Aravind Kumar is funniest Josephite

Arvind Kumar Bhakta of I CBZ emerged as the funniest Josephite in a comedy competition held by the Hindi Parishad of SJC here on Friday. The competition was judged by Dr Denis of Chemistry Department. Abilash, I HEP won the II place while Kapil of I HEP won the third. The event saw a participation of about thirty people.

Jokes on various subjects were recited by the participants, some more amusing than the others. The joke that got the maximum chuckles was: “The teacher asked the students what is the difference between truth and false. One student replied, what you teach us is true but if you think we are listening to what you are telling us, it is false!”

Arvind Kumar Bhakta said, “My sister told me in the morning about this competition. So I started preparing, using the five minute breaks between classes to formulate and practice my skit. I was a little nervous at first, but had confidence in myself. Then the judge announced the 3rd and 2nd I was disappointed that I wasn’t included, but to my surprise I had won the first prize.”

Dr Denis said that the main purpose of such programmes was to discover the hidden talent. “The performance was ok, but a lot of improvement is required. The participants lacked originality and they need to improve their expressions,” he said.

The president of the Hindi Parishad, Sabina Naaz of II CBBT said, “An inter-college is going to be conducted on the 31st at Jain College and we need to find a suitable participant. As the judge said, a little more work was required when it came to expressions, but I fully support the winner and I am confident he will do well.”

- Shimreichon I MS Com

Seminar on 'Multiculturalism literature in US and Non violent paths to Social Change' evokes divergent views

The faculty and students from the Departments of Political Science and English in association with the American Corner, Bangalore and the American Library, US Consulate General, Chennai, began a two-day programme on multiculturalism here on Thursday.

The programme deals with article discussions and documentary screenings on multiculturalism in the United States and non-violent paths to social change.

“We are focusing on the culture of U.S. and comparing it with the Indian Culture. Here the department of US launched the Electronic (E) Journal which takes up an issue every month,” said Prof. Cheriyan Alexander, Department of English.

Talking about the e-journal, he added, “It is basically a collection of articles from different sources of America which deals with a common subject.”

Various topics ranging from Gandhian principles to Martin Luther’s ideologies also raised questions during the discussion session. Issues as to how politics, economy and social set up influence culture were discussed. Students of PG English and Political Science presented differences between the majorities and minorities in India.

Abraham, of II M.A. English who started the presentation said, “We are trying to bring about an idea to define multiculturalism; but is it by language or by ethnicity is the question. There is a problem to promote multiculturalism because there is lack of media intervention for it to flourish.” A few articles on the role of religion in India and multicultural literature were also presented.

“Our main objective of this seminar is to generate informed awareness on the themes of e-journal and to stimulate a discussion on the subject,” said Prof. Jerome Nirmalraj, Department of Political Science.

Jyothsna, of II M.A. English, said, “We were here to inform about the Indian-American writing and discuss the various problems which could be faced living with two cultures. The problems of different types of literature were also spoken about and we tried offering possible solutions.”

Students also made presentations on the effects of non-violence used by Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther II and discussed as to how the non-violent movements pioneered in South Africa and India. During this session they spoke about the power of non-violence and how social changes could be brought through them.

“One of the things important today in a large academic institution is to bring about the concept of non-violence. It has become an important issue which could be seen in two aspects. There are some people who believe non-violence is no longer effective for social change. While the opposing view is expressed by the very fact that there are people who f

ollow the Gandhian ideologies and civil disobedience even in the U.S,” said Prof. Etienne Rassendren from Department of English.

- Sijo I MS Com
- Pics by Johnson II MS Com

Film captures miseries of SEZ

The harm brought about by the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) all over the country is immense. It has displaced people, brought in mysterious diseases and increased peoples miseries. The film, “Coast Under Attack” documents one such disaster taking place in the coastal land of Andhra Pradesh where the Andhra government has cleared a series of projects taking over people’s land.

