Culture, creativity and camaraderie

Waiting in Vain: This group of young die-hard supporters of Team India (above) waited for a glimpse of the players at Taj Bengal after the Test match at Eden Gardens on Sunday. Pens and papers in hand, the hope of an autograph of many were dashed, as most didn?t manage to get close enough to their heroes. (Below) Yousuf Youhana?s son looks on as he leaves Calcutta. Pictures by Pabitra Das

Renowned for excellence and originality, Jadavpur University (JU) once again proved itself at the six-day fest, Sanskriti 2005, organised by the JU engineering and technology students? union and presented in association with The Telegraph.

A culmination of over four months of hard work by 30-odd budding engineers, they lived up to their motto of ?redefining culture? through a kaleidoscope of competitive, creative and entertainment events.

The fest was inaugurated on March 15 with Manoj Mitra?s play Sajano Ghar, directed and enacted by JU students. While the instrumental performance by the hosts was appreciated by music aficionados, Children of Rock left us wanting more as rock band Insomnia were deprived of time.

The second day saw the wannabe bulls and bears quiz it out at Erudite, the biz quiz, where a team from Kalyani bagged the top honours followed closely by Bengal Engineering and Science University and JU. The creative creatures had a whale of a time at the poster, rangoli, T-shirt painting and cartooning competitions. The balmy Wednesday evening saw lovers of Latino music troop into Mukta Mancha as guest performers Orient Express regaled the audience for over two hours.

From techno and western, the musical flavour on Day Three was distinctly classical and indigenous in nature. The eastern solo and group singing teams enthralled the burgeoning crowds as competitors from St Xavier?s, Techno India, Netaji Subhas Open University and IIHM proved tough competition for each other.

Next was another musical journey at the antakshari, hosted by Cactus frontman Shidhuda. In the evening, a professional troupe of Chhau dancers from Purulia and the play Mrityu Na Hotya by Nandikar drew in the hordes.

Day Four provided a platform for nascent talent at its best as the sultans of swing from all over the state battled it out at the western music competition. While G.O.D., a band from Shyama Prasad College, got the loudest applause, Clandestine from St Xavier?s College and Agnostica from Durgapur also delivered cutting-edge performances. In the western solo category, the sweet vocals of Ranjani from JU heralded the arrival of a new star, with South City and Techno India also displaying commendable singing skills.

The movers and shakers had their moment of glory as 24 teams fought for top honours in the group and solo dance competitions, with Guru Nanak College, Techno India, Rabindra Bharati University and Bhawanipur College proving to be the best. The resident choreography team, Ourbeat, finished off with a smart performance, before guest band Hip Pocket took the stage.

Competitive events done with, it was time for pure indulgence as rock band Indian Ocean entertained the 5,000-strong crowd at the open air theatre on the 19th. As tabla player and lead singer Ashimda belted out hits like Bande, from the soundtrack of Black Friday, and Hille Re, the crowd went wild. Finally, it was time for Bangladeshi band LRB at the grand finale. Fantastic light and sound effects coupled with lead singer Ayub Bachhu?s electric vocals proved to be a truly memorable experience.

Aadil Rashid Khan, a fourth-year student of mechanical engineering, on behalf of the Sanskriti committee, says: ?Our aim was to live out our tagline, redefining culture, and show that an alternate way can be as successful as the regular ingredients for a good fest. With the overwhelming response to our western, Indian, Latino, Bangla and folk offerings, we have proved just that.?

Madhumita Das, international relations,
& Inam Hussain Mullick, English,JU

 

Filmi talk

New Indian Cinema, the Perspective Previewed, was the topic of a seminar held on March 25 by the students of media studies at CU. It was a great experience for us all, and we enjoyed from beginning to end.

We were divided into six groups of 10 students each, with a designated team leader. Every group had a different topic to talk about, chosen by the teams. The performance of each team was divided into three categories ? analysis, video clips of a selected movie to support the analysis and an interactive Q&A with the audience.

The issues discussed included ?An exploratory journey through Black?, ?Re-discovering Indian nationalism? and ?Globalisation and its effects on new Indian cinema?. Among the guests we honoured were Rathin Bandopadhay, Prof Sanjay Mukhopadhay, Prof Anjan Bera and Prof Tapati Basu. We hope to organise more seminars of this kind in future.

Subho Bhattacharya,
Media studies, CU

 

Indian Ocean weaves a spell over the audience at Jadavpur University, as part of Sanskriti 2005, the annual fest of the engineering and technology students, presented in association with The Telegraph. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

Star shine

An audio-visual introduction-cum-promotion session of Hema Malini?s comprehensive biography, Diva Unveiled, was held at the department of journalism and mass communication, CU, on March 7. The programme was conducted by author Ram Kamal Mukherjee, a noted film journalist and alumnus of the host department. He spoke to the students about his struggles in Mumbai and how he realised his dream of becoming a writer. After the discussion on the book and the audio-visual show on Hema Malini?s life, his interactive session with the students extended to an hour, with an informal debate on commercial vis-a-vis aesthetic aspects of movies. Prof Tapati Basu, head, CU journalism and mass communication, lent humour to the proceedings by narrating anecdotes from her experiences as Mukherjee?s teacher.

