January 2017

“The first casualty when a war comes, is truth”, this quote stares straight at times when people sit to discuss wars. History has been the best witness of how often truth has been molded by victors of wars. Across all the wars, it is the common people who bear the brunt of the conflicts.

This book, written by Nandini Sundar- an award winning sociologist at Delhi School of Economics is a firsthand account of facts, stories and happenings that shaped the war between the Indian State and the Maoists. The book largely deals with the lost lives, casualties and stories of large scale violence that was thrust upon the tribal villages in the name of anti-insurgency operations by the Indian State. Starting from her earlier days when she spent time in the area as a PhD student to her field visits and numerous other times spent in Bastar, the author collects shades from the time to tell the reader the tale of how things were, and how they have been made into what they are now.

She tries to bring to light the marginalized stories about large scale human rights violations, mass molestations and almost everything that has been obscured by the dominant narratives and state control. The book makes the reader express the same words that Supreme Court judgement also featured, ‘Its Horror! It’s Horror!’

If you believe that everything is in black and white in the anti-insurgency operations conducted by the security forces in the jungles, this book is a must read for you. The book throws light on one of the worst of state supported killings of civilians in the history of India as well the legal battles that were fought for justice.

War is not just about suffering and death, but also about the complex workings of bureaucracies, militaries, political groups and societies that form its scaffolding. This book is a must read for students to widen their horizon and discover that which is often concealed in the gaps and silences of the popularized or state sanctioned narratives.

It is imperative for us to know, ‘the Horror!’ that happened in our own country.

You can buy the book here: The Burning Forests
Srivedant Kar

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DUB News

Student’s Union calls for a strike at Shaheed Bhagat Singh College

By DU Beat January 23, 2017

The differences between the College Administration and the Student’s Union at Shaheed Bhagat Singh College (Morning) further widened this week. The crisis between the administration and the union, which has existed for sometime, continued after the removal of the student union’s board from the Canteen Area by the college authorities.

Abhishek Bishnoi, the President of the Student Union and Prateek Kothari, the Vice President of the same body, in conversation with our correspondent maintained that the college has been indifferent to their demands since election time. According to them, the proposals for the Power Backup system and better infrastructure at the Canteen area among other things had been rejected multiple times by the administration.

Prateek Kothari further added that “Even the Student Union display board was erected after many efforts. But the college administration took another offence, this time in response to a grievance post on social media. The display board was torn down. Only after many protests, it was reinstated at a different location.”

The student union’s members also complained about the lack of financial incentives. The Vice President of the student’s Union in this regard said, “Even the bare minimum funds are never made available to us. For instance, only 2.9 lakh has been sanctioned to us for the fest, which is an impossible amount to work with” .

The Students Union had also approached the college authorities, who had refrained entirely from any clarification on the matter. According to the Union members, despite repeated efforts no response has been recorded from the administrations side as yet.

The students of the college seemed harboring similar questions. Sparsh Saini, a first year student, having keenly observed the conversation, had made his opinion and said, “Something is missing. If the fests don’t do well or the infrastructure is bad, it’s the college’s reputation that gets tarnished”.

A strike has been called for in the first week of February by the Student’s Union of the college. “The administration cannot go on kicking us out of the rooms and turning deaf ears to us”, Union members added.

Feature Image Credits: www.sbsec.org

Nikhil Kumar

[email protected]

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DUB Speak

Is our society really progressive?

By DU Beat January 23, 2017

The 21st century human takes pride in being a part of the Forward March of humanity. Inventing ways of leading a smarter life on Earth, we’ve almost believed that the direction in which we’re surging ahead with all our power is the perfect direction to move in. We like calling our ways ‘progressive’, but does a forward march necessarily mean that we’re progressing ahead?

Progress as a society would mean evolving from a place of ignorance to that of awareness, taking everybody together in that direction. But is our society’s advancement from the past to the present an advancing growth of values, mind and the rationale?

Scrolling through the latest music releases, I find catchy titles and music with really good beats, which means that the entire nation is grooving to the music while chanting something like, “Gandi Baat”.Funnily enough,the creators of such music talk about the existence of subtle sexism even in the music of the older times, which means that the meaning thence derived about ‘progressiveness’ is the shift from subtle to explicit and unabashed sexism. While accepting and openly promoting such evolutionary trends, are we actually progressing ahead with our value systems?

Being a woman, I walk alone on the streets with a belief of doing a very bold task, but at the corner of my mind I know that however bold I feel, the intent gazes that follow me all the way do intimidate me. I keep the fear away from my face, but I avoid meeting those men in the eye. And that is what makes me rethink of our society’s progress, the fact that even my mother and my little sister have gone through the same trail of emotions while walking on the streets. Similar gazes, similar defense, have we really progressed?

