Reverbs 2011

Brightness flashes in every PSBB-ian's eyes when you mention the word 'Reverberations'. It is not because of the energized atmosphere in our classes, rather because it happens to be an apt title for our annual cultural fete.
Reverberations '11 started off with a bang, with day 1 at PSBB KK Nagar School. There were exciting events such as Cinema Quiz, a new find which involved quizzing participants about punch dialogues and general cinema, among others.
Events during the next two days were held at Vani Mahal, which included the notable events like Shipwreck, Adzapp, Dance, JAM etc. Shipwreck was riveting, with the audience keenly watching the battle between the witty retorts of the contestants and the judges' cynic humour. Ad-zap brought out with innovative advertisements that threw light on the funnier side of the contestants, much to the viewers’ enjoyment (read literally as rolling on the floor- okay, seat- laughing). Western Music was another highlight, and was judged by a promising up-and-coming band, Frank’s Got The Funk. There was also a Light Music concert, which had everyone humming in tune. Voice Over, a complimentary delight, had everyone in splits. Debattito stimulated our smarter halves, and had us hanging onto every word. There was a liberal amount of informal dancing, in the corridor of the auditorium, and DJ Ashok had everyone tapping their feet in unison. The dance event evoked whooping and cheering, and was judged by our alumnus who even gave us a performance. Performance in other events like Channel Surfing and Quiz were also admirable. In the end, we witnessed the most awaited event, the selection of Mr/Ms. Reverbs ’11. Srinivas from Sir Sivaswami Kalalaya bagged the award, much to the elation of the audience.
Where would we be if we didn’t satisfy our guests with adequate options to fill their stomachs? Pizza Hut was the most popular stall, though The Fruit Shop and Gangotri were close contenders. The organizers also had Arun Ice creams and a stall which sold snacks like chips and drinks. The cafeteria was a immediate hit among the students and other guests.
The organizers offered exciting and drool-worthy prizes like a Mac Book Air for Mr. Reverbs, a HP DeskJet, and Panasonic LCD Televisions among others. This wouldn’t have been possible without the generous contributions of the main sponsors, Panasonic and Kalpathi Investments.
All the hard work and sweat paid off in the end for our organizers, because Reverberations ’11 couldn’t have been a more "vibrating" event. Combined with the support of the Dean, the heads and the teachers of the schools and the student volunteers, encouragement shown by the innumerable thumbs-up by the jubilant juniors for our unsuspecting seniors, the organizers worked hard and did a brilliant job. On behalf of students in my class, I commend the organizers and members of the student council for their tireless effort, their admirable team work, and unending vow to make it an unforgettable occasion for everyone who attended.
Reverbeartions ‘11 was worth our anticipation, worth the perspiration, and even worth the wrath of teachers. It will remain etched in the hearts of every PSBBian present, as a true memory of our beloved school.
..

                                                                                                                              Malavika Ravi
       XI C

The Hindu - NIE Report

The Hindu NIE sessions were introduced to us in class six. Since then, they have always been looked forward to. The sessions so far have been both interesting and informative. They were packed with loads of intriguing facts, and were fun and entertaining. At the same time, we learnt new things in a creative and engaging way. Every year, a particular topic was chosen, and we were exposed to various ideas by discussing the topic during our sessions.

This year, the topic is ‘Money Matters’. Our first session opened our eyes to the value of money, in the form of an activity, where we worked with our partners to add our incomes and analyze our daily expenditure. This activity gave us a good perspective on dealing with money sensibly.

All in all, the session was an exciting experience. We look forward to more such sessions that will help us learn the important aspects of using and handling money, thereby enabling us to be responsible citizens.

Niranjana Ramani

IX     B

Lecture by Dr. Wesley Calvert at PSBB, Ngm

On 29^th August, select students of classes XI and XII of Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan, Nungambakkam, were given the opportunity to listen to Dr. Wesley Calvert, mathematician and professor at Carbondale University, South Illinois, who was invited to deliver a speech on the applications of Bayes’ theorem in artificial intelligence. 

His opening lines immediately reflected his enthusiasm for mathematics, and we hung onto his every word as he introduced the concept of Bayes’ theorem through a witty example. Learning the concept by means of its daily-life usage, in some ways, helped us understand the gravity of its significance and opened our eyes to a dimension of the concept beyond just the mathematical formula.  Dr. Calvert also pointed out that probability proves to be more useful than we imagined; it can predict the choices of customers, and even helps entertainers create the illusion of magic and prophecy.

