The Xpress Magazine - St. Xavier's College

The Xavier’s Press
Volume V, Issue 6 The St. Xavier’s College NewsLetter Feb & March, 2013
13 Class of 2013 Seniors to Meet
Before they graduate! Read about the most exciting TYs on campus here and on page 5
Joshua Miranda
Niddhi Mehta
Soham Narang
A Life Sciences
and Biochemistry
major with among
the highest GPAs
in college, Joshua
has had it anything
but easy. To pay his way through
junior college, he spent 8 hours
after college every day waitering
at Delhi Darbar’s wedding parties.
A resident of Borivali, he had to
sleep on Marine Drive and odd
stations the days he missed the
last train back home because he
couldn’t afford a cab. Things have
been easier for him since, thanks
to the yearly scholarships awarded
by college. He also received a full
scholarship to spend one semester
at the University of Oxford reading
Genetics and the Human Sciences.
Joshua is now exploring the
integrated PhD programme at the
National University of Singapore.
Antara Telang
A lobbyist for the
Socio-Lit major, Antara
jokingly describes
herself as “a foot
shorter than the rest”.
Standing at just about 5 feet, Antara
is also literally a foot shorter. One of
the defining moments of her life was
in FY, when she lost a part of her right
leg in an accident and had to get a
prosthetic foot. She attended Malhar,
as OG Raga, on a wheelchair and has
been unstoppable since. She was OC
Raga in Malhar 2013 and creatives
head and director in Ithaka this year.
After college, she is set to work as
a product manager with a start up
called Laugh Out Loud Ventures
where she has been working for a
while.
Anyone who moves
around in the sports
circuit of college will
know Niddhi Mehta
as the Sociology and
Anthropology major
who is captain of the college’s
women’s basketball team and
equally ballsy about a few other
sports. Her interest in athletics dates
back to her school days where she
represented JB Vachha at handball
tournaments in Europe. After an
intense two-month training camp
in 2007, Niddhi was selected to play
for the Indian handball team in the
Commonwealth Cup which was to
be held in Zambia (it was cancelled
because of unrest in the region).
Outside of college, Niddhi trains in
capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian martial
art, for which she has even travelled
to Israel. In 2014, she will apply for a
Masters in Sports Management.
Kartik Verma
Standing at 6’4”,
Kartik, a BSc Statistics
major, is hard to miss.
A basketball, table
tennis, chess (and
flute!) player, he has also been
acting as General Secretary of the
Statistics Society.
In addition to sports teams, Kartik
is also a part of the group that held
the Guinness World Record in 2012
for the most number of people
solving the Rubik’s Cube at the
same time.
His best memory of college is when
he got the Bain job bucking the BA
Eco/BMS trend. Having previously
interned at IITB and IGIDR, Kartik
has been accepted into the Applied
Statistics Masters course at ETH
Zurich.
While most students
approach SIP with
no small amount
of dread, Soham,
an Economics
major, took up the
challenge heart and hands on,
forming his own NGO in Palghar. His
true passion, however, is real estate
development — a subject on which
he attended a 4-day programme
at Harvard Business School. His
internships at CB Richard Ellis, Credit
Suisse, HDFC, and Windsor Realty,
led to him authoring a soon-to-bepublished
book titled The Pioneers
who Reshaped Mumbai’s Skyline.
First in his Economics class, Soham
has attended summer school at
Brown University and the Swiss
Finance School of Business. He
has also been accepted into LSE’s
Masters programme in Real Estate
Economics and Finance.
Lizann Fernandez
You may know her as
the General Secretary
who reinvigorated the
Student Council or as
one of the few Eco-Lit
majors but there’s more.
She is part of the core teams of
Mumbai Globalist and the XPC and
has travelled to Harvard University
and Tunisia as part of leadership
programmes. Despite these laurels,
she recalls being selected as
Texx OG in FY as one of her most
memorable moments in college.
For those who have a passion for
development, Lizann is the senior
to meet. She is set for a 3-month
internship with Dalberg and
hopes to pursue her master’s in
public administration from either
Princeton or Harvard University.

2
This is The XPress’ version of the
Malhar closing speech, where the
departing editors reflect back on the
year, column inches, writers, and
indispensables that were.
