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How real is virtual reality?

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With new developments in technology, there are lot of speculations and hype surrounding immersive reality and artificial intelligence considering these were the highly sophisticated tech that we used to see in sci-fi movies and now are becoming quite real.

Virtual reality uses all of our senses to create a perception of real world. It engages all our senses in a computer generated simulation which feels quite real. The amount of money that people are investing on this upcoming technology confirms that virtual reality would define the way we perceive our future world. In gaming and entertainment world, virtual reality gives the user a more immersive experience of being part of the simulation. It can provide even an inanimate object life and a world of its own.

Even Facebook is developing Facebook Reality Labs which utilizes virtual reality to create lifelike avatars that will help the users to establish social connections with other people. They give the argument that VR would help people to establish meaningful connections with people living far away from each other.

For someone who wants to recreate a particular nostalgic childhood moment, hang out with friends that are in different parts of world, take virtual tours of cities that you plan to visit and virtually construct buildings, monuments or houses virtual reality would help you to do all this and more.

Technology is fascinating and it has not only captured our imagination but also given us an escape. You can be present in one place physically but mentally you might be immersed in your phone and your own virtual world. This escapist tendencies are highlighted by VR which gives you an immersive alternative world to escape the real life situations and become the part of virtual reality. While it can be argued that escapism is provided by other media as well such as movies, TV, books, etc. we need to keep in mind that none of them involves engaging all of our senses as VR does.

While living a virtual life might be exciting, it needs to be acknowledged that our body is not made for long hours of extensive use of this technology. Our body cannot withstand long hours of VR and experiences cybersickness which can last for hours after continual use of VR.

Virtual reality will also impact the behaviour of humans which will be in contrast to what they portray in reality. Virtual reality will not be bound by societal constraints and limitations, it will have its own environment where people can behave in harmful ways. This can already be seen in social media where people behave in certain way which is quite opposite to their character in real life. This has led to cases of cybercrime which are quite shocking.  Such legitimate concerns can also be applied to virtual reality where the human use of it will determine its impact.

Even though the virtual reality tries to bridge the distance between people and brings them close in a simulated environment there is also a nagging question of what about the real world.? The real concern is what would be the psychological impacts of VR on the humans: would they disassociate from their reality completely or will it help them to overcome their anxiety, depression, etc.
All these questions will be answered when the virtual reality pervades every household and becomes intrinsic part of our lives the way internet did.

Image credits:  J. M. Eddins Jr/US Air Force

Antriksha Pathania
[email protected]

 

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News

Unidentified Men Attack SFI Activists at the Faculty of Arts

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On 17th May, three activists from the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) were allegedly attacked with lathis by unidentified men at the Faculty of Arts after they were protesting along with the St. Stephen’s College Staff Association. They blamed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) for the attack. 

Three SFI activists, who wish to remain anonymous, were allegedly attacked by goons when they were resting after a protest by the St. Stephen’s College Staff Association. One of the activists suffered head injuries.

An activist recalls the ordeal, “It was raining, suddenly almost five people with faces covered with handkerchief came and asked whether we were from SFI. When our answer was affirmative, they first abused us and then attacked us with the lathis they had with them.” He added that one of them tried to attack the female activist, but she was standing far away and started calling for help. “After seeing people coming towards us, the attackers fled.”

In the social media posts, SFI has blamed ABVP for the attack. “Yes, it can’t be proved, but it is obvious,” claims one of the activists. “They first identified us as members of SFI and then attacked us. It is a sheer display of their money and muscle power.”

A police complaint has been filed at the Maurice Nagar Police Station in lieu of the incident, however, the activists don’t have a lot of faith in the authorities either. “We were attacked after the Virgin Tree protests at Hindu College, we have been attacked at the Vishwavidyala metro station, we had photos, videos and even CCTV footage of the incident. Yet, the police failed to take action.”

