MUMBAI: Indiantelevision.com's scriptwriters' course Qalam was officially flagged off today at production house Siddhant Cinevision's office in Mumbai with an introduction by Nimbus Communications CEO Dr Akash Khurana.

An orientation by Khurana, course coordinator Aditya Seth, and Vinod Ranganath set the tone for the first day of the course. Emphasising the importance of close interaction of students with the coordinators as also within themselves, the faculty managed to create a relaxed atmosphere for preliminary introductions of students and faculty alike.
As quite a few of the students were holding jobs, concerns of convenient timings and schedules were discussed and worked out. The introductions and discussions threw up interesting insights into the backgrounds of those present. The class of Qalam 2003 came across as a diverse mix of people - some with extensive experience in related fields and others fresh from college - each hoping to bring in their own perspectives to the hands-on and interactive learning approach.
The faculty took due care to ask each one of them and assess what each wanted or expected from the course and what they planned to do with the education Qalam would impart them. The coordinators also explained what they as media experts looked for in terms of performance, dedication, and ethical play.
As Khurana aptly put it to the students, "We're sharing our hard-earned knowledge with you and we expect you to respect and learn from what we've accumulated over the years - quite like in the gurukul system."
Looking at the enthusiastic response from the participants, Qalam, the only course that fills the need for trained television and film writers, is on and well on its way.

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Scriptwriters course Qalam 2003 kicks off Saturday