LET'S SAVE WHISTLING WOODS !! : The only international level media and film making institute

Save the Worlds top 10, Asia's largest, India's only full-fledged Film School.
Save Whistling Woods
Save India's Bright Future
Save Education

sign the petition : http://www.change.org/petitions/save-our-future?utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition&utm_term=friends_wall

details of the movement :
Support world-class media education in India! Support the Whistling Woods petition!


This student-driven campaign is important because we are in danger of losing a world class campus with state of the art technology and unparalleled industry opportunities. While I’m sure you have heard about the Whistling Woods matter in the media, here is a brief statement of facts:



1. The MSFCDC a wholly owned government of Maharashtre Undertaking, commonly known as Filmcity, and Mukta Arts came together in a joint venture to set up Whistling Woods International – Institute for Film, Communication, Animation and Media Arts in 2000.
2. Today, Whistling Woods is one of the top 10 film schools in the world and is dutifully bridging the gap in the film & media industry of trained & educated talent. (See full institutional profile & achievements in the following section)
3. The state government filed an affidavit in 2010 in response to a PIL stating that they had not followed proper paperwork in the formation of the joint venture.
4. The courts ordered the joint venture to be cancelled and ordered the land and building to be handed over to the state government.
5. Mukta Arts has invested over 100 crores in good faith and the same should not go to waste.
6. We are hence putting together a petition to take to the President of India to intervene in the matter.

We need support from all those who believe that world-class education should be encouraged in India.


Kindly sign this petition to show your support!

              *************************A student's perspective *************************


*********************by a whistling wood student**********************************


After completing my 10th grade board exams I had to make a choice, like many other students as to
what I wanted to do in life and in which field to make my career in. My parents took me to an education
fair where I was exposed to very many streams of learning. That was the first time I personally came to
know about Whistling Woods International and visited the campus with my parents to learn more about
the courses it offered. I remember us coming back home and discussing it with my grandparents and
every word I spoke, they could make out I was completely awestruck, and awestruck I was!

Within the next few days itself I was damn sure, this is the place where I want to study. Whistling
Woods International, I thought had been custom made to the things I was looking for. It made me put
all my passions of dance, stage-drama, photography, story telling, etc. all together into films. I had
also researched about the Film and Television Institute of India in Pune and the Satyajit Ray Film and
Television Institute in Kolkata but the courses there were all post-graduate courses and I wanted to
start off immediately because I knew by then that I wanted to get into filmmaking. Whistling Woods
International actually saved 3 years of my life which I would have just spent pursuing a degree, because
I could join straight after my 12th grade board exams. I was floored by the equipment they provided
students to work with, and that too hands on. The first time I actually visited the campus, my mother got
tired walking all around the huge campus, I remember her very innocently asking the person showing
us the huge sound mixing console in the Dolby room whether all the buttons on it work or not! On top
of all that Subhash Ghai’s name was associated with the institute and that was an important factor in
convincing my parents to send me to Whistling Woods International.

I still remember how excited I was on the first day we had classes. Students of all age groups from
all over India and the world were together in one classroom learning from the best in the industry.
Through my course in Whistling Woods International it has become like a second home to me. I come
early morning, have breakfast with my classmates and even with teachers at times with talks about
films, we go into our classes and they end around 5pm. We have films screenings in the evenings or
guest interactions with professionals working in the industry. Later we go to the library or work on our
student films, discussing script ideas with our mentors, or having pre-production meetings with the crew,
or editing our films or if nothing else we would go to the student’s lounge and play table tennis and
pool. My mother complaints at times that I only come home to sleep but I can’t help it, Whistling Woods
involves me all throughout the day!



**********************do sign the petition nd encourage others too**************************
P.S : all information and article shared by Shray Jay mishra, a student of Whistling wood.
If you have any queries to ask you can contact him on facebook at : https://www.facebook.com/shrayjaimishra

Reserve that Place for me Please : by - ANGANA SENGUPTA

The day began just like any other, the coffee maker hooted making strange noise proving its existence. I turned up the morning edition of news, to check if any scandal is on that day just like always. Witnessed the poetic irony of Japan I felt sad as well as a little nice, we are finally learning we cannot control things. Japan will be a reminder to entire mankind that we cannot control things beyond a certain level, what ensures is total chaos.  

Just as always, when I was thinking about chaos, a chaos was heard on the stairs. No wonder the torpedo hit me not physically but mentally as he entered my room.   'This is bullshit,' he said, wasting entire energy on a certain word directly crashed in front of me. 'Coffee?' I politely offered him some. 'Didn't you listen?' he asked, not understanding my gesture that I don't care, 'They now are reserving some places for the Jats too.'     'Congratulations,' I replied turning back to my coffee. The aroma was intoxicating. 'This is totally unfair,' he shouted, 'We should get reservation too...'

 

Understanding that the discussion was unavoidable I had to answer him, 'I don't think it is unfair, it is fair to the core. The people are backward, dumb and un-progressed they do need reservation.' 'So do my people... we are also backward, dumb... wait what?' he looked at me, finally realizing the hit, 'How dare you call us dumb?

