"Teachers are the noblest manifestation of God. They are divine incarnate."

With lots of enthusiasm and ardour, the teacher's day was celebrated in our College auditorium on the 5^th of September, 2008. The students of class 11^th and 12^th had left no stone unturned to entertain our teachers on this merry occasion and to demonstrate our gratitude towards them. The stage was marvelously decorated by Nadeem Ahmad, Shahrukh Swaleh, Shikhar Suri and Kushagra Tewari. Before we began with our show, the students had already greeted and wished the teachers in the classrooms.

As the teacher's entered through the foyer, they were welcomed by a splendid performance by our college instrumentalists. Mayank Darbari then delivered his welcome speech in which he hailed our dear teachers. The master of ceremony for the day was Kunal Joshi. Four of our senior teachers, namely Mr. Shivaji Srivastava, Mr. S.N.A. Rizvi, Ms. G. French. and Mrs. N. Srivastava were invited along with our Principal on the stage for the lighting of the lamp. Later, the IT association presented its much awaited computer presentation. This presentation included snaps and movie clips of some of the most hilarious as well as emotional moments shared by our teachers. It gathered great appreciation and applause. Next, we had a beautiful and soulful song sung by Vaibhav Dubey and Shobhit Kumar. Their melody mesmerized one and all and became a subject of admiration. It was followed by a medley of olden hits and latest chart busters of Hindi songs by a group of students. This performance elated all our music-loving teachers and almost brought the audience to their toes.

After that, we moved on to our next performance. With Vinayak Mehrotra on the guitar, Siddharth Singh on the drums and, Kunal Joshi and Vaibhav Dubey as the vocalists, the gathering was engrossed by a heart-throbbing English track. This was such a magnificent display of talent and coordination, that everyone gave all praises for our performers. Subsequently, a group of class 12 boys took over the stage to perform a skit demonstrating the social life and attitude of the Josephites. It also depicted how the students cope with the fretful ambiance of the examinations. This skit turned out to be quite a humorous and witty show. It was followed by a dazzling dance performance by the burgeoning dancers of our college. Each individual present in the auditorium tapped its feet to this electrifying piece.

It was then time for the grand daddy of all events, that is, the Teachers' Antakshari. As always, Antakshari proved to be the cream of the entire programme as it was very entertaining and absorbing. The teachers stunned the students with their musical talent and knowledge of the Bollywood. Our Principal, Fr. Louis Mascarenhas, put across his admiration and regards for the devoted service of the teachers towards the college.

Mr. N. B. Lawrence came up to the podium and expressed his delight over the day's programme and thanked the students for toiling hard for days to give their teachers some moments that they would always cherish in life. With this, our programme came to an end. We were glad that the teachers left the auditorium with happy hearts and with smiles on all the faces.

Ahmar Zaman
Vice Head prefect

"Life is the most precious gift and birthday is the best day to thank God for it."

The entire SJC family gathered together on the 29^th of September 2008 to celebrate the momentous and joyous occasion of our Principal's birthday. The day's events began with Rev. Fr. Louis being escorted to the dais by the prefects and marshals. Miss Lynette Moore led us in a special prayer invoking God's blessings on our principal and wishing him luck for his future endeavours. This was followed by the class wise wishing where the students greeted the Principal with flowers and cards. Meanwhile the college choir presented him with birthday wishes through their melodious song. This was followed by the unfurling of the college flag and then a well synchronized march past.

After this Sarthak Seth and Devarshi Mani, on behalf of the Junior and Senior section respectively, in their felicitation speeches thanked the principal for his selfless service and wished him long life. The Junior Section boys then presented a beautiful dance to which the whole school applauded. Then the prizes were distributed to the merit holders of the past year and also to the boys who had secured 100 per cent attendance. This year General Proficiency prizes were also given (till class V). This was followed by the birthday boy thanking everyone for their prayers, wishes, gifts and love. The program concluded with the College Vice Captain Abhijit Parolia raising the vote of thanks, after which chocolates were distributed to the students and the staff proceeded to have lunch with the birthday boy.

Akash Saha
College Head Marshal XII C

"Through the firmness of your determination and exercise of our traditional tolerance, India will triumph in the end."

It was the blissful occasion of the 60th Anniversary of the Republic Day of India. Though the Mauni Amavasya bathing had restricted the traffic, and the severe weather with dense fog had constrained the movements of the people in the morning, the staff and students of St. Joseph's College seemed hardly deterred by this. The Josephites turned up to the college at the right time to pay tribute to the frontrunners of the country who made this nation a republican one. The patriotism and devotion of the Josephites' towards their motherland was discernible. They gathered in the college premises in large magnitude, prayed for the welfare of the nation and celebrated the Republic Day with great fervour and zest.

