Latest
DU Beat – Delhi University's Independent Student Newspaper
Author

Shaurya Sahai

Browsing
DUB Speak

The Diary of a Pre-Final Year Student

By

Dear Diary,

Since you are one of my loyal friends, today I’m going to trouble you for a little while longer than usual.

The last few days in particular have been a little uneasy for me. Amidst a million tasks of getting the clearance form signed by the authorities, standing in queues for the admit card which is essentially going to carry an embarrassing picture of mine on the top right corner, coping with the mammoth syllabus for examinations, dealing with starvation at night in the hostel, I have experienced something significant bothering me.

I have been facing a fear for the past few days—the fear of being left behind; the fear of losing out on a thousand beautiful connections that I’ve made in these three years of college. I believe, I have already told you how mine is one of the two four-year undergraduate programmes in my college. I will be completing my third year of college in this month, which means that all the third-year people from other courses will be graduating. I can’t believe this time has come so early.

While I sit and watch my friends getting all worked up about their life after college and being stuck between ambivalent choices and getting all restive about what the coming years have in store for them, I am just afraid of letting them go. Mama always told me that people will come and go, the best we can do is make the most of the time we spend with them. I am happy with myself for doing that. Everyone says they’ll stay in touch, but I wonder. I wonder how little time they will get while they’re busy solving real-world problems. That brings me to wonder about the plenty of time I’ll have to deal with such less number of familiar faces around.

I’ve have been thinking about the things I’ll say to them. But being the inexpressive person that I am, I doubt I’ll ever be able to do that so I’ll pour them all right in front of you. I want to tell them to relax, move a bit slowly. In a world which is nothing more than a ground for rat-races, I want to advise them to live and not survive. I want to tell them to make that one trip which was always planned in college, but was never taken seriously (take me along, maybe). I have spoken to a lot of friends and I know that these three years in college might not have made them realise what they want to do, but have surely made them aware of what they don’t. I hope they do not fall into the false and tempting traps of ‘social laws’ and explore until they find their calling. I desire to tell them how I believe that they’ll surely play their part in making this world a beautiful place. Lastly, I want to wish them luck and thank them for filling these three wonderful years of my life.

Yours,

Shaurya

 

Shaurya Sahai

[email protected]

 

Keep Reading
By
DU Annual Fest Season

Lashkara ’16 at SGTB Khalsa College- Highlights and Events

By

Lashkara ’16, the annual cultural fest of SGTB Khalsa College started on the 25th of this month and culminated after three days on 27th February. The three-day fest saw a number of competitions and events. Here are a few glimpses of the fest.

Day 1- Inauguration, Stage Play Competition and Eastern Group Singing Competition

First day at Lashkara witnessed the principal and the union of the college, along with some other faculty members inaugurating the fest at the auditorium. This was followed by Abhivyakti, the stage play competition organised by Ankur, the dramatics society of SGTB Khalsa College. The event saw participation from various colleges including Hindu College, Ramjas College and Shivaji College, among others. The event was judged by actor, designer and director, Vandana Vashisht and Ravindra Tripathy, a known journalist and a theatre critic. Ibtida, the dramatics society of Hindu College emerged as the winner.

Swarang, the music society of the college, organised the Eastern Solo and Group singing competition. Both the events were judged by Prateek Narsimha, who is a leading vocalist of a popular world fusion band Raagleela. In the eastern solo category, Ramjas’ Rahul came first while Kshitija from Faculty of Music bagged the second position. In the eastern group event, the first position was secured by Institute of Home economics while Daulat Ram College and Kamala Nehru College secured the second and third positions, respectively.

 

Day 2- Street Play Competition, Western Solo Singing Competition, and Western Duo and Trio Singing Competition

Day 2 of the three day extravaganza witnessed Pratyaksh, the street play event organised by Ankur, the dramatics society of the college. The event was non-competitive, so as to give the opportunity to the teams to showcase various issues rather than battling it out for the title. Colleges including IPCW, Hans Raj College and Hindu College, among others participated in the event.

Swarang organised the Western Solo Singing competition and the Western Duo and Trio singing competition. The Western Solo Singing was won by Srimayi Ladagiri of Dyal Singh College (E) followed by Megha Khandelwal of Rajdhani College, and Samarth Mehta of SGTB Khalsa College, at the 2nd and 3rd positions, respectively. The Western Duo and Trio Singing competition saw teams from Sri Venkateswara College and GTBIT College sharing the first position, followed by another team from Sri Venkateswara College.

