Special Notes to My Seniors

This winter seem chillier and the silence more profound, the birds do not venture out of their nest and the choric chirping is no more heard around. All the Josephites wear a long gloomy face. Is it because it’s the season of farewell and goodbyes? Or is it because the older birds are going to leave their Nest and venture into the woods?

We the Josephites are being shaped and molded in the nest of St Joseph’s College, Jakhama. As we the young fledglings are being formed intellectually, emotionally and socially, the Third Year Friends are shining with multi colours ready to fly out of their nest. You have sufficiently been nurtured with potentials; your competence to excel, your creativity to serve and your imagination to be productive in future life cannot hold you back in this beautiful nest. You have no choice but to happily spread out your wings in glory.

        

          The other day I was in the college’s canteen during the lunch break, two of my senior friends were discussing about their future visions what they would do. One said, “I will bring at least some changes in my village by helping the youth who are victims of modernization.” And the other said, “I will do MSW first and later I’ll work against violence and killing in Naga Society.”

We are indeed very much touched by your cooperation, encouragement, motivation and friendship during your studies at St Joseph’s. We are indebted to all your contributions- both in academic and in co-curricular activities. Your footprints are visible. They will become an indelible mark in the depth of our hearts, reminding us of your sheer hard work and perseverance.

We the Josephites in general and the juniors in particular have bid farewell to your affluent hands. You have bloomed before us. Your departure has created vacuum which can be filled only by you ‘visionaries’.

          
         The tender hearts of the juniors are warm and throbbing to bid you adieu and to wish you all success. Once again we wish every good wish that you can wish yourself.

          I touch my heart as the Eastern do

          May the peace of Christ abide with you

          Wherever you go, wherever you are

          May the beautiful palms of Christ grows

          Through days of labour and night of rest

          May the love of Christ make you blest

          I touch my heart as the Eastern do

May the peace of Christ abide with you…

 (To all the friends especially to- so and so…And now, good bye, good luck. May you find happiness and meaning in your life.

                           

Farewell Message

They say meeting is sweet but departure is bitter. This is an axiom which we all have to face sooner or later. Every course has to take its action and so the bell rings for our final year friends to buckle themselves and be ready for the next course of action in their life.

The third years are now ready to embark from the College- their Alma Mater and   stand on their own feet and put into practice the skills, knowledge, and concepts   what they have acquired from the college.   The time has come for them to realize their dreams   and make it into a concrete reality. Therefore, nothing can stop them from this journey to which everyone is destined to. It is in this destiny that one finds self fulfillment and self realization. We pray that they all realize their dreams and reach their destiny.

Indeed we are very much touched by your cooperation, encouragement, motivation and friendship during your stay here at St Joseph’s. We are indebted to all your contributions- whether it is in academic or co-curricular activities. Your footprints are visible. They will become an indelible mark in the depth of our hearts, reminding of your sheer hard work and perseverance.

The Josephites will miss you terribly but we   the students of Sociology Honours will not be able to fill the void that you have created in our hearts. You all have won our hearts.  You have bloomed before us showing us that nothing is impossible for a willing heart and a studious heart.

And so the tender hearts of the juniors   are bidding you adieu and wishing you all success. ‘Seasons may come and seasons may go. Everything withers in due course, you know. But there is one thing that still blooms as fresh as the dew and that is the love and affection we still have for you.’ And now good bye,   good luck. May you find happiness and meaning in your life.

“JOSEPHITES ARISE AND SHINE”

President's Message

We take great pride of our age-old rainbow of cultures and traditions, yet we are caught at the crossroads of the old and the new, tradition and modern. The furious space of globalization with its impact on the modern society and the consequent rise in the expectations of today’s youth, have called for a paradigm shift in the realm of cultures. At the same time, the youth groping in the darkness, have ambiguity if cultures. Taking advantage of this situation a number of social scientists (sociologists) and critics have mushroomed, rising serious questions with regard to the quality of culture. More important in the name of culture and tradition, we create havoc in our society.

