Sunday 13 February 2011

Theodore Baskaran @ MCC: Excerpts from his lecture:

Dr.Theodore Baskaran delivered the first Michael Lockwood Lecture, hosted by the Dept of Philosophy, at Heber Hall Indoor theatre, on Friday, 11 February 2011. 

Excerpts from his lecture:

Dr.Theodore Baskaran, started his lecture with an interesting incident on Michael Lockwood’s excavation of  a new shrine next to the shore temple. Appreciating Lockwood’s involvement with/ and sensitivity to the language, especially his involvement with Sanskrit, Dr.Baskaran said that his talk was hence titled ‘Language and Ecology: A Fading Heritage’

Thursday 10 February 2011

Student Assignment:

DESCRIPTION OF BOOK FAIR

The 34th Book fair was held in Chennai at St.George's Anglo-Indian Hr.Sec.School from 4th January to 17th January. Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu Dr.M.Karunanidhi sponsored Rs.One Crore for this book fair.

It was opened by ex-Supreme Court Judge Mr.A.R.Lakshmanan. Along with him, Minister Mr.S.Jegathratchagan and Business Man Mr.Nallikuppusami Chetty, were present.

Even great writers also participated in this Book Exhibition fair, like Tamizhannal, Abdul Raghuman, C.S.Lakshmi, K.Ramanujam, Arjun Danglae, and K.Chellappan, all of whom had received awards from Dr.M.Karunanidhi.

Wednesday 9 February 2011

Student Assignment:

BOOK FAIR 2011

After College working hours, in the afternoon, we took a train to Chetput and reached there by 02.30 pm. We were four guys who went to the book fair together. We got down at Chetput and didn't know where to go. But somehow we reached there.

We went into the book fair and i asked everyone to go separately and collect their own reports. I went into the fair. I was bewildered on seeing the posters, banners and the cut outs of the stalls which were kept in the fair. There were about 500 stalls. There were about thousands of people and there was a great rush. But somehow i got the ticket and went into the stalls. I started from stall no.1. There were stalls from all parts of India. I went to the gate and visited stall number 1 - thirukundanthai pathipagam. It comprises of all the Tamil books of age-old authors and new-age authors. The books were up to date in that stall. And then, I saw the famous publishers, like Macmillan, which was located in stall no.6. It took me a lot of time to complete one row of the book fair. But time seems to be moving fast for me as i'm fond of books and reading. 

Student Assignment:

An Exciting Journey to the Exhibition

Books are good friends of man, and we, Solomon and Sai Shri, R, of I BSc Pb&Pbt, good friends, were searching for good friends and got two best friends.

You Too Can Become An IPS Officer

Title of the book itself is highly motivational and the author of the book is an IPS Officer - C.Sylendra Baby, IPS. The three important things printed on the paperback - "SERVICE, ADVENTURE, SACRIFICE" creates an enthusiasm and a zing for the young readers.

The cost of the book is just Rs.70/- which is quite affordable. 

Sunday 6 February 2011

Student Assignment:

Our journey:

On 8th January 2011, we went to the 34th Chennai Book Fair which was held at St.George’s Anglo-Indian High School, Chetpet. We four of us, (Beryl, Smita, Maxlein and Shimray) from the department of Plant Biology and Plant bio-technology went together for the book fair. We gathered in our college at 9 am and boarded our train and finally we reached Chetpet at 10.30 am. Andrew and Anoop, our friends from the department of Physics joined us from Chetpet and we all walked towards St.George’s Anglo-Indian High School. We reached the book fair at 11.15 am. We had a great time in train chatting with each other.  

In the book fair, we got our tickets after standing in a long queue, and the ticket was Rs.5 per head. We went through almost all the book stalls in search of a book that would please our heart. We loved the books of Gift book Stall, but those books would not give us sufficient information to

Student Assignment:

34th CHENNAI BOOK FAIR

I. Observations on the Exhibition:

We visited the 34th Chennai Book Fair at St.George’s School. The Exhibition was very nice. There were 600 books shops all around us. For the first time we visited the book fair. There were religious books, comics, Tamil literature books, Oxford Edition books, Cambridge Edition books, and many CDs for kids that assisted in telling rhymes and the alphabet. Most of the stalls aimed to attract the kids. We found competitive examination books, studies’ oriented books and some centum scoring books for plus two students. Catalogues were also provided to us. A reporter and a camera man came from Kalaignar TV and asked our views about the book fair.

Student Assignment:

Hatrick for St.George’s Anglo-Indian!