Artificial intelligence requires a less cumbersome alternative- the Monte Carlo Algorithm, as Dr. Calvert introduced to us by an example and a diagram, can be utilized in computers for easily acquiring results in terms of conditional probability. His words left us inspired even after he concluded his lecture.

S.S.Anjanaa Devi

 Class XII

Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan

Nungambakkam

Media Club – Term Report 2010

The Media Club in 2010 began unprecedented ventures from the very beginning. Having set an agenda, the club finished every task it set itself by October 2010.

Agenda:
· Creation of blog:
· Prompt publishing of campus reports with pictures to document key term events

· Adoption of Author of the month initiative along with a plan for every month of the year.

· Organization of three events: Story writing, poetry writing and photography contests for classes IX, X and XI respectively.

· Set up of Book Reading event to be conducted in the second term.

1. Blog

The new team of office bearers: -

Ø President: Karthikeyan Ganapathy XII C
Ø Secretary: Padmapriya G. XIC
Ø Permanent Members: Amrithavarshini V. XI C
Anuradha Rao XI A
Saniya Surana XI C
Shruthi Anand XI C

2.Report Publication

For each event conducted by the school, a media club reporter, armed with notepaper and camera, was present to cover the entire story. Along with appropriate pictures, an article would then be published on the official blog – www.psbbmirror.blogspot.com

This is to ensure the maintenance of proper archives for the next set of student members.

Reports were submitted on:

q TEA Workshop
q Alumni Meet

q Prize Distribution Ceremony

q Impromptu Debate
q Debating Society Inaugural Debate

q Sports Day

q GSP Visit
q Trip to Sri Krishna Sweets Factory
q Business Management Counseling Session
q Countdown 2010
q NIE Launch
q IAYP Trip Report
q Interact Club Launch

3. Author of the Month

For every month, beginning with October, the club calendar has allotted an author whose Birthday falls then. This bulletin board will be maintained with student contributions that pay homage to the author.

4. Club Contests

Three contests were thrown open to the students:

For Std. IX – Story Writing Contest
Student Judges: Tarunya Shankar & Anuradha R.

Students were analyzed on their interpretation, use of language and plot structure of stories that began and ended in the following ways:

o A pearly droplet coursed its way downward…
And light filled the sky again.
o He tripped over his own shoelace…
And the clock struck one.

For Std. X – Poetry Writing Contest

Student Judges: Anuradha Rao & Saniya Surana

Students were judged on the concept, language and poetic meter of works written on the following topics:

o Horizon
o Steps

For Std. XI – Photography Contest
Student Judges: Anjali Chandrashekar

Entries were on the topics were judged on the basis of technique, concept and output.

o Leaves

o Blue

The student judges have picked out finalists and the teacher judges will announce the final verdict. Five more contests are in the pipeline.

5. Book Reading

All the groundwork for the Media Club’s first programme for the academic year 2010-11 has been done. The members have read the book recently released by Dr. Sujatha Mohan titled ‘Coffee with Vakil Varadhu’ and students of the ninth and tenth grade have made attractive posters and bulletins for the oncoming event.

The event is scheduled for the second midterm and the students will bring a story from the collection to life.

In a nutshell, these are the activities performed by the Media Club and the club hopes to diversify activities in future.

Padmapriya Govindarajan

(Club Secretary)

Reverberations 2010

The most awaited cultural event in Chennai, the talents of numerous schools across the city displayed in a short span of three days, with a vibrant background of music, celebrities and pure energy. Yes, you guessed it. Reverberations 2010, the brainchild of the PSBB schools.

Day Zero was held in the home grounds in PSBB KKNagar and for eight hours, the preliminary rounds for various events like adzap, shipwreck and debatito continued. The judges for these events were the alumni of both the schools. The final rounds for the sports events (FIFA, DOTA and AAA) as well as photography took place on Day Zero. In addition to that, Reverbs Ink, the tattoo competition, judged by the owner of Ire Zumi was held on the same day.

Day one and Day two were held in Vani Mahal. Day one, after being formally inaugurated by Mrs. Sheela Rajendra, began with a boom with the host performance by KKNagar students for the western music events. Following that was the spoof theatre judged by two very famous personalities, ‘Crazy’ Mohan and Mr. Ramesh. KKNagar students followed by the Nungambakkam students blew the stage away with their respective host performances for the Group dance event.

DJ Ashok, who has been attending Reverberations for the last five odd years, kept the audience moving to his beats. Whilst the Mini Hall was the host to the finals of debatito and shipwreck, Channel Surfing, judged by Melvin, and JAM, moderated by the extremely articulate Naveen Thomas were held in the Main Hall.

