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DUSU holds annual marathon in North Campus

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Delhi University Stiudents Union (DUSU) organised a university wide marathon in North Campus, as a part of ABVP’s endeavor to create political awareness among university students. Organised every year since 2009 (barring 2012 and 2013- when ABVP wasn’t in power), the central theme of the marathon was Initiative 272: securing 272 seats for Mr. Narendra Modi in the fast approaching elections.

Among the Chief Guests were Mr. Suresh Thakur, owner and CEO of the media house- Aapka Faisla, Mr. Umesh Dutt, National General Secretary, ABVP and Dr. Sanjay Kumar, Assistant Professor, Aurobindo College.

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Organized by Raju Rawat (DUSU Treasurer), Dharmedre (Dhamu) and Avadh Nagpal, the marathon managed to get thousands of students out on the streets to support ABVP. The marathon started from Law Faculty, North Campus and circumferenced the entire campus region. Tens of policemen patrolled the region to make sure that the event progresses smoothly. The turnout was huge and the event took place in a highly orderly manner.

Avadh Nagpal, one of the main organisers of the event, had the following to say, ‘We faced a lot of problems. Some of our important sponsors backed out last minute. A lot of preparations were in jeopardy because of that. But we somehpw had to pull it off. We aimed to bring together 25,000 students and we managed around 11,000. So extremely satisfied.”

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Small Screen

TV Show Review: Mother up

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“Rudi, I need help. My marriage is falling apart”

“Relax.  It’s only your first marriage. Those are like the practice ones”

Enter Eva Longoria’s alternate version of family. Mother up is an adult animated show centered on Rudi Wilson, a high-ranking executive in a booming music company when a personal scandal (or so to speak- she was caught on tape hunting small children for sport using ‘tranquilizer darts’, or so she claims) gets her fired. The pompous Wilson decides to take time off and be the amazing mother she knew she could always be. She shifts to the suburbs with her two children, Apple and Dick, and so begins the adventure she was least prepared for.

The narcissistic Wilson isn’t just facing the challenge of raising two children, whose names she’s unsure of, but also dealing with the over bearing, hypocritical suburban mothers who populate every corner of suburbia. Packed with flashes of some genuinely funny moments, Rudi may not manage to catch your imagination in the first instant but sure manages to make an impression. Longoria’s voice is at her expressive best and you start to relate to her voice more than any of the characters themselves.

 

The pilot episode first aired on November 6, 2013, in the States. The show opened to largely negative reviews with excessive criticism for uncanny resemblance to Family Guy. It drew further criticism for trying too hard to be funny.

Although the criticism isn’t entirely unwarranted, what it fails to mention is that the show is spiced with some very laughable moments and isn’t half bad in it’s execution. As an adult animated show, Mother Up! isn’t entirely disappointing.Eva Longoria manages to string along a loosely knitted script. It may have had a mediocre start, but it shows promise.

“Oh. Don’t be all judgy. I am not the first mother in history who has left a witch doll in charge of her kids.”

imagecortesy:otakudome.com

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Gargi College

Theatre thrones: Ramjas’ Private Ear wins first prize at Reverie, SRCC comes second

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Gargi’s Annual Cultural Fest Reverie 2014 started on a high note. The first day is on it’s close and the energy is palpable. One of its most awaited events, Nivacanna- the theatre fest saw participation from all over the university. 24 teams contested the prelims and following four made it to the finals:

Dyal Singh College- Mumtaz Bhai Patangwale

Shri Ram College Of Commerce- Black Comedy

Ramjas College- The Private Ear

Shaheed Bhagat Singh(evening): The Darkroom

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The top four teams along with Gargi (non competitive- Blind Spot), performed to a packed auditorium. The judges for the event were Ms. Vidya Das Arora, Ms. Vani Vyas and Mr. Neel Chaudhari.

Although the audience’s reaction was testimony to how well prepared each team was, Ramjas’ The Private Ear walked away with the first prize. Black Comedy (SRCC) won the second best play. The best actor was shared by Kabir Ahmad (SRCC) and Dhruv Sirohi (Ramjas). SRCC’s Black Comedy also won the award for Best Direction. Mr. Gagan Arora, Shaheed Bhagat Singh (evening) received a special mention for his outstanding acting abilities.

Gagan had the following to say, “The event was superb. Very well organized and managed. Each team was pretty good but I personally found SRCC’s Black Comedy the best.”