Day 3- Folk Dance Competition, and Performances by Jassi Gill and Babbal Rai

The third day of the Annual Festival of SGTB Khalsa, Lashkara, started with a folk dance competition. Several colleges including SGND Khalsa, IP College, Mata Sundari and Gargi put up performances. The first prize went to the girls of Mata Sundari College for their Gidda performance, followed by the Gargi College at the second position.

1915290_956791477730572_7367329431975669028_n

#Live: Virsa of Mata Sundri College won the #FolkDance Competition at #Lashkara2016. The second prize was awarded to…

Posted by DU Beat on Saturday, February 27, 2016

The afternoon witnessed two star performers namely, Babbal Rai and Jassi Gill, performing in front of the enthusiastic crowd. Despite the scorching heat of the sun, people seemed to enjoy their popular numbers such as ‘Babu Zimmedar’, ‘Bum Sutt Mar’ and ‘Deor Bharjaai’.

Glimpses of Lashkara 2016 

Day-wise Reports:
Day 1
Day 2

Catch DU Beat’s entire album of Lashkara ’16 here

Shaurya Sahai
[email protected]

With inputs from Tarushi Varma, Brij Pahwa and Akshara

Picture credits: Sahil Chauhan, Paurush, Shaurya Sahai, Harshit Thukral, Gerush Bahal for DU Beat

Keep Reading
By
Hans Raj College

Creative Career Conclave ’16 hosted at Hans Raj College

By

Pixels, the photography society of Hans Raj College and Zephyr, the photography society of College of Vocational Studies in collaboration with Pearl Academy hosted the Creative Career Conclave at Hans Raj College. On the 21st of this month, this event saw four eminent speakers share their experiences and works in their respective fields. The session mainly focussed on specific areas such as designing, architecture, fashion and photography.

Rohit Dhingra, a renowned professional photographer, is an alumnus of the University of Arts, London. He has worked with brands like Vogue, Armani, Burberry and more. He has also shot actors like Hrithik Roshan, Bipasha Basu, Amitabh Bachchan and many others. He guided the students how they can enter into Journalism, Fashion and Media with the art of photography. He also showed a presentation which consisted of his previous work and also pictures which he clicked as a student.

The next speaker in line was Rina Dhaka, a professional fashion designer. She has presented her work at the Miami’s Fashion Week. She sportingly took all the queries from the audience. While answering a student she said, “The big revolution in fashion are brands like Zara, Mango and Forever 21, because they took it from the fashion shows and brought it to our doors.” She also mentioned how start-ups have become the next big thing in the industry. She brought into limelight how internships are always a suffering, but most of the learning comes out of them.

The next eminent personality to come up was Mr. Manish Gulati, an architect who has designed many buildings, including the IPL team named Delhi Daredevil Team’s office. His works also include certain innovative projects such as a dustbin which recharges your metro card as and when you throw garbage in it.

The two-hour interactive session was concluded by Dr. Bhavna Chaddha, Associate Professor at the Pearl Academy. She made people realize the importance of start-ups and how they would benefit the current scenario. She also talked of various initiatives taken up by the Pearl Academy to promote the idea of start-ups.

The event concluded on a successful note with all participants getting merchandise sponsored by the Pearls Academy.

 

Pictures by Harshit Thukral for DU Beat

Shaurya Sahai

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
Hans Raj College

Cynosure, 2016 – The Tech Symposium held at Hans Raj College

By

Ordinateur, the Computer Science Society of Hans Raj College, organised their annual tech symposium on the 21st and 22nd of January.  Under the theme of Silicon Valley, these people tried to create a replicated miniature of the Silicon Valley. Hand-made logos of different organisations were seen hanging as decorations. Students wore ID-cards which displayed tags like CEO, Legal Heads and various other posts under their names unlike the regular ones.

This two-day fest started with Herald, an interactive session of learning with the students. The invited speakers were Dr. Sunil Kumar Muttoo, HOD, Department of Computer Science, Delhi University; Mr. Chiranjeev Singh, an alumnus of IIM-A, Academician; Ms. Nishi Aggarwal, Manager, ICT Practice at Evalueserve. This talk was conducted in two sessions and ended on a successful note with students and all other participants gaining creditable knowledge from the event.

 

 

 

The second day witnessed the inauguration of the first edition of society’s magazine under the name- Bitwise. The inauguration and welcoming speeches were followed by all the competitive events which included both, technical and non-technical events. The list of events had, ‘Technologically Challenged’- the tech quiz where both, prelims and finals were conducted to choose the winner; ‘Colloquy’- the group discussion and debate competition where participants were seen putting across their thoughts on topics relating to Facebook’s Free Basics initiative and many others; ‘Webapocalypse’- the web-designing event; ‘Montador’- the PC assembling competition; ‘Ludophilia’- a collection of informal events such as Logo Tambola, Golgappa eating competition, etc. Along with these, participants enthusiastically took part in the poster-making competition, logo designing competition, treasure hunt and others.

