Para-Academic Activities 2019-20

The college celebrated International Women’s Day by organizing two functions:
1. “Phenomenal women - A tribute to womanhood” - An Award Function
In the award function, the college invited women stalwarts who have made their mark in their respective fields and have been very successful.
1. Dr. Darshini Vikram Shah - Director- Shalby Hospitals, Dental Cosmetologist and Surgeon, Shalby Dental Cosmetics & Implantology Centre.
2. Ms. Neepa Chatterjee, Founder Maaya - A dynamic professional with experience across the Retail, Sourcing and Hospitality.
3. Ms. Aishwarya Majmudar - An acclaimed Indian Singer, Hellaro Fame.
Ms. Vaibhavi Nanavati, Advocate, High Court of Gujarat and Member of Governing Body, GLS University was the Chairperson of the Function. The function was graced by Dr. B. H. Joshi, Pro-Vost,GLS University, Ms. Chandani Kapadia, COO, GLS University, Dr. Dharmesh Shah, Registrar, GLS University and Shri Vadibhai Patel, Dean, Student Youth and Welfare, GLS University.
Dean Dr. Ashwin Purohit set the tone of the function by mentioning that GLS believes in encouraging and supporting women and promoting their status, the role of women in it is noteworthy because around 50% of students, 65% of faculties and our COO are women. He further said that girls with dreams become women with vision. According to him, the program is arranged not only to felicitate phenomenal women but also to give a message from the life of these women that trust you.
Dr. Chandni Kapadia, the COO of GLS University addressed the gathering with her brief introduction of all the dynamic women and their personalities. She continued by saying that in the so called Man's world, women will have to stop being a pushover and be complacent. She emphasized that in chess we have a queen that can go anywhere and go the furthest. It was invented in 6th century AD, the creators were in a way more forward than the so called modern world. She ended her speech with inspiring the future generations of successful women in the audience to stand up for themselves. She recited a beautiful poem glorifying womanhood written by her.
Ms. Vaibhavi Nanavati, Advocate, High Court of Gujarat and Member of Governing Body, GLS University, talked about putting aside the stereotypes and emphasized on importance of education for your own economic security. She also discussed the Supreme Court's initiative to include more women in the army while giving a reality check about the current statistics. She ended her speech with a nice observation: "Being compassionate doesn't mean she can't take hard decisions or be aggressive".
Our first awardee and dynamic personality Dr. Darshini Shah, Director of Shalby Hospital, believes that success is achieved by sacrifices, patience and discipline. She said that when one matches Hard work with sincerity they have a higher rate to be successful. She talked about her life journey and hardships faced by her on her road to success. For her, satisfaction of patient and gratitude is a prime factor and then at the end of the day the true euphoria is in making a difference in patients’ life. She asked the audience to learn from others mistake and realize that the "Pain of discipline is far less than the pain of regret." She said that she was perfectionist which has led to have negative consequences. She told the audience to not be complacent and not cut corners. She said she wasn't a feminist because she had two males, her husband and her son who supported her and believed in her. She concluded her speech on a very positive note that one should find humility in success and courage in failure.
Our second awardee, Ms. Neepa Chatterjee, Founder Maaya - A dynamic professional with experience across the Retail, Sourcing and Hospitality, started her speech with an example if anyone wants a cup of coffee in a room of 5 men and 2 women, they'll expect the woman to get up and make the coffee and that is the lens through which they see our woman. She had a Bengali- Kashmiri upbringing and she lost her father at the age of 15. Her father taught her to make education the priority of life. She talked about her business journey from Lufthansa German airlines to Purchase Head for IKEA and now a Business Consultant where she teaches the Dos and Don'ts of Business. She listed some of the remarkable women and their achievements.
Our third awardee and dynamic personality Aishwarya Majmudar stated in her speech that she is fortunate enough to make music her priority and responsibility. She stated that her introduction to Womanhood - started with her mother's support and her father’s constant guidance. She said "I get to do what I like so I have to be responsible for my music". She said how her industry can be toxic at times, how she has to go through a lot and how she learns something new every day. She ended her speech with the statement: "You have to be best at what you do but you don't have to be better than anyone, just be better than yourself". She entertained the audience by singing few melodious songs. 300 students attended this function.

