July 19, 2013

And so, much like everything else in India, we have now eventually landed up the FYUP! And instead of grumbling over what has been done, the ones who have slogged their way into DU need to focus on the brighter side now. First of all, you made it. Congratulations. That’s bright enough! Second of all, Delhi University is going to be everything you imagined. Okay not everything, but it’s going to be nothing less than four maddening, crazy and heartening years for you! But before you stop reading and start texting with anticipation and excitement, let us (your humble seniors) clear some of your misconceptions.

What to look out for:

Foundation Courses (For your Mind, Body and Soul- no I am not kidding): So for all those who don’t have an “integrated mind, body and heart”… DU comes to the rescue. DU will make sure your creativity (which is a congenial trait), life skills, language etc. are all taken care of. Yes, all this so that you become more ‘employable’. Ahem.
Jam Packed Social Calendar: Of the many things students will need to sacrifice this year, their social life is not one of them. With the new found freedom, the newbies can now go have a ball with their new found friends!
Better societies and awesomer fests: As ECA and sports activities are synonymous with marks now, fests and societies will get a boost and improve drastically. With the fucchas working even harder to prove their mettle, it’s safe to expect each college putting up a grand show!
College protests: As the hand of the ABVP and NSUI still looms large over DU, most freshers will be witness to their spectacularly conducted and overly dramatized protests. With political connections, there students will definitely try to bring the house down.

Busting Some Myths:

Ragging: Contrary to the common belief of – ‘Tu kyu kar rha hai? Fucche se karwa lenge!’ DU isn’t exactly a frame out of 3 idiots and you will definitely not have to perform crazy stunts or walk around pretending to be James Bond just because a senior told you to do so. With strict anti-ragging laws, your worst nightmare should be cranky teachers and definitely not your seniors!
The Ladies/ The Studs: For all those who stayed single to find their soul mates in DU, you’ll be waiting some more time. Contrary to popular beliefs, the girl’s colleges are not a pond of budding super models. And not all boys look like they were ripped off magazine covers. They too are humans, give them some credit for looking perfectly human and not like porcelain dolls.
Equality Among Colleges: Okay so you’ve probably been expecting this all the way, but suddenly your best friend from the other college will become ‘them’ and your newly found united college buddies will be ‘us’.
Completely Fudged up Timelines: If you had been cursing your friends, family, associates etc. for not being punctual all this time, you are about to experience a whole new level of procrastination. The University declares results exactly a month after its due date, if you’re lucky. Be glad that’s the only thing the university does. And if you have any other issues to sought with the administrative department, then god save you!

By Raghav Chopra ([email protected]) and Akriti Gupta ([email protected])

Keep Reading

Cluster Innovation Centre (CIC), University of Delhi conducted a Webinar on the 12^th of July with the objective of fostering further knowledge about the admission process for 2013 and enlightening students interested in pursuing courses at CIC.

In what seemed like an interesting panel, there were second year CIC students interested in a wide array of subjects. They were accompanied by an equally skilled and distinguished bunch of faculty members, all engaged in an engrossing discussion which was seeking to answer the various questions posed and addressing the innumerable doubts at the same time. Amongst those joining the discussion were Professor Madan Chaturvedi, Director CIC , Dr Shobha Bagai and Dr Sanjiv Singh. On the other hand, students hailing from different interests such as Economics, Mathematics, Physics and IT were seen putting forth and asserting themselves passionately.

The genesis of the entire concept of having an Innovation Centre could be traced back to July 2011 under the supervision of the Vice Chancellor. The essence of this change stemmed from the need to evaluate the relevance of the present education system and for it to be reformed. In what ensued, it was made amply clear in the discussion that the Cluster Innovation centre and the programmes offered by it sought to mark a departure from the conventional methods of learning, impart a problem solving approach which is realistic and can help students to execute what they learn in the confines of their classrooms practically.

As the discussion progressed, multitude of dimensions to what makes courses like the B.Tech/ B.S. in Innovation in Computer Science and Mathematics offered by the centre relevant and different from the rest, could be seen. The student based interaction was equally informative with some of them sharing their internship experiences and the opportunity to explore a combination of subjects under one course. For a lot of us, who are unsure of our areas of interest and what we may want to pursue in future, this seemed like an opportunity which allows you to weigh your career options.

A lot of things stood out from the discussion. Firstly, what the Centre offers you is a Unique Curriculum. Possibly one not found in a lot of technological institutes, owing to the number of subjects one could pursue at a given point in time. Secondly, the teaching imparted is extremely different and what they have is an “engineering kitchen” which includes state of the art electronics, computer science and electronic fabrication. And finally, the kind of exposure and the linkages built with real world seem to be fascinating. Over 50% weightage is given to semester long projects and interning opportunities are available to students in their first year itself , with the biggies like the Indian Institute of Technology, Indian Institute of Management and Defence Research and Development Organisation.

A small interaction with Sahil Mathur, who conducted the Webinar session, proved to be quite insightful. The objective of such a session was to reach out to a larger audience and engage as many as 400 students. Besides this being a success, Sahil told us about the unique course structure, the facilities like the laboratories equipped with different technologies available to students and an immensely dedicated faculty working to strive for excellence of their students. The organisers have also summed up the various key points discussed during the session in the form of a PDF for easier dissemination.

The endeavour definitely seems to be a positive one with the colleges of Delhi University experimenting and broadening their scope, both in the technological areas and in terms of exploring new ways of imparting information.

Here is the entire video of the webinar: