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Admissions 2016

DU to introduce a range of new courses for the academic session 2016

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Gone are the days when students aspiring to gain admission in Delhi University had to settle for all regular undergraduate subjects found in majority of the colleges. This year, Delhi University has decided to give the dreams of such aspirants a greater push by introducing a range of 25 new courses in various colleges across the campus from the new academic session.

According to officials, more than 30 colleges had granted permission in February and approved of getting these courses started from the year 2016 itself. These courses will not only give students the flexibility to choose from a greater list of subjects but also give those who may not be able to score as high or as per the cut-offs, a much better chance of securing their place in the most desired university of India, due to increase in the number of seats in many colleges.

The new academic session that will begin from August 2016, will therefore give everyone something new to look forward to, in almost every college. For instance, Forensic Science (H), a subject that has never been offered before in the University of Delhi, will be introduced for the very first time in Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur (SGTB) Khalsa College to give students an opportunity to study a richer application of Science pertaining to criminal and civil laws.

Similarly, colleges that had earlier shunned certain subjects away, have now decided to begin these courses to retain an overall distribution of all subject streams which the students are passionate to pursue. The list of some of these newly offered courses in colleges include: Political Science (H) in St. Stephen’s College and Bharati College; History (H) in Bhagini Nivedita College, Shaheed Bhagat Singh College and Aryabhatta College; Bachelor of Business Studies (BBS) in Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce (SGGSCC), Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur (SGTB) Khalsa College and Ramanujan College; Maths (H) in Gargi College; Computer Science (H) in Sri Guru Nanak Dev (SGND) Khalsa College, Aryabhatta College, Shivaji College and SGTB Khalsa College; Chemistry (H) in Rajguru College of Applied Sciences; and a course of Mechanical Engineering in Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology (NSIT).

Thus, with such an interesting stream of courses, Delhi University does not only provide a longer list of options for all eager aspirants but is also liable to get the current availability of 54,000 seats easily increased with an introduction of these courses in as many as 30 colleges across the campus. The admission process is most likely to begin from 25th May with its first cut-off list to be out by 22nd June, 2016.

DU Beat wishes everyone good luck!

Picture Credits: www.dailymail.co.uk
Shagun Marwah
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Enactus

Enactus Maitreyi’s Project Unnayan leads to economically empowered women

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Leading by Bushnell’s quote, “The true entrepreneur is a doer, not a dreamer.” the Enactus Society of Delhi University’s Maitreyi College has grown, within only two years of its inception, into a well established platform of social transformation that aims to achieve a holistic development of all the weaker sections of the society and help them attain a sustainable livelihood through various development programs and social entrepreneurial projects.

Founded by Sanchila Arora in 2014, the society consists of some forty members who together took on their very first entrepreneurial initiative – Project Unnayan. Adhering to the purpose of the word ‘Unnayan’ which means ‘Upliftment’, the project works towards the process of improving the living conditions of all women residing in the socially and economically backward sections of the society by training them in making and selling liquid dishwashing products, Clean Ninja.

Clean Ninja
Clean Ninja

 

There are many areas in Delhi where economic trends are extremely weak which not only lessens economic opportunities for all but also leads to low incomes, poor living conditions and health of families and low levels of sustainability due to unemployment. There have also been several instances, as confessed by women to the members of Enactus Maitreyi, in which their husbands have spent all their income in consumption of alcohol and even became violent when tried to be stopped, further leading to the deliberate wastage of all their money on unruly wants instead of being used for basic requirements of care for their families.

The members of Enactus Maitreyi therefore, get together with the targeted set of women in a safe and hygienic working environment on a regular basis, and train them in the basic techniques of producing the liquid dishwasher, Clean Ninja. They do so by teaching them the methods of measuring and mixing all the ingredients correctly with the help of different apparatus and neatly packaging the products simultaneously once they are created. Once they are familiar with this art of producing the dishwashing liquid, they are guided to the process of marketing and selling the products as well. Apart from the production, the women employed under Enactus Maitreyi are also taught about the basic necessities of wearing gloves and masks during the whole process and the uniqueness of these products which lies in their quality and uniformity along with the environment-friendly aspect adjoined with it. In short, the team members do everything they can to help them gain proficiency in all the essential skills and knowledge required for becoming strong, self sufficient and economically independent women in the society.