This program was organized by joint efforts of the Red Ribbon Club of Faculty of Commerce (SMPIC), Lions Club Perfection, Parivartan Foundation and Bhartiya Education Trust. Dr. Ambraish Tripathi was the backbone and coordinated the entire program. 15 pregnant HIV positive women were invited. The HIV positive lady can conceive and deliver healthy and HIV negative baby if due medical treatment is taken. The program intended to spread the message in the society that HIV positive patient can live long and healthy life if due care is taken. Babies delivered by HIV positive women who are HIV negative were also present and they were gifted with toys. Saris, makeup items, cereal kits, sweets, utensils and other gifts were given to the HIV positive women.

The college celebrated its Annual Culfest - Facets 2020 at Pandit Deendayal Auditorium on 15th February 2020. In great style, the show was a blend of Music, Folk, Mime, Western Dance and Fashion. The theme of this year’s show was ‘Traditional ’. Shri Sudhir Nanavati, President, GLS University was the Guest of Honour. SMPIC Alumni Miss Riya Subodh, a famous Mumbai based model and Mr. Hemant Kotekar, a well-known dance choreographer were the judges of the event. More than 120 students participated in the show amidst the loud cheering of 1100 plus audience. The winners were
BEST MALE MODEL
1. Chirag Mali and Harsh Rajpurohit
2. Chirag Talreja and Rahul Raghani
3. Aman Shrivastav and Vanraj Hemlani

BEST FEMALE MODEL
1. Aditi Vyas and Kajal Murjani
2. SanyaTalreja and Shalini Mutta
3. Joyana Shah and Sanya Kishnani

BEST MALE DANCER
1. Dhweep Shah, Om Alani and Dhruv Gangwani
2. Jeel Sheth and Yash Shah
3. Vanraj Hemlani, Kevin Mehta and Sandeep Lalwani

BEST FEMALE DANCER
1. Maitry Trivedi and Prapti Thakkar
2. Purva Ochani
3. Shruti Choksi, Aangi Sanghvi and Akshita Patel

The college celebrated ‘Gandhian Week’ from 27th January to 1st February, 2020, that aimed at teaching and instilling the Gandhian thoughts and values to the students in a practical and interesting way through various events.

On 27th January, 2020, a lecture on Gandhian Values was delivered by the Chief Guest of the function, Shri Vadibhai Patel, Dean, Student Welfare, GLS University. He narrated many incidents from Gandhiji's life which portrayed his ideals of Satya, Ahimsa and Untouchability.

On 28th January, 2020, a screening of 2 episodes of Jawaharlal Nehru's "Bharat Ek Khoj" which was on Air on Doordarshan in the year 1988, was organized.

On 29th January, 2020, the college organised a Gandhian quiz in order to make students learn about the life of Gandhiji.

On 30th January, 2020, the 72nd death anniversary of Gandhiji, the students and faculty members of Faculty of Commerce(SMPIC) paid homage to Gandhiji by maintaining silence for 2 minute and taking a collective pledge to follow and observe the values upheld by Gandhiji.

On 31st January, 2020, the college organized a visit to Gujarat Vidyapith which was established by Gandhiji in 1920 and is presently functioning on his principles and guidelines.

On 1st February, 2020, the college organised a Class Cleanliness and Exhibition Competition amongst FY, SY & TY students wherein they showcased the life, philosophy and works of Gandhiji through act, posters and exhibition. On the same day, Children and their teachers from Municipal school no. 26 & 7 were given Fun Ride in the cars of faculty members and were brought to the college campus. They were given various gifts. Students organized a Musical Programme and games for the children and took them for a campus visit. At the end they were treated with delicious food and ice-cream. Shri Sudhir Nanavati, President, GLS University also remained present at the occasion. He witnessed the exhibition and gave gifts and spent time with children. He appreciated the event aimed at inculcating Gandhiji’s values in the young students.

