Annual General Body Meetings

MINUTES: AGM 2023

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COMING SOON

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MINUTES: AGM 2022

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MINUTES OF THE AGM

23rd April 2022

The 36th Annual General Body Meeting (AGM) of The Shakespeare Society of India was held at S.P. Jain Auditorium at South Campus, Delhi University on 23rd April, 2022 at around 5 PM.

The following members were present:

Dr. Vikram Chopra
Dr. Yogesh K Dubey
Prof. Baran Farooqi
Dr. Vinod Kumar Singh
Ms. Kalyanee Ranjan
Prof. Sukanta Chaudhuri
Prof. Rajiva Verma
Dr. Ramji Yadav
Dr. Subhajit Sengupta
Mr. Nataranjan Bohidar
Dr. Akhilesh Kumar
Mr. Ravi Kant
Mr. Arijit Roy

This AGM, in keeping with the tradition of holding it on the birth date of
William Shakespeare, was held offline after a gap of two years due to the
pandemic.

1. The President Dr. Vikram Chopra welcomed the members to the meeting with an extra word of
   welcome for those who had joined the SSI only recently.
2. The secretary Prof. Baran Farooqi also welcomed and wished all those present and presented
   the report of the previous years’ activities. She gave details of the online lecture series that
   was organized by the SSI in the months of July and August, 2021. The details are as follows:
   The first lecture was delivered by Mr. Michael Dobson, Director of Shakespeare Institute,
   Stratford-upon-Avon on 26th July, at 11 AM. It was titled Hamlet and the Outward Gesture
   The second lecture on the following day, July 22nd, at 11 AM by Prof. R. W. Desai, Retd, Delhi
   University and former President SSI. His lecture was titled Reading and Recreating
   Shakespeare.
   The third lecture took place on July 30th, at 10 AM, and was delivered by Prof. Mythili Kaul
   (Retd, Delhi University). She spoke on Shakespeare’s Romances Revisited.
   The fourth lecture on August 3rd, at 11 AM by Prof. Yoshiko Kawachi (Retd. Kyorin University, Tokyo) who spoke on Shakespeare around Asia.
   Dr. Poonam Trivedi (Retd. Assoc. Prof. I P College, Delhi University) delivered the fifth lecture on August 4th, at 11 AM. She spoke on Shakespeare on Stage and Screen.
   Prof. Rajiva Verma (Retd, Delhi University) who has also been the former President of SSI, spoke on Oscar Wilde on Shakespeare on August 5th, at 11 AM.
   
   The series was a huge success and had a long list of attendees via Zoom and Facebook. These lectures were also live-streamed on Facebook for free access to all students, researchers and teachers.
   
   The Organizing Committee wishes to record its appreciation of Ms Kalyanee Rajan, Executive Member of SSI. She was instrumental in publicizing, arranging the successful live streaming and technical logistics of the series.
   
   Various senior members of the SSI introduced the speakers respectively.
   
   The Organizing Committee comprised of the following:
   Vikram Chopra, President SSI
   Yogesh Kumar Dubey, Vice President, SSI (Coordinator)
   Baran Farooqi, Secretary, SSI
   Vinod Kumar Singh, Treasurer, SSI
   Shashi Khurana, Executive Member, SSI
   Rita Banerjee, Executive Member, SSI
   Nandini C. Sen, Executive Member, SSI
   Kalyanee Rajan, Executive Member, SSI
   
   Apart from the lecture series, an online talk was also delivered by Prof. Ruth Vanita on November 20th, 2021 at 9 PM IST. Her topic was When Men and Women are Alone: Plurals, Pronouns and Gendered Power in the Taming of the Shrew.
   
   
3. Dr. V. K. Singh, the Treasure of SSI read out his report and also informed the house, that
   recently 28 new Life Members & 12 student members have been added besides 2 associate
   members. The total number of members of the SSI have now reached 300. On the proposal
   by the President Dr. Vikram Chopra, seconded by the Secretary and Vice President that the
   membership fees of the SSI be increased from 2000 INR to 2500 INR.
   There was much discussion and while Mr. Nataranjan Bohidar opposed the idea vehemently as
   he was of the view that in the present state of affairs the focus should be on increasing the
   number of members and not warding them off by enhancing the membership fee. However,
   Prof. Rajiva Verma pointed out that even though the most insignificant institutions have a
   higher membership fee than this and proposed 5000 INR as a decent fee for the SSI
   membership. Though considerable time was spent on the debate no concrete decision was
   arrived at. Besides, the subject of Associate Membership was also brought up and Dr. VK
   Singh, Treasurer informed the house that they had made two new associate members at a
   membership fee of 700 INR. He added that this membership is adopted by those who are
   participating to present papers and last only one year.
   He also reminded that the student membership fee was at 500 INR and they had added as many
   as 28 student members to the SSI. However, Prof. Rajiva Verma brought up the issue of
   Associate Membership was abandoned some time ago and the minutes of previous meetings
   be looked at and accordingly revisit or reaffirm the same.
   The treasurer informed the house that he was not aware that the Associate Membership had been
   declared defunct some years earlier and now the two new members could not be expelled for
   the current year.
   
   Prof. Sukanta Chaudhuri and Prof. Rajiva Verma expressed their views that one could decide to renew/revive the category of Associate Membership in the present meeting, here again there was much discussion about the amount that should be fixed for the Associate Membership fee and how it is extremely difficult to keep track at the lapsing of the membership at the end of year and the maintenance of records of when the membership started and ends. The decision to continue or discontinue was therefore deferred and can be taken once the minutes are circulated amongst the members and the response of the members can be solicited through a vote which can provided at the ends of meeting’s minutes. (Response in favor or against the issue of Associate Membership of SSI is solicited).
   
4. The next item in the agenda was the approval to the posts of Zonal Secretaries who would be appointed in five key zones namely, East, West, North, South, and Centre. This was immediately met with questions by Prof. Sukanta Chaudhari and Prof. Rajiva Verma on the demarcations of the categories of zones which were highly vague and ambiguous and needed to be spelt out accurately with proper criteria. Dr. Vikram Chopra, President insisted that it was idea of appointing Zonal secretaries since it was deferred in the last AGM too with directions to solicit responses through email because a lot of members could not attend. It was also decided that this proposal would be approved in the next AGM since all members would have been informed and their comments were required on the same. Since Dr. Vikram Chopra feels very strongly about it and had appointed two interim secretaries Dr. Seema Raizada and Dr. Naina Dey. He also wishes to place on record his appreciation of the two for holding regular Shakespeare Festivals.
   
   It was finally decided that the approval for five zonal secretaries could be given only after specifications were provided along with valid reasons for dividing the country into five zones and not four or six, seven for that matter, with clear cut demarcations of the regions. It was reiterated that this approval will be through in the current year 2022-23 through email after proper documentation of the zones is done.
   
5. Regarding the proposal of the Shakespeare Center, it was decided that the SSI executive bill
   will announce the names of the members of the committee being drawn up for exploring the
   possibilities of a Shakespeare Center.
   
6. The secretary once again requested all members to come forth with details of their
   publications, performances, awards, and other achievements so that the society may proudly
   mention these names in its proposed blog/bulletin.
   
7. The seventh point in the agenda was inviting suggestions by members. Prof. Rajiva Verma
   pointed out that a very important task that needed to be accomplished was to revive the SSI
   Bulletin which are uploaded on the SSI blog. He informed the house that he had noticed that
   many of the bulletin which form the part of the archive of SSI have some technical
   shortcomings in their uploading. Since the matter uploaded is not properly legible. These
   bulletins should be repaired and restored to a legible and noticeable state. The blog should
   update the membership of the SSI regularly and be prompt in removing the names of defunct
   memberships due to death or any other reason.
   
   The process of joining the SSI as a member should also be available in succinct language. Both
   these points were well taken and the secretary placated the house that she would make extra
   efforts to assign the task of preparing and maintaining data of the members of SSI and
   making the required changes from time to time. Once such person is identified, his/her name
   would be identified and shared with the house.
   
   About future activities there was common consensus about holding inter-college drama competitions as had been the practice before covid and holding full fledged performances/exhibitions/inter-institutional events around Shakespeare.
   
8. It was reported under ‘Any Other Item’, that the three-day International Seminar (21-23 April, 2022) on Shakespeare and the Subconscious – A Peep into Mysteries of the Mind had evoked a warm response from all the participants and speakers. The organisers were showered with praise for their adept handling of the activities and smooth and comfortable arrangements for
   everyone from day one to day three. The student volunteers were mentioned with a note of special thanks which was delivered by Ms. Kalyanee Rajan at the conclusion of the seminar.
   
   The secretary, Prof. Baran Farooqi after seeking permission from the President, ended the meeting with a vote of thanks.
   
