Dancing Queens: Youngsters jive enthusiastically during the performance by Pakistani band Fuzon on Saturday evening, at Presidency College. The annual fest of the college, Milieu, ended on Monday. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

A milieu on campus for over five days. Huge crowds cheering college bands and solo performers, listening to Bikram Ghosh, Miles, Bhoomi, Fuzon and Kabir Suman ? all this and more happened at Milieu 2005, the annual fest of Presidency College, held in association with The Telegraph. This year?s event was special, this being the 150th year of the college.

Around 15 colleges participated, including JU, St Xavier?s, Loreto, Ashutosh, Lady Brabourne and Scottish Church. Ramaiiya College had come from Bangalore. The mornings and afternoons were reserved for inter-college events, while the evenings had guest performances. Milieu?s varied events will be telecast on Tara Bangla.

The honours for inter-college competitions were shared. The eastern music band category was won by Phoenix, while Calcutta Medical College won the eastern dance prize. Western music band and western dance categories were won by St Xavier?s and Techno India, respectively. Bidhannagar College won the five-a-side football tournament, Jaipuria and Presidency bagged the prize for the antakshari and sports quiz, and the medley was won by the host team. The solo events were won by Presidency Xavier?s, Loreto, NIFT and others. The personality contest, conducted by Frankfinn Institute, had participants facing all kinds of questions on stage.

The evening events drew huge crowds. Miles and Bhoomi rocked an audience of around 7,000. Fuzon drew about 9,000 listeners. The last evening was reserved for the Milieu dinner, for the organisers and college students, after all the frenetic activity.

Presidency is due to release it?s special magazine on the college?s 150th year in the first week of March. Many eminent alumni have contributed with their writings.

Subhajoy Roy

 

Parent problems

It?s up to parents to set the right examples for kids. And when it comes to talking, negotiating is as essential as explaining. That?s what parents learnt at a recent panel discussion at Birla High School (girls). It provided an interactive platform for parents, teachers and professionals ? Dr Aniruddha Deb, Leslie D?Gama and Mala Mukherjee ? to share their concerns regarding today?s youth.

Dr Deb, a psychiatrist, dealt with the issue of values and value systems. He spoke of the conflicting values that children today are exposed to and the effect on their psyche and behaviour. Parents need to be role models and conduct themselves in an exemplary manner so children can imbibe what is right, he added.

D?Gama, a teacher trainer and technology expert, suggested that the family needs to decide on ?talk time?. Not only do parents need to explain, they should also learn to ?negotiate? with their children to make them behave in a manner that is socially approved, he said.

The third panelist, Mukherjee, is a career counsellor attached to the Institute of Career Studies. She talked about creating an effective foundation for a good career.

The stress was on the importance of making a career by choice, not by chance.

The panel discussion was followed by a question-answer session where queries of parents and teachers were addressed. It was finally agreed that there is no easy solution to the myriad problems faced by parents. Parenting means implementing different tactics according to the specific problems.

Damini Agarwal,
Class VI, Birla High School (girls)

 

It was a moment just for the mothers. Joyland Play, Nursery and Kindergarten School held a fete at Calcutta Club Sports Complex on Sunday. There was a treasure hunt, games stalls and other activities for the kids. But the fashion show was for mommie dearest. The proceeds of the event will go to the NGO Anandan. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

Beyond classroom

May last year, a group of students from St Xavier?s College embarked on a journey to interface with the corporate world. Finally, it was time to showcase their experiences. And they did it with aplomb. To call these 12 Power Point presentations just good would be an understatement. It was yet another chapter of Beyond Chalk and Talk, the annual summer projects presentation.

The phrase ?time is the school in which we learn, it?s the fire in which we burn? by Kapil Kaul Rasoi aptly kicked off the proceedings. The gamut of topics ranged from auditor?s independence to corporate governance, shopping malls to call centres. The companies covered ranged from Pepsi to Nivea.

The prize winners were Whistle Blowing ? The Art of Revelation, ITC Sonar Bangla and Small Investor ? Unlocking the Gates of Financial Freedom. As the show ended, euphoria gripped us all. Our efforts were worth the results.

Anurag Singal,
2nd year B.Com, St Xavier?s College

 

Valuing values

?There is nothing more important than ethics in this world. Development and ethics go hand in hand ? one cannot happen without the other. Awareness of suitable values will lead to socio-economic development. A child should be exposed to good ethics as soon as possible.?

These were the words of Wesley Carr, Dean of Westminster, UK, spoken during the keynote address of a symposium on Ethics in Development, held at Young Horizons School on February 11 and inaugurated by Shyamal Dutta, Governor of Nagaland.

Stressing on the importance of ethics, Shourabh Mukerji, chairman, Young Horizons School, added: ?Swami Vivekananda taught us that all can be done if God?s touch is there. Mother Teresa taught each one of us true unconditional love. Values make a person, and a person makes his values.?

Anik Dey,
Class X, Young Horizons School

 

Colourful and creative

Solemn and sombre, followed by fun and frolic. That was Republic Day in a nutshell at The Heritage School. For, it was also the occasion of the school?s grand winter carnival, Kolaahal. It had the participation of almost 1,500 students, trustees, staff and family members. The event was flagged off the previous day with an art and pottery exhibition inaugurated by artists Paritosh Sen and Wasim Kapoor.