The 31st Road Safety Week, 2020, an initiative of the Government of Gujarat, kick started with a grand Inauguration function jointly organised by Ahmedabad City (Traffic) Police and RTO, Ahmedabad with the support of GLS University and Heart Foundation and Research Institute on 11th January, 2020. Well-co-ordinated by the Faculty of Commerce (SMPIC) of GLS University, the Inaugural function took place at the GLS University sports ground. Dignitaries like Shri Ashish Bhatia, Police Commissioner, Ahmedabad City, Shri L. P. Padaliya, Road safety Commissioner, Govt. of Gujarat, Shri J. R. Muthaliya, Joint Commissioner, Ahmedabad, Dr. Nitin Sumant Shah, Chairman, Heart Foundation, Dr. Tejal Dalal, Dr. B. H. Joshi, Provost, GLS University, Dr. Ashwin Purohit, Dean, Faculty of Commerce, GLS University and many other top level officers of Police department were present at the function.
In his welcome speech, Shri J. R. Muthaliya, Joint Commissioner, Ahmedabad, explained the importance of traffic safety rules and appealed the youth to adhere to the rules laid down by the Government as they are in the interest of their families as well as the country. Shri L. P. Padaliya, Road safety Commissioner, Govt. of Gujarat, gave disturbing data about the casualties caused by road accidents and explained the importance of following of traffic rules to the young people. He also added that the mind set of today’s youth who find the breaking of traffic rules thrilling, and take pride in it, needs to be changed. He insisted on preserving of the most valuable asset of this country i.e. youth. Expressing his views on the occasion, Shri Ashish Bhatia, Commissioner of Police, Ahmedabad City, gave an account of the steps being taken by the Government and the Police Department to help citizens follow traffic rules. He mentioned about the additional measures like various sophisticated equipment, use of modern technology and various awareness drives along with stringent penalties and other provisions. He also appealed the citizens to follow the traffic rules and regulations. Dr. Nitin Sumant Shah, Chairman, Heart Foundation, who is working towards the welfare of the police personnel, also expressed his concern in the matter and gave some valuable suggestions. He also donated 10,000 masks for traffic constables. Dr. Tejal Dalal informed the audience about the importance of ophthalmic health and Mrs. Bhavana Chhabaria from ‘Shatayu’ NGO explained the importance of organ donation. Among other programmes were a demonstration of the importance of using the right kind of helmet in a correct way, the performance of a Skit on the theme of Road Safety by a team of NCC cadets and a Pledge to follow the measures of road safety. At the end, a few police personnel were felicitated for their outstanding work in the field of road safety and traffic during last year. The function ended with flagging off to start the Bike Rally by the Traffic Police Department to spread awareness about Traffic rules and Road safety.

The college organized a week long “Management Fest” powered by Wagh Bakri from 28th December, 2019 to 4th January, 2020 encompassing varied national level events, seminar and competitions like National Conference on “Creativity, Innovation and Technology For Sustainable Growth and Development of Indian Economy”, Management Games Competitions, Meet the Entrepreneur, Visit to Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and a Life managing session conducted by Sadhu Vivekjeevandas. A two day National Level Management Festival “INNOVISION- INNOVATE WITHIN YOU" was organized on 3rd and 4th January, 2020, wherein teams from various colleges across India competed with each other in different management competitions. In the inaugural function, Dr. Dharmesh Shah, Registrar, GLS University graced the occasion. He said that GLS believes in Innovision. GLS University has an incubation centre and 40 start-ups to its credit. According to him society and technology are progressing and if you will not upgrade yourself, you will not survive in the market.
The Chief Guest for the inaugural function was Shri Sunil Shah, Founder & Trustee, Gujarat Innovation Society. He said that change is the only constant. He further said that it's a myth that only science students can make innovisions. Everyone is an innovator here. All we have to do is to inculcate the culture of innovation to the youth. But there is a huge difference between innovision and innovation. Innovation is to innovate a new thing, innovision is modification in the innovation. Innovision is all about understanding a task from 360° and trying to save the resources. At the end he made the students take the oath that each one in the auditorium shall innovate something and be an innovator.
The two days long festival included various management competitions like Chronical Analysis (Case Study), The Gate Way To Your Start-Up (Business Plan), Corporate Robinhood (CSR Initiative), Game Of Brands (Ad Making), The Man With A Plan (CEO’S Challenge), Demystifying Financial Statement (Balance Sheet Crunching), Continuous Crisis Committee, Beyond The Screen, Buzzbee(Business Quiz) and Kurukshetra(Management Games) wherein teams from different colleges competed. The Festival culminated on 4th January, 2020. Dr. B.H Joshi, provost, GLS University graced the Valedictory Function as a Chief Guest. The winners of the two days National Management Festival are:
Champions- Faculty of Business Management (NRBBA), GLS University.
1st Runners up – R. A. Podar College of Commerce & Economics, Mumbai.
2nd Runners up – Faculty of Commerce (GLSIC), GLS University.
More than 100 students participated in different management competitions designed to sharpen the marketing skills. The two days journey created memorable experiences for all the participants which they will cherish forever. Excellent feedback was received from participants and professors of different colleges which was shared by Prof. Hemant Solanki from R.A. PODAR College, Mumbai and students of M. S. University.

