A 'desi' cultural festival

THERE WERE Kishore Kumars at their sentimental best competing with the Lata Mangeshkars pouring melody in abundance! Supporting them in chorus, and on the benches, there were R.D. Burmans and A.R. Rehmans at their loudest best.

After the mundane boycotts and routine strikes that took sheen out of the sprawling premises, the College of Arts and Social Sciences, Osmania University, reverberated with some excitement. The flurry of activity was a welcome sign as it eclipsed the dreariness that usually sets in at the fag end of the academic year.

`Pratibha' - the annual cultural festival of the Department of Hindi had all the elements one looks for - loads of fun and ample time to relax. It was an opportunity for the students to unwind themselves for the hard times ahead in the annual examination.

Unlike other student festivals where rock shows rule and pop shows are a prescription, this was totally `desi'. It was a strict no no for the likes of torn jeans, baseball caps and Reeboks and Nikes. All that remotely connected with the West was absent and instead the best of East and Hindi was the in-thing.

A series of events ceased the dreariness bit by bit on the first day of the three-day festival. Some tested their singing talents while others checked their language skills in the Essay competition. However, the most popular that attracted large crowds was `Antakshari' which was filled with melody from the Hindi films.

Says, Dr. Lila Jyothi, Head of the Hindi Department, `It has been a tradition to promote Hindi through this cultural festival. In tune with the tradition, `Niyam' replaced the rules and `Chatra aur Kakshya' were the often heard words. It was a refreshing change for many who are used to the English dominated shows in other colleges.

The atmosphere reflected in the words of a student from Pragati College. `Its uniqueness is that its Indian to the core. With neither pop nor discos everyone is comfortable here'. Agrees, a student of Hindi Department, Arts College, `We want to be different from other colleges. And thanks to the traditions set in by our seniors, our festival has achieved that uniqueness'.

Debate on Internet

IT REDUCES the miles but it distances the minds! This was the crux of the argument that the girls came out with at the Inter- College Debate organised by the Sri Aurobindo Junior College last week.

The topic `Does Internet Isolate More Than It Connects' had ample scope for the students to let out their feelings. Arguing for and against the topic, they touched the sensitive issue of human being's race against time as well as the mindboggling changes that science had brought in a human being's life. But, what's important was that the speakers had calibre and their arguments were convincing to the core.

About 15 teams with three students each tested their communicative and articulative skills. While 15 of them spoke for the topic, 15 argued against it and the rest were interjectors questioning the opinions of the participants.

St. Ann's College, Mehdipatnam, won the award for overall performance. Christabel Royan of the St. Francis Junior College, Secunderabad, was adjudged the best for the topic while Amrita Suresh of the St. Ann's Girls High School, Secunderabad, got the first prize against the topic. Priyanka Jhang of the St. Ann's Junior College, Mehdipatnam, was adjudged the best interjector.

EAMCET preparation

FROM COLLEGES to tutorials to Internet and now on to the CD-ROMs, the EAMCET preparation is taking a new shape everyday.

A software company has come out with a CD-ROM `Tips EAMCET 2001', which promises to help the students not just in inculcating knowledge but evaluating their skills in the subject by pointing out their strengths and weaknesses.

The software is designed in such a way that the students can take tests in his focus areas subject-wise, chapter-wise or topic- wise. The graphical views given in the software help the students to review their performance in the previous tests.

Given the intense competition for EAMCET and the `do or die' attitude of students this software promises to enhance the skills, according to Mr. E. Ashok Kumar, Chief Executive Officer of Internet Protocol Systems, which launched the package. For those who do not have access to PCs at home, TIPS intends to arrange tie-ups with leading training centres for a stipulated number of hours on purchase of cash cards. It is priced at Rs.499.

R. RAVIKANTH REDDY

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