“If the New year is on its way,
Can Book fair be far away?”
(inspired by Shelley)

At the start of the new year, the 34th Chennai Book Fair kickstarted at St.George’s Anglo-Indian School, Chetput for about two weeks from 4th to 17th January where the swarm of book lovers rushed to grab their books. A visit to the book fair makes the visitor to get exposed to a variety of books and get to know more about the upcoming publishers. Book fair makes the student community to grab their self-learning books within one roof.

Friday 4 February 2011

Thanksgiving Service for the Life and Service of Prof.G.K.Mathew - A Report

The MCC fraternity came together with gratitude at 12.40 pm in the Anderson Hall, on Friday, 04 February 2011, in thankfulness for all Prof.George K.Mathew had been by nature and by grace, and for his services rendered to the community.

After Prayer, and the Principal’s Obituary, the solemn gathering stood up to sing to the tune of “How sweet the Name…” Tributes were then offered in memory of the late Prof.G.K.Mathew, by Dr.Felix Moses and Dr.Stephen Jebanesan.

Eulogy delivered by Dr. Felix Moses, Head Department of English, in respectful memory of Professor GKM on 4.2.2011.

“Time like an ever rolling stream bears all its sons away they fly forgotten as a dream dies at the opening day.” We are gathered here today to do our best to prevent this from happening by remembering and thanking our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for the wonderful life of Prof. George K Matthew or GKM as he was more popularly known.

I knew Mr. GKM as teacher, colleague and friend. He was my teacher from Pre-University to M.A. – that’s from 1970 to 76. He belonged to the era when there was no internet and the word ‘multimedia’ was unheard of, but all his classes were richer in content and more vivid in expression than what any multimedia experience could offer. All of us will remember him as an enthusiastic teacher of Shakespeare who would fire our imagination by virtually enacting in his classes whole scenes all by himself. With his exceptional chameleon like ability he would virtually become one character after another in rapid succession by modulating his voice and accent. “Twelfth Night” was his favorite play and he was in his element when teaching it – one moment he would be Orsino the next moment Olivia and the next Feste. Even today his depiction of Malvolio in Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” remains firmly etched in my memory.

Class Photo Invite - Reg

Dear Students of III BA English and II MA English,
Kindly join us for a class-photo session on Friday, 04 February at 9.25 am in the Selaiyur Hall premises.
Regards,
Rufus

Thursday 3 February 2011

Student Assignment:

Introduction:

'Exhibit' would mean to show or to expose. Exhibition exposes the varieties of books, of things, etc. Here i want to mention my experience on the books exhibition, to which recently I went along with my college mates. I too would like to share some of the ideas about my favourite book that I purchased in the book exhibition.

My Observation:

The book exhibition is being held at St.George's Anglo-Indian Hr Sec School grounds opposite to Pachaiyappa's College in the Poonthamalli Highway, Chennai - 30. When I entered the spot, I saw many

Wednesday 2 February 2011

"People were flocking the venue with a smile on their faces and with great excitement, zeal and curiosity"

A Visit to the Chennai Book Fair

It was 15-01-2011 and the time was 2.30 pm. 

I started to move out from my Hall and headed towards the railway station to book the ticket as i was destinated to go to Nungambakkam for the 24th Chennai Book Fair which was being held in St.George's Anglo-Indian Hr. Sec School which was opposite to Pachaiyappa's College, Chennai - 30.

2.40 pm: I reached the station and i was made to wait for a long time for nearly half an hour as the queues were long and crowded. When my turn came, it was 3.15 pm. 

I booked the ticket and I then paid Rs.14 to the counter as I had booked for a return journey. And, as I got my ticket, I then headed towards the train. I went through the platform no.1&2, and got into the II Class coach, booked my seat at ease in my desired spot as almost all the seats were vacant. I had to wait for another 10 minutes, and i looked at the time and it was 3.37 pm. And, lastly the train journey started.


4.20 pm: Alas, finally, my destination arrived, and i got down from the crowded train, and headed towards the road, searching for the right autorickshaw. 

Finally got one, after only having a tough conversation for bargaining and lastly the driver and I came to the conclusion with the deal of Rs.40 to go to the book fair which was a 10-minute journey, with the feeling of break-even, as neither the driver nor i had any gain or loss. 

Since i don't know the local language and moreover as i was alone, i lost the communication bridge between the driver and me, who also didn't know the universal language very well. 

Thus far, i came to know how important it is and a privilege given to me to know the local language better.

4.38 pm: Finally when I reached the destination it was 4.3 pm, and I paid the sum of Rs.40 to the driver, and i headed towards the event. Oh! Oh! Oh! what a crowded event! 

Firstly, i was a bit confused on where exactly to go when i stepped into the entrance. 

People were flocking the venue with a smile on their faces and with great excitement, zeal and curiosity. 