The XPress did something new this
year: it pulled the numbers in. We
published six issues in the 2012-13
academic year, more than any in
the five years of our existence. We
revealed the secret lives of the most
outstanding ex- and current students.
We recommended time-wasting and
saving websites. Wrote a story in
parts so that you would suffer the
way your mothers do while watching
1000-episode serials. And introduced
a report-writing competition testing
your reaction to Psy, Internet Explorer,
and dinosaurs.
But through this all, we enjoyed
missing deadlines, cursing Adobe
InDesign, and meeting with each
other and our fourteen writers (all
virtually; the entire XPress team has
never met in real life) each month to
Editors’ Block
All Good Things Come to an End
Nayantara Ghosh and Sadia Zafar bid goodbye
decide what would occupy our next two
weeks. Our writers were indispensable
-- they were the stone walls against
which we threw the most impossible
deadlines and the spies hired to
infiltrate impenetrable fortresses of
gossip.
So were the editors, two of whom
will leave for good, one for a year,
and two not for some time. We (the
writers of this piece) will pursue postgraduate
courses in foreign groves of
Writers’ Block
academe: Nayantara in Finance at LSE
and Sadia in Social Policy at Oxford.
We might, while there, bump into
Ashwin Chandrashekhar, who will be
an exchange student at Comillas, Spain.
Keeping The XPress in print will be
Prthvir Solanki who has a penchant for
paper (he enjoys both writing on it and
eating it) and Kadambari Shah who,
we hope, retains her title of being the
thinnest person in her batch.
We’re almost but not nearly done.
Without Dr Radha Kumar and Fr Frazer’s
excellent guidance, Bipin Sir’s ability to
print in the shortest of time frames and
give the largest of discounts, and IL&FS’
Mr Ninad Vengurlekar’s generous
sponsorship, we wouldn’t have had a
lot to write about in this piece.
And thank you! For reading The XPress
when it was thrust into your hands
(and occasionally, when you asked for
it). Watch out for next year’s team as
they bring you more news from around
the college that you never wanted to
know.
Abisha
Fernandes
Alaric
Moras
Fawzia
Khan
Gayle
Sequeira
Ishita
Chaudhary
Jai
Subramanian
Jinal
Sanghavi
Madhurima
Rajwade
Raadhika
Vishvesh
Rhea
Gandhi
Prakriti
Bhatt
Sanjana
Kumbhani
Shreya
Mathur
Vaishnevi
Paatil
You? Apply!

spotted @ the farewell
OOPS!
Alisha Dias (above
right) and Nikita
Sonavane (below right)
were caught wearing
the same dress and
consequently studiously
avoiding getting too
close to each other.
We all know him as the lovable,
slightly fidgety and understanding
Anna, but we sent in our best and
brightest (Raadhika Vishvesh and
Vaishnevi Paatil) to get to the man
behind the dazed smile and ferret
out the secrets of feeding a tired,
screaming mass with enthusiasm.
Anna, the man behind the counter,
the affable giver of free food (on
credit) and the companion of long
stay-back evenings in the college,
was known by another name once
upon a time: Uday S. Shetty. Working
in the college since 1990 (at which
time, incidentally, none of the XPress
members had been born), Anna hails
from Udipi (a place known for its
good food as if we needed any more
Page Three 3
convincing).
Aaron Decouto (left)
brought old school
hipster back with his
debonair look.
Desi girl Radhika
Agrawal (right) made
the bold decision
to wear a saree,
managing to carry
off her drape better
than many awkward
dress-wearers. The
XPress also spotted
two other girls in the
nine yards.
THE HIPSTERS
Barkha Singh (above left) was the most glamorously dressed and
very hard to miss. Equally hard to miss were brothers-in-arm
Sikandar Singh Soin (glasses) and Nandan Krishnaswamy (hair) who
have been, since JC, two peas in a different pod, whether it is their
radical choice to be more involved in the Lit dept than the Eco dept
(blasphemy) or their casual attire for the Farewell.
In Conversation with Anna
We were surprised when we realised
that Anna
does not live
in or around
the college,
h a v i n g
seen him
leave even
after our
late-night
sessions, but
comes everyday from Ghatkopar. He
talks proudly about his older daughter,
who finished her BMS and is now
working at ITC. His younger daughter is
in the 11 th grade, studying commerce.