A special screening of Hellaro movie was organised under the auspices of Movie Club son 18th December, 2019 at Time Cinema CG square. Cast, Crew and Director Abhishek Shah was present during the screening and interacted with the audience. The cast included many students of Faculty of Commerce (SMPIC) who were trained in the Theatre Workshop of the college.
Hellaro is the first Gujarati movie to bag the honour of Best Feature Film at National level. All the 13 female actresses from the film also won the Special Jury Award for their performances. Hellaro is the first Gujarati Film selected as the opening film at the Indian Panorama during the 50th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) and is also India’s entry in the best debut film award category at the festival. Based on a folklore, set in a remote village in Kutch in 1975, Hellaro explores the idea of freedom through dance (garbo) while highlighting other poignant issues. The film was enjoyed by the staff and students.

The college participated in Youth Parliament of India organized in Ahmedabad on 23rd November 2019. The parliament was graced by Shri. Vijay Rupani Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri. Amit Shah Home Minister of India, Smt. Smriti Irani (Youngest Cabinet Minister) Union Minister of Human Resource Management and Union Minister of Textiles, Actor Arjun Rampal and Actor Manoj Joshi. The event was witnessed by 75 students along with faculty members Dr. Devyani Chatterji and Dr. Jaimin Patel. The students participated enthusiastically in the question answer session.

On 2nd October, the college celebrated the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi under 'Forum for Gandhian Philosophy'. The celebration was full of different activities like songs, quiz, on the spot elocution, games, poster making, cartooning and collage making based on themes of Gandhian ideology. The celebration also included two motivating talks. The first speaker Dr. Bhalchandra Joshi, Provost of GLS University and a veteran academician, spoke about the importance of Gandhiji's thoughts on education. The second speaker for the day was Retired Brigadier Jahangir Anklesharia. He spoke about "Values of freedom and role of Indian military in post-independence era and described various heart-touching and motivating incidents from the lives of Army men". To pay tribute to Gandhiji, members of the Forum also cleaned the campus. Along with this, an exhibition of books of Gandhiji was organised in the college library. The guests as well as the students visited the library and were inspired by the books on Gandhiji.

Swami Vivekananda Study Circle organised a function to celebrate Universal Brotherhood Day on 12thSeptember, 2019 in the college. Universal Brotherhood Day is observed to commemorate Swami Vivekananda’s famous speech delivered on September 11, 1893 in Chicago to the delegates of the World Parliament of Religions. On this occasion, Dean Dr. Ashwin Purohit shared an experience of Vivekananda’s life and said “Even though Swami Vivekanada felt nervous initially addressing the large gathering of seven thousand people at the World’s Religions in Chicago, he bowed to Saraswati and began his speech by addressing all the gathered as “Sisters and brothers of America” for which he received a two minute standing ovation from the crowd”. The function was graced by Dr. Amiben Upadhyay, the Vice Chancellor of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Open University, Ahmedabad, Prof. Janki Vaidya and many volunteers from Swami Vivekananda Kendra. Dr. Ami delivered an informative session on the values and preaching of Swami Vivekananda on this occasion. She talked about acceptance, tolerance, equality, truthfulness and spiritual intelligence emphasized by Vivekananda the most. Students were shown a Suryanamaskar video clip at the end of the session.

To make the students aware of Gandhiji’s lifestyle and to promote his thoughts in young minds, a visit to Gandhi Ashram was organized on 23rd August, 2019. Around 40 students participated in the event.

The College believes in imparting quality education beyond four walls of the classroom. To acquaint the students about the practical challenges that organizations face in the business world, the college organized One Day Industrial visit to Amul Chocolate Plant, Anand and Laxmi Toor Dal Factory, Vasad on 13th August, 2019 for Semester 1 students. The students were taken to the fully automated Amul Chocolate Plant at Mogar (Anand) wherein they understood the practical nuances of its operation. As a token of remembrance, 100 students were given chocolate bars at the plant. After lunch, students visited Laxmi Toor Dal factory in Vasad wherein they saw the process of the making of Toor dal in fully automated plant. The fi¬nished product of the dal comes out in 4 ounce packing for the foreign market. This plant has a daily capacity of 100 tonnes of production. The students had a great learning experience as these visits gave students greater clarity about various management concepts as they practically saw how these concepts are put into action. The students were accompanied by the faculty members. The visit was coordinated by Dr. Bimal Solanki.

