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August 30, 2015

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After trying his hands at consulting for a few years, Vipul Agarwal an alumnus from Stanford University got in touch with Ruchir Jain from IIM Ahmedabad for enterprising in a totally new venture – Good Service.

The initial conceptualization of Good Service started when Vipul was working at a consulting firm. His family and friends would contact him to find out details about professional service providers. It would range from the simplest task such as finding an electrician to booking a movie ticket. “We had to create the initial spark….. and after that the entire team contributed towards providing the final product.”

Good Service is an app as well as web based service wherein a customer could Whatsapp, Text, e-mail or call the firm and ask for any service that they demand. The service was started with connecting local merchants on a very small scale. As time progressed, the company witnessed a significant growth. Good service expanded into many verticals and started getting in touch with bigger players. The company’s area of practice now ranges from movie ticket sales to electrical fittings.

Good Service currently has a whooping number of 60-70% of DU Students as their full time employees. In the near future the company plans to expand in different cities throughout India.

For contact details one could e-mail at the this e-mail address:- [email protected]

 

Q. As the outgoing DUSU Vice President, how satisfying was your experience and what challenges did you come across?

Ans: My experience was very different and not as I expected it to be. As the Vice-President and DUSU a representative, I understood that students put a lot of faith in us to take important steps and decisions. With power comes the responsibility to fulfil people’s expectations. When we are unable to do so, students do show disappointment. However, we tried to deliver our best and we did as much as we could.

Q. This year, AAP’s newly found student wing – Chatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti is also contesting the DUSU polls. Does this hinder ABVP’s chances to get back to positions again? What is your stategy?

Ans: Indeed they have planned to contest in the polls, however we remain calm and aren’t intimidated by anyone’s entry in the polls. As far as ABVP and its strategy is concerned, we believe in taking the politically experienced lot to contest for the elections and plan to do the same this year as well.



Related rea
dingWhat the current office bearers had to say when they first came into power last year


 

Q. Any advice for future office bearers who seek to achieve many goals for the University?

Ans. One learns a lot while being in position. One should know that we can’t fulfil all our goals but at the same time this shouldn’t deter us to try and achieve them. I feel every year new challenges emerge and they’ll learn with the flow.

Q. What do you think have been the achievements of DUSU in your tenure?

Ans. We tried to make the life of students hassle free. South Campus started a new bus service, we protested against unjust University guidelines from time to time, the scrapping of FYUP being the major example. We weren’t just limited to these things but had a more holistic approach in making a student’s life at DU better. Hopefully our efforts held some significance.

Related reading: We also interviewed Mohit Nagar, the outgoing President of DUSU

Riya Chibber

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Third Space Collective (TSC), a theatre group based in Delhi recently performed a small preview of their latest production ‘Dastan-e-Bhookh’, an adaption of American author Sam Sheperd’s path-breaking play ‘Curse of the Starving Class’ at Greater Kailash-2 on the 28th of August.

‘Curse of the Starving Clas’s is a dark and comic exploration of a family’s psyche in the style of absurdism. The original play focuses on the dysfunctional Tate clan. A drunken dreamer of a father, burned out mother, rebellious teenage daughter and an idealistic son are the characters in the family and who are the focus of the play. The production aims to draw attention to the ominous bulldozer buzzing ominously, 100 ft away from the run down house of this squabbling family. It pushes the viewers to ask the whys of the demise of the family unit rather than the ‘whats’. The hunger, ever present in the household is a constant reminder of all that’s missing in their lives. Devoid of any real understanding of what has pushed them into this malfunctionality, the family pursues their attempts at pulling themselves out, mindlessly grabbing at whatever their persecutors throw at them.

Brilliantly directed and executed, the play emerges as thought provoking  and intelligent and the equally brilliant use of props will have you sitting throughout watching in rapt attention.

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Third Space Collective is a group of theatre practitioners creating theatre which is of relevance to the times we live in. Their core idea is to actively push themselves to use all available resources at hand to create performances. Dastaan-e-Bhookh has been under production for about five months and they are finally ready to perform a series of shows.

They will be performing at Akshara theatre near RML hospital, Connaught Place on 3rd, 10th and 11th of September. Passes will be available on these dates from 4 pm to 7 pm.

As the director, Dhwani Vij had to say, ” Set in the outskirts of Delhi, the production peers in to the very-obvious-but-swept-under-the-carpet-reality of hyper urbanization which is vicariously gnawing away at the rural settlements in and around the city. The road to reach the stage has been long and magnificent for this production. I am really excited to know how Delhi will react  to our attempt“.

Arindam Goswami

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The Delhi University Kerala Students’ Association, Maithry, organised an inter college football tournament for students from Kerala on the 27th and 28th of August. The league took place at Hindu College. While attracting a lot of students, the event witnessed participation by about eight teams constituting students from different college of the varsity. The uniqueness of the event was that it was a three-a-side tournament with each team having just three players and each match lasting for twenty minutes.

The qualifier round on day 1 eliminated half the teams. Finally, Shri Ram College of Commerce, Hindu College, Zakir Hussain College and Faculty of Law made it to the semi-finals. On the second day after the semi-final and final round, Faculty of Law became the winners after defeating Hindu College. The winners were awarded a glittering trophy along with certificates by the President of Maithry, Abdul Aseeb. Everybody could be seen in high spirits simply because of their common love for the game!

About the association: Maithry organizes a plethora of events all year round including various festivities. The Onam celebrations are a big hit among the Keralites, attracting a great footfall every year. The association also holds grand celebrations as the fresher’s party as well as the farewell party for graduating students. They even provide need-based scholarships for meritorious students catering to their needs. Activities like these help the students to showcase the mutual interests and enthusiasm shared by them for their culture, practices and hobbies. We hope Maithry continues to host more such events in future that help the students to reconcile every now and then.

Image credits: Umar Muqtar

Tanya Agarwal                                                    

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Q. Hi Sex Amma, I’ve been with my girlfriend for 10 months now and we’ve barely hit third base. I understand that she wants to take it slow and I don’t want to pressurize her, but of late, the frequency is decreasing!

Sex Amma: Oh my dear uttapam, Amma knows the plague that infests the minds of men in this country. Hitting the third base in a cricket crazy nation is all that men want, ignoring the weather and pitch conditions, thus getting out on the very first ball or eventually getting forced to play defensive.
Amma appreciates the fact that you understand that your macchhi wants to take it slow. The decreasing frequency suggests that the macchhi is either feeling guilty or has gotten scared due to the misunderstandings and taboo that accompany sex in our beloved nation. In any case, the solution is: communication.
You need to sit her down in an environment where she can speak to you about anything. And, if it’s a biological reason, then be a strong fisherman, be there for your macchhi and support her through the tough time. Build a strong bridge of communication and trust, and Amma guarantees you’ll start scoring again, singles and doubles at first, of course. Don’t lose your patience, else you’ll misjudge the ball and will be ‘caught’ out.