Rashmi Jaiswal,
1st year journalism and mass com, CU

 

Team sharing

While the visiting Pakistani cricket team might not have won the second Test, their compassion and proactive attitude made them winners, teaching everybody a lesson or two about generosity.

When we, a few youngsters representing Together We Will (TWW), an umbrella organisation comprising Calcutta Foundation, Silver Springs, Rotary International, BP Poddar Foundation and the like, formed in the wake of the tsunami disaster, approached Team Pakistan for help, apprehensive of the response, we were in for a surprise.

Not only had the team earlier committed to attending a charity dinner held by TWW on March 14, they have also signed on a number of T-shirts, bats, balls and other items to be auctioned to raise money for tsunami victims. Players like Salman Butt and Mohammed Khalil donated their team jerseys, while Yousuf Youhana happily offered the outfit he wore on the 18th whilst scoring a century, followed by Danish Kaneria giving away the shirt which he wore on the 19th.

The bonhomie and compassion spread to the other players as well, with everybody from captain Inzy to speedster Abdul Razzaq signing on individual TWW T-shirts. The memorabilia will be auctioned online and at various occasions keep the 500 homes and hospitals promise that TWW has made to the lieutenant governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Special thanks to PCB general manager, logistics, Asad Mustafa, and Eric Johnson, for facilitating the process. Team Pakistan has opened our eyes and proved that giving is an attitude.

Madhumita Das & Sangeet Shirodkar,
YuthScape

 

Pat on the back

• Bodhayan Roy, a student of Class XI science at Birla High School for Boys, has been selected as an Indian National Mathematical Olympiad Awardee for 2005. The youngster will now attend a summer camp (from May 13 to June 11) at Homi Bhaba Centre for Science Education, Mumbai.

Various techniques of solving mathematical problems will be discussed and awardees will be introduced to some exciting new topics in mathematics.

At the end, a team of six students will be selected to represent India at the 46th International Mathematics Olympiad to be held in Mexico in July this year. The Birla High School family is backing him all the way.

• Snehil Raghav, a student of Class V at St James School, was given the Bournvita Confidence Champion Award 2004-2005, on the Bournvita Quiz Contest show, telecast on Sony Entertainment on Sunday. Watch the repeat on Friday, at 7.30 pm. The award is given on the basis of all-India nominations from schools to the best all-rounders.

The 11-year-old already has several laurels to boast of, from The Telegraph School Awards for Excellence certificate of honour in the Paes-En-Sport category in 2001, to being the youngest Indian to bag a gold and silver medals at the Millennium World Cup of Martial Arts in Sydney, Australia, at age 6. Snehil has also done roller-skating at the state level, won medals for his prowess with computers and is also an academic achiever.

 

Bite-size

• Nature in all its beauty unfolded itself at JD Birla Institute this weekend. The occasion was the ?flowery? farewell for the third-year commerce students. The theme this year of a flower park was well depicted by the food, decoration and programme.

The students turned up in floral prints and accessories at the beautifully decorated campus. A warm speech by principal Jharna Sengupta added an emotional touch.

Spicing things up was a cultural programme, including a humourous skit, a modern take on Mughal-e-Azam. The foot-tapping music also did its bit to lighten the atmosphere.

Puja Agarwal,
2nd year B.Com (hons.), JD Birla Institute

• Ethics in journalism was under discussion on March 14, at an event organised by the department of journalism and mass communication, under the DSA programme, on CU?s College Street campus.

There were many a professional, touching on topics like the importance of timely and adequate flow of accurate information as an essential pre-requisite for adherence to journalistic ethics, the change in values and ethics with changing social paradigms over time, etc.

Seshadri Chari, journalist and politician, drew instances from anecdotes and news, as also from Mahabharata and history, to establish that ethics should be adhered to individually and collectively in every sphere of life, journalism being no exception. Zeroing in on flawless language and brevity as the hallmarks of journalism, he highlighted the importance of both academics and hands-on training. He urged flexibility in adhering to journalistic ethics in the larger interest of public good.

The lively interaction dwelled on issues like varying standards of publication of photographs of natural disasters and terrorism coverage, and the soul-sale dichotomy in professional journalism.

Arjun Chaudhuri,
1st year MA journalism and mass com, CU

whatsup

Fun & games

Ladies Circle has organised a sit-and-draw and fancy dress for physically-challenged children at Manovikas Kendra on March 23, 10.30 am. Actress June will be guest of honour.

Communication

Little Champions Montessori House will host an interactive workshop on Development of Communication Skills by speech therapist Chandralekha Sio on March 23, at 4 pm.

Service sector

IIMT, Bengal, Oxford Brookes University, will hold a panel discussion on The Emerging Service Sector: Perspectives on the Indian Industry, at Hyatt Regency on March 24, 10 am.

Holi hai!

Padatik presents a colourful programme on Holi on March 25, at 5C New Road, Alipore, at 6 pm. It will be attended by Arindam Sil, June, Arjun Chakraborty, Nilanjanaa and Shuvaprasanna.

Write time

Build a Story, a Young Learner’s Zone event, at British Council on March 26, 4 pm to 6 pm.