' 'I am not calling you dumb, you yourself are calling it aren't you?' I asked sipping the coffee. 'No I am not,' he replied, 'All I am saying is I should get reservation otherwise the people in my community cannot study higher education,' he said. 'So in short, people in your community are so dumb they need reserved seats for them in higher studies,' I emphasized my understand. 'Don't you dare speak so about my community, we have doctors and engineers in our community...' he argued. 'Then, you people are forward and do not need a reservation...' he said. 'No...but...' he froze for a moment and I finally saw a silver lining in the distant, finally I can enjoy my coffee, 'But you people tormented us for 2000 years.' 'No we didn't,'

I replied, 'No one tormented you for 2000 years. The people who were tormented are dead and so are the people who tormented them. If we are talking a revenge for the people who lived by, you owe me a hundred thousands.' 'What?' he asked. 'Your great grandfather was my great grand fathers slave as you are saying, he has been absconding since many years from his service. In your own logic if I apply modern laws to ancient things... you are liable to pay me for the services he or his kin missed.' 'You kidding right?' he asked. 'Do I look like I am kidding?' I asked politely waiting for him to remove the cheque book. 'You are a beep beep...' he said loudly and stormed out of the room. I simply took in the deep aroma of the beautiful coffee in my hand.

  Uncertainty is on the rise, as uncertain as I was to choose weather brown band or black band will suit better on maroon dress of mine, he stepped in asking which political side I choose.   'IPL cannot happen without Modi,' he announced without bothering to ask if I am interested in his talk or no. 'IPL is a game right? Who cares about Modi?' I replied, obviously proving my lack of knowledge for the gentlemen game played in the same model as selling gigolos in Chandni Bar. 'You hate him don't you? You hate congress too for what they are doing to the country?' he asked. 'What was the good thing they did in the last few years, apart from maybe bigger, better and sophisticated scams. Not to mention robbing the world on international level?

' 'Kalmadi is not a fraud OK, he is framed. You and your BJP will never understand...' 'But who said I support BJP?' I asked, confused. 'Then who do you support?' he asked, 'I know you do not support the Congress...' 'Why should I support either of the two?' I asked. 'Well... you should have a opinion,' he looked at me. 'In a country of 400 million I get to choose only 2 views? Isn't that a bit sad?' I asked, 'And seriously why do I care who comes in power? It is just by choosing between the two evil I have to do right?' 'No wonder people call you crazy...' he replied, 'We are a democratic country and you should choose one of them.

' 'Lets say for a while, I admire Narendra Modi, does not mean every person he supports or rejects automatically becomes my enemy or friend does it? It is simply like I like vanilla ice cream, which goes in nicely with chocolate sauce, but does that mean I should have chocolate sauce on it?' 'You are a strange person,' you know that, he replied, finally leaving me in peace.   I simply resumed writing my note, which was lying dormant for a while. Simply said, the world is as confused as I am about choosing the brown or black band on the maroon dress.   True story.

*P.S.- This article has been written by 'Angana Sengupta' and has been taken up from the NOTE on our facebook page.

The Great Indian Educational System !

The original and ideal purpose of education was to gain knowledge through study (or study to gain knowledge) and make us better individuals – leaders of tomorrow with a vision, instead it is creating a society of followers rather than change-embracing leaders and the purpose now is to somehow (or rather anyhow) score a +90% and get a job with a six figure salary. Schools and colleges have become more of industries producing manufactured workers rather than dignified institutes of learning. Our system is more of a marks-obsessed and cutthroat competition based system rather than a holistic, skill and talent oriented (noted columnist and satirist Jug Suraiya has termed it as a ‘Marks-ist’ system). Perhaps owing to this, a large no. of parents and most students too care more about getting into IIT’s and IIM’s and building a career abroad rather than being good and responsible human beings and applying their knowledge for the benefit of the society and country, (so much that some parents start sending kids to IIT coaching centres at the age of 9 or 10!!)

      Talent and passion are conveniently ignored by our system, perhaps that’s why unlike in countries like the US , we don’t have teenage bands and college dropouts who open dotcoms as national icons and perhaps that is also why thousands of innocent students  are being trapped in the maddening rat race for IIT’s and IIM’s and what not’s. Neglecting these has led to narrow-mindedness in choosing careers and fields. We are being bred in an environment where only studying engineering, medicine or management can guarantee us successful careers, people who don’t conform to this are scorned and looked down upon by the society. It has always been troubling to see how unjustly the society has discriminated between subjects instead of realizing the importance of each and every subject. For example, arts and humanities which are ideally essential for the development of the society are thrown aside like trash.

  We need to start questioning ourselves and the things going on around us instead of blindly accepting them (Isn’t that the whole essence of science, well sadly the essence of subjects has been lost in the race of scoring marks and proving our worth): What is the purpose of education?  Is it to get a job and make money or to learn from our experience and be better human beings?  Is education about memorizing the right answers or is it about enhancing our physical and mental abilities like creativity and nurturing our talents? Is education about teaching us leading a financially successful life or leading a happy life? Or have we started confusing financial success for happiness? Why is it important to score a 90+ in all subjects rather than fulfilling the basic human ideals of loving one another and taking care of our own planet? 

        When we start answering these questions, only then will we be able to call ourselves educated in the truest sense.                         ---MEHUL SHARMA