Enactus maitreyi

 

Rashmi Verma, President, Enactus Society of Maitreyi, strongly believes that “There aren’t any people, who wouldn’t want to make a change in the society, but there are indeed, very few who successfully create a difference. More than dreamers, we are the ‘do-ers’. Being an all girls team, we have learnt the strength and courage each one holds within us. There is nothing in the world which can deter our unity now and stop us from turning any idea into a reality once we put our mind to it. Through Project Unnayan, we provide women a platform where they can explore new arenas of life and start living a life they never believed they could experience. All women employed under our initiative are thus, working voluntarily and are extremely happy with this effort crossing their lives.”

The Enactus Society of Maitreyi College has also recently won the KPMG Grant Competition 2015, where they have been awarded with a grant of Rs. 50,000.

Due to the consistent positive response gained for their results of Clean Ninja, once their current project becomes stable and the women of the community gain complete self reliance over their work, the Enactus Society of Maitreyi College has decided to come up with the production of many more variants of the same product with a new set of workforce, and would also be seen creating many more successful projects in the near future.

Picture Credits: Shagun Marwah for DU Beat

Shagun Marwah

[email protected]

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Maitreyi College

Department of English, Maitreyi College Organises Literary Fest- Ekphrasis 2016 on Visualities

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The Department of English, Maitreyi College, organised their annual literary festival and national seminar, Ekphrasis, on 18th and 19th March, 2016. It included many engaging and riveting paper presentations and talks by renowned scholars and proficient student researchers.

The first day started with a keynote address by Professor Christel Dewadawson, a Ph.D. scholar from the University of Cambridge and the head of the English Department at St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi. She began with a demonstration of pictorial satires and spoke about the relationship between sacred and secular contours. She explained how the emergence of pictorial satires in India deliberately sought and found new worlds to conquer, and gradually grew into a thoughtful platform that represents and responds sensitively to both personal as well as national issues of grief and morality today.

Dr. Shanta Roy, Professor of English at Maitreyi College, then welcomed the new Editorial Board of their Literary Newsletter, Dialect, with Dr. (Prof.) Richa Chilana, Swarnima Narayan and Nimisha Sinha as chief editors, along with Anna Dasgupta, Illica Ratan, Anubha Gautam, Navya Kanwar, Srishti Chaudhary, Varsha Sharma, Arushi Sundaram, and Yasmeen as the rest of the editorial team.

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The first session of paper presentations titled ‘The Visual: Effects and After Effects’ was shared by two speakers. Rustam Singh, a renowned poet and philosopher, elucidated on the nature of different kinds of visual objects and believed that the void essence behind objects can be easily deciphered through one sole look. Sohum Mandal, a Ph.D. Scholar in English, from Jawaharlal Nehru University, spoke about the role of street art as an urban space making practice. Considering each viewer to be unique in their perception and articulation of visual representation, he says “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” He further distinguishes graffiti (spray painting) being a form of spontaneous, politically motivated act of vandalism from the legitimate profession of Street Art which involves beautification of architecture through sanctioned governmental operations.

The second session, titled ‘Envisioning the Nation’ was chaired by Dr. Manish Sharma and lead by the speaker, Kalsang Yangzom, a Researcher at University of Delhi, who presented a literary visual analysis on the protests of Tibetan struggle for freedom, wherein the subject of self immolation, “marked by nationalistic value and used as cultural symbols” was also discussed. This was followed by two more speakers, Mr. Sanjib Goswami, a researcher from Guwahati University, who gave an enthralling analytical study on the folk arts and crafts of Assam, along with Debrati Roy, a researcher from Ashoka University, who unveiled the history of Palestine Journalism through a visual documentation.

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The third session of the day, titled ‘Visually and its Other’ included a paper presentation on the colorful visuals of Visconti Tarot Cards by Payal from Kamala Nehru College which depicted how representations of women’s bodies stroke a meaningful connection with their role in the Pre- Renaissance period, and Saurav Chatterjee, a researcher from Jodavpur University whose paper described the birth of freedom struggle and feelings of nationalism through the Bengali Comics of Naraya Debnath’s ‘Batul, the Great!’ which portrayed Batul as an epitome of a national superhero.