“The fest was a success in our eyes and we hope that the students took away something valuable from all the events they participated in. The whole team of our students worked really well and I am glad it turned up this way”, said Baljeet Kaur, Assistant Professor, Computer Science Department.

Students of different colleges were seen taking part at Cynosure. Institutions included Deen Dayal Upadhyay College, Amity University, Keshav Maha Vidalyay, and Modern School among others.

The prize distribution ceremony followed, where Dr. Rama, acting principal, Hans Raj College came and presented prizes to the participants. Prizes in both cash and kind were offered.

Shaurya Sahai

[email protected]

 

Image credits: Ruchin Jain

Keep Reading
By
DUB Speak

When will the University cure the Dilemma and Dejection of B. Tech students?

By

The year 2013 witnessed the introduction of the (infamous) Four Year Undergraduate Programme in the University of Delhi. The polemical curriculum brought thousands of new faces with a streak of hope shining on each one of those. A set of those students took admission in the newly introduced Bachelors of Technology courses. These students enrolled themselves with the aim of coming out of college as engineers; little did they expect what awaited them!

From an inadequate course structure to lack of infrastructure facilities, this course had plenitude of defects. The students had to struggle since the very beginning. They fought to save their course from being scraped. They fought to seek the AlCTE approval for their course. They fought to convince the University to enhance the quality of what they were being taught. All of which should have been already provided by one of the finest institutions of the country.

Even after innumerable and massive revolts, there are still some questions which demand answers. Did the University think it was justified to teach engineering students about what prime numbers are? Was it not the responsibility of the University to take care of the laboratories, which in many colleges are in a reprehensible condition, before introducing such rigorous courses? What made them think that lack of proper faculty would not affect the studies of these students?

The students took admission into the University because they had trust in the institution. But as the term of this course comes to its final stages, the University seems more and more adamant towards not accepting their blatant mistakes. Where in other engineering colleges, students pursuing B. Tech courses are luckily placed in the third year of their college, here are Delhi University students of the same course who aren’t even allowed to attend pre-placement talks. Besides, the brochure of the Central Placement Cell doesn’t even show the B. Tech courses in its list of courses. While the University should have been seen making extra efforts for illuminating the future of these students, it looks to be going the other way.

The University surely cannot go around enshrouding their wrong deeds. It will have to answer to the raising voices of the students who ask for their legitimate rights. We just hope for it to come up with either a suitable solution or an exceptional excuse!

Image Credits: http://i.dailymail.co.uk/

Shaurya Sahai

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
Campus Central

Delhi University appoints its 22nd Vice Chancellor; here are things to expect from the new VC

By
Vice Chancellor

Former Delhi University Vice Chancellor Dinesh Singh’s tenure was controversial to say the least. The audience is still divided over whether he subjected DU students to guinea pig- like experimentation or whether he lit a new torch for the future of higher education in India.  Today, on 10th March 2016, Prof. Yogesh Tyagi took over as the 22nd Vice Chancellor of University of Delhi. Presidents and office bearers of various organisations and groups like DUTA were present. As per the DUTA Press Release, the new VC also met representatives of unions of students and karamcharis. Our correspondent lists down the changes and reforms that the new Vice Chancellor should introduce: 1.) We expect the new VC to implement changes only once they have been thoroughly thought out. The failure of the infamous Four Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP), followed by the Credit Based Choice System (CBCS) has left students of these batches confused. We request the new VC to spend time researching and then creating something beneficial for the students. 2.) Delhi University faces major infrastructural problems, and being a part of an institution as renowned, we definitely expect decent surroundings. While a lot of colleges lack the basic laboratories, we have also witnessed instances of students sitting under the tents to take semester exams. This is not just shameful, but also worrisome. If the grants are put to proper use, such problems should be tackled soon. 3.) The problem of shortage of faculty has hindered proper education and learning for quite some time now. It takes days or even weeks for regular classes to start after holidays due to lack of faculty. The issues of students performing poorly due to lack of an instructor and ad-hoc positions not being converted to permanent ones need to be looked at seriously. 4.) Residential facilities for students, especially for females are not adequate. Due to insufficient college hostels and lack or rent regulation at PGs, outstation students face difficulties in living in Delhi and attending college. Despite many protests for the construction of adequate residential areas for students, there have been no noticeable results regarding this issue.  Apart from finding feasible solutions to these few issues, the Vice Chancellor of Delhi University is expected to be a progressive person with the best of students in mind. Shaurya Sahai [email protected] Feature Image Source: Indian Express]]>

