SHUBHANGI SHIFA
Ranchi, Feb 13: In a first, the School of Mass Communication at Ranchi University (RU) organised a student exchange programme with the KES Shroff College Mumbai. Along with this, the university will also be organising a workshop for the visitors on topics including filmmaking, storytelling, new media, new cinema and new literature.
A total of 16 students are visiting Ranchi University for a five-day programme along with their teachers Ashish Richhariya and Yuvati Nandi, wherein they will not only attend lectures, and watch documentaries, but will also get to visit forests and villages to explore the tribal lifestyle and learn from it.
Addressing students on the occasion, Prof BP Sinha, Director, of the School of Mass Communication said, “The forests and villages in Jharkhand have a lot to share about their culture, their life experiences, their art and music. The present films in India are fake and have just topics like love and heartbreak which become repetitive.”
Furthermore, he explained the plans for the students for the coming days. On the first day, the students will get to watch documentaries by Meghnath and Biju Toppo including Lohardaga and Sohrai. The next day, the students will attend lectures on film, journalism, new media and storytelling. The third day will have students visiting nearby tribal villages to understand the art, music, culture and stories of the tribals.
On the fourth day, an interactive session will be organised, wherein the students from Mumbai will share their experiences and ideas; while on the final day, the students will attend a lecture on filmmaking and film studies from Director Sinha and will get to watch his film Kandhara.
Talking about how the programme was conceptualised, he said, “I have had a strong relationship with Maharashtra. After interacting with Ashish (Professor, KES Shroff College), we decided to organise a workshop on several issues. The idea of the workshop soon changed into a ‘student exchange programme’.” The professor further elaborated on his experiences of working with tribals and how tribals had suffered for generations before they raised their voice.
On the occasion, both educators from Mumbai expressed their gratitude and said that it was an opportunity for the students to be visiting Ranchi to understand the culture of the tribal community better.
Dr Vishnu Charan Mahato, Head of PG English Department and Deputy Director of Mass Comm welcomed everyone in his address and said that today is a day of pride and achievement for the Ranchi University and Mass Com department.
Former Director, Doordarshan Pramod Kumar Jha lauded the efforts by the university and the college and reminded students to explore beyond books and into the world to learn. He also urged students to participate in discussions to expand their knowledge into different ideas.
One of the visiting first-year students Kaushik Singh Bundela regarding the opportunity said, “This is a great opportunity that we get to learn from Prof Dr B P Sinha sir, and will get to know about the tribal community and geography of Jharkhand, as well as learn about the tradition and culture here.” Parth, one of the final-year students who are visiting the university shared his curiosity about the regional culture of Ranchi and Jharkhand.
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Others present on the occasion were Ranchi University Vice Chancellor Prof Ajit Kumar Sinha, former VC Veer Kunwar Singh University Arrah Prof Dr SP Singh, Dy Director Vocational Dr Smriti Singh, RU Proctor BR Jha, RU CCDC P K Jha, and Examination Controller AK Jha among others.
