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November 2013

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Shakespeare’s Julius Ceaser, Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol, Bram Stocker’s Dracula…

The past few centuries have not only led to astounding technological development but also fantastic development of literary excellence. Every decade saw its own artistic genius, be it books, movies or music. The legacy that our ancestors left behind has been breathtaking.

But what about today’s generation? Are we capable of only producing better gadgets and remaking films? Has the Shakespeare been replaced by the Steve Jobs? Most certainly not. The creative genius is just as intact as the wiz kid. And some of our modern day authors back this notion.

The only reason classics are what they are today is because of the adulation of thousands of readers over tens of generations. So if some of the recently written books were to outlive all of us and survive for that long, then they might just find a place in textbooks and the ‘Classics’ section with Romeo- Juliets and Oliver Twist. Here is my list of the 5 books that have the best shot!

1. The Da Vinci Code

There are very few writers who can appreciate the value of time as well as Dan Brown. Quite literally! All his books featuring Robert Langdon span over a day (two at the most). The sheer pace with which this innately gifted professor solves unfathomable mysterious keeps you hooked onto the pages. And the perfection with which the story is presented from multiple perspectives makes Da Vinci Code the work of a skilled virtuoso.

2. Harry Potter Series

I highly doubt that anyone would disagree on this phenomenal series by JK Rowling. I read somewhere, ‘We owe our childhoods to JK Rowling’. And then I realized the level of impact this book has had on the lives of children in the most formative years of their lives. Suddenly from wanting to be astronauts and film stars, every child wanted to be Harry Potter. Achieving a feat like that, the series has the potential to be a classic.

3. The Master of The Game

Very few writers can disregard the value of time as well as Sidney Sheldon. Among all of Sheldon’s books, The Master of The Game is the one that makes you stay up late in the night reading and probably miss a meal the next morning. Starting from Jamie McGregor, the book delves into the life of his daughter- Kate Blackwell, her son and his twin daughters. So basically in a matter of 400 hundred something pages, you span 4 generations, cover two wars, deception, mystery, love, drama and spinning chilling thrill. If this book doesn’t make it to the classics, then maybe classics are over rated!

4. Kane and Abel

Although each of Jeffery Archer’s books is a beacon of unparalleled genius, Kane and Abel deserves a special place alongside the other classics. The book centers around William Lowell Kane and Abel Rosnovski, two men born in different parts of the world, literally and metaphorically, and their journey from birth, their ambitions, struggles and intersected destinies. The profound impact that this book leaves on your mind makes it well worth the honour it’ll most certainly get.

5. The Alchemist

Paulo Coelho’s books are often accused of being too optimistic and often, boring. The Alchemist is no exception. But just because a book isn’t compelling you to finish it in 2 hours doesn’t mean it’s not worth reading. In fact, classics rarely do. You might read the first half and forget about the book for a few weeks or even months. You might not understand the whole point of reading it even after you have finished 3/4th of the book. But the sense of hopefulness and contentment that the book propagates and almost manages to make you believe in, by the end of it, is definitely worth the time you spend on it. And the best part is that it’s a self help book that lets you live in the false sense of security that you don’t need a self help book.

There are a lot more that can be added. But if you haven’t read these, you better start cracking! What other books do you think can become classics in the future? Let us know in the comments!

Image courtesy: goodreads.com

Oracle is the newsletter of Gargi College with a coverage of a widespread array of topics including economics, politics, entertainment, opinions, creative prose, poems and reviews of food, movie, books and current affairs.

The idea was born out of the minds of a group of students from English Honors in 2001. The names of founding members- editorial board names- Kakul, Namita, Bhavana, Aarathi, Neharika, Priyanka and Anandana Kapur. Now, the founding members have gone on to become journalists, teachers of literature, film makers and lawyers.

“The college – under Dr Hema Raghavan – had an open door, student oriented approach. We felt we needed a forum to express our ideas, build dialogue within and across the college and that our backgrounds in art and literature would equip us to shape and present popular opinion”, says Anandana, one of the founder members who is now a documentary film maker now.

