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Hindu College students get a chance to interview Imtiaz Ali and the star cast of ‘Tamasha’

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Hindu College alumnus Imtiaz Ali was in Delhi earlier this week, along with the lead cast of his latest film Tamasha. In the last leg of the Delhi promotions, two students from Hindu College got the opportunity to interview the director, along with Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone in the Punjab Kesari office.

The girls, Pratishtha Mahajan and Disha Jindal are final year students studying English (Hons) at Hindu College.

Imtiaz Ali has always been very fond of Ibtida, the Dramatics Society of his alma mater. He was excited to interact with the students from the University and quickly told them that he expects the smartest questions from them. Ranbir Kapoor followed and asked both the student interviewers to surprise them with their witty skills.

“It was an informal long conversation, and rather than asking them the same, worn-out questions about the film, we had a 15 minutes long rapid-fire instead. It was a fun interaction where the rapid fire questions were candid, from favorite emojis to celebrity crushes to annoying habits, and the responses were equally fun”, says Pratishtha Mahajan, one of the interviewers.

Ranbir and Deepika also shared their fond memories from school days and talked about how one should not live to impress others or fulfill others’ dreams. Imtiaz Ali gave out a message to University students and added, “Parents’ expectations pull you down. We end up compromising on our dreams and I think that needs to stop”.

The stars praised the young interviewers for their ice breaking questions which gave them an easy closure to Delhi promotions!

The interview was published on ED | The Youth Blog for these students. Full interview can be read here.
Featured Image Credits: ED

Kritika Narula
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DUB Speak

4 Lessons To Learn From an HR Internship

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We have all learnt how important the Human Resource (HR) function is for any organization. It is also the most notorious department, because HR people are responsible for the herculean task of firing people, handing out those dreaded pink slips and bearing the brunt of the frustrated employees. But what is it actually like to be in the department? Here are the four essentials of an HR internship:

  1. Have your documentation game on point

    Chances are, the first ever task you’ll do at an HR internship is updating the database with names and details of the employees. Excel is going to be your soul mate in the job. From designing forms, databases, rankings and reward structures, you will have no choice but to fall in love with spreadsheets.

  2. Recruiting the right people is a gamble

    If you’re working for a start-up, you will get to interview and screen people too! And, after a while you will feel like you can finally gauge someone’s inclination and interest by the answers he/she gives. It does feel invincible for a while after which you realize no person can be known in entirety through just an interview. A person who seemed pretty eager to work in his application might end up as the most indolent of the lot.

  3. The work is never over

    Recruiting is a tedious job, what with all the sorting of applications and shortlisting and e-mailing, and although HR department wants to go on a hiatus after initial recruitments, the work never really is over. Performance reviews and appraisals, followed by implementation of the reward structure are some of the few tasks.

  4. People are a tough nut to crack

    If you think you have figured out how the employees work, think again. People are difficult to manage. They keep changing, they keep learning, and this implies that you can never know how someone’s going to react to any change brought in the organization.

 

Featured Image Credits: www.dentistryiq.com

Kritika Narula
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Top Picks

Top 5 short stories to read while Commuting

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As college students, we understand that commuting to and from college is such a hard task. And although we thank the Gods for public transport, we unknowingly end up wasting a lot of our precious time in commuting. Reading is good filler, but if you’re not up for a book-length commitment, here are a few short stories you can read while commuting for longer distances:

The Bet by Anton Chekov

Chekov is a master storyteller and his stories have that quality of making your heart bleed. One cannot read Chekov and be unaffected by his words. The Bet is one of his finest productions, with a clever plot and unbelievable twists.

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

This one if one of the finest pieces of short stories ever written. Poignant and raw in its narration, it will keep you contemplative throughout your ride.

The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

This story follows a young woman as she descends into psychosis, becoming obsessed with the pattern and color of the wallpaper. This one will last for your full journey.

A Sound of Thunder by Ray Bradbury

This story documents the devastating consequences of the “butterfly effect.” No wonder it is one of the most published stories.

To build a fire by Jack London

London’s stories revolve around the wilderness, this one being no exception. But, he manages to create a plot that keeps you hooked. Sounds like a great relief from the crowded metro.

 

Happy reading while to travel!

