Theatre Auditions

Cultural Committee stayed true to its word as a second round of Theatre auditions took place in the Audi. Though the laughter initially was on the performance rather than the success of the performances, things kept improving as the day wore on. For wannabe thespians, it was onehelluvan evening. Though barely 20 people had turned up, it was an enthusiastic lot. Animesh, Sudarshan and Amoolya gave everyone an outline of the play that they propose to put up around April, after which everyone tried out different characters differently. The theatre veterans were generous with praise as well as their help. They encouraged everyone to look up plays that they want to put up adding that they would only be too glad to offer their assistance in whichever way possible. Way to go!

AnonyMush :)

MagCom heralded the coming of St Valentines to NUJS this year with the avowed resolution of spreading mushiness everywhere. Bright pink notices went up around the campus asking people to write anonymous notes to all and sundry promising that MagCom would take up the task of delivering February cheer. MagCom also provided colourful scraps of paper to all in class and cajoled/coerced students to write to whoever they wanted. And people responded by the dozen. For many it was a chance to acknowledge their long suffering friends and their teachers; for others it was the perfect opportunity to say something... anything to that special someone. On valentine's eve when the notes where finally distributed, most of the GB spent their time trying to figure out their anonymous message senders and bragging about the number of notes they got. All in all, it could be said that Stupid Cupid had a successful outing!

Dance Auditions...

The Audi in NUJS probably has never looked this full as it was thronged by Noojies, who'd come down to have a look at the dance auditions organised by the CulCom on 29th Jan 2010. The top spots were secured by dancers who chose to perform more traditional classical dance forms or their variations such as Gayathri (1st Year), Alphonsa (2nd year) and Khushi (1st year). Many of the well know 'dance-icons' in Nujs were given widely enthusiastic encores and the only complaint possible at best was that the dancers could have been given more time up on the stage.

Activities of the Legal Aid Society

This semester the Legal Aid Society has conducted a number of awareness programs in and around the University, as well as outside Kolkata the most notable of them being the RTI Camp at Ranchi between 6th-9th October 2009 aimed at creating awareness about the process of using the Right to Information.The camp was inaugurated by the Deputy Commissioner of Ranchi, Mr. Kamal Kishore Soan, and was a highly successful venture with a turnout of around 500 people right on the first day. Many walked in seeking details and to familiarise themselves with the process of composing and filing RTI applications. The Legal Aid Society members explained the format of an RTI petition and even helped those who had brought their relevant documents to compose their RTI petitions on spot. The District Administration had appointed an Assistant Public Information Officer (APIO) to receive the applications of the RTIs drafted at the camp.

The endeavour received a hearty welcome from the media fraternity which covered the event extensively in national and local newspapers as well as in television channels. This helped spread the word wide and articles in The Telegraph, the Prabhaath Kabar and the Jharkhand Jaagran brought in more people, rendering the camp fruitful to the society at large.

From the 10th – 12th October, 2009, there was also a seminar jointly conducted by the Media Information and Communication Centre of India, the Friedrich Ebert Shiftung, the Jharkhand RTI Forum and the NUJS Legal Aid Society on important topics related to RTI.

The Legal Aid Society has also involved itself in a number of other social issues this semester such as a Clothes and Fund Collection drive for Relief to the AILA survivors and a Survey and Situation Analysis of the Rag Pickers in Kolkata etc. They had also conducted a Legal Drafting Workshop in college and brought out their flagship newsletter "Access to Justice." Here's hoping their list of activities keep on growing!

Noojies' contribution to action against climate change

October 24^th, the International Day for Climate Action, saw NUJS in a different mood altogether. Noojies made their own special contribution towards furthering the cause in the event organised by four NUJS societies - LCAS, Nature Committee, Society for Protection and Promotion of Environment (SPPE), Legal Aid Society and 350.org(which is an international grassroots campaign for mobilizing a global climate movement.)A host of activities were undertaken by the students. The morning ‘350’ formation in the quad, street art at Park Street, and specially, face painting at City Centre surely got the public interested. The amazing painting done by 1^st and 2^nd year girls attracted a lot of people at City Centre and a 'rally' later, the small but enthusiastic bunch of students ended up making it a worthwhile effort!

Enacted!

Contrary to popular belief a Thespian does not refer to a resident of the State of Thespia (God Bless that land), it does, in fact, mean an actor or an actress. That is all there is to it. Or is that so? Sources reveal that the term may also be attributed to a growing bunch of students in NUJS who have taken to gather around in the Auditorium and prance around on stage. There have been two such conclaves to date. Three renowned thespians in Noojie circles, Amoolya, Animesh and Sudarshan, under the banner of the Cult Comm recently conducted Theatre Auditions on the 31st of July. Sudarshan first made the gathering form a group on stage and play zip-zap-boing. This particular game tested one's reflexes. After a while, they tested everyone's vocal skills, the loudness and carrying-capacity of their voices. For this the participants were required to count from one to ten, starting from a stage whisper to a stage shout.  Then Animesh, Amoolya and Sudarshan acted out two short one act plays ("Words, Words, Words" and "Variations on the Death of Trotsky") as demonstration after which the auditions began.

The ones shortlisted out of the appearing 65 were called for the Theater Round of the Auditions subsequently. This round was more entertaining for the participants since they enacted one of the three scripts in circulation. A lot of groans went up towards the end when everyone present had to witness yet another monologue! Though the last few try-outs turned out to be well worth it.

The question on every young nubile mind is, 'What next?'

Let's hope the enthusiasm does not die out and Cult Comm's promise of staging at least one play next semester is grounded in more reality than the State of Thespia.

It Works!

Do you remember how dangerous it used to be to visit the NUJS website? There is a rumour that the dull gold and white-ness had dissuaded quite a few new entrants from filling in the Entrance Examination form. You might look back with nostalgia at the hours of waiting before you got to see your results till the 'Bandwidth Exceeded' page would finally give way to the afore-mentioned beige and white-ness. Of course, you must also remember the virus detectors' going haywire at the first sight of the site (quite like a sneakoscope).

Well... for those of you who still don't know it, the Official NUJS Website, under the (what shall now be sorely missed) wing of Mr.Prabhash Ranjan, is finally in working condition! The website has been updated and upgraded. It no longer gets blocked by the Gibraltar-like calm persistence of 'Bandwidth Exceeded' on the screen when results are released. Nor does one's computer hyperventilate with virus alerts. In fact it looks quite nice indeed! Now jazzed up with some trendy shades of blue, it is quite pleasing to the eye. Not just that, it looks very neat, clean and organized with a refreshing effect of a spring-shower. Too much? Not really! Take a deep breath--- All the links on the website work!!

Well.. stop reading and check it out if you still haven't! It's all right there!