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August 5, 2013

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DDUCMUN is usually the first MUN held in the academic session in DU. It is known for its high level of debate and this year was no different. After the success of DDUCMUN 2011 and 2012, the MUN Club of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College worked day and night to organise the 3rd edition of the same.

This time around the conference was held on August 2, 3 and 4 inside the college premises. There were three UN committees i.e. the Eco Soc, Human Rights Council and General Assembly with the agenda of formulating optimal combinations of short term and long term fiscal measures in order to ensure socio-economic growth, the right to humanitarian assistance and self determination in conflict zones and the tension in the Strait of Hormuz respectively. Apart from that an Ad Hoc Committee had been set up and the highlight of the conference was the War Cabinet of Olympus which was based on Greek mythology.

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The event kicked off on the morning of 2nd August with an Opening Ceremony that included lighting of the ceremonial lamp and speeches by Dr SK Garg, the college’s principal, Mrs Nisha Rana the Convener and the Secretary General, Mehr Arneja, who said, ‘Here at DDUC, our endeavour is not only to provide you with a platform to come and showcase your debating skills but also to provide you with an environment for a 360 degree development.’

After that, the delegates made their way to their respective committees to start discussing and debating on the given agendas. Over the three days, the delegates, under the guidance of the Executive Board, put forward their views on the topics at hand, through a structure that mirrored the rules followed at actual UN meets. The participants made their points backed up by thorough research and debated with the other representatives by raising points of inquiry and information. The committee sessions and moderated caucuses continued on all three days with lunch breaks in between.

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In the EcoSoc, the main areas of focus were promoting micro, small and medium sized enterprises, enhancing infrastructure, bringing about tax reforms and short term fiscal policies to ensure economic growth. The Human Rights Council saw delegates discussing hindrances while delivering humanitarian aid, the legal regulation of humanitarian intervention and the role of NGOs in humanitarian assistance. The War Cabinet of Olympus was a particularly active committee with delegates representing Gods and Demi-Gods from the Percy Jackson series like Zeus, Hades, Athena, Annabeth, Percy and Hazel. The discussion was largely based on the growing distrust in the Demi-Gods by the Gods and the looming threat posed by Gaea, Goddess of the Earth. Another interesting point about this committee was that the Chairperson was hidden among the delegates, and his or her identity was to be revealed later.

On the last day, the focus was on brainstorming solutions and resolutions to the issues discussed on the previous days. The event came to a close with the announcing of the results and distribution of prizes like Best Delegate, Honourable Mention and so on. In all, more than 250 delegates participated, a group that comprised both first timers and experienced MUNers. Sahil Grover, Head of Delegate Affairs in the Organising Committee said, ‘DDUCMUN’13 has been an amazing experience. Having participated in and organised several MUNs in the past, this conference, being that of my own college, holds a special place in my heart. Seeing the success of the event has been a source of great happiness for me!’

Delhi University boosts of some strong alumni in every field be it dramatics, politics or even music. Being big on the music circuit, DU bands have exceptionally evolved and are stepping out of the University circle to perform and make it big. To get to you a band that’s struck chord not just within the University but also in other cities, is quite overwhelming with its humble beginning in a college’s music society.

With the release of their first album, Myths and Fables, this electronic/pop-rock band, Jester that was started off in the vicinity of Kirori Mal College, Delhi University in 2009 has become a brand and inspiration for many such upcoming bands to evolve and take it up as a thorough profession. The album offers some exceptional songs like ‘broken arrow’, Harquelin’,’ La questa’ which are my personal favourite. It is easily one of the most relatable albums off late, and freshly offers a new perspective to the indie listeners. The band line up- Dhruv Goel( vocals),Adityan Nayyar( vocals) Pranav Pahwa ( guitars), Akshay Dwivedi ( Bass) Shantanu Sudarshan ( Drums) and Harshit Jain ( Electronic Production and Keyboards). I recently caught up with them (considering their extremely busy schedule after the raving reviews of their maiden album) and got them talking about their DU days and life post-album.

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Give us a background of your band. Also, how did Kirori Mal College help you into shaping up the band that you are today?

