By Charlene Rosario

On the 30th of May, designers Sheldon and Roesia welcomed the students of SYBA, Fashion Communication and Reporting into Karleo Boudoir Studio to give them a glimpse into the realm of all things bridal. Situated in the heart of Panjim, the studio captures the essence of what one envisions for their big day in white. The designers introduced themselves and encouraged their guests to take a look around which would prompt questions. This is where the fair few religious consumers of Say Yes to the Dress would find their moment to shine, the questions ranged from the kind of fabrics used by the team to how body image issues play a big part in wedding dress decisions. 

Sheldon, in response to all the fabric queries, said, “No fabric is difficult to work with.” One just needed to understand how to stitch them, drape and learn them. Saying no to a paying client with a finicky fabric was never going to be an option. He reminisced back on his days of apprenticeship when going to a school of design wasn’t a viable option. However, learning from local tailors and masters had been his saving grace; their technique and skill gave him practical knowledge in the field. Talking about challenges and competition the boutique itself faced, Sheldon explained that they don’t necessarily go up against any other store, they offer a unique set of services with near absolute customisation from silhouette to fabric to lacework with intricate stand out detailing. A testament to the striking quality of each garment, the store was laden with simpler dresses adorned with painted designers while bolder examples were completely sheer with strategically arranged flowers. “Everyone adds their own touch to the garment” Roesia added, speaking to the fact that each boutique had its own share of customers that liked the way they worked; the same applied to Karleo. “We like creating stories, that’s what we do” She continued by saying that similarly, each brand had its own goal when it came to dressing brides.

As the interaction progressed the students were shown different lace samples, “mocks” (silhouettes brides are put in on their first appointment), accessories, sketch samples, and images of previously designed garments. Sheldon went on to break down the process of creating a wedding garment starting with how booking an appointment is advisable for maximum privacy. After a brief digression about how the age of Pinterest wedding mood boards had disrupted the creative process for designers and customers alike, he spoke about how to-be brides are first placed in different mocks. They are then requested to take some time to decide on a shape or a combination of elements from different shapes. When they are happy with their decision, a redesign meeting takes place where other details like lace design and fabric are discussed. Measurements are taken and an estimated cost is worked around their budget. A made to measure mock is then prepared and artwork explaining the embroidery is drawn up and reviewed by the customer. Only then can the actual creation of the garment begin. From sourcing and importing material to sending it to the factory to be sewn, the process is a long one that cannot be rushed. A few months is the bare minimum unless one is buying off the rack.

Sheldon continued to speak about how white dresses were gaining traction in the mainstream Indian diaspora with brides from different religions coming in as customers. At the same time, wedding dresses were becoming less “white” when it came to Catholic Goan families. In Goa, a lot of brides, he mentioned, were becoming very adventurous with their gowns. “They’re fed up with the normal, run-off-the-mill lace.” He stated that the studio loves working with more audacious clientele, those that want to have a statement dress with standout elements. “We’re seeing a lot of colour”, said Roesia. The two designers did clarify, however, that traditional gowns are not going anywhere, there will always be a section of the population that see themselves in floor-length shimmery white ball gowns.

Speaking about the challenges when it comes to bridal wear, Sheldon spoke about clashing opinions between customers and their families, customers and the designers and so on. But these could be worked around. Bringing fewer people to one’s bridal appointment and learning to be a little flexible with one’s ideas would do the trick. Unfortunately, the most pervasive issue faced by designers, the duo explained, was dressing brides with body image issues. The students discussed this at length, posing questions while pondering the deep-rooted societal beliefs that led brides-to-be to think that their body had to fit into the dress rather than that the dress had to fit their body. Roesia mentioned that they’d get a lot of women coming in who wished to be measured at a later date, believing that they should and could go down a dress size in a short period of time. While this problem is not one the designers can often solve, they try to encourage their customers to tailor the dress to their bodies and not the other way around.

After all the questions and discussion had ceased, a few pictures were taken to mark the trip to Karleo. Following a litany of gracious thank you on both ends, the students made their way back home.

By Nandini

The final year students of Mass Communication and Journalism department visited Prudent Media channel on Saturday, 28th May 2022. Around 20 students along with two faculty members, Dinesh Nirawdekar and Anzil Fernandes visited the media house and had an interactive session with the editor Pramod Acharya. Students were informed about the various shows produced by the channel and had a discussion regarding the popularity of the channel among the Goans and other cities like Karwar & Belgaum.

Prudent Media is the number one TV channel for news in English and Konkani which is available across the world in an online medium through Prudent Media App. It is the largest digital platform with the highest reach.  With 16 years of existence and quality content dissemination Pramod takes a pride in telling students that Prudent is the undisputed leader among Goan media.

The best part about the field trip was the interaction between the editor at the prudent media Pramod Acharya and the students. He gave wonderful insights about this field and advised the students to follow their passion. “The world will not tell you to play a helicopter shot. You should play it anyway because you can’t fail at 40, but if you fail at 20 you can recover”, he said.