Faculty Of Commerce, GLS University in association with Red Cross Society organised a Blood Donation Camp on 9th August,2019 in the college campus which was open for all. Many youngsters actively participated in the same and donated blood for the cause and 70 units of blood were received. The camp was successful and not only the students, but also the faculty members actively participated in the same.

The college organised a two day seminar on ‘Women Empowerment’ under Collegiate Women Development Committee on 8th & 9thAugust, 2019, in GLS Auditorium, with a strong commitment to empower women, improve the quality of life for women and build stronger economies. Ms. Vaibhaviben Nanavati, a renowned lawyer, High Court of Gujarat was the Chief Guest for the Inaugural Function. The experts for the two days were: Dr. Darshana Thakkar (Gynaecologist & Wellness Expert) – Get What You Want in life & Dr. Janki Bavishi (Gynaecologist) – PCOS Awareness Talk & Common Health Issues of Girls. Dr. Ashwin Purohit, Dean, Faculty of Commerce, rightly said that the main purpose of the activities is to sharpen the young minds for their holistic development. He set the tone of the seminar by quoting Eleanor Roosevelt, “A woman is like a tea bag - you don’t know how strong she is until she gets into hot water.” The Chief Guest of the function, Ms.Vaibhavi Nanavati, motivated the girl students by stating that a woman is a born entrepreneur and she can get whatever she wants in life by her willpower. She further told that life is not a march past where the man and woman have to be ahead of each other but this life is full of questions where you have to answer it by yourself and the women have to stand up for themselves or else there will be no one to help them. She said that this two day workshop on “Women Empowerment” gave a strong message of a woman's strong willingness to achieve her goal by being fi¬t and healthy and thus contributing to the society. Dr. Darshana Thakkar, a well-known Gynaecologist and Wellness Expert, delivered an engaging and enthusing session on “Get What You Want in life”. She explained the students that empowerment is not earning money but keeping yourself ahead of everyone and realising your worth by giving example of Late Sushma Swaraj as an exemplary leader. She also quoted Mahatma Gandhi "The path I know is very narrow. My mind wants to go there but my body doesn't. The journey is difficult and full of hurdles but I will pass it.” On 9th August, 2019, Dr. Janki Bavishi, Gynaecologist, Bavishi Fertility Institute emphasized on the importance of women's health during different stages of life and how it is unfair that she still has to fi¬ght for her mere existence. Dr. Bavishi discussed the emotional and physical changes a woman goes through at different stages of her life and how she can maintain her health by taking proper care of herself by consuming healthy diet and doing regular exercise. She threw light on the fact that emotional and physical health is interconnected and how one affects the other. She also talked about preservation of fertility and family planning by using various methods. She held a detailed session on PCOS and the hormonal imbalance caused by it. At the end, the students posed many questions which were answered in detail by Dr. Bavishi. The seminar was attended by faculty members and more than 250 girl students.

A group of 55 students along with faculty visited Radio City Station (91.1 FM) on 3rd August 2019. They had an interactive session with RJ Harshil in which they learnt Time Management and the role of an RJ in the society. They also learnt the lessons of Radio Jockeying.

The college organized Photography and Fine Arts workshop under Fine Arts club which was coordinated by Prof. Rajul Goenka. Both the workshops commenced on 22nd July, 2019. Around 60 students were enrolled in these workshops. Under Photography workshop, Mr. Ronik Shah from TCIL conducted a session wherein he discussed variety of photography like wild life, event, commercial, commodity, wedding, fashion, food, journalism photography etc. The second day of photography workshop was conducted by Mr. Rishi Goenka, a specialist in commercial photography, wedding photography and creative advertisements. The basics of Photography were covered whereby he explained about various lenses like Standard, Wide Angle, Telephoto, Macro and Prime lenses and their application. Moreover, he also taught three aspects of camera namely shutter speed, ISO and Apparatus. Further he talked about different cameras like mirror camera and mirror less camera. Symposium of renowned press photographers was organized under Photography workshop. Shri Sureshbhai Mistry from Gujarat Samachar, Shri Pankaj Shukla from Navgujarat Samay and Shri Sanjaybhai from Sandesh were invited. On the last day of Photography workshop, Mr Rishi Goenka threw light on how to improve the pictures. A competition was also planned and prizes were given to best photos clicked during the workshop. Over all it was a very interactive and interesting workshop. The Fine arts workshop was conducted by Mr. Mayank Bhatt, a graphic designer and visiting faculty at CEPT. Art of Poster Making was covered in the workshop. Students were given topics like Educate Girl Child, Save Water, Save Earth and Heritage Tourism. On the second day of the workshop, students were taught the art of Collage Making by Mr. Bhatt. Topics were Fire, Landscape and River. On the fourth day, activity of Face painting was conducted by a well-known artist Mr. Sachin. He elaborated on the topic ‘CONTRAST’ in such a way that it showed the contrast between any two subjects like ice-¬re, happy- sad, positive-negative etc. on the face. Mr. Sachin gave topics on the spot for creating body tattooing within a stipulated time. He also solved various queries of the students.
Workshop on Body Tattooing was conducted by Mr. Sachin Gaud. The topic was to spread social awareness about ‘Say No to Smoking and Alcohol’. The workshop turned out to be successful and an enjoyable experience.

