St. Xavier’s Tea meet, in association with the Telegraph

Members of the Women’s Forum of the St. Xavier’s College Calcutta Alumni Association with principal Father Felix Raj

The Women’s Forum of the St. Xavier’s College Calcutta Alumni Association presented the Annual Tea Meet 2011, in association with The Telegraph, at the college basketball court on the evening of November 12.

First the newly elected governing council members were introduced and felicitated by the forum and then it was time for some music and dance. On the cards was a garba performance by the women members of the alumni, followed by kids matching Kareena’s steps to the chartbuster from Ra.One, Chammak challo.

A little Chammak Challo entertains the audience with her cute steps

“This is a very special event for us as it strengthens the bond among members and infuses the group with energy and freshness,” smiled Sudeshna Roychowdhury, an adviser to the forum.

Present students and other members of the forum put up stalls selling T-shirts, jewellery and bags. Designer Agnimitra Paul, whose husband Partho Paul is an alumni member, also showcased her designs. The profit from the event will be donated to the new college hostel coming up on AJC Bose Road, said a member of the forum.

Text by Sneha Dutta; pictures by Anindya Shankar Ray

IIMC GOLDEN JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS

A play by IIM Calcutta alumnus Deepak Dhamija on November 15

(Top) A.P.J. Abdul Kalam lights the lamp; (above) the former President plants a tree at IIM Calcutta. Pictures by Bishwarup Dutta

In Joka, the two-year-long golden jubilee celebrations of the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, came to a close with a two-day conference on November 14-15.

The chief guest for the occasion was former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who urged the students to lead the way for betterment of society. He asked them to take part in social welfare schemes, without sacrificing their career.

A conference, titled Management Education for a Sustainable Tomorrow, saw academicians and industry leaders speaking on sustainability from various perspectives — ecological, natural environment, economic, technological, civil society, policy and industry.

The Directors’ Conclave brought together the directors of IIMs and other B-schools and threw up ideas on how to make management education more sustainable, including expanding curriculum to incorporate social sciences and making management education more about experiential learning.

IIMC instituted The Distinguished Alumnus award, which was conferred on alumni members Dipesh Chakrabarty, D. Shivakumar, Malli Mastan Babu, Meena Ganesh, Mohanbir Sawhney, Ramachandra Guha, Sabyasachi Hajara, U. Shekhar and Vinayak Lohani.

TAGORE AND USA

The department of English of Jogamaya Devi College, in collaboration with the Jadavpur University Society of American Studies (JUSAS), organised a daylong seminar sponsored by the UGC on Rabindranath Tagore and his relations with the US on November 9 to commemorate the poet’s 150th birth anniversary.

The seminar covered a vast range of topics, including details of his five visits to America, Tagore’s relations with the American literati, America in the letters of Tagore, Tagore’s correspondence with the American press and the fusion of the East and West in Tagore’s philosophy. Jadavpur University professor and theatre critic Ananda Lal (in picture) spoke about America’s enthusiastic reception of the 1961 production of Tagore’s play, The King of the Dark Chamber (Raja in Bengali).

Anwita Ghosh

STAR TALK

The students of Calcutta University were left starstruck and spellbound after Naseeruddin Shah (in picture) delivered the Nabayug Acharya Memorial Lecture on November 2 at Darbhanga Hall.

The actor spoke on ‘Theatre and Literature’ and stressed that a play should be taught as a performative art, not as a written text.

Naseeruddin spent an hour instructing and encouraging the students, who had many questions for him.

Veteran film-maker Mrinal Sen, who directed the actor in films like Khandahar and Genesis, was also present at the lecture along with Naseeruddin’s wife Ratna Pathak Shah and CU vice-chancellor Suranjan Das.

Text and picture by Saikat Bose

QUIZ CORNER

The Jadavpur University quiz club, Enquiry, organised its annual quiz Qriosity — The Shubhankar Nag Memorial Quiz — at Triguna Sen Auditorium on November 6.

Formed in 2001, the club started holding this annual quiz from 2003. This year, the event packed in three quizzes, on sports, business and general interest. The open quiz saw participation from the likes of IIT Kharagpur, St. Xavier’s College, Presidency University, ISM Dhanbad, IIM Calcutta, XLRI as well as various quiz clubs.

Potoldanga Thunder Club won the first place in the sports category while a group called Last Action Heroes bagged the top spot in the other two categories. “Apart from being original and well researched, Qriosity also aims at making quizzing fun for everyone,” said Mayank Singhal, a member of the quiz club.

Indrani Banerjee

PRESENT PLEASE

Students ambling into Bhawanipur College were in for a reality check recently. Propped up on campus were ominous blue and white boards warning students that maintaining 75 per cent attendance would be compulsory from now and those failing to attend the requisite number of classes would not be allowed to sit for university exams. While 75 per cent attendance has always been there, it was more on paper, say students, scurrying to do as many classes as they can. Gone are the days of canteen honours, they rue!

Esha Mookerjee