English Society Report 08-09

ENGLISH	SOCIETY

It seems as if it happened yesterday, but its been humble fours years since the English Honours was launched .Over these few years  we have grown in leaps and bounds, not only in numbers but  also in academic excellence.

This year (2008-09) began at rather exuberant note and keeping in step with the hallowed traditions of English Society ,the 2nd and 3rd year students organized a Jamming Session for our juniors, the fresh entrants to DDUC English Hons. family. As the name suggests jamming session is an exercise to initiate  bonding between seniors and juniors. This session marks the official handing over of the legacy and traditions of the English Hons.to the first year students. It is a formal ice breaking exercise where Senior students mentor junior students and warmly welcome them into the fold of the Department of English.

After a formal interaction the office bearers of English Society were announced.The toppers from every batch automatically assume the the top four posts. The office bearers this year were represented by of President –Harpreet Kaur Pelia(3rd year), Vice President –Mansi Grover(2nd year),Secretary –Neha Kundra(3rd year), and treasurer Vikas Shukla (2nd yr),Kanika Chawla and Arun Arora were appointed class representatives for the first year. The Fresher's Party adds to the celebrations of a new batch as well as the accomplishments of the old batch. We have redefined the conventional idea of a fresher’s party wherein the freshers along with their seniors host the party together. This also becomes an occasion to celebrate the landmark results of the previous year.

The annual results of English Honours 2007-08 vindicated the collective hard work of the teachers and the students. Ashok Kumar got sixth position in University Examinations of Delhi University. Apart from this we had many first divisions and high second divisions in all the three years..

Interestingly, the fresher's party for us means beginning of a fresh year /fresh chapter/fresh goals and commitments to be met. The theme for the party this year was 'black and blue'. Fun filled games like eating ice cream without using hands and students wrapped like mummies in toilet paper made the event memorable. The star attraction of the event was gracious English Society boys clad in sarees. They stole the show with their gung ho attitude proving that men in English Hons. believe in equality in all spheres of life. The coveted title of Mr.. Fresher was won by Satya and Miss. Fresher was Deepanvita.

English society organized a Special lecture by Dr.Nirmalaya Samanta who spoke on Literature and Art. He pointed out that the existence of literature happened only when it was recorded. But painting as an art form existed even before coherent words were formed. Therefore literature is interpretation of art.

Dr. Nirmalaya Samanta revisited us for a specialized lecture on W.B. Yeats.He spoke extensively on Yeats’ life and his philosophy.

As an annual activity the faculty and the students together undertake a trek or a visit to a library. This year we went for a 10 km trek from Qutab Minar to J.N..U through Sanjay Van.

As part of an annual exercise English society also organises a counseling cum lecture session with Dr.Rahul Manchanda on 'Youth and Health Today' for the first year students. The Department of English has also introduced two in house courses one on ELT (English Language Teaching) and another on E.C.P.DT(effective communication and personality development through theatre) which helps in the overall development of the students

The Film Club showcased various movies like Jane Eyre,The Passion of the Christ,The Home and the World ,Othello,The Duchess of Malfi, Abijinansakuntalam,Pride and Prejudice etc.

The English Society met every Friday afternoon for an intense academic session. The Senior students who have passed out from the college and are at present pursuing their masters in English held text based workshops to provide the students with an easy familiarity with the text and secondary readings based on the texts.

Webpage Launch:- As students of literature we are constantly engaged to create a collaborative space for the students and Faculty of English. We actively partake in  academic and creative fronts as well. Our webpage on Wikieducator is an effort in that direction. On 25th Nov 2008 our web page on English honours was launched by the web guru- Niyam Bhushan.

The Wikieducator team led by-Samarth Goyal,Mansi Grover and Smriti Shukla made a presentation on our webpage. Mr. Bhushan pointed out the that all across Delhi University we DDUC students were the first to form a webpage on wikieducator and also that it was a dream come true for him. He spoke on Literature and Media in the New Age and stressed on the importance of culture based on sharing and contributing. On this occasion A Sneak Preview of the name and logo of the English Society was shown.

English Society now has a name- ZEST.

ZEST encapsulates the vision and mission statement Of the English honours course.

ZEST stands for three basic principles of-academics ,scholarship and brilliance and all these together constitutes a ZEST for life.

The name of the society has been contributed by Vikas Shukla and the logo has been designed by Aarushi Sharma.The idea behind ZEST i Z in ZEST comes from the Greek word 'zelos'. It reflects the spirit and fervour for some cause and intercepts the whole idea of being virtuous, everything that supports endures and exhalts life. E in ZEST comes from the Latin word 'enuntiatus'; it emblematzes expression and its various modes viz.innovation and pathbreaking. S in ZEST comes from the Greek word 'sunergos', it epitomises the ideal of togetherness and unity and negates the concept of us vs. them. It appeals for alliance and aims for cohesion. Last but not the least T in ZEST comes from the Latin word 'tribunus'. It is the reminder of being the pioneers in the sphere of knowledge.

Nevertheless, there are innumerable adjectives to define ZEST but we shall redefine it in our own way.