   
   Baran Farooqi
   Secretary

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MINUTES: AGM 2021

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The Shakespeare Society of India

MINUTES
AGM 2021
(Online)

The Annual General Meeting of The Shakespeare Society of India (SSI) was held online on the 23rd of
April, 2021 as customary, on the birthday of William Shakespeare commemorating the life and works of
the Bard. The AGM was hosted by the SSI Secretary, Prof. Baran Farooqi and was held online at 11AM
on Google Meet, due to the constraints arising out of the upsurge of the COVID-19 cases in Delhi-NCR.
The following members were present for the AGM:
President – Dr. Vikram Chopra
Secretary – Prof. Baran Farooqi
Treasurer – Dr. Vinod K. Singh
Members:

1. Kalyanee Rajan
2. Nandini Sen
3. Shashi Khurana
4. Rajiva Verma
5. Poonam Trivedi
6. R. W. Desai
7. Jyoti Bajaj Desai
8. Vandana Aggarwal
9. Vandita Gautam
10. Swati Pal
11. Payal Nagpal
12. Sanjib Kumar Baishya
13. Kinshuk Majumdar
14. Foyez Ahmed
15. Ritu Mohan Agarwal
16. Ajanta Dutt
17. Marilyn Thomas
18. Anubhav Pradhan
19. R. K. Dhawan
20. Suman Bala
21. Nidhi Anugurala
22. Amar Pratap Singh
23. Abha Singh

The following were the proceedings of the AGM, 2021:

1. Welcome Address
   The meeting began with the Welcome address by the President, Dr. Vikram Chopra, who had
   been elected for a term of three years in November 2020. He presided over the meeting, by giving
   a warm welcome to all the members present and to the new members attending the same.
2. Remembering Prof. Urmilla Khanna – A Tribute
   Dr. Chopra gave a brief outline as to why the AGM was being held online this year before
   moving onto the second item of the agenda – ‘Remembering Prof. Urmilla Khanna’, the founding
   president of SSI who passed away on the 7th of April, 2021. Dr. Chopra reminisced about Prof.
   Khanna’s leadership qualities and intellectual acumen before asking the members to maintain a
   minute’s silence in her memory.
   The one-minute silence was followed by Prof. Baran Farooqi reading out the tribute prepared by
   the SSI in honor of Prof. Urmilla. A soft copy of the tribute was also circulated amongst the
   members, before-hand via mail.

Members were then encouraged/invited to come forward with their own tributes if they so liked.
This was followed by mentions of e-mails such as that of Prof. Shormistha Panja and others, who
expressed their sentiments at the passing of Prof. Khanna, which ruminated over how dearly she
would be missed. After a few members spoke briefly about Prof. Khanna’s contributions, Prof.
Baran Farooqi read out Dr. Poonam Tirvedi’s e-mail which enclosed a heart-felt tribute to Prof.
Khanna.

3. Reading of the Minutes
   Prof. Baran Farooqi then proceeded to read the minutes of the last AGM held on the 28th
   November, 2020. The minutes were confirmed by the house, after some discussion arising out of
   the minutes.
4. Secretary’s Report
   4.1. General
   The Secretary’s Report on the progress of activities during the year was read out by Prof. Baran
   Farooqi. Since the pandemic had severely impacted the activities of the SSI in the year 2020-21,
   inevitably very little was managed to be got done during the year. The Secretary also reported a
   meeting (offline) that had been held in February 2021 by the members of the Executive
   Committee, SSI. In this meeting, plans for the forthcoming year were discussed in detail and
   outlines of activities, such as online lectures by Shakespearean scholars and whether it should be
   a paid event or not, were discussed. After much discussion that arose out of the mention of online
   lectures by veteran Shakespeare scholars, these activities have tentatively been scheduled for
   June, 2021.
   4.2. Presentations of publications/activities
   Though members of SSI were invited to send in their reports of publications/ activities around
   Shakespeare, it was not received in good numbers. Therefore, it was decided that the reports of
   publications/ activities would be solicited from the members again via e-mail. Dr. Vikram Chopra
   kindly consented to compile them and circulate it amongst members once received in good
   numbers.
5. Treasurer’s Report
   The Treasurer gave a brief report about the present financial status as there was not much change
   during the previous year in the state of accounts. All members contributed to the discussion on

how the SSI could successfully add new members into the society in order to add fresh ideas and
perspectives in the mix as an initiative to keep the society’s activities current and relatable.

6. Any other Matter
   6.1. Academic and cultural presentations
   The Secretary invited members to come forth with their academic and cultural presentations on
   Shakespeare as had been circulated in the agenda prior to the conduct of the AGM. Taking a lead,
   Prof. Baran Farooqi read out an Urdu poem by Sir Muhmmad Iqbal on Shakespeare, followed by
   a free translation along with the reading. Dr. Swati Pal presented an interesting speech by Portia
   from the Merchant of Venice. She recreated the speech in the words of Portia as a contemporary
   character living in 2021. Her presentation was much lauded by all members.
   6.2. Social Media Outreach
   Prof. Baran Farooqi informed members of the YouTube enterprise set up by the SSI, East and
   West Zone respectively. This initiative allowed individuals an artistic platform to contribute in
   remembering Shakespeare in their own creative way, keeping the essence of Bard alive right
   through the 21st century, digitally. Discussions were held about how this initiative was an
   informal step taken by the society and that it could be subjected to further scrutiny and advise on
   how it can be done best.
   6.3. Increasing Membership of Executive Members / Creating Zonal Secretaries
   The subject of adding another member to the Executive of SSI and that of creating posts of Zonal
   Secretaries of the SSI belonging to the zones of South, West and East were discussed. Prof.
   Rajeev Verma and a few other members advised that that such a change is fundamental to the
   Constitution of the SSI and therefore must be made after a consensus amongst all members only
   after a written proposal is circulated. Post circulating the proposal a special AGM would be in
   place for discussing the above mentioned matters before reaching a conclusion. Dr. Vikram
   Chopra (President, SSI) was requested to formulate a detailed proposal regarding the same and
   circulate it amongst all members soon.
7. Vote of Thanks
   The SSI Online AGM, 2021 concluded with a Vote of Thanks delivered by Prof. Baran Farooqi,
   where she thanked all the members and attendees for their ardent support and contributions to the

SSI throughout the year.

Prof. Baran Farooqi
Secretary
The Shakespeare Society of India.

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MINUTES: AGM 2020

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The Shakespeare Society of India

Report of the AGM held on Saturday, 28 November, 2020

                The 33^rd Annual General Body Meeting (AGM) was held on Saturday 28 Nov, 20. It was a virtual meeting on Zoom hosted by the outgoing Treasurer Dr. Payal Nagpal. The meeting was chaired by the President Professor Rajiva Verma. As the meeting was not quorate, it was adjourned for a few minutes and then restarted.

                The following members took part in the meeting.  Dr. Nagpal took a screen shot of those who were attending. Prof. Rupin Desai joined the meeting briefly via phone to convey his appreciation for the outgoing team and best wishes and welcome to the incoming President and the new office-bearers.

Rajiva Verma

Vikram Chopra

Supriya Chaudhuri

Harriet Raghunathan

Jobin Thomas

Nita Kumar

Poonam Trivedi

Malashri  Lal

Subhojit Sen Gupta

Satish Aikant

Kalyanee Rajan

Nidhi Sharma

Shashi Khurana

Yogesh K Dubey

V.K.Singh

Baran Farooqi

Nandini Sen

Rita Banerjee

Vandana Agrawal 

Vandita Gautam

Ritu Saluja

Meera Verma

Ajanta Dutt

Sanjib K Baishya 

Payal Nagpal 

                The President expressed words of welcome to everyone in the meeting. After the welcome the President announced the names of the members who had  “shuffled off” their “mortal coil” during the year. A respectful homage was paid in the sacred memory of these members who had made a valuable contribution not only to the Shakespeare Society but also to society in general : Professor G.K. Das, Mrs. Lola Chatterjee, Mr K.G. Verma,  Dr Dhanesh Jain and Dr N.K. Jain. Obituaries pertaining to Prof. Das, Lola Chatterjee and   K.G. Verma had already been circulated. The main qualities and distinctions of Dr. Dhanesh Jain and  Dr. N.K. Jain were mentioned in the Secretary’s Report.

                The President then announced the names of 15 new Life-Members and 7 student members and extended a warm welcome to them. The names of these members and their institutional affiliations are included in  the Secretary’s Report.

1. Minutes of the  AGM 2019

                The chair pointed out that the Minutes of the last AGM held on 23 April 2019 had been circulated shortly after the meeting and no one had submitted any comment or objection.   The house approved the minutes.

2. Secretary’s Report

     a. General

                Vikram Chopra had circulated the report to all members previously. He briefly summarized the events that had been planned but could not be held because of some unavoidable circumstances and also due to the pandemic.

                The report also contained the details of presentations, publications, awards  and  honours, of the members who had sent their details.  A request was made to all members to send their details which could again be circulated to members.

     b. Shakespeare Centre/Institute

                The President reported that Dr Vikram Chopra had presented to the Executive Committee the recommendations of the Committee constituted by the AGM in 2019 to explore ways of expanding the activities of the Society and establishing a Shakespeare Institute/Centre.   The President  acknowledged and reiterated  the fact that the setting up of  a Shakespeare Centre  is a pledged and important part of the aims and objects specified in the SSI constitution. He informed the members that  the dedicated committee  had met several times and had put in  much effort and serious thought working  out  the outline of the scope of this centre  and how it would function. He, however, pointed out that instead of one consolidated recommendation,  the Committee had submitted  three separate  proposals  by  three of its members, R.W. Desai, Nataranjan Bohidar and Vikram Chopra. The Secretary then expanded on the plan for the establishment of  a Shakespeare Centre.

                The President suggested that   since such an important  matter  required  wider consultation and serious and careful  consideration, it would be appropriate to send all the three proposals to all members of the Society for their views and comments. The new Executive could then take a broad-based decision in this regard in a specially convened General Body Meeting. The three proposals have already been sent to members as part of the Secretary’s Report. All members of the  Society were  requested to examine these proposals and send their comments and suggestions to the Executive Committee soon.

3. Treasurer’s Report

                The Treasurer Dr. Payal Nagpal then presented her report and explained that the lack of activities during the pandemic had somewhat impacted  the Society’s income, which depends largely on membership fees and the membership in turn increases as people join at Society’s events. She also pointed out the kind of headings under which our income & expenditure falls, for the benefit of the incoming Treasurer. The report was duly approved and adopted .

4. Drama Report

                The President expressed  happiness that we had been able to hold the event which is one of the successes of the Society, in which we see drama teams going from strength to strength with lively and original performances.