Anna gets animated as he talks about
HARD TO MISS
This is The XPress’
first venture into the
more daring, more
shallow world of
page three reporting.
Let us know if you
enjoyed it (we sure
did) so that we may
include such features
in our coming issues.
And while we’re on
the topic of farewell
and enjoyment, a big
kudos to the Student
Council for all the
giant leaps it has
made this year. The
bar has been raised
high for the future
councils.
work. “Usually, it’s the cook who
thinks up new recipes. But students
give and should give suggestions too.”
The most popular dishes amongst
Xavierites, he says, are the Cheese
Garlic Toast and the Mauritian
omelette (totally Indian).
Anna likes working at Xavier’s. It’s
his home as much as anywhere he’s
ever lived. And Anna is as permanent
and essential a feature of Xavier’s as
any other tradition. Why else would
grown up, successful alumni, who
could be eating at the Taj or the
Royale, come back to sit on those
rickety chairs and enjoy the oversweetened
chai and the thick aloo
parathas every possible chance they
get?

4
St. Xavier’s College hosted the
inaugural Invitational Football
Tournament for the visually challenged
between 31 st January and 3 rd February,
where teams from Mumbai, Delhi
and Goa competed to be crowned
the first ever champions. This was
the first time such a tournament was
being held in the western region of
the country, the West comprising
Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Goa.
Over the course of three days, the
four teams (St. Xavier’s College,
Mumbai; Wilson’s College, Mumbai;
The Blind Welfare Association, Goa;
and Hostel for College Going Blind
Boys, Delhi) battled it out in a round
robin, where eventually Delhi and St.
Xavier’s emerged as the finalists. But
in a disappointingly one-sided affair,
the boys from Delhi hammered the
hosts by 8 goals to nothing.
College News
Football for the Visually Challenged
Speaking to captain and goalkeeper
Mahesh Mhabdi ’14 about the loss,
he says “Reaching the final was a big
thing for us. Delhi were very aggressive
on the field. They were targeting me,
continuously kicking the ball at me
until I went into the goal myself!”
Tilakprasad Joshi ’13, a member of the
St. Xavier’s team, said “Wilson’s and
Goa were of the same level as we
were, but the Delhi team has played
in many international tournaments so
it was tough to compete. Strategically,
they were unbeatable.”
The success of the tournament
resulted in many angry phone
calls to director of the XRCVC, and
head of the sociology department
Dr. Sam Taraporevala. “We’ve had
teams calling us and enquiring why
they weren’t included to play. They
felt that they should have been
competing as well. But since this was
the first time we were doing this,
logistically we had to draw the line
and limit ourselves to four teams.
Other colleges are now requesting me
to keep them in mind the next time
we hold the tournament.”
Prthvir Solanki
On Morality, Religion, and Happiness
The stage was set. Chairs were
arranged. The red carpet was rolled
out. Xavier’s wore a festive air on the
afternoon of January 23 as it played
host to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the
renowned Tibetan spiritual leader. He
was welcomed by Fr. Frazer and Malhar
Vice Chairperson
(Conclave), Nikita
Kohli ’14 who
escorted him to the
hall as hundreds of
students cheered
and applauded from
the galleries.
The Dalai Lama
addressed several
important issues in
his direct, yet endearing and gentle
way. The chief aspects of his speech
were the need for honesty, compassion
and the power of faith. He spoke of the
importance of religion and the role
it plays in creating global peace and
harmony. He also addressed the need
of education. Most importantly, he
talked about the pursuit of happiness
and the need for tolerance. “Most of
the problems we face today are of our
own creation. Why? Because we focus
on the secondary differences between
us — race, nationality or faith and
within them whether we are rich or
poor, educated or uneducated. At the
same time we neglect
the fact that we are
all members of one
human family. We
bully, cheat and exploit
each other. When this
is what goes on, how
can we be happy?”
Hosting such an
dignitary was a dream
come true. And this
dream was made possible due to the
sustained and sincere efforts of the
Malhar Conclave 2012. Says Nikita,” We
were incredibly lucky to have had him
here. He made life look so easy and
happiness so achievable. In those two
hours, everything felt so peaceful and
safe.”
Raadhika Vishvesh
A tradition as old as any, IMG’s flagship
event Janfest is one of the highlights
of the typical Xavier’s extracurricular
year. However, if there is one thing that
Janfest was not this year, it was typical.
Present were the ever-glowing stalwarts
of the Indian classical music scene like
Ustad Rashid Khan and Vidushi Girija
Devi, as well as the dynamic duo of
Ganesh-Kumaresh. However, the showstealer
was the Peshkar, a confluence
of Hindustani and Carnatic music that
resounded throughout the hallowed
halls and enthralled audience and
workforce alike.
From the eclectic line-up, to the
breath-taking backdrops, from the
professionalism inherent in every
volunteer to the minor frenzy as
rumours of Swedish House Mafia
and Vidya Balan coming in swept
the workforce, Janfest 2013, like its
predecessors, was a life experience in
itself.
ishita Chaudhary

Barkha Singh
A Naval officer’s
daughter, Barkha (BMM
— Advertising) has
had a long modelling
career during which she
worked with most of the big brands
(national and international), shoots
for which took her across Europe,
Asia, and most parts of India. In
addition to ads, Barkha has acted in
movies and serials. Most recently,
she has been experimenting with
pageantry; she was Miss Vizag
Andhra Pradesh 2012 which
catapulted her to the semi-finals of
Miss India.
Despite hectic work schedules,
Barkha has managed to strike the
work-school balance. She was
second on the HSC merit list and
has consistently been in the top 3 of
her class. She interned in the US last
summer and is now headed back to
the States after TY for the University
of California Berkeley’s summer
school, entirely paid for by her own
earnings.
Abhay Mital
Abhay has been
part of every
economics-related
activity possible:
from chairperson
of Econundrum
to Editor of Arthniti to teaching
Applied Economics to SY and FYBA
students. He is also famous for his
academic papers that he bases on
primary research and has presented
at national level seminars.
Having gained admission to the
2+2 MBA programme at the Indian
School of Business, Abhay will now
be joining McKinsey & Company as
a Business Analyst.
Rishi Bradoo
Rishi, a BMM
(Advertising) student,
has the unique
distinction of possibly
being the only Rishi
Bradoo on the planet. He is also
known in BMM as one of the
founders of Zeitgeist.
13 Seniors 5
Aadi Vaidya
Often known as the
man behind the
Malhar Local, BMS
student Aadi Vaidya’s
achievements don’t
stop at being the
Chairperson of Malhar 2012. His
winning streak started with his
selection into the HCAP delegation
of 2011, following which he was in
the core committees of IMG and
the Placement Cell. His skills at
juggling between extra-curriculars,
academics, and attendance are
legendary: the above activities
come with a GPA of 3.74 and an 80-
page research thesis published in
the BMS and Statistics journals.
He has now been placed with
Citibank as a Graduate Management
Trainee.
Tasneem Kakal
If you’re ever passing
by an ongoing activity
in college, you can be
sure that Tasneem
Kakal, an Economics
and Sociology
student, is a part of it in one way or
another. OG Sales and Marketing for
two consecutive Malhars, an active
advocate of the SSL, and co-founder
of Jal Jyoti, Tasneem has a finger in
almost every pie.
She is known as much for her social
initiatives as she is for her trips
around the world, having been part
of leadership programmes to NYU
Stern, Brazil, and Estonia. Her globe
trotting will continue for a while yet.
She has already received offers from
SOAS (UK) and Sciences-Po (France)
for her post-grad and plans to pursue
governance and development in an
international context.
But his claim to fame is his band Blek
of the Indie persuasion that he started
in 2010 with a fellow Xavierite. Having
recently released an EP, the band has
had gigs around Mumbai and India,
including the NH7 festival. They have
also received recognition at the 2013
Toto Funds the Arts, and won at the
JD Rock Awards.
Shakeel Ahemed
Rare is the person
who hasn’t met
Shakeel, rarer still
one who hasn’t
heard of him.
Given that he is a former President
of the National Student Union of
India and was selected into the
Youth Parliament to observe the
proceedings of the Lok Sabha and
Rajya Sabha, one wouldn’t peg
Shakeel as an Ancient Indian Culture
major.