Catch live updates from Reverie 2014 here | Visit the Reverie 2014 Facebook Album here

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Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies

150 participants battle for top spots at SSCBS’ Excelsior 2.0

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Mark It Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies (SSCBS) held its annual marketing fest- Excelsior 2.0 on January 30 and 31, 2014. The event started with five rounds of prelims being held in different colleges of the university. The top 150 participants were pitted against in three grueling competitions (Best Manager, Best Marketer and Best Entrepreneur) at Patel Chest, North Campus. Each of the three competitions had two different rounds of selection- a written test and a group discussion, followed by multiple tasks on the two main days.

Best Marketer, Excelsior’s flagship competition, tested the contestants managerial acumen from crisis management to stress interviews.

Best Marketer challenged the potential future marketing honchos to come up with multiple marketing strategies and ideas through various rounds including group discussions and case studies.

Best Entrepreneur tested the strategic entrepreneurial skills through B-Plan developments and numerous other tasks.
In addition to the stress interview and crisis management rounds, an Ad-Mad competition was held which was open to all and gave away cash prizes amounting to Rs. 5,000. The highlight of the event was a special auction held at the end of Day 1. Managers and Entrepreneurs were divided into teams of two on random basis and were ask to bid for 90 American cities. Each team had a total of 20,000 dollars and was required to make a combination of cities from resource pools, recreational centers and commercial districts. Students who qualified on the first day were then given an overnight task.

After two extremely trying days, the winners walked away with cash prizes worth Rs. 60,000. The winners emerged as follows:
Milind Vaish, SSCBS- The Global Duce (Best Manager)
Shreshth Narula, SSCBS- The Global Tycoon (Best Entrepreneur)
Parul Duggal- the Global Chandler (Best Marketer)

A proud winner, Milind had the following to say, “I am delighted that I was adjudged the best manager. The tasks were brilliantly conceptualized and all the participants were very talented.”

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DUB Speak

Objectification of Men

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Every feminist who has ever seen an advertisement containing women wearing skimpy clothes, drooling over a man, who otherwise isn’t worth a dime, but is wearing a deodorant, has publically ridiculed the idea of female objectification. And not to forget, advertisements showing women emerging from the sea wearing a swimsuit that barely leaves anything for imagination, selling cement!!!

Although objectification essentially implies treating a human being like an object, oblivious to his feelings and dignity, it is often related to sexual objectification- thinking of a person as the satisfier of a fantasy without any personal attributes. Sexual objectification is merely a scintilla of objectification. Yet, being the most widespread and easy to recognize, it is often likened to treating a human being as a sex object. And like everything else, the woman has to bear the brunt of insatiable male libido. From the so called ‘item numbers’ to magazines, women are running many businesses on the fastest selling commodity- sex. The fact that women are reduced to plastic dolls to fit into the ever narrowing definitions of beauty is no secret. And a lot has been said and argued about.

But what about the man- the weaker sex with the stronger ego? The idea of male objectification isn’t as hotly debated as his female counterpart, but that doesn’t subdue the fact that a lot of female fantasies are thriving on the definition of the perfect man. From actors and models to strippers, the man has joined the bandwagon. When an actress wears a bikini for an unnecessary song, much is said. But when her counterpart drops his towel or takes off his shirt, no one bats an eye. Breaking of traditional role boundaries and a realization to cater to the needs of the empowered female has placed the shirtless man right next to the bikini-clad woman. To sum up, here are a few characteristics of male objectification:

  • The Finances: The number of unrelated products a half naked man sells is truly alarming. From air freshener to magazine covers to saloons, they have covered it all.
  • It is a safer bet: If you have a generic product, an unnecessarily ‘sexy’ woman might not be taken as well as a man. (We are a little more accepting that ways. But don’t push it, we too take offence)
  • The Need of the hour: A man is as appealing for selling to a woman and a woman is to a man. With so many woman pulling in six figures (or more), the companies don’t really want to forgo those large purses.
  • In the name of attention: A lot of times, the only reason of using sex as a symbol to sell something as platonic as biscuits is to grab the readers attention. Evidently, a sexually provoking male does it as well as a female.

Image Credits: www.downmagaz.com

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Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies

Empezar concludes, winner takes home ten grand

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SSCBS Synergy’s pan-India business event- Empezar concluded on Wednesday, January 22. The final day centered around the theme of globalization. A two hour long training session on business development was followed by a task in which every team was given a country and they had to come up with a ‘Day’ to be celebrated to commemorate it’s rich culture.

