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Anagha Rakta

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Prem Singh, a Hindi professor from Delhi University, began a week-long fast on 25th June 2017 at Jantar Mantar to protest against the recent mob lynching incidents, including the death of Hafiz Junaid. 17 year old Junaid became the victim of a mob lynching which started as a spat over a train seat but later escalated into him being repeatedly stabbed by knives because it was suspected that he was carrying beef in one of his food containers.

Prem Singh, who is also a member of the Socialist Party of India (SPI), feels that it is a social responsibility for the people to stop such incidents from happening again and again. “All of us have collectively failed in stopping incidents of mob lynching. It is because of this guilt, I have started the protest,” he said in a statement.

Laraib Akram, a resident of the city and a working professional, said that he will make sure that the protest goes on till the government takes appropriate action to stop incidents of mob lynching from happening again. The protest could be extended if and when protesters from other circles join it. “We will mobilise people from wide circles including students and hold relay fast until the government comes up with a solution for this,” Akram said.

The SPI has demanded immediate arrest of those who lynched Junaid. “We want immediate arrest of those who killed Junaid and also condemn the indifferent attitude of the Haryana government,” said former chief justice of Delhi High Court, Rajinder Sachar.

 

Image Credits: Hindustan Times

 

Anagha Rakta

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Every year, societies from colleges across the campus compete neck to neck and put up spectacular performances during the fest season. This year too, saw certain teams shine a little brighter than the rest. We bring you a series with college societies that put their heart and soul into their respective fields and took home the top prizes at various cultural fests.

The best college society in each category was selected by creating a tally of the top 3 positions at competitive events held during various cultural fests of this season. Whenever a society won the first prize, they were awarded 3 points, for the second position they received 2 points and for the third position, 1 point was added to their tally.

For the fashion category, I Vogue, the Fashion Society of Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce scored the maximum points with their tally being at 5 points. Galore, the Fashion Society of Maitreyi College and Glitz, the Fashion Society of Kamla Nehru College followed next with 3 points each and Glamoratti, the Fashion Society of Dyal Singh College placed third with 2 points.

The Winning Society at a Glance

I VOGUE, Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce

Smashing and slamming the doors on the predominant social constructs, I Vogue – The Fashion Society of Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce has defended its position as the best college fashion society, second year in the row. Last year I Vogue wowed the audience with its theme of inclusion of LGTB community in the mainstream society. This year, I Vogue stepped up its game a notch higher wherein their ‘Fashion Army’ bombed the stereotypical notions related to religion, gender, sexuality and shot bullets of change at racist, colorist and body shaming prejudices.

Sarthak Kathuria, President, I Vogue – “I feel so proud maintaining our position at the top. Its two years in a row, woah! My team members and I  have worked really hard to prepare what we have showcased all over the fest season. We focus on taking up fresh and current issues that need to be dealt with in our society and showcase it in a way that the essence of fashion doesn’t get lost while conveying our message to the audience. This time we portrayed a ‘Fashion Army’ who was there to fight against the various stereotypes that prevail in our society related to gender and sexuality, Beauty (Body shaming and Racism) and also religion; it was all showcased in a cohesive manner to reach out to the audience and give them an opportunity to look at the realities of life with a broader mind.  We can proudly say that we have been the trend setters in DU and this time as well we brought ahead fresh ideas in terms of concept, designs, styling, choreography, music, etc. which is all purely done by the team members, without any outside help.We have always believed in following fashion and doing fashion on stage. We stay miles away from fancy dressing and that’s what I believe makes us stand apart. We brought our ideas to life without any funding from anywhere, but it all seems to have paid off well for us.
IVogue is like a family, we have been through the whole journey together and I feel each and every member has played their part very well. So three cheers to my amazing team, without which we couldn’t have had made this a success.”
Active Members

Sarthak Kathuria (President)

Harsh Kapoor (Vice President)

