The National Sports Organization (NSO) of LSR organized its Annual Cross Country run on September 21, 2012 under the theme, ‘Run for solidarity with the people of North East’, in light of the recent violence in Assam between the Boro community and the Muslim community. The registration for the run began at 5.30 am, with hundreds of girls huddling around the Union members and other team members for attendance. One could feel the enthusiasm in the air, with excited girls all around looking forward to running for a cause. “The Cross Country run is a special event for it is one of the very few occasions when the entire LSR community comes together, and participates for a cause”, stated Ms. Meenakshi Pahuja, Head of the Department of Physical Education of LSR. The sponsor for the event was UniStyle Image, an eminent clothing brand that has been associated with the LSR NSO for almost ten years. All the participants were given t- shirts from USI before the run, and one could see enthusiastic participants in colourful t- shirts, waiting for the event to flag off.
The event began with a speech by the guest of honour, Ms. Shweta Choudhary, who is an international level shooter, and won a silver medal at the Doha Asian Games, 2006. She is also an ex- alumnus of LSR, belonging to the 2007 batch of B.A
program. Accompanying her was Mr. Abhijit Bhattacharya, captain of the Indian volleyball team, who is also a very ardent promoter of sports in his home state, Assam. Both of them urged the students to work hard towards their goals to achieve success, and have an unfailing determination. After their speech, Suparna Sinha, a third year Sociology student of LSR, addressed the crowd, and spoke to them about the situation in Assam. Suparna, who originally hails from Assam decreed the massacre of innocent people in Assam as not a political issue, but a breach of solidarity. “We should help overcome this imbalance. This is a cause I really feel about, and it is something that the youth should tackle with in order to bridge the gap between different communities”, stated Suparna, whose words set the crowd thinking about the true cause of their desire to run in a marathon, thousands of kilometres away from North East India, yet bound by sentiment and understanding.
The run was flagged off by the Vice Principal of LSR, Dr. Priti Dhawan. Within less than ten minutes of the run being flagged off, the first winner, Aanchal Bohra came to the finishing point effortlessly and her win wasn’t a surprise for anybody for Aanchal is a national level runner, a silver medallist at the CBSE championships, and the pride of the Athletics team of LSR. An Economics student, Aanchal described her win as a step towards her goal of running for India at the international level in the future. “I wish to represent LSR in the Commonwealth Games in the future, and I dream of competing in the Olympics too someday,” stated the enthusiastic second year student. The run was highly successful and enjoyable for all the
students, and one could see the really satisfied students at the refreshment counter. The run went off without any glitches, all thanks to a brilliant Union, comprising of Pratibha the President, Shivangi, the Vice President, Saumya, the Secretary, and Somya the treasurer. They were assisted by a huge volunteer team that provided water and first aid to all the participants, diligently waiting at different locations to help.
‘It is our privilege to be associated with the LSR NSO, and we wish to see the Cross country run bigger and better in the future,” said Mr. Ashwinder, part of the sponsorship team of USI. The Cross country run ended on a bright note, with all participants and volunteers receiving refreshments, and enthusiastically clicking photographs. It is hoped that the LSR NSO continues conducting such events which bind the LSR community together, and create such a vibrant atmosphere.
On 18th September, Google organized its pre-placement talk in LSR. Being one of the most sought after and innovative companies, Google had ‘do cool things that matter’ as its theme this year to attract prospective applicants in their pre- placement talk. The talk was led by Ms. Shwetambari, a senior executive at Google, India, and the talk began with a little quiz on Google and its products, to see how ‘Googly’ the LSR girls were. The ones who gave the correct answers received goodies from Google, and with a brilliant start, Google managed to capture the attention of all the girls from the various departments of LSR, sitting in that small room, dreaming about working for a company like Google in the future.
Apart from departments like Economics and B.com, which are standard departments sitting for placements, the Google pre-placement talk saw students ranging from departments like English to Political science. The job profile offered was the business analyst program, which entailed tasks like reviewing Google advertisements, servicing global small and medium business customers, etc. Apart from these, the program also trained the employee in selling skills and business management. The employee would also learn how to use the Google Adwords product.