While Speaking about the struggles in the media field, Pramod Acharya said “We are on a chessboard, the content we create is the king, revenue is the queen; the king is strong as the queen survives. There is a possibility that the king will fall so take care of the queen”.

Students were shown the editing software and a few techniques like chroma key and usage of templates. Later they were shown the newsroom where bulletins are shot using green screen and teleprompter. Prudent Media consists of high-tech equipment, lavish studio, newsroom and PCR where they manage the functioning of the channel. They have qualified staff consisting of three producers, two video editors along with other members in the news and multimedia department.

They use professional cameras like MX53 and Panasonic for outdoor shoots and their PCR consists of multiple screens and a sophisticated vision mixer and vMix software’s for switching. The students were shown the studio which consisted of a long table and a huge LED screen which is controlled with the help of a system.

Students had a good time learning about the technicalities of a media channel. They had the privilege to get a walk through in office, studio, newsroom and PCR etc. with exclusive chance to interact with professional media personnel. Overall, the field trip was a great experience and inspiration to all the members of the field trip.

By Candaline Almeida

The students of St. Xavier’s college went for a field trip at Catch and Carry located in Panjim. The students learned about a new concept of fish selling and were also told that even though it was a new technique, there is not much talk going on in town about the same because they did not really do much PR of the concept yet. The students were then given a challenge to act as PR practitioners and strategically make reels and put up stories. Through this, the students would test their PR skills and also get to test all the things they learned through the subject.

The speciality of this place is that they sell live Chonak fish to the customers. The customers are allowed to select the fish that they want from the tanks and it is then caught, weighed and cut in front of their eyes. The customers can also select from a wide variety of cutting styles that they provide. These include filleting, curry cut, fish finger style, kebab style and can even take the whole fish as it is. This new technique of buying fish is pleasant because unlike the fish you get from the market, these fish do not have any mud or impurities in them making them tastier and cleaner for consumption.

“There are two tanks. The fish are segregated. In one, you will find the fish that is weighing around one kg and slightly more and the other one are all below one kilo” said by Priya Prabhu Verlekar, the founder of Catch and Carry. The fish sell at Rs. 750/ kg and vary from each size.

The fish come from a farm with a lot of technicians that help in the process of keeping the fish healthy and take care of the stress that these fish go through. “There are a total of 24,000 fish present at the farm right now but are of different sizing” says Bhavya, a technician that works at the farm.

The shop opens up at 8 in the morning and closes at 8 in the night. They keep refilling the fish in the shop on alternate days and even have the provision to fill it daily so there is plenty of fresh live fish present at the shop.

As a part of curriculum, in Environmental studies, a field trip was conducted to Biodiversity Park, Mollem by Department of Mass communication & Journalism for F.Y students on 25^th May 2022. Altogether 41 students had participated along with 2 faculties. The bus left from the campus at 8:30 am in the morning and reached at the park at around 10:15 am. The park had varieties of places to explore such as sacred groves, butterfly garden, spice garden, Aushadi Van (garden of medicinal plants), Rashi Van (garden showing plants significant with reference to a person’s astrological sign), Jambha land, check dam and Evergreen forest.

The park is decorated with statues of Wild gaur (State animal of Goa), leopard & deer’s. There was a huge beautiful garden at the entrance of the park which that had ponds and a plant nursery. There were self-explanatory sign boards which made it easier for us to understand and see the entire park. There are several species of trees which are planted and conserved. One of which includes the state tree of Goa locally known as Matti tree or Crocodile bark tree. There were also certain activities like zip liners, tree houses & huts made up of locally available materials, which makes the park an eco-tourist spot. The trip was fruitful experience as along with nature trail and students too got to learn about the rich natural heritage of Goa. The bus reached back on the campus at 2:30 pm.

Cell of Visual Arts organised a field visit to Sunaparanta (Goa centre for the arts) at Althinho, Panjim, Goa for the students of St. Xavier’s College. The field trip was scheduled on 18^th May 2022.

During the visit students witnessed ‘Continuum’, an exhibition as part of the Sunaparanta art initiator lab 2021. While on field trip students got to witness the exhibition put up by Vijay Bhandare, Sidhesh Chari, Pratishtha Chhetri, Teamea Costa, Jodan De Souaza, Asavari Gurav, Onkar Kshirsagar, Impana Kullkarni, Guarang Naik, Pratik Naik, Rajaram Naik, Ashish Phaldesai, Juliettee Ravel Roychowdhury, and Kiran Tamboskar.

Students also took part in a walk through held by the artists explaining the conceptualization behind the art or genesis of the art form. The event ended with 3 performances put up by the artists showcasing their talent like recitation of a poem, classical dance and Bharatnatyam dance. The convenor of The Cell for Visual Arts, Mr, Dinesh Nirawdekar accompanied the students.