Oracle has a vision-“to have a space for expression and articulation through words and images, to be a graffiti board, a space for debates and even creative outpourings of anonymous writers!” Earlier it also invited readers to send in open letters, draw caricatures and that is how it was to make a space for critical engagement as well as a site for popular ideas.

On being asked what gave Oracle its name, Anandana said, “Oracle was a tipping of the hat to our major – English literature. It was also a play on the ability of the oracle to be prescient, to be a medium to connect beyond (with the student body and teacher) predict the future (in this case trend) and reveal what lies within (creatively and intellectually). We also created an opinion box when Neharika and I became editors. Soon, oracle became a very sought after medium and inspired other discipline led newsletters. You can say, we started the fire! ”

The editorial team of consists of 11 members from Commerce, Science and Humanities including of the Editor, Arunima Sodhani, the Sub-Editor, Drishti Rongpipi and 9 columnists. There are three issues published per semester. The columnists are selected on the basis of the on-the-spot article that has to be written from 3-5 topics given for choice.

Twisha, a student from Gargi College said “The college newsletter provides us information from almost all backgrounds be it current affairs to entertainment and what not, it is a really nice platform and initiative that our college has.”

With funding that is allocated by the college annually and a variety of themes in purview, Gargi college’s newsletter is an interesting portal for the college’s students to explore.

With inputs from Sonakshi Agarwal

The Canadian pop-punk princess Avril Lavigne attempts to climb the music charts with her latest self titled fifth studio album this year. From “Sk8er Boi” to “Girlfriend” to the underrated “What The Hell,” Lavigne has always released pop music that defies the usual. This album has a popular sheen than ‘Goodbye Lullaby’, but mostly dwells on punk and hip- hop elements for which Avril is famous. There are two collaborations- with Avril’s husband Chad Kroeger (of Nickelback fame) and death metal poster- boy Marilyn Manson.

Here is a track by track review for Avril Lavigne’s latest music album:

1. Rock and Roll: This pop anthem has an energetic and wild beat and captures the essence of rock and roll. It reminds us of the classic We Will Rock You by The Queen and sounds like a traditional rebellious Avril track.

2. Here’s to Never Growing Up: This single released as a summer anthem is a notable hit among the teenagers where Avril clings to her youth image. It simply sends across a message about having fun while you’re young.

3. 17: For a 30 year old humming the tune like “All we needed was some love, That’s the way it’s supposed to be 17” seems a bit watered down. But Avril Lavigne delivers perfectly as this pop rock song is an easy listening and catchy single.

4. Bitchin’ Summer: Through this fourth single, Avril wants to capture the mood of a typical American summer in the countryside to be enjoyed with friends and be carefree. It’s a relaxing acoustic track with a surprise when Avril raps over a frantic strum towards the bridge of the song.

5. Let Me Go featuring Chad Kroeger: This heartbreaking love song with Nickelback’s lead vocalist Chad Kroeger seems to be a classic Avril ballads followed by her last album ‘Goodbye Lullaby’. The piano melody is beautiful written with th help of David Hodges.

6. Give You What You Like: This song shows the glimpse of moody sensual Avril singing of exchanging physical pleasures to combat loneliness. The tone of it is really likeable when she claims ‘this is a brand new cure for lonely’ makes it a good sensual sounding ballad.

7. Bad Girl featuring Marilyn Manson:  By far the heaviest sounding track on the album, it’s the flavour that counts. It is catchy and it’s impossible to listen without humming it hours later, regardless of your feelings towards it.

8. Hello Kitty: This is one of the experimental tracks with dubstep and electronica, serving as a nod to Eastern countries. The song is sexy and sassy, and it’s incredibly addictive. As a curveball, it works brilliantly; but as an attempt to make her sound current in today’s EDM-pop dominated charts, it falls considerably short.

