Out amp; About

Foreign exchangeA new faculty and student exchange programme is on the anvil between Panjab University and Sandwell College of England. T...

Foreign exchange
A new faculty and student exchange programme is on the anvil between Panjab University and Sandwell College of England. This follows the recent visit of faculty members from the college to the university headed by Stewart Nell Smith of the Department of Communication of the college which is located at West Bromwich. The three-member delegation was invited by the office of the Dean College Development Council. While they scouted for possibilities of a cultural exchange programme, the team apart from visiting the Punjab University also visited the local Dev samaj College for Girls, Sector-45.

8220;It was amazing,8221; says Harvi Droch Sadler. 8220;The college girls responded to our visit with such enthusiasm that we were left astounded8221;. That is Punjabi hospitality for you, says Deepak Manmohan Singh, the Dean College Development Council. Harvi is of Indian origin, although she was born and brought up in England. This is her visit to India. For Stewart too, this is his first visit and at the end of his tour, he termed visiting Chandigarh a great experience having visited the famous rock Garden and Sukhna Lake. However, it is the traffic snarls that left him a little dazed. Talking about the exchange programme, Stewart stated that they offer courses ranging from four weeks to two years and most of them are skill oriented. He met the University Vice-Chancellor, M. M. Puri who perhaps due to his background in international studies is keen to tie-up with foreign universities. According to Bansal, their visit will be immediately followed by PU faculty members to their college to chalk out the final modalitiesof the exchange programme.

The moving8217; French Nightingale
This competition has become an annual affair now and over the past two years, this petite girl also has cemented her position at the top. So when Anjali Krishen finished her goose-pimple-arousing song on unrequited love8217;, there was no doubt in anyone8217;s mind about who would be this year8217;s French Nightingale. Anjali, Alena for her stage shows, may be young but her voice has the maturity and sensuality of calibrated singers like Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. Anjali, doing her post-graduation in French from the Punjab University, has been the winner for the last two years too and, in fact, she narrowly missed out her prize at the national final held at Goa last year, though she managed to bag the fourth position.

This cute girl is a jack of all trades and trying to be a master in all. Her concerts with brother Jay have been well-received both here and in Delhi where they shared the stage with such bigguns like Daggar Brothers the Dhrupad exponents and Parikrama for the Fete de la Musique, the European festival celebrated on the 21 of June every year. Besides her singing, it is calligraphy and painting that keep her busy. The second prize-holder, Sangeeta Shivaram, was also an absorbing voice to listen to and the French language seemed to have a smooth flow from this South Indian8217;s vocal chords.

Vidisha Sharma, of GCG, Sector 11 who loves anything and everything about Western music, reached the third position. The response was good, what with participants coming all the way from Amritsar and HP University for this was the regional final but most of them read out8217; the songs, rather than singing them. But the voice that stayed in everyone8217;s minds with a tinge of sorrow was that of Mayank Anand. Despite a superb start, with voice going straight into the listener8217;s soul, Mayank seemed lost midway and just wound it up. This final year Maths graduate studying at GCM, who is an ardent fan of South Indian playback singer S P Balasubramaniam, is bound to come up one day. The Alliance Francaise and the French Embassy deserve kudos for promoting young talents. The first four winners of the national final, that will take place in the middle of November, will get a chance to tour France. So, Anjali, gear up!