The day ended with a guest appearance of Kanupriya, alumni of Maitreyi College, who gave a visual representation of the French artist, Franz Kafka’s collection of sketches and doodles which provided a powerful illustration of his psyche, state of transcendence and his willful interpretations of the world. According to her, Kafka was known, “not only for expressing a great deal of solitude in his sketches, but also for getting fully dissolved in it”.

The second day of Ekphrasis included a line-up of paper presentations by student researchers, and chaired by Sakshi Vasn, a Ph.D. scholar in English at the University of Delhi. The session began with Shantam and Snigdha Roy’s paper presentation on the topic ‘Death of an Artwork’ through which Snigdha emphasized Vivan Sundaram’s brilliantly infused artwork of memorials and T.V. Santosh’s exceptional paintings which mostly tackled the relentless themes of war and global terrorism. His painting of 2008 Mumbai Terrorist Attacks was critically acclaimed. Swarnika, an undergraduate student of English at Hans Raj College, Delhi University, was next to present her research paper on Yaoi Genre, Japanese graphic (anime) novels based on simplified notions of love, life and masculinity in the romanticism of heterosexual and homosexual relationships. Pertaining to an 85% of female readership, these visual stories were such that they illustrated a subjectivity of homo-eroticism and painted a rosy view of happy endings. The last paper was presented by Mantra Mukim on the visual analysis of Raj Comics, which were introduced in 1980s and were transnational in nature. He also enhanced animals as essential elements in graphic novels as they not make the comic’s popularity among child readership stronger, but also put everyone in a state of captivation.

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The event was followed by a talk by Vishwajyoti Ghosh, a graphic novelist, known popularly for his work in ‘Delhi Calm’, a gripping political graphic novel set in 1970s that re-imagines the city of Delhi during the period of Emergency in India. He also presented a graphic documentary film named ‘This Side, That Side’ that revolved around instances of restoring collective memories that like everything else, have too, been “partitioned”, the negotiations around borders, stories of lost love and friendships, the prejudices, etc, all of which were successful in keeping the audience glued to the screen and getting goose bumps appear on their skin. He ended by reflecting on the need to encourage children to read and make graphic novels more popular in India by getting them published in vernacular languages.

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The event also hosted a couple of fun, informal events such as Beg, Borrow and Steal, a workshop on comics by Payal AP, debate, treasure hunt and a literary quiz basing ‘Snape as a Hero’ for all Harry Potter die-hards. These saw a great number of student participation from colleges such as Hans Raj, Ramjas, PGDAV, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya among others. Overall, the two day festival of literature was fruitfully engaging and visually appealing.

Featured Image Credits: Vibhana Kanwar for DU Beat and Shubhra Arora

Shagun Marwah

[email protected]

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Features

Zu Tisch Bistro united German food and music; features DU music societies every week

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Zu Tisch

Apart from the regular range of spicy street chaats and traditional comfort-food dishes, Delhiites are never too hesitant (or in fact, full) to try something new, and always welcome delectable varieties with both their eyes and mouths open (even with wallets empty). While Chinese, Thai and Italian may top the list of the most preferred international cuisines for now, it’s not too late for tummies of all foodies to be growling just at the mere thought of soft scrumptious sausages being served with braised cabbage and sweet mustard or a mouth-watering plate of juicy pan fried schnitzels surrounded by crispy potato wedges.

Zu Tisch
Zu Tisch

To make this experience of German cuisine even better, we have the new restaurant Zu Tisch to thank. Nestled in the heart of the capital in the bustling M-Block market of Greater Kailash-1, Zu Tisch is the first one-of-its-kind European Bistro bar and restaurant which serves authentic German cuisine. It was founded by a group of IIT-ians who quit their jobs to open up a restaurant and decided to devote all their time to two things which they loved more than anything else in the world- food and music. It is highly likely that whenever you walk in you’re your friends in the evening, you’ll be welcomed with a live gig. On more than a couple of occasions every week, they have renowned artists performing at the bistro, which not only builds up an exciting and fun venture for all music lovers, but also instantly enhances the whole dining experience altogether.