The film was shown to the Post-Graduate students of Communication on Thursday. The film maker, Saraswathi Kavula too was present and interacted with students.

The film deals with how the coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh are affected by the big companies set up under SEZ. The film also shows how the companies assure thousand of people jobs, but later turn their back on them employing only few and giving them low salaries.

“The whole concept of development is lopsided. It is an imperial concept that we have borrowed. If a farmer wants to cultivate his land and be happy, why should someone disturb it,” said Ms Saraswathi, the film maker.

She further said that urbanisation was not a solution for India simply because of the size of the population which would be impossible to manage. “Setting up smaller rural-based industries is more important than SEZs,” she added.

She called up students to be pro-active. “Stop buying food from Reliance Fresh, Pepsi, Coca Cola etc and buy more local product as far as possible. Only this way you will drive such companies out of your place,” she said.

Speaking about the film, Deepu from the Pedestrian Pictures said, “It is a fabulous documentary which successfully brings out the economic invasion by the transactional companies on rural India.” Roshan, a II year MS Com student said, “The documentary was good; it could be the first step towards boosting alternative media. It is informative for studies.”

- Shaista I MS Com

Dramatic Club stages a comedy

The newly inaugurated Dramatic Club performed a Kannada play titled “Paschathapa” (Repentance) written by Master Hirannayya here on Wednesday. It was a 45-minute comedy directed by Ravi Kiran from II PEM. The main objective of the play was to evoke interest among students for the theatre and motivate them into joining the Club.

The play was performed effectively with minimum stage settings. The actors had to even use their natural voice.

The play started with an introduction that every body has to realise their sins. The title of the play “Paschatapa” indicates the repentance of sins committed. The whole story centred around two thieves and their life. The raw facts of life were wonderfully depicted through the eyes of these two characters.

Mr Anthony Lawrence, the co-ordinator of Dramatic Club said, “We want to bring out the tremendous talent of students to the fore, and this type of the training will help the students to face any type of the competition outside.”

Director of the play, Ravi Kiran said, “Our aim is to participate in the plays conducted by Bharatiya Yatra Kendra in Ravindra Kala Kshetra which will start from October.” He further said, “These kind of plays were conducted 12 years back, but now we want to revive them through The Dramatic Club. Last year we got the an award for best stage performance at a competition organised by People’s Script Organization, Christ College. We have started with a Kannada play, but we are planning to conduct plays in other languages like English, Malayalm, Tamil and Telugu.”

“The play was very realistic and it related to the current situation. The actors did a commendable jog. I liked their costumes and I enjoyed the whole play,”said, Sneha from III PCM.

Many students gathered to watch the play.

- Jenin and Raghunath I MS Com

Exodus 2009

“Jesus brought a revolution of faith that impacted society,” said Fr Ambrose Pinto, Principal, during his inaugural address at Exodus 2009 – St Joseph’s College’s annual Christian fest. Elaborating on this year’s theme, ‘Jesus and His revolutionary message,’ he added that with grace from above, all Christians were called to be revolutionaries.

With around seventeen events, Exodus 2009 saw participation from over twenty different colleges in the city. The members of the Christian Students Association (CSA) under the guidance of their coordinators, Mr Alwin Doss and Mr Xavier Prasad, worked as a team to ensure its success.

Fr Pinto described Jesus as an ordinary person coming from an ordinary background. “In fact, people asked what good can come from that village. Accordingly, all students can take inspiration from him who was ordinary and did extra-ordinary things. This fest should energise us to go through the journey of life so that in some way we may live more like Jesus.”

The fest, running in its 20^th year, began with an ice breaker replete with song, dance and music. This served as a warm up for the action packed two days. Events such as street play, choreography, dumb charades and bible quiz, among others, drew large numbers.

The second day commenced with the celebration of the Holy Mass of which, Fr Thomas Varkey, Vice Principal, St Claret College, was the main celebrant. In his sermon, Fr Varkey called Jesus ‘a revolutionary of a different kind’ who was ready to shed His blood for others. He said, “Jesus’ message of love remains relevant yesterday, today and always.”