Those who are going away after seeing the book fair looked fully contended, which could be gauged from the smile of satisfaction on their faces, as they must have already bought their favourite books and loaded on both their hands, irrespective of age, old people and youngsters, students and working people alike.

4.45 pm:  It was 4.45 pm and i was near the entrance waiting for the ticket and on my hand I got a ticket for Rs.5/- and on entering the main entrance the ticket collector who was near the entrance tore a bit of the ticket as a sign of letting me in.

4.48 pm: It was the moment of real fair. Wow! So many books and book-lovers were seen reading, interrogating and buying books with the dealers and shop keepers of the stall. 

As for me, I don't know from where to start, since there were so many stalls which were divided into many sections. I was a bit confused and nervousness was building up within me not knowing what to do. 

Then, i thought of trying my luck in the lucky draw, and started filling up the counterfoil of the ticket. Many people were seen dropping the same, with hopes of winning the draw. 

After that, I headed to each and every stall, looked up the name of each of them, and roamed the whole area for nearly an hour, searching for the right stall that suited me the best. 

And there, lastly, i saw the stall and it's name was 'BOOK WORLD'. I chose this stall because it was very good, and, while all stalls and eye-attracting offers on various prices, with different kinds of books being showcased,  this one was simply the best one with various books on a variety of genres, and had almost all kinds of books for all kinds of readers. 

They also gave good offers. One offer, which attracted me the most was, 'Get 5 books for Rs.500/- only', on one of the shelves which was fully stuffed and loaded with different kinds of books. And in that particular stall, there was a huge rush also.

5.48 pm: After a long search for my required type of book in that shelf, i finally got it. 

The book name is "The Fruits of War" written by Michael White who was longlisted for the 2006 Aventis Prize. 

I chose this book because I like to read novels, comics, magazines, that are influenced by science and technology. 

In this book, the author says that war brings confusion, conflicts, havoc, loss of lives, loss of property, loss of peace, hunger, and pain etc. 

The book deals with how Military conflict accelerates technology and improvised the issue till date. I should say that war is the 'father of technology' on one side of the issue.

6.00 pm: got my required book, paid the cash for the books, and i too was contended with a smile beaming on my face like the others!

After I walked out from the main entrance, i saw that there were parallel events that were going on outside of the book exhibition also.  

There were lots of vendors busy selling their things to the people who were coming to the fair. There were also various stalls besides them, like fruit stalls, fast food kiosks, and drinks, etc. 

There was an event going on which was attended by a good number of ardent onlookers. 

Moreover, the traffic police and other police personnel were heavily deployed in and out of the event venue, and they were seen doing the tough job of escorting, guiding and ensuring the security of the public visitors and the VIPS as well, and also making sure that traffic was not paralysed by a traffic jam.

6.20 pm: After coming out of the main venue, i boarded a train back home.

About the Author and His Book:

Michael White was a member of the internationally famous band the Thompson Twins. He then became a lecturer at d'Overbroek's College, Oxfort, before becoming Director of Studies. 

Turning to fall time writing in 1991, he is now the author of 25 books including the international bestsellers Stephen Hawkings: A Life in Science, Leonardo, the First Scientist, Tolkein: A Biography, and the Science of the X-files. There are some 140 editions of Michael White's books published globally.

He was awarded the Bookman Prize in the US for best popular science book of 1998 for his biography of Isaac Newton, The Last Sorcerer, and in 2002 was shortlisted for the prestigious Aventis Award for his book Rivals: Conflict as the fuel of Science.

Michael White has been a newspaper columnist, science editor for GQ Magazine, and a series consultant for the Discovery Channel's 'The Science of the Impossible'. 

In 2001 he was awarded a Distinguished Talent visa by the Australian government, and now lives in Perth, Western Australia, with his wife and four children, where he is an Honorary Research Fellow at Curtin University. For more information visit http://michaelwhite.com.au/

"I will ignore all ideas for new works on engines of war, the invention of which has reached its limits and for whose improvements I see no further hope." Julius Frontinus, Chief Military Engineer to the Emperor, AD 70.

Submitted by:
Kekhrie Nekha, I BSc Pb&Pbt

BEC Training - Reg

Students who have registered themselves for the BEC Training - II, are asked to collect the Challans from the English Dept, and enroll themselves before Friday, 04 February 2011. Classes start on Monday, 07 February 2011.

Co-ordinators, BEC Training,
Dept of English, MCC

Assignment on Book Exhibition - Reg

Dear Students,

We were literally bowled over by your raving reviews/ splendid coverage of the National Book Exhibition. All assignments would be uploaded on our blog, as I had earlier promised you. The last date for submission of assignments, has been extended to Friday, 04 February 2011.

Regards and all best wishes,

Rufus