Flipping through the newspaper, I find the government promoting religious scriptures with all its might, or people fighting over others’ food preferences sidelining their own livelihood in this ‘secular’ nation. Talking about this with my peers, I get insights about incidences of religious intolerance in our nation’s history. Does this then mean that all we’ve been doing ever since is deciding on the superiority of one religion over the other?

As people of a country growing at a phenomenal rate, isn’t it time that we pause and think whether our march ahead is taking our society towards a more rational light? No economic growth is capable of realising the progressive potential in its true sense unless the people of the nation aren’t surging in the right direction. It is time we ask ourselves crucial questions, because if we continue walking blindly ahead, we’re soon going to see our people and society collapse due to misdirected advancement, while being incapable of understanding the cause of the collapse.

Priyal Mahtta
[email protected]

Image Credits: www.dreamstime.com

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DUB Speak

Resolution 2017: Productivity Maximisation

By Vineeta Rana January 22, 2017

The winter slump can be a dangerous addition to our college lives, especially when we are already experts in the art of procrastination. It feels impossible to get out of our blankets for early (or any) morning classes, and we manage to come up with a number of justifications for our behaviour. However, the sad truth is that we must overcome these very real challenges in order to fulfill one of the most common new year resolutions – to be more productive.

Here are some tips to give your productivity a boost in 2017:

1.Get out of bed
Getting out of bed is the first (and possibly the most significant) hurdle we face this time of year. However, the only way to get work done is to get out of bed, and that is simply a mental determination that you must work on. Take it one day at a time, and start out slow. You’re allowed to skip a few morning classes initially, but get your body used to waking up in the cold by transitioning to waking up a little earlier each day. Practise makes perfect!

2.Switch it up
To be productive, it’s imperative to keep a track of all your different responsibilities. While some days can be wholly dedicated to one task such as cleaning your room or reorganising your bookshelf, it often gets difficult to maintain a steady level of productivity with a mundane lifestyle. Add some variety to your days by mixing up different small tasks to accomplish instead of sticking to one for a lengthy period. Also, look at new ways of completing these tasks. For example, if you come across an interesting topic in your college course, try watching some animated Youtube videos on the topic instead of reading a mundane Wikipedia article to enhance your knowledge.

3.Make a checklist
There is no greater satisfaction than striking off something on your to-do list. At the start of the day, or at the end of the previous one, make a list of what you plan to do that day. Having a list will give some direction to your day, and force you to face your responsibilities when they are written on a piece of paper or an electronic screen in front of you. Then, when you’ve taken care of a task, you can strike it off your list, and see the result of your hard work in tangible form. This is a great motivating factor to accomplishing even little mundane tasks such as responding to some emails.

Incorporate these strategies into your daily life bit by bit, and watch your life transform as you finally get around to completing all those tasks that you’d been putting off since the last year.

Vineeta Rana
[email protected]

Image Credits:
Feature Image – Lifehack
1 – Cassiefairy
2 – PBS
3 – The Wine Curmudgeon

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Uncategorized

Slam Poetry and why it may not be so cool

By DU Beat January 22, 2017

Once a sceptic, on being asked why she disliked slams, said, “It’s not even poetry. There are two topics it revolves around, which are feminism and politics.” And so it does. But that does not stop the trend of having at least one poetry slam event being organised in each department fest of Delhi University. The spoken word is clearly not going anywhere.Even the Delhi Poetry Slam’s ‘Slam India Retreat 2016’, in Jaipur, saw the participation of self-confessed “poets” in huge numbers.Some of them have picked up the craft solely from watching Youtube videos of Button Poetry.In fact, there are many who do see slam poetry as legitimate poetry.

The spoken word, as a form of poetry, finds its roots in the musical, free verse of the likes of Allen Ginsberg. It sprang up via open mic sessions for the first time in the 1980s in U.S., primarily in small cafes. The trend seems intent on emulation in India, where such poets are increasingly choosing cafes for their debuts as well. There are now organizations like the Delhi Poetry Slam to consolidate and unite slam poets in different regions. The idea is that poetry is performance. Like any other craft, the craft of performance can also be learnt very quickly. It’s not very different from the concept of reality shows in this sense: quickly learning the tricks of the trade to compete and achieve overnight stardom. That it allows poetry to become a source of livelihood,however, might just be the only positive side to it.
Traditional modes of expression are an impasse. The paper does nothing for us now, since we have a Kindle. It’s hard to concentrate on a book for too long without dozing off. Similarly, monologues in the theatres lost charm since competitive slams took precedence, hanging somewhere between rap and poetry. The classification is difficult and something not worth attempting either. It should be let free, as far as the idea goes. But when overnight stardom without any desire of mastery, looking down upon writing, or performing poetry for a quick buck become the inspiration behind it, this generation should sit up and take notice. It should treat this as a warning, an impending disaster stemming from an attitude of materialism and competition.

