It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play with the “mind champion”, Vishwanathan Anand, fresh from being crowned the World No. 1. On May 31, 2007, at NIIT Imperia’s Advanced Learning Centre in Calcutta, Vishy, as he is popularly known, used NIIT Imperia’s “synchronous learning technology” to connect with chess enthusiasts, students and journalists across six cities. Anand’s challengers included eight-year-old Harshal Shahi (the youngest to have been rated internationally), Raja Surya J. (Asian under-14 gold medal winner), Sayantan Das (sub-junior champion) and journalists. It was a lively game of chess with Anand at his lightning best replicating some of his famous moves for the audience. Anand said that if technology such as this was available in his time, he would have been a much better player. Technology made the distances across the cities disappear and everyone revelled in their 15 minutes of fame making their moves against Vishwanathan Anand.

Shibani Chattopadhyay

CALCUTTA
Food for thought

The fourth admissions fair, organised by Afairs, saw hordes of youngsters trooping in to enquire about the latest careers. The fair saw institutions and their representatives from all over India setting up career pavilions ranging from engineering and medicine to nursing and food technology. Institutes offering higher education in the US, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand had also set up shop.

Piyasha Das, Sin Gem, Salt Lake

Animation wonder

Perspectives, a seminar organised by Arena Animation Academy on May 24, 2007, at Kala Mandir, Calcutta, proved to be a hit. There were presentations on the prospects of animation by experts. Ramkumar Warrier, deputy VP, Aptech Ltd, Yunus Bukhari, creative director, Artery animation & Fx (AAF) and Anand Gurnani, CEO and managing editor, Animation Express, explained the different steps in the making of an animation film. Around 1,000 students attended the seminar.

V. Kumara Swamy

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