Refuting allegations, Sidharth Yadav, Delhi State Secretary of ABVP denies allegations. “Time and again they come out with their own thought-out incidents followed by tagging ABVP as goons. It is an old tactic, but whatsoever it may be, it must be thoroughly inquired. The allegations must also be investigated and any perpetrator must also be caught.” He added that a police complaint is a must and if anything comes up in the investigation or any name from ABVP comes up, strict action should be taken. “But I don’t think that would be required, it is just their old style of propagating false news against us. Their previous allegations, too, have failed to furnish any material evidence, despite them beating our members at Hindu College and walking away scot-free.”

Feature Image Credits:  Students’ Federation of India

Jaishree Kumar

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Admissions

DU to Release a Separate List for Non-CBSE Subjects

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From the academic session 2019-2020, a separate list for non-CBSE subjects will be released to aid admissions for students in other boards.

On 2nd May 2019, the standing committee of the Academic Council of the University of Delhi (DU) passed the recommendation to include academic subjects from other non-CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) realms in a separate list of subjects.

This move was proposed after the committee scrutinised papers and subjects followed roughly in the twenty-eight State Boards, three National Boards, and three Sanskrit Boards for class 12 and then weighed those against their CBSE counterparts.

This proposal caters to academic subjects like anthropology, biochemistry, civics, logic, philosophy, among others. Rasal Singh, a member of the Academic Committee, on speaking to a national daily, commented how these subjects currently fall under the separate vocational subjects’ list despite having course structure and content along similar lines as the CBSE subjects.

Vocational subjects, currently include Food Production, Painting, Hindustani Music (Vocal), Beauty and Wellness, and several others. These subjects, if included in the best of four, would incur a disadvantage of 2% deduction during admissions before 2019.

Rasal Singh went on to explain that biochemistry, taught in the State board of Jammu and Kashmir, will be treated as an equivalent to biology or biotechnology. Similarly, a combination of Maths A from Andhra Pradesh and Maths B from Telangana State Boards will be considered as equivalents of CBSE mathematics. The statistics paper of Maharashtra State board will also be seen as a counterpart of CBSE mathematics.

Other changes proposed to the committee in the meeting include an increase in ward quota for teaching and non-teaching staff, one percent relaxation of cut-offs for students from government schools and rural backgrounds, and the conduction of entrance examinations for colleges, in Hindi and English. The varsity, according to sources, is also planning on adding 6000 seats this year and 9000 in 2020. These have just been proposed and need approval before being passed and applied during the admission season of 2019.

Feature Image Credits: The Indian Express

Shivani Dadhwal

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News

Supreme Council to Sit for Interviews at St. Stephen’s College as Opposed to their Constitutional Clauses

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On 13th May 2019, in a meeting of Staff Council, John Varghese, the Principal of St. Stephen’s College announced that the interview panel for selection of students for admission will include a member of the Supreme Council (SC).

Admissions 2019 are around the corner and in the midst of all the preparation John Varghese, the Principal, St. Stephen’s College announced a decision increasing the involvement of Church of North India (CNI) in the admission process.

The SC of the college includes six members from CNI. The Chairperson of both the Governing Body (GB) and SC is the Bishop of Diocese of Delhi, CNI, Warris Masih, and the Member Secretary of both these committees is the Principal, Professor John Varghese. According to the statement released by the representatives of the GB, Nandita Narain (Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics), N.P. Ashley (Assistant Professor, Department of English), and Abhishek Singh (Assistant Professor, Department of Economics), this decision is directly against Clauses 4 and 5 of the College Constitution which read as follows:

  1. The SC of the college shall have the control of the religious and moral instruction of students of the college and of all matters affecting its religious character as a Christian College of the Church of North India; and, in addition, shall appoint, after proper advertisement, the Principal of the College who shall be a member of the CNI or of a church that is in communion with the CNI.
  2. The SC of the college shall have no jurisdiction over the administration of the college.

The statement also stated that all the teachers present at the meeting protested against the unilateral announcement. As stated by them, this decision is not only in violation of College Constitution but also the 1992 judgement of the Supreme Court of India that upheld the Minority status of the college according to which, the college was allowed to have “a separate admission process including an interview with 15% weightage only because the interviews were conducted solely by the teachers.” If this decision comes through, then it will be the first time that a non-academic person from outside the faculty of St. Stephen’s College will sit in the admission interviews.