Keep Reading
By
Child Rights and You with DU Beat

Celebrating the Joy of Volunteering with CRY

By

“The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something. Don’t wait for good things to happen to you. If you go out and make some good things happen, you will fill the world with hope, you will fill yourself with hope.”- Barack Obama

There is a huge range of NGOs working towards different causes including welfare of children; empowerment of women; elimination of poverty, among others. These NGOs aid in promoting the ‘joy of volunteering’, and one such NGO that has provided ample opportunities to the youth to volunteer is CRY, Child Rights and You!

Today, we witness volunteers, especially the youth; pushing their limits and stepping out of their comfort zone to create awareness, raising funds and even encouraging others to do the same. They not only take up ground work enthusiastically, but also deliver their best in other fields of work as well. While colleges give the students an opportunity to learn about various aspects of life; their association with different NGOs these days, also help these students impart their knowledge to others.
Kaashvi Sehgal, a student of Indian origin from Jakarta, interned with Child Rights and You (CRY) this summer. She shares her experience saying, “Not only had these kids adapted to what I was teaching them so fast, but they also had the same burning desire to learn something new every single day. As a teacher, there was nothing better than to see my students grow.” Sehgal, who is just 14 years old, started her own Spanish classes at CRY’s Dakshinpuri center.

The act of volunteering not only enhances the quality of the life of the people in need, but also changes the course of life of the volunteers and pushes them towards a brighter side. It reveals a newer and better aspect of life to them. Divyanshu, a volunteer with CRY for over four years says, “I feel people like me only run the whole world, so if I won’t venture into new directions, those directions will remain unexplored by humankind, so I thought let’s just do it.” Divyanshu after quitting his corporate job at Flipkart, has created an online platform which offers volunteers the opportunity to pick customized social projects as per their interests and talents. The product is called “Live for Lives” and will be released in the coming months.

Divyanshu Pic

Mohit Hattar is another volunteer who joined the organization when he was still in college. He revived the Public Action Group in Dwarka after months of advocacy and awareness raising work with community members in Dwarka. He also took Remedial Classes for the children and undertook enrollment of the children in schools. For his work as a volunteer, he was commended as one of the best volunteers at CRY. After working very closely with the children for more than 2 years, he has now embarked on a professional career but believes volunteering will remain an important part of his life.

“Hearing children call me “Mohit Sir” or “Mohit Bhaiya” is a bliss. Every place that I have worked in, those faces, those names and those voices just got stuck in my mind every time and that continuous attachment has kept me going all this time. Along with that is the environment you keep on working in and a sudden change in that certainly affects your work. Children at different localities behave differently and hence I had to become flexible in the way I operate”, says Mohit. 

Mohit Hattar

Thus, we see how volunteering can be delightful, helpful and enlightening at the same time. In a world, where incidents like the infamous Paris Attacks dilute our faith in humanity; we hope to see young and enthusiastic volunteers extending their helping hands to uplift the ones in need.

To volunteer and get involved with CRY, contact them on :

Tel: 011-29533451/52/53

Email: [email protected]

Image credits: Child Rights and You Database 

Shaurya Sahai
[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
QWERTY

Techy Study: Top 4 Mobile Apps to use during Exams

By

Time and again, we’ve seen technology coming to our rescue. The main attractions of today’s technological world are the mobile applications, popularly known as apps. Those little blessings have turned our smart-phones into a newspaper, an alarm clock which is too stubborn to let you sleep, a novel, a torch-light and what not! You might be wondering about the reason behind the sudden appraisal of this part of technology. Well, it is exam-time and we all are stressed, but do not worry. We’ve brought to you the best mobile apps which can help you while you prepare for your exams and prove to be efficient stress-busters:
1. ExamTime: It is that one app which lets you do everything possible to enhance your productivity. This app gives you an option to embed everything from notes to videos to slides at one place. Having everything at one place seems like a reasonable idea when you don’t want to be looking for you notes on the shelf while you have an exam the next day. The app also lets you schedule and plan your studies. Feed in what you want to do, when you want to do and for how long you want to do it and just follow your own schedule to complete everything in time. The best feature of the app is sharing and collaborating. You can share information with your friends, or even publish it onto your blog.

