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Father’s Day Special: Lessons, memories and constant support

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“My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.”  – Jim Valvano

They may not feature in those commercials showing a baby’s first steps, or in the ones with nutritious food for the family, but they are relentlessly there, like reassuring shadows. Not looming but towering, like pillars of solace. In their eyes you see the loving sparkle from your childhood, the watchfulness of today and a beacon for the morrow. He is the friend who supports, the teacher who motivates and the superhero that never fails to amaze you.

Today, we celebrate fatherhood, their love and inspiration, through stories that inspire us, tell us what is a father’s role like in the upbringing of a child so that we  celebrate and  return that greatest gift- and believe in them.

1. Every father’s prayer, every teacher’s Bile: Abraham Lincoln’s letter to his son’s teacher

“To live this life will require faith, love and courage. It is far more honorable to fail than to cheat. Teach him there is no shame in tears. Teach him to listen to everyone. Teaching him – but gently, if you can. He is such a nice little boy and he is my son.”

 

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2.Imparting knowledge, imparting compassion, leading by example: ‘Letters from a Father to His Daughter’ by Jawaharlal Nehru

“I am going to write you short accounts of the story of our earth and the many countries, great and small, into which it is divided and I hope these will make you think of the world as a whole and of other people in it as our brothers and sisters.”

indira

 

3. Of everlasting love and a heart that forgives: The Prodigal Son- The Holy Bible

“I will get up and go to my father, and will tell him- Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight. I am no more worthy to be called your son. Make me one of your hired servants.”

He arose, and came to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran towards him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.

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4. On life, boys, insects and courage: Letter to Scottie by Scott Fitzgerald

“All I believe in, in life is the rewards for virtue (according to your talents) and the punishments for not fulfilling your duties, which are doubly costly. If there is such a volume in the camp library, will you ask Mrs. Tyson to let you look up a sonnet of Shakespeare’s in which the line occurs- Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds.”

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5. Raising a gentleman, and being gentle at it: Seeing a Woman: A conversation between a father and a son by Nate Pyle

“Someday I am going to have to have the conversation with my son. The one that happens after I catch his eye doing what male eyes do well – following an object of lust: I’m not telling you to not look at women. Just the opposite. I’m telling you to see women. Really see them. Not just with your eyes, but with your heart. Don’t look to see something that tickles your senses, but see a human being. “hands

 

And, this is why fathers matter. Here’s wishing them a Happy Father’s Day. Cheers to the learning, the faith and the love!
imagecourtesy: tumblr.com

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DUB Speak

India Today- Nielsen Survey: Of unclear methodology and perfect scores

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It is possibly one of India Today’s most awaited issues, the Best Colleges Survey undertaken in a joint effort by India Today and AC Nielsen is a yearly feature released weeks, if not days, before most colleges in the country open admissions for the new academic session.

Here, we bring to your attention the methodology to point to how these rankings may be optimal in relative terms but not necessarily so in absolute terms. This is not to discredit the colleges that featured on the various lists.
Other publications like Outlook also publish an annual survey and it is more or less the same colleges that feature at the top; clearly, the rankings is based on substantive data. But focusing on the colleges in the Arts, Science and Commerce streams, each of which is topped by a Delhi University college with a 100/100 score, we try to understand the methodology that goes into the score calculation and whether, in spite of the rankings in the different parameters and the overall ranking of 1st position, a full score is suitable or not.

According to the methodology followed for Arts, Science and Commerce colleges, a list of colleges was drawn up  from 17 cities across the country and this list sent to ‘experts’ in those 17 cities along with a standard questionnaire. This was the procedure followed for city-wise rankings. In the second stage, the ranking was done for the nation-wide list, this time by a panel of experts at the national level. By experts, the survey means Principals, Vice-Principals, HODs and Deans and to eliminate bias, they were asked to not rate their respective colleges. Over 1250 expert opinions were taken overall.

The various parameters like reputation, academic input, student care, infrastructure, placement, perceptual rank are then supplemented by a factual rank.  In the case of Arts colleges, it is interesting to note that Lady Shri Ram College has a full score of 100 and Loyola College which is ranked second has a score of 91.8 but in terms of parameter-wise ranking, Loyola is ranked 1st in all parameters except factual rank where it stands 17th and LSR stands 1st. Similarly, amongst the Science colleges, St. Stephen’s College has a score of 100 which is closely followed by Loyola at 99.26 but again, Loyola is ranked 1st in all parameters but the factual ranking where it stands 15th and Stephen’s 8th. It is Ramjas College from DU which has a factual rank of 1 and is in the 5th position with a score of 83.63. In Commerce, we have a neat case of SRCC  having been ranked 1st across all parameters with a score of 100 and LSR follows with an 87.30 and 2nd position in all parameters except factual ranking where it stands 3rd and Christ University, Bangalore stands 1st. Clearly, the system of parameters and the concept of perceptual and factual rank need to be explained better to allow for a more informed analysis of the rankings and the scores.