The eagerly anticipated music events followed the Mass, together with costume presentation, 20 questions and painting. Music was never lacking at this year’s function. The fest both began and ended with sessions of singing and dancing. Members from the CSA, John Jeban and Godwin Stephen, took the stage with their guitars and melodious voices at every turn.

The programme concluded with Prize Distribution ceremony. The CSA screened a documentary of the fest during the ceremony. Created by Mr Xavier and Allan Moses, Core Team Advisor, CSA, this was an account of all the happenings and the preparation that went into the two days of the programme, through photographs.

Paul Victor, from Capstone Ministries, was the Chief Guest at the ceremony. Presenting a modern take on the parable of the prodigal son, he stressed, “You may be the only Jesus your friends and those around you may see on this earth,” urging those present to live as Jesus did.

‘Fun-filled, energetic and musical’ seems to be a fitting description of the fest, held on August 22 and 23. Aditi D’Souza, from Jyothi Nivas College who participated in Exodus 2008 expected a larger turnout this year. “There were more participants last year. We thought the crowd would be more this time round. Still, the energy was the same. It was excitement and fun all the way.”

Students from Cathedral College were happy with the quality of participation at the programme. “We saw some really good performances from all the colleges,” said Lawrence John, one of the participants. He suggested separating the western acoustic and electric music into two different events in the following year.

St Joseph’s Pre-University College walked away with the overall trophy. Tijo Varghese and Kevin Samuel, from the winning team, were all praises for the hosts. “It is a big deal to organise a fest as popular as this one. The way the CSA here has managed it has been amazing. Also, these programmes unite Christian students across the city. We are really happy to have been a part of it,” they said.

- Terrina Jairaj, II MS Communication

- Pics by Allan Moses, II MS Communication

Binoy, Catherine fastest athletes on campus

It takes a good person to win without boasting and lose without murmuring. This was the spirit that was found among the Josephite family on the 128^th Annual Sports meet held here on Friday. Binoy Mathew of I M Sc (Com Sci), became the fastest runner on the campus while Catherine of III BCA was the fastest female. Both had a standing ovation.

A jubilant Binoy Mathew said, “The competition was very tough, especially the last 80-100 metres. At least 20 metres I had to run fast and was able to make it.”

A beaming Catherine who won the 100 metres said, “The competition was good but

I think we (III BCA) dominated most of the events”

There was lot of cheering from the students, especially from III BCA encouraging their classmates. “It was lovely, but weather was very hot. The competition was very tough and participants gave a tough competition,” said Priyanka Lobo of III BCA who won the I place in shot-put.

Earlier, Principal Fr (Dr) Ambrose Pinto, inaugurated the sports meet by hoisting the College flag, and declared the sports meet open. In his address he said, “It is not the competition that matters, but how best you offer yourself.” He also said that all the participants should excel and try to participate in the university sports and bring accolades to Joseph’s.”

Binoy Mathew on behalf of the participants took the pledge. The sports meet began with the track events, long jump, high jump, triple jump, disc throw, javelin throw and the climax of the sports meet was tug of war. II BCA won the exciting tug of war for men after fighting the tough challenge of I PMC. II CBBt won the tug of war for women, defeating I IES.

The good thing of this sports meet was that there was a large number of girls participating in all the events. Physical Education Director, Mr Newton said, “Every year the participation of the girls was less, but this year it was good and we can see the improvement. The overall participation of the students was also good and they all did well.” The overall Championship was bagged by III BCA followed by II PMC and II CBBt.

There was lot of cheering from the students, especially from III BCA encouraging their classmates. “It was lovely but weather was very hot. Competition was very tough and participants gave a tough competition,” said excitedly Priyanka Lobo III BCA.

Prof. Berin Lukas of Sociology Dept said, “The students have been very good

and a lot of participation was there, because the point system motivated students to take part actively.”

- Vinoo Fabian, Pavithra I MS Com