Walking Along The Scholars' Avenue

The days spent at KGP have made me learn that the least expected thing here is- 'change'. Yes, the mess menu changes occasionally, though the taste remains same. Yes, the courses change every semester and alongwith them the professors, though the impact remains same.

But, then came The Scholars' Avenue and i was made to believe in existence of people in KGP who're willing to take initiatives. I was busy with Alankar then and during the course of upliftment of Alankar, i had come across few campus newspapers like Insight, Campus Diary(IIT Bombay) and Campus Rumpus(IIT D). I was so enthused by the news of the upcoming fortnightly that i was looking forward to The Scholars' Avenue more than Alankar. I kept checking the notice-board for the selection notice, as it signifies the first step of from-the-scratch missions. Amidst the lull of expectations, the first issue arrived. No doubt, it was pathetic. But, given that it was first issue and the whole lot of complications in giving it final shape, it was ok. I enquired about the people behind it and i came to know that the whole team was handpicked with personal preferences of the mentors. That explained to me the failure. But then, that was the first issue and the team was good enough to be believed in.

A big campus like ours is certainly prone to floating informations which mostly have either no roots or are a product of cumulative 'mirch-masala' add-on. It necessitates an official source of information. 'Junk' very purposefully junked couple-gossips, who's the hottest babe, who dumped who stories to the notice-boards. It was a big hit in first year and till late continued to be so for first years. 'Junk' did yield hot-bhaats of ye teri, wo meri, isaki usase, usaki kisase kind and with no comps to serve, fantasies did fly out of 'Beware! Snake(Nag)-Charmers' anecdotes. It missed terribly on the information part and nobody missed it after it died its natural death. We're living in a world where people are very focused about their lives. They take in only that they need. The first article in The Schols Ave which i found serving some need unfortuantely led to its first discontinuation. It was really courageous on the part of the editors to come up with the issue B C Roy Hospital's mismanagement. Hats off to them! But, where was the impact? A good initiative but badly done! It was written to serve a purpose. It created enough furore but the situations remain same. There were certain things that i felt were required:

=> The pics of which give you an insight of the state of the hospital, e.g., the constipation-invoking toilets, the patients' plate of food.
=>The tragic experiences of people (in .zip format).
=>Views of faculty.
=>The break-up of the expenditure as comapared to the annual grant.
Most importantly,
=>An investigative approach towards the issue.

All the while The Schols Ave was out of print, i prayed for its revival and mobilised opinions for the cause. The prayers were heard and The Schols Ave was revived. The experience must have made the team grow- in its thinking and its approach, was my expectation. They did come up with something better. But, their growth rate seems to follow the trend of Indian Economy of eighties. The issue was more informative but barring 'Earthquake strikes Kharagpur' all articles possessed the infantile loquacity. That loquacity is still preserved and is intact in the latest issue of Feb '06. Well, this 8th issue is good enough to write another blog on so.

Despite the volumes of criticism, the Schols Ave deserves its space for appreciation. They have boosted and in fact, to some extent, crated a literary culture in KGP. The literary aspect of The Schols Ave has been consistently sound. But, it couldn't connect to people. It didnt get into its purpose which forced it has to come up with '10-15 bucks per semester' appeals. The Schols Ave must get into the minds of the people walking along the Scholars' Avenue and find their tastes. You must look into the people at unit level if they're not behaving the way you expect them to. You further need to find out their current needs and prospective needs and aim towards fulfilling them. The reader here wants:

1.Maximum content in minimal time,i.e., speed-reading content (vital info highlighted/ summary into a box et.c.).
2.Easy to grasp info rather than extract-out-of-the-long-paragraph info, i.e., graphical presentation, statistical tables et.c.
3.Coverage of issues which concern him.

This is the most important aspect which The Schols Ave has been missing. The range of articles has been very small. One must note here that the crowd here is really diverse and they range from bhajan-maniacs to Iskcon disciples. Leave the people at the extremes, but cater to the diversity of taste of the rest.

4.Small articles but a wide coverage of happenings and issues.
5.Range in the flavour of articles- from a highly intellectual one to a 'Junky' gossip masala.

If you zero in further, you'll find more.

I believe Kgp will get its due as The Schols' Ave will mature into a one-for-all campus magazine. The Scholars' Avenue just needs to move beyond The Scholar's Avenue and walk along the Scholars' Avenue. My wishes seek the same.