English Literary Society

Yearbook Report 2008-2009

    For a society that leads a relatively unexciting existence, the ‘Litsoc’ faced tumultuous times this academic year.  Starting with a massive upgrade on its intake policy (the President insisted that interviews provide no basis for judging the worth of an individual, thereby questioning the entire rationale behind his own existence within the college’s walls), ‘change’ has been, to a large extent, the determinant of its activities. Whether any of these changes have been constructive, or simply undertaken for the sake of it, is a question that still awaits an answer.

     The Litsoc hosted two major talks this year- one with the Hindi writers Ashok Vajpayee and Anamika, and the other with Paul Kane. The less glamorous events like the Book Club, Poetry Club and Scrabble games became regular features, the posters advertising their merit usual adornments in the main corridor. A new activity was added in the form of play readings. They proved quite a hit, collecting a regular audience/participation group as the year wore on.

     LOGOS, the annual festival, was hurled into the realm of uncertainty when the official sponsors, Penguin India, backed out at the last moment. The society was thrown into a tumult of confusion, but thankfully money was procured (through the efforts of a certain Ms Cheeran) and the show went on. Two panel discussions were organized around the theme ‘Literature and the City’, one with Dr. Narayani Gupta and Ms. Swapna Liddle, and the other with Shuddhabratha Sengupta and Dr. Shirshendu Chakraborty. A new event-Taboo- was added to the time-tried schedule.

     The Litsoc will wind up its year with the publication of its journal ‘Postscript’ and a talk with the eminent poet Satchidanandan. It looks forward to another year, one that will (hopefully) be as innovative, but somewhat less dramatic than the last.