Memorabilia 2025-26

The memorabilia 2025-26 was unveiled by the representatives of the alumni association of the Department of English, Dr. Devang Rangani and Dr. Vijay Mangukiya on 12 April 2026 in Annual Day / Alumni Meet event. The Memorabilia 2026 can be downloaded from this link - https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/memorabilia-of-english-department-activities-2025-26-at-mkbu/286972559

• The Photo Album of the event - https://photos.app.goo.gl/tmWDzp8CKh3Nv1Ju8

• Video recording of the event - https://www.youtube.com/live/VnBLODPn1tM 

From the Desk of the Head of the Department . . . 

There are times in history when the ‘present’ refuses to remain merely a passing moment and instead begins to weigh heavily upon our consciousness. We are living in such a time. The world, as it unfolds before us through screens and headlines, appears to be slipping into unsettling patterns—of wars that redraw maps and memories, of narratives that blur the line between truth and propaganda, of identities hardened into rigid certainties. The growing insistence of majoritarian voices, often amplified through art, cinema, and popular media, demands not passive consumption but critical engagement.

In such times, memory is not merely a recollection of the past; it becomes an act of resistance. To remember rightly, to interpret responsibly, and to question courageously—these are not just academic exercises but ethical imperatives. This Memorabilia, like those of the previous years, is not a mere compilation of events. It is, in a sense, a curated memory—selective, shaped, and yet deeply meaningful. It preserves not only what we did, but also hints at how we thought, how we responded, and perhaps, how we resisted.

If earlier I have compared Memorabilia with Kundera’s mathematics of memory or Dumbledore’s Pensieve, this year it appears more like a palimpsest—where layers of experiences are written, erased, and rewritten, yet traces of each inscription remain. Beneath the visible text of activities, achievements, and celebrations, there lies an invisible text of anxieties, questions, and intellectual awakenings.

This academic year, however, was not only intellectually demanding but also physically and administratively exhaustive. The Department remained continuously engaged with the activities of the Cyber Club of MKBU, wherein awareness programmes and competitions such as Reel Making, Poster Making, and similar initiatives were organised to sensitise students about digital frauds, digital well-being, and cyber security. In an age where the digital is no longer optional but inevitable, such engagements were not merely co-curricular add-ons but essential extensions of our academic responsibility.

Alongside this, we successfully organised three major academic events—a week-long National Workshop on Academic Writing, a collaborative National Seminar on Science and Literature, and another National Seminar on Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) and English Studies. Each of these events demanded meticulous planning, coordination, and execution. That they were accomplished successfully is a testimony not only to institutional commitment but, more importantly, to the tireless efforts of our students.

It must be acknowledged that without the active involvement of students—as volunteers, organisers, participants, and learners—such large-scale events would have remained merely on paper. Their willingness to take responsibilities, often beyond their comfort zones, reflects the true spirit of learning by doing. A special note of appreciation must be made for the ICT Committee, which bore a significant share of the burden in managing these events in hybrid mode. Live streaming, recording, troubleshooting technical glitches, and ensuring seamless coordination between physical and virtual spaces is no easy task. Their silent yet significant contribution ensured that the Department remained connected not only within but also beyond geographical boundaries.

It is precisely in such engagements that education transcends the classroom. The lessons learnt here—of teamwork, responsibility, problem-solving, and adaptability—are often more enduring than those learnt through prescribed texts. The Department of English, in its own ways, remains committed to student capacity building. We strive to provide an environment and resources that help students negotiate the madding pressures of contemporary academic life, while also attempting to eliminate the maddening distractions that hinder sustained attention and deep learning. It is only when one learns to balance these two—the noise that surrounds us and the noise within us—that meaningful education begins to take shape.

It is also here that the study of literature, especially of the 20th century, along with critical theories and cultural studies, acquires renewed urgency. When language is manipulated, literature teaches us to listen carefully. When narratives are weaponized, theory equips us to deconstruct them. When history is selectively remembered, the historical sense reminds us of continuity, context, and complexity. The classroom discussions on modernism, postmodernism, postcolonialism, and cultural studies are no longer confined to texts—they spill over into life itself.

One often hears that literature is ‘irrelevant’ in the face of real-world crises. I would argue quite the contrary. It is in such crises that literature becomes most relevant. It sharpens our sensibility, refines our judgement, and most importantly, nurtures a mind that refuses to succumb to simplifications. The educated mind, as I have often reiterated, is not the one that aligns comfortably with power, but the one that questions it—persistently, rationally, and ethically.

Looking at the activities of this academic year, one finds not just participation, but a certain seriousness of purpose. Whether it is in classroom presentations, research engagements, creative expressions, or co-curricular involvements, there is a visible attempt among students to move beyond the superficial. The efforts of various committees, the enthusiasm in organizing and participating in events, and the intellectual engagements reflected in writings compiled here, all point towards a Department that is alive, alert, and responsive.

And yet, as always, there remains a sense of incompleteness. There are always a few who could have participated more, engaged deeper, and challenged themselves further. This incompleteness is not a failure; it is a reminder—that education is an ongoing process, never fully achieved, always in the making.

Amidst all achievements and limitations, what remains most significant is the formation of a certain kind of mind—a mind that is restless, that is unwilling to accept easy answers, that seeks to understand before it chooses to believe. If even a handful of students carry this intellectual restlessness with them as they step out of the Department, the purpose of education, in some measure, stands fulfilled.

As we turn these pages of Memorabilia 2026, let us not merely ‘look back’ but also ‘look within’. For what we remember and how we remember will shape what we become. In many ways, like Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby, we find ourselves “within and without”—simultaneously part of the lived experiences and yet reflective observers of them. It is in this delicate balance between participation and perception that true understanding emerges.

With a sense of continuity and cautious hope, I place this record of our shared academic journey before you.

~ Dilip Barad