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!

NPL Player Auctions

The NPL is back! After the success of last year’s tournament which saw the Northern Nawabs emerge victorious in a much delayed final, the NUJS Premier League has returned for its second editions. Unlike last year’s tournament where the teams were arranged regionally, the organizers have this year opted to give team owners the freedom to brand their teams as they like. The NPL organisers chose the five captains – Kamaljeet Singh, Dilip Kataria, Shubhajit Banerjee, Adit Pujari and Rahul Sharma – who were given 3000 points to bid for registered players in an open auction, which was held on Tuesday the 8^th of September.

The auction rules were also tweaked this time around, as the captains were expected to buy a minimum of 11 players with their points, failing which their teams would be disqualified. Most of the captains came to the auction well prepared with an idea of the players they were most interested in. While the established old names were highly in demand, some of the captains had been keeping a close eye on the first years playing tennis ball cricket, hoping to pick up a few unknown talents cheaply. As usual, the sequence of players to be auctioned was randomly determined, and with the way things panned out, by the time many of the most anticipated players came on the block many of the captains had severely strained their budgets. Consequently, the prices paid for some players were substantially lower than expected, and the 5^th year Animesh Bisht, also known as RP, was far and above the most valuable player of the 2009 NPL auction. Some heated bidding finally ended with Rahul Sharma snapping him up for 900 points.

By the end of the auction, Dilip and Rahul Sharma husbanded their budgets well to finish up with the largest squads, having made 14 and 13 purchases respectively, while the other 3 captains just managed to fulfil their minimum purchase requirement. All teams now look relatively balanced, and the five captains seemed quite pleased with their new acquisitions after the auction. They also now have the option of recruiting general body members who did not register to be auctioned, upon payment to the NPL organisers. Presently, only three of the squads have found owners, but we hope that when the league commences after the Puja break, Adit Pujari and Rahul Sharma will have been able to tout the respective strengths of their teams to attract viable investors.

NUJS' Got Talent

If the insistence of the judges to remain on stage is any indicator of the success of an event, NUJS’ Got Talent was a roaring hit.

After coaxing every dinnertime passer-by to take part, the number of participants was respectable. The auditorium was taken by a surprise to hold noojies to its full capacity, what after all those barely attended acad lectures! Those who thought they were too cool to take part, decided they weren’t so cool that they’d miss watching it. The one thought on everyone’s mind, while watching the participants- Do they hate themselves?! Them not figuring on the over-enthusiastic judges’ winners list notwithstanding, the 3 girls from the first year stole the show with their er… lawyer rhymes. What were they thinking, you ask? No one has got to the bottom of that. You could hold a debate whether the competition had to be called NUJS’ Got Guts instead; only, it’d be a one-sided one. Many a performance got people wondering about the right of some larynxes to remain in use. Another memorable performance was Khushi’s Kathak on Boom Boom Pow. Pipo’s ninja act thingies remain in memory too, but sources say some among the audience have been found looking up the Oblivio charm.

The fifth years’ imitation of the teachers won them the topspot while Aanchal Dalal sang her way into the second place. Joseph and Rituraj tied for the third place. That Friday evening, LCAS was a happy society.

Posters, Posters, Everywhere!

A new one seems to appear each time you look. And getting more creative all the time. From the innovatively designed printed posters to the imaginative hand-made notices, the Hallowed Walls of this Institution of Excellence are perceptibly becoming a collage of inspired ideas. What with so many events being organised by different groups of students, whether on behalf of Societies or not, notice-board space is a coveted commodity. Every available surface is being flooded with fliers, including trees and lampposts! On a more serious note, it is a sad phenomenon that people have been removing posters even before the event they are advertising is over. We hope this is a short-lived trend. Here’s to the hidden artists of NUJS!