Faculty members, honoured all the teachers with a memento and beautifully decorated the college as well as the staff¬ room with their photographs to surprise them. They even had a pre-celebration of Gurupurnima wherein they gifted the teachers sweets beautifully wrapped up with a lovely message on the previous day. On the day of Gurupurnima, the students performed Aarti of all the faculties as they are considered as gurus in India. All the faculty members along with Dean Dr. Ashwin Purohit cut the cake. He blessed the students as well as appreciated them for continuing the tradition of Gurupurnima. He even said that teachers are revered in Indian tradition but at the same time lots of responsibility of moulding the youth and showing them the right direction to students rests on their shoulders. He even wished a successful future to all the students. In the end, students also dedicated a song to their faculty members and thanked them for everything.

The college organised Western Dance and Grooming Workshop from 13th to 22nd July, 2019. Around 100 semester 1 students from our college actively participated in this workshop. The workshop began with a 10 minutes loosening and warm up session to make the freshers get into the grooves. They were given theoretical and practical training about various dance forms like Hip hop, contemporary, jazz, lyrical, salsa, crumping, fusion and Bollywood by ace choreographer Mr. Nidhip Shah. They were also made to dance on the given steps in the smaller groups of 3-4 each to bring out the ¬finesse. Mr. Nidhip said “Dance is an expression, only 10% of the dance is showcased on the stage and the rest 90% is all about the passion for dance.” Mr. Keyur Desai, the international fame fashion choreographer, shared his success story and practically demonstrated how to walk on the ramp. He gave one to one tips to all the aspiring models and laid emphasis on body language and con¬fidence. Ms. Khushnum Avari, Director, Panache Academy of Air hostess training, shared her experience as an industry expert. She laid stress on formal grooming of male and female. She also told the students to invest in themselves. It was a very interactive session in which students also put up their queries to which Ms. Khushnum responded with great zeal and enthusiasm. The ramp walk training was given by Mr. Chakshu Chauhan, an event planner and fashion choreographer at Efesto events. He explained the students how well balanced one should be to depict the confi¬dence and attitude while walking the ramp. He also explained the importance of listening to different genres of music to pick up the correct beat and start walking. He also made the girls wear heels and walk con¬fidently. The Western dance workshop was coordinated by Dr. Bhavna Parwani, Dr. Bimal Solanki and Dr. Aashal Bhatt.

The college every year organizes “ABHIVYAKTI: a fi¬nishing workshop in theatre”, for the first year students wherein they learn basics of theatre, music, dance, creative writing and stagecraft. Various aspects of drama, including acting, voice modulation, breathing control and reflex enhancing are taught. The purpose of the workshop is not only to stimulate students’ creativity but sensitize them towards various issues. On day 1, we had Mr. Vishal Shah, an ex-SMPICite who has written and directed around 21 productions as an expert. The students indulged in different activities which helped them to develop observation, rhythm and helped them to shed inhibitions about theatre. On day 2, Shri Rajoo Barot, an NSD graduate, a mentor at ‘Ahmedabad Mentor Group’ and a veteran actor, talked to students about the Natyashashtra, Bhavai form of drama and famous Indian playwrights and their famous plays. He informed students that “To be an actor you have to learn mudras and sing songs. For an actor, it is necessary to keep his body flexible.” On the 3rd day of theatre workshop, Shri Kabir Thakore, convener of Rangmandal a 75 year old theatre group, writer & director of more than 15 plays, made students understand the difference between theatre and cinema. On 4th Day, Mr. Jaimil Joshi, Show producer, Red FM and Mr. Harsh Thakkar, RJ Red FM, both ex-SMPICites taught voice modulation to students. Mr. Jaimil Joshi informed them about the four main aspects of controlling voice and it's combination of pitch i.e. High pitch high volume, High pitch low volume, Low pitch low volume, Low pitch high volume. The students also learned to speak same dialogues in different ways. RJ Harsh taught the students about the power of imagination. He taught them how different types of characters can come up from a single situation. On the last day of workshop, the students were taken on a visit to Thakorebhai Desai Hall, Law Garden to give them a live experience of theatre by Mr. Abhinay Banker. The Theater workshop was conceptualised by Dean Dr. Ashwin Purohit and was coordinated by CA Dr. Sneha Master and Dr. Gitanjali Rampal.