Jester was formed in 2008,in the music society of Kirori mal college The band was formed at that time with no specific goal but to be the next Kmc college band .Initially we decided to play funk , which was appreciated quite well .We decided to take the band far more seriously after  coming third nationally at campus rock idols .

The band’s sound really evolved after the line-up became stable .So the Jester of today really came about when Akshay joined in 2009 and Adhir and Ronny left.

Bands these days are quickly following the international bands. Jester is influenced by?

Jester is influenced by many different genres of music .Each member brings there distinct taste to the band .The palette is really quite varied, we eventually started listening to everything by the end of it .A lot of the influence come from within our country not just from international bands.

Is it tough beating the conventional bands and carving a niche in today’s ever evolving music scene in India?

Well it is , if you do the formulaic route of playing shows and when your music is just an amalgamation of your influences .When we took the hiatus in 2011 , the real goal was to find out who we were and how individually we could contribute to something .As individuals I mean our interpretation of music rather than just our influences .By that point I think we all formed our opinions and individually had a sound .Which was then brought together .,The album according to us does not sound like anything else .So feel as though have created our own niche .

I don’t think we’ve ever looked at music as competition; conventional bands avante garde artists all have their place.

Considering it’s really critical for a band to get the necessary promotion or the stage for its take off, how did you go about it? Was it tough breaking out of the ‘DU band’ nomenclature?

By 2009 we were quite sick of the tag and all the competitions .We took part in a lot of them in 2008 and then focused on writing playing shows etc .We just played, we never had a marketing or promotion strategy per say. Those days all we did was played our music and somehow it worked.

The tough part was when we all got out of DU, it was as though we started our journey all over again that’s when we start thinking of band as greater than just the music .That is when the band became a brand .Now we promote it as such.

What’s your inspiration for the songs? Do you all pitch in?

Every song is written as a collective .Yes we all do pitch in .It usually takes us a year to get a new song down.

In the last couple of years music circuit has expanded in Delhi, in terms of fests, live gigs, performances in colleges, do you feel Delhi is coming up on the music scene and how is it different from other cities you’ve performed in?

Delhi has come a long way .Even though there has been a boom, there have been a lot of downsides .We were better paid when there were less gigs as well as the gigs were bigger. Delhi has now embraced the pub culture. Lots of gigs and many of them at places which cannot really support a live act .But there is blue frog , Hard rock cafe which are brilliant to play at .The Delhi crowd is really quite open to different music and the indie ,that’s what I think separates us from other cities .I think Mumbai is quite similar.

Tell us your favourite rock bands-in India and Internationally.

Rock I’m not sure of, but here it goes

Internationally –Extreme, tool, porcupine tree, Avishai Cohen, Aaron parks, Kurt Rosenwinkel. Harshit likes a bunch of EDM artists, sting etc

India- Zero, Advatia, Thermal and a quarter, October, Five 8.

Tell us about your DU days.

The DU days were fantastic. They were necessary for the band to grow, for our music to grow. The numerous trips really allowed us to be a band. It definitely gave us the exposure. Plus, college days are unforgettable. The fun we had, the pranks we played on each other backstage, on various fests and trips was just terrific.

Your album ‘myths and fables’ has been doing really well. In fact the ‘big bad wolf’ has become the anthem track. How has life been post- release, seeing the exceptional response Jester has been getting off lately?

It has been crazy, but good crazy. We’re getting a lot of show offers from outside the city. The reviews are a lot better than we expected. In fact what others albums strive to reach at.is what we’ve been getting.

About ‘Big bad wolf’. The song was our first single release and helped us get where we really are. It took us almost 1 year to write and conceptualise the song till its release but it was our hard work well paid off. It was written during our college days; in fact a lot of our songs are from the college days. But in totality it took us around 4 months to get the album out. And the response has been phenomenal.

When not jamming and creating music, what does Jester do?

We hang out at Pahwas. Jam because that just happens. It just happens we all are together most of the days of the week, even if not working together on a song. We chill, dig out old stories.

Lastly, how do you suppose upcoming DU bands who also want to follow the musical path should go about it?

Stop concentrating on shows, Get out there. Try coming up with their own music, it really helps you get the experience, gives you the edge from other bands considering g flocks of bands are flouting about the places. So much of free time college offers, utilize it. Make great music, even more just enjoy your time with music.