 

Feature image credits: http://eileenwilks.com/

Kritika Narula

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Top Picks

Books to read before exams

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Reading is back in fashion, and there is no better time to read more books than just before exams. Yes, with a handful of days to go for exams, no matter what you tell others, you secretly know where you stand and how you are going to perform this time around. It is time now to let yourself breathe.

1. Chicken Soup for the Indian College Student’s soul

The Chicken Soup for the Soul series gets us. And this one is custom-made for college students. With stories that motivate you to enjoy while you study, this does seem like a good read at the moment. Not to mention, reading more than 100 tales of college days will definitely make you cheerful about college life, exams included.

2. Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

“You may be poor, but the one thing nobody can take away from you is the freedom to fuck up your life whatever way you want to.” We’re sure these words strike a chord. This story follows some of the classic dilemmas of student life. It will be good to know you’re not alone.

3. Falling into Place

The story is based in high school, how the protagonist never understood Mass, acceleration, momentum, force– in physics, and even as her Mercedes hurtles toward the tree, she doesn’t understand it now. The question the book poses is deep: Is life more than cause and effect?

4. What I know for sure by Oprah

A collection of Oprah Winfrey’s column by the same name, this book contains some really heart-warming anecdotes. If you’re not prepared for exams, this will make them trivial, because there’s much more to life than a three-hour long test!

Kritika Narula
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Events

IPCW organises bilingual conventional debate for freshers

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The English and Hindi Debating societies organised Conventional Debate for freshers on October 10th, 2015.
Around 20 teams participated from all over Delhi University, including teams from Daulat Ram, College of Vocational Studies, Hndu, Miranda House, among others, who presented to a packed audience of 200 in the Conference Hall. The motion to be debated was that being humane is better than being religious.
The judges for the event were Dr. Anupam Pachauri (external) and Dr. Shubhra Seth(Internal).
After a token of appreciation was presented to the judges, a thunderous argumentation and expression of clear ideas began.
Rules of the debate were explained. The debate followed the format of a conventional debate where each speaker was allowed 3+1 minutes to speak, in any language that they preferred.
The session saw discussion over points as diverse as the outmoded religious customs, to the larger communal issues.
The participants related them with current scenarios, such as Dadri lynching case, Babri Masjid, terrorism etc. while explaining their side of the house. After a break for snacks, the debate resumed.
After the debate, the judges were invited to speak a few words. Dr. Pachauri congratulated everyone on their enthusiasm and appreciated the kind of arguments put forward while expressing that such debates should be held in the parliament and moved on to give feedback to the participants.

Anugya Gupta, the Secretary of the English Debating Society, said, “It was a great experience organising the debate. Considering it was a freshers’ tournament we got to see a lot of talent, fresh ideas and good speakers. With the increasing conflicts based on religion, the debate became important.”

The first prize in Hindi was bagged by Keerti and Ritu of IPCW, while the English counterpart went to Vandana and Srishti of Daulat Ram College.
Featured Image Credits: Anugya Gupta

Kritika Narula
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Campus Central

IPCW initiates Swachh Bharat Abhiyan on campus

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th September to 30th September, 2015. Topics were different each day, ranging from “What Cleanliness means to me”, “Gandhiji and cleanliness” to “Cleanliness and IP College”. Students were given the opportunity to express their views on the topics announced a day before, and Dr. Debjani Sengupta was the judge. Each day, the winners were felicitated with certificates recognizing their efforts and expression of opinion. khula 1 The event saw around 35 students expressing their views on the topics for duration of a minute each. The audience was apprised not just of the importance of cleanliness, but the speakers also implored them to make cleanliness a priority. The college also took up cleanliness drive for three days. Students were asked to clean the college campus, and keep this initiative as a continuous process. Brooms were held, rubbish was discarded and the spirit was kept alive even in the Gandhi Jayanti celebrations. The entire college community congregated in the auditorium to pay tribute to the Father of the Nation. Radhika Dua, Treasurer, Students’ Union, said, “Responding to the call on Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, it was exciting to come across such great enthusiasm by fellow students. The cleanliness drive truly enabled us to reflect upon tiny issues which otherwise go unnoticed. Though each participant had a personal motive and ideology to contribute, all of the views combined aid in making a larger difference.” khula audience Last year too, IP College had responded to PM’s call for a Swachh Bharat, and soon enough students took up brooms and had cleaned the spaces and precincts of the campus as well as the bus stop and metro station around. Image Credits: Kritika Narula Kritika Narula [email protected]]]>

