September 5, 2014

Not So Much Like The ‘Old’ Trafford!

By Tushar Diwan September 5, 2014

20 Premier League/League Division One Cups, 11 FA Cups, 4 English League Cup, 3 European Cups, 1 UEFA Super Cup, 1 European’s Cup Winner Cup and 1 FIFA World Cup. The Manchester United’s trophy room looks nothing short of a crowded wall of fame. Seeing the array of trophies sitting in the cabinet, Manchester United has certainly been one of the Goliaths of the football world.

However, the fall in United’s performances for the last two years has been tremendous and almost bewildering for fans. The 2014/15 campaign of the English Premier League opened with a disastrous start as United lost to Swansea on the opening day. The shock defeat to MK Dons in the Capitol One Cup was extremely humiliating.

Adapting To A New System

Louis Van Gaal’s introduction as the manager of the club after a short spell by David Moyes was well received by all the stakeholders of the club. The man’s curriculum vita is flooded with success at some of the best clubs of the world. The club’s pre-season added to that excitement as United remained without defeat and won against Real Madrid, Liverpool, Inter and Roma to claim the Guinness International Cup. Van Gaal’s 3-5-2 formation has not been effective yet and might not in the future, given the fact that the team’s centre backs are devoid of experience and the team lacks wing-backs who can move up and down the entire wing. In order to regain their former glory, here Manchester United needs more than just a bunch of praying fans.

Underperforming Players

In a recent interview, Louis Van Gaal disclosed that he has found two types of players at the club, players who are not performing at the level he wants them to and players who do not want to perform at the required level. Mutiny from United players has been quite evident over the past season even under David Moyes’ reign. Shinji Kagawa was late for a flight for a match and Welbeck and Smalling were caught creating havoc in bars. Discipline, a virtue that was strictly followed by Sir Alex Ferguson in his own draconian way, seems to be lost at the moment. Tom Cleverley’s flimsy passes and Ashley Young’s inability to get past players has been infuriating fans. Anderson, Fletcher, Evans and Smalling have all been under-performing and face the scrutiny of fans over social media platforms wanting them to be offloaded.

Depth of Squad

The club has suffered some bad transfer windows over the past few years. Refusing to spend too much money and other clubs hijacking United’s bids for players have been two key elements for the failures. Therefore, the club lacks depth in its squad. The club faces a huge dearth of quality centre-midfield players and centre-backs. The team facing MK Dons over the past week had 3 strikers, 3 wingers and 2 midfielders playing a 3-5-2 formation. Van Gaal also revealed that the squad lacks balance with 4 no. 10s in the team.

As a reality check for every United fan, the rebuilding of the club will take time. The squad has been infused with 4 players until now including Angel Di Maria. Patience is what United fans need to hold onto for now.

(That said, it is inevitable for me to say that my respect for Sir Alex Ferguson has grown exponentially after realizing that the man won the EPL with the current squad)

Image: www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk

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Arts & Culture

Five things a fresher in a DU college society can relate to!

By DU Beat September 5, 2014

When you have a choice of countless activities to be a part of in college, you don’t feel like missing out on any of the fun, specially when they come along with free attendance and marks. But being a part of a DU society isn’t as easy as ignoring Nicky Minaj’s music. Yes, being in a society in DU has its own perks… mostly positive (did I mention free attendance?) And if you’re a fresher and are the new one in a society, you have memories that last for life. Here are five things a fresher in a DU society can absolutely relate to:

1. You are supposed to know everything about everyone at every time:

Yes, you should know anything about anything. Specially if you’re a member of your college’s debating society or the quiz society, from knowing Nelson Mandela’s last words to what effect the Trade Facilitation Agreement will have ten years later, you’re supposed to know it all (Even if it makes no sense at all!) The phrase of Walking Wikipedia makes a lot more sense now. And if you happen to not know about something, be ready for the “oh-you-don’t-know-that!” look.

leviosa — Be it anything, you’ve got to know it all at once.

2. Put that poster there, bring that CD from there or just do all the leg work!

Remember the time you used to send your younger sibling to get a glass of water…every half an hour. Well, it’s karma’s time now. Be it putting up society posters on college notice boards or getting a duster for the black-board or writing a street play dialogue last minute, you’re the mule of your clan who can be given any work at any hour of the day. And the best (or worst) part is, you just cannot say no!

3. Get ready to set your alarms at the most impossible hours of the day:

7:30 in the morning or 9:30 at night, it simply doesn’t matter. When duty calls, you have to…have to be there. Already tired of setting your alarms at painfully early hours? Brace yourselves for the DU Fests time and you’ll know what it is to work your a*s off (well, quite literally!)

4.They’re not your friends…they’re more of teachers:

They don’t really guide you as much as they teach you. Yes, seniors are your mentors, teachers, guides…anything but friends. That doesn’t mean that they’re particularly bossy or assertive, but you can go on trying hard to be a part of their group and turn out getting nowhere. But, at the same time, those chunks of advice are sure to take you a long way in your society. After all, you as have to step in their shoes at one point of time!

5. The high of being able to miss your classes for your passion:

Gone are the days when you had to let go of those dancing moves and music chords just to attend classes in school. ECA Slips come to your rescue. You can’t really have more of the best of both worlds, following your passion and get attendance for that. Life couldn’t be better for a fresher, could it be? The whole idea seems like an enigma even though eventually you’ve got to balance out your studies too.

Arushi Pathak for DU Beat.

[email protected]

Featured Image (Tanz, Dance society of Miranda House) Credits: Gurman Bhatia for DU Beat.