Mr. Pravin D. Khan, the physics teacher from the senior section, read the good news from the Holy Bible and thereafter offered prayers for the nation, its leaders and the populace. The Principal, Fr. Louis Mascarenhas, then unfurled the national flag after which the college choir sang the national anthem. Ahmar Zaman, the college vice head prefect, speaking on the occasion stressed the need for freeing the country from the clutches of unemployment, communalism, poverty, hunger, disease and illiteracy. The college choir then melodiously echoed the patriotic song: ''jan jan bharat, jay man abhimat, jay gantantra vidhata". Abhijit Parolia, the college vice captain then invited the Josephites to rededicate themselves to the noble principles of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity on which the republic of India was founded. The Principal then released the vibrant calendar 2009 of the college which was backed by a tremendous applause. The Principal called upon all the students and teachers to be the guardians to this sovereign republic. In his message, he hailed the advancement that the nation has made in the field of information technology, biotechnology, and human development. However, he pointed that the gap between the rich and poor has widened, and that terrorism, fundamentalism, regionalism and high level corruption are matters of great concern for us. He appealed to the gathering to safeguard the ingredients of a sound republic. Mr. Francis Moore, who was the master of ceremony, proposed the vote of thanks. The sweets were then distributed among the students on this ecstatic occasion.

Keeping the tradition, a Twenty-20 Cricket match was organized between the Staff of SJC and the Old Boys Association. The SJC staff clinched the final over thriller by 8 wickets in the massive 157 run chase.

Ahmar Zaman
Vice Head Prefect

"Who saves his country violates no law."
Napoleon Bonaparte

"I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him."
Abraham Lincoln

It all started as a big dream but I was satisfied when my ears heard the words of appreciation from others. Everything was ready but still a sign of nervousness was present on everybody's face. School was closed on the 2^nd of October so we decided to celebrate it on the 3^rd October. Thanks to our dear Principal who actively cooperated with us and invited all the schools which are related with USM in the city. Behind the success of the event we cannot forget our Vice- Principal's hand that was always ready to help us whenever needed. And of course the chair persons of USM Mr. B.S. Wilson and Mrs. B. Fredrick too were the supporting hands behind the success.

We welcomed our Chief Guest Mrs. Rashmi Saran and before starting the program we took God's name that made this event possible by a reading from the Holy Bible, reading from the Holy Khuran, a reading from the Holy Bhagwat Geeta and last but not the least a reading from the Guru Grant Sahib. After that the Chief Guest, our Principal, chair persons of USM and the President were invited to light the candle and garland the picture of our Father of the Nation. A Student from St. Joseph’s College, Allahabad welcomed the audience and our dear Chief Guest. And then we started our program which included a skit which was performed by our school, St. Joseph’s College, Allahabad. The skit was conveying a message or you can say a question to the audience that Is Reservation Kota right or not? After the skit, students from various schools stood up with a variety of questions and answers. The best answer given was by a girl of St. Anthony's Convent, Allahabad for the question was that reservation should not be done to promote or demote any caste it should be done according to the economic condition of the people. The Bethney Convent, Allahabad continued the program by a beautifully. After that one student from each school came forward and gave a speech on Relevance of Gandhi Ji in the 21^st Century. After giving the speech all the speakers were called on stage and interacted with the audience, questions were asked from the speakers and they answered them brilliantly. A question came from the audience that if somebody kicks you right now then what will be your reaction, as Bapu said that if somebody slaps you on your right cheek offer him you left cheek also? The answer to this question was given by a student of St. Joseph’s College, Allahabad that he would allow the person to hit him as long as he wants and as long as he can..

At this stage the excitement was at its peak. It was carried to the next level by a wonderful dance performance by St. Anthony’s Convent, Allahabad followed by a group son by Girl’s High School, Allahabad. Then we came to the end of the program which was ended beautifully by a speech on VISION OF USM. As we came to the end of the event, finally we called on stage our Principal Fr. Louis Mascarenhas to say few words. He appreciated our work and emphasized on self-control, personal transformation and on following the 5 paths of USM truthfully. He also told to respect all religions and inspired the students to be social and humble. We were very grateful to hear such inspiring word from our principal. After our Principal we invited on stage our dear Chief Guest to share her thoughts with us. She gave a very encouraging and inspiring speech and told us that we should always be true to ourselves. She also said I don’t blame your youth generation fro the condition of our country but somewhere I find problems with my own generation.

After her speech the function was over and we were just left with some beautiful and unforgettable memories.

Shashwat Shukla
USM President