They then had to commercialise the day with everything from merchandising to events being organised along it’s central theme. The winners were declared on the basis of the cumulative performance of all the four days. They came up with the idea of ‘Bleed Red Day’- a day that celebrates equilibrium in society when good conquers evil. Poornima Puri, a second year B.Com (H) student was declared the overall winner from the winning team. Each of the ten members got a sum of rs. 4,000 with Puri taking home ten grand. In addition, they get to pick an internship of their choice from Empezar’s interning partners. On being questioned, the proud winner had the following to say:

How was your experience at Empezar?

Empezar, in it’s true sense, has been a beginning for me to take things to the next level and believe in being crazy. The idea to combine theoretical and practical knowledge, really added value to each participant’s journey.

Being divided into teams, named after dynasties, promoted a sense of competition with a royal touch. My team, the Mauryans, was consistent in performance and immovable from the 1st spot. The team’s win was well expected but being chosen as the overall individual winner did come as a surprise. I am thankful for my team’s support and the OC’s watchful eye.

Have you participated in college events before?

Yes, I have participated in events over the University but Synergy does have a way to put quality into a competitive event.

Did the large scale of this national event, differentiate it from the rest for you?

Empezar, being a National level event, does hold it’s prestige and helps the participants as well as the winners to proudly associate with it.

Any winner’s tips for the ones reading the article?

As for winner’s tips, my only advice is to truly believe in your capabilities and organize the way you work. Give your 100% and have no regrets!

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Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies

Synergy SSCBS kickstarts corporate business event

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Synergy SSCBS has created a new dimension to its array of corporate events – Empezar 2014. Spanning over two months, the event started with national visits to Mumbai, Kolkata, Pune and finally taking on Delhi in early January.

The event centres around the top 100 participants, selected after a rigorous four tier procedure. These are being given training in different fields of Indian business through industry experts. It will carry on for four days with each day focusing on a different era of  Indian business evolution.

Day 1- Colonialism

Day 2-Industrialization

Day 3-Liberalization

Day 4-Globalization

The event commenced on January 18 with a corporate dinner which brought the participants, organising members and professionals from the corporate and academic world together in a congenial set up. The program started with a welcome note followed by a panel discussion comprising:

Dr. Poonam Verma, Principal SSCBS

Professor SC Malik, Treasurer SSCBS

Dr. Kumar Bijoy, BFIA Department Head and Convenor, Synergy

Mr. Pankaj Prasad, Director, Advik Laboratories

Mr.Ajay Gomes, Founder, E&M Evangelic Training

Mr. Gagan Girotra, Founder PRAX

The theme of the discussion was ‘Staying Ahead of Changing Times’. Vahini Menon Kapila, Managing Director, Synergy had the following to say, “From ideation to the final implementation, the experience has been stupendous. We have managed to bring together a team of highly skilled people together for an intensive training program. Hopefully, everyone will  leave Empezar with an amazing experience”.

The discussion was followed by dinner and Empezar was declared open.

Note: DU Beat is the official media partner of Empezar 2014.

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Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies

Enactus SSCBS puts up stall for Project Akshar

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ENACTUS SSCBS is one of the most active social service societies in the DU circuit. With 4 fully functional projects under its belt, Enactus is determined to make changes that go beyond simply a mention in resumes. As a part of its Project Akshar, an undertaking that helps impoverished communities to earn a living by making notebooks from recycled paper, Enactus put up a stall in SSCBS on 6th January 2014. Available in multiple sizes, the considerations from these notebooks go directly to the makers with Enactus running the overall machinery.

Vatsal Khullar, the President of Enactus SSCBS remarks, ‘The cause is such that people can now associate with it. It’s in its 3rd year. The basic idea is something that people are very supportive of. It humbles me to see the kind of enthusiasm Project Akshar has received and how keenly CBS student body engages itself in Enactus’ endeavors.’

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DUB Speak

The Indian: Then and Now (2013 to 2014)

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The year began with the Indian waking up from the shock of a young woman brutally raped and murdered in the heart of the country- The Capital City of Delhi. Delhi was infamously tagged as the Rape Capital of the world, cementing India’s position among the ranks of other women-unfriendly countries. But for the first time in a long time, the tortured Indian wasn’t ready to lie low. People had had enough and evidence was soon to follow. The sheer number of people who took to the streets in protest was not just heartening, it was alarming. Gandhiji’s silent fight had turned into Bhagat’s Singh’s uprising. The crusade ended with capital punishment for the four who unflinchingly did not just succumb to their baser instincts but also showed the world that perhaps humans are not as far away from barbarians as we thought. The struggle is far from over, but off to a great start.