9. You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet: The song follows a young romance, but the lyrics are sometimes shockingly bad. “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet” is not quite as solid as “Avril Lavigne’s” up tempo singles, but it’s almost there, and the unabashedly joyful bridge is worth a listen by itself.

10. Sippin’ on Sunshine: The song is generic and doesn’t really stand out, but is fun to listen to and will work excellently in the summer sun. It sounds the kind of mediocre track that Avril though many may find it to be a catchy teenage anthem.

11. Hello Heartache: Hello Heartache has a country feel to it, with an acoustic instrumental for its verses. With lyrics quite well achieved “Goodbye my friend, hello heartache, it’s not the end, it’s not the same“, Lavigne laments on this straight forward breakup track.

12. Falling Fast: With a simple acoustic guitar riff, Avril returns to a more mature sound here and still manages to retain her innocence. Lyrically, Avril admits that she is falling in love with somebody which juxtaposes with the melancholic instrumental.

Query:

How safe is dry humping? Can I get pregnant because of it?

Response:

Shee shee, if this was a usual conversation with Amma over a pint of cononut water Amma would’ve asked ‘How dry is your dry humping?’ but that would be going off topic. On one hand you macchis want to learn how to swim in the Kovalam and on the other can’t handle anything more than beach sand in your toes.

However, Amma is here to help you out. Well, neither in theory nor in practicality is there a chance of you getting pregnant simply by dry humping. It’s a good way to spark a fire but you need to have more wood…. Much much more wood Geddit? Phew! So much innuendo now Amma knows how the writer’s of Savita Bhabhi must feel. Dry humping is a safe and fun way to fool around with your partner, especially if you’re still testing the backwaters. Amma suggests that as soon as you feel comfortable with him you can start baring some skin.

So wear clean clothes while doing the deed and remember, keep it dry but keep it spicy!

Delhi University has around half a million students on its rolls. Delhi has a total of 1.15 crore voters on the electoral rolls. Even if half of the University students are eligible voters, that accounts for roughly 2.8% of the total vote bank of Delhi. Shouldn’t that make the political parties look out for these young voters?

We have been contemplating if the student elections in the university are any way a measure of the upcoming Delhi assembly elections. Well, Congress absolutely would not want this to be the case. Most of the university students are first time voters. The timings, though, have made sure that exams are the buzzword, not elections, in the university campus.

(Also see: Political parties set out to woo voters from Delhi University)

Karan Marwah from Zakir Hussain College says, “My vote would go to Congress, more specifically to Sheila Dikshit, because she has been in power for three terms and no one would know Delhi as well, as she does. Her track record for development has been good, although the law and order problem should have been taken care of through stricter regimes of security”.

Gauri Khanna from Shyam Lal College says, “I would vote for Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). Choosing to vote for Congress again would be nothing but stupidity on our part. And as far as AAP is concerned, I think they deserve a fair chance but, I want to go with Narendra Modi’s patry this time”.

Besides, there is no dearth of students supporting the newly formed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Most of the students are first time voters. Vishal Upadhaya and Monika Bansal from the College of Vocational Studies are ecstatic about their first vote and they say that that they will vote for AAP as they want to be a part of the change that is so badly needed in the country. The Election Commission together with some NGOs have started campaigns to woo university students to vote on December 4.

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The sixth Delhi Queer Pride 2013 was conducted on Sunday, 24th November 2013 at 3pm. People assembled at the Corner of Barakhamba Road and Tolstoy Marg basking in the glory of the rainbow colors! With shouts of “Hum Anek Hai” and “One India”, people joined in to celebrate the diversity within the gender spectrum fighting for the cause of gender equality.

Here are a few pictures that demonstrates in city in spirit of the rainbow colours!

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12 regenerations, 2 hearts, millions of Whovians.

