Lookin' Back..!

This month, we celebrate eight fruitful years of blogging, and we've completed more than 8oo posts till date. Looking back, I just wonder at the pace at which Time flits by, on the wings of the whole wide web... 

Indeed it looks like, I wrote my first blog post just about yesterday!! What started off as a log/record of class activities for my students, quite soon expanded over a period of time to accommodate posts on general awareness, Educational scholarships, Association Activities, Recruitments, celebrating Student writers, acknowledging Student achievers, etc.

Herewith i would like to present memorable highlights of my blog - 

Personally, thus far, the cream of the blog, would be, Student Assignments which speak volumes to the creative abilities latent within every student. ‘Inspirational posts’ which are the lighthouse to the blog, serve to motivate students towards their goals!

Posts on ‘General Awareness’ have become a huge hit with netizens, particularly with my students - past and present, and I am sure convinced that they have been quite useful to the general reader too!

I would also like to say, with all humility, that we have got requests for lesson plans/lesson help/ lesson ideas/ lesson summaries from more than 200 netizens (students and/or researchers and/or fellow teachers) from across the world, and, thanks to my illustrious staff friends, we have been able to help out as much as possible, in the limited time available to us, everyone who has sought our academic guidance, totally free of cost!

Now for the acknowledgements - 

Topics for Oratory.:

Dear Students of II BA English Literature, 

Please find below the topics you've opted for, as part of your obligations towards your Paper on Rhetoric.

Your names are displayed against the topics you have chosen. Students who have not yet chosen your topic, may do so at the earliest. You can send me an email to rufusonline@gmail.com and confirm your topics. You may also start preparing for your Speech rightaway, by collecting data for the same. 

Criteria on what makes a good speech, will be displayed shortly. 

All the very best!

Regards, 

Rufus, Course Teacher

Topics for Oratory:

1.        Alcohol should be illegal. - ANTONY

2.        Children should provide room and board for their aging parents.

3.        Studying grammar is more important than practising conversation skills.

4.        Television is the leading cause of violence in today's society. - JENILA

5.        Dogs make better companions than cats.

6.        Smoking should be permitted in public places. - JEON

7.        Females are better students than males. - LOGESWARI

8.        Reading English is more difficult than writing English.

9.        Summer is the best season of the year. - SANDHIYA

10.     College students should wear uniforms.

11.     21 should be the legal driving age around the world.

12.     Rock and Roll is the best kind of music.

13.     "Is being happy connected with having a lot of money?" – JEEVAN / CHRISTINA GEORGE

14.     Beauty is only skin deep.

15.     The Olympics are a waste of money.

16.     Does violence in television and movies influence the way children behave?

Poetry Fest @ MCC

Our Principal, at the release of 'Cornucopia'

The First day of the Prakriti Poetry Reading Fest @ MCC saw eminent poets from far and wide, congregating at the sylvan surroundings of Selaiyur Hall, under the shades of the mighty trees of yore, on Saturday, 10 December 2011. 

French Lebanese poet and essayist of international renown, Salah STÉTIÉ  and Giuseppe CONTE, Italian poet, novelist, and translator who constitute the “Mediterranean Poets” panel, read out from their poems. 

They, along with Tamil poets Anand KRISHNAN, Kavitha MURALIDHARAN and Sivakami IAS, read out from their works and explored the Mediterranean - south Indian i.e. the South-South parallel.

The Second Poetry Reading on Monday, 12 Dec, saw eminent poet Ranjit Hoskote read out a few of his translations of Lal Ded, a forerunner of Sufism in the Kashmir Valley. He read out from his translation of Lal Ded - a selection of 146 poems from the circulating corpus of Lalla's utterances and rendered them freshly into English. 

An excerpt from his rendition on Lal Ded:

I'm towing my boat across the ocean with a thread.

Will He hear me and help me across?

Or am I seeping away like water from a half-baked cup?

Wander, my poor soul, you're not going home anytime soon.

At the end of the reading, Mr.Hoskote answered a lot of interesting and inquisitive queries from students.

 

Our Principal, releasing Cornucopia...

Day 3 of the Prakriti Fest @ mcc saw eminent poets from the Rabindranath Tagore Panel, perform a heart warming recital at 11.30 am on 13 Dec.2011 in the Selaiyur Hall guest room. 

Day 4 of the Prakriti Fest @ mcc saw poet, film maker and movie director Arjun Bali recite his poems to a rapt audience. He also had a 'listener's choice' session. 

Our Principal Dr.Alexander Jesudasan then released the first variety ensemble of TEA @ MCC - Cornucopia, [the brainchild of Prof. DC] and Shri.Arjun C.Bali received the first copy of the book. Dr.Felix Moses and Dr.Stephen Jebanesan were present on the occasion. 

On the whole, the four-day poetry fest @ MCC saw a host of performances by eminent and emerging poets, catering to the mind and the heart alike. 

Bringing Poetry Closer to You...

Poetry with Prakriti @ MCC

The festival brings together eminent and emerging poets,

featuring readings to small, intimate audiences.

So,

 if there’s a poet in you waiting to come out,

Don’t miss out...!

The Schedule:

@ MCC

On Saturday, 10 December, 10 am – Mediterranean Poet Panel @ SH, MCC

On Monday, 12 December, 1 pm – Noted poet Ranjit Hoskote @ SH, MCC

On Tuesday, 13 December, 11.30 am – Rabindranath Tagore Panel @ SH, MCC

On Friday, 16 December, 11.30 am – Arjun Bali @ SH, MCC