According to a notice put up at Delhi School of Social Work on April 27th, 2017, the residents of the hostel are advised to “dress up properly”, while leaving the definition of “proper” open ended and undefined.
The notice has, however, not been received very well by the students, calling the ruling “patriarchal” and the advice “disgraceful”. In response to which, another notice was put up on April 29th, 2017 by DSW hostel’s warden explaining the context of the complaint. The notice read, “The advice regarding dress was made in context of complaint from some female residents of the hostel with regard to certain male residents sleeping in common room in inappropriate night dress, which was curbing their use of common room.” The hostel, providing accommodation to both female and male students separately while making the common room available to all students, allegedly, led to the ruling by the hostel warden.
As per Professor Neera Agnimitra, the head of DSW and provost of the hostel the notice had been put up in response to certain complaints by some girl students about some male students making use of the common study room while being improperly dressed, making it uncomfortable for them to study or watch television in the room. The professor also told that the notice was temporary and would have been removed after discussion with the students on the matter. A general body meeting regarding this had already been conducted on Thursday. Additionally, the notice also prohibited eating, sleeping, bullying or any other indecent behaviour in the common room, and warned of disciplinary action against those violating the rules.
On one hand where it is extremely heartbreaking to get myself acquainted to the fact that I’d never be a part of the Sunday brain storming sessions with the brightest minds from across the university or single-handedly going for meetings with top notch executives from brilliantly huge firms, it also makes me hugely satisfied to see a set of immensely talented juniors who have put in all their effort to make DUB reach new heights this year. My college life, in a nutshell, has been DU Beat. As I sign off as the Marketing Head, I look back in retrospection, at the two year amazing stint that I’ve had at this organisation with the most lovely people that I can, now, proudly proclaim as family.
Thank you, DUB. You’re one college memory I’ll cherish forever.
Writing is liberating, empowering and a life changing experience but not many get the opportunity to showcase the same to the world. Presently working at McKisney & Company, Abhishek Gupta is an Economics major from Kirori Mal College who stands as a young example of how to make one’s dreams come true via writing. Author of India’s first ever travel photo-poetry collection – ‘Iridescence’, we got an opportunity to have an enlightening conversation with him about his dreams, aspirations and his current calling. Excerpts:
Q1. Being an Economics Major from Kirori Mal College, how did the idea of penning down a book come up?
Abhishek: Every person has this childhood fantasy, mine was to grow up and write a book. So as soon as I found an idea which could make a difference to Indian Literature, the first thing I did was to write the book.
India’s first travel photo poetry collection, ‘Iridescence’
Q2. The title of the book – ‘Iridescence’ literally means a lustrous or attractive quality that changes with the change in the angle of view. Metaphorically, why did you choose this title and no other?
Abhishek: Travel changes you. It makes you look at things differently. In Iridescence, I have tried to voice and give vision to different junctures of my journey of self discovery and my discovery of the world. This book would mean different things to different people. It may make you reflect, introspect, awaken, love, invigorate and hope. It may make you look at the same poem differently as you read it at different points of your life. This is a book to tuck under your pillow on cold lonely nights and it is also a book to flip through on a fresh refreshing morning.
Your perspective will define what Iridescence ends up meaning to you. And thus, what better way to sum this photo-poetry book than to call it ‘Iridescence’?
Q3. How did the idea of juxtaposing photography and poetry in a single book come to your mind?
Abhishek: I had been an avid writer since school. In my first year college I started doing photography. I was away to Africa for an internship around that time where sitting by the beach I was writing poetry. That’s when it struck me that it would be a great idea to combine photos and poetry in a book. It took me 3 years since then to materialise the book.
Q4. Most of your poems are an inspiration picked up directly from nature. Any story behind this you’d like to share with us?
Abhishek:When I started with photography, I clicked nothing but flora, and then slowly started clicking landscapes. Nature inspires me the most, and I particularly write the most when I am travelling. I strongly believe that nature has the power to amaze you and has a lot of wisdom to impart to you about life.
Q5.What motivated you to travel and pen down your thoughts in the form of poetry?
Abhishek:My primary motivation to travel was to get out of my comfort zone and to experience life and different ways of living beyond my confines. I wanted to breathe the air of new places and collect moments worth reliving. Photography was also one of the major reasons triggering all my travel.
