The Fine Class of 1990

42 young girls enrolled in the year 1990 to do their BA in Fine Arts of which a few managed to stay in

touch after their graduation in 1993 and finally reunite 25 years later! To commemorate this hallmark

year, 14 friends of the final 38 strong batch of ‘90 decided to have a reunion in the town of Karaikudi,

renowned for its artistic heritage, followed by a nostalgic on-campus get together.

The memorable journey started on the 9th

of December, 2017 in Karaikudi with its beautiful and

peaceful environs providing the perfect blend of culture and comfort for some exclusive bonding time

for the entire team. The traditional architectural backdrop of Chettinadu with its antiques, craft

processes like the Athangudi tiles making and basket weaving, and of course the endless flavours of its

cuisine kept all the members enraptured. Finally when the alumnae made their way back to Chennai

and Stella Maris College campus on 12th

December, 2017 it was to recollect with fondness their time

in their alma mater and to rejoice in their ‘new’ found old mates and to relive those times of

togetherness with friends and teachers joining in on the celebration.

Inviting those students who are leaving to the UK this September 2018 or February 2019 to pursue their higher education.

British Council is organising a Pre- departure briefing for students who are leaving to the UK this September 2018 or February 2019 to pursue their higher education. The session is scheduled for Wednesday, 25 July 2018 at the British Council, Chennai centre from 3-6 pm. This session will cover the following topics:

Preparing to leave to UK

Do’s & Don’ts while in the UK

Student Visa session

Experiences shared by UK alumni

Networking with other students going to UK The entry fee to attend this session is INR 300/- per person. Registration to this event is now open. Students or parents can visit British Council office to pay and collect their Tickets for them and their parents/ friends. Please register in advance as the registration is on first-come-first-serve basis. Inviting those students who are leaving to the UK this September 2018 or February 2019 to pursue their higher education. The attached e-flyer has more information on the session.

S TU DY U K PR E- D E PA RTU R E B R I E F I N G 2018W E D N E S DAY 25 J U LY 1 5.0 0 –18.0 0 w C H E N N A I

Attend the British Council’s Pre-departure brie�ng. Get information on:

w Student visas w Accommodation w Travel

Network with UK alumni and fellow o�er holders over high tea. Registration fee INR

300. Limited seats available.

For further information email purnima.chaitanya@in.britishcouncil.org

or telephone +91 (0)44 4205 0662

J071_01 Study UK India Pre Departure A3 Poster FINAL.indd 1 19/06/2018 14:26

https://www.britishcouncil.in/events/pre-departure-brie�ng-2018

1StellAr NewS

Dear Alumnae

I’m delighted to pen my first ever message in your newsletter after taking over as Principal. The Alumnae Association of Stella Maris College (AASMC) is several decades old and the list grows longer every year

as you will know.

As members of a community that once inhabited the same campus, we have a very special connection with one another. Our shared experiences have created a special bond of friendship which can never be broken. Pope Francis once said: “A friend isn’t just an acquaintance, someone you enjoy passing the time of day with. Friendship is something much deeper. A good friend never abandons you.” As good friends, there is much that we, at the College, can do for you throughout life, and much that you can do to support the mission of your alma mater.

I invite you to return to campus to reunions, for the events that the AASMC Executive Members organise for you, follow us on Facebook, download the Stella Maris App and keep up with happenings on and off campus, join the alumnae network to help prepare our students for careers, or if you have move abroad, become a member of the Alumnae Chapters in your town or city. Let us know of any change or developments in your life. We will put it on our Webpage. Your classmates will be happy to hear from you.

Be sure to contact the Alumnae Office at 044-28113350 for any queries.

Warmest wishes

Dr. Sr. Rosy JosephPrincipal, Stella Maris College (Autonomous)

President, AASMC

Stellar NewSNewsletter of the AlumNAe AssociAtioN of stellA mAris college

september 2018

From the PriNciPal’S DeSk

2 StellAr NewS

Dr Sr Stella Mary

aluMnae MeSSage

As I sit to write this message, I recollect with great pride the contribution of our alumnae

to this nation and beyond. Stella Maris stands tall, built on the reputation of its illustrious alumnae. A partnership that began with you as students’, nurtured and moulded by this Institution continues as you reflect on the values and ideals of your Alma Mater in your realm of influence.

At the outset, I am grateful to God and our Institution for maintaining strong SMC alumnae networks which create credibility and a strong branding for the Institution. We are proud to say that our alumnae are the best evangelists of our College who take the values and spirit of the Alma Mater far and wide. A wide range of job prospects and other opportunities are made available through Career Guidance Cell (CGC) of the SMC for our new alumnae. It is highly commendable that the CGC has a strong tie-up with industries who recruit and absorb quite a number of capable students from the College.

To sustain the spirit of your Alma Mater and to encourage more involvement and to build up a strong alumnae association this year, we are happy to introduce to the alumnae our future initiatives. These initiatives will enable to engage our alumnae more effectively, to develop meaningful

programmes that foster fellowship among alumnae and encourage the physical, moral and spiritual growth of the students of the College. Therefore, we invite alumnae to make use some of the facilities which are available on Campus. Facilities are listed below.

1. Access to the library,

2. To enroll in certificate courses conducted by the various departments such as - Herbal Therapy and Beauty Care ( Botany), Social Marketing (Commerce), Copy Writing (English), Spanish for Tourism, Tour Guide (History), Mathematics for Competitive Examinations (Mathematics), Transforming through Mediclowning (Social Work), Social Entrepreneurship, Media and Society (Sociology), Animal Cell Culture Techniques (Zoology), Insurance and Risk Management, Principles of Financial Planning and Portfolio Management, Stocks, Bonds, Derivatives and other Investment Avenues, Gender and Work Economics), Cloud Computing and Gaming (Computer Science).

Most of the Certificate Courses are conducted after 1:00 p.m.

3. To keep yourself fit and youthful, SMC has a Fitness Centre for Students, Faculty and Alumnae.

“The success of any school can be measured by the contribution the alumnae make to our national life” John.F. Kennedy

3StellAr NewS

The Centre provides good equipment facilities like the Tread Mill, Strength Training Equipment, Kettle Bells, Bar Weight lift plate, Double Twister, Elliptical Trainer, Cycle, Rowing Machine and Swiss Drum Bells. We invite the alumnae to make use of the gymnasium to keep active and fit. You are free to choose the timings between 6:00 am and 10:00 am and between 3:00 pm and 7:00 pm.

4. The Tennis court is open for your kids to play from 7:00 am – 8:00 am and 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm every day.

Do visit your second home, relive sweet memories

with joy by walking around the College campus. Refresh your mind by interacting with one another and reunite yourself with strong network and strengthen the relationship with SMC Alumnae Association.

Looking forward to seeing you.

Dr. Sr. Stella Mary FmmVice President of AlumnaeDepartment of Economics

Stella Maris College (Autonomous)Chennai

AASMC has as always had an eventful year 2017-18. The year started off with a change of guard with Dr Sr Flavia Mariapragasam our Vice President bidding adieu to the association

and Dr Sr Stella Mary from the Economics department taking over as Vice President of AASMC.

On the 1st of September we gave a formal send off to Sr Flavia in a small get together that include core group, executive group and advisory group members of the AASMC. We also formally welcomed our new vice president Sr Stella. 2nd October we had our AGM and reunion. This time we chose to have a basket ball match between the present students and alumnae and the present students won the match by a small margin. The chief guest for the day was our own alumna Vidya Singh, wedding planner, fitness enthusiast and princess of Vijayanagaram. We had a reasonably good turn out from various departments and the get together was a great camaradarie with lots of music and dancing as well.