Head Designer and Stylist: Sarthak Kathuria

Choreography: Sarthak Kathuria and Harsh Kapoor

PR Team:
Manpriya Jain
Rishabh Dabas
Chayan Jain

Make Up and Hair:
Kanku Vyas

Other performing members:
Divank Satwani
Yash Tyagi
Jasneet Kaur Bhatia
Kangana Makkar
Harmeet Kaur
Prabhjot Batra
Jugti Bakshi
Harleen Kaur

Winner’s Tally: I Vogue

Eight college fests were referred to while evaluating the top societies tally this fest season which were: Tarang, LSR; Ullas, KNC; Tempest, Miranda House; Montage, JMC; Mecca, Hindu College; Reverie, Gargi College; Nexus, Sri Venkateswara College; and Confluence, Hans Raj College. Only a few of these fests held competitive fashion show events, and the society emerged victorious at the following:

1st Position: Ullas
2nd Position: Mecca

The society also won many accolades at various other colleges like NIFT, College of Vocational Studies and Dyal Singh College.

(Hover over the icons to know more about their victories)

Design by Alex Arthur

Nidhi Panchal

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Those In Need and You Are Beautiful Project collaborated to bring ‘Global Bubble Parade’ for the second time in New Delhi yesterday, 28th May, 2017.

Through this event, they intended to stop society from defining people by the way they look, dress up, their gender and even their sexual preferences. The theme that they stood for was “Break Beauty Stereotypes”.

Bubble Parade witnessed a large crowd enjoying themselves with bubbles, spreading the message of being comfortable and being ‘WHO YOU ARE’.

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The event started with a massive registration for the events. After everyone got their bubble machines, Rangbaaz performed a 20-minute Nukkad Naatak, ‘Shareer’, addressing the issue on body shaming and insecurities, with the crowd cheering them on. After the wonderful performance, Clownsellors, and its volunteers performed many fun activities, which enthralled the audience. Afterwards, the participants performed a 100 meter parade from the dharna point in Jantar Mantar, dancing and laughing, blowing the bubbles all around.

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Global Bubble witnessed a lot of communities ranging from North-Easterners, LGBTQ, differently-abled, Africans, most of which have faced the scrutiny because of their appearances and preferences and the event’s motive was to bring people from other parts of the country together, all standing together in solidarity for a tolerable society and to end ‘definitions’ and ‘labels’.

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After the event, participants shared their own experiences with everyone and talked about how a positive change is coming gradually but steadily. The crowd around was brimming with happiness and positive vibes to see an event like this happening in Delhi. They were appreciative to see the beauty of non-stereotypical colors and diversity.

Shreya Bhatia, Co-founder of Lending Hands Foundation said, “By bringing Global Bubble parade to New Delhi we wanted to give a message of an inclusive society where we respect each other and find happiness in others’ smile. We find a way to make people happy and make a positive difference in their lives.”

“We really need to stop the society from judging us and defining us by one’s physical appearance – by one’s face, their body, their height; by the way they dress up, by their gender and even by their sexual preferences. This can only be achieved once we start feeling comfortable by the way we are and our preferences. I strongly feel we spread this message through Global bubble Parade this year. It is about bursting those beauty myths set up by the society.” says Aashima Taneja, Founder of You Are Beautiful Project.

With an estimated figure of 20 million sex workers in the nation, prostitues are no longer treated with the royalty that they used to be in the past.

Once a theme for literature and art, with the likes of Mricchkatika and Menaka, prositution is now a profession that has become synonymous with illegality, trafficking and sex slavery. Where rape, poverty, divorce are the main reasons that force (yes, force) women into this profession, pleasure is the last thing on their minds. Prostitutes in India have up to an average clientele of 4 men a day, and the use of protection is absent only so that the women can earn a few extra bucks. Many sex workers suffer from STDs, including fatal ones like HIV/AIDs (almost 50% of the sex workers in Mumbai are HIV positive), and have to take care of unplanned children. Even though maintaining a brothel and pimping is illegal in India, many young children are kidnapped or sold by their own parents and are introduced to the sex trade industry when they are only minors. These are just some of the facts that anyone can Google and get to know of. Yet, we forget about the conditions that they barely survive in when we talk about them.