The governing body has also called out a conflict of interest in the Principal bringing in another member of SC into the interview panel, as it is, the SC that selects the Principal, and will also take the decision about the renewal of his appointment for another term of five years.

On the other hand, Bishop Warris K Masih of CNI told the Indian Express, “It doesn’t matter if it has never happened before. The college belongs to us. The teacher representatives have no right to object.” When asked about the violation of College Constitution, he stated, “We just felt like that. We are concerned about the 50% Christian students; the other students will go as always.”

The aforementioned representatives of the Governing Body, in response to this decision, have called out for support from its students to participate in a protest on 17th May at 12:30 p.m. near the Main Portico in the Campus and demand its rollback. The statement also calls this decision ‘illegal and unacademic’ and according to them, this decision could compromise the integrity of the admission process.

Speaking to DU Beat, Sidharth Yadav, State Secretary, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) said, “The decision of including Fathers from Church (Members of the SC) to the admission committee is arbitrary and condemnable. This would weaken the secular fabric of the university. This is not only against the constitution of the college but also against the principles laid down in India’s constitution.” He further added that if the decision is not withdrawn, the ABVP would be forced to mobilise the student community to raise their voice against this autocratic decision.

 

 

Image Credits: Surbhit Rastogi for DU Beat

Sakshi Arora

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DUB Speak

Exam time procrastination and Internet

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A frustrated rant by a procrastinating student trying to study, but too tempted by the Internet.

The World Wide Web is truly an intricate web which entraps everyone into it with offers of companionship, entertainment or services. It is truly very frustrating when you pick up your phone for one purpose but end up going through your Facebook, Instagram, Tinder and somehow ordering food online which you don’t even feel like eating.
The concept of time and space all fades away when you are on the internet. It feels like being sucked inside a black hole and you need to mentally berate yourself to get out of it. I have been buying books I don’t have money for, creating wish lists of TV series that I am going to watch this summer and looking at Spongebob memes instead of actually utilizing that time to study the complicated theories in my textbook.

This has been counter-productive and heightened my feelings of panic and guilt. It is funny how when you are on the internet you can scroll past the deluge of puppy videos without blinking your eyes but when you open your textbook and read the first word you lose consciousness and fall into deep slumber. Your texts to your friend asking for help with the syllabus usually ends up in heated debate on the final episode of Game of Thrones.
You are setting yourself up for disappointment if you think “Bro will help me on the Video call”. Video calls usually starts with laughing fit, moves on to judging session and culminates in trading sob stories about your significant other if you have one or your crushes. These video calls will hardly be peppered with actual learning done in real time.
YouTube is such a sham really with its false promises of teaching us a topic through educational videos under three minutes but usually ends up in tempting us with suggestions which somehow seems more important than the actual thing we want to study.
Don’t even make me start on Snapchat, Facebook, PUBG, Instagram, Google, google chrome, Wi-Fi and my Internet Service Provider. Each one of them contributes to my inability to study and this is also me blaming the medium for the obvious lack of self-control that I possess. However, can internet withdrawal really be helpful to concentrate?
According to a student from Kamala Nehru College, “Internet is not the only distraction during the exam time. So limiting it’s usage is very subjective. The aim should be to increase your concentration and also keep the internet usage liberal.”
Using Internet as a scapegoat for your inability to concentrate is not only very delusional but also is not helping you to realize your weakness. Self-control is the key to actually get some work done.
Internet with its elaborate offerings can help you to de-stress only if you know how to use it to relax for a fixed period of time and not let your temptation allow you to exceed your set limitation. All I am saying is that don’t let one conspiracy video turn into five and end up taking all of your time.
Focus is the key my friend. You cannot study while your mind is drifting to things it has no business drifting towards. Your focus needs to be steel-strong and your tendency to procrastinate fibre thin if you want to knockout that monstrous syllabus.
In the end, Internet does make a pretty good excuse for not working hard enough to score a decent GPA but we all know the real fault lies in our inability to work our asses off when it is really required. So, study hard and stay hydrated to pass this semester and learn to co-exist peacefully with internet without letting it control you.

