November Issue of Writer’s Block Hits the Stands

The eagerly awaited November Issue of Writer’s Block, the (approximately) monthly NUJS rag, was released by the MagCom on 12th December 2008 (we did say it was eagerly awaited). The issue set a new record for page count and carried an unusually high number of entries by the General Body. Of particular note was Taking Stock, an article on the changing teacher-student relationship in NUJS. The article was authored by Goutham Shivshankar of the Class of 2009. Another popular new feature was Writer’s Blog—a selection of posts by Noojie bloggers featuring, among other topics, sneezing, child labour, mondegreens, insomnia, spies, bots, and Thomas Hardy.

Of course, the Issue also contained the regular features that people have come to associate with Writer’s Block. The MagCom Restaurant Review—titled Tea or Coffee—focused on Dolly’s Tea Shop and India Coffee House. The SportsCom was chosen as the MagCom 'Society of the Month', and the 'Know Thy Family' pages featured profiles of the campus security guards.

As usual, the issue attracted wild praise, a moderate dose of controversy, and furnished under-the-desk and over-the-pot entertainment during the week that followed.

Miscellaneous Sporting Activities in November

The chess tournament, which in previous years was an individual open event, was held in the Davis Cup, inter-batch format this year. VD, JNU and Pranab Pegu emerged as the knights in shining armour for the Fifth Years. Playing the Sicilian defence with the black pieces and a variation of the Latvian gambit with the white, they sailed through to the finals, where they overcame the Third Year team 3-0 with 3 checkmates.

Also, in one of the most hotly contested events of the NUJS sporting calendar, the girls’ Throwball Tournament came to an end with the Fourth Years emerging as the winners. The finals saw them pull off an upset victory over the Third Years who have a number of University Team players on their rolls.

Amazing Race

The first ever Amazing Race (NUJS Chapter) was organised last year by the Law and Contemporary Affairs Society (LCAS) and featured among other activities – walking around the rim of the cesspool, two at a time, three legged. This time of course Amazing Race 2008 was bigger, weirder and for a lack of a better word, even more amazing!

Throwing plastic packets of water from the fourth floor, jumping around in gunny bags and eating exotic cuisine with some daab: these were just some of the things the participants of the Amazing Race 2008 were forced er…expected to do. The challenges were tougher; the tasks crazier – for example while Round Five involved Christmas caps and shaving form, Round Six involved the use of Rickshaws bedecked with multi-coloured heart-shaped balloons.

The race ended with Siddharth Sinha, Kamaljeet Singh and Pranav Mittal (a team comprising of Third Years) being declared the winners. With the continuing success of this year’s Amazing Race, the clamouring for an Amazing Race 2009 has already started.