Gifs Courtesy: www.tumblr.com

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QWERTY

Motorola launch in Delhi; Moto G goes on Sale tonight!

By Sidhant Ryan Malhotra September 5, 2014

Hello Moto!

In 1973 Motorola showcased the world’s first mobile phone, which marked the begin of “the revolution of hand-held telephony”. After reigning for almost two decades, Motorola was then outdone by the competition – first was Nokia, then came Apple and presently it’s Samsung who’s in front. Our poor King Moto was pushed down the ranks and even quality devices like the DROID series, couldn’t get it back up. This was until last year.

In 2013, Motorola suddenly got its sheen back! With its powerful Moto X & more importantly the affordable Moto G, followed by Moto E, Motorola became an efficient flagship killer – by giving more (features) in less (price :P)! In India, Flipkart claims it has sold over 1.6 million Motorola devices in the past seven months!

And now it’s ready to roll again! Today, at an event in New Delhi, Motorola unveiled three devices – Moto G (2nd Gen), Moto X (2nd Gen) and Moto 360 (smartwatch). While the Indian pricing & availability is yet to be known for the latter two, Moto G (2014) is here. Available exclusively on Flipkart, can this Moto outdo its ancestor?

Moto G (2014)

(Debatably) It was Moto G that shifted the whole focus on ‘premium budget smartphones’. It offered hardcore specs at a killer price with a superior design .It got sold like hot cakes and received rave reviews along with excellent reception from consumers, critics and the media. Moto G soon became the most popular budget smartphone in its price bracket.

And after 10 months, it has a successor! The new Moto G has the same name with its launch year sufficed at the end in a bracket : Moto G (2014) a.k.a Moto G (2nd Gen). A 5-inch screen, an 8 MP f/2.0 rear camera (720p HD), 2 MP front camera and even a MicroSD slot (upon 16 gigs of internal memory) which we dearly missed, the new Moto G is a fair update over its predecessor. All the other specs are same as before – 1.2 GHz Snapdragon processor, a gigabyte of ram, 720p display, dust-water resistance and a 2070 mAH battery. The phone now features dual front speakers, a feature generally found on superior devices, that makes the phone boom louder.

As far as the flaws are concerned, the phone kinda disappoints with a 720p camera, considering what the peers offer. Also, Xiaomi Mi3 gives much (MUCH) more at the same price (though it’s difficult to get one!). However, with Pure Android experience, Motorola’s brand name, update features and superb build quality, Moto G compensates for its limitations. The phone runs on KitKat and has a promised update to the next version of Android (Android L). The phone now comes in white as well and supports colorful back shells as well.

Moto G (2nd generation) is available on Flipkart for 12,999 and the sales will begin at midnight. Flipkart would also be giving special offers for the launch day.Since Mi3 has temporarily been discontinued and Asus Zenfone 5 is “Out of Stock”, Moto G (2014) can achieve high sales due to its popularity and more importantly its legacy.

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Types of teachers we meet in college

By Niharika Singh September 5, 2014

The Formidables

They take absolutely no nonsense from students and are quick to punish. Cross them once and you will definitely suffer the entire year, so beware and tread with care.

The linguistically challenged

Even though these teachers have a good knowledge base, they don’t know how to put it into coherent sentences. Their use of ‘a’ and ‘the’ is twisted and they completely mess up tenses!

The Indian Shakespeare These are a rare breed of teachers commonly found mostly in the English department. Their lectures end up feeling stretched and often, their English sounds like French, especially when you’re not in the mood to study.

The Strategist Not only are they fully aware of your dire need to have a stellar attendance record; they are smart enough to use it in their favor. The unified answer to every attention related issue in class- ‘cancellation of attendance’

Illustration by Ambiso

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DUB Speak

Changing Teacher-Student Relationship

By Shaily Sharma September 5, 2014

In the present world, changes are inevitable, some of which are conventional while others are dreadful and unacceptable. In a corresponding way, the relationship between students and teachers has changed to a great extent when compared to guru-shishya relationship of the olden days.

In this day and age, the approach towards gaining knowledge and information takes different paths altogether, when compared to the yesteryears. Students, now have access to all the requisite information at the click of a button. When we want to clear our doubts, a Google search is all we need. Students often crosscheck and confirm what a teacher speaks in the class from the information available on the internet, which may, at times, lead them to suppose that the teachers are not-so-required. The place of a teacher is replaced by Google, in the minds of the students, and this motorized system has substituted human conduct.

However, changes have taken place, but I suppose that a lot of them are constructive ones. We have moved on to a more rational and curious atmosphere from an utter and tight-lipped approach. Today’s generation greets teachers with a ‘Hi’ instead of greeting them with a ‘Good morning’. The student-teacher relationship is not characterized by compliance and acceptance, but by questioning and scrutiny, acceptance may or may not follow depending upon the student’s analysis.

The prevailing situation has more teachers who have money-making and impersonal approaches and for whom teaching isn’t a vocation but a means of livelihood. There is a need of more teachers who join the profession by preference rather than by unconcern. To understand and come to terms with each other’s expectations is what this relationship should be all about. It is about having a very comprehensive rapport.

The inculcation of values that are considered as ancient, in the whole system, is necessary. On the other hand, no one can fail to notice the undying job of a teacher as a counsellor and guide in transporting and familiarizing information to a student. The restoration of the guru-shishya traditional relationship, with a contemporary tinge, is the need of the hour.

Image source: www.examiner.com

Shaily Sharma
[email protected]

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