The evening of 4th January, 2008 had a magical quality about it. The sprawling central lawns of the Sophia campus glittered with soft fairy lights adorning the great old trees. The whole area was beautifully decorated, with round tables, welcoming arches and extensive buffet counters for a lavish spread, not to mention the wonderful background music. It was a cosy set up for over a 100 happy ex-students who enjoyed a sense of bonding with the alma mater.

There were groups of alumnae from HAFT, Social Communications Media, Dress Designing, Travel & Tourism and the Art Departments. All excited and eager to once again be on their familiar campus. They enjoyed catching up with each other and with the staff,  exchanging notes and recalling fond memories of their years at the Sophia Polytechnic. Some of them had invited their spouses to share this experience.  The evening also unfurled some exciting games and there were plenty of spot prizes to be won by all.

Sr. Ramina, Directress of the polytechnic and Chairperson of the Sophia Polytechnic Alumni Association (SPOLAA), welcomed the alumnae and gave them an update of the developments that had taken place in the institute in the recent past. The highlight of the evening was the presentation of The Sophia Achiever’s Award to Dionne Bunsha. Dionne is an ex-student of the Social Communications Media Department – batch of 1995. She was facilitated and given the Sophia trophy for her excellent contribution in the field of journalism. Dionne gave due credit to her department and the institute for inspiring her to achieve all that she has in her professional life.

The evening wound to a close after a sumptuous meal prepared by Parmindar – an ex-student of HAFT. The alumni function was a success thanks to the sustained efforts of the SPOLAA Managing Committee.

We look forward to continued and ever growing interaction with all ex-students and request you to register yourselves as members of SPOLAA.

PROFILE OF DIONNE BUNSHA

Dionne Bunsha received the Sophia Achievers Award for 2007 - 2008 from Sr. Ramina Coutinho – Directress, Sophia Polytechnic on 4th January, 2008 at a glittering function – The Alumni Nite. She was honoured for her excellence and contribution to the field of journalism in India.

After her post-graduation at Sophia Polytechnic she did her M.Sc in Developmental Studies at The London School of Economics. Her journalistic assignments with The Times of India and currently with Frontline magazine have uncovered many a facet of the socio-economic struggles of the people in rural Maharashtra as well as issues relating to children’s rights, human rights violations, communal violence in Gujarat and several other socially alarming issues.

Ms. Bunsha has also written an award winning book on the communal violence in Gujarat – 2002  titled Scarred: Experiments with Violence in Gujarat.

She is the recipient of The Sanskriti Award for Journalism, 2003 - a national award for a journalist who has made a significant contribution to a specific facet of journalism.

In the same year she was also given the PUCL Journalism for Human Rights Award for her articles in Frontline on communal violence in Gujarat. (PUCL) Peoples Union for Civil Liberties is India’s foremost human rights organization. 

Dionne Bunsha is also the recipient of the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards for 2006-2007 for her book on the Communal violence in Gujarat and for Environmental Reporting.