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XAVERIAN SOCIOLOGICAL SOCIETY
(young Sociologist)

Pratik Bhakta (Secretary)

Today standing in the 21st century in India we are at the crossroads of many social events that have changed the way we have lived. The emergence of global phenomenon like terrorism, globalization and spread of consumer culture has changed the course of our lives within a very short time period. How much have we been able to adapt to these changes? What effect did these things have on our social bonding? How are the different sections of our multicultural country responding to this global phenomenon? To find probable answers to these questions the Sociology department of St. Xavier’s College has come forward to build up a “civil society”, in the words of Prof. Abhijit Mitra, named XSS (Xavier’s Sociological Society).

The society, which was conceptualized by the present 3rd year students of the department, required a core committee to run smoothly. So its administration was taken over by the HOD of the department Dr. Sweta Ghosh who became its President. Prof. Maitreyi Sanyal became the Vice President followed by Prof Sarbani Bandopadhyay as the treasurer and Dr. Shoma Choudhury- Lahiri and Zaid Al Baset as student coordinators. The student body was represented by 3 members from each year. With eager support and guidance of all the faculty members and hard work of the committee members the society saw the light of day on the 6th of October, 2010. On that day in the presence of the Principal of the college Father Dr.Felix Raj, the Vice Principal of the day department Father Jimmy Keepuram the society held its inaugural seminar with the screening of the movie “Ram Ke Naam”, followed by a detailed analysis of students from all the 3 years of the department. The screening of this movie based on Babri Masjid demolition gained importance because of the context of the Lucknow High Court order on the disputed land. Prof. Sarbani Bandopadhyay introduced the documentary and tried to raise some pertinent issues regarding the same. The whole event was in correlation to our aforesaid intention to look into the way the common man is responding to various social events.

The aim of this society is to build up a platform for healthy debates and discussions and in the true spirit of sociology to “debunk” the “normal” and encourage a more critical bent of mind among the students. Through these efforts if we can spread awareness about social issues and analyse in some way or the other how things can be looked at from different angles then we believe the aim of the society will be achieved. The society plans to hold seminars at least twice a year and arrange “social addas” on a monthly basis. As of now a photography exhibition, a seminar on “love” is on the anvil. The XSS plans to play an important role in the celebrations for the completion of 10 years of the department in Xavier’s.