Kalanjiyams have been an important actitvity of AASMC and we organised a meeting with author Aditi Mukherjee for the alumnae as well as PG Students of the English Department. The meet was well attended and well appreciated.

On the 19th of March the AASMC office bearers organised a meeting at the Rajnivas Puducherry with the honourable lieutenant governor Dr Kiran Bedi, for a group of students from the history department who were a mix of first, second and third year students. The meeting was memorable and inspiring and the hospitality at the Rajnivas was impeccable.

AASMC REPORT 2017-18

4 StellAr NewS

28th of March we had the valedictory function where our alumna Dr Lilian Jasper, now the principal of WCC was the chief guest. She was given the distinguished alumna award by our principal Dr Sr Jasintha Quadras. She recalled her days at Stella and expressed gratitude for the

foundation the College gave her based on which she is a principal today.

All in all the year was filled with ups, downs, moments of anticipation and finally a lot of fun for AASMC.

CAREERGUIDANCECELL

REPORT2017-2018

The Career Guidance Cell an initiative of the AASMC aims at providing a platform

to connect students with companies on campus. There being more demand for trained skill sets in fresher’s the CGC decided the focus should be on finding new avenues to train the students.

CGC ACTIVITIES IN 2017-18

The year started with briefing sessions to the entire batch of final year students department wise by members of the CGC. Students were briefed about the previous year recruitments, the companies that came to campus, the kind of job roles offered, the selection process and the skillsets expected from the students.

We started with 568 student registrations for placements this academic year. A four day Pre-Recruitment Workshop was conducted by the CGC on Resume writing, Cracking Aptitude tests, Interview techniques, and Group discussion. Approximately 280 students attended this programme.

MPS TRAINING PROGRAMME

This year the focus was in training the pathway students, to improve their employability prospects. Mahindra Pride School, a CSR initiative of Mahindra groups of companies had conducted 80 hours of training last year for the 2nd year students (On Campus) who are from the economically

5StellAr NewS

weaker section. The program covered topics on personality development & also prepared these students for the campus drive. As a follow up this year a few pathway students attended a job fair on the 10th of February, organized only for the MPS trainees. In addition to this a few students from the final year attended a 100 hours Employability Training Program. As a result 24 students were successfully placed a majority of them in TCS

CAMPUS RECRUITMENT

The campus recruitment this year started in August with Dream companies like Deloitte, Ernst Young, KPMG, Goldman Sachs, Google, RBS, Barclays, Zifo, CITI Bank and Mckinsey picking the cream students, the IT recruitments included CTS, WIPRO, Verizon, Ramco, L&T, Systech Solutions and Sap Labs. A number of our students were also selected as teachers in Schools like Vellammal, Akshar Arbol and Eye level teaching centers. There was a huge need for Content writing and editing jobs this year from companies like Paper True, Spiral Up, Pick your Trail etc. The job profiles varied from analyst, research associate, programmer,

content writer, designer to teaching, customer support and HR. 2nd year UG students were selected for Internship Programmes by Google, Ernst Young and Goldman Sachs.

A total number of 60 companies visited our campus this year and 308 job offers were given to our students. Many more job offers came after college closed for exams. These requirements were communicated to our students and interviews were arranged for the interested candidates by these companies at their offices.

MEETINGS ATTENDED

Ms.Sharadha attended the Zifo Placement Officers Meet and Ms. Sarala Vasu attended the Ernst Young Internship completion ceremony where Manisha Jovitha was awarded a scholarship to attend the Leadership Conference in Florida and and Agnella Nikitha also from Mathematics Department was awarded a trip to attend the Senior Manager Conference in the Middle east. Deloitte held a meet for the placement officers in March which was attended by Mathavi and Vasanthi.

6 StellAr NewS

A NEW BUILDING IN COLLEGE

Stella Maris College over the years has grown from strength to strength. From introducing

new courses to coming up with new building the College has really expanded well and continues to be the most sought after College for women in the city.

We are coming up with a new building on campus, near the games ground. The work has already begun for laying the foundation and the College seeks the support of alumnae and other philantrophists who wish to donate towards the same.

The new building – the SMC academic block will have five floors and with classrooms, library, computer halls and library. We are looking at equipping the classrooms with good infrastructure and amenties.

To raise funds for the building the Alumnae Association has decided to start a campaign called “Buy a Brick” where in we will be requesting people to buy a brick each costing ` 100 and contribute towards the building. We hope to run this campaing both through the alumnae association and the present students to be able to collect a substantial amount for the new building.

We are also personally reaching out to alumnae in our respective groups to contribute towards the same. We believe that every drop makes an ocean and every little contribution which comes in will help construct this building where thousands of students will be educated every year.

To give in your contributions please reach the AASMC office on 044 28113350 and we will share further details with you.

BUy A BrICkBUy A BrICk

Buy a brick and contribute

towards the new building

in College

Buy a brick and contribute

towards the new building

in College

100100per brickper brick`̀

1

Editorial BoardEditor : Shivani Arora

17, Cathedral Road, Chennai 600 086.Ph: 044 28113350 | Fax: 044 28111129

Alumnae Office : stellaalumnae@gmail.comwww.stellamariscollege.org

August 2015

NewsStellarNewsletter of the AlumNAe AssociAtioN of stellA mAris college

As I write this brief message for the Alumnae Newsletter, the searing Chennai summer continues without respite. However, departmental events and a host of other activities continue to take place on campus, adding zest and vigour to academics and classroom interactions.

These are exciting times at Stella Maris, as our College continues to grow and develop to meet the challenges of a society in transition, deeply impacted by global transactions and rapidly advancing technologies that are reshaping our lives.

As I reflect on the growth of the College, I recognise the debt of gratitude all of us here on campus owe to the continued support of the AASMC in everything we do. It has been your committed and passionate support of our work here, particularly the job of placement of our students in reputed firms and the task of preparing them for recruitment that has enabled our young women find fulfilling career paths.

Many of our alumnae have made a significant contribution to society, and have been recognised as leaders in their field. The constraint of space prevents me from listing the names of all our outstanding alumnae, and describing their various achievements, but let me mention a couple who have received media attention. Sonia Aslaf, a Fine Arts graduate was featured recently in The Hindu, for having succeeded in forcing a multinational take steps to clean up Kodaikanal and acknowledge responsibility for polluting the environment. Beno Zephine of the 2008 batch, who did her undergraduate studies here in the Department of English, is the first visually impaired candidate in the country who was selected for the IFS.

I’m sure the hundreds of thousands of Stella Marians around the world have found their place wherever they are. I wish each one of them the very best and extend to them a standing invitation to visit the College whenever they are in the city.

My prayers and best wishes to those who continue to work with us and may the Star of the Sea lead us through the storms of life.

God Bless

From the President’s desk…

2

I wish to gratefully acknowledge the services of AASMC team members at all levels – Core group, Executive group, Youth Wing and advisory group. I deeply appreciate the enthusiasm of Geetha (EC dept.), Vaidehi (HS dept.), Shivani (HS dept.), Victoria and Adela (CM dept.), Bindu (ZL dept.), Mabel (ZL dept.) to promote the activities of AASMC.

Through the generosity of the alumnae contribution we saw an increase in the number of the beneficiaries of the SSF during the past year. It helped the needy and deserving students from all Departments in paying the fees for the semester examination. For this cause I make a special appeal to every Stella Marian who loves her Alma Mater to contribute towards the SSF.

“To live in the hearts of those whom we leave behind is never to die”. Marie Cabral, a Stella Marian of 1950’s, a vibrant ex-office bearer of AASMC, who has gone to enjoy the eternal bliss now, is missed by one and all. May her soul rest in peace.