                Harriet Raghunathan, the Drama Coordinator, presented a brief account of the competition held in Feb, 19 at I.P. College, Delhi University, The report prepared by her had already been circulated along with the first notice of the AGM and  also  as part of the Secretary’s Report so that  members could have the  pleasure of reading it.

Harriet Raghunathan showed some slides with the technical assistance of Jobin Thomas, and gave brief comments on the event. In  particular  she expressed the  Society’s gratitude for the kindness and support shown by Indraprastha College in letting us use their auditorium and in donating two trophies, one for the most original concept and the other for the best play in Shakespeare’s original language.

5. Any other Matter

  a.  Archive

Members showed keen interest in expanding the activities of the Society and gave several suggestions. Professor Supriya  Chaudhuri suggested there should be some way of archiving the drama performances with play synopses etc., as it would help researches in the future. Video-recording of the plays or some parts of the plays may also be done, and the photographs should be uploaded  on  the blog/website of the Society. The idea of the archive was well supported by Dr. Poonam Trivedi and Dr. Nandini Sen , who argued  for even wider coverage of other Shakespeare related performances.  Almost everyone seemed to agree on the importance of the archives. Harriet Raghunathan  pointed out that she had the last six years’ drama reports including all synopses, list of  prize-winners and team details and either she and Jobin Thomas had many photographs too. Rajiva  Verma informed the house  that copies of all the earlier printed annual  bulletins of the Society from 1988 onwards were in the process of being uploaded on the blog and a sample of them was shown at the meeting.

  b. Inter-School Drama Competition

                The idea of  an Inter-School Drama Competition was presented. Though some members were somewhat skeptical about the level of school performances, there was an overwhelming support for the idea. Poonam Trivedi, Nandini Sen, Kalyanee Rajan and Vikram Chopra lauded the idea which also received support from other members as they gave evidence of sterling performances by some schools. Rajiva  Verma also mentioned  a highly successful Inter-School Drama Competition that was organized by SSI with the collaboration of the British Council many years ago.  The desirability of reviving the competition was agreed to by one and all. It was however made clear that  the School Drama Competition would be separate from the Inter-Collegiate one, in  which post graduate students should also be allowed to participate.

    c. Blog/Website

                While acknowledging  the good work that had been done in  preserving  the records of the Society such as reports, AGM minutes, and annual bulletins on the Society’s  blog, some members suggested that the Society should have its own website.  The Blog was being handled by Jobin Thomas who also gave a valuable suggestion that the Society should have a dedicated communication coordinator who had all the expertise to handle social media and manage publicity. The importance of the post becomes obvious in view of the increasing range of activities envisaged by members and the new Executive. Kalyanee Rajan suggested consolidating the mailing list of SSI members into a google group for better communication. She also pointed out that a Zoom meeting allows attendance to be recorded via screen shot, and comments can be saved into a file. As we get used to it, online meetings in the  future AGM’s might increase countrywide ( and even  global) participation in AGMs and other SSI events.                                                                                                  

  d.  Zonal Secretaries

                With a view to extending the area of SSI activities, and stimulating  greater interest among members from different parts of India, Vikram Chopra proposed the creation of posts of zonal secretaries. It was suggested that these zonal secretaries could  organize activities at the zonal  levels and that the Executive Committee in  turn  could  help the zonal secretaries  host seminars/conferences at national and international levels at the zonal centres. While the idea was generally appreciated, Jobin Thomas  pointed out that the  formal creation of these posts would require a provision to be made in the SSI Constitution. Until such a provision was made, zonal secretaries could only be part of a purely informal arrangement. 

 6.   Elections

                After the above discussions,  Professor Verma requested Dr. Nita Kumar, the Returning Officer,  to announce the results of the elections. Dr. Kumar pointed out that she had received only a single nomination for each post and all the nominations were found in order. She  therefore announced that the following were elected unopposed  for the posts  of office bearers and members of the Executive Committee  as  given below:

1. President                                    :               Dr. Vikram Chopra
2. Vice-President                          :               Dr. Yogesh Dubey
3. Secretary                                     :               Professor Baran Farooqi
4. Treasurer                                    :               Dr. Vinod Kumar Singh
5. Members Executive

1              :    Dr. Rita Banerji

2.            :    Dr. Shashi Khurana

3.            :    Dr. Nandini Sen

The President then thanked Dr. Nita Kumar  and on behalf of the Executive Committee expressed his deep appreciation of the way in which she had discharged  her responsibilities as Returning Officer with perfect accuracy and remarkable efficiency.

                The President  also congratulated all the elected members and   wished the new team   all success  in its plans and actions. All the members present  in the meeting also congratulated Dr Vikram Chopra and the other elected members.

                The President then invited the new President to share his views. Dr. Chopra expressed his deep appreciation for all the commendable work done by the previous teams with a special word for the outgoing members of the Executive.

                He also assured the members that the New Team will work with most earnest intentions and make every effort to present Shakespeare for the enjoyment and delight of the ‘widest commonalty’. The meeting came to an end with a vote of thanks and appreciation to the Chair and to the members.

                The entire meeting was thus conducted in a most pleasant academic ambience.

Vikram Chopra

Secretary

till November 28, 2020

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MINUTES: AGM 2019

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Minutes of the Annual General Body Meeting held on 23^rdApril 2019  

The 32^ndAnnual General Body Meeting of the Shakespeare Society of India was held on the Bard’s anniversary on 23^rdApril 2019 at Kirori Mal College Delhi University at 02:30 p.m. The following members were present ;

Professor R.W Desai
Dr. Jyoti Bajaj Desai
Professor Rajiva Verma (President)
Dr. Poonam Trivedi
Ms Harriet Ragunathan
Dr. Payal Nagpal
Dr. Vinod Bala Sharma
Dr. Alka Rakesh
Mr. Nataranjan Bohidar
Dr. Nivedita Basu
Dr. Vikram Chopra (Secretary)

Owing to lack of quorum, the meeting was adjourned for a while  and then reconvened for conducting  the day’s work. At the outset, the   President  extended a warm welcome to the members present and added a special note of welcome to new members.

1. Confirmation of the minutes of the last AGM held at Janki Devi Memorial    College on 7^thJuly 2018.

As the report of the AGM had already been e-mailed to all the members, the members present accorded their approval to the Minutes recorded therein.

2. Matters arising out of the Minutes

(a) Some members felt that SSI must involve itself  in a wider range of activities including  small-scale activities like play-reading, discussing recent articles and books on Shakespeare and  organizing  special lectures. Some members  reinforced the idea of enlarging SSI activities for a wider reach to the larger public by arranging lectures and events at  venues like  the India International Centre and  the India Habitat Centre.

Some members suggested that steps should be taken to augment the financial resources of the Society to enable it to organize  more activities. It was felt that  all members of the Society should  make efforts to add to the Society’s financial resources.

A significant point was raised by Professor R.W Desai. Professor Desai pointed out that the establishment of a Shakespeare Centre, is among the avowed aims and objectives of the SSI as specified in its Constitution. He pointed out how the Centre/Institute was envisaged as a “reservoir of Shakespeare scholarship as well as a forum for critical and creative interpretations of Shakespeare’s works”, (Aims and Objects clause (b) SSI Constitution p.1). The concept of the Centre/Institute comprises a good library of Shakespeare studies, material on and for performances of Shakespeare, an auditorium and/or open-air theatre, an artists’ home with some rooms for visiting Shakespeare scholars from India and abroad, and all such activities that  may enhance the understanding and enjoyment of Shakespeare and of  the world of art and theatre in general.

While some members supported the idea of a Shakespeare Centre/Institute, others thought that it was a bit too ambitious in view of the present reach and resources of the Society. After discussion it was decided to constitute a committee to examine the matter in detail and suggest concrete steps towards the realization of the idea. The members of this committee are  Professor R.W. Desai, Dr. Vinod Bala Sharma, Mr. Nataranjan Bohidar and Dr. Vikram Chopra. It was left to the committee to decide which of the four members would be the convener of the committee.  It was clarified that the committee will submit its recommendations to the Executive Committee for consideration.

(b)  Another suggestion was that the Society should develop its own website to ensure greater visibility among the general public and also to provide a forum for interaction among its members. However, some members felt that the Society could not at present afford the cost of developing and maintaining a website; others pointed to the effort and resources needed  to ensure that such a site was not misused. The Chairman pointed out that the Society already had space on the internet under wordpress  and that a good deal of matter related  to the Society, including  the annual bulletins  of  the Society, can be accessed there. He assured the members that the Executive Committee will examine the present status of the site and the possibility of reactivating/updating it.

3. National Drama Competition

Following the above discussion, Ms Harriet Raghunathan presented a report (attached)  on the National  College Drama Competition held on  February 2nd  at I.P. College.

4. Statement of Accounts

Dr Payal Nagpal, the Treasurer,  then presented the duly audited Statement of Accounts for the year ending  31 march 2019. The Balance Sheet is given below:

Balance Sheet as on  31st March, 2019     

Liabilities                             31.03.2019                         31.03.2018

Society Fund

General Reserve

Opening Balance                    1,34,348.93                     1,44,949.93

(less)/ Add: Surplus of

expenditure over income        11,905.50                       (-10,601.00)

1,46,254.43                     1,34,348.93

Current Liabilities

Audit fees payable                       5,900.00                           4,720.00

Total                                            1,52,154.43                      1,39,068.93

Assets

Cash in Hand                                12,299.00

Balance in SB/ A/c with

State Bank of India ,

Delhi University, Delhi             1,39,855.43                         1,39,068.93

TOTAL                                         1,52,154.43                         1,39,068.93

The General Body noted with satisfaction that there was a surplus of income over expenditure this year  and approved the accounts.