Apart from its perfectly crafted German menu, impeccable service, rustic vintage charm and beautiful ambience, what also makes this place extremely popular among all students is the fact that it proudly hosts music societies of different colleges every “Thursday Night, Live!” in an acoustic intimate setting. It includes college A Cappella, trio or solo performances with a specific headline act. They not only provide opportunities for college societies to perform in front of a live audience and gain confidence, but also serve as a platform where they can take chances, become spontaneous and different, learn from their mistakes and grow into better artists with each new performance. Lady Shri Ram College for Women, Gargi College, Shri Ram College of Commerce, St. Stephen’s College, IIT Delhi and Sri Venkateswara College’s Western Music Societies are some of its past performers.

Rhea Mahanta of Western Music Society, LSR, tells us, “Playing at the Wine and Music Fest at Zu Tisch was an experience of simply loving what you do. The crowd was so interactive that it felt like a space where we could play around with the boundaries of music and do our own renditions, and people welcomed it! It was a close knit community of souls genuinely wanting to see what we had to share and be a part of that musical exchange.”

Special discount offers for all college students, such as 1+1 pizzas and drinks on all Thursdays, Happy Hours on pizzas, pastas and drinks everyday till 6 p.m., and many other fun deals on food and drinks also make this place too irresistible to be missed by anyone.

They are also further introducing a campus ambassador program called ‘My office desk is a bar station’. Any student who is currently studying/ has graduated from Delhi University’s college can apply. The program allows students to work at a bar and work closely with their college music society based events. They will get free FnB, an opportunity to collaborate with other artists and fixed monetary bonuses every week. To apply, contact 9953469902/ [email protected]. Zu Tisch also requests more and more music societies, bands or musicians to come forward and approach them for gigs.

Image credits: Facebook Page, Zu Tisch

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Flicks

Most anticipated movies of 2016

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Movies 2016

What makes a truly good movie? Is it the script, the direction, amazing actors or catchy music? This is that one question which everyone ponders upon while judging a movie, whether watched in the luxury of a theatre or in the personal comforts of home. But, wasted money and wasted time, as much as foolishly repeated, can never be forgotten. So, this year, while we faced much disappointment from movies like: ABCD 2, Badlapur, Katti Batti and Shaandaar. Some brilliant films involving Salman’s breathtaking performance in Bajrangi Bhaijaan, the beautiful story of a daughter-father relationship in Piku, Kangana’s hilarious love escapades in Tanu Weds Manu Returns and Imtiaz’s amazing direction in Tamasha, have proven to mend our broken hearts and make us fall in love with movies all over again.

Thus, overall one cannot deny that 2015 has been a terrific year for movie buffs and there’s no doubt that the coming year will too, produce equally, or hopefully, even more unforgettable movies for us. Therefore, here’s a list of the most anticipated Hollywood and Bollywood movies of 2016:

HOLLYWOOD

1.) Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice

Okay, you honestly can’t tell me that you haven’t been waiting for this to happen on the big screen ever since you read comics or watched cartoons of your favorite superheroes as a kid. No matter how you feel about Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel or Ben Aflleck’s performances, it’s hard not to get excited about watching Batman and Superman- two of the biggest superheroes of all time, at war with one another and then eventually forming a team, alongside Wonder Woman to fight against evil. Whether it will be an epic blockbuster experience or a major disappointment, it’s definitely the one you wouldn’t want to miss out on. 
Release date: March 25, 2016

2.) Deadpool

With movies like X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Green Lantern repeatedly letting our hopes down, it’s going to take much more than just Ryan Reynold’s drop dead gorgeous looks and rock-hard abs to fight his way through all the non-convincing arguments of people to watch this one. But then again, the lesser we expect, the more we’re surprised, aren’t we? I say, give Tim Miller’s debut feature film a chance. In fact, for Ryan’s insane love for superhero comics and never-ending spirit, I’d even say a thousand times over.
Release date: February 12, 2016

3.) Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising

If you’ve seen the first part, you’re certainly not missing this one. If you haven’t, well then, all I can say is that you’re in for a treat. With the amazing direction of Nicholas Stoller, the gang’s all back, including Zac Efron’s charming personality, Seth Rogen’s effortless acting, and Rose Byrne’s unmatched cuteness, along with the surprise arrival of two new sorority sisters in the neighborhood such as Selena Gomez and Chloe Grace Moretz who are bound to bring their own promising share of crazy uniqueness to the sequel, making it even better than the previous one.
Release date: May, 2016.
The trailers of Neighbors 2 haven’t been released. So, here is a trailer of the fun and frolic life of the Neighbors’ first movie. If you enjoy this, there’s no way you wouldn’t love the next one!