“Pray without ceasing” (The Bible). What could be

more energizing and harmonising than coming together, singing and praising God for a sharing of spiritual experiences. It has been my cherished dream that if AASMC is to be a backbone of the college truly it’s Prayer Group has to be its powerhouse to strengthen Stella vision and mission. Would you like to be in the AASMC Prayer Group? If so, Please call at 9940206918.

“Dream until the dream comes true” (Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam). To plan and execute all projects of AASMC a separate AASMC building will be required, we envisage this will house the CGC office, AASMC office, Prayer Room, multipurpose hall etc. Is this your dream wish too? To make this dream a reality how as an alumna of SMC will YOU help?

I share these random thoughts of mine with a sense of deep hope and joy.

God bless all Stella Marians!

Dr. Sr. Flavia Mariapragasam fmm

Vice President AASMC

Beneficiaries of AASMC StudentSupport Fund 2015

                                                                     

                                                                         

         

 

 

 

                                                                     

                                                                         

         

 

 

 

                                                                     

                                                                         

         

 

 

 

                                                                     

                                                                         

         

 

 

 

                                                                     

                                                                         

         

 

 

 

                                                                     

                                                  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EditorialThe three things which we always remember about Stella Maris are the sprawling campus cloisters, the classes and of course the fact that we bond as one big family. No matter how many times we come back to College, each time walking down the corridors, the stair case in the main block, the canteen, the chapel, are a few places which bring back fond memories. Most of our friends are settled now in various places both across the country and across the globe. But when we talk of Stella Maris, we always end up sharing such lovely memories and every where we go we end up bumping into a fellow Stella Marian. But how do we bring these Stella Marians back on campus to bond with and give back to our Alma Mater?

“You have to dream before your dreams can come true,” said the late president of India Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. Today with heavy hearts when we bid adieu to this great man, we reflect upon the dreams we dreamt for AASMC when we took over as new set of office bearers. Totally new to the association, we came in with big dreams of doing something for the College which generations to come will remember. One such dream of ours is to bring back as many alumnae as possible and create a channel for them to be able to give back to their alma mater. You have every reason to wonder why would you go back to College, why would make any donations to the College and what difference will it make.

But just take a moment and reflect on all that God has given you, look around yourself and see how many people are as fortunate as you are! Coming back to be part of your Alma mater is a joy in itself. It helps you connect with friends, with professors and renew old bonds. When you give back to your Alma Mater you are helping the next generation movers and shakers afford quality education, you help the name of your College fly high and above all it is the best way to say “thank you” to the College for the amazing education it has given you and made you the wonderful human being that you are..

One year gone and another to go, we hope that by next year when we hand over reins of the AASMC to another set of hopeful office bearers we would have reached out to many more Stella Marians across the globe, brought them on one platform to give back to our Alma Mater and we will all proudly continue to say STELLA MARIS SHINE ON OUR LIVES FOREVER…

Shivani AroraEditor

Geetha RajaGeneral Secretary

Vaidehi SatishJoint Secretary

4

Round Up of Alumni ActivitiesBeing part of the Alumnae Association is nostalgic in itself and being an office bearer makes these moments back on campus worthwhile in every way!

It was in September 2014 during the AGM that we took over the reins of the Alumnae Association as a fresh new batch ( Geetha Raja – General Secretary, Vaidehi Satish- Joint Secretary, Shivani Arora- Editor, Ms Adella and Ms Victoria- Treasures and Dr Kalpana Jayraman- Faculty coordinator) with dreams to give a new lease of life to AASMC and bring in more alumnae to the campus and to not just relive their memories of SMC but also to give back to the College.

The term began on a rather low note with us losing Marie Cabral, a very active alumna and former office bearer of AASMC in November 2014. We held a memorial meet for her the very same month and friends fondly remembered moments spent with her, her warmth and love for the College and for music.

Then rang in the joyous festival of Christmas and at the AASMC we always believe in sharing our joy with the under priveleged. This time we shared our happiness with the orphans of Karna Prayag Trust. During the Christmas celebration of the AASMC held in December 2014, which was attended by many alumna including

former principal Dr Sr Annama Philip FMM, with a lot of zest n fervor, carols and christmas messages, santa and of course cakes and goodies, we collected about RS 25000 which was handed over to the Karna Prayag Trust towards taking care of the babies housed there. During the Christmas program we also bid adieu to Mahalakshmi who put in 15 years of service to AASMC and decided to step down due to health reasons. A silent worker, she always had a smile on her face and never said NO to any of our demands and was the pillar of support for all AASMC activities.

Kalanjiyam programs are an essential part of AASMC activities. This term we had two Kalanjiyam programs, the first one being a book reading with our own alumna Suraksha Giri in February 2015. She released her book It happened like this and read excerpts from the book which was followed by a panel discussion led by Leela Chaudhry, Mr Vasudevan and Mr Ram during which parts of the book were read out and analysed.

Our second Kalanjiyam Program was in March 2015 with Sr Susheela FMM who gave us a talk on Health in our Hands. She spoke on Accupressure and gave us useful tips of how we can cure many health problems by pressing these pressure points rather than rushing to doctors.

5

Some core committee members of the AASMC attended the YaleGale USIEF Alumni Leadership Conference which helped them gain a lot of knowledge about how to reach out to many more alumnae and strengthen the alumnae association.

The last activity for the term was of course the Valedictory function held at the end of March 2015. Ms Leela Pal Chaudhuri an alumna of the College was the chief guest and she gave an inspiring speech to the students filled with humour recalling her moments at Stella Maris. From the AASMC we gifted beautiful folders to all the out going students as they lit lamps and bid adieu to their Alma Mater.

It has been an eventful year with its share of ups and downs and as we step into our second year and are gearing up for our annual reunion we hope the year ahead will be more meaningful and fulfilling for all of us at Stella Maris.

The Academic year 2014-15 started with approximately 450 students registering for campus recruitment. Due to the demand for early recruitment by some companies, campus recruitment started as early as September.

The students of Commerce, Economics departments opted for jobs offered in Finance, R& D, and Banking by companies such as KPMG, Deloitte, Goldman Sachs, EY, McKinsey, RBS and Tata Capital.

Tech Mahindra, WIPRO, Cognizant Technologies, CNSI and Sutherland recruited many BCA and Maths students for programming and IT enabled services.

The demand for copy writing, content writing and language skills has increased this year. Companies like Exeter Premedia, Mobius selected students from all departments.

Teach for India and Tapas India foundation were NGO s recruiting for social cause programmes.

65% of students have been placed in this academic year.

Beyond Horizons the annual Career Fair was conducted on 8th October, creating awareness on overseas education and postgraduate programmes.

CGC members attended Placement Officers meets organized by University of Madras, NASSCOM, and Sutherland etc. to connect with corporates and know the latest trends in recruitments.

Training and Internship programme by Ntrust, was started this year, with promise to become an yearly activity.

Special training to crack the Bank exams were also conducted this year.

Portfolio management, Financial Planning, and cartooning are certificate programmes organised by CGC with collaboration with external trainers.

These programmes help students to focus on career options after their undergraduate programmes.

Career Guidance Cell Report for the academic year 2014 – 2015

6

Marie Cabral – A Tribute“To live in the hearts of those whom we leave behind is never to die”… and so sure enough in this respect Marie lives in forever.

In 1997, the Golden Jubilee year of the college the old students association was resurrected. The newly-elected team placed Marie (Editor) and me (Secretary) as fellow office-bearers. That got us working in close association fruitfully and joyously. Hence I thought I should pay this short but very deserving tribute to Marie lite (The light hearted) alias Marie Gold (in worth!)

Whenever and wherever I bumped into Marie I would greet her with this popular refrain “How do I solve a problem like Marie? This was because she had no telephone line to communicate with. Being prior to the advent of the mobile phones I had to literally turn mobile and personally intimate her of all of rooms. These were more inhabited by her bosom canine friends than her thin self; Marie’s canine subjects would amidst the banking welcome plunge their canines into you if you stood carelessly around. Here, Marie, the practical and wise teacher taught me that eternal vigilance is the price of piece (meal!)

