Saturday, August 25, 2012

And, it rained!


Poet Laureate Rabindranath Tagore observed, "Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add colour to my sunset sky."










 




Photographer Credits : Shruti Singhal

Friday, August 24, 2012

The mystery of Chemistry


This auto stands parked (or deserted?) amidst the verdure next to the School of Chemistry, along the pathway that leads to the Sarojini Naidu School of Arts and Communication.

Do write back, sharing your ideas on how you think this auto ended up here.




Photographer Credits : Shruti Singhal

Monday, August 20, 2012

Happiness


Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.
-Nathaniel Hawthorne




Photo credits: Shruti Singhal

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Happy Birthday Bol



Bol Hyderabad 90.4 FM, University of Hyderabad's campus community radio station completed one year on August 15, 2012. Marking the first anniversary of the station, a short programme was organized at the Department of Communication, Sarojini Naidu School of Arts and Communication. Vice-Chancellor Dr. Ramakrishna Ramaswamy; Dean, SN School, Prof. B. Anandhakrishnan ; Head, Department of Communication, Dr. Usha Raman; Head, UNESCO Chair, Prof. Vinod Pavarala; Station Manager, Bol Hyderabad, Mr. Naveen Sen graced the occasion and shared their ideas about the station and the plans for the future. 

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Women and Science


Addressing the first year students of M.A Communication at the Department of Communication, Sarojini Naidu School of Arts and Communication, the Vice-Chancellor Dr. Ramakrishna Ramaswamy said that there have been fewer than five women heading scientific laboratories in our country. Although women are enthusiastic about academic pursuits in the discipline, they frequently disassociate themselves from the practice. He referred to this phenomenon as the leaky pipeline.

Dr. Ramaswamy talked about the books Lilavati's Daughters : The Women Scientists of India and A Girl's Guide to a Life in Science that he edited and put together along with Rohini Godbole. The initiative sought to rediscover the struggle of Indian women pursuing scientific study and practice. He opined that excluding women in the field of science meant excluding a vital point of view, one that would have otherwise helped complete the picture.

The seminar was the first of the talks organized for the first year students as part of their course called Seminar on Media and Society. 

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Raindrops


"What a life this if full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare."
-William H Davies

Saturday, August 4, 2012

SN School students visit Zee Tv





"Tell me and I'll forget. Teach me and I'll remember. Involve me and I'll learn."
-Author Unknown


It was with this idea that the students of the Department of Communication, University of Hyderabad, paid a field visit to the 24-hour Telugu News Channel in the city, Zee Tv. The visiting students had selected the 'Radio and Television Production' stream for their specialization by the end of this academic year.

Kevin Panmei describes the visit, "We were given a tour to the news gathering teams or the bureau section and saw how beats were assigned to reporters; observed how news production was accomplished, witnessing how coordination between the 'satellite news gathering (SNG)' vans, production room, master control room and transmission room were crucial in order to package the ads, graphics, tickers and live feeds from the SNGs; another studio room where the sports news and entertainment programs were produced; Master Control Room (MCR) where the graphics, ads, promos and logos are created and fed to the Production Control Room (PCR); video library where video from tapes are digitised and stored for news and archive; edit suit where pre-recorded programmes are edited; transmission room where the tickers are inserted and the programme is broadcasted on-air from Noida, Delhi. The downlink signals are analysed for any errors in the content of the programme. It also monitors satellite transmission of SNGs. The students benefited from the exposure to a professional set-up for news production and understood the basic processes involved. The employees were accomodating to the various questions of the students and answered them accordingly. This demystified the processes of tv news production and would hopefully translate to commendable news bulletins when the students start their projects."

Usha Kiran adds, "The visit was very informative,we got to interact with professionals and also see how news goes live and understand its technical aspects. It was a very fruitful experience."

Abhishek Devara concludes, "It helped reduce my confusion about it because i saw it all, but it's still quite a complicated task."

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Retrospective

Written by Mehak Siddiqui

The second of August is an important date in my life. Last year, on this day, I moved 1200 kilometers away from my hometown of Ahmedabad to come to the University of Hyderabad for postgraduate studies.

I had never lived away from my family before so was both nervous and excited. On the night of first August, I couldn’t sleep at all in anticipation of my early morning flight out to Hyderabad. Once here, the admission formalities took an agonizingly long time to complete and it was around 4.30 p.m when I finally got a room in the ladies hostel. Sleep deprived and without having had any lunch due to standing in the long queues all
day, all I wanted to do was collapse into bed. But first, I had to lug my heavy suitcases to the hostel room. And then, I was in for a bit of a shock. No, actually, a big shock. I learned that each hostel room – meant for two people – was being allocated to three persons. Hence, I was stuck with two roommates, no bed, and no space to unpack and store my belongings. Plus, when I went to the common bathroom to freshen up, it was in a disgusting state, with leaky taps and muddy footprints all over. I was aghast and appalled and at a complete loss about what to do.

My first thought was to call my dad – who had come to drop me off and was staying at a nearby guesthouse – to come and take me back home. I didn’t want to be in this pathetic hostel, living with two strangers and sleeping on the floor. In retrospect, I guess this extreme reaction was a direct outcome of my fairly cushioned, protected, upper-middle- class upbringing. I wasn’t used to things being uncomfortable. I had never felt so helpless in my life.

But I had yearned so much to come to U of H! I couldn’t just leave now that I was finally here. So I resisted the urge to call Dad and instead called my best friend and burst into tears. An hour later, after venting it all out, I was feeling a bit better.

And now, a year (or rather, eight months, if I minus vacation time) later, I can almost laugh about that fateful first day in hostel. I eventually moved into another room with just one roommate and a bed and closet for myself. The hostel is still the same, with its messy bathrooms and depressing air but I seem to have gotten used to it. I’ve made lots of friends and learned to just accept niggling little irritations like how there are dogs
roaming all over the place or how just one shower works in the bathrooms. I enjoy my studies and the company of my friends so much that the discomforts of being away from home don’t matter so much anymore.

Moreover, I have learned so much. Right from practical things like washing my own clothes and falling asleep even if the lights are on, to emotional adjustments such as not missing home all that much and being more accommodating of other people.

I also began to use public transport alone – something I had done only rarely back home – and became more confident and independent. What I have gained in terms of life experience at hostel and at university in general, far surpasses the little compromises I have had to make with hostel life. And when I look back at my U of H days in the years to come, I know I am going to miss them dearly. In retrospect, my postgraduate stint is proving to be one of the most enriching and rewarding times of my life.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Technorama


The first episode of 'Technorama', a new show to be aired on Bol Hyderabad 90.4 FM, University of Hyderabad's campus community radio station was recorded yesterday.