Image credit: Meme org
Antriksha Pathania
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Campus Central

Young DU Voters Stuck with Semester Exams

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As the election season draws towards a close, we take a look at the votes lost due to engagement in academics and end semester exams.

 

Shoonya is a young 20-year-old pursuing her Bachelor’s in Economics hons. from a college in Delhi University. Shoonya is politically opinionated and keeps an eye on every new political development that happens nowadays, owing to an environment stimulated by the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. She is predetermined to use her voting rights in order to impact the elections. But Shoonya comes from Varanasi, which will go for polls on May 19. Unfortunately, she has a core paper a day later, which she can’t afford to miss. Shoonya inadvertently has to sacrifice his vote for exams.

Thousands on eligible young voters have to let their precious votes go in vain owing to a bigger priority. This overlapping acts as a predicament to the spirit of our democracy.  A huge chunk of votes, not only from the University of Delhi but from all other higher education institutions get lost every time elections and exams coincide.

The 17th Lok Sabha elections started on April 11 and will end on May 23 in 7 phases all across the country. Most of the students currently in their under-graduation years will be eligible for voting in the 17th Lok Sabha Elections. These first-time voters constitute 1.66% of the total voters registered for 2019 Lok Sabha. Out of the 900 million voters, 15 million falls in the age group of 18-19.  This percentage is detrimental to a huge extend because voter turnout doesn’t exceed 60-65% and formation of a government happens at mere 30-35%. Many of these 15 million are those who have turned 18 on January 1 2019. This translates to the fact that a bunch of these students are currently pursuing their bachelor’s or will enrol in a under graduation programme in the coming academic year.

In January 2019, The Times of India came up with a fascinating drive to acknowledge the votes that are lost during elections. The campaign known as “Lost Votes” was meant to instigate a conversation on people who sacrifice their votes in order to prioritize their studies or jobs. In many countries, right to vote is a fundamental right but in India, we treat it as a legal right. This stagnates the voter turnout every time and in case of first-time voters, it becomes lower.

“I want to vote but travelling back to Jamshedpur is tedious and hectic. And exams have made it impossible for me to go back and cast my ballot.” says Deepak Singh, a third-year student at Aryabhatta College. Many like Deepak and Shoonya or will lose an important milestone of their lives, the first indelible ink on their fingers, their first votes.

 

Image credits- Zee News

Priyanshu

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DUB Speak

The Problem of Plenty

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As someone who has dreamt of living an independent life to get one step closer to his ambitions, shifting near the campus was a big deal for me. But as they say, with great power comes great responsibilities, I began succumbing to the responsibilities. The problem of plenty is real, and here’s why.  

Suppose you are living a life of comfort, following a flamboyant and careless lifestyle, eating anything recklessly, sleeping at odd hours and then one fine day you suddenly feel a prickling pain in your chest. The pain doesn’t go away, it persists, for a day or two and is mildly affecting your consciousness. You wake on the third day and the pain comes back again. You go and see a doctor and it’s your liver! It has been deteriorating for a while now. The physician hints at your sedentary lifestyle and absurd eating habits for the situation. You regret, you repent, you cannot accept the fact that you have succumbed into a chronic disease at such a young age. Though it can get worse with time, the relieving part is that only if it’s not controlled or managed well. Your liver will get back on track if you undo the effects with a disciplined and healthy lifestyle. Now, out of scarcity of option you willingly or unwillingly have to follow a better lifestyle.

If you are wondering why the medical situation of a careless youngster is being discussed here, then let me tell you, this careless youngster is me and probably you or a friend of yours. Let me clear the ambiguity first. I have used this analogy to illustrate the “problem of plenty”. A situation 11th-hour lovers must be familiar with.

Now, allow me to associate this problem with my decision to shift near the campus in order to concentrate on my college and academics. The most relevant argument a student gives to their parents or guardians (or at least I did) while persuading them to allow relocation to a flat or PG near the campus is that it will save the time lost in commuting daily from home to college and back. The other argument is generally the availability of a student-friendly environment in a flat or PG near the college. Subsequently, one also thinks about having a typical bachelor’s experience. In hindsight, a student comes with hope and determination to lead an independent life for the next few years.