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On the international front, the Indian was once again the center of attention- but for a different reason. Ang Lee’s Life of Pi, the story of a young Indian boy lost at sea and his struggle to survive, showed the world that India was a more than Danny Boyle’s version of shanty homes and slums.

But what took years of work to build was destroyed in a matter of minutes- Section 377 of The Indian Penal Code declared homosexuality punishable under law. So now the Indian wasn’t just unsafe on the streets, he was also being watched in his bedroom.

The socially shamed Indian was about to be hit on his pocket too. The Indian rupee’s fall against the dollar did not only send the finance department of every company in limbo but also made every Indian count pennies. On the domestic front too, inflation continues to plague the Indian who is now stretching his wallet even for necessities.

The Indian also witnessed one of the most horrific natural calamities in Uttrakhand with hundreds losing their lives (and livelihoods) and even more suffering irreparable loss. But instead of being swept aside as a victim, the Indian emerged a Hero. Right from the soldier to the civilian, the Indian did what no one expected of him- placed others before him. Hundreds of local inhabitants came to the rescue of the grief stricken and several of them saved others from perishing, some losing their own lives in the process.

Beaten down on the social and financial aspects, the trying times weren’t quite so over. The Indian is still grappling with the idea of secularism, while communities continue to clash on religious grounds. The Muzzafarnagar riots shook Uttar Pradesh and the entire country to its core. Several people lost their lives in the name of communal loyalty. Divided by religion, united by religion.
The Indian has cherished cricket as a religion that transcends boundaries. The year saw India’s greatest cricket legend

– Sachin Tendulkar bid adieu to the sport for good. The entire nation came together to celebrate the life of one of the most celebrated Indians.

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Another innate power that the Indian summoned in 2013 was that of unity.

Aam Aadmi Party’s victory in Delhi State Elections did not just testify that even today, the Indian is the master of his own destiny but also insinuated that ruling India is no one’s birth right- India was freed in 1947 and the Indian intends to keep it that way.
This year, especially these past few months, have proved that the Indian is no more a passive old man sitting in the corner, observing as things happen to him. He’s confident, alert, compassionate and angry.

Image courtesy: espncricinfo.com, Pallab Deb and Gurman Bhatia for DU Beat

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DUB Speak

Winds of Change: The 2013 Delhi Election Results

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For the past year or so, especially after the alarming lack of safety for women in Delhi, and in India by extension, has assumed center stage in all the political discussions that I came across, the concluding note was always that the future of this country is in bleak hands.

The economy isn’t in shape (and the future shows no respite), the Indian currency has sunk to an all-time low (so we are being degraded internationally as well), everyone from a technician who is supposed to repair my landline to an official who has taken the oath to serve the people before his personal interests responds to cash (ranging from a mere Rs. 50 to a few lakhs, depending on what you need fixed) and women’s safety is in jeopardy. In short, everything that our founding fathers stood for has been traded for a bottle of vodka, cash or blind sense gratification. The part that bothered me the most was that no one was willing to do anything about it. We all complained, went to the market and bought some pepper spray and that was it. A movement started by Mr. Anna Hazare surfaced but that too fizzled out with time.

Even though Hazare’s efforts were in vain, one of his close associates, Mr. Arvind Kejriwal formed his own political party- The Aam Aadmi Party- in his attempt to fight back and save what’s left of our city. No one expected much from him and up until the day before the elections, everyone expected AAP to win a few seats at best, with Congress or BJP hogging up all the power. Surely, we’d have to put up with another 5 years of corruption and avarice (after all, AAP was only promising a better city, while its well heeled competitors promised food, alcohol, a grand for a vote).

But 8th December proved everyone wrong. BJP won 31 seats and Congress managed to retain 8 seats in its feeble grip. The most delightfully surprising result was that AAP- the party that was formally launched just last November, not only managed to sweep congress off its feet with 28 seats in the 70 seat assembly, Kejriwal defeated Dikshit, who has been Delhi’s CM for 15 years, from her own constituency by a staggering 22,000 something votes.

 Even though everyone is expecting astronomical change in Delhi’s administration, I am not worried whether AAP or BJP (who ever finally comes to power) is able to bring some welcome change and clean some of the mess Congress has made. The fact that Delhi has proven that it’s had enough and that running a country is no-one’s family business has proven that maybe democracy isn’t dead. The wave of change that started with discontent in people’s minds has finally started making way to the parliament. Maybe, it isn’t such a bad time to be an Indian after all.

Image courtesy: timesofindia.com

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