Marie shared her birthday “even before the sun, the son, the wife or the other life were up! Consequently I took it into my hands to celebrate her 60th birthday at my place with eats, flowers, books, music and of course a lovely birthday cake that read “Happy birthday to “So-Marie!” akin to only vital or exclusively in so-Marie style. But in reality, the letters read together “somari” mean Lazy bone in many languages. Marie was among the first to realize this and fun-loving Marie taking it in the right spirit went into convulsions of laughter. Wanting to whack me she gave me the chase but when I so like a donkey went prancing around in circles singing aloud she’s a jolly good fellow so say all of us she could not but spare me! We would refer to her as Rose Marie too around Christmas time because she was responsible for popularizing rose cookies amongst us. We guessed Christmas was around when we inhaled rose from her very breath!

Though a spinster she looked upon my son as her adopted one. The minute she received Nenthrakai chips from her cousins in Kerala she would make a dash to my house to present these chips to my chips of the old block – my brilliant son and intelligent daughter

a she referred to them, little gestures of such affection that touch the heart remain long afterward!

I often included jokes in my public speaking. In appreciation of this Marie presented me with three wonderful volumes of Household Humour by Indson K Cornelins for my birthday. Thoughtful Marie alwy\as even picked up gifts also that were of great use. To show up how wonderful were the contents of the books I write two diabolical definitions from it.

Girl: a young, unmarried woman who wants to go with every tom, dick and marry!!!

Father: the man in the family who is neither seen nor heard one for whom the bills toll!!

Marie has a wonderful group of boys – little friends in her church campus who greatly interacted with her during her last few years. She got them pray for my son along with her that he get in and get out of the Neuro surgery course when god did comply with their earnest appeal amidst great cheer she requested me in a soft whisper (never one for demanding) can you give my boys biscuits and tea in celebration. As you promised? Of course, Marie I declared. Being in high spirits due to my son’s height.

Adopt at the piano, the sound of music on her lips, a devout Catholic, the even helpful loving friend would never ever abuse her home half way through the route she would alight and ask me to get back I will walk down because laughingly she will announce “Congestion lies beyond!” Her love for her the college and all of us is immeasurable and hence I wind up with these lines from Rupert Brooke for her.

“If I should die, think this of me that there is forever a corner of my heart”

That is Stella and OSA

Thara Mohan Rao

Thara’s Corner

7

Feel And Appreciate Your VisionBy Robin Bela, Author, International Speaker & Coach

I would like you to appreciate how wonderful your goal is, to ‘feel’ and ‘appreciate’ its completion in your Heart, and not just say or think about it. As you focus on this inner work, whatever you are feeling, you will soon start radiating that on the outside as well. For example, seeing yourself in positive light brings you across in others’ eyes positively too. If you feel content and peaceful within, you are reflecting out your inner radiance naturally.

There is a thin line between ‘desperately wanting’ something and ‘simply Intending’ in a focused way. In the first instance, you get too attached to the outcome mainly because you give your power away to the outcome, and as a result, you just don’t live your present moment. You are then in the energy of ‘lack’ as you remain focused on what you lack. Please appreciate that ‘desperately wanting’ would be based on the ‘fear’ that you may not get there. Anything done out of fear, will not lead to the best result, as it will only create a fear-ridden or negative reality. And in the second instance of ‘simply Intending’, you actually already accept and live as if you are where you want to be. You trust that you will get all you Ask for as you have a wonderful, productive ‘today’. So, the key to happy outcomes is to enjoy this moment and also feel and visualise a successful future with excitement, and without any doubt. You become quite carefree and relaxed in this process.

There is a certain amount of Asking, surrender and faith that is needed in the process of Intending too. Do not wait for your perfect life to start, decide that it starts now! Feel and know that you are that new person already! The only difference between a person who has reached somewhere and the one who remains where he or she presently exists, is in the change of their attitude to the way they think about themselves, and in the faith that they deserve to ‘Ask’ and to ‘receive’ from Universe, naturally.

And why is it important to ‘feel and appreciate’ your vision?

Only if you can imagine, feel and appreciate something in this moment can you really achieve it later. If you cannot imagine it, you still believe that it’s not real or

possible. It’s ok if in the beginning it feels as though you are dreaming and is not real. Just keep Intending, feeling and seeing the joy of having it. It doesn’t have to be for hours, instead give yourself frequent reminders, even if it’s just for a few seconds each time, but perhaps 3 to 5 times a day. This is a great way of making your new Intents feel more believable and real. An example of this would be whenever you get doubts about achieving your goal, tell yourself to stay positive and simply exhale out your worries as you breathe, reminding yourself of the Intent you are reading daily. Remember, ‘imagination’ is the key, the seed to any creation.

The above is an excerpt from Chapter 1 of Robin Bela’s Self-Help Book called. ‘Break The Pattern’: Connecting To The Power Within To Create The Life You Want.’ This Book is available on Indian websites as Amazon and Flipkart.

Please visit her website and register to her e-newsletter to be informed of her upcoming events. You would get her free audio meditation to download too when you register - www.robinbela.co.uk .

R.I.PLet us pray for the repose of the soul of Mrs Angu Kanna, D/o of Mrs Murugan AVM who was a student of BA & MA Economics, sports captain, basket ball player. She passed away in Srilanka of Cancer. She is survived by her husband and 3 sons.

Obituary

8

Students Union Diaries (STUD’s)’We called our ship AAAKJP ( Abarna Muthiah, Anne Kurian, AndreaJacob ,Kripa Gowrishankar, Janet Anthony and Pavithra Charan).We were a spunky Union bunch in the year 1999-2000.We sang out loud, we danced like nobody is watching & our OAT assemblies were fully charged with enthusiasm, positive information and eagerness to explore, we even had our own U.s.p song.Our union motto was to ‘Live the Dream’ and that we did to our hearts content. When the 6 of us got elected fireworks exploded as we were all unique characters with strong opinions, so finding our groove took time, but once we did, there was nothing stopping us...Here is a gist of a few innovative ideas implemented in 1999.

We believed in preserving Mother nature and all its glory, strongly so we created ‘Earth Bags-Haversack style’, they were cloth based bags and had a multi purpose for it, we sold them in green, blue and black.

Our career counselling workshops had inclusion on offbeat profession’s at a time when career options were safe one’s and risks were hardly appreciated.

Our union carnival spelt mischeif as our theme was based on Cartoon characters and Superheroes, which got an overwhelming response. We ourselves showed up in solidarity as the main characters of ‘Tintin’ comic’s.

We also played an active role in developing rain water harvesting on the campus. These are a few of my memories that had a lasting impression apart from the regular duties being played out.

Behind the scenes : Confessions of a Stud-olic (students union diaries )

The best parts and stuff that you did not know.

Our OAT assemblies had informants amongst the crowd to get a feel of the majority and to understand if we are on the right path, so post session after our events, we either get boosted up or we are shredded to pieces.

Inter-college culturals 1999 took a bad turn as I had an accident on the same date with my teeth injured and was hospitalised,so Pavithra Charan the President had to improvise on the Cultural Address.

Our brainstorming sessions and delegation of work always involved good food, great music and sleep overs spending time high in caffeine, (tea and coffee).

I always wore a saree with a pair of trousers and not saree skirts which was efficient and fully functional when running around organising events.