Lady Shri Ram College, St. Stephen’s College and Shri Ram College of Commerce have scored an outstanding 100 out of 100 in Arts, Science and Commerce respectively. While these are known to be the ‘top’ colleges, and are almost certainly so in relation to the other colleges surveyed, two things need to be considered- the ambiguity of the parameter-wise ranking system and the credibility of the full scores. Surely, even students from these colleges would admit that the institutes (like all institutes all over the world), have scope for improvement. Again, this is not to discredit the colleges ranked at the top but to question the process by which the scores were arrived at.

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Features

Making the city safer: By day and by night

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In the wake of some very unfortunate incidents of rape and sexual assault, the city of Delhi was labeled as the ‘Rape capital of India’ and perhaps for the first time in the city’s history, it saw people take to the streets by the hundreds in protest. Some called it a new awakening of consciousness and public responsibility, one that has its crests and troughs albeit. Hullabaloo follows in the aftermath of every such case, and then a period of lull takes over. But here are two projects which carry on in their pursuits of making the city safer, in helping prevent rather than lamenting afterward. And no they are not complex laws of the state. Jo mera hai woh mera hai– an Education Tree initiative by Delhi University students and Safer City Project- an Halonix advertising campaign are here with a cause.

Jo mera hai woh mera hai: Started by Smriti Singhal, Kunal Arora and Karan Katyal, all student of DU, The Education Tree has at its core the idea that education goes beyond the classroom and can also adapt the creative forms of arts like dance, drama and craft. And the most important issue that the group sought to address was that of respect for women keeping in mind the poor levels of gender sensitization in society. “The core belief was that we wanted a result-oriented campaign, spreading awareness was pivotal. The fact is that everyone in this society needs to change their mindset when they look at this issue be it a man or a woman. After the Dec 16 rape case everyone was on the streets protesting but the protests were not leading to anything.

I believe that the youth has a lot of energy and that energy needs to be channelized in the right direction,” says Smriti.The campaign ‘jo mera hai woh mera hai’ loosely translates to ‘my body, my rights’ and is a creative expression of grave concerns like women’s safety.

 

To put their message across, the campaign uses creative art forms like street plays and metro theatres (held at metro stations), flash mobs and freeze mobs. The last is a relatively new concept where a group of people suddenly freeze in their positions and hold up posters with powerful messages and important information in order to attract the attention of those around them.

The aim of the campaign is to deliver important social messages that promote gender sensitization and also to disseminate information regarding helpline numbers, mobile apps and laws pertaining to the issue of women’s rights and women’s safety. Explains Smriti “We are ardent believers of art and therefore, the solution had to be creative. We use art as a medium at The Education Tree to bring social change,”  The campaign was launched a year back and today, it has over hundred student volunteers from the University. Over a 1000 freeze mobs and other events have been conducted across the city from places ranging from markets and malls to schools and colleges to metro and railway stations. The Education Tree hopes to take the campaign across the country and do its bit for the society.

Safer City Project: The Safer City Project is a product of some great promotion strategy on part of Halonix- a lighting company. It uses advertising for a social-welfare purpose like few have. In effect, what the project does is put up billboards carrying  one-line advertising messages which are then lit up at night doubling up as bright flood lights which help light up dark streets.

To identify which streets were in need of immediate lighting, Halonix used its Safer City Project Facebook page to take the opinion of the city’s residents. On popular vote, Vasant Kunj was the first to get one such board, this was followed by areas in Dwarka and Gurgaon amongst others. The Project has now expanded to cover other cities like Chennai, Lucknow and Mohali. Moreover, Halonix has no copyright over the idea and is open to, even supportive of other companies following suit. Making our cities safer by the night is their primary concern.

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Biblio

A fable called ‘Bal Narendra’

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At a time when an anticipated Modi wave is the talk of every town, even children’s comics are roped in to promote ideologies, parties and above all, leaders. Bal Narendra falls in the last category; the comic, based on 17 ‘real life’ incidents from Modi’s childhood only adds to the presidential style of campaigning that the BJP has been carrying out for its PM candidate Narendra Modi. The release of this comic came barely a few days before the release of that other book on our leader of ten years- The Accidental Prime Minister. But while Bal Narendra is a mere children’s comic that barely made it to the bookstores unlike Sanjay Baru’s controversial book, it is a part of a larger process of promotion and publicity.