On Day two, the tension eked out of everyone as the final day had dawned. The benignity in the room was easily replaced by a sense of serenity as the host performance for light music took off, and the auditorium echoed with the stunningly moving tones of both schools’ students. ‘Ghatam’ Vidwan Sri Uma Shankar, Ajeesh –of Airtel Super Singer fame – and playback singer Anita judged the event.

Just as the finals for the quiz took place in the Main Hall, the Mini Hall was flooded with audience when the Adzap finals took place, judged by comedians Mr. Santhanam and Mr. Jagan.

Last, but not the least, the grand finale, the climax of the show, the all awaited end, the selection of Master /Ms. Reverberations! The audience watched in open-mouthed amusement as the seven finalists battled it out on stage through a series of contests like eat-o-mania and shipwreck, to determine who was the winner of the largest school culturals of Chennai. While the results were tallied, our Chief Guest, the incomparable and the extremely talented Mr. T. M. Krishna, gave his views of Reverberations ’10, giving it a firm thumbs-up and encouraged us to promote more classical events, a thought heartily seconded by our Dean, Mrs. YGP. Our Guest of Honour, Arya, the man that made every girl in the crowd swoon, put in his two cents just before Vidya Mandir was announced as the overall winner of Reverberations ’10.

Hearty congratulations to the teachers, students and volunteers who made the event possible, and a special mention for their ‘Go Green’ initiative must be made. Reverberations more than lived up to its name and fame, and its energy will be felt for many years to come.

Tarunya Shankar
XII C

Commerce club activity 2010 – 2011

In keeping with the traditions of excellence that PSBB forever strives to meet and excel, the business quiz was held on the 25th of November 2010. The quiz was conducted by the popular combination of Kartik.V.S and Karthikeyan of XII C. Six students apiece were chosen from XI C and XII C and paired up to form six teams. The quiz kicked off with the first round, which consisted of twelve questions. Kartik was at his humorous best, enthralling the audience with a ready mixture of wit and suave. The audience was thoroughly hooked and it was time to hand over the mic to Karthikeyan for round two. The round required the skilful identification of logos. The extra information provided by the textbook really helped the participants solve the questions. The concepts, which were brilliantly taught by Mr Devakumar, really helped the students answer the toughest of questions with élan.

The quiz was progressing at a frenetic pace and the reins were handed over to the ever-debonair Kartik. This was the challenging buzzer round, a round where lesser quizzers would have trembled and cracked under the strain and pressure. The fine crop of quizzers that PSBB produces, however, met them face on and the round took place in a titanic battle of reflexes and nerves. Based on the skilful application of textual concepts such as Shares and debentures along with business management concepts were a thorough treat. By now, it all came down to the slog. Huge points were at stake in the final round. Huger reputations were on the line. Diverse pictures and logos were skillfully and intricately woven together into a single company. The participants racked their brains to weave the strands of diverse concepts into the fabric of a single answer. This is where the humorous and insightful teaching of Mr Devakumar was a lifesaver.

The victors were the dynamic duo of Vinayak Sasikumar of XII C and Amrith Bhargav of XI C. The quiz will go down in the annals of PSBB history as one of the finest and most humorous quizzes held on the premises.

BUSINESS BATTLE 2010

Business Battle 2010 a two-day commerce fest organized by PSBB Nungambakkam began with a bang on 25th October, 2010. Held at PSBB KK Nagar, the huge campus served a splendid location for hosting the event.

Among the various on-stage events conducted were Business Quiz, Case Study, Adzap and Role-play, which showcased the humor intellect and theatrical skills of participants. The off-stage events of Product Designing, where the participants had to design a utility product using eco friendly material and Budding Architects, where the participants had to sketch the interior and exterior of a company on a given theme helped in bringing out the artistic talent in every student and helped them in thinking beyond the cliched knowledge. All the events had the audience cheering and wanting more, which they were guaranteed with the finals the next day promising an atmosphere more electrifying.

The second day began with seven teams competing for Adzap Finals. This was followed by Case study which found appreciation from one and all .The stage was set, with great pomp and show, for the finals of Bizwiz. The role play, a new concept introduced this year spelt such a big success that it commanded a repeat show and proved to be a fitting finale. Topics like Management Principles from Arthasastra, opportunities for rural graduates were well researched and brought out in an entertaining manner by the participating teams.

At 3pm, began the valedictory function graced by Mr.C.A.V.Murali as the chief guest and the various heads of PSBB. The chief guest’s speech, which was an amalgam of intellect and humor, won a big round of applause from the audience. Vidya Mandir, Mylapore was adjudged the overall winner .In this age where parents focus on classroom education, Business Battle 2010 proved to be the welcome change.