other topics, too, were addressed, like genetic counselling and the guilt problems of parents with children with special needs. On January 21 was communication skills development programme at Prafulla Chandra College, for the students. Updating the education system to include communication in the curriculum, how to find and excel in one?s area of interest, written communication, writing ad copies, body language, the importance of interviews, competition... The packed programme with talks from eminent personalities in various fields left 42 students from different colleges inspired and motivated.

Around 500 students from over 40 schools took part in the 2005 TTIS YMCA Inter-school Athletic Meet held on February 11 and 12.

Helping hands

People have been coming forward in many ways to help the tsunami victims. But never is it too much. Kalyani Central Model School held a two-day carnival on February 5 and 6, to raise funds for the cause. Several schools stepped in to lend a helping hand. There were about 25 stalls and several contests, books, food and plenty of fun. TTIS conducted a school quiz, in which the host team emerged winners. There was much singing, dancing and masti. But the money collected will be used for a cause.

Coming up...

The weekend brimmeth over with activities of varied kinds. On Saturday, Apeejay Anand Children?s Library is organising a workshop with children of different schools for the age-group six to 12. Underprivileged kids will paint T-shirts on the lawns of Apeejay House, from 10 am to 1 pm. Joyland Play, Nursery and Kindergarten School will host a fete at Calcutta Club Sports Complex, from 10 am to 2 pm. The proceeds will go to Anandan, an NGO educating underprivileged children and giving vocational training to their mothers. There will be a fashion show, treasure hunt, games stall and more. MB Girls School has organised a mothers? talent day, from 10.30 am to noon, to be inaugurated by designer Anamika Khanna. On Sunday, Manovikas Kendra will have a sensitisation workshop on the campus at 10 am. The ?reach out and educate ?at risk? children with special learning disabilities? project, supported by Reach India, a wing of USAID, will also be launched. Get out your agenda and start planning...