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DU Dhaba

Foodies gather at Hudson lane for Treasure Hunt

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Spoon University- Delhi Chapter organized Spoon Scouts: A Foodie Treasure Hunt on 1st October, 2015 at Hudson Lane. Teams who had qualified the online round gathered at Kake Di Hatti for briefing and to get their clues. Teams present included quirky names like The Pirates of Hudson lane, Hupshis, FooDelicious, among others. The teams started the hunt at 3.30pm.  The clues led them to a café where they were supposed to perform an activity.

Photo by Tejaswa
Photo by Tejaswa

Cafes across Hudson Lane such as The Bunk-in Café, The Vintage Avenue, For God’s cake, Jack N’ Chill, Mood Swingers were a part of the Hunt. At every level, the participants won coupons from that café. Six Teams made it to the final round, with the Hogsters and A crazy one sharing the first prize. Other winning teams who won the hamper included Lazy Asses, Lebensmittel, Bugatti, Afghan Jalebis, The Pirates of Hudson Lane.

Participants were seen running around in cafés, and on the road, figuring out clues and guessing the names of the dishes. Nupur Joshi, one of the participants shared her experience, “Spoon Scouts was one-of-a-kind, enthralling event which gave my brain and body a much-needed exercise. I’m definitely coming back for more events.”

Participants included college students from different colleges across Delhi, from IP university to Delhi University’s Kirori Mal, Ramjas, IPCW, Hindu, Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce, Miranda, among others.

Image by Yatin Arora
Winners of the Hunt, Image credits: Yatin Arora

Sonal Chanana, one of the event organizers, said “It was a pleasant experience to organize an event where we could meet food lovers like us, the team worked immensely hard and the cafes were supportive. The journey to engage food-buffs doesn’t end here. It’s just the beginning.”

Spoon University- Delhi Chapter is an online food publication that covers everything from the best local restaurants and simple, unintimidating recipes to how to navigate your first kitchen and coverage of various food festivals.

Featured Image Credits: Sabhyata Badhwar

Kritika Narula

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Arts & Culture

Book Review: Another Day by David Levithan

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The plot is as refreshing as it gets. It is the story that delves deep into our definitions of friendship, love, companionship and belonging. How far will we go to be with someone? How far are we ready to bend the rules? Is bending the rules worth the breach? Does the breach justify the end? Are we ready for the consequences?
It gets you thinking and keeps you so.

But here is a friendly warning: to fully understand the book, and to let it to what it intends to, you need to accept it as fiction, being a realist wouldn’t help. The beauty of the book lies in how it ticks our thinking cells by bringing another dimension to our world.
This is the story of A. A wakes up each day in a new body- and that implies he misses out on so much. On having an address, on having a family, permanent fiends, and so on. Things we take for granted. Things we’d lose and not realize what they’re worth.

Apart from the lessons in living, the plot sure does hold a sense of mystery and intrigue. The author has done such a great job in weaving a plot out of nothing, and I am definitely going to read more from the author.
A beautifully written book, provokes you into thinking incessantly, and makes you question the right and wrong.

Uptil this point, the book was similar to Every Day, the original written from A’s perspective.
All those who’ve read EveryDay are super-thrilled to read this one. Although we know there won’t be any freshness in the plot, still there were so many questions left unanswered from Rhiannon’s perspective in Every Day, that Another Day, a companion book as it is called, seems much needed. One can finish this book in practically no time, partly because it feels like going through the same parts and incidents again, for little utility. So, you might skim through the repetitive dialogues, just like I did. Yes- they sounded beautiful from A’s perspective, but Rhiannon’s words made everything look like it was deceitful, and she was unfortunately made to look like the bad guy here.
I’ll give this to the author- he did write R’s perspective with so much conviction that it made me empathise with her, overriding the sympathy I had towards A earlier.