4.) Finding Dory

Thirteen years after the release of ‘Finding Nemo’, which yet remains one of the most loved and best works of Pixar productions, the wait is finally over. Remember that forgettable yet unforgettable cutest little blue fish, we all fell madly in love with? There’s only so much we can adore a character and Dory goes beyond any ordinary limits. So, watching a movie based entirely on her, further voiced by the famous personality, Ellen DeGeneres seems like the most perfect splash of happiness we require this summer. No matter how old you are, you’re sure to keep this one in the very first priority of your wish list.
Release date: June 17, 2016

5.) The Conjuring 2: The Enfield Poltergeist

Who doesn’t love a little horror? Especially if it’s directed by James Wan who may be well known for his movies like Saw and Insidious, but mostly for his critically acclaimed 2013 release ‘The Conjuring’ which was considered as one of the best possession movies ever created and as a result, also succeeded in keeping us terrified for several sleepless nights. The sequel thus, continues the roles of the paranormal activity researchers, Ed and Lorraine Warren, but in a new spine-chilling tale (which also seems to be based on true events- till some extent) revolving around the lives of two sisters, held in a town of Enfield, England. I don’t know about you but I’m ready to get spooked all over again, and as much as possible. Are you?
Release date: June 10, 2016

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWnP3ZfV6lo

 

BOLLYWOOD

1.) Fan

Produced by Aditya Chopra, and directed by Maneesh Sharma (who’s best known for his debut film: Band Baaja Baraat) this is a story about a man and his obsession with his favorite movie star , Aryan (Shahrukh Khan) with whom he shares identical looks, further centering on his journey to meet him in Mumbai, India. It seems like this movie is made for every possible fan of Shahrukh Khan, thereby exceeding the expectations increasingly for all. The movie also stars Vaani Kapoor (known for her debut role in Shudh Desi Romance) and Ileana D’Cruz.
Release date: April 15, 2016

2.) Jagga Jasoos

Written and directed by Anurag Basu, this one’s a detective-comedy drama starring Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, and Govinda, who embark on a classic Indiana Jones’ type adventure, in search of the missing father of a teenage detective with the help of his friends. So not only does the story sound fresh and interesting, but with lovebirds like Ranbir and Katrina to pair up once again after APKGK, that too, under Anurag’s superb direction (as revealed in Barfi! with Ranbir), the movie seems very promising and definitely worth watching.
Release date: June 3, 2016
Trailer not released.

Jagga Jasoos
Jagga Jasoos

3.) Fitoor

An adaptation of Charles Dickens’ beautiful classic novel, Great Expectations, this romantic-drama will be starring Aditya Roy Kapoor and Katrina Kaif as the lead. Directed by Abhishek Kapoor, this movie hopes to inspire the very true idea of love, thereby focusing on not just the aspect of happiness, but a little bit of drama, sadness and passion to go along with it too.  All we can hope is that it lives up to our great expectations as well.
Release date: February 12, 2016
Trailer not released.

Fitoor
Fitoor

4.) Raees

Hasn’t it been long since we saw Shahrukh Khan in an intense role? Thus, with the release of this crime-drama, we’ll finally get to watch the King of Romance play an extremely powerful character of a cruel and clever bootlegger whose business is obstructed by a tough policeman (Nawazuddin Siddiqui). The movie also stars the Pakistani actor, Mahira Khan who’ll be making her screen debut in Bollywood.
Release date: 8 July, 2016

5.) Kapoor and Sons

As if just one pair of dreamy eyes of Siddharth Malhotra wasn’t enough to mesmerize us, this romantic-comedy drama starring Alia Bhatt as the lead, also brought the Pakistani heartthrob Fawad Khan into the picture to charm us all. Produced by Karan Johar and directed by Shakun Batra, whatever the outcome may be, this movie’s cast alone is too lovable and irresistible enough to not make anyone watch it as soon as it’s released.
Release date: March 18, 2016
Trailer not released.

