What: Polaris – Wilson College BMM Festival
When: 16 – 18th July, 2010 (Friday – Saturday – Sunday)
Where: Wilson College
Website: www.BMMBox.com/WilsonPolaris2010
X Factor: Celebrating its 10th Anniversary with some creative events lined up in the three day fest

Read More about it here.

OR

Visit Official Website – Hosted by BMMBox

Here is a list of the top 10 things about BMM that you won’t value while you’re in it, but will miss like hell once you’re out of BMM…

The Hard Life!

By the end of the 3 years you are going to get so used to the hard life one month prior to the project submission deadline and exams that you will actually start missing all the running around and sleepless nights.

Photoshop!

During the course of the 3-years you must have used Photoshop so much trying to make that perfect cover page that you’ll only end up photoshopping your own facebook pictures after BMM.

The Politics!

You think only small time celebs on TV indulge in politics? In BMM you will also find yourself doing the same. You will trade friendships for marks, talk behind backs to gain new friends (read: a better group) etc. No matter how negative this is, you will still miss it.

ECS Class!

This is one of the best things about the BMM curriculum. You have ECS twice! Just sit back and relax in this class. Meditate if you wish, nothing can harm you here- neither written nor the project. You sure will miss this.

Waking up Late!

The BMM lectures are the most convenient. They let you sleep right till 9:30 am most of the times since most colleges keep lectures at 11 or so. When you work, you definitely have to report by 10:00 am. So that ruins all the happiness you were used to for the last 3 years.

The Amazing Teachers!

The teachers in BMM seem humble but are superheroes in reality. They are awesome in their respective professions and you should feel thankful for having such professionals teach you especially in a graduation course. You won’t value them of course during the course, but will miss their creative classes later on.

Throwing Attitude!

Let’s face it! The BMM course is considered to be an elite course. In most colleges, the BMM section prefers staying away from the rest of the college. You move around the college like you own it. And other students hate you for it. In the real world you won’t get the privilege to act this snobbish, so make the most while you’re in it but don’t get used to all the attention.

Chain Mails!

For as long as you last in BMM your whole life is dependent on the chain e-mails doing the rounds. You get to know of the lecture schedule, exam timetable, notes, key to the answers in the question bank and class gossip through these chain mails. Your inbox will start to look empty and boring once you pass out and there won’t be much reason for you to check your mail.

The Unity!

Even there are ten different groups in class; to the other colleges your class will stand united. That is a good thing. Even the unity is fake; it’s pretty amusing that to the world you all seem like the best of friends. This really helps during fests. I doubt you’ll experience this elsewhere in life.

The Projects!

The projects in BMM are the most stimulating and encouraging ones. You can get as unrealistic you want, which doesn’t really work in the professional life after that. There is a very healthy competition, people learn from each other and your creativity is at its best here! You won’t find such stimulating projects in any other graduating course.

- Shvveta Walia -

Every stream has their own ways and trademark styles by which it is somewhat easy for a stranger to identify them. These signs may not necessarily be the ones they flaunt in the college premises but these are those patent aspects of their character that they carry wherever they go.

So, here are some of the traits that distinguish a BMM student from the other folks around.

• Upbeat To The Core:
Be it the wardrobes, the gadgets, the lingo, the creativity…BMM tops it all.

• Lack Of Textbooks:
It is a rare sight to find BMM students roaming around the corridors with huge stacks of textbooks because for them, it’s how much they grasp from the world around them is what matters at the end.

• Redefining Informal Ways:
If ever you tend to find any bit of information coming across to you in some out of the box ways, you can close your eyes and proclaim that it is a BMM brainchild. Pamphlets, Handouts and Announcements are considered outdated by these folks.

• Enjoy Theatres And Plays:
The students around the campus who are most likely to attend a play at the prithvi theatre will never be from the BSc IT or the BMS gang. These students will almost always be hailing from the BMM stream. These are the intellectually mischievous segment of the college.

• Fests That Are Fun And Nothing Else:
Check out for yourself by attending POLARIS, Detour and CUTTING CHAI this year and you will definitely agree with me that exclusive BMM fests are indeed creatively enriching and highly entertaining experiences.

• The Word Play:
These folks are excellent when it comes to Word Play. You just cannot get enough of their arguments and all of them being fantastically logical. At the end of the argument, there are chances you might forget your own point. This is the sheer gift of the gab that a BMM student is gifted with. He will not abuse you and neither will he give up but, win in their own style.

• Their Rooms Speak For Them:
You find a horribly messy room which looks smart and very interesting with loads of DVDs, Photographs, Camera, Magazines, Graffiti, Posters and several colorful tit-bits which you cannot actually make out what they really are. Yes! You might be standing in a BMM student’s room. Their life is defintiely the most colorful ones.

• Involvement of The Crazy Element:
There will always be some bit of craziness involved in the thought process of these individuals. No matter where they are, what they are up to, who they are with, these guys cannot get rid of their devil mind from exploding with ideas that most of the times leave the person at the receiving end spellbound at their power of imagination.