Soon after, I discovered, Photo-poetry was the perfect medium to make a picture and moment eternal for myself and as well as for the readers. And then the camera didn’t stop clicking and the pen kept scribbling onto the pages of my travel journal.
Q6.Do you think poetry as a form of writing needs a new lease of life? What are your comments about the culture of poetry that we have in the country today?
Abhishek: I think we are at a very unique point in the history of literature where we are heading towards digitalisation and experimenting more than ever before. Poetry in India too needs innovation to enhance its market and appeal. It no longer needs to be about being free verse or sonnet or a haiku. It could be in different patterns, in various styles, lengths and on any particular theme.
I think the poetry scenario in India is reforming and broadening its horizons. There are slam poetry sessions every weekend, blogs and Instagram flooding with new budding Indian poets more than ever before and a wider acceptance of new forms of poetry. It is a privilege to witness such a rich growing poetry culture in our country.
Q7.Being a young author, you must have faced many unprecedentedchallenges and obstacles in the path of getting yourself published. Any anecdotes or important advice you wish to pass on to our young readers and aspiring authors?
Abhishek:Poetry is something that is very close to the writer, so I think the first obstacle is making peace with the fact that you are opening yourself to the entire world. So don’t be afraid to opening yourself up to the world.
And then the second obstacle is apparently finding a publisher. So all I would say is that if you reach out to 50 publishers, only 5 would respond back and 1 will for sure accept your idea, and that is all that will make a difference.
Q8. In a collection of more than 30 poems, which poem is very close to you or has a special place among the plethora of experiences that helped you collate this book?
Abhishek:Each poem is very close to my heart, so it would be very unfair if I choose one. But if I have to choose, then it would be ‘Probably Exuberance’. Because that was the first photo-poetry I wrote, and that’s where Iridescence started.
Abhishek’s book has been received very well and has also become a top-seller on Amazon in its genre. We wish Abhishek all the very best for all his future endeavours!
Upholding the pomp and glamour of the fest season, Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College celebrated its annual cultural fest, Lashkara, from February 22nd to 25th, 2017. The four-day show presented a motley of events to be experienced and enjoyed by the student community.
The first day of the fest kicked off with the inauguration ceremony, officially drawing the curtains open to the festivities of Lashkara. The initial two days witnessed a myriad of departments, including political science, mathematics, history, botany, English, Punjabi, BBE, Hindi, economics, commerce, electronics, and B.A. Programme putting on display a diversity of intriguing and enthralling competitions for the participants to devour their interests in. The competitions were a mixture of department-oriented quizzes, contemporary topics, and fun activities.
Ankur, the theatre society of Khalsa College, organised Pratyaksh, a stage play competition, with Shunya of Ramjas College securing the first place. Due to the volatile political environment in the North Campus, the second day of Pratyaksh was postponed to a later date. The poetry society, Acrostics, celebrated the magic of words with Shabdotsav, a slam poetry competition, and Epiphany, an English poetry competition. The western dance society organised Meraki, with Gargi College’s Enliven bagging the first place followed by Sri Venkateswara College’s Verve. Swarang, the music society of Khalsa College, organised Antara, Taal Mel, Swarsagam, and Bandish on the two days to invigourate the music chords of the hearts. Enactus Khalsa, the fine arts society, and the photography society also conjured captivating exhibitions of the work of their members, enhancing the cultural ambience of the fest.
The last day of the fest commenced with the enthralling folk dance performance, attracting the audience with foot-tapping rhythms and enthused souls. The crowd poured in with the anticipation of witnessing the star performance of Guru Randhawa. The Punjabi singer of ‘Suit’ and ‘Patola’ fame invigourated the crowd with contemporary hits, concluding the eventful fest on a merry musical note.
The much celebrated fest season of Delhi University has almost come to an end. Most of the colleges have had their annual cultural fests with spectacular performances in the competitive events, and to the amazing EDM and Star Nights. With the tribal theme on point, Daulat Ram College successfully organised its two-day fest Manjari’17 on the 22nd and 23rd of March. The pots painted with warli paintings and tribal masks: everything was splendidly placed, decorating the entire college premises beautifully.