Life experience: The most important part and meaningful experience is when the 6 of us made a pact to do a trip visiting each others homes, while 3 of us stayed in chennai, Abarna, Kripa and Janet stayed in Trichy, Mysore and Hosur respectively, so we did a trip to their houses that made a lasting impression and established a closer bond that binds us forever, some of us even caught up in China and some of us in chennai, so it looks like the AAAKJP ship is still smooth sailing. I guess you could say I have come full circle by addressing the Students Union 2014 swearing in as a chief guest, and even conducting the orientation for the same union, and what made it more worthwhile was sharing positive inputs on healing the body using movement therapy tools on the professors at Stella Maris College. Memories that will be cherished and will last a lifetime.

AASMC welcomes you all

to the

Annual General Body Meeting

October 10, 2015

She joined History as the first batch

1957 under Mother Silvester who was

a devout history teacher

University Rank Holder

Taught at SDNB Vaishnav College

for women at Chromepet from 1969

and retired in 1997

Takes classes for competitive exams

at some institutes

Her passion for History continues

even on having reached the age of 76

Department of History

Mrs. A K Janaki

Department of Sociology

Ms. R V Ramya Bharathi, I.P.S

2003 – 2006 Batch

She joined Civil Services

Currently DCP of Coimbatore

Masters Degrees from the Institute

of Rural Management (IRMA) and

Harvard University’s John. F.

Kennedy School of Government.

Fellow of the Global Economic

Society

Member of the FICCI Taskforce on

Financial Inclusion and the RBI

Committee on Comprehensive

Financial Services

President of IFMR Trust since

January 2008 and chairs the Boards

of IFMR Capital and IFMR Finance

Foundation

Department of Economics

Ms. Bindu Ananth

1996 – 1999 Batch

Department of English

Ms. Anupama Chandrasekhar

Chennai based Playwright

Attended the Royal Court

International Residency on a British

Council-Charles Wallace Trust of

India Fellowship in 2000

Shortlisted for the Evening Standard

Charles Wintour Award for Most

Promising Playwright, for the Susan

Smith Blackburn Prize and John

Whiting Award for ‘Free Outgoing’

Regional Winner Asia of the

Commonwealth Short Story

Competition 2006.

An established name in the Indian

art world.

Honored by FICCI as one of the top

women achievers in the country for

promoting contemporary Indian art

Runs the Apparao gallery and

manages her auction house Apparao

art Auctions and export concern ‘Art

Route’ through which she takes

Contemporary Indian Art global

Writer on art and travels for various

publications

“The business of art, minus the art

of business”, that is her motto.

Department of Fine Arts

Ms. Sharan Apparao

1979 – 1982 Batch

Renowned playback singer.

She has sung in Malayalam, Tamil,

Telugu, Kannada and Hindi

languages. Shweta has sung for some

of the most celebrated music

directors in India like Illayaraja and

A. R. Rahman.

Won several Best Female Playback

singer award including the Filmfare

award and the Kerala State Film

Award (2007). She also has several

albums to her credit.

Department of Commerce

Ms. Shweta Mohan

Department of Mathematics

Ms. Nirmala Subramanian

1973-1978 Batch

Deputy General Manager -

Regional Telecom Training Centre

Maraimalai Nagar, Chennai

Took active role as a pioneer in

establishing BSNL cellular services

& its related Customer Service

Related activities

Contributed to the formation of

fully computerized complaints cell

Awarded the prestigious Sanchar

Seva Padak in the year 2006

Department of Physics

Dr. Rita John

Graduated in 1990

Professor and Head of the Department of

Theoretical Physics, University of Madras

Visiting Professor on Fulbright Fellowship

at the Department of Physics and

Astronomy, Texas Christian University,

Fort Worth, Texas, USA (2014).

She is especially interested in teaching

science through the vernacular medium

and improving the standard of physics

learning through training the trainers

from different parts of Tamil Nadu.

Pioneer businesswomen of India in the

segment of healthcare industry

Vice Chairman of Apollo Hospitals

(Chennai)

Works with industry bodies and the

Government of India to advance policy

decisions on healthcare issues

Several social projects like SACHI (Save

A Child's Heart Initiative)

She was conferred the degree of Doctor

of Science (Honoris Causa) by the Dr.

MGR Medical University, Tamil Nadu

in recognition of her outstanding work

in the field of healthcare.

Department of Chemistry

Dr. Preetha Reddy

Department of Botany

Dr. B.C. Archana Kalyani I.F.S

Presently working as Director,

Tribal Welfare

Awarded Gold Medal by the

Ministry of Environment & Forests

for standing First in 2002-2004 SFS

Course.

Worked as Deputy Director in

Arignar Anna Zoological Park

(AAZP)

Research on organic crop protection as

well as conservation and utilisation of

agro-biodiversity

Founder Trustee of CIKS (Centre for

Indian Knowledge Systems)

Concentrated on building the capacity

of farmers on various aspects of

sustainable agriculture

A member of the expert committee of

several government bodies relating to

organic and indigenous agriculture and

biocultural diversity

Has won several awards including one

for her services in advancing the cause

of women in the field of science

Department of Zoology

Dr. K. Vijayalakshmi

1976 – 1979

Department of Computer Science

Ms. Aruna Jane

• BCA (2002) and MSc IT(2004)

• Started her career in Covansys

India Pvt. Ltd. as Software

Engineer.

• Currently she is the Senior

Business Analyst in AON, the

company which sponsored

Manchester United Football team.

• She has total of 10yrs of IT

industry and all 10years in

PeopleSoft ERP in HR domain.

Department of Social Work

Dr. Bhooma Parthasarathy • Founder & Director of

Thirumalai Charity Trust

(TCT), Social Worker in

Vellore District for more than

three decades.

• Pioneered a unique Integrated

Model of Primary and

Secondary healthcare

• Instrumental in setting up the

Thirumalai Mission Hospital

in 2010 to provide accessible

and affordable secondary

healthcare

• Winner of several awards for

services

S t e l l A r N e w S 1

Stell ar NewSNe w s l e t t e r o f t h e Al u m N A e As s o c i At i o N o f st e l l A mA r i s co l l e g e

September 2014

• FromthePresident’sDesk

• Round–Up2013-2014

• ChristmasProgrammeDecember2013

• CareerGuidanceCell

• Weareproudofyou

• ALetterfromourAlumna

• ACelebrationofLove

• ThankyouDearStellaMaris

• DiamondTrees….

• GreetingstoallStellaMarians

• BeneficiariesofAASMCStudentSupportFund2013

• Thara’sCorner

Contents

Editorial BoardEditor : Sudha Vyas

Sub- Editor: Cecilia Sundaram

17,CathedralRoad,Chennai600086.Ph:04428113350Fax:04428111129

Alumnae Office : stellaalumnae@gmail.comwww.stellamariscollege.org

From the President’s desk…

“Wecannotaccomplishallthatweneed

todowithoutworkingtogether.”

–bill richardson

ItiswithgreatpleasurethatIwritethisforeword. The Alumnae AssociationofStellaMarisCollegehasbeendoingexemplarywork–organisingplacement,

training,institutingscholarships-amongahostofotheractivities-forourstudentsforseveraldecades.

TheAssociation has always been an active and vibrant part of the StellaMarianfamily.TheCareerGuidancewingof theAssociationhasrenderedyeomanserviceforseveralgenerationsofstudents,manyofwhomoccupyhighpositionsinindustryandthecorporatesector.Weareprivilegedtohavesuchanenthusiasticgroupofalumnaewhotakekeeninterestinthewelfareofthestudents.

Your work is truly inspirational. It comes of loyalty to the institution, acommitmenttoserveandthezealtolivethemottoofStellaMaris–“TruthandCharity”.Youare the trueStellaMarians.ThemanyprogrammesyouhaveorganizedthisyeartokeepthemembersinvolvedandactiveundertheKalanjiambannerhavebeeninterestingandenjoyable.TheStudentSupportFund that you have initiated has encouragedmany deserving students tocontinue their studies. The career development and skill enhancementprogrammeshaveintroducedthestudentstotheworldtheycanexpecttoencounteraftertheirstudiesandwillpreparethemforafruitfulcareer.