The sports ground looked bright and colourful with shamianas and games stalls. There was an ethnic mela flavour. There were four sections ? Rangmanch, where the cultural programmes were being held, Annapurna the food court, Krirangan the games arena and Kalakshetra the art and pottery corner, replete with potter?s wheel and youngsters churning out clay artifacts.

Parents, teachers and students worked together to make the event a success. Almost all the stalls in the food court and games area were put up by the parents. The games, with innovative names like Hungry Kya and Guide Me Through, stressed on concentration and motor control.

The most entertaining programmes were presented in three slots at the Rangmanch. There was dance, music, mime, drama and more, presented by over 300 children. The English drama was a translated adaptation of Sukumar Ray?s Lakshman?s Shaktishel. The mime dealt with the tsunami tragedy. The last item was a bhangra, which had the audience on its feet. The children also put up a martial arts display, in which slabs of ice and tiles were broken by them.

Rishika Raha,
The Heritage School

 

School students participate in Quest, a science quiz organised on Monday by Birla Industrial and Technological Museum and Anandabazaar Patrika, in association with the Pailan Group. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

Devotion with fun

It was a puja celebration with a difference. Parle Saraswati Vandana 2005 was an inter-school competition with slice of camaraderie. The award, while essentially for the best decorated Saraswati puja pandal in a school, also included several learning-based contests in the participating schools, in keeping with the spirit of the occasion.

This year, around 500 schools in Calcutta, Siliguri, Durgapur, Howrah, Asansol, Kharagpur and Midnapore participated in the event. The first prize of Rs 75,000 went to Bankim Ghosh Memorial Girls? High School, Calcutta. The two second prizes of Rs 50,000 each went to Bally Sikshaniketan for Girls, Howrah, and The Saraswati Balika Vidyalaya and Shilpa Sikhsa Sadan, Calcutta, at a ceremony last week.

There were five third prize winners, as well as 30 consolation prizes. ?The quality and enthusiasm of the participating schools and colleges has increased dramatically over the years,? said Deepak Biswas, product manager, Parle. ?We also keep a record of how the money is spent through the year, for infrastructural and other developmental activities in the schools.?

The celebrity judges evaluated the pandals, decorated by the students themselves, according to a range of criteria ? protima, crowd, ambience, discipline, devotion, overall appeal. ?We have student-based events in other states. But when it comes to the intellectually-oriented projects, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are the only two states where we organise events,? added Biswas.

 

Golden moments

February was an eventful month at Loreto College. The annual report reading session, a prominent event on the college calender, was held on February 15. The president and vice-president of each society proudly read out their annual society reports for the academic year 2004-05. Each society head provided a cogent account of the diverse activities undertaken by their members, projects completed successfully and new heights scaled.

Teachers listened in rapt attention to each report, their affection tinged with pride. Students burst into cheers and applause at the end of each presentation. The society heads were also presented with certificates in recognition of their efforts and execution of duties and responsibilities.

The history and computer societies, the youngest in college (both established in 2004), won special applause for their breakthroughs and endeavours. The literary society president proudly announced the success of the praiseworthy venture in singlehandedly organising the publication of the annual college magazine, while the games society head reminded us all that the club?s untiring efforts had led to the realisation of the dream of an annual college sports day.

The student council members, as they are collectively known, shared their diverse experiences, from obstacles overcome, small victories and losses to success savoured. Their words infused the rest of the students with hope and confidence. All in all, it was a time to celebrate success, hard work and fruitful labour.

February 12 was another memorable day. In the morning, the arts and crafts society had organised its annual exhibition on campus. New talents were discovered and prizes awarded in the categories of oil painting, water colour, glass painting, sketching, craft, candle making and bread craft. The exhibition drew participants from all departments.

The afternoon was reserved for the first ever inter-year sports meet, organised by the games society. Baton relay, tug-of-war, three-legged race and backwards race were very enjoyable. However, the most awaited were probably the staff events, like the lime and spoon race. Ms Goswami of the geography department was awarded the most sporty teacher prize. Tiffany Threlfall from the first year won the best athlete award, while the overall trophy was won by the third years.

Yashodhara Ghosh & Radhika Basu Thakur,
English (hons), Loreto College

 

Small talk

Change is a never-ending phenomena. Sometimes, it?s a joyous experience. At other times, it?s a bittersweet inevitability. But the show must go on. On February 11, the curtains came down on my school life. To quote Bryan Adams: ?These were the best days of my life.? While delivering my farewell address, I could spot eyes going moist in the audience. But we must march ahead. Through Young Metro, I want to wish my friends and teachers in school all the best.

Kunal Ray,
Class XII, Ratnakar North Point School

Saswata Sanyal has been making waves in the UK the 25-year-old Calcutta guy was recently recognised as one of Britain?s? outstanding business leaders of the future. Sunny was chosen for a major new marketing drive driven by the Rowe Group of companies for the Knowledge Transfer Partnership programme. The ex-student of St Paul?s School, Darjeeling, was one of five winners nationwide in 2004 for the Business Leaders of Tomorrow award, which he received at a ceremony in London.