The audience relished the amazing performances of different colleges in the western dance competition Laasya, folk dance competition Ulhaas, classical dance competiton Yogya, and semi classical face-off Darpan organised by Zenith, the western dance society of DRC and Annhad, the Indian dance society of DRC respectively. Alahyaa, the Indian Music Society of DRC held its annual music fest Aaroh’17 where the leading music societies competed in the different events like Sur Sangam, Jugalbandi and Annhad. Memesis, the theatre society of DRC organised Adakari’17- the theatre festival of DRC which saw a vast multitude of spectators pulled towards the amazing annual productions of the different theatre societies. Annual exhibition Taabeer’17 was organised by Sepia, the film and photography society of DRC. ‘Shades’ was organised by Spectra– the fine arts society of DRC. Tajagna, the quizzing society of DRC hosted Big Fact Hunt- a general quiz. All India Mushairah was also organised. A talent hunt competition was held for the visually challenged students. Events like Promenade by Debonair, the fashion society of DRC and Zaahir-e-Hunar, the open talent hunt, had immense spectation.
Superstar singer Guru Randhawa of Suit, Patola, Yaar Mod Do fame ignited the evening with his peppy numbers, making the crowd dance on their toes. The two-day celebration was drawn to a close with Bollywood hits like Pee Loon, Tere Sang which are credited to the name of the soulful singer Tulsi Kumar.
Over 200 ad-hoc faculty members of University of Delhi observed a day-long hunger strike on Friday, April, 28th, 2017. The strike was observed in order to press their demand to be absorbed as permanent faculty by the University.
The hunger-strike was organised at the Delhi University Arts’ Faculty premises where the ad-hoc faculty members from across the University discussed the problems and irregularities they are subject to by the University. According to Himanshu Singh, an Assistant Professor (ad-hoc) at Satyawati College (Evening), these teachers are not being made permanent for a long time, and are forced to enjoy a sub-par status, which does not allow them to enjoy the privileges/facilities the permanent members get. He also added while in conversation with IANS, “Some of us have been teaching us for more than ten years, some even more. Why are we not good enough for permanent status, when the university can trust us with teaching students, their evaluation, and their careers?”
The Assistant Professor also told that the ad-hoc teachers are hired through the same selection process as permanent teachers.
According to another ad-hoc teacher from Satyawati College, they will also march to the Vice-Chancellor’s office and present him with a charter on their demands. The Delhi University Teachers’ Association extended its complete support to the protesting teachers in their bid to earn a permanent faculty status in the University.
A research was conducted by the Innovation Project team of Ramanujan College, titled “Designing Distribution Channel Strategy: Forging Consumer and Product Synchrony” under the Project code “RNC- 302”.
The research conducted by the Innovation Project team of Ramanujan College, University of Delhi, titled “Designing Distribution Channel Strategy: Forging Consumer and Product Synchrony” under the Project code “RNC- 302” dealt with drawing a relationship between consumer preferences and distribution channel preferred (local kirana, malls or online) for a particular type of commodity for a given city, under various parameters. The 3 principal operators of this project were Dr. K. Latha, Ms. Isha Gupta and Mr. Rakesh Singh, accompanied by Mr. Pulkit Garg (Country Head of Operations) Arvind Lifestyle Brands Ltd.) as mentor. The student members were Aakar Mangla, Akshit Kakkar, Aditya Sharma, Bharat Anand, Jamaaluddin, Jyoti Tyagi, Kanak Bohra, Pragya Parashar, Ranjeeta Sharma and Saurabh Singh. The team compiled 4 research papers, out of which 3 were focused on individual cities and the 4th one was a joint study of all the cities.
The study aimed to understand the quantitative and qualitative horizons of consumer behavior in different tiers of Indian cities like, Delhi- a metropolitan, Panipat- a developing business hub and Mussoorie- a tourist destination. The results of the study were based on primary data collected by conducting a survey of 600 individuals (200 in each city) of diverse ages, in the selected cities. The sample in each city was stratified and random, and components of study considered only Groceries (oil, grains, confectionery, etc.) and Electronics (Mobile handsets, refrigerators, computers, etc.), which were judged on following parameters-seller’s goodwill, price, product quality, availability, convenience, discount, packaging, timely delivery and payment security.