Why is it important to talk about sex workers?

India has one of the biggest sex trade industries in Asia and metropolitan cities like Mumbai and Kolkata are the biggest markets in the nation. Even though it is illegal, brothels and pimping continues to happen out in the open and many young girls are forced into the profession without their consent. This profession contributes to the larger picture in many ways and it is important we address that, and question the government. Do we have enough policies for the protection of sex workers? Do we have enough NGOs that work towards spreading awareness about STDs? Do we know enough about this profession to adequately help them? These are the questions that have remained unasked for many, many years.

Like any other humans, sex workers do as well deserve basic rights and to live their lives with dignity. But with a profession that runs of being termed as ‘nasty’, it is impossible for prostitutes to seek help of the authorities either due to fear or shame. The “oldest profession in the world” and sex workers are barely treated as humans. It is time we question, what’s so ‘characterless’ about a profession that has such a huge clientele.

 

Image credits: huffingtonpost.com

Anagha Rakta
[email protected]

Every year, the cultural societies in Delhi University work tirelessly to put their best foot forward and emerge as the winner. Likewise, this year, some teams managed to outshine others and win big at various college fests in the Varsity. We bring to you a series with the college societies that bagged the top positions during the fest season 2016-17.

The best college society in each category was selected by creating a tally of the top 3 positions at competitive events held during various cultural fests of this season. Whenever a society won the first prize they were awarded 3 points, for the second position they received 2 points.

In the Choreography category, Terpsi Chorean, Choreography Society of Hansraj College scored the maximum points. Terpsi Choreon’s 16 points were followed by Sparx, the Choreography Society of Gargi College (13 points). The third position was bagged by Sensation, the Choreography Society of Kirori Mal College (12 points).

 

The Winning Society at a glance

Terpsi Chorean, Hansraj College:

Their annual production named ‘The Unfading’ was a thrilling tale full of secrets and broken family ties, depicting the chilling effect that memory can have on us. It revealed how some of us obsess over some memories, run away from some, while others are repressed. The ten minute performance depicted how, contrary to popular belief, our memory is not our friend; it is a monster that controls us.

Palak Aneja, the President of the society says, “It feels extremely proud to have fought through all the odds and emerged victorious. Every word of appreciation from the audience brings a sense of accomplishment, because winning hearts is greater than just winning a competition. You can make the audience believe in your theme only when each team member truly believes in it. A lot of dedication and hard work goes behind the glorious victories, but nothing is impossible when we become each other’s strength, both on and off stage.

Performing members: 

  • Palak Aneja – President
  • Anoushka Chopra – Public Relations Head
  • Shreyasee Sen – Treasurer
  • Pawni Singhal
  • Vidhi Maheshwari
  • Gauri Shukla
  • Rishita Sachdeva
  • Nehul Goyal
  • Sharvika Deo
  • Damanpreet Singh
  • Saksham Bhargava
  • Keshav Khurana
  • Deven Chhabra
  • Simran Sahni
  • Deepak Arora
  • Deepika Dubey
  • Shreya Setia
  • Raghavi Chauhan
  • Soumya Mittal

Winners Tally: Terpsi Chorean

Out of the considered fests this year, 8 had conducted a competitive Choreography event, namely Crossroads, Montage, Ullas, Tarang, Confluence, Mecca, Reverie and Nexus. Here is the list of winning performances by Terpsi Chorean (Hansraj College):

 

1st Position: Crossroads, Tarang, Montage, Nexus

2nd Position: Mecca, Reverie

 (Hover over the icons to know more about their victories)

Design by Alex Arthur
Picture Credits: Alex Arthur

Lovleen Kaur

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The societies from across Delhi University showcase the exceptional talent of students in various activities during the annual Cultural Fest season. Competing neck to neck this year as well, the societies put up enthralling performances in different activities displaying their dedication towards their art and winning positions in college fests across the varsity.