Kapoor & Sons
Kapoor & Sons

6.) Udta Punjab

Directed by Abhishek Choudhary and starring Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor (who’ll be seen sharing the screen after a very long time) and Alia Bhatt in the lead, this drama-thriller chronicles the story of the issue of substance abuse among youth in the Indian state of Punjab, and thus, promises to bring us something dark and thought-provoking along with an experience entirely different from the ordinary plots of most movies. Now let’s hope that’s a good different!
Release date: March 2016
Trailer not released.

Udta Punjab
Udta Punjab

Picture Credits: www.movienasha.com, www.foundpix.com, www.justbollywood.in, www.36.media.tumblr.com, www.hdwallpapershams.com, www.makelifeeasy.in, www.wittyscoop.in

Feature Image Credits: i.ytimg.com

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Delhi College of Arts and Commerce

In Conversation with a Modern Pentathlon Athlete: Raghav Jamwal of DCAC

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If you were given a chance to excel in any one sport of your choice, which one would that be? In case that doesn’t work out, what would your backup option be? Think of at least five of your most enjoyable sports. Done?
Now, just for a second, imagine having to ace all of them; all five, in one go.

While it may seem incredulous for most of us, it isn’t so for Raghav Jamwal, a History student at Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, who has played eleven Nationals and three All-India Inter-University Fencing Championships, only to later discover his true calling in Modern Pentathlon, an infusion of five extremely difficult disciplines of sports including Fencing, Swimming, Pistol-Shooting, Show Jumping (Horse-Riding) and Running. Within only a year of his training, he attained Rank #2 for modern pentathlon in 2014 and was selected as one of the Indian qualifiers for Olympics at Asian Championships’15 held in Beijing, China.

DU Beat had the opportunity to interview Raghav Jamwal and discover how the toughest sport in the world proved to be his cup of tea!

raghav2

Q. What inspired you to take up modern pentathlon- a combination of five extremely challenging sports, above all the other individual sports?

Raghav:   I’ve always been passionate about playing sports. Unlike other children who raved more about the latest videogames or sci-fi/action television shows, my childhood was mostly spent outside my house, playing not one, but a variety of sports each day. If I continued playing just one kind of game, I would get bored of it too quickly. Therefore, I could never restrict myself to only one specific sport; each one fascinated me in its own way. This is what really led me to Modern pentathlon, as it gave me an opportunity to play and excel in five sports, uniquely exhilarating and completely different from each other in every way. It’s the mere fact of the whole sport being so challenging which attracts me the most. One has to constantly push oneself forward everytime.

Q. What does a typical day of training as a pentathlon athlete look like for you?

Raghav:  Well, for starters, an ordinary day in a pentathlon athlete’s life is extremely tiring and very long. We don’t keep separate sports for each day of the week, but have to practice all five different sports, for minimum two hours each, every single day. So it adds up to at least ten hours of rigorous training each day, and sometimes even more, if required. It involves fencing with different strategies, running 3200 meters, shooting 10 meter air-pistol, 200 meters of freestyle swimming and horse riding which involves jumping over 12 barriers within only a minute’s time, that too, done repeatedly if not done perfectly. While running and swimming require an immense amount of physical strength, sports like fencing, shooting and horse riding are all equally mentally exhausting as well.


The days of training seem never ending to me sometimes. I would see athletes of other sports coming out of their second practice sessions, looking as tired as they could possibly be, getting ready to head back home, while we, on the other hand, would still be in our first session itself with so many more hours left to put in.
Thus, keeping everything else apart, it’s essential for one to be highly motivated all the time, without which, giving up seems to be the only option left.

Q. How do you fit the demands of all the five sports into your everyday life while maintaining a consistency in academics? Isn’t that a huge load?

Raghav: Yes, it certainly is. Balancing all five different sports together along with my college is truly burdensome. Being a perfectionist, if I feel I’m not doing my best in a specific sport, I put in as many hours as I possibly can until I ace each sport individually. Thus, in the end, I would be left with hardly any time for myself or other interests, let alone with any possible strength to attend lectures, complete assignments or prepare for my exams properly. Even though playing pentathlon clearly tops the list of my priorities, I still feel really bad if I’m left behind in my studies. Therefore, by honing my time management skills slowly and steadily, I have tried to become more organised. I now manage my weekly study schedules along with my practice sessions in such a way that neither do they clash with each other, and nor do I let one be sacrificed for another. By doing so, I not only play my favorite sports more enthusiastically but also enjoy studying my favorite subject and do well academically.

