Un 14 juillet très sympa !

A happy 14th July indeed !
Written by Nandita Kotwal, FYBA (Compulsory French class)
Submitted on 2 August 2009


The French National Day not only marks an important happening for the people of France but it also marked a new beginning for the Cercle Français – the cultural wing of the Department of French Studies, Ruia college. After being on the verge of closing down, the 14th July celebration was the first major event hosted by the Department.

The atmosphere was stimulating due to the presence of our distinguished guests and speakers which included our college Principal, Dr. Pednekar, Prof. Engineer- former principal and Head of Dept of French at Ruia, Mr. Martinez- Director of Alliance Francaise de Bombay and Prof. Nitin Potadar who is a professor of Mathematics at Ruia. A huge crowd showed up which added to the program’s success. It was heartening to see, that students who weren’t associated with the French dept, also showed an interest and came to see the programme ! Both junior and senior college French students participated in the programme. Teachers from other departments as well as Prof. Trupti Gujral, French teacher of the Junior college graced us with their presence.

The event was the organized by Dr. Vasumathi Badrinathan, Head of the Dept of French Studies, Ruia College. With her help, guidance and motivation the students of FYBA French, put up a good show which everyone loved and enjoyed!

Dr. Badrinathan started the event with a welcome speech in which she thanked everyone who was present for being there. She also expressed her happiness at the revival of this age old department. She spoke about the importance of organizing such events, in order to motivate students and to create the important link between language and culture, between India, France and the francophone world. This was special she said, as this 14 July, France’s guest of honour at Paris was none other than Dr. Manmohan Singh, the Indian Prime Minister. What more, for the first ever time, 400 Indian soldiers would march on the Champs Elysees for the traditional French military parade ! What an honour indeed !! She also explained the importance of learning foreign languages in a highly globalised world and the connect this provides with other peoples and cultures. She said, She also stressed upon an interdisciplinary approach in learning and language learning in particular.

Prof Dr. Pednekar then enlightened us by saying a few words. He also noticed the colour co-ordinated dress code of the students which represented the French flag. After that, Prof. Engineer who headed the department for 39 years, reminisced about old days, his journey with French and the days when learning French and going to France was not as easy as it is now. Next, Rashmi Joshi and Yash Sampat presented a slideshow in an innovative manner, which gave the students a colourful insight on the French Revolution and how 1e 14 juillet is celebrated in France today- lovely feux d’artifice at the Tour Eiffel and the famous military parade- le défilé militaire.

Prof. Nitin Potadar gave us an interesting talk entitled The Contribution of French Mathematicians to the Universal understanding of Mathematics. We learnt about the long connection between India and France in the field of mathematics, and gathered interesting details about French mathematicians. Andre Weil for example had spent time in India at Aligarh Muslim University, was well versed with Sanskrit and endorsed the philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita ! Now whoever knew that !!!!

Shahrish Sayyad and Jigisha Thakkar, then conducted a quiz on France and the response and enthusiasm it got was amazing! Students who answered the questions correctly were rewarded with interesting ‘French’ gifts- lovely coffee mugs with the French colours and Study in France caps which the students just loved! Mr. Martinez encouraged the students to learn French and discussed the career opportunities and advantages of learning French. After that, the students performed and sang popular French songs like Aisha which was sung beautifully by Nishant Deshmukh . Then, Lavanya Seshadri, Aditi Tawde and Ashwini Vaishampayan sang Champs Elysees which the audience had a lovely time hearing and they also sung along with them! The program was concluded by a small thank you speech by Vrinda Gandhi and words of appreciation by Dr. Vasumathi.

All through the programme, G-12, the audiovisual room was jam packed ! Record crowd for the event !! The success of the event was because of the hard work put in by Dr. Vasumathi who took a lot of efforts in motivating the students to do something different and also helping them to get things done on time. In fact, we got this programme through in a very short time, just about a week after college started. The lovely posters which were made for the publicity of the event were appreciated by one and all. The backstage work was executed perfectly by Toral Gala, Kanaka Joshi, Bhairavi Somaiya, Dhanashree, Niharika Vankar and Vishakha were truly everyone’s host and dost ! This event opened up new vistas for the existing French department and I am sure that all the students and staff of our college will look forward to the future events hosted by the Dept with great hopes and high expectations !

Buenos Dias !

Guest in Class

In this class room series, guests are invited to class, who interact with the students on a variety of subjects. The idea is to motivate the students, provide them a platform for interaction and of course, widen their vistas relating to language learning, its applications and cultures.