My congratulations to the core group, executivemembers and the youthwingforallyoureffortsinkeepingtheAssociationactiveandlivelyandinspreadingyourwingstoothercitiesandshores.MaytheAASMCthriveandprosperwiththecomingyears.

IwishyouallGod’sabundantblessingsandtheguidingbeaconoftheStaroftheSeatolightyourway.

Dr. Sr. Jasintha Quadras, fmmPrincipal

August14,2014

S t e l l A r N e w S2

TheAlumnaeAssociationofStellaMarisCollege

(AASMC)wasformedin1994toforgebondsof

fellowshipamongalumnae,presentstudentsandfaculty.

TheAssociation also aims towards a constructive and

creativeinvolvementofthealumnaeintheactivitiesof

thecollege.

TheCareerGuidanceCall(CGC),Kalanjiam,Newsletter

andtheStudentSupportFundarethefourwingsofthe

AASMC.TheactivitiesoftheCGCincludeplacement

service,arrangingworkshopsandprogrammesforlife-

skillsdevelopmentandcommunication.TheCGCisa

veryconstructiveandmotivatedwingoftheAASMC.

Kalanjiam is a forum of theAASMC that organizes

regular sessions on a variety of topics ranging from

cookery, travel,discussionsonbooks, social service to

medicine.Thisyearthereweretwointerestingactivities

aspartoftheKalanjiaminitiative.Onewasaninteractive

and enjoyable session withMs.Nirmala Ramaswamy,

anauthor,onherbook“IdlistoIpads”.Theotherwas

organized by the SocialWorkDepartment as part of

theirthreedayseminar.Theinaugurationoftheseminar

waspartoftheKalanjiamprogramme.SheelaSrinivasan

founderofDignityFoundationaddressedthegathering

onGerontologyandGeriatrics,theproblemsofaging

andneedsof theelderly. Itwasboth informativeand

enlightening.

StellarNewsistheofficialvoiceoftheAASMCandis

aregularfeaturebroughtouttwiceayear.

TheStudentSupportFundisacontributionfromthe

Round – Up 2013-2014members to support needy and deserving students

from all departments in paying examination fees.

Thismagnanimousgestureexemplifies thecontinued

involvement of the members of theAASMC in the

educationofthestudentsofthecollege.

The Annual General Body Meeting (AGBM) andReunionwereheldon14thSeptember2013.Theeventsawagoodturnout.AnumberofStellaMarisalumnaegatheredinaspiritoffellowshipandlovefortheirAlmaMater.

The Christmas Programme in December 2013 saw

enthusiasticAlumnae celebrate Christmas in a spirit

of sharing andcaring.Aspartof reachingout to the

underprivilegedinsociety,somealumane,studentsand

youthwing co-ordinators visitedMITHRA, a home

forthephysicallyandmentallychallengedpeople.They

spentqualitytimewiththemanddistributedgifts.

TheAASMCisactiveoutsideTamilNaduaswell.Some

ofourAlumnaeparticipatedinget-togethersatKerala

andBangalore.Thespiritoffellowshipandloveforthe

AlmaMater is verymuch active wherever there are

StellaMarians.WetrustthattheAASMCwillspreadits

wingsinvariousotherlocationsaswell.

ms. Sudha Vyas (Editor)ms. Cecilia Sundaram (Sub-Editor)

S t e l l A r N e w S 3

Christmas Programme December 2013InauguratIon of our up – to –Date alumnae /CgC room

ChrIStmaS programme

ThecareerguidancecellrunbytheAlumnaeassociationofthecollegehascompleted

10years.ThisinitiativeisthebrainchildofSr.Christineandithasgrownfromstrength

tostrength.Ithasreinventeditself,infusedfreshfacesandsomeoftheoldfaceshave

movedaway.AmongthosethathavemovedonareRadha,ShakuntalaandViji.We

miss you dearly in our team, but this is amplymade up by Judywith her three

E’s. Energy, Empathy, Execution abilities. Subhashini is the youngest of our team

theonlyonefromtheB.comstream.Herquietefficiencycomeswithtremendous

perseverance.

Thehighlightofthepastyearhasbeentheintroductionofcertificateprogrammesbyvariousdeptswithsupport

andtremendousgroundworkfromtheCGC.TheseareinBanking,Insurance,PersonalFinance,andCartooning,

tonameafew.Relationshipbuildingisthefoundationofourwork.Bearingthisinmindourteamhasrepresented

thecollegeatalltheplacementofficersmeetsorganisedbyvariouscompanies.AnyopportunityatbringingIndustry

tothecollegeisalwayseffectivelyexecuted.OurteammembershaveevenruntheWiproMarathon!Keeptheflag

flyingSharadhaandMathavithisyearalso.Lunches,underthetreemeetings,coffeemornings,Christmasparties

wineandcheeselunchesareallpartofourstrategyplanningmeets.Wedohaveloadsoffun,plusit’salotofhard

worktoo.Thanksladiesforyourbittothepresentstudentsofourcollege.BeforeIsignoff,weareopentonew

ideasonhowwecanbemoreeffectiveinhelpingourstudentswithjobs,internships,trainingandfunding.

ms. Sarala Vasu, CGC

Career Guidance Cell

S t e l l A r N e w S4

We are proud of you A Letter from our AlumnaDear Sister Helen Vincent and Economics Department

Itwasapleasuretomeetyouandthesistersintheconventwithmynieceduringmy

shortvisittoIndiainMay.Sister,youlookthe

samebothphysicallyandinspirit;vibrant,full

ofpassionforyourpast(&current)students

andstaffofStellaMaris.

I amgrateful for all thegodlyvalues that I

learned,whichIthenimpartedtomystudents

bothatStellaandabroad.Therewereseveral

lecturers who taught me and later worked

withmeintheDept.ofEconomics:Dr.Mrs.

Chellam,Mrs.Pramilla,Dr.Mrs.Ramani,Dr.

Mrs.Geetha,Dr.Mrs.Chandunissa,Dr.Mrs.

Raihana and others. Mrs. Lakshmi joined

withmeonceagainintheEconomicsDept.

in October 1984 and we worked together

with other beloved lecturers until June /

July 1995, when I resigned to go abroad.

You,dearSr.HelenVincentandothershad

been a pillar of strength during my early

professionallife.

I was pleased to hear Mrs. Lakshmi and

othershelpoutwiththeacademicaffairsof

youngadults,eventoday.Maytheyberichly

rewarded for their service to young adults

inculcating moral values and ethics besides

academics.

IfyouarevisitingNewZealand(NZ),please

feelfreetovisitusinWellington.Wewould

lovetomeetyouinpersonandshowyouthe

placesaround.Pleasecontactmeifyoucome

toNZ.

KindRegards,Dr. Vasanthi m. peter

The Tamilnadu Chapter of theKannada Sahitya Parishad on

March9th,2014atDr.RamaRauKalaMandap, Karnataka Sangha, Chennai–17,conferredonMrs.TharaMohan,Rao the“SevaRatnaAward” for hersocialworkinthefieldofeducation.Dr.H.V.Hande,formerHealthMinisterofTamilnadu,andotherslikethePresidentoftheParishad,Mr.K.P.AcharandtheSecretaryoftheParishad,Dr.Tamilselvi(HeadoftheDept.ofTamil,Universityof Madras) were among others whofelicitatedtherecipient.Theawardwas

inrecognitionof45yearsofhonoraryserviceatvariouseducationalinstitutionslikeC.S.I.EwartSchool,DonBosco,Egmore,StellaMaris College, DAV Public School (Velachery), the EgmoreSanskritSchool and thecommitteeof thecity school studentsBookFair.Acitation,certificate,garlandandaturbanfortheheadthatdidtheheadworkwastheircute,cosybutneverthlessroyalwayofhonouring.