Deepannita Misra
[email protected]

Image credits: https://pbs.twimg.com

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DUB Speak

Delhi University students protest against ban on Jallikattu

By Niharika Dabral January 22, 2017

On Friday students of University of Delhi gathered in front of Faculty of Arts building to register their protest against the ban on Jallikattu. The protest demonstration was organised by Delhi University Tamil Students Forum (DUTSF) around 11:30 am. Similar to the other protests, DUTSF also demanded an amendment in Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and ban on People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

DU Beat contracted Delhi University Tamil Students Forum (DUTSF) for further insights regarding the issue. We asked Delhi University Tamil Students Forum (DUTSF) what they thought of the ordinance passed by the state that allows the ancient sport of Jallikattu? On this Subhash Chandra,co-coordinator of the demonstration said “Token of justice and injustice differs to a great extent. We see this ordinance as a way to suppress the dissent of people .Permanent solution can be achieved only by removing bull from the list of performing animals in section 22 of The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ACT.”

On being asked about the matter of animal cruelty that anti-Jallikattu lobby alleges and the singular argument of cultural relevance that many pro Jallikattu activists cite, he advocated that the concern about cruelty committed against animals is welcome step but it can be achieved through regulation for example Tamil Nadu Jallikattu Regulation Act 2009 says there should evaluation of bulls after the event and it permits Animal Welfare Board to video graph entire event (this event is held un constitutional by supreme court due to some procedural errors) these kind of acts can be passed. It’s not that the culture is the only reason to conduct an event, its a breeding science the bull which will be so fierce has good capacity to breed cow which which will make cow milk to be a2quality milk which is free from diabetes more over its an event of creating bond between humans and bull in such a way that to save from its extinction.”

Later addressing the accusations of online trolling of PETA members, Subhash asserted that they do not subscribe the harassment and believe in constructive criticism and protest.

Feature Image Credits: hindustan times

Niharika Dabral
[email protected]

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DUB News

Colleges under University of Delhi planning to seek autonomous status

By DU Beat January 22, 2017

Prestigious colleges like St. Stephen’s College, Hindu College, Ramjas College and Sri Ram College of Commerce are planning to seek deemed autonomous university status.

A few prestigious institutions under the University of Delhi, namely, St. Stephen’s College, Hindu College, Ramjas College, Sri Ram College of Commerce and colleges run by theDelhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee, have expressed the desire of achieving a deemed university status. The proposals are at very initial stages, but if granted, these colleges will have the power to formulate their own rules and fee structures which will not adhere to the functioning of Delhi University.

The matter was raised in the governing body meeting of Hindu college, and it was declared that in later stages if a college wants a deemed university status, they must have an ‘A grade’ accreditation under NAAC for 3 consecutive years. A senior university official stated, “Few colleges like SRCC, Stephen’s, Ramjas, Hindu and the ones run by the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee want deemed university status. The Union Human Resource Development Ministry has also formulated some norms for providing more autonomy to colleges but deemed status will give them complete freedom of functioning on their own”. It has been speculated that if this status is granted to any of these colleges, they will not be bound by any of the rules and regulations of Delhi University, and thus there will be no need to seek sanctions from the University for any decision. Despite of all these proposals, it has also been speculated that the Student Unions of these colleges might oppose this move because the college will then have a liberty of deciding their own fee structure, and thus there might be a price hike in the fee which would make affordability a great reason of concern for many students.

St. Stephen’s College has already been in a tussle with the University of Delhi for the past couple of years regarding an autonomous status. Attempts to reach out to the Student Union of the college for their comments were unsuccessful.

Image credits:

SRCC: voice of the nation.com

Hindu: DU Beat

Ramjas: batchmates.com

Stephen’s: mirrorfect.in

Joyee Bhattacharya
[email protected]

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Arts & Culture

Vayam Society performs 1500 ka Dost

By DU Beat January 21, 2017

In the last ten years, the Vayam Performing Arts Society has been steadily growing and expanding its scope, gaining for itself both recognition and experience. What began as an idea in the canteen of Delhi University’s Shivaji College in 2006 has now over 500 productions and 180 awards and special performances to its name. And Vayam’s name, a Sanskrit word that translates to “we”, carries within itself the ideas that society hopes to embody – togetherness, social empowerment and integrity.

