THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH: ANNUAL ACTIVITY REPORT 2011-12

The Department of English has ever been encouraging the students to exhibit their best and nurtures them at the same time. With the same intention, the academic year of 2011-2012 began with the election of the student council for the English Club and The Creative Corner under the able guidance of Prof. Rekha Rai and Dr. R. V. Sheela respectively.

The combined strength of all the three years elected the following students in the following positions for ‘The Creative Corner’- a popular wall magazine managed by the department:

1.       Editor-In-Chief         - Pankaj A. Desai              [3^rd year, B.A.]

2.       Sub-Editor               - Vivek M.V.                     [3^rd year, B.A.]

3.       Sub-Editor               - Chetan Kumar              [3^rd year, B.A.]

4.       Editor                       - Manoj Jain                    [2^nd year, B.A.]

5.       Editor                       - Shivani Naik                  [1^st year, B.A.]

For the ‘English Club’, the following students were nominated by the congregation:

1.     Convenor                            - Narayan Kulkarni      [3^rd year, B.A.]

2.     Co-ordinator (2^nd year)     - Sadhana S.                [2^nd year, B.A.]

3.     Co-ordinator (1^st year)       - Anuraga                     [1^st  year, B.A.]

This year THE CREATIVE CORNER found a new identity with the online edition getting its own domain at www.mescreativeconer.in! Now, the online portal hosts the entire volume of contributions from the year 2010 onwards!

‘The Creative Corner’ set the ball rolling with the publishing of the 1^st edition in the month of September which encompassed topics like ‘The son of a revolution’ and inquired ‘Is English killing the vernacular?’. The 16^th of September, saw the launch of the CREATIVE CARNIVAL- an intra-collegiate literary fest, which even inspired the teachers to come forward and participate! What more could one have asked for!

The seminar hall was jam packed for a talk by Radio Jockey Sreeja Mohan of FM RAINBOW which was encouragingly interactive, with the students loving every moment of their interaction with her. She said it best when she said, "It is not old fashioned to be nice. A sense of responsibility is a prime asset not only for a Radio Jockey but for all professions."

The English Club enthused the students and teachers alike with the screening of the Dev Anand classic ‘Guide’ which was based on the text prescribed for the final year students. Releasing just in time for the festival of Deepawali, the 2nd edition was published in October with the tag line ‘The world as I see it today’ which brought up corruption related issues to the fore.

The even semester started with quite some excitement! Promoting the theme of ‘The Social Awakening’ which could only be conceived of as a happening not later or elsewhere but ‘right here, right now’, ‘WRITE HERE, WRITE NOW!’ in its second edition was an event to cherish on the 16^th of February, 2012!

With events like Pic-n-speak, Product launch, Press release, Photography, Poetry translation and recitation, Street play, Poetry review, Cartooning, Editorial and Mock-press conference, ‘WRITE HERE, WRITE NOW!’ 2012 drew in enthused participants from more than 12 colleges from across Bangalore! The highlight of the day’s programme was a talk on ‘Language and Media’ by Mr. G.N. Mohan- the Editor-In-Chief of Samaya TV and also the Chief Guest and the speaker for the day.

 He emphasized the need for an education system that was more hands-on than theoretical and that which was awake to the needs of the world around!

The 3^rd edition of THE CREATIVE CORNER was special in the sense that it showcased the best in visual creativity with the least emphasis on the usage of words. This edition was dedicated to the Visual arts of Cartooning and Photography received as entries for the inter-collegiate competition. The 4^th edition was dedicated jointly to ‘Editorial Writing’ and the art of writing a ‘Press release’. The students displayed sufficient maturity while dealing with controversial topics like ‘The porngate of Vidhana Soudha’ and ‘measures taken by the Railways to strengthen security at the stations’. Coming as the final edition for the academic year 2011-12, the 5^th edition showcased the unity in diversity of ideas. Through the medium of ‘Poetry Review’, the edition brought forth the variety in perspectives and the innovation in thought processes of the contributors.

With this The Department of English concluded an academic year which saw a plethora of activities being conducted by the vibrant student team under the able guidance of the supportive faculty members. From here, it is only a matter of sustained interests and efforts that will see THE CREATIVE CORNER settling deeper into the hearts of the student community in a way that it further encourages them to be pioneers of original and creative thought!

REPORT PREPARED BY:       PANKAJ A. DESAI

                                    6^TH SEMESTER, B.A. (P.J.O.E.)