5.Secretary’s Report

Finally, Dr Vikram Chopra presented the Secretary’s Annual Report (attached) on the activities of the Society and its members during the year, including the international seminar “Power, Politics and Spectacle in Shakespeare”.

The meeting then concluded with thanks to the members and to the Chair.

Tea  and snacks were served after the meeting  followed by a screening of Orson Welles’s Macbeth(1947). Though the plan was to screen only a few scenes from the film, the  students of K.M. College, for whom Macbethis a prescribed text, were keen to see the entire film. Therefore the entire film was screened to the satisfaction and happiness of the students and the members who chose to stay.

Vikram Chopra
Secretary

MINUTES OF THE GENERAL BODY MEETING HELD ON
7 July 2018

The much-delayed Annual General Body Meeting (AGM) of SSI was held at 11 am on 7 th July 2018 in room no.66 of Janki Devi Memorial College . The following members were present: R.W.Desai, Jyoti Desai, R.K.Dhawan, Suman Bala, S.C.Sood, Nataranjan Bohidar, Rajiva Verma, Harriet Raghunathan, Payal Nagpal, Anannya Dasgupta, Jobin Thomas, Vikram Chopra. Owing to lack of quorum the meeting was adjourned for a while
and then reconvened for conducting the day’s work.

First, SSI President Rajiva Verma extended a warm welcome to members present and also added a note of welcome to new members. He informed the members that upon a request made by the Executive Committee he had stepped in as President of the Society in place of Professor Gil Harris, who had resigned because he had to be in New Zealand to look after his aged and ailing parents. He thanked the members of the Executive Committee for their faith in him. He also expressed deep appreciation of Professor Gil Harris’s work as President of the Society and said it would be a challenge to follow his example. He expressed the hope that he would continue to have the support of the Executive Committee and of all the members of the Society.

The second item on the agenda was the approval of the Minutes of the last AGM held on 29 th April 2017. The Minutes presented by the Secretary specified the main item of the election of new office-bearers: President: Jonathan Gil Harris, Vice-President: Supriya Chaudhuri, Treasurer: Payal Nagpal, Secretary: Vikram Chopra, Members Executive: Harriet Raghunathan, Jobin Thomas, Anannya Dasgupta.

Several suggestions had been made in the last AGM, such as organizing play-reading sessions and meetings to discuss significant articles and books on Shakespeare published recently as well as some light-hearted entertaining activities aiming at greater involvement of members. The Secretary stated that the Minutes of the AGM held in 2017 had been sent to all members on 1 st June 2017 and resent the day before the present meeting. No objections had been raised. He clarified that these draft minutes were to be approved at the present meeting if they accurately reflected the business conducted on 29 April 2017. The minutes were approved.

Matters Arising Out of the Minutes
In the matters arising out of the Minutes, Professor Desai raised the question of a possible production of some scenes from Macbeth. The minutes of the 2017 AGM record that Ms. Tulika Niyogi and Dr.Vinod Bala Sharma agreed to form a sub-committee with Prof Desai to look into the question of money and venues for preparing such a production, and to report back by the end of May 2017. No report came in. Professor Desai said he had not proceeded with the idea in the absence of any guaranteed funds. He referred to an earlier letter he had sent to the former President which included a draft budget for Rs.50,000 and to the President’s reply, which wished the project well but
did not provide the funding. He suggested circulating the financial proposal again.

The President said that the items specified in the Agenda should be taken up first and all suggestions would be taken up after the reports.

Secretary’s Report
After this, the Secretary presented the report on the year’s activities. He reiterated the note of welcome using the words of Shakespeare himself: ‘I shower/Welcome on ye/Welcome all.’  As the members had already been informed, the General Body could not meet on 23 rd April because of some major developments in the Executive. Our dear President Jonathan Gil, had to resign from the Presidentship as he had to leave for his home country New Zealand to take care of his ailing parents. Though the Executive Committee was loath to accept his resignation but human considerations became, as perhaps they ought to, paramount and the Executive had no other option but to
accept it.

The academic and functional exigencies impelled us to look for a suitable person who could guide the reins of SSI with authority and competence. We approached some eminent scholars including our Vice-President Professor Supriya Chaudhuri, but owing to some problems at their end, they expressed their inability to accept the responsibility. In the end, we were fortunate that Professor Rajiva Verma agreed to shoulder the responsibility. SSI is now working with its wonted energy and enthusiasm. The Secretary pointed out that the procedure followed by the Executive Committee to appoint Professor Verma as President of the Society was in conformity with the rules & regulations as specified in the SSI Constitution. Clause of Rule no. VII, which deals with the ‘Powers & Function of E.C.’, empowers the E.C. :

In the event of a casual vacancy among the office bearers to make arrangements for carrying on the function of such office bearers.

Clause x of Rule VIII, which deals with ‘Filling Up of Casual Vacancy’, provides:

In the event of a casual vacancy in the Executive Committee, the Committee shall have the power to make arrangements to fill such a vacancy
for the rest of the term

Activities during the year
Two major events were organized which in themselves merit applause:

a) National Seminar on “ Shakespeare Now”
b) National Drama Competition.

Reports of both the programmes have already been sent to all the members.

Treasurer’s Report
Payal Nagpal, the Treasurer, presented details of the income and expenditure during the year 2017-18. The Statement of Accounts (Balance Sheet) shows an expenditure of Rs 10,000 in excess of the total income during the year. Though the Society has adequate funds to meet the expected cost of the coming events, yet all the members are requested to utilize their resources and connections for augmenting the financial strength of the Society to enable it to undertake more significant ventures. (The Balance Sheet as on 31st
March, 2018) is as under:

OTHER BUSINESS
Suggestions
The suggestions given by the members in the last AGM still crave their implementation and fulfilment. The Society is of course, fully committed to honour them to the best of its capacity. This year two main suggestions came and some others were presented at the AGM itself.

Vikram Chopra while reiterating his plea for a Shakespeare Centre which aims at becoming a source centre for Shakespeare Studies, performances and allied material also exhorts members and everyone else from society to donate books and material on Shakespeare which are not of active use for them. The same can be made available to students, scholars and other interested persons. In this way we might be able to preserve some precious material for posterity.

Nataranjan Bohidar’s seemingly vibrant vision of SSI activities was another point for consideration. He suggested that SSI, with its academic expertise on Shakespeare could become a sort of focal point for consultation for theatre artists and film makers of India. The idea of assuming the role of an authority on interpretation of Shakespeare didn’t find favour with the audience though it was felt that the forum of SSI was always open to any kind of consultation. He also suggested enlarging the range of activities by linking them with the psyche of the Corporate World. He felt this was an untapped area which besides augmenting financial resources could also provide a wider reach and the consequent acclaim to SSI thus enabling it to undertake some major ventures/projects.

The members found such ideas a bit ambitious and, therefore, lent it a cautious consent as they feared that it might lead to excessive commercialization which might mitigate or dilute the more significant academic aspect.

Sponsors
Swati Pal, Principal of JDM suggested that the SSI urgently needs to get more sponsorship for its programs and should do so soon as companies spend most of their funds by July-August each year. She has a list of contacts and sample sponsor forms that the SSI could
make use of. The SSI could send its members a letter proforma with a general outline of the programs we wanted sponsors for and Society members could be asked to help get sponsors.

The Society should be clear whether non- academic, commercial firms e.g., cosmetic companies would be acceptable as sponsors and it was also pointed out that our co-hosts giving us the use of any venue would have to agree on the conditions sponsors set. Payal Nagpal, the Treasurer reported that smaller firms wanting only a simple kiosk for snacks or drinks etc. often were more acceptable sponsors than those wanting captive audiences for their promotions. Professor Desai judiciously suggested that along with our primary ‘academic’ aims we should have a ‘dual vision’ and be open to new kinds of events.

Other Ideas
Various suggestions were made for Society activities in future including ways of generating more money. Some ideas were thought to be quite ambitious and impractical given our current funds and membership. Among the main ideas:

• Urgently improving the way the SSI communicates, especially updating and managing the website, and also starting a blog. The Treasurer was asked to look into possible costs of this.
• Developing clarity on what we offer members for the money they pay for membership.
• More events, such as a Schools Drama Competition separate from the college one, and small-scale play readings or book club discussions were suggested, besides events that attract young people. For example, poetry slam competitions and poster-making, alongside other events might work.

The President emphasised that all efforts would be made to honour every practical, concrete and realisable suggestion.

A brief mention was made of the ongoing plans for a conference next March in conjunction with Kirori Mal College on the theme of ‘Politics Power and Spectacle in Shakespeare.’ Fortunately, things have taken a definite shape and the Seminar has been fixed for 7-8 March 2019. Various aspects of the Seminar are being worked out and very soon detailed information about it would be sent to the members.

Revels in Shakespeare never end! May they continue forever and forever
to be the joy and privilege of mankind!

Vikram Chopra
Secretary

MINUTES OF THE GENERAL BODY MEETING HELD ON
29 APRIL 2017

The 31 st Annual General Body Meeting (AGM) was held on Saturday 29 th April, 2017 at Janki Devi Memorial College at 11:00 A.M. The meeting started with a word of Welcome from the President Jonathan Gil Harris both to the members and to the love and study of Shakespeare as he felt that to celebrate Shakespeare is the joy and privilege of countless human beings in the world. JDM Principal Dr. Swati Pal also extended awarm welcome to the members and assured every co operation-to present SSI in its activities.

After the welcome note of the President, the Secretary added to the spirit of cordiality and welcome. It was emphasized that the universal delighter has helped man transcend all the barriers of age, time and space and has orchestrated a communion of cultures across the globe. The Secretary also pointed out that today‟s gathering was a continuation of the worldwide celebration of the Bard who has endeared himself to all
mankind.