Taking the initiative of promotion of artists and art forms forward, the society recently staged their fresh and impactful theatrical production ‘1500 ka dost’ at Akshara Theater in Delhi for the first time.

With a new beginning to the New Year, the two shows of the play were packed with enthusiastic spectators to an extent that there was no space to stand in the auditorium as people were sitting on stairs to watch the performances. The hall resonated with a round of applause after both shows. The shades of humour, emotions and nostalgia made the play enthralling, captivating and entertaining for the viewers.

The actors of the play do a brilliant job of infusing authenticity and credibility into the story. Each scene of the play is intertwined beautifully to enliven the old sweet flavours of friendship in everyone’s mind. The three directors of the play viz. Ashtam Neelkanth, Rahul Saini and Amit Tiwari left no stone unturned to make the play a landmark production. Their vision and technical skills have given wings to an idea by turning it into a spectacular theatrical masterpiece. The entire cast and crew including Ravi Bhadoria, Samridhi Dutta, Praveen Pillai, Rakesh Kumar, Shalu Balyan, Achla Arya, Rahul Yadav, Ramjeet Rambhar, Amit Pahel, Gunjan Tiwari, Neha Mishra, Harsh Gautam, Nayan Nayyar, Prashant Shishodia, Deepak Maggo, Rahul Garg, Savya Jindal, Anmol Jain and Shravan Kumarhas worked for almost three months to polish their characters. The precision and execution of the screenplay is superlative. The smart use of concordant music and lights complements the scenes and makes the entire experience of watching the play all the more interesting and worthy.

The audience moved out of the auditorium overwhelmed with the quality of theatre that they witnessed. There were words of praise and appreciation all around on the conclusion of the event as the audience and organisers were delighted with the proceedings of the event. From décor to arrangements, performance to feedback, the event was a success. The audience could be seen experiencing a mixed bag of emotions throughout the performance. Warm smiles and affectionate tears could be seen in one sight. The feedback cards were evident of the extent to which the play moved the audience. Post cards were distributed to the audience to motivate them for writing a wholehearted message to their old friends. The highlight of the production was its immaculate direction, stimulating concept and a high-spirited, resplendent cast. The production seemed all the more special and powerful because of the presence of persons with disability in the cast. The event was organised in partnership with “Yes! We Can”, an NGO that supports the cause of disability. The support and encouragement of 12 partner organisations including BSE India Ltd., Ekaa industries and ItsPossible Group added more glitter and excellence to the event. The hard work and perseverance of cast and crew is remarkable and has brought glory to journey of Vayam.

With its well established campus wing in Shivaji College, University of Delhi and professional wing based in Delhi and Mumbai, Vayam is making eminent progress to fulfill its aim to become a driver of social change by means of art. The society is also currently recruiting interested budding artists, script writers, directors, technicians and volunteers to expand its scale of activities.

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Arts & Culture

The Reel is Real!

By Arindam Goswami January 21, 2017

The world of entertainment has borrowed motivation from reality since time immemorial. It’s time to indulge into how the events truly transpired!

They say real life inspires true art, and we couldn’t agree more. The masterpieces which have carved an indelible mark in the history of movies and shows are often pictorial projections of the events of reality. From Academy award-winning movies to trend-setting shows, the true events often transcend into the world of mainstream entertainment. Read on to uncover and discover the shades of realism in your favourite pieces of ‘reel!’

Catch Me If You Can

Leonardo DiCaprio kept us and Tom Hanks on toes with this 2002 biographical crime film, canvassing around the life of Frank Abagnale. By the age of nineteen, the latter had successfully managed to earn millions of dollars by posing as a Pan American World Airways pilot, a doctor, a teacher, and a Parish prosecutor. The con artist after serving five years in prison, was then roped in by the FBI to assist in catching check frauds and went on to establish his own security firm.

Dallas Buyers Club

The 2013 Academy Award nominee, directed by Jean- Marc Vallee, narrates the story of Ron Woodroof, who established the titular group in 1988. An AIDS patient diagnosed in the mid-1980s, a period when the disease was not wholly assimilated by the society and was stigmatised to a great degree, smuggled and distributed unapproved medicinal drugs in Texas for treating fellow AIDS patients. Woodroof passed away after seven years from pneumonia triggered by AIDS.

Spotlight

The intriguing biographic drama, which unfolded a horrific practice within the realms of the sacred, went on to win the 2015 Academy Award for Best Film. It is based on the stories by The Boston Globe‘s “Spotlight” team, an operating investigative journalist unit in Boston. It investigated cases of child sex abuse by priests of the Roman Catholic Church, and earned the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. The team uncovered a list of places all around the world where cases relating to abuse by priests have taken place.