Not only the world’s longest running, but also the most successful sci-fi show, Doctor Who, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year with a special episode called ‘The Day of the Doctor’ to be aired on the 23rd of November. For those of you who are not familiar with the phenomenon that Doctor Who is, (side note: 1,05,00,00,000 Google results compared to a measly 28,10,00,000 for HIMYM) it is a BBC TV show chronicling the adventures of a time-travelling Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey in his police booth-resembling TARDIS. Trust him, ‘it’s bigger on the inside.’

This humanoid alien, armed with wit, charm, and a sonic screw driver, is the last surviving member of his race. On his journeys through space and time, the Doctor’s companions help keep him safe and sane. From the sassy Englishwoman Donna to the witty robotic dog K-9, each companion has added an extra element to the show in their own way. As the self appointed protector of mankind, the Doctor has come across some pretty interesting adversaries. The Daleks (EXTERMINATE!) and the Cybermen are some familiar names on the Doctor Who villain circuit. Then there is Silence, an enemy so chilling, one practically quivers at the very name, and my personal favourite, the Weeping Angels. ‘Whatever you do, do not blink.’

Started in 1963, Doctor Who has become a full- blown cult in its own right today. It has been the recipient of 128 awards with 230 nominations, including the BAFTAs, People’s Choice Awards, SFX awards and Scream awards among many others. Subtle references to Doctor Who can be found in many popular TV shows like The Simpsons, The Big Bang Theory, Leverage, CSI: New York and even Rugrats. If you’re not a huge telly fan, they also have novels as magical as the real thing. One episode or chapter and you’re hooked. It is impossible to dislike this eccentric alien. He is, after all, a madman with a box.

“Do what I do. Hold tight and pretend it’s a plan!”

Image: BBC ONE TBC

With this review, we believe it is often important to revisit the classics as well!

What happens when you put 12 men in a small, claustrophobic jury room in New York during the hottest day of the year? It makes for an incredibly dramatic movie. ’12 Angry Men’ is a court room drama written by Reginald Rose, who is also the producer alongside Henry Fonda. The movie, under the direction of Sidney Lumet was made on an incredibly tight budget of $340,000 and its release in the year of 1957, although critically acclaimed, proved disastrous in the box office. It was only when it was aired on television that it finally found its audience becoming the classic it is today and deservingly so.

The Plot

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An 18 year old boy is brought to trial for the murder of his father.  All evidence finds him guilty; the jurors are convinced that it is going to be a really short session. But when the votes are called for, they realise that it is never that easy. One man out of all the 12 jurors is not entirely convinced that the boy is guilty. Juror 8 (Henry Fonda) is the only one to vote ‘not guilty’ in the preliminary tally and is the only one holding up a unanimous verdict. This infuriates the other jurors who want to get the session over with as soon as possible and resume their daily life. They try to convince him that he is over complicating the matter but Juror 8 stands firm in his belief that there is a room for a ‘reasonable doubt’.

Although the audience is given no preliminary knowledge of the case but as the story develops they are provided the evidence put in court in the form of third person narratives, as Juror 8 fanatically tries to argue the authenticity of the evidence. He believes that all the evidence is circumstantial and the boy deserves a fair deliberation. He becomes the only one standing between the boy and the electric chair. Human emotions flare as their patience is put to the test and the vilest of human character begins to surface as the discussion draws on. In the heated debate human values are brought to question, abuses exchanged and facts doubted. ’12 Angry Men’ brings to the screen human drama in its rawest state with all its prejudice, stereotypes and malice.

Casts and Characters

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Sidney Lumet’s ’12 Angry men’ depends upon the volatile mix of personalities in the cramped up jury room to deliver a staggering courtroom drama. The jury members have their own way of life, their own personalities, and each one remarkably different from the other. The jury is a mix of common people from different walks of life – an assistant football coach who tries his best as the jury foreman (Martin Balsam), a meek banker (John Fielder) who is often dominated by others, an opinionated and short-tempered businessman (Lee J. Cobb), a rational and analytic man of facts (E.G.Marshall), A paramedic who grew up in a violent slum (Jack Klugman), A tough and respectful house painter (Edward Bins), A salesman (Jack Warden) whose only concern is the baseball tickets burning a hole in his pockets, An architect (Henry Fonda)  who is at first the only dissenting voice in the jury, A wise and observant old man (Joseph Sweeney), A loudmouthed and prejudiced garage owner (Ed Begley), A European-born watchmaker (George Voskovec), A wise cracking advertising executive (Robert Webber).