The challenge before us at this juncture is not that which the society has thrown up, but rather that we ourselves need to envisage- transforming the age-old culture by extracting the best of it and remoulds it into a new culture. To do this, we the young sociologists who pass through the portal of this institution, could be the primary agent of social change. We need to develop our critical and analytical sociological imagination, well versed with its methodology, approach and theory.

Globalization has redefined the culture for us posing innumerable challenges in every sphere of life in our society. However, we the young sociologists as we enter into the Jubilee Year of the College, hope to face the challenges and stand the test of time, creating a new global culture through assimilation of al hat is good in age-old traditions and cultures, rejecting the ill of it, and redefining culture, giving in a strong source of identity and rootedness in the modern world.

This Magazine is the expression of our vision reflected in the articles presented. As we bring out this issue I express my deep and heartfelt gratitude to the college management, lecturers of the Department, editorial committee and all the contributors fro their precious genuine and sincere expressions.

I wish all of you a happy reading. Young sociologists let us continue and arise and shine, forever keeping in mind our motto, “To Excel and To Serve”!

  

Department of Sociology 

St. Joseph’s College

Are we the Just?

“T do injustice is more disgraceful than to suffer it,” says Plato.

 ‘Justice delayed is a justice denied is a common slogan for the people of India, who are fighting for justice. This is very precise because there are two kinds of people in India. One is the poor or the women who always failed to get justice though they have rights. The other one is the rich or politician practically sure of getting justice though they often are the main culprit.

There are various forms of injustice done to women and the poor. Certainly words are not insufficient to describe such injustice done to women and the poor. However, my soul urges me to express some of the tangible example of these kinds of injustice.

We are today facing many problems of injustice of an unprecedented character and certainly the problems of women and the poor are the upper most at these junctures. If we have to solve them, we must have men and women who have the true spirit of religion. Can you and I be a present Martin Luther, O. Romero etc?

We, the students, are the seeds of society, if the seeds are tainted, how can we expect healthy plants? We are the buds today that will bloom to flowers tomorrow. Today we face too many kinds of injustice done to our sisters and brothers. These forms of injustice were not present in the olden days in our Naga society.

I refuse to believe that there is equality of men and women, of the poor and the rich; I refuse to believe that today’s women and the poor are respect equally, treated justly and support rightly everywhere with love and dignity. How much do you and I witness injustice done to our brothers and sisters general in India and particular in our own Naga society? If so, will you and I fight for justice? But, when…?

Everyone has the right of economic initiative; everyone should make legitimate use of his or her talents to contribute to the abundance that will benefit all and to harvest the just fruits of one’s labour. He should seek to observe regulations issued by legitimate authority for the sake of the common good.

Access to employment and to professions must be open to all without unjust discrimination- men and women, healthy and disable, and natives and immigrants. For its part society should, according to circumstances, help citizens to find works and employments.

A just wages is the legitimate fruit of work. To refuse or withhold it can be a grave injustice. In determining fair equal pay both the needs and the contributions of each person must be taken into account. There should not be any unequal payment between sexes. But in our society, there is unequal payment between men and women. We speak of justice and equal distribution of payment of wages, but where is justice? Is it in our heart and mind, in our society or in the air?

Justice and equality are two sides of the same one coin. They cannot be separated from one another. But these virtues are in the hand of the rich and the politician, who govern the country. Justice for them is in their lips but not in their hearts and souls above all not in action. They are the real culprit of social and economic injustice done in the country. Some of the tangible examples of this kind are many.

Examining the census of male and female population in our college gave a clear census, that  the number of girl students is higher than the number of boy students and the ladies lecturers is more in number than the gent lecturers. Besides that looking at the Naga society, its custom and culture, there is no doubt that there is equality between sexes and lots of freedom are been given to both the sexes. I begin to doubt when I think of justice and equality that we speak about- whether these virtues are prevalent in our own college. You may not agree with me but my heart urges me to ventilate it what I am convinced of… I could say that the seeds of injustice and inequality done to our sisters breed in our own family but they are nurturing even in the college. For the last 25 years, how many girls, so far, have been elected as the president of the college for the last twenty five years? How many girls have been elected as the class representative?