Stranger Things

The 2016 internet sensation which garnered instant praise on Netflix is believed to be based on Preston B. Nichols’ Montauk novels, as the Duffer brothers initially created the show with the title ‘Montauk.’ The trilogy is constructed around his experiences at Camp Hero, a government premise where scientific achievements were being endeavoured by crossing all boundaries of reality and fiction. It talked about psychic warfare, time travel experiments and trials on children. Well, it does sound eerily close to the life of Eleven!

Narcos

The recipient of two Emmy nominations, Narcos revolves around the life and times of the real-life drug leader Pablo Escobar. The drug kingpin became a billionaire and one of the wealthiest men in the world by producing and circulating cocaine. ‘The King of Cocaine’ branched out his drug network over years through corruption and intimidation of government officials. Often seen as a confluence of a hero and a criminal, he surrendered to the Colombian authorities in 1991 and subsequently escaped prison in 1992. Following his chase by different entities, Escobar was finally shot and killed by the Columbian National Police in 1993.

Orange Is the New Black

The 2013 Netflix hit is based on Piper Kerman’s 2010 memoir ‘Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison’.The protagonist was convicted on the charges of money laundering and drug trafficking, resulting in her stay at three different federal women’s prison for 15 months. The international bureaucracy, the poor prison system of the US, and Kerman’s moral retrospection form the primal motifs in her memoir.Since then, she has been appointed to serve on the Board of Women’s Prison Association and is working as a communication strategist for non-profit organisations.

Image Credits: Wikipedia, Script Magazine, Empire, Den of Geek, The Inquisitr, IMDb

Saumya Kalia

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Your Beat

What shall the world miss as Barack Obama bids adieu tonight?

By DU Beat January 20, 2017

As the Obama presidency comes to an end, the world would not be same again. We would be deprived of a leader, who had camouflaged behind his serene smile and a rangy gait, a stubborn optimism, unfailing grit, indomitable will and incredible gravitas. Every time Barack Hussein Obama took to the podium, the world held its breath to hear out, as he conjured dreams for countless people through his genuine determination, those crescendos alternating with pregnant pauses, the eclectic hint of a Hawaiian accent and ecclesiastical notes jingling with his prodigious charisma in an ethereal voice and inhuman grace.

The New York Times quotes Beverly Tan Murray, an African American resident from Miami as saying, “ Mr. Obama’s presidency was the living embodiment of a dream we were once promised. If we could live in a world where he was president, maybe America saw, respected, even loved us. For a brief, magical time, that “maybe” felt like reality.” Mr. Barack Obama carried hopes and aspirations on his towering image of a sensitive husband and a loving father, and that of a compassionate, humble and thoughtful man. His persona made the government feel alive as he offered a beacon of hope to a restless world in troubled times, time and again in these 12 turbulent years.

The posterity shall of course also be made to remember, time and again, that the very magnetic eloquence which led to his ascent, proved to be his Achilles’ heel. There always remained this formidable difference in his unquestionably noble motives and what he was finally able to attain for America and the world.

His massive domestic and international political fails, diplomatic setbacks in Russia and Israel, his inability to persuade the Congress on many key reforms, utter failure at being able to check gun violence even after the Sandy Hook and Charleston killings and developing breeding ground for terrorism in middle east due to detrimental inaction will always be blemishing his tenure at the oval office. Some even logic that it was his timidity and inaction on crucial matters at critical junctures which led to the general frustration against the vernacular politics leading to the rise of Donald Trump.

At the end of the day, inspite of his many heroics, irrespective of everything he did, be it Stimulus Bill, Obamacare, salvaging America of two economic recessions, Paris agreement on climate accord, Bilateral agreements with China, Russia and Latin America including Cuba and new paradigms of relation with European and Asian nations, his critics will see his failure over what he saw as pointless. He will be remembered as a leader who did not flaunt his achievements.

The Telegraph quotes Barack Obama saying to a young child interviewing for People’s magazine last month about the Tuesday farewell party. “We are going to have a big party before we leave office. But I’ll be honest with you- it’s going to be after your bed time. ”

As for us, this is no bed time. We will watch in delirium as your antithesis takes over as the 45th POTUS, who unlike you, is vindictive, irritable, argumentative and dangerous.

As for you, some will question your being a good president, no doubt about that. But you will always be remembered as the most beautiful person to ever reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Feature image credits: White House Photo/Pete Souza

Nikhil Kumar

[email protected]

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