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It tells one about how the child Narendra Modi abided by every rule, took lessons from every experience, and emerged as the hero of every little cause and at the same time remained a humble and generous child.  Whether it was helping his father run his little tea stall or nursing his mother to health or saving a friend from drowning or standing up in the face of social discrimination…little Narendra always had the best remedies for every problem. From the disciplined son and the ideal student to the helpful friend and the resourceful champion, he was the perfect boy. And that is problematic.

In today’s testing times, when the Gujarat riots continue to haunt Modi even at the peak of his popularity, this image of the compassionate hero seems to be a portrayal stretched too far. Even the gods have faults, or at least in comics. By explaining why simple stories like that of Modi whitening his shoes matter at the end of the comic, the publishers have tried to establish the image of the leader that this country needs. Unfortunately for them, children do not aspire to be as perfect and well, they don’t vote either. Why a comic, then? If the highest court in the country has given him a clean chit in the riots, why should a children’s comic have to substantiate that? The reason is simple, a comic is but not a mere light read in this context. As mentioned earlier, it is part of a larger publicity scheme, a process of cultural diplomacy, if I may.

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When his mother chides him for having brought a baby crocodile home, Modi learns the pain of separating a mother from her child, when he helps an injured bird fly again, he is hailed as a compassionate boy. His love for his motherland is illustrated by his sense of respect towards those from the forces. The values that these purportedly true stories wish to inculcate are exactly those that parents want their children to grow with. But will they pick up a Bal Narendra over an Amar Chitra Katha? In keeping with the impending Modi wave, if they indeed do, consider the purpose of the comic fulfilled. For it is not to teach children how to learn and look up to the leader but about a sense of omnipresence and power. The message is- he has arrived.

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DUB Speak

Of sexism and stupidity: Why LSR girls should date NSIT guys?

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Following the uproar that this recent video trending on social networking sites elicited, I will here cautiously explain how this combination of sexism, stereotyping and stupidity has always been ‘trending’, be it on the social media or in daily parlance. Coming from LSR, one is always aware of the label of feminism that one carries regardless of whether one is a feminist or not. But defending the college is not the only reason I want to decry ‘Why LSR girls should date NSIT guys’. I don’t know how many people took offence and how many people gloated over it, but being a woman, it was difficult to ignore this level of ignorance, and hence, this piece.

By casting the LSR girl (and not woman) in a highly sexist stereotypical mould, I don’t know what aim the makers of the video had sought to fulfill. Was it for some ‘macho’ NSIT publicity or was it about labeling the LSR student as ‘needy, yappy and materialistic’ as put by one viewer in a YouTube comment? If it was indeed filmed in poor taste, it was demeaning for women as a whole and we would collectively like to voice our opposition to it, but if it was just another video with but mere facts, you’re way behind the times. If you don’t care about being sexist, at least care about being stupid. No brownie points there.

If the video in question was meant to be a joke, then to all those who have requested us to take it in good humour, the video makes little to no sense, and isn’t funny at all. Let’s go over some gems this video has showered us with-

  1. We listen to your crap: Are we doing an early 90s ‘rich girl-poor boy-I want you at any cost’ film? Not all women are verbose, and verbose is not always yappy. We hope you are mature enough to engage in meaningful conversation as well.
  2. Carry your shopping bags: Machismo, misogyny, senselessness. Women shop, women are physically weak, a boyfriend is essentially a porter. If only that were ever a criterion. If you do want to chivalrous, try being sensible and sensitive, and not stereotypical.
  3. Parents’ approval: Has anybody ever tried this? If this was a publicity stunt, we hope no parents’ were watching.
  4. Why I won’t break up with you (the status symbol factor- “bhai LSR ki ladki dila de”): Speaks volumes about the NSITian in question. Your friends treat you well just because you have a girlfriend from LSR? I wonder who the joke is on!
  5. I won’t cheat on you (because NSIT is largely populated by male students):  Ever heard of homosexuality and bisexuality, or do I sound absurd? Is that all that makes you trustworthy? According to the video, we can trust you because you are a straight man in an almost all-boys class, implying that you would have cheated on your girlfriend, if you could have?
  6. The best part-placements: Well, if a woman is materialistic, she can also be a self-financed materialistic woman. Many wonder if a woman would be involved with a man who earns less than her. Such are the stereotypes that we have created over the years; the man has to be taller, stronger, and sharper.
  7. LSR teachings- being a lesbian is okay: Apparently, LSR women are either feminists or lesbians. Well, let me teach you this then; being gay is also ‘okay’, and you may cheat on us now.
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Lady Shri Ram College for Women

LSR holds three day conference – Where Women Lead

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Following the course of dialogue set by the Academic Congress on gender held earlier in the year, Lady Shri Ram College held a three-day conference  from 31st march- 2nd April 2014- Where Women Lead, in association with the Women in Public Service Project, a global non-governmental initiative aiming to build a generation of women leader who would take responsibility to further the betterment of their countries.