The college organised series of workshops to polish and nurture the hidden talents. The kick start to the series was a 6 day long workshop for Folk Dance from 1st July to 6th July, 2019. Total 70 students participated in the workshop with lot of enthusiasm. Folk dance helps to preserve the cultural unity of the people. People have been doing folk dances for hundreds of years and there is value keeping that tradition alive. And with the same motive our college organised this workshop of Folk dance for the students, in which various experts came to teach students Garba. From basic to advance everything was taught to the students including various techniques of garba which can never be seen in the clubs, di¬fferent positions and even the minute details were taken care of. Students also learnt how folk dance inculcate discipline, dedication and love of art in one's mind. Various award holders and celebrities spared their valuable time for the students and solved their queries in order to make them learn what folk dance is all about. The 1st day of workshop was conducted by Choreographer Kuldeep Shukla who taught the students basics of Taali, Chapti and Be Taali. On the second day of workshop, prestigious Gaurav Puraskar award winners Shree Bharat Baria and Shree Akshay Patel gave lessons of Tran Taali, Hinch and showed the glimpse of Kalripayattu dance form. The 3rd day was conducted by Gaurav Puraskar Awardee Smt. Niyati Dave who imparted information of Prachin Garba Sanskriti and gave its practical demonstration. The 4th day of the workshop was conducted by choreographer Dr. Kruti Paritosh & Shree Yash Sagra, an alumni of SMPIC and a folk dancer. They provided training on importance of body posture, eye movements and expressions, and also taught variations of Be Taali and different steps to be performed in Navratri. On the 5th day, Shree Kuldeep Shukla taught Raas to the students. On the last day of the workshop renowned alumni of SMPIC Shree Jaimil Joshi (show producer RED FM), RJ Harsh Thakkar (RED FM) and Dancer Utsav Solanki discussed the combination and implementation of creativity, acting and vigour for the unique folk dance performances with the students. The new batch of the college participated with a passion and zeal with senior folk dancers throughout the workshop. The folk dance workshop was conceptualised by Dean Dr. Ashwin Purohit and was coordinated by Dr. Kruti Paritosh Shah.

The Music workshop, the fi¬rst of its kind, was a comprehensive workshop including various aspects of music conducted at College from 1st to 6th July, 2019. Singing sessions were engaged by Shri Prahar Vora who gave the idea about the basics of ‘sur’, ‘taal’ and various ‘ragas’. He also taught various techniques for ‘sur correction’, ‘breathing’ and ‘riyaz’ to the students. Shri Munjal Mehta acquainted the participants with various ‘Tabla – Taals’ and discussed the importance of rhythm in music. Ms. Yatri Sheth conducted the melody instrument session. She introduced various aspects of Piano and guitar playing and their importance in music. She explained the concept of ‘Chords’ in music and taught the students to sing with chords and also to play them on various instruments. Shri Akul Raval, who has invented over 100 percussion instruments himself, talked about the unconventional and new rhythm instruments. He introduced various western beats and explained their signifi¬cance in music. Shri Harshit Acharya talked about the technical aspects of music. He talked about sound designing, balancing, various types of mics and sound systems etc. He also informed students about various technicalities of studio recording and digital music production. On the last day, students presented their performances and Shri Prahar Vora solved some of their queries and gave them suggestions regarding their performances. More than 30 students very enthusiastically participated in the workshop and expressed their feelings of having added a great value to their budding talents. The music workshop was coordinated by Dr. Keyur Vohra.