Before presenting his account of happenings in the last AGM held on April 23, 2016 and the work done by SSI this year, the Secretary asked the meeting to pay respectful homage to the memory of the three esteemed members of SSI who have “shuffled off” their “mortal coil”: Dr. D.K. Pabby, Dr. Suhas K. Roy Moulick and Professor Sarbani Chaudhury.

Confirmation of the Minutes
Coming back to the day‟s work, the first item on the agenda was the confirmation of the minutes of the last AGM held on April 23, 2016. As the report had already been circulated the General Body approved them as has been stated therein. A copy of the report is again enclosed for the reference/consideration of the members.

Main Events of 2016
International Conference “Shakespeare’s Ashes‟
Age cannot wither, nor custom stale (his) infinite variety. As the year began, all eyes were
focused on the forthcoming International Conference on ―Shakespeare‘s Ashes scheduled to be held on 20-22 October, 2016. This was organized by the Shakespeare Society of India, in association with Ashoka University and the British Council to celebrate the ageless and timeless appeal of Shakespeare on the 400 th anniversary of his death. The title of the Conference: ―Shakespeare‘s Ashes was considered at once commemorative of Shakespeare‘s death as well as recognizing the dispersed post-lives that Shakespeare has enjoyed. It also hinted at how Shakespeare‘s stories have themselves always comprised the ashes of other stories, many of which have Asian genealogies. The Conference was a huge success and offered a rich fare of immense variety. It was well attended by scholars from India and across the world. The conference provided a forum to understand and re-visit Shakespeare, as also to see his relevance to the contemporary world at large. Everyone who was part of the conference even to a small measure, went away contented.

A highlight of the conference was Chahat Ki Dastan, a performative rendering of Shakespeare‘s sonnets in dance and adaptation or translation. The talented team from Ashoka University comprising students, teachers and artists transformed the sonnets into a most delectable, delightful and captivating treat. Besides this rich entertainment, other engaging features of the conference were the Jugalbandis between Prof Gil Haris and Prof Sukanta Chaudhary, Prof Shormishtha Panja and Rani Drew, Prof Madhavi Menon and Justin McCarthy and the final one between Prof Supriya Chaudhary and Aparna Sen, all full of absorbing conversations.

Welcome to New Members and Suggestions
The Secretary then extended a cordial welcome to the new members and reiterated his appeal to all the members for an earnest and more active involvement in the activities of the SSI. He also invited them to send their articles/reviews/observations on Shakespeare related publications/studies/performance for the SSI Bulletin.

Other suggestions included regular play reading sessions to be held at different colleges, short theatre workshops and one full-length theatre workshop with students for the production of a full or a significantly representative Shakespeare play. Further suggestions were study sessions on publications of recent books and articles on Shakespeare and also on a particular theme like Shakespeare‘s Tragedies/Comedies/Greek plays etc. The involvement of colleges in play reading and study sessions has often been suggested by members who feel that something should happen every working month.

Shakespeare Centre/Institute
The Secretary reminded all members that one of the prime objectives of the Society is to establish a Shakespeare Centre. Such a centre would have an auditorium as well as open air performances. There should also be a library on World Theatre and a few rooms to serve as artists‘ residences and a home for visiting scholars and theatre persons. The activities of the institute should not be confined to Shakespeare: it should be open to theatres of all traditions, values and visions, Indian as well as Global.

Zonal Secretaries
Another suggestion that came in for consideration was the appointment of zonal secretaries, one in each zone: east, west, north, south. It is felt that the zonal secretaries will feel more involved and responsible to conduct activities in their areas and members of SSI could join them in their ventures: performances; seminars, conferences etc. Besides, the appointment of zonal secretaries will also lend a broader regional as well as national representation to SSI. The idea of zonal secretaries got an enthusiastic response from the members. President Jonathan Gil Harris also appreciated the need to activate the regional centres to assure a larger participation from different corners of India which will also lend a further justification to SSI‘s national and international character.

Other suggestions were:

• Tying up with embassies to organise joint events on their famous authors in association with Shakespeare: eg Shakespeare and Ibsen, Shakespeare and Shaw, etc.
• Renovating the website, creating Whatsapp groups, managing the Facebook
  page, providing fora for young people to post blogs, etc
• Offering more opportunities to our institutional members.

National Seminar 2017
The AGM discussed themes for the proposed National Seminar to be held in September or October. Dr Swati Pal, Principal of JDM offered her college as a venue for the seminar. The themes suggested (many of which overlap) were:

• Shakespeare and Money, with emphasis on economic change
• Shakespeare and Freedom of Speech
• Shakespeare and the Margins
• Rewriting Shakespeare and Shakespeare Rewriting (part of this could include the idea of the history plays rewriting the past in order to create and interrogate contemporary nationalism)
• Shakespeare and Nationalism
• Shakespeare‘s Romeo and anti-Romeo squads
• Shakespeare and the Human Predicament of the 21st Century
• The Metamorphoses of Shakespeare– including his use of Ovid, how we read
  Shakespeare
• Shakespeare in Translation, including into other forms such as cinema
• Post Modern Shakespeare
• Shakespeare and the Supernatural, enchantment, the non-material world

Professor Desai suggested those who had given these ideas could be asked to elaborate on them and send fuller concept notes to the Executive. It was agreed that we follow the format of discussion panels on the lines of the recent conference, probably with a keynote address or plenary sessions as well.

Other Initiatives
Professor Desai renewed the proposal to act some scenes from Macbeth on the lines of the earlier Hamlet, with each scene followed by a panel discussion and the whole being recorded on a DVD, which colleges or universities might buy. It might also be made available by ILLL for students to use. Money and rehearsal venues were obvious but not insuperable problems. Tulika Niyogi and Vinod Bala Sharma agreed to form a sub-committee with Prof. Desai to explore possibilities and to report by the end of May. Several people mentioned the benefit of having some scenes performed at any seminar we have, and Ashoka’s recent performance / re-creation of the lost Cardenio with Don Quixote and Double Falsehood as side sources was also mentioned as something that could be put on again at the upcoming seminar or a similar event.

Treasurer‟s Report
After the Secretary‘s Report, Anavisha Banerjee, the Treasurer, presented the audited report that stated an opening balance of Rs. 98,831.43 and a closing balance of Rs. 1,44,949.93. It was heartening to note that SSI was now on a sound financial footing though it is always in need of funds for organizing any major event.

Drama Report
Harriet Raghunathan, co-ordinator of the National Drama Competition gave a brief report of the inter-college drama eventwhich was held on 4 th February 2017 at the ideal venue of St. Stephen’s College and was judged by reputed theatre personalities: Kuljeet Singh,Kusum Haidar and Sunit Tandon. Well over 200 students were directly involved in the 14 productions and the audience thoroughly enjoyed the event, in which the experimental adaptations of Shakespeare once more outdid the more classical renderings, though the standard of all performances was excellent. Jobin Thomas lent a useful helping hand by showing shots from the drama competition on screen simultaneously with the report.

President’s Address on Trends in Shakespeare Criticism Today
Jonathan Gil Harris gave an absorbing talk on the current state of Shakespeare criticism. He focused on the emergent field of ― Global Shakespeares that has become so prominent during the quatercentenary anniversary year. As an overview Gil `challenged the colonial mind-set that positions English Shakespeare as the ‘original’ and various ‘global’ Shakespeares as derivatives or copies. Shakespeare was global from the start; the stories he used and transmitted had their origins in Babylon or Asia before passing through Ovid into his own writing and then circulating back to Asia, including India. His language too was always global; drawing on the many dialects and tongues that could be heard in his London (including French, Latin, and Italian as well as his the various dialects of south-east England and his own Stratford), Shakespeare swerved linguistically in a way that is not dissimilar to how Dilli-walas swerve between Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Bhojpuri and English. Indeed, Indians might be better prepared to recognize this global dimension of Shakespeare than those who have grown up in a monolingual Anglophone environment, and this is why the Shakespeare Society of India should be seen as making an important contribution to the study not just of Shakespeare in India but also of Shakespeare in general.

Election of new Executive Members
After the normal fulfilment of the items on the agenda, it was time for elections and the matter was handed over to the Election Officer, Professor Rajiva Verma. Professor Verma then informed the meeting that only four candidates had filed the nomination forms by the due date, one candidate for each post, for the elections to be held on 29th April 2017 for the following posts in the Executive Committee of the Shakespeare Society for the three-year term beginning April 2017: President, Vice-President, Treasurer, and Secretary. Consequently these candidates could be declared elected unopposed.

As for the post of Member, Executive Committee, four candidates had filed nomination forms for these posts. As the number of posts is three, polling was to be held for these posts on the scheduled date. Ballot papers containing the names of the four candidates, out of which names of three were to be ticked by the electors, were distributed among the members. The names were arranged in alphabetical order by the first name of each candidate as follows: (1) Anannya Dasgupta. (2) Harriet Raghunathan. (3) Jobin Thomas. (4) Nataranjan Bohidar.

It was suggested by some members that since all the members present were not familiar with the qualifications and qualities of all the four candidates, it would be appreciated if all the candidates could introduce themselves. Accordingly, all the four candidates briefly outlined their qualifications and the contribution they could make to the objectives of SSI. The speeches lent an interesting dose of emotional, intellectual and imaginative excursions to the members present.

The New Office Bearers
After the Election Officer conducted the ballot, he announced that three names were cleared for the post of the Executive Members: Anannya Dasgupta, Harriet Raghunathan, and Jobin Thomas.The names of Jonathan Gil Harris as President, Supriya Chaudhuri as Vice-President, Payal Nagpal as Treasurer and Vikram Chopra as Secretary had already been approved.