He has also been selected for the
NYU Stern leadership programme for
which he received a full scholarship
from the CM of Rajasthan, Ashok
Gehlot. When Shakeel wrote on
the CM’s facebook page requesting
for financial assistance, his post
was spotted by the page admins
who then invited him to Rajasthan
to meet the CM, following which
he was granted the scholarship.
Following this quick jaunt to the US,
Shakeel will head to Delhi to work
with Members of Parliament as a
LAMP fellow.
Yash Thakoor
In his three years
of college, Yash,
a Political Science
student, has
managed to organise
or contribute to
events for almost all the extracurricular
organisations on campus
except the IMG.
A theatre buff, he was an amateur
film critic at the MAMI film festival.
After that initiation, Yash will now
be shooting a film about Mumbai
under the legendary screenwriter
and director Amole Gupte.
His most significant achievement,
however, is the selection of
his paper at an international
conference, The Geography of
Change, where he was the only
student among international
researchers and field experts. After
graduation, Yash intends to study
International Relations at the South
Asian University in Delhi.

6
Story in Parts
where we leave you hanging till the next issue (Part 2)
Thinking back, Sakina wondered if she
had made one of the biggest mistakes
of her life. Practicality was something
she had always prided herself on.
This time, however, she had
given in to her heart and
no matter how she looked
at it, she could not regret
her decision. Hearing voices
behind her, she turned
around and she saw two of
the ship’s crew making light
conversation. “A few more
minutes before we reach
Japan’s shore-line,” one of
them said, stretching his
arms and yawning. “It’s good
to be almost home after
all these months!” “Yeah,”
said his mate, scratching his
armpit. “I can’t wait to eat
something other than all
this tinned garbage they give
us onboard.”
Turning around again, she
straightened her kimono and felt a
Features Page
rising elation fluttering away in her
stomach. A few hours more and she’d
reach Japan, with all its scents, sounds
and sights that are peculiar to one’s
homeland and are understood
only by its own inhabitants.
More importantly, she knew
she’d be meeting the person
for whom she had forfeited one
of the most luxurious lives a
woman could have ever asked
for, for whom she had left two
motherless children behind. She
hoped that someday, he’d know
just how much she loved him.
As the hours crept by, she
noticed a smudge on the
horizon that grew as they drew
closer. Breathing in, she knew
that soon, her eyes would rove
the country she hadn’t seen for
almost four years. She wondered
if he remembered her as she did
him and if he thought of her with the
same fervour that she did. The klaxon
blazed out twice, signaling that the
The Xavierite's Bucket List
We realise it might be too late for most of these, but...
crew prepare for docking. Everything
was thrown into sharper relief due
to the setting sun, and she could just
make out the buildings and the dock
the ship would come to rest at.
Slowly, the ship slid into the dock and
came to a grinding halt. She rushed to
her cabin, called the maid Abidin had
provided her to carry her belongings
behind her, and rushed towards the
stairwell. There was chaos on the deck
as people shouted all around her, but
Sakina looked at the crowd and picked
out the one face she had thought of
unceasingly all these years. Her heart
in her mouth, she saw him waving and
she dashed down the little bridge that
was rolled out for disembarkation.
She rushed to him and he flew into
her arms, crying, “Mama, Mama!”
She wept, hugging her little six-yearold
in her arms. “I’m here now, Son,
hush. This time, I’ve come home to
stay.”
Alaric Moras
It’s the end of an era. You’ve spent the
last three years (or in some cases, half
a decade) here and if you’ve figured
out your admission process or landed
a job, you’re now about to leave. And
if you haven’t, well, you still have to
leave.
You look forward to new beginnings.
Everyone is glad to be graduating – no
more 8 am lectures, attendance black
lists, or CIAs. But there’s also no more
Malhar, chocolate croissants, chilling
in the foyer, gossiping on the back
benches...in short, no more college
fun. To ensure your last day is as
memorable as your first, here’s your
very own bucket list of things to do
before you graduate.
1) If your attendance permits it, bunk.
Go for a movie. Explore fun places
around college. Or simply while
away your time in the foyer. If your
attendance doesn’t, our sympathies.
2) Take pictures. However much you
might hate coming here at the crack of
dawn, you’ve got to admit our college
is extraordinarily picturesque. Adorn
your Facebook page with glimpses of
your college life.
3) Gorge. We have the best canteen in
the city. Eat now, weigh yourself later.