Q. What are your strongest and weakest disciplines? How good does an ‘all-rounder’ like you have to be, as compared to other sport athletes?

 Raghav: My strongest disciplines are running and fencing. I started playing fencing in class eleven and even participated in many championships, so I already have much-needed experience in it, which only helps me to excel in that sport. Since shooting and horse-riding are entirely new sports for me, I tend to give extra attention to them and hope to perfect them very soon as well. However, I consider swimming as my weakest link, and therefore work extremely hard to overcome it, giving it every possible ounce of effort and energy as I can every day. As compared to other athletes, who only have to ‘eat, live and breathe’ one particular sport, we’re required to be five different set of athletes of five different sports, fulfilling each one’s needed set of skills and strategies, all in one single athlete alone. That too, all of them, being athletes of world standards individually.

Q. There is a popular saying, “The pentathletes are the perfect athletes, because in their bodies are both strength and speed.” Do you agree? 

Raghav: Yes I completely agree. They have been given this exceptional title because of their sheer attempt to master five completely unique games requiring completely different set of qualities, both physical as well as mental. In this sport, we cannot push ourselves on sheer physical strength alone. This is where the mental toughness of an athlete plays an equally important role. Long hours of training also tend to improve our sense of self-discipline, quickly making us better and faster individuals with each passing moment. It’s common that while playing this sport, where one game may not go as expected, others may exceed our expectations. The point is to learn from the mistakes you make and always have something to improve on from every game. This regime may be much tougher than it sounds, but then that’s where the real fun lies; that’s what the ultimate challenge is. This is what makes us so different from all other sport athletes.

Q. Living in Delhi, which is known for its overwhelming culture of food, how do you maintain a strict diet that is required of you as an athlete?

Raghav: I personally find this the most challenging situation as an athlete. Been born and brought up in Delhi, I have an insane street food addiction which I absolutely have no control over. I not only enjoy indulging in deep fried dishes but also have occasional cravings for all kinds of chocolate desserts as well. Apart from the contrary belief of athletes having to follow a strict diet consisting of only few chosen fruits and veggies, luckily, choosing pentathlon ended up working in my favor and I did not have to sacrifice my love for food in any way. For a sport involving such grueling hours of training, food is known to function as a fuel for exceptional athletic performance. Thus, we’re required to consume large amounts of calories every day to avoid unnecessary burnout and fatigue. Still, I try to eat healthy as much as I can on most days, and then reward myself with huge bricks of ice creams and chocolates on others. Oh yes, we can afford them too!

Q. How was your experience as a competitor at the Asian Championships’15? Do you consider it to be your peak performance?

Raghav: It was truly a wonderful experience. The amount of global exposure that was provided in a pursuit of different goals and ambitions, all in one arena, was amazing. I learnt so much from this enlightening opportunity. I am now well aware of the world standards and know exactly how to improve myself and reach those levels. But no, I don’t consider it to be my peak performance as I feel this is just the beginning of my career and my selection as one of the qualifiers was only a stepping stone to reach my pinnacle of success. I promise to work really hard and give great performances by becoming an even better athlete in the future.

Q. What would be your ultimate achievement?

Raghav: My ultimate achievement would be to represent India in Olympics 2020 and bring back a medal in modern pentathlon.

Q. Apart from playing sports, do you have any other personal interests or hobbies?

Raghav: Of course. If there’s anything I’m truly passionate about other than sports, and absolutely can’t live without, it has to be food. I love cooking different cuisines of food, creating recipes with my own little twists and baking scrumptious desserts like cakes, pastries, cookies, etc. I even have a food blog. When I’m not training or playing any sport, I’m either traveling or mountaineering. I’m also a complete history buff and enjoy watching Family Guy whenever I am idle.

Q. Do you have any philosophy to live your life by?

Raghav: The only philosophy that I intend to live my life by is to remain focused on my dreams and do everything that is required of me with full perseverance and determination, no matter how many obstacles I may have to face. Even if the journey gets hard, one must remember that it’s all going to be worth it very soon.

In the end, Raghav Jamwal would like to thank the Deuce Fencing Club, and give credits to Mr. Satyavir and Mr. Rathi for all his successful achievements till date. Most of all, he would like to thank his sister for her undying support in his game.

Shagun Marwah

[email protected]

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