From all the societies that participated, a tally of top 3 positions was created and from those, the society that emerged as the top society was selected. Every society that won the 1st position was awarded with 3 points, the 2nd with 2 points and the 3rd with 1 point.

Following this scheme, the societies that bagged the 1st,, 2nd and 3rd positions in the Indian Music (Choir) category were Samranjini, Gargi College with 17 points, Swaranjali, Hans Raj College with 7 points and Tarkaas, Institute of Home Economics with 6 points respectively.

 

The Winning Society at a glance

Samranjini- The Indian Music Society of Gargi College, with their belief in diligence and dedication towards music sought to present ideas that serve as the springboard of thought and activity across the field of music; through their music composition.

Quoting the society’s president, Samridhi Sinha, “We at Samranjini believe that diligence and dedication helps achieve one’s goals. This year we knew what we wanted early on. Keeping that in mind we approached Mr Avinash Kumar for his able assistance.”

For the year 2016-17, Samranjini’s music composition comprised of two raagas namely Raageshri and Lalit and a moorchana showing a shade of raaga Todi. The composition is a unique combination of a sweet,romantic raaga with a deep and serious raaga.

“One of the factors that worked in our favour was using two contrasting raagas that no other college went for. After selection of the raagas and preparing the basic structure; a lot of work had to be put in to refine the piece”, she added.

Performing members:

  • Samridhi Sinha
  • Sonali Dey
  • Ananya Samajdar
  • Poorvi Gaur
  • Aishwarya Unni
  • Meera Kalyani
  • Monika
  • Sharvini Shivapuri
  • Pooja Joshi
  • Anisha Jhawar
  • Sohini Chakravorty
  • Teertha Sukesh

Accompanists

  • Ashutosh Verma (Tabla)
  • Anshuman Sharma (Keyboard)

 

Winners Tally : Samranjini

A total of 8 fests was included in our analysis for this series. These were, : Reverie; Gargi College, Montage; Jesus and Mary College, Nexus; Sri Ventakteswara College, Crossroads; SRCC, Mecca; Hindu College, Confluence; Hans Raj College, Ullas; Kamala Nehru College and Tempest; Miranda House.

 

The fests in which Samranjini bagged positions are:

I Position: Crossroads, Nexus, Reverie and Montage

II Position: Ullas and Tempest

III Position: Mecca

(Hover over the icons to know more about their victories)

Design by Alex Arthur

 

Priyal Mahtta
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Every year, societies from colleges across the campus compete neck to neck and put up spectacular performances during the fest season. This year too, saw certain teams shine a little brighter than the rest. We bring you a series with college societies that put their heart and soul into their respective fields and took home the top prizes at various cultural fests.

The best college society in each category was selected by creating a tally of the top 3 positions at competitive events held during various cultural fests of this season. Whenever a society won the first prize they were awarded 3 points, for the second position they received 2 points and for the third position, 1 point was added to their tally.

For the Western Music category, the Western Music Society (WMS) of LSR scored the maximum points in the tally. Western Music Society of LSR secured a total of 12 points, which was followed by 11 points each of Zephyr (Kamala Nehru College) and Echo (Jesus and Mary College).

The Winning Society at a glance

The Western Music Society of LSR

The society has been a consistent performer in the Western Music category and this is their fourth consecutive time winning the title of the Top Society for the Western Music Category. Their pieces are known to be classical with a touch of peppy, and they are admired by music lovers of all kinds.

Megha Lama, the President of WMS said, “We are a big family which loves performing and believes in having a great time on as well as off stage! Each on of these wonderful ladies have a major contribution, which keeps us together and helps us grow as a society!”