4) Speak up. Ever had the single
person on campus you couldn’t stand
or secretly liked a lot? Well, now’s
the time to let them know (and not
through Xavier’s Confessions and
Compliments). In all probability,
you’re never going to see them again!
5) Get your own department
sweatshirt. They’re cool (figuratively,
of course; they’re sweatshirts.)
6) Discover college secrets. Find out
Anna’s deceptively simple recipe for
garlic toast. Explore every nook and
cranny of the campus. Have you been
to LR 28 yet? It exists, we assure you!
7) Get your last copy of the XPress
for the academic year 2012-13. It’s
awesome, you won’t regret it!
Raadhika Vishvesh

Leisure Page
From the winner of the XPress reporting competition, Sooraj Bishnoi ’15
Psy Wins South Korean Presidential Election
Gangnam Style singer pushes for a change in national anthem
SEOUL: Recent Korean singing
sensation Park Jae-sang or ‘Psy,’ known
best for his most-viewed YouTube video
‘Gangnam Style’ won the Presidential
Election in Seoul yesterday, defeating
his rival Cutt Ting-choi by a huge
margin of 4,19,84,000 votes to 16,000.
Close to 99.6% of the votes went
to Psy, who said he felt ‘absolutely
Oppa’ about winning the election.
The 35-year-old singer had run
a relentless campaign over a
remarkably short period of three
months, winning every sexy lady
over, contributing to his sweeping
success in the polls yesterday. In his
native district of Gangnam, there
was a 100% turnout at the polling
booths, and not surprisingly, everyone
put in their ballot papers with crossed
hands and exited the voting centers
dancing to the tune of ‘Gangnam Style’
on their music players.
In his speech after the results, Psy
expressed his wish for a change in
the South Korean national anthem.
“Our national anthem today, consists
of antiquated stuff, mainly just going
‘Ching-chong-ching-chong’ all the way
through,” he said. “Let’s show the
world that South Koreans are not just
about chinging some random chong,
and what it means to be a true-blooded
South Korean,” he said to roaring
applause and cheers.
However, to the disappointment of
many, he also added that the new
national anthem would not, in fact, be
Gangnam Style, but something ‘new
and unexpectedly fresh.’ This statement
punctured the excitement for many
across the country, especially in
Gangnam District. However, he assured
the people that Gangnam Style would
always be an immortal and integral part
of the South Korean culture.
7
The new national anthem, said Psy,
would be as “revolutionary as Gangnam
Style, and would someday even surpass
it in views on YouTube.” The sensational
music video reached the one billion
views mark on the video broadcasting
site in late December last year, and
currently has around 1.25 billion views,
making it the most viewed video ever.
Psy’s only rival, Cutt Ting-choi, appeared
extremely upset about Psy’s landslide
victory. He released a statement [not
printed here], following which he was
reportedly flown under cover to the
US, allegedly because his secretary
received more than three thousand
death threats addressed to him.
However, Psy, as reports say, has been
reassuring Ting-choi’s supporters that
they are under no threat whatsoever,
and that they just need to relax in the
sauna with a large-chested man if they
feel uncomfortable.
Concluding his speech, Psy promised a
life of ‘absolute brilliance’ in the years
to come, before ending with an impish
grin, and the words: “Oppa Gangnam
Style!”
XPress Recommends
One website at a time
Haiyya, founded by Harvard’s Kennedy
School of Government graduate
Deepti Doshi, is a citizen action group
that trains fellows and community
leaders to work on the issues of safety,
security, and police reform. Operating
on the principle
of collective
action within
neighbourhoods
leading to
sustainable change, Haiyya identifies,
recruits, and trains community leaders
and activists to build leadership in
communities to sustain change. After
researching the issue, learning from
experts and fellows citizens alike, the
fellows determine the strategy, tactics,
and action necessary to improve a
public situation.
The issue within public safety that has
been picked for this year’s campaign
is that of reporting crimes to the
police. If you
are interested
in becoming
a community
changemaker for
your area, get in touch with the two
fellows from St Xavier’s, Sadia Zafar
(sadiazafar10@gmail.com) and Jinal
Sanghavi (jinals92@gmail.com), to
find out how you can contribute!
Website: www.haiyya.in