The newest addition to the foodies’ list – this one is directed more towards those with a sweet tooth – is ‘The Colony Bistro’. Located in the famous market of Amar Colony, right behind Lady Shri Ram College, this little eatery is soon becoming the students’ favourite. The décor from outside sports the look of a typical French Bistro with the shed, the plants, the wooden chairs and the blackboard proudly announcing the day’s special dish. The facilities provided here include an air conditioned interior, Wi-Fi internet and outdoor seating (for whenever the weather permits).
Photo credits:-Additi Seth
The second week of college at LSR was bustling with activity as various societies were holding their annual auditions. The corridors were swarming with enthusiastic freshers as they hopped from one society board to another, furiously scribbling down the dates for the different auditions. “I am going to try out for as many societies as I can. There are so many options here, from music and dance to film appreciation and social work. I can’t wait to take part!” said an excited Nimisha, one of the many first years.
Boasting of about 21 active societies, LSR offers a wide range of options when it comes to extra-curricular activities. The past week consisted of NSS recruitments, where students were assigned NGOs of their choice to work for a year. The coming of this week began with both the Indian Music Society as well as the Western Music Society holding their auditions on Tuesday, 31st July. “75 students showed up for the IMS Auditions, out of which we chose 22. This was the preliminary round, where the candidates will be singing for the Special assembly put up on Independence Day. We asked them to sing any song of their choice. However, the second round of auditions, which will be held on 16th August, are for the core group of the society. This will only be open to people with a classical background,” said Parampara, the president of the Indian Music Society. The Western Music Society had a similar story to share. The numbers were larger, with 90 students turning up, causing the auditions to be split across two days. Gitana Singh, the president of WMS, was in quite a dilemma, “I asked each student to sing one or two songs of their choice that best represent their talent. After that, I tested their range to see how high or how low they could go. The students who auditioned were very talented. I honestly found it very difficult to choose between so many singers. In the end, I settled for 16 singers and 6 instrumentalists. Out of these, a few will be added to the already existing core group after the Independence Day assembly, for inter-college and out-station competitions.”
Close to 300 students turned up to shake a leg at the Dance Auditions held on Wednesday and Thursday. Anandini, the president of the Dance society, was issued the hard task of selecting the gems among the sea of candidates. When asked how the auditions were conducted, she said, “The LSR dance society is divided into four sub groups-Choreo, Western, Classical, and Folk. Each student could audition for all four, and to facilitate this, our dance team divided itself into four groups and asked each hopeful to approach the group for which they wanted to audition. They brought their own music and danced for 2-3 minutes. There is no preference given to freshers or ECA students, and we encourage everyone to take part.” The end of Thursday saw the first round of dance auditions close with 60 students chosen. Out of these, only 20 students will finally make it after the final round of auditions, scheduled for early next week. “We would love to take more students, but we have to be extremely selective when it comes to selecting for our college dance team,” says Anandini.
The Debating society held its much-awaited auditions on Thursday. These began at 4 in the afternoon and stretched on until 7 in the evening. “They gave us 8 different topics early in the morning, such as whether Sarkozy banning the Burqa was justified, should the UN be disbanded, and so on. My topic was concerning the Censor Board of India and the fact that it oversteps boundaries. They threw many questions at me, and then asked me to turncoat after that. I was given 5 minutes, and it was probably the most nerve-wracking argument I have ever had to give,” says Harnidh Kaur, a first year History student who hopes to get in to the Debsoc.
Friday saw the arrival of the Dramsoc auditions, where 124 expressive students couldn’t wait to put on an act for their judges. They were allowed to prepare a piece of their choice in either Hindi or English. “The drama society is divided into street plays and stage performances, as well as on the bases of language-English and Hindi. However, the initial auditions are taken only for events that are coming up, in this case Independence Day. This is an open society, only the union members are a permanent part of it. Hence, every actor needs to re-audition for a new production. From 124 candidates, we have chosen 37. The second round will be on Saturday, when we will bring this list down to 15,” say Yama, the president of Dramsoc, LSR. She continues, “This year, the quality of acting was extreme. Some performances were brilliant and we were awestruck by their acting and enunciation. On the other hand, we had to face some performances that we hoped would end immediately.”
With many more Society orientations waiting in line next week, such as Projekt-the photography and film club, freshers as well as the seniors can’t wait to begin exploring what LSR has in store for them this year. With its dynamic and talented crowd, one can easily say that LSR societies are ready to take the DU world by storm!
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