Each actor does a remarkable job in bringing up their character in the most believable manner. This becomes rather important as the film has a lot of close up shots of the characters. Every emotional outburst seems genuine and every argument carries such tension that can make you root for that one juror or make you pathetically hate the other.

Cinematography

’12 Angry Men’ is no Bollywood movie with enchanting Swiss landscapes where the characters seem to suddenly appear out of nowhere and burst into a song. Instead the movie is grim and almost entirely takes place in a small claustrophobic jury room. But this banal confinement becomes a completely dynamic set piece – when the audience gets one good look at the hot, tiny room with its confined walls, they are more able to empathise with the characters that are desperate to get the session over with. The room grows even hotter when twelve angry men throw their tantrums and their jibes as the walls seem to close in on them. The small room also becomes the silent representation of the jury’s narrow mindedness in the case in hand, a satire of ‘fair trial’.

Verdict

’12 Angry Men’ is a remarkable film. Although it does take time for the movie to develop but the audience will find their patience well rewarded in form of a thoroughly entertaining movie.

 By Ambiso Tawsik ([email protected])

With the state elections just around the corner, Delhi University happens to be a stage for political campaigning by different parties. In the university elections itself, many bigwigs come out in support of the students’ wing of their respective parties.

Besides, two of the most prominent politicians of Delhi happen to be DU alumni. The present Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, did her graduation in History Honours from Miranda House and Vijay Goel of Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) is an alumnus of SRCC, who was also the Delhi University Student Union President in 1977-78. Congress has fielded Ragini Nayak and Amrita Dhawan for the upcoming elections, who have been former DUSU office bearers. Parties have been fielding young leaders to attract young voters.

Let’s have a look at the campaigning activities of major political parties in the University:

Aam Aadmi Party

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is the most visible among all the political parties in its campaigning in Delhi University. Arvind Kejriwal visited St. Stephen’s College in August to interact with students. Many students from different colleges have joined AAP and are volunteering for the Delhi Assembly Elections. Yogendra Yadav addressed a rally on 30th October in the University. Recently, MTV VJ Raghu Ram could be seen campaigning for AAP in different colleges of DU and in IIT Delhi. Prashant Bhushan has also addressed students on various occasions.

Adding to this, in the party manifesto released on Wednesday, the party declared that if brought into power, they would open more colleges in the state and roll back the Four Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP).

Bhartiya Janata Party

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BJP has its share of young leaders who have been DUSU office-bearers. Nakul Bharadwaj, popular face of Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of BJP, contested elections last year as well. ABVP has organised a bike rally to spread awareness about voting among the youth. ABVP has also initiated a campaign ‘Youth For Change’, to spread voting awareness. The emphasis on the youth is apparent in the campaigning by the party where it promises to open 15 new colleges and one university under the Atal Yuva Mission, if voted into power. They are also promising to exempt all taxes on computers, laptops, tablets and smart phones for college students.

Congress

National Students Union of India (NSUI) the students wing of Congress had organised a protest march against Vijay Goel. At least four ex office-bearers of NSUI are fighting elections from Congress ticket in the upcoming Delhi Assembly elections. With the release of the party manifestos, the Congress promises to increase the number of evening colleges across the University, a new university for health sciences and 5 more medical colleges. Besides, the state government had also proposed 90% quota for Delhi students in the state funded colleges of DU in October.

The Election Commission is leaving no stones unturned in roping in the young voters. It has started campaign with many NGOs to rope in the young voters and enrol students of various colleges to vote in the upcoming elections.

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