Names of performing members:

  • Megha Lama (President)
  • Maulshree Kumar (Secretary)
  • Imlikokla Kichu (Treasurer)
  • Pallavi Pervela
  • Thinley Chodon
  • Sparsh Bajpai
  • Ynaiita Warjri
  • Sangey Dolma
  • Sangey Thungon
  • Faith Mathing Kasar
  • Nirupama Kumar
  • Niharika Katoch
  • Kimbiakhoih
  • Lalrinzuali Chhakchhuak
  • Alankrita Bari
  • Ananya Redkar
  • Ishana Arya
  • Joy Malsawmhlui
  • Mharhoni Josephine Humtsoe
  • Himanshi Pandey
  • Sreenidhi Maddur

 

Winners Tally: Western Music

Eight college fests were referred to while evaluating the top societies tally this fest season which were: Tarang, LSR; Ullas, KNC; Tempest, Miranda House; Montage, JMC; Mecca, Hindu College; Reverie, Gargi College; Nexus, Sri Venkateswara College; and Confluence, Hans Raj College. The society emerged victorious at the following fests:

1st Position: Mecca, Montage, Ullas
2nd Position: Tempest
3rd Position: Nexus

(Hover on the icons below to know more about their victories)


Design by Alex Arthur

Anagha Rakta
[email protected]

Every year, societies from colleges across the campus compete neck to neck and put up spectacular performances during the fest season. This year too, saw certain teams shine a little brighter than the rest. We bring you a series with college societies that put their heart and soul into their respective fields and took home the top prizes at various cultural fests.

With Indian Folk Dance being one of the most awaited events in all DU fests owing to its energetic, vibrant nature, societies from various colleges go head to head competing in the different fests. Although there is no doubt that all teams put up outstanding performances, this year, we were once again witness to one society whose performances outshone all the others. We bring to you a series featuring college societies that put in their blood and sweat, crafting exceptional productions for their respective fields to bag that prize at the end of the night. We present to you a list of societies that emerged as champions and took home the winning title at various cultural fests.

The best college society in each category was selected by creating a tally of the top 3 positions that could be won at various events. The society that secured the 1st position was awarded 3 points, the society that secured the 2nd position was awarded 2 points and finally, the society securing the 3rd position was awarded 1 point. In this way, a tally system was devised as a means to choose the team that had secured the maximum number of points in events across colleges belonging to one particular category.

For the Indian Folk Dance (Group) category, Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur (SGTB) Khalsa College scored the maximum points in the tally. Bhangra Inspire of SGTB Khalsa College and their energetic Bhangra dance performance bagged a total of 12 points, followed by Nrityakriti of Maitreyi College that secured 11 points and Nazaakat of Gargi College with 7 points.

The Winning Society at a glance

Bhangra Inspire, SGTB Khalsa College

This year, SGTB Khalsa’s Bhangra Inspire won hearts with their rendition of the energetic Bhangra form of folk dance. Using traditional steps in a unique manner, the society’s vibrant performance was widely appreciated at various dance events, with the society emerging victorious as the winning team of the tally.

The President of the society, Saranjeet Singh, shares their motto “Do, even if you die” and lists “dedication, hard work, focused and strategic training “as reasons behind their successful performance.

 

Names of performing members:

  • RupeshArora
  • Saranjeet Singh
  • Ramandeep Singh
  • Dilpreet Singh
  • Gagandeep Singh
  • Janmeet Singh
  • Kiratpal Singh
  • Jagtaj Singh
  • Analjeet Singh
  • Daljeet Singh
  • Harpreet Singh
  • Prithvipal Singh
  • Hakam Singh

Winners Tally

Nine college fests were referred to while evaluating the top societies tally this fest season which were: Tarang: LSR, Ullas: KNC, Tempest: Miranda House, Montage: JMC, Mecca: Hindu College, Reverie: Gargi College, Nexus: Sri Venkateshwara College; Confluence: Hans Raj College, Crossroads: SRCC. Out of the fests listed, only 7 had conducted a competitive Folk Dance Competition.

The society emerged victorious at the following fests:

1st Position: Tempest, Ullas

2nd Position: Mecca, Confluence, Nexus

(Hover on the icons below to know more about their victories)

Design by Alex Arthur

Anahita Sahu
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Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), Delhi University, is set to get it first ever woman principal, Simrit Kaur. The college was functioning without a full-time principal since the year 2014, after the retirement of former principal, PC Jain.