2. Oxford Dictionary: Well, gone are the days when “handy dictionaries” were seen as a trend. Now as most of the times our hands are occupied by our phones, we need something to turn it into a dictionary. The Oxford Dictionary app gives you a wide range of almost 3,50,000 words with additional audio feature, so that you know how to correctly pronounce the particular word. While this app is usable at all times, it becomes super important when you have a language exam and you want to put down some appealing words to bag extra marks.

3. Babylon Translator: While many of us opt for an additional language course, not many of us take it seriously unless exams arrive. Imagine: you sit to study for the foreign language exam, you turn to first page and all you can see are weirdly shaped characters which have no meaning in the real life. Except that, they do. You’re unaware, because you were at the college canteen while the teacher was busy explaining the grammar. But don’t worry; this is the point where this app comes to your rescue. Babylon translator, as the name signifies translates the copied or inputted text into the language of your choice. The text can be converted into multiple languages including German, French and Spanish.

4. Alarmy (Sleep if U Can): Well, none of the planning and scheduling would take place if you are not able to wake up early in the morning. It is easy to study; it’s difficult to start, right? So taking care of that, we list that one app which successfully wakes you up in the morning so that you can work towards your aim. This alarm clock forces you to get out of your bed and click a picture of any object that you’ve previously submitted. This clock understands how difficult it is to sleep back again once you’re up and it makes perfect use of it.

Warning: Some people complained that the app did not match the picture that they clicked with the one they register and never turned off, which is clearly frustrating. So think twice before you install!?
All said and done, it is still very important to pick up your books and study if you really want to score well. Remember, these apps will just help you increase your productivity, but they’ll never be able to motivate you to study, if you’re not willing. Good luck!
Shaurya Sahai
[email protected]

Image credits: www.pcmag.com

Keep Reading
By
Hans Raj College

Department of Commerce, Hansraj College organises their Annual Panel Discussion E-Talk

By

The Department of Commerce of Hansraj College recently organised their Annual Panel Discussion E-Talk. The topic of discussion was the ‘Current Start-up Ecosystem in India’. It saw three renowned entrepreneurs as the panellists for the day. The panel included Mr. Umang Kumar, founder, Gaadi.com and president, Cardekho.com; Mr. Rohit Chawla, founder of iLabs and Shopsberry.com; Mr. Alok Vaish, CFO, Yatra.com and an alumnus of Hans Raj College.

The panel discussion revolved around the current start-up culture in India and how it has evolved with time. Each of the panellists discussed each aspect of entrepreneurship and its skills in much detail. They shared their own stories of how they had managed to come so far in business. There were constant queries from the moderator and the panellists successfully tackled each one of them.

E-cell2

Mr. Chawla told how difficult it was for him in the beginning due to his loss of connections in India, while he was studying in foreign countries. Mr. Umang Kumar shared his story of how, in the beginning, his father had downrightly rejected his idea of starting up a start-up. He eventually saw potential and dedication in his son and supported him through thick and thin from then onwards. Mr. Alok Vaish, on being asked that how entrepreneurs deal with the failure, encouraged the audience with his words, “The most important thing is to believe in your idea and thought process.”

This was followed by an interaction with the students in the audience. There were questions like- how to approach the investors, how to prevent one’s idea from being stolen by another person, which is better- going for higher studies or starting up a business right away, amongst many others. The students looked interested in knowing more and more about the skills and risks involved with setting and starting up a new business. The panelists made it very clear that it is necessary to work hard and there is no way out.

Despite the slight delay in the starting of the event, it concluded on a successful note. The three panelists were presented with the token of gratitude by the teachers of the Commerce Department of the college.

Pictures by Shaurya Sahai for DU Beat

Shaurya Sahai

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
Events

Pushpa Repaswal bagged the title of the winner at Lady Shri Ram College for Women’s Annual Run

By

September 18th of this year saw the department of Physical Education of Lady Shri Ram College for Women organise the Annual Run. The run started at around 7:15 a.m. from the front gate of the college and commenced at the sports ground of the college.

The motive behind organising the run, as said by the authorities, was to spread awareness towards the cause of ‘Right to Education’.

The race was flagged off by the guests of honour- Prof. Kiran Walia along with Padmashre and Dronacharya awardee Smt. Sunil Dabas, and the principal of Lady Shri Ram College for Women, Dr. Suman Sharma. The run was also attended by other teaching and non-teaching members of the LSR community.

 

Kiran Walia Ma'am

 

A lot of participants were seen holding posters and placards in support of the cause. The run also saw a lot of uniquely abled students enthusiastically take part in it.

While Pushpa Repaswal grabbed the title of the winner of the event, Tanvi Prashar stood second, followed by Ankita Shekhawat at the third position.

Picture Credits: Organising Committee

Shaurya Sahai

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By