Tothequerybythecompereastohowonly24hoursadaywassufficientforthisvolumeofsocialworktheawardeerepliedthatshewasatworkwithseveralothersonthe25hourdayinvention!!.DedicatingittoherteachersatEwart,thefacultyatStellaMarisand her noble father, the late legendary surgeonDr.U.MohanRao, this twicegoldmedallistof theMadrasUniversity inherreplysaid,thatsocialworklikevirtueisitsownrewardorbetterstillitistwiceblestlikethequalityofmercy.Itblesseshimwhoisat thereceivingendwithtangiblebenefitsandtheonewhoindulgesinitwiththegreatestsatisfaction.Inalighterveinsheaddedthatallthispraiseandapplausewasanywayhappilyacceptedbyanyhumanbeingbecauseitistruethatnothingimprovesone’shearinglikepraise.Itwashearteningthattheawardwasprescribedfor service to education (a cause dearest to her heart) by hernativestateKarnatakaatavenuenamedafterherphilanthropist paternalgrandfather, Dr.U.RamaRau.What more canI ask she signed-offemotionally.

S t e l l A r N e w S 5

A Celebration of Love

ThefourthofApril2014. Itwasahotafternoon

and theChennai summer heat had painted the

blueskyinthehuesofawhiteheathaze.Therewasa

senseofdéjàvu,asafewofusmadeourwaytoLillian

blockinthesylvangroundsbehindourAlmaMaterand

sawtheneatlittlerectangleofdesk-chairs,thepristine

blackboardandSisterHelenVincent’swelcomingsmile.

Butagreatdealhadchangedtoosincewe last sat in

asimilarclassroom.Forone,weweredecadesolder,I

thought,asIgingerlymaneuveredmysomewhatage-

augmentedpersonintothenarrowspacebetweenthe

deskleafandthechairseat,allthewhilecastingenvious

glancesatSister’sleanandlankyframe.Asurreptitious

glance at my classmates however reassured me that

theywereinnobetter‘shape’either!Foranother,we

werenotheretodaytolearn,butrathertoremember,

reminisce and recreate the magic of happier times.

SisterHelenVincent had completed 60 years of her

lifeasanunandwehadgatheredtocelebrateanun’s

story that, asTharawould so eloquentlyput it, none

canmatch.

Sisterwasinareminiscentmoodandwelistenedriveted

as she recounted the story of her life - from a small

orthodoxTeluguBrahminfamilytoabrideofChrist

andalifetimeofdevotionandservicetohumanity,the

fervour of her dedication burning as incandescently

today as all those years ago.We had been a

partofthatjourneytoo–herveryfirstbatch

of students – forging an enduring bond of

affectionandrespectthatwenowhastenedto

display.Everybodyhadsomethingtocontribute.

Thara,whohadbroughtthecake,conducted

the ceremonywith her characteristic energy

andunflagginghumour.Jayahadpickedupthe

mostbeautifulbouquetandRudrahonoured

Sisterwithashawlthatepitomizedthewarmth

of our love.Rajakumari had brought a pen-set,anenduringemblemofour learningandMaya had put her legal brains to good useandpreparedawhizofaquizonSister.And

thentherewereLaviandSudhafromtheMathematicsandLiteraturedepartments,whowehadsoreadilycoopted into our economics group. Lavi had chosen abeautiful card which we all signed and Sudha, withherliterarygeniushadwrittenamostbeautifulpoemonSister.Being lesspoeticallygifted, I chose to readsome lines fromKhalilGibran and Elizabeth BarrettBrowning that seemed to epitomize Sister’s serviceoflove.

And then itwas our turn to remember and recountforgottenanecdotesandexperiencesofourdayswithSister – preciousmemorieswrapped in lavender andcocoonedinatime-warp,nowagainseeingthelightofday.Aswelaughedandremembered,weweresteepedin a sad-happy languor and once again there was asenseoftimestandingstill,muchlikecomingbacktoafavouritesoapoperaafteragapofmanymonths.MuchwaterhasflownsincethosehappycarefreedaysandafewmonthsbackwehadstaredmortalityinthefaceaswebidatearfulfarewelltoPadmini,oneofourbatchmates.Butthebondsoffriendshipandaffectionforgedthen,hadenduredthetravailsoftimeandstayedintact.Butthen,thatisstuffofwhichhappinessandmemoriesaremade.

Viji Shankar

Economics

S t e l l A r N e w S6

HourafterhourIcansithereandshareFacingthesewindowssobroadandbare–ThechangingmoodsofthewinterskyThepeopleinwoolliesastheypassby.ThesightthatfascinatesmethemostLeaflesstreesstandingaroundlikeghostsGlisteningintheever-drippingrainThroughtheclear-glasswindowpane.ThebranchesaredottedhereandthereWithdazzlinggems–asightsorare!LittlediamonddropsonthecherrytreesWavingdelicatelyintheroughbreeze….IthankthegoodLordforthisgreatgiftWheninmylifethingsseemedabitadriftThistimeIsetasidetofindmyfeetTurnedouttobethehoursmostsweet!

byPatricia Emmanuel-O’Connor

Diamond Trees….

Thank you Dear Stella Maris

Itgivesmegreatpleasuretonotethataftereighteenyearsweareelectingatotallynewbandofcommitteemembers,forthe“AlumnaeAssociation”.

An association does not get established by theworkof an individual alone: it requires team effort.PoppyKannanandSr.FlaviasucceededincreatinganenergeticteamofExecutiveCommitteememberswiththeloyalMahalakshmi ably helping in and supporting workrelatedtotheAASMC.

As the President of theAASMC, Sr.Annamma, ourformerPrincipalwasapillarofstrengthandsupport.

Sr.Christine’s contribution was immense. She couldmakeusworkplusentertainusonaregularbasis.The‘CareerguidanceCell’washerbrainchild.AlongwithMariesheropedmeinto“TheBridgeCourse”toteachthe less fortunatenewstudents. I thoroughlyenjoyedmystint.

Sr.HelenVincentwasour“GuardianAngel”.Shewasthere for each and every function hosted by us.Hersoothingprayersinhercrystalclearvoicehadaspiritualsignificance.

TharaMohanRaobecamethehotfavoriteofeveryoneintheassociation.ShewasourfirstGeneralSecretaryandheruntiringeffortstomaketheassociationstableandsteadywasnote-worthy.

PoppyKannanmychildhood friendandProfessoroftheSocialWorkDept,becamethestaffco-ordinatorandwasagoodadministrator.Everyactivitywassupervisedwithperfectdexterity.

IcanneverforgettheChristmaspartiesorganizedby

MarieCabral.Wesimplyenjoyedtheenthusiasticandprayerfulcelebrations.

Sr.Colleentookover,whenSr.ChristineleftforTrichy.Iwasdeeplytouchedwhenshecameformydaughter’swedding reception along with other committeemembers.IstillpreservetheheartwarningChristmasCards signed by all the faculty members from theConvent.

We, the executive committeemembers forged bondsof strong friendship–Thara,Poppy,Eugenie,AmbikaJaya,Judy,Bilkhis,Cecilia,Radha,Sudha,Sarala,Padma,Rema,Alamelu,NirmalaandAmbujam.

Academicbrilliancealoneisnotenough.Wehavelifememberswhoareall-roundersandareself-reliant.Ourcollegeislikea‘mini’oasisinthecommercialCathedralRoad.Effortsareontoenrollmoremembersto jointheassociationinordertoenjoythecollegeatmosphereandsurroundings.TheAlumnaeAssociationhastaughtmetofindsomethingfreshtoadmireandappreciateineveryone.