The New Executive is thus:
President: Jonathan Gil Harris
Vice President: Supriya Chaudhuri
Treasurer: PayalNagpal
Secretary: Vikram Chopra
Members Executive: Harriet Raghunathan, Jobin Thomas, Anannya Dasgupta

The General Body and the new Executive expressed a special word of appreciation for the valued contribution of Shashi Khurana as a member of the Executive and the dedicated and diligent work done by Anavisha Banerjee as Treasurer.

This concluded the AGM.

Vikram Chopra
Secretary

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MINUTES OF THE GENERAL BODY MEETING HELD ON
23 APRIL 2016

The Annual General Body Meeting of the Shakespeare Society of India was held on the Shakespeare Day: Saturday 23rd April 2016 at 11:30 A.M in Room No. 54 of the Arts Faculty, University of Delhi. The meeting was chaired by the SSI President Jonathan Gil Harris. It was a well- attended meeting which included stalwarts like Professors G.K. Das, R.W. Desai, Rajiva Verma and Rupendra Guha Majumdar who gave some very valuable suggestions. Besides Executive Members Anavisha, Shashi Khurana and Jobin Thomas, members like Vandita Gautam, Kalyanee Rajan, and the new member Tulika Niyogi also contributed to the liveliness and usefulness of the meeting.

The minutes of the last AGM held on 2nd May 2015 at St. Stephen’s College were confirmed. Members were also informed about the steps taken in various matters.

The major activity of the year was National Drama Competition. The details about it are as under: The 6th Annual Drama Competition was held on 5th Feb 2016 at St. Stephen’s College auditorium. 12 teams from Delhi and other parts of India participated. The performances were well enjoyed, appreciated and applauded by the audience. The Competition was judged by eminent theatre personalities: Kusum Haidar, a veteran artist who had the privilege of playing Ophelia on the very stage of St. Stephen’s, Atul Satya Kaushik- a versatile director whose range extends from mythological epics to current social themes and great works of literature; and the students’ darling, ever gentle and affable Kuljeet Singh. The overall performance for the Rolling Trophy was awarded to Zakir Hussain College for adaptation of Richard III. The lead actor, who played Rana also bagged the best actor award. A detailed account of the Competition as prepared by Harriet Raghunathan and presented along with some glimpses from the show, by Jobin Thomas was appreciated by every one. The report as well as the pictures are enclosed for the information and pleasure of the members.

The Treasurer Anavisha Banerjee presented accounts of the SOCIETY. The Treasurer’s report gave a favourable picture of Society’s assets (enclosed).

The event that dominated the discussion in the meeting was the forthcoming International Conference “Shakespeare’s Ashes” scheduled on Oct 21-22 ,2016 in New Delhi. SSI President Jonathan Gil presented a detailed account of the proposed programme and informed the members about the eminent persons from academic and cultural fields who are expected to augment the joy and significance of the Conference. (Here it is pertinent to inform the members that Professor Stephen Greenblatt, who had agreed to address the Plenary session and he, as well as we, were looking forward to his presence in the Conference, had to withdraw for some health problem. While we regret his inability to make it , Shakespeare has been gracious enough to send another of his die-hard scholars to bless the Conference with vigour and vitality). The new messenger is Michael Neill Professor at University of Kent. Professor Neill, the author of Shakespeare and Death– Issues of Death (OUP, 1997), is also an ‘expert on Shakespeare’s global lives’ and starred as Lear in a ‘much-acclaimed production’, thus presenting a fine blend of academic and the theatrical which,in Gil’s words ‘bridges the two in a way that is perfect for our Conference.’ It was also decided that the academic aspect of the Conference will be divided into six seminars which will be headed by seminar leaders who will invite short presentations of about ten minutes, which will be precirculated to all the delegates to the Conference. A clear outline of the concept enshrined in each seminar by Professor Supriya Chaudhuri is enclosed.

Another important decision that was taken in the AGM was about the production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth by SSI. Professor R.W. Desai was entrusted with the directorial and production responsibility. The Society also deemed it proper to leave the nature of production i.e., full play/ part/ some eminent scenes from the play, to the judgment of Professor Desai. Professor Desai expressed his pleasure in accepting the responsibility. Further guidelines in this matter are to be issued after mutual discussion.

Members were also informed about Celebration of the Shakespeare Day by British Council Division New Delhi, full-day festival titled ‘Shakespeare Lives in 2016’ loaded with exciting array of events and activities. The event comprised Shakespeare Book Exhibition, Inter-School Quiz , curated workshop and the mega event “All the World’s Stage”, that included cultural programmes curated by Ashoka University students, ‘Shakespeare Shorts’ unfolding four presentations of about 20 minutes each from Shakespeare’s plays. The third part of the ‘Stage’ programme was defined as ‘Shakeslam’ Re-imagining Shakespeare in Poetry. Another delightful feature of the ‘stage’ was a lecture-cum-demonstration on “Shakespeare and Bollywood” by SSI President Jonathan Gil Harris. The Lecture cum demonstration was as interesting as it was informative Gil’s ample display of his histrionic talent adding a delightful flavour to the show.

The presentations on the ‘Stage’ were followed by screening of Hamlet and a colorful presentation of As You Like It by Joss Bastards. From 10 a.m to 10 p.m , the entire day was packed with fun and learning, the joyful wisdom that emanates from the works of Shakespeare. The programme was well-attended by students, scholars and general public. It was a packed auditorium all the time befitting the beauty and significance of the Bard who is adored the world over. The arrangements by the British Council elicited appreciation by one and all. It may be appropriate to state that our collaboration with the British Council was more of an informal nature. Letting good things happen and contributing one’s mite is the privilege that great literature endows us with.

All the members were requested to send the details of their recent academic accomplishments pertaining to Shakespeare: participation, presentation, publication, performance, awards and honours. Only a few were generous enough to share their experiences. Members are still welcome to send their details which can now be incorporated in the SSI blog: https://shakespearesocietyofindia.wordpress.com. The meeting came to an end with a word of welcome to the new members and a vote of thanks to the Chair. After AGM, a well organized lunch was served in Room 56 of the Arts Faculty. Everyone was satisfied with the quality and the service.

AGM happened, AGMs will happen, and the revels of Shakespeare will continue forever!

Vikram Chopra
Secretary

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MINUTES OF THE GENERAL BODY MEETING HELD ON
2 May 2015

The Annual General Body Meeting of the Shakespeare Society of India was held at St. Stephen’s College (Room 11A) at 11.30 AM on 2nd May 2015 with Ms Harriet Raghunathan as Chair. In response to a point of order raised by a member, it was reported that the President of the Society, professor Gil Harris had suddenly taken ill and could not attend the meeting. Since the Vice-President Professor Supriya Choudhuri also was unable to attend the meeting as she was abroad, the President had nominated Ms Raghunathan to chair the AGM and the Executive Committee had approved the nomination.

The meeting began with a note of welcome by the Chair Harriet Raghunathan. The Secretary presented an account of the last year’s General Body Meeting held at ILLL on 23rd April 2014. A brief description of the accomplishments and good performance of the last Executive was presented with an assertion of the new team’s commitment to continue and enrich the legacy of the good work done by the previous Executives.

The Secretary in his report gave a brief description of the three major activities undertaken by the SSI during the year: 1) The National Drama Competition; 2) The National Seminar on Shakespeare and the Street; 3) the National Seminar on Shakespeare and Popular Culture organized in collaboration with Literophile, a body of young research scholars, and Lit Luminous, the literary society of Kamla Nehru College.

A brief conceptual note on the proposed International Seminar on ‘Shakespeare’s Ashes’ in October 2016 was also presented. The President also informed the Executive and the members that Stephen Greenblatt the noted scholar from Harvard and the renowned Shakespeare Director Tim Supple had already confirmed their participation in the Seminar. Some slides from the Drama Competition and the Seminar were shown illustrating reports of these events. Anavisha Banerjee, the Treasurer of the SSI, then presented the Budget, the highlights of which were also displayed through the slides. Jobin Thomas managed the projection of the slides with consummate professionalism.

All the members were requested to send the details of their recent accomplishments in performance/publication on Shakespeare. The few who sent their details were duly reported. Others who did not send can send them still to be included in the more elaborate reporting in the SSI Bulletin.

On the issue of publications of the Shakespeare Society arising out of the Seminars organized by the SSI, Professor Rajiva Verma raised the question of the book Shakespeare and Class, which had arisen out of an SSI seminar in 2003 yet had been published with no mention of the SSI at all. The Chair pointed out that according to the agreement for the book signed by the President of the Society on behalf of the Society, due royalty will be paid to the Society. On the matter of acknowledgment to the Society, it was reported that the President had already written to Professor Shormishtha Panja, the editor of the volume, on this matter. The omission of the SSI’s name was indeed regrettable and in future all publications arising from SSI seminars should mention the SSI origin of the book prominently. Members also felt that in future the Executive Committee should not, except under exceptional circumstances, appoint a person to edit more than one publication. An attempt should also be made to involve younger scholars in these projects as editors or co-editors. In this context H. Raghunathan informed members that there had been some preliminary discussion on the possibility of publishing the papers from “Shakespeare and the Street” but nothing has been firmly settled yet.

In view of the overwhelming response to the Drama Competition because of which this year’s Competition had to be managed on two days, it was deemed appropriate that SSI should hold a preliminary screening of the proposed presentations (perhaps via video clips) so that the number of presentations could be restricted to a manageable range of ten to twelve. Dr. Vinod Bala Sharma made a strong plea for preservation of the integrity of Shakespeare?s text to guard against various translation/adaptations which sometimes run wild into meaningless variations. On the other hand , Jobin Thomas, Shashi Khurana, Nidhi Pradhan and Kalyani Rajan, though they acknowledged the value of the original text, also argued against the attitude of exclusivity and expressed their appreciation for the vibrancy of regional culture which was visible in these adaptations. The counter argument was that it was hard as well as unfair to judge these variations alongside traditional presentations. Alternately, it was felt that there could be a separate category or section of the competition for adaptations/translations. It was also suggested that there should be a separate event of competition for schools. In fact, it was pointed out that the first drama competition that the Society had organized was an Inter-School Drama Competition on Scenes from Shakespeare. Held in the Army Public School,with support from the British Council, this event was by all accounts a grand success and the winning team was given a rolling trophy.