The conference was held at the India International Centre and concluded at the college, it was supported by Ford Foundation India and the US Embassy. The conference saw educationists, policy makers, activists and performers all come together and interact with the students and the staff. The brainchild of college Principal Dr. Meenakshi Gopinath and Dr. Rangita De Silva De Alwis, head of the  Global Women’s Leadership Initiative at the Wilson Center, the conference witnessed a total of 14 sessions as well as multiple film screenings and performances. The inaugural address was delivered by Nancy Powell, former US Ambassador to India, who spoke about how women’s issues were not just women’s issues but also those of family, economy, security and justice and that violence blocks the participation of women in society. Her message to the gathering was short and clear- we must do more.

The sessions on the opening day, focused on the importance of academic institutions in public leadership,which saw educationists from India, Sri Lanka and the United States talk about the role of women’s colleges. Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh later addressed the delegates on what constitutes the private and the public and how these notions are highly gender-ed. The later sessions on law and rights hosted by acclaimed experts like Kamala Bhasin and Vrinda Groverhow talked about how human rights and women’s rights mean the same things and the importance of rights being accessible . Each session had a dedicated time slot for a Youth Speak round where the floor was open to questions and comments from the students.

The second day saw a series of dialogues unfold around democracy and equal (or unequal) participation, representation of women in politics and policy making, i.e., how it changes when women are at the helm. Aruna Roy, founder of MKSS, spoke about the need to go beyond voting and engage in alternative politics in order for women to exercise their rights as citizens, she also spoke about the big disconnect between formal leadership and the grassroots. Planning Commission member .Meanwhile, in a parallel session, women’s representation in top decision making bodies was discussed by a group of eminent party members from different South Asian countries. The day ended with the screening of Uma Chakravarti’s Fragments of a Past followed by a discussion with the filmmaker. An installation titled ‘Women in Movement’ was also showcased at the India International Centre on the first two days of the conference.

On the third day, all the sessions was held at the college itself; the day opened with the screening of an excerpt from Aung San Suu Kyi’s address to the college in November 2012. This was followed by a discussion by the faculty members on what leadership means to women and what happens when questions of caste, class and sexuality are woven into pre-existing gender imbalances. At the end of the session, it was clear that a feminist interpretation of leadership means collective leadership and this was reiterated by Dr. Gopinath in her closing speech when she quoted from Heider’s Tao of Leadership,” like water, the leader is yielding. Because the leader does not push, the group does not resent or resist.” 

After the screening of the critically acclaimed film Girl Rising, the faculty and the students split into two different venues where each group, after over an hour of deliberation, arrived at action plans at various levels. These plans were read out and adopted as a declaration and a similar conference is soon hoped to be convened in order to implement the plan and track the progress made. The evening ended with moving closing comments and Kaleidoscope- a series of evoking recitations and performances. Through the conference, the college and especially its students hope to bring forward women’s leadership which, as put by Hillary Clinton, remains the unfinished business of the 21st century.

Photo Credits: Sahiba Chawdhary, DU Beat

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Lady Shri Ram College for Women

LSR elects their Students’ Union for the upcoming academic year

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Come every spring and the Lady Shri Ram College for Women’s campus comes abuzz with political fervor and elections become the flavor of the season. It is the time of the year when the baton is passed on from one generation of office holders to another. In a span of two weeks, the Students’ Union, the many departments and societies, the NSO (National Sports Organization), the NSS (National Service Scheme), the NCC (National Cadet Corps) and the Residence Hall all elect their new representatives.

As in a democracy, the elections process for the Students’ Union comprises of a series of steps. Nominations are filed, core teams for each candidate formed, agendas released, campaigns carried out and secret ballots cast. The process for the various department and society associations is not an as elaborate one; however, it is as democratic in its conduct.

