Christmas Eve Celebrations in NUJS

The Christmas mood which had set in since the Juno-X’mas Night came to a climax on Christmas Eve when NUJS celebrated the festival in its own special way. The Boys’ Mess which was the venue for the celebrations was bedecked with Christmas decorations – a result of the effort put in by some of the First and Second years who had worked all through the afternoon. Though the forty-five minute power cut just an hour before the starting time of the event gave everyone a scare, they didn’t let any of it dampen their Christmas spirit and the mess looked like it had never looked before.

The event, which was organised jointly by the Cultural Committee and the Mess Committee, and emceed by Abhisar Bairagi began at around seven. There were ten carols sung by the choir consisting of excited First years and Second years, with Joseph and Rahul Varghese on the guitar and synthesiser respectively. Starting with ‘Joy to the World’, the choir then sang ‘O come all ye faithful’, ‘Angels we have heard on high’ ,’Silent night’, ‘Away in a manger’, ‘Rudolph the red nosed reindeer’, ‘Santa Claus is coming to town’, ‘O Holy Night’ (duet by Zothanpui and Udit), ‘Jingle Bells’ and ‘We wish you a Merry Christmas’. Many of the General Body had made an effort to attend the programme by squeezing time out of their pre-planned arrangements for the evening and they responded with boundless enthusiasm to the programme. They sang, they swayed, they aaawwwed when ‘Rudolph the red nosed reindeer’ came on the stage and they clapped and laughed along, when Santa did his little gig.

There have been significant changes in the way NUJS celebrated Christmas this year- it was bigger, merrier and also yummier! Here’s hoping that these changes are here to stay in the way of a tradition in the years to come. Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!


- Sakshi Agarwal (First Year)

First General Body Meeting of the Winter Semester

A recent poll conducted by the MagCom found that 82.17% of the NUJS students have attended a GB meeting at one point or another. And why shouldn’t they? GB Meetings offer a chance to know, to gripe and to shout. Mix in a liberal dose of legal jargon and some everyday college controversies and you have close to two hours’ worth of entertainment that would give the latest Yash Raj a run for its money.

The first general body meeting of the Winter Semester was a surprisingly sedate one, with a modest turn out. Two amendments to the NUJS Constitution were made, one that confirmed the division between the Magazine Committee and the Juridical Review and the other relating to a Society’s power to show-cause GB members. Other maters of grave importance included the impact of the recession on the impending fests Invicta and Outlawed, and proposed changes in the Examination Rules and the Academic Calendar. Of particular note was the fact that all of the topics on the Agenda were covered, a feat rarely achieved.

Candle Light Vigil

On 1st December, a candle light vigil was organised around the “Pillar of Justice” at the main entrance to the University campus. The idea for the event originated from the faculty. The Vice-Chancellor lit the first candle to mark the commencement of the vigil. A large section of the student body participated in the event, and over five hundred candles were lit. A two-minute silence was observed in memory of those who lost their lives. As part of a pan-Indian movement envisioned as a mark of solidarity, the students also wore white clothes.

A faculty member was heard to remark that this low-key and sincere event marked a welcome change from many that seem to be arranged by various organisations for the benefit of the press alone. The President of the Student Juridical Association also took this opportunity to announce an open forum for discussion that would be held on 2nd December inside the campus.

Blood Donation Camp at NUJS

Over 110 NUJS students overcame their fears of needles, blood loss and pro-activeness to donate blood on 30th November 2008 at the Blood Donation Camp organised in NUJS, by the non-profit organisation LUCY. The Boys' Hostel Rec Room was turned into a mini-ward and the place was abuzz with donors, volunteers and LUCY officials.

As there were NFL matches that day and a lot of the players were worried whether donating blood would affect their game, special arrangements were made for players by which they could donate early on in the day; several of them, like Bunty Da (in the picture) were therefore the first to donate.

There was no dearth of volunteers scurrying around all over the place, playing multifarious roles. Some took up the role of cajoling and coaxing nervous students into donating blood, while others fussed over the donors, much to latter's enjoyment.

Just like last year (this being the 2nd Blood Donation Camp in NUJS), several hopeful donors had to return dissapointed, because of medical reasons. Many of them being teased, that it looked like they needed some blood themselves.

Several faculty members, mess workers and other staff also came forward to donate blood and some of the organizers of the camp felt that there would have been even more wider participation if the camp had been held on a week day.

Though there was some misinformation revolving around the magic number of 25, with one donor being told that it was the time it took for blood regeneration, while another nervous donor being told (much to her horror) that it was the time period for which her blood would be drained, the camp for most parts got over without any glitches.

At the end of the camp, apart from the wacky caps and stickers, each donor got the following sms:"

Thank you for the gift of blood you have donated for the welfare of society. Your single contribution will save three lives. You're a real life hero."

Because of the high quotient of modesty running in their veins (pun intended), several donors were heard trying to disassociate themselves from such an image stating firmly that they did it for the food.

Quantum of Solace

Last semester, the newly constituted SJA wooed the General Body with a screening of Rock On. The special screening at Adlabs, Sector V met with an enthusiastic response with the tickets being declared sold out early on. This semester however the SJA organised screening of the latest James Bond flick, Quantum of Solace at INOX, City Centre on 9th November 2008, was received with considerably less enthusiasm by the General Body. Perhaps it was because that the average Noojie still prefers a Pierce Brosnan to Daniel Craig as the debonair agent James Bond, or the fact that a certain Second Year student had already treated most of her class to an earlier screening of the movie. The verdict seems rather unanimous for both the movie as well as the screening – we preferred the earlier one.