Kaur is a professor from the Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) which is also where she did her PhD from. She completed her Bachelors from Lady Shri Ram College (LSR) and her Masters from Delhi School of Economics (DSE). Associated with FMS since 1989, she specialises in public policy reforms, macro-economics and economic theory. Earlier, she taught at Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce.

However, the members of Delhi University’s Executive Council (EC) says that university rules were now followed during her appointment. “The rule 7 (2) (b) for the appointment of the principal of colleges other than maintained by the university states that the apex committee should consist of Vice-Chancellor, Pro V-C, visitor’s nominee, chairperson of the college governing body and two members of EC, nominated by it. However, we as EC members never nominated anyone. In fact, we came to know of it after the appointment,” J L Gupta, an EC member, told The Indian Express. The chairman of the college governing body, Ajay Shriram, however, said that all rules were followed during Kaur’s appointment on 12th May 2017.

Simrit Kaur was shortlisted alongside Anil Kumar, a professor at the college, and CP Gupta, a professor at the Department of Finance Studies, South Campus.

 

Anagha Rakta
[email protected]

Every year, societies from colleges across the campus compete neck to neck and put up spectacular performances during the fest season. This year too, saw certain teams shine a little brighter than the rest. We bring you a series with college societies that put their heart and soul into their respective fields and took home the top prizes at various cultural fests.

The best college society in each category was selected by creating a tally of the top 3 positions at competitive events held during various cultural fests of this season. Whenever a society won the first prize they were awarded 3 points, for the second position they received 2 points and for the third position, 1 point was added to their tally.

For the Battle of Bands category, Tantrik Steve scored the maximum points in the tally. Tantrik Steve‘s 8 points were followed by 3 points each with Hindu Collective of Hindu College and Common Threads of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College.

The Winning Society at a glance

Tantrik Steve, Hans Raj College

 

Battle of Bands is the face-off between bands, usually rock or metal bands, but often musical ac. from a range of different styles, competing for the title of the Best Band. This fest season in DU saw variety in the compositions of the different bands of DU. With the magically enthralling performances of the bands captivating the soul of the fests, the bass, drums and the charismatic vocals did not, for once, fail to awe the crowd. 2017 saw the emergence of Tantrik Steve of Hans Raj College as the best band of the season with various wins in different fests throughout the season.

Frontman Abhishek Mittal told, “The DU music scene has taken up a toll and I am really happy with the way bands are experimenting towards newer sounds.” He stated that the band comprises of eight members with different musical backgrounds, having their own flavour that added to the performance of their band. They were open to introducing new parts to the sound and they helped each other sound better apart from making their individual parts fathom into music. They performed their original compositions as well, titled ‘Kaise tum mere‘ and ‘Madhurgaanam‘.

Band Members:

  • Gagan Goel for Hindustani vocals
  • Sarath S Kumar for Carnatic vocals
  • Sayan Sinha on Bass
  • Dimpal Kumar on Drums
  • Abhishek Mittal on Lead Guitar
  • Shivash Chagti on Rhythm Guitar
  • Rohan Prasanna on Sarod
  • Kartik Balan on Mridangam

Winners Tally

Four college fests were referred to while evaluating the top societies tally this fest season which were: Tarang, LSR; Ullas, KNC; Montage, JMC and Mecca, Hindu College.

The society emerged victorious at the following fests:

  • First Position in Montage, JMC
  • First Position in Mecca, Hindu College
  • Second position in Ullas, Kamla Nehru College

The band also won accolades at the fests of SBSC, St. Stephen’s College, PGDAV, IIT Bombay, IIT Kanpur and Ambedkar University.

(Hover on the icons below to know more about their victories.)

 

Image credits: Alex Arthur
Design by Alex Arthur

 

Radhika Boruah
[email protected]