Shankari Subbiah

S t e l l A r N e w S 7

Iwishtobeginthisshortmessageby expressing my sincereappreciation&heartfeltTHANKSto the out -going officebearers-Ms. Jaya Narasimhan, Ms. SudhaVyas,Ms.Sharadha,andMs.CeciliaSundaram.Theiravidinvolvementin the affairs ofAASMC is truly

commendable. A very warm welcome to the newofficebeares-Ms.Geetha(ECdept.),Ms.VaidehiSatish(HSdept), Ms. Shivani (HS Dept.) Ms.Victoria (CM dept.andMs.Adela (CM dept.).Doubtless they will furtherstrengthenthebondsoffellowshipbetweenthepastandpresentStellaMarians.

AtthisjunctureIwouldliketodulyacknowledgeyourgenerous contribution to the Student Support Fund(SSF) of AASMC.The beneficiaries of this Fund aretheundergraduate studentsof theacademicyear2013-14.Deservingstudentsreceivedthisfinancialaidtopaythe fees for the SemesterExaminations.Thenext issueofAASMC Newsletter will publish the letters of thebeneficiarieswhoarenowplaced inbanks/companies/BPOcentres.MaytheStaroftheseashineonyouall.

I look forward tomeetingyouonStellacampusonallimportantoccasions.

Dr.Sr.flavia mariapragasam, Vice President of AASMC

Greetings to all Stella Marians

“To me, every woman is a working one either

inside or outside the house”, proclaimed the

ChiefGuest,Mrs.MitraVasisht(theregionalpassportofficerthen).ThiswasattheAnnualDayFunctionatherAlmaMater,C.S.IEwartSchool.ThisofcoursestraightawayearnedherpassporttotheHallofFamethatwasadornedwiththelistofgoodpublicspeakers.I was one of the audience at the function whoapplaudedtheloudestandthelongestresultinginofcourse inswollenandredpalmsforme.Iappeasedmyself that thiswas infinitelybetter thana swollenheadafterall!until thistimeIwasnurturingsecretambitionsoffollowinganillustriouscareerequippedasIwaswithgoldmedalsattheU.GandP.Glevelsfrom Stella Maris, the college par excellence. Anuntowardmishapinthefamilythen–theprematuredeath of my beloved mother changed the entirescenarioforme.Myyearningcouldnotberealized.Iwaswantedonthehomefronttotendmylittlesisterwhowasstillinschoolandtheskilled,humaneandgentlemansurgeon,myfather.

Ihadlearntnevertogiveup,solivingasIwas,nearmy school – a stone’s throw away I lelt no stoneunturnedtogetinvolvedinalltheschool’sacademic,cultural and alumnae activities. We were alreadytwo generations of Ewartians andmy sisters and Iwere schoolcaptainsandclass toppers living in theneighborhoodof the school. Inmodernparlance afinecomboofsweetdisposition(ahem!Occasionallyonecanindulge inblowingone’s trumpetIguess!)savouring every activity at school topping it withsteaming,boosting levelsofenergy.Thefacultyandadministrative personnel were only too willing toprovide me with voluntary work in all areas, mysincerityrecommendingmeaboveallIpresume.

At that point I was voted as the HonoraryVice-Presidentoftheoldgirlsassociation.Ilastedthereforafullinterestingperiodofover35years–aperiod

anointed by God with fellowship, learning, work,

Thara’s CornerWhat a glory He sheds on our way

Beneficiaries of AASMC StudentSupport Fund 2013

fulfilment,funandlaughter.Grilling,grooming and growingwerewhatIwaswillingly andhappily subjectto. I learned toorganisemeetsandre-unions from scratch - (drafting,printingandpostinginvites-alloftheagenda-games,gifts,felicitations,compering and accounting to thelastrupeewereallenvisagedunderthis broad head.) My house wasconvertedintoamake-shift,mobile,temporarypostofficewithglueallover the seats somuch so thatmyfamilymembersduringthatperiod“stuckon”towhattheyreallysaidliterally but were thankfully notstuck up when they attempted tostandup!

As time rolled by I, an economicsgraduate,wasinvitedtowritecriticaldramatic reviews and even editthe alumnae section of the schoolmagazine.The nuances of writingwere all spontaneously imbibed byme.LittledidIknowthenthatthiswasGod’strainingformetofunctionasacolumnistoftheprestigiousdaily,TheHindu,lateron,foraperiodoftwo years from 1999 – 2001AD.Thisgotmetobeintroducedtoandtorubshoulderswithcelebritiesinall fields, ranging from artistes toprofessionals,professorsandthelike(for interviewing, for opinions andforlifestories)IwaslaterontodrawonthissourceverysuccessfullywhenIgottobeonthejudgescommitteeof theCitySchoolStudents’BookFairtoshowthemalloffasitwere.You can see for yourself that alleventsareinter-connectedandleadonetotheotherifwestayconnectedtoGod.

At Don Bosco Egmore (my son’sschool) I was requested to teachEnglish,EthicsandSocialStudiesforclassVI–XwithoutaB.Ed.degree!Iworkedforthisstintharderthantheboys themselves for I prepared forthe classes staying up tillmidnight–literallyburningthemidnightoilasitwere!Myhardworkmetwitha lot of appreciation (that boostedmy self confidence). I enjoyed tothe hilt in helping to organize theDonBosco schoolcultural,year inand year out. Consequently yearslater at awedding reception Iwasintroducedtoaformerstudentoftheschoolwhenhepronounced–“HerIknowsheisthe“cultural”auntyofourschool.InstantlyIquipped-Boy!Iwouldhaverejoicedifyouhadsaidthe“cultured”auntyofDonBoscoamidstlaughteraround.

AtStellaMarisasstudentleaderandalumnae secretary I was groomedforeverykindofeffort inkeepingwith, never swerving from thecollege motto“truth and charity”.The multipurpose auditorium atDon Bosco, Egmore, the EwartBoysschool(aplatinumbrainchild)and the Clare Centre at Stella allbear ample testimony to the back–breakingtoilputforthinrevenuegeneration and throw light on thenuances or knack of fund-raisingthat I was trained in. Preparednessfor voluntary work of any sort Iimbibed from being a life-timevolunteer of the Egmore Sanskritschool and local governing body

memberoftheDAVPublicSchool,

Velachery.The variety indulged in

throughfortyyearsofmylifetaught

methisimportantlesson.

Donotthenstandidlywaiting

Forsomegreaterworktodo

Oimproveeachpassingmoment

Forthesemomentsmaybefew

Go,andtoilinanyvineyard

Donotfeartodoordare

Ifyouwantafieldoflabour

Youcanfinditanywhere.”

– Ellen Gates

I did find my fields of labour

throughmylifeandthesatisfaction

of serving apart. God rewarded

me amply with a rich harvest.As

the Tamil Nadu Chapter of the

Karnataka Sahitya Sammelan at its

2nd Annual National Conference

conferred on me a “Seva Ratna”

award for service to the cause of

education.Thesebeautifulwordsof

J.H.Sammisrightlyechoedinmyears.

WhenwewalkwiththeLord

InthelightofHisword

WhatagloryHeshedsonourway…

thara mohan rao

Weinviteyoutokeepintouch.Ourwebsiteis

www.stellamariscollege.orgOurE-MailIdis:

stellaalumnae@gmail.comSendinyourarticles,informationaboutyourachievements,interestinganecdotesofyourcollegelife,etcYoucanalsocontactusatour

aaSmC: 044-28113350

attentIon alumnae!!!! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Please attend our Department Get togethers and Annual General Body Meetings

with your friends/classmates COMPUPRINT•28116768