Session with Ms. Maria Campo Cuesto- 4th July 2009
Written By Aniket Bhatkhande, FYBA, (Compulsory French class)Submitted on 13 July 2009

On 4th of July we had the first session of “Guest in Class” and we had the opportunity to interact with Ms. Maria Campo Cuesto- A Spanish teacher in India. The experience was extremely informative and useful for all of us.

It provided us insight into life in Europe. Spain being a neighbour of France the professor pointed out numerous similarities in the lifestyles of the countries.Ms. Maria hailed from Spain but she had travelled to many different countries. She knew a lot about different cultures, languages and people and was very approachable.

We as students were curious to know about different festivals, food and places of interest in her home country and she gladly answered all our questions.She also gave us a new outlook about Indians and told us how it is easier for us to learn new languages than most peole around the world because of the numerous languages we speak in our country.The session was very helpful and everybody is excited about the next session. Watch this space for more !!

FRENCH FLU ! ! !

My Voyage with French : Le français et moi !

This is a series of interactive sessions. The objective is to invite guest speakers from different walks of life who have a long contact with French. Speakers will share their experience with French language, culture and how they use it in their professional lives. This open session is to motivate students and to help them see successful real life applications of French language knowledge.

Interaction with Mme Smita Nair, French Translator-Interpreter

Written by Riddhi Doshi and Bhumika Mehta
FYBA (Compulsory French Class)
Submitted on 14th August 2009

Attention tout le monde! A recent analysis has revealed that many Ruiaites have become a victim to a very dangerous & contagious disease, known as “FRENCH FLU".

This is spreading on a very large scale and we are unable to find a precautionary measure against it. The major source and cause of this “maladie” is Mme Vasumathi and there are several sub sources, one of which is Mme Smita Nair!

Jokes apart guys, but seriously FRANCAIS is in the air. All of us have become an inseparable element of this department. Recently, we had a guest, Mme Smita Nair, who is an ex-student of our dearest "professor". Her journey with French has been tres interessant. She has seen all the ups and downs with this language, there had been tough times for her, but she surpassed then all and today, she is a French translator and interpreter. That's just the cake and the icing on it is that she is happily married to un homme français, Brice!!! (No doubt, she is the envy of too many girls!!!)

Her “voyage avec français“ deserves not only a mention, but also a full-fledged description. She was most unusually, a Commerce student and busy with the most exciting subjects on Earth like Accounts, Maths and stuff. She had no idea, whatsoever that one day a subject like French would not only be her “cup of tea” but also a source of her "bread and butter" and her identity!! One of her friends having recommended “Alliance Français” to her, she joined it and that was the turning point of her life. She wasn’t at all comfortable with it, but she managed to score well. Most strangely, there was a time when she was the only one remaining to pursue French in her batch. She would have definitely given up, but for the best thing that would have ever happened to her! She came across Mme. Vasumathi conducting her lecture in a class and just the sight of the fun that the students were having stopped her from quitting French (Undoubtedly!!!). Now that was a real landmark in her life, after which there was no turning back! Smita was then sent to France by the French Embassy as an Assistante English teacher in a French school outside Paris. She stayed on to complete her Masters in French from the Sorbonne University. As already mentioned earlier, she is a French interpreter & translator, working with Mazgaon Docks on their Submarine Project! Quelle chance!!!

All we students has a gala time interacting with her! She was highly co-operative and left no stone unturned to answer the least expected questions with utmost politeness and patience. Not only did she spare some time for us, but in a way motivated us to look at this language with a perspective and scope like never before. A short interaction with her helped us open new vistas for this adorable language. Her journey inspired us tremendously and the evidence is that pupils, who were just tourists sometime ago, have become permanent residents of French lecture!!
Now, we look forward to such guests and events that will, in a similar way, coax us to fall in love with this language. Vraiment, nous adorons le français. (Madame is going to be very happy and say “TRES BIEN "): P

WHAT WE GAINED: Avant le rendez-vous avec Mme Smita Nair , our minds were very well conditioned with the facts that our global economic world has space only to assimilate CAs, MBAs, Engineers and professionals of this type. But after talking to her and listening to her, we realized how confined and restricted our perspective was! The career that she pursued with the help of French was not only exciting and nouvel but a promising one also. Now, languages are no more limited to just be learnt & vomited out in the papers, but they give you a scope that can give you the most unique lifestyle. What I mean is, we came across various doctors, engineers, lawyers, etc...But how often have we come across a French interpreter or translator?? It's a career, we can be proud to pursue. And the most important thing, what I personally have realized is, that prior to this lecture, I had an impression that only tough, tricky & monotonous subjects give You a promising career. But Oh la la!! If a subject as beautiful & interesting as French can give you a flourishing career and so many varied opportunities, can we be foolish enough to lag behind and remain silent spectators?????

Of course not, so why not bag the opportunities before c'est trop tard!!!