The outcome of the study showed that even with the recent expansion of online portals and malls, local kirana stores remain to be a prominent feature of Indian shopping experience in most cities. The reasons being: convenient, ready availability, product quality, and seller’s goodwill. However, offering discounts, attractive prices, and providing honest reviews proves to be a setback for local kiranas. The outcome was reached upon after an extensive and comprehensive study of these cities. Various innovations and business ideas are given in the research papers compiled by the team which would prove to be of enormous help to new entrepreneurs trying to step into this arena. With online portals growing at this pace, local kiranas and malls are required to undergo a makeover to recapture the customer base they have been losing. Hence, any innovation which could bring this revolution would be more than welcomed.
For more information, watch the short film about their project here.
Writing has never been difficult for me. I am better with words on paper than I am with words in speech. That was the idiosyncrasy that led me to DU Beat as a disillusioned first year student undergoing an identity crisis. However, as I sat down to write this Farewell note at the end of my time with this platform, I found myself at a loss for words. It’s clearly not easy saying goodbye to something that has been an integral part of my identity for the past three years.
DU Beat has continued to grow by leaps and bounds since its inception ten years ago, and it was an absolute honour to have had the chance to influence this growth during a period that saw great tumult and radical changes in the world, especially in the student community. We were at the forefront of covering important issues around the University throughout the year, including the DUSU elections and the events at Ramjas College earlier this year, and proudly stuck to our motto of ‘Freedom of Expression’.
What makes DU Beat great, apart from the fact that we are the one of the biggest campus publications in the country, is the amount and diversity of the opportunities it has to offer. Some apply looking for an internship experience, others do it for the want of a platform that gives space to their talent which their academic life has no scope for, and yet others – like yours truly – do it in search of a purpose to keep themselves engaged and energised during the course of their otherwise drab college lives. Everyone gets what they are looking for, and more. Working at DU Beat isn’t just writing articles, meeting deadlines and covering events. It is also finding yourself in unexpected situations and learning to adapt in order to come out at the top. It is on-ground, real-world experience that’s hard to come by for 20-year-old students so early in their career. It is finding kaleidoscopic minds coming together for riveting conversations who become teammates to work with and friends to depend on and meet outside of work. It is gruelling, challenging yet rewarding work, and laughter, appreciation and unwinding with a team that starts feeling like family. It was all of that for me for the past three years – a purpose, a family, a constant. By the end of your time here, you don’t realise most of the voids you came with because this place finds a way to fill them.
Out of all the things we achieved this year – from the increases in our readership to experimenting successfully with live platforms – I am the most proud of the team we’ve managed to put together. It is with a heavy heart but immense confidence that I leave this team we built in the capable leadership of Vineeta Rana, as the Editor for the year 2017-18, and Srivedant Kar, as the Associate Editor. With the satisfaction of having seen everyone in the team grow not only as journalists but also as people, I sign off from my duties as the Editor for 2016-17.
“Do you know that the majority of the people who attended the programme were IITians?” asked one of my friends, a humanities student from the University of Delhi who recently returned from a winter school at a premier business institution of the country. I was left wondering whether the presence of engineers from premier engineering colleges was something from which the programme drew its value or vice versa.
Last year, the Ministry of Human Resource Development approved six new IITs. This was in spite of the fact that the existing IITs face a 40% shortage of faculty members. Earlier in 2014, when the BJP-led NDA government came to power, it declared the formation of new IITs. The same declaration was followed before the elections in Jammu in 2016. The parents, teachers, politicians, and the entire country seem to have fallen in love with IITs. So much so that students start preparing for the entrance from Class 8th and even below. Every year, the placement reports of students bagging packages in crores, national media coverage of toppers, and several other factors play their roles in creating this beautiful picture of IITs as the institutions which would make your life all set once you enter them.
But the inside picture is something no one pays attention to. Recently, another student committed suicide in one of the premier institutions of the country. From the towns that have virtually turned into factories in the name of coaching centres to the placements after entering premier institutions, this entire journey of a student is filled with pressure and stress which becomes too difficult to handle.
Every year India produces engineers who are as many in number as the entire population of Singapore. However, only 7% of them are employable. These engineers often start their journey as science students after Class 10th because they are perceived to be ‘good students’ and then the journey never ends.