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Students Campaigning. | Image Credit: Mugdha for DU Beat

The Students’ Union at LSR comprises of four posts- President, Cultural Secretary, General Secretary and Treasurer; the first three in that hierarchical order. The first two posts are open to all second year students and the second two to all first year students, the Union that gets elected replaces the incumbent Union at the end of the academic year in a formal Passing Over Ceremony. This year, the college saw a considerably overwhelming number of applications for all posts and an equally encouraging voter turnout. Three students each contested for the post of the President and Cultural Secretary, five for General Secretary and four for Treasurer. When asked why the aspiring candidates chose to contest, Lakshmi Venkitesh, who contested for the post of Cultural Secretary said that it was the best way to give back to a place that had changed her for the better in more ways than one.

While the informal confrontation saw demands like Urdu rap and English nursery rhymes in Hindi, the formal confrontation saw each candidate present her agenda and take questions from the from the existing Union and the audience. In the Group Discussion, questions like ‘Should the social media be used for college election campaigning’ were deliberated upon. These events were held with an aim to intimate the student body with their candidates’ ideas and outlook.

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Students Voting. | Image Credit: Keshini Dhamania

But at the end of the day, it was the campaigning that stole the show. The two day long campaigning saw the wackiest of slogans- ‘Janhit mein jaari hai, Sabika ki baari hai’ and ‘Main Jaya Jaya chillaungi kurta phaad ke’. With the amount of clamour, sometimes musical and sometimes not, it was quite the battle of the bands, albeit with cymbals and tambourines. “Our voice cords trembled as the tempo increased but the game was on”, says Shireen Vidrohi, a campaigner for one of the presidential candidates.

The week long elections remained largely hassle-free one and some great camaraderie despite the competitive air. After the polling was conducted on 28th March, 2014, the results were announced by college Vice-Principal Priti Dhawan the very same day. The newly elected Union has Sabika Abbas as the President, Manosi Chaterjee as Cultural Secretary, Jyotirupa Das as General Secretary and Latika Sidhu as Treasurer. “I wish the new Union luck and hope that will take the collaboration model further. Work hard and party harder“, says incumbent President Tanvi Bist who is happy to pass on the reins to Sabika who assures us that she will try her best to fulfill her agenda promises and will focus on the accommodation and integration of Hindi medium students into the college.

Featured Image Credit: Mugdha for DU Beat

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Lady Shri Ram College for Women

Inside LSR’s recently inaugurated academic complex

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After the much-awaited inauguration of the new blocks by His Holiness The Dalai Lama, the students of Lady Shri Ram College for Women (LSR) are only waiting to move in as soon as the new semester sets in. The new blocks, namely, the Dr. Bharat Ram Academic Complex and the Aung San Suu Kyi Centre for Peace are expected to provide state of the art infrastructure to the students as well as solve the space crunch problem for both academic and non-academic purposes. Paucity of space had become a major concern for most Delhi University colleges after the expansion of OBC seats in 2009. With the introduction of the Four Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) and the number of active batches soon to be increased from three to four, this shortage is only expected to become worse.

The Centre for Peace has been constructed as an extension of the existing main building and has been envisioned as a centre for research and learning. A part of the centre is also to be used by the Department of Psychology. The Centre has been christened after the college’s most notable alumnus, Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. The Dr. Bharat Ram Academic Block is an all new three-storey building which boasts of multiple lecture rooms and seminar rooms, an amphitheatre and an exhibition gallery along with a dedicated section to suit the technical requirements of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication. Dr. Bharat Ram, after whom the block has been named, was an industrialist and educationist, the son of the college’s founder, Sir Shri Ram.

The interconnected and expandable lecture rooms of the new block, 16 in number, can accommodate 25 to 100 students depending upon the requirement. The seminar rooms too have the capacity to seat a hundred. The Manju Bharat Ram Conference Hall, named after the late educationist and Padma Shri awardee, is the biggest of such rooms. As of now, the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication and the Department of Elementary Education have been allotted rooms in the block. However, the final allocation will take place only by the end of the academic year. Along with the amphitheatre and the exhibition gallery, another new feature is the Multipurpose Room that is expected to be at the students’ disposition for extra-curricular activities.

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A glass panel on the ground floor acknowledges the contribution of the people and the organizations that helped with the college meet the financial expenditure. The construction of the blocks has been funded in part by the university and in a big way by the alumni, faculty and college associations. The exhibition gallery showcases the journey of LSR through the years, highlighting significant events and turn points while at the same time stressing upon the principles that the college seeks to uphold. And the inner walls reiterate what the college stands for- Leadership with Social Responsibility, an alternative explanation of the acronym LSR, being one of them. With all that has gone into their making, these new blocks are set to carry forward the legacy of the red walls.

Image Credit: Kanchi Malhotra

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