Venues for staging the event: It was felt that the Society should take some cost effective measures. SSI should try the likes of Army Public School, India Habitat Centre, India International Centre and the Academy of Literature and Fine Arts (near Siri Fort). The SSI could also write a letter to DU deploring the high charges for University auditoria even for simple cultural and academic friendly events like the SSI Drama Competition, especially as it was not confined to members of the Society but open to all colleges of the University and to other universities as well.

The Secretary then welcomed the new members and reiterated his appeal to all for an earnest and more active involvement in the activities of the SSI. Members were also invited to send their articles/reviews/observations on Shakespeare related publications/studies/performances, for the SSI Bulletin.

Other suggestions included regular play reading sessions to be held at different colleges. Some short time theater workshops and one full-length theatre workshop with students for the production of a full-fledged Shakespeare play. Study sessions on publications of recent books and articles on Shakespeare and also on a particular theme like Shakespeare?s Tragedies/Comedies/ Greek Plays etc.

Regarding the National & International Seminars to be organized by the SSI, the members felt that they should be involved in deciding topics for the seminars. Even the formation of the panels for the seminars should not be left only to the Executive; other members should also be encouraged to share organizational responsibilities. The idea should to ensure maximum involvement of members at all possible levels.

Another significant suggestion at the AGM was about the establishment of Shakespeare Institute. To establish such an Institute is among the prime objectives of the Shakespeare Society. The Institute is meant to make provisions for an auditorium as well as open air performances. There is also to be a library on World Theatre and a few rooms to serve as “artists’ home” for visiting scholars and theater persons. The activities of the Institute are not to be confined to Shakespeare but are to be open to theater of all traditions, values and visions, Indian as well as Global.

Last but not least the item was video screening of St. Stephen’s production of The Tempest which they had presented at the National Drama Competition. In the presentation Choreographed dance and music evoke the strange setting of the island and frame the speeches of Miranda and Caliban. The screening was followed by an interesting and illuminating discussion on the dramatic content and intellectual conceivement of the production. N.P. Ashley the director of the play shared some very interesting and rewarding anecdotes and experiences of producing the play.

A well organized lunch hosted by the Society and artfully arranged by St. Stephen’s was served to the satisfaction and pleasure of the members. The meeting ended will a vote of thanks to the Chair.

Meetings end, revels continue – forever in the realms of Shakespeare.

Vikram Chopra
Secretary

MINUTES OF THE GENERAL BODY MEETING HELD ON
23 APRIL 2014

A meeting of the general body of SSI was held on 23 April 2014 at 2:30 pm in the Committee Room, Institute of Life Long Learning, University of Delhi. Twenty five members attended the meeting.

1. The meeting began with a welcome by the President, Prof. Shormishtha Panja, followed by a brief AV presentation by her recounting the activities of the Society in the last two terms under the outgoing Executive Committee. She particularly referred to the two new initiatives of the team, the blog cum website and the annual intercollegiate drama competitions, besides the national and international seminars during this period. Prof. Panja thanked all Executive members as well as all SSI members for their support.Shakespeare Society of India marchb2014-1

2. The report for the year 2013-14 was presented by the Secretary, Dr. Nita N Kumar, who thanked all SSI members for their support to the outgoing EC.

3. The budget for the year 2013-14 was presented by the Treasurer, Ms. Nivedita Basu.

4. Dr. Poonam Trivedi’s mail with regard to the election procedure of the SSI was put up by the Secretary and it was decided that the mail would be forwarded to the incoming EC for due consideration. It was pointed out by the members that her reference to SSI members being “excluded” from the voting process was inaccurate since all members are informed a month in advance of elections.

5. The President invited the Election Officer, Prof. R. W. Desai to conduct the elections.

6. The Election Officer informed the members that six nominations were received by him in sealed envelopes, which he proceeded to open in front of the members.

The list of nominations is as below:

1. President: Prof. Jonathan Gil Harris
2. Vice President: Prof. Supriya Chaudhuri
3. Secretary: Dr. Vikram Chopra
4. Treasurer: Ms. Anavisha Banerjee
5. Executive Member: Dr. Harriet Raghunathan
6. Executive Member: Dr. Shashi Khurana

The Election Officer reported that all nominations were in order and all candidates were elected unopposed.

7. The entire set of documents pertaining to the period of 23 April 2011 till date was handed over to the incoming Secretary, Dr. Vikram Chopra by the outgoing Secretary, Dr. Nita N Kumar. The President, Prof. Shormishtha Panja, announced that she would hand over the documents in her possession to the incoming President.

8. The business part of the meeting having concluded, the members were treated to a video of a performance by the students of Jesus and Mary College of a scene from Twelfth Night entitled “The Gulling of Malvolio.” The students had performed this scene at the SSI Intercollegiate Drama Competition held on 5 February 2014. This was followed by a live performance by the Lady Shri Ram College team that had won the best team trophy at the drama competition. The student performances were planned as a special tribute to the 450th year of Shakespeare’s birth.

9. The meeting came to an end with the President thanking all the members and inviting them to a repast.

  

Minutes of the General Body Meeting held on 23 April 2013

A General Body Meeting of the SSI was held on 23 April 2013 in the Committee Room, ILLL, University of Delhi at 3 pm. 17 Members attended the meeting.

The following business was conducted at the meeting:

1. The meeting began with a welcome by the President, Prof. Shormishtha Panja. She pointed out that the present team was now entering into the last year of its tenure and noted with satisfaction that the past year was a very productive one with an Annual Intercollegiate Drama Competition, the third in the series, and an International Seminar.
2. The meeting was adjourned briefly and reconvened after five minutes because of the lack of quorum as pointed out by the Vice-President.
3. The report for the year 2012-13 was presented by the Secretary, Dr. Nita N. Kumar.
4. The Treasurer, Ms Nivedita Basu, presented the audited accounts of the Society for the financial year 2012-13. The General Body approved the accounts.
5. The Meeting came to an end with the President thanking all members.
6. After a break, during which refreshments were served, Professor Tillottama Daswani gave a talk on “Marathi Translations of Shakespeare.” Prof Daswani delivered a very lively talk and such was her familiarity with the theme that she spoke extempore, interspersing the talk with reminiscences about her professors at the University of Bombay who were also renowned translators of Shakespeare. She spoke about a wide range of issues: how the translators struggled with finding the Marathi equivalent of different registers of speech in Shakespeare, such as the working class speech; how the plays were occasionally sanitized in their translation; new types of versification that had to be created for Shakespeare in Marathi; the part played by music; about men playing female roles (eg. Bal Gandharva) that was similar to the stage practice in Shakespeare’s time; the use of Shakespeare for political protest which would otherwise not have escaped censorship. Interesting bits of historical details added further interest to her lecture, such as the fact that Shriram Lagoo suffered a heart attack on stage while playing Lear, and this was to be his last appearance on stage. The talk was greatly appreciated and was followed by a lively discussion.

 

Minutes of the General Body Meeting held on 23 April 2012

A General Body Meeting of the SSI was held on 23 April 2012 at 2:30 pm in Room No 56, Arts Faculty, University of Delhi.

The following business was conducted at the meeting:

1. The meeting began with a welcome by the President, Prof. Shormishtha Panja.
2. The report for the year 2011-12 was read out by the Secretary, Dr. Nita N. Kumar.
3. The budget for the year 2011-12 was presented by the Treasurer, Ms. Nivedita Basu.
4. It was decided that only Rs. 30,000 would be kept in the Savings Account and the rest of the money would be put in Fixed Deposits.
5. The members were requested to give suggestions for activities during the year. The suggestions included play-reading sessions and a picnic.
6. The members appreciated the Drama competition organized by the society and offered a few ideas to make it better. Among the suggestions were the following: 1) that the winning team be given a small cash prize, 2) that the judges be requested to distribute the prizes widely amongst the participants, and to ensure this, formal guidelines be given to the judges, 3) that more categories be created for prizes, and 4) that the quality of the certificates be improved.
7. Dr. Poonam Trivedi was requested to deliver the annual lecture. The subject of her talk was “Singing to Shakespeare: Songs of Omkara.”
8. Refreshments were served and the meeting came to an end with the President thanking the members.

GBM 2011

Following are some of the highlights of the General Body Meeting held on 23 April 2011:

Elections to all the positions in the Executive Committee:

Prof R. W. Desai was the Election Officer. The following were elected unopposed:

President: Prof Shormishtha Panja

Vice President:  Prof. Rajiva Verma

Secretary: Dr. Nita N. Kumar

Treasurer: Ms. Nivedita Basu

Executive Committee Members:  Dr. Vikram Chopra, Ms. Davinder Mohini Ahuja and Dr. Vandana Agrawal

The term of office of the Executive Committee is three years.

A highlight of the General Body meeting was the unveiling of this blog-cum-website. Since this site is primarily a blog, we hope and expect that members would post their comments, information, and queries freely.  At the end of every page, you would find a Leave a Reply space. We plan to update the site regularly with information about and reports on our activities.

Decisions taken:

1. The Membership Fee was raised to Rs. 2000/- (Life Membership)
2. It was decided that email would become the only means of communication with the members of the society. The method of sending information about GBMs by surface mail would soon be discontinued as it is very cumbersome and expensive. We are doing our best to update the email ids of all our members. We will soon be posting a list of members whose emails ids are not available with us. We request all members to please check that list and help us with information. However, it was also decided that if members wish to receive information by surface mail, they would have to send in a request with their updated postal address.
3. It was decided that Prof. Stuart Sillars of the University of Bergen would be inducted into the Advisory Board.

