Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, April 2: Squeezing time out of busy academic schedules to read newspapers, books and magazines to stay updated on the latest happenings is nothing new for Shraddha Sehgal, a first-year student of business management at Xavier Institute of Management-Bhubaneswar (XIMB) in the city.
Shraddha is part of a literary group called LITSOC (Literary Society) at her institute, and serves as its coordinator. The club’s members are Shraddha’s college mates who share a love of reading and writing. The club organises creative writing competitions, writing for blogs, and organising workshops attended by eminent writers besides arranging author-reader meetings and book launches.
“I’m overwhelmed at the response that this literary group gets,” says Shraddha. “The group began in 2011 in order to serve as a platform for budding writers genuinely interested in writing and literature. This is basically a group of likeminded people which often meets to organise events, share writings and the like. Through such meets, we get to know each other’s writing and also learn and enhance our own skills. This will be of invaluable help in composing formal letters related to work, which can help greatly in our careers,” Shraddha says.
Like Shradha, many others also see the benefits of such initiatives. “Managing initiatives executed by the club and taking part in such events help groom us for bigger events. We learn a lot on how to handle pressures, managing crowds, handle finances, and other crucial aspects related to management. It serves as a good learning ground for big challenges in the future,” says Madhu Kejriwal, a member of the literary club.
The club meanwhile also organises national-level literary competitions to pave the way for a wider competition among literature lovers to prove their worth before a large audience. The club meanwhile is also planning to add new elements to make it more effective.
Nevertheless, an oratory club in the same campus often engages in similar activities and helps students with developing their on-stage skills and fighting stage-fright. The oratory club on the campus is called ‘Speak Up’.
“Earlier, I used to be afraid of speaking in public. Whenever I was asked to give a presentation or speak on stage I used to get massively nervous, but a close association with the oratory club helped me handle my fear of public speaking. It has given me a lot of confidence, and now I can comfortably handle myself on stage. Such clubs in colleges help us handle pressure in a very friendly atmosphere,” says Partha Gupta, a member.
Ankita Singh is another member of the oratory club.
“The club helps members develop their overall personality. It boosts their confidence besides figuring out what is lacking in them which can potentially curtail their future prospects. We recently started an initiative called ‘Vaani’ where we shoot the performance of members and later analyse the videos in order to figure out what is missing from their performance and get suggestions from other on areas of improvement. This helps us address issues in our personality and comes in handy while performing in interviews,” Ankita says.
The oratory club often calls noted speakers, senior journalists and other eminent individuals who offer guidance in improving personality and communication skills. The club is now planning to hire private psychologists and personality development experts to further enhance the quality of the club.