This year a total number of 11, 98,989 people applied for the JEE mains exams across the country. The huge number implies that this is no less than a national dream.
But is it?
The number of IITians cracking the UPSC, IIMs, and other jobs has increased in the last five years. This shows that IITians are looking for alternative career options than engineering. A few days back during a casual chat with one of my hostelmates who studies at DSE, he mentioned that the number of engineers getting into economics after engineering has increased over the years. Similar pictures can also be drawn for the Faculty of Law.
Every student dreams to be recognised, get a good job, achieve greatness, contribute back to the country, or simply make his parents happy. Satisfaction in life plays a huge role in determining the quality of life that we live and share with everyone around us.
This is another year when in the coming days 1.5 lakh students from the 12 lakhs who applied for the JEE mains would be sitting for the JEE advanced paper. As students from IITs break into the 100 percentile clubs of CAT, go ahead into environment conservation, crack the UPSC, or explore humanities, all I wonder is that if these jobs were appealing career options in the first place, then why spend four precious years doing engineering.
Herd mentality at play
Maybe these engineers realised this in the later part of their engineering courses. Or maybe they never thought about it in their earlier years because they didn’t see it as an option. Or maybe the picture above is the answer. I don’t know.
“Chaahe jo tumhe poore dil se, Milta hai woh mushkil se Aisa jo koi kahin hai, Bas vahi sabse hasin hai”
In 2015, one sunny afternoon, eating in the college canteen, a colourful newspaper in the hands of many students caught my eye. I applied to work there, got selected, and that decision of sending a very nervous and grammatically unsound email changed my life forever. That newspaper was DU Beat. Cut to two years hence, when I was bestowed with a leadership role and was given the post of the Associate Print Editor, I never thought that the newspaper that I recall as my first memory of DU Beat would become my baby one day.
Like the line I quoted above, my journey at DU Beat has been like a movie. It had a powerful plot that built my way to the future, a story with a purpose, individuals and characters who I fell in love with, and a heartwarming ending that brims with emotions I will fail to express here. Just like a movie is memorable because of its characters, my time at DUB gave me the chance to know and work with some of the finest correspondents, photographers, and designers. Working here gave me friends I will cherish for a lifetime and it gave me a family that I know has always got my back. But like all movies, my association with this place had its own ups and downs.
While I had my share of achievements and fun by writing some popular Bazingas (some of them were believed to an extent that we got in trouble sometimes), political pieces, took some unbelievably cool interviews and attended outstation fests (a shoutout to my Mood-I mini family), my leadership role most of the time didn’t allow me to write as much as I would have wanted to. The pressure that comes with this responsibility sometimes got the better of me and left me frustrated, stressed, and sometimes even self-critical. But my time here can never be replaced and the experience can never be recreated. My college life and DU Beat were pretty much synonymous. DU Beat gave me an identity. The sense of association, love, respect, and adoration that one develops for this place and its people is a feeling that not many get to feel in their college life and I feel blessed that I was one of the few lucky ones who got to experience the magic of this place firsthand.
From allotting articles, solving doubts post midnight over WhatsApp, making the Print layout to heading Print meetings every Monday, unlike the rest of the world, I developed an unusual liking for the most hated day of the week and always looked forward to it. I am terribly going to miss the 200+ notifications on the 60+ WhatsApp groups, I am going to crave the feeling of being able to put up an urgent post on all the social media handles and then see it trend and get likes, I am going to miss the feeling of using my DUB ID and toggling between multiple social media platforms and mixing passwords each time. Most of all, I will never have an excuse to skip awkward social gatherings and ignore my friends saying, “I have DUB work.”
Riya’s journey at DUB
Farewell, April 2016
Mood Indigo, December 2016
Farewell, April 2017
In life, one must always have something to look up to, something to look forward to and something to chase and in my case, for two consecutive years, DU Beat filled all the blanks. Not being able to work here anymore is going to leave a void in me that is never going to be fulfilled, it will leave a thirst that will never be quenched.
But as Shakespeare rightly said,
All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts
In my entire college life, DUB was my world, my stage, and I guess I played my part. It is time I make my exit.
Wishing the new office bearers all the very best. Keep our baby growing.