And then comes the problem of plenty. The problem of plenty roots within the luxury of abundance. The abundance of resources, time and affinity. Just like “you” took your abdomen for granted and got marred by a deadly disease, I got marred by the assurance of resources and time.

Once I left the comfort of domestication and set foot out in the real world, I saw a lot of opportunities, experiences to seek, and things to try. A distorted sleeping cycle, untimely eating habits, eating whatever I got at hand, etc. became common practices. Exploiting the freedom I had was the foremost task my mind was alluded to do once I got out of home. Now, I could dare to miss classes on a regular basis and still sleep in peace, unlike my home where my parents would have ranted out their frustration had I missed classes so frequently. And academics – you remember the 11th-hour lovers I mentioned initially? I became that student inadvertently.

But then, the grass is always greener on the other side. When I see it from another perspective, I realise the vast amount of experience I am extracting at such a young age. I am maturing as a person, learning to tackle emotional and mental upheavals, discovering the value of every teardrop I shed. I am making friends who I am sure will become family to me if I hold on to them.  And if with great responsibility comes with great power, this independence, this abundance is nothing but power to me!

 

Image Credits: Adventure In Adventure Out

 

Priyanshu

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Arts & Culture

Gardening on the Rise in the City

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As the world celebrates May as ‘Gift from Gardens’ month, here’s looking a how Delhi has adopted a different method of gardening and how you can make your own garden in your homes.

Delhi has been choking for pure and fresh air to breathe. Over the last few years, excessive construction and overburdening of vehicles on the roads have led to Delhi NCR becoming one of the most polluted regions in the world. Thus, looking out for new and innovative methods is the need of the hour.

Keeping this in mind, the Horticulture Department of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has begun the development and expansion of vertical gardens in the city with its debut dated almost a year and a half back.

If you have looked around while your travel on the city, you must have found this beautiful plush of greenery wrapped around the pillars of Delhi Metro Network or beautifying the stretch of the new Yamuna Expressway.

Cities worldwide not only are facing the concern of pollution and warming but also space congestion. In a scenario like this, vertical gardens or “living walls” as they are called, have come out as a blessing for they cancel out all of these issues. Massive construction has led to considerable damage to the green spaces in the city. These vertical gardens not only occupy any landscape at all, but are cost-effective, too, as they are cheap to develop and maintain with plants like Asparagus, Jade plant, Syngonium, etc. and are seasonally grown in plastic containers.

This is what the NDMC is doing to enhance the quality of the air of the city and add to its greenery. But there’s a lot more that people themselves can do in their individual capacity.

Rooftop gardening is one of them. Space crunch in the city restricts people from owning gardens but they can always develop one on their own roofs. Due to excessive heat in the summers, the variety becomes limited but plants like Water Lilies, among others, grow well despite the temperature.

Gardens, apart from purifying the air, also give relaxation from the intolerable heat. The various products they provide are just an added bonus.

There’s no reason why you shouldn’t celebrate this month by doing your bit in developing a garden of your own!

 

Image Credits: India Times

 

Shreya Agrawal

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DUB Speak

Struggling With FOMO in College Life

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College students often find themselves grappling with the Fear Of Missing Out, endearingly shortened to ‘FOMO’, as they struggle to keep their lives together. Here’s delving deep into this fear to understand it better.

College years are an amalgamation of a never-ending struggle for attendance, CGPA, friends, and social life. Managing all of these dimensions, and devoting equal attention to all of these aspects become quite impossible and we end up missing out on one thing or the other in our bid to keep them all in our control. No matter how much we try, acing the art of keeping a perfect balance between all these aspects is one Herculean task.

“I need to complete my assignments and my friends are out there partying and having fun,” or “I’ll miss out on an awesome trip with my friends if I pursue this internship in the summers,” and the more famous one, “I must keep up with the show that I hate, because I want to be relevant” etc.. If you have had similar thoughts draining you out of joy and making you constantly discontented with your life, you are suffering from a syndrome called FOMO.