• Lappy Is My Best Friend:
Today, carrying a laptop or a net book to college is no more a rare event. But, who do these laptops mostly belong to? Ah! Without a doubt, the BMM folks top here too. On an average, everyday at least 40% of the class carries a laptop with them to add the finishing touch to their presentations.

So, in case you come across individuals with such traits in them, shoot the question at them…
“Are you a BMM student?” and you will be surprised when they will pat you too hard and flash an extraordinarily broad smile and reply, “How did you guess, mate???!!??”

- Arundhati Chatterjee -

Here is an excerpt from a not so rare conversation one gets to hear in the canteen, the library, platform and many more places.

ABC: Did you watch ‘A Walk To Remember’ last night?
XYZ: How could I miss out my favorite romantic flick? Yes! I did watch it.
ABC: Indeed the movie rocks, yet Segal’s Love Story is a class apart.
XYZ: Yes! I have read the book infinite number of times and Ryan O’Neal
is just so perfect as Oliver. I am smitten by his smile and looks.
ABC: Hey! Did you read the novels by Sparks?
XYZ: Sorry! Didn’t get you. Who Sparks?
ABC: ‘Who Sparks?’ Are you kidding me? You don’t know NICHOLAS SPARKS?
XYZ: Would you please care to enlighten me instead of simply mocking at me?
ABC: Yes! Most definitely. He is the author of ‘A Walk to Remember’,
your favorite romantic movie.
XYZ: Don’t tell me! How could I ever miss out on his novels?
ABC: Just as many others like you do!

Aah! That last line makes sense big time. One can very well declare the immaculate writer, Erich Segal as the stalwart of the Romance genre of the fiction. But, the other fact is that if Segal is the stalwart, Nicholas Sparks too is one of the best among the contemporary romance writers. On one hand, if everybody has wiped away the tears while sympathizing with Sheila in ‘Man, Woman and Child’, on the other hand, who has not cried their hearts out while turning the pages of ‘The Notebook’? The popularity each of them has gained is definitely poles apart but their works never fail to tug at the heartstrings and the adaptations of Sparks’ novels can be definitely included in the list of the best romance films of all times.

Sometimes when I ponder about their success and their popularity, I do wonder why the critics couldn’t appreciate Sparks’ works instead of attaching the label ‘It’s similar to Segal’s works!’

The immediate thought that comes up in my mind is why does literature do not have any schools like Psychology? Psychologists like B.F Skinner and Ivan Pavlov are not criticized for lifting the perspectives from each other. Instead they are considered to be a part of the behaviorist school of Psychology. But, the critics almost never leave a chance of blaming Nicholas Sparks for copying Erich Segal’s thoughts.

The truth is and will forever remain that Erich Segal and Nicholas Sparks incredibly draw emotional pen pictures for their readers. Though Segal may be at an escalated pedestal, Sparks has just begun his journey and has already touched millions of hearts across the world. They both have their share of familiarity as far as their poignant thoughts go and they even have their differences in the way they portray the heartrending tales on paper. Sparks and Segal, in all of their works present to us an impeccably woven tapestry of emotions and fabricate a magical intermingling of relationships. Indeed their works are for all seasons and all reasons, for every age, for every tender heart that feels and cares. Segal and Sparks have gifted the world with the best of tales about the trials and tribulations an individual faces during his life so instead of undermining any of their works, why don’t we cherish their stories forever.

So, always remember…

Every ‘LOVE STORY’ happens ‘AT FIRST SIGHT’, has ‘A WALK TO REMEMBER’ and definitely some ‘ACTS OF FAITH’. Cheers to Erich Segal and Nicholas Sparks. You both rock, big time!

- Arundhati Chatterjee -

Samsung Electronics recently launched its latest campaign for ‘Guru’, its sub-segment handset targeted at the mass market in India. The company aims to bank on the IPL season to attract eyeballs and get noticed. Cheil and Starcom Worldwide are the creative brains behind the campaign.

The campaign gets together some of the biggest names in the industry. From Aamir Khan, who is the brand ambassador of the brand to Anurag Kashyap, who has directed the ad along with Gulzar, penning the lyrics with Amit Trivedi composing the music.

Asim Warsi, Head – Marketing, Samsung Mobile, said that “ Given the business priority of the company, the turn of the quarter also meant that Guru would have to assume a different proportion in media and advertising freshness.” He asked, “What better than having IPL to take the story forward? In context of the market and the target for this brand, the mainstay media used for the campaign is television. We would support this with print and outdoor.”

Warsi further explained, “There are phones and more in the market place – the way we have tried to build the brand, and would continue to do so, is to make a connect at a human level. So, it is fine that we are leading in technology and innovation, but it has to be relevant in consumers’ lives. Guru is at the core of that, it represents our popular and mass segment of phone. To connect with the mass belly of India, we wanted Guru to play a certain role – that of a buddy, a bridge, a bonder – and this campaign is about that.”

Guru was launched two years ago and since then the advertising campaigns have always reflected a young guy being guided and assisted by his cell-phone, which helps him overcome all barriers and move ahead in life.