But, what goes without saying is the part where A woke up in R’s body- I had all my excitement directed towards it. It was worth it. If i am given an option between Every Day and Another Day, I’d choose the latter, though Every Day is the novel that endears me to the author. Another day after ED sounds like a justification! Nevertheless, it was amusing by and by. A sequel is still awaited.
Was it worth it? You might ask. And my answer would be incontrovertibly, undeniably yes. It was so totally worth it.

Image credits: goodreads.com
Kritika Narula
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DU Dhaba

Go Dessert hopping in Delhi on a budget

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To say that Delhi is known for its food is to state the obvious. The city, with the multiplicity of cultures flowing through it, presents to you some of the most savory desserts and sweets. This list will come in handy to satiate your sweet cravings:

1. Mud Cake, Coffee House

The Mud cake is as delicious as it gets in this basement café in Majnu ka Tilla. The richness of flavors gives you multiple foodgasms. And it is so light on the pocket, too!

2. Banoffee Pie, YOLO 21

You only live once, and shouldn’t live without having tried their Banoffee pie. A meal there is heaven, and the banoffee pie, with its layers is the metaphorical cherry on top. Crunchiness and sweetness combine well in this dessert.

Dessert Hopping Page 6 2

3. Apple Jalebi, Café Lota

A crunchy slice of apple transformed into a jalebi with a gooey inside. Couple that with coconut chutney, and we have a terrific combination to tame your sweet pangs.

4. Red velvet, Maison Des desserts

Richness takes a new meaning in desserts here. HKV houses this dessert factory which, although heavy on the pocket, you can still enjoy a lavish ending to your meal on your birthday.

5. Chocolate velvet Cake, Big Chill Cakery

The smooth texture of the cake will have you drooling over its very sight. If that is not enough, a wide range of mouth-watering desserts await you here.

Dessert Hopping Page 6 1

6. Froyo, Cocoberry

Short for Frozen Yoghurt, this is sinful yoghurt with toppings. This is more preferable in summers, when shelving extra for something cool doesn’t hurt.

7. Chocolate Walnut Brownie, Ama café

Another treat from the café famous for pancakes. But in case you missed breakfast here, the brownie will totally make up for it.

8. Marbled chocolates, Sinfully yours

Chocolate in any form is sinfully ours. Desserts with some of the classiest presentations, Sinfully yours is a treat for you if you love depth and richness in your desserts.

If all else fails grab a chocolate doughnut at Dunkin Donuts or Mad Over Donuts.

All Image Credits: Kritika Narula

Kritika Narula

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Arts & Culture

6 movies every wannabe corporate honcho ought to watch

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Start-ups are the order of the day, business acumen has never been more ubiquitous in students and wall street  is a maniacal obsession.

It is only obvious then that the corporate world, the stock market hold a special intrigue for us and entrepreneurship as an idea that thrills us beyond words. Movies are the best way to bring the economic and commercial world to the masses. Here’s a hand-picked list of visual delights to watch.

  1. Inside Job

Shocking portrayal of the most significant global economic crisis, this movie churns out a plethora of business insights.  Everyone was responsible, from the financial institutions to the business leaders and government organizations.

  1. The Social Network

This haunting account of the rise and fall and rise of Facebook is more than just a documentation of the history of this epic company. It leaves you wondering how friendships and connections can go sour, and whether one is ready to pay the price for it, if you get to become a billionaire.

  1. Wall Street

This is a classic among business students. Although based in a technologically inferior time than ours, its essence remains relevant even today. The charm of trading and stock brokerage never dies.  Insider trading, greed, ambition, and questionable loyalties make it worth your time.

  1. Other people’s Money

This movie is your guide to a hostile takeover bid. If you believe that celluloid heroes and villains are accurate depictions of the real life, you’re in for a treat. The realistic story is relevant, and the liquidator’s ruthlessness is intimidating.

  1. Barbarians at the Gate

Yet another classic, the intrigue begins with its title itself. It is based on a true story, and the inevitable battle of aggressive business tactics will have you hooked.

  1. Margin Call

This is a relatively recent flick, and the storyline is refreshing. Now that the US financial crisis hurts a little less, we may as well watch the documentation of the fall of Lehman Brothers.

It has been called “the best wall street movie made till date”. Need we explain more?

Do watch these tales of morality to conspiracy theories to David-and-Goliath fables and get that kick of inspiration.

Featured Image Credits:  www.forbes.com

Kritika Narula

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