FOMO is defined as anxiety than an exciting or an interesting event may currently be happening elsewhere, often aroused by posts seen on social media.

Youngsters are most vulnerable to FOMO as anxiety of living a perfect life and comparing their lifestyles with that of their peers constantly pressurize them. Darlen McLaughlin, assistant professor at the Texas A&M Health Science College says, “FOMO is especially rampant in the millennial community because they see a peer achieving something they want, and somehow in their mind, that achievement means something is being ‘taken away’ from them.” This could, perhaps, be linked to the kind of connectivity that we have – with people posing on Instagram, Facebook, etc., it becomes difficult not to compare yourself with others. And the verity of the virtual image of people is always a big question mark, that seems to get blurred in our fit of envy.

Constantly getting affected by this fear hampers productivity and ends up in acute dissatisfaction. Thus, dealing with FOMO in a smart manner is essential to retain one’s sanity.

It becomes imperative to internalize the fact that no matter what you do, you’ll always miss out on something. Constantly dwelling on what you are missing out will strip you of your satisfaction. It is also significant to prioritise, so you invest your time in activities that are yielding and actually interest you. So, tell yourself that’s okay to miss a few parties or outings as you are working towards an even more important goal.

Besides, this idea of the Gen-Y, that says that there has to be this constant state of bliss is especially problematic. Not saying that there shouldn’t be ambition, or motivation to be able to do everything, but one must realise that it is okay to have bad days, or dissociation, or not having watched the show that everyone seems to be talking about.

Bottom line is that for everyone, their mental health should be their number one priority, even if it means disappointing your friends and peers.

 

Image Credits: The Irish Times

 

Shreya Agrawal

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Physical Wellness in College Students

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In their college years, students pay no attention to their physical wellness which has hazardous implications in future. Here’s delving deep into the subject and discussing the changes one needs to bring in their lifestyle to improve their physical health.

College years can be some of the most stressful years for a student- both mentally and physically. You are overburdened with academics, society activities, friends and social life, and so much more.

In such a scenario, students, more often than not, forget taking care of themselves and pay no attention to their physical wellness. Several unhealthy habits ingrained during college years often deteriorate their health which become the root of health issues later in life.

How often do you prefer eating out over cooking for yourself? Do you also spend the most amount of your day sitting in front laptop completing your assignment or well, just binging shows on Netflix?

During college years, students, especially those living in hostels, find themselves involved into unhealthy eating habits like eating junk food very often, binging on unhealthy snacks during midnight study sessions, heavy dependence on caffeine among others. Excessive intake of such unhealthy high-on-calorie food items leads to problems like obesity.

There’s also a considerable reduction in the number of physical activities performed by college students as compared to when they were in school. Lack of any compulsory physical exercise like sports in college gives students numerous reasons to never leave the comfort of their cozy beds and go out in the fresh air. Physical lethargy leads to mental lethargy, robbing students of concentration and an active mind.

In conversation with DU Beat, Sakshi from Kamala Nehru College (KNC) said that she didn’t remember the last time she played any sport during her college years. She also added that regular intake of junk food and soft drinks have become the norm of college life.

This decline in attention towards physical health is worrisome, for it may have several hazardous implications for students.

Thus, it’s quite important for college students to become aware of their daily physical habits and to not ruin it further every day. Small changes are key to bringing about a major change in one’s physical lifestyle.

Prefer cooking at home over regularly binging junk food outside. Try healthier snack options during your late night study sessions. Get up from your bed and chair every hour, take a walk outside in the fresh air, and give your body some physical movement like sports and exercise. Simran from Gargi College said, “I have started exercising daily in my hostel itself due to lack of time to go to the gym. It helps me feel rejuvenated and healthy.”

Engaging in sports brings an individual not only physical benefits but they also leave the person mentally fresh and energised. Dharna Bothra from KNC said, “I feel extremely active and energised not only physically but also mentally after playing sports.”

So, put your phones down, get up from your beds and take a long walk outside. Do your physical health a favor!

Feature Image Credits: Northern Lights College

Shreya Agrawal

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