                       

The Shakespeare Society of India

Report of the AGM held on Saturday, 28 November, 2020

                The 33^rd Annual General Body Meeting (AGM) was held on Saturday 28 Nov, 20. It was a virtual meeting on Zoom hosted by the outgoing Treasurer Dr. Payal Nagpal. The meeting was chaired by the President Professor Rajiva Verma. As the meeting was not quorate, it was adjourned for a few minutes and then restarted.

                The following members took part in the meeting.  Dr. Nagpal took a screen shot of those who were attending. Prof. Rupin Desai joined the meeting briefly via phone to convey his appreciation for the outgoing team and best wishes and welcome to the incoming President and the new office-bearers.

Rajiva Verma

Vikram Chopra

Supriya Chaudhuri

Harriet Raghunathan

Jobin Thomas

Nita Kumar

Poonam Trivedi

Malashri  Lal

Subhojit Sen Gupta

Satish Aikant

Kalyanee Rajan

Nidhi Sharma

Shashi Khurana

Yogesh K Dubey

V.K.Singh

Baran Farooqi

Nandini Sen

Rita Banerjee

Vandana Agrawal 

Vandita Gautam

Ritu Saluja

Meera Verma

Ajanta Dutt

Sanjib K Baishya 

Payal Nagpal 

                The President expressed words of welcome to everyone in the meeting. After the welcome the President announced the names of the members who had  “shuffled off” their “mortal coil” during the year. A respectful homage was paid in the sacred memory of these members who had made a valuable contribution not only to the Shakespeare Society but also to society in general : Professor G.K. Das, Mrs. Lola Chatterjee, Mr K.G. Verma,  Dr Dhanesh Jain and Dr N.K. Jain. Obituaries pertaining to Prof. Das, Lola Chatterjee and   K.G. Verma had already been circulated. The main qualities and distinctions of Dr. Dhanesh Jain and  Dr. N.K. Jain were mentioned in the Secretary’s Report.

                The President then announced the names of 15 new Life-Members and 7 student members and extended a warm welcome to them. The names of these members and their institutional affiliations are included in  the Secretary’s Report.

1. Minutes of the  AGM 2019

                The chair pointed out that the Minutes of the last AGM held on 23 April 2019 had been circulated shortly after the meeting and no one had submitted any comment or objection.   The house approved the minutes.

2. Secretary’s Report

     a. General

                Vikram Chopra had circulated the report to all members previously. He briefly summarized the events that had been planned but could not be held because of some unavoidable circumstances and also due to the pandemic.

                The report also contained the details of presentations, publications, awards  and  honours, of the members who had sent their details.  A request was made to all members to send their details which could again be circulated to members.

     b. Shakespeare Centre/Institute

                The President reported that Dr Vikram Chopra had presented to the Executive Committee the recommendations of the Committee constituted by the AGM in 2019 to explore ways of expanding the activities of the Society and establishing a Shakespeare Institute/Centre.   The President  acknowledged and reiterated  the fact that the setting up of  a Shakespeare Centre  is a pledged and important part of the aims and objects specified in the SSI constitution. He informed the members that  the dedicated committee  had met several times and had put in  much effort and serious thought working  out  the outline of the scope of this centre  and how it would function. He, however, pointed out that instead of one consolidated recommendation,  the Committee had submitted  three separate  proposals  by  three of its members, R.W. Desai, Nataranjan Bohidar and Vikram Chopra. The Secretary then expanded on the plan for the establishment of  a Shakespeare Centre.

                The President suggested that   since such an important  matter  required  wider consultation and serious and careful  consideration, it would be appropriate to send all the three proposals to all members of the Society for their views and comments. The new Executive could then take a broad-based decision in this regard in a specially convened General Body Meeting. The three proposals have already been sent to members as part of the Secretary’s Report. All members of the  Society were  requested to examine these proposals and send their comments and suggestions to the Executive Committee soon.

3. Treasurer’s Report

                The Treasurer Dr. Payal Nagpal then presented her report and explained that the lack of activities during the pandemic had somewhat impacted  the Society’s income, which depends largely on membership fees and the membership in turn increases as people join at Society’s events. She also pointed out the kind of headings under which our income & expenditure falls, for the benefit of the incoming Treasurer. The report was duly approved and adopted .

4. Drama Report

                The President expressed  happiness that we had been able to hold the event which is one of the successes of the Society, in which we see drama teams going from strength to strength with lively and original performances.

                Harriet Raghunathan, the Drama Coordinator, presented a brief account of the competition held in Feb, 19 at I.P. College, Delhi University, The report prepared by her had already been circulated along with the first notice of the AGM and  also  as part of the Secretary’s Report so that  members could have the  pleasure of reading it.

Harriet Raghunathan showed some slides with the technical assistance of Jobin Thomas, and gave brief comments on the event. In  particular  she expressed the  Society’s gratitude for the kindness and support shown by Indraprastha College in letting us use their auditorium and in donating two trophies, one for the most original concept and the other for the best play in Shakespeare’s original language.

5. Any other Matter

  a.  Archive

Members showed keen interest in expanding the activities of the Society and gave several suggestions. Professor Supriya  Chaudhuri suggested there should be some way of archiving the drama performances with play synopses etc., as it would help researches in the future. Video-recording of the plays or some parts of the plays may also be done, and the photographs should be uploaded  on  the blog/website of the Society. The idea of the archive was well supported by Dr. Poonam Trivedi and Dr. Nandini Sen , who argued  for even wider coverage of other Shakespeare related performances.  Almost everyone seemed to agree on the importance of the archives. Harriet Raghunathan  pointed out that she had the last six years’ drama reports including all synopses, list of  prize-winners and team details and either she and Jobin Thomas had many photographs too. Rajiva  Verma informed the house  that copies of all the earlier printed annual  bulletins of the Society from 1988 onwards were in the process of being uploaded on the blog and a sample of them was shown at the meeting.

  b. Inter-School Drama Competition

                The idea of  an Inter-School Drama Competition was presented. Though some members were somewhat skeptical about the level of school performances, there was an overwhelming support for the idea. Poonam Trivedi, Nandini Sen, Kalyanee Rajan and Vikram Chopra lauded the idea which also received support from other members as they gave evidence of sterling performances by some schools. Rajiva  Verma also mentioned  a highly successful Inter-School Drama Competition that was organized by SSI with the collaboration of the British Council many years ago.  The desirability of reviving the competition was agreed to by one and all. It was however made clear that  the School Drama Competition would be separate from the Inter-Collegiate one, in  which post graduate students should also be allowed to participate.

    c. Blog/Website

                While acknowledging  the good work that had been done in  preserving  the records of the Society such as reports, AGM minutes, and annual bulletins on the Society’s  blog, some members suggested that the Society should have its own website.  The Blog was being handled by Jobin Thomas who also gave a valuable suggestion that the Society should have a dedicated communication coordinator who had all the expertise to handle social media and manage publicity. The importance of the post becomes obvious in view of the increasing range of activities envisaged by members and the new Executive. Kalyanee Rajan suggested consolidating the mailing list of SSI members into a google group for better communication. She also pointed out that a Zoom meeting allows attendance to be recorded via screen shot, and comments can be saved into a file. As we get used to it, online meetings in the  future AGM’s might increase countrywide ( and even  global) participation in AGMs and other SSI events.                                                                                                  

  d.  Zonal Secretaries

                With a view to extending the area of SSI activities, and stimulating  greater interest among members from different parts of India, Vikram Chopra proposed the creation of posts of zonal secretaries. It was suggested that these zonal secretaries could  organize activities at the zonal  levels and that the Executive Committee in  turn  could  help the zonal secretaries  host seminars/conferences at national and international levels at the zonal centres. While the idea was generally appreciated, Jobin Thomas  pointed out that the  formal creation of these posts would require a provision to be made in the SSI Constitution. Until such a provision was made, zonal secretaries could only be part of a purely informal arrangement. 

 6.   Elections

                After the above discussions,  Professor Verma requested Dr. Nita Kumar, the Returning Officer,  to announce the results of the elections. Dr. Kumar pointed out that she had received only a single nomination for each post and all the nominations were found in order. She  therefore announced that the following were elected unopposed  for the posts  of office bearers and members of the Executive Committee  as  given below:

1. President                                    :               Dr. Vikram Chopra
2. Vice-President                          :               Dr. Yogesh Dubey
3. Secretary                                     :               Professor Baran Farooqi
4. Treasurer                                    :               Dr. Vinod Kumar Singh
5. Members Executive

1              :    Dr. Rita Banerji

2.            :    Dr. Shashi Khurana

3.            :    Dr. Nandini Sen

The President then thanked Dr. Nita Kumar  and on behalf of the Executive Committee expressed his deep appreciation of the way in which she had discharged  her responsibilities as Returning Officer with perfect accuracy and remarkable efficiency.

                The President  also congratulated all the elected members and   wished the new team   all success  in its plans and actions. All the members present  in the meeting also congratulated Dr Vikram Chopra and the other elected members.

                The President then invited the new President to share his views. Dr. Chopra expressed his deep appreciation for all the commendable work done by the previous teams with a special word for the outgoing members of the Executive.

                He also assured the members that the New Team will work with most earnest intentions and make every effort to present Shakespeare for the enjoyment and delight of the ‘widest commonalty’. The meeting came to an end with a vote of thanks and appreciation to the Chair and to the members.

                The entire meeting was thus conducted in a most pleasant academic ambience.

Vikram Chopra

Secretary

till November 28, 2020