Switch. A 19-year-old clad in a khadi kurta and jeans along with his teammates, is performing a street play on ‘Whistle Blowers’ in a slum in north Delhi. Lavanya, another 19-year-old girl, from a well-off family, is teaching kids of sweepers and peons near Nehru Place metro station, while another group of 19 to 20 year olds is preparing for a flash mob in an east Delhi mall.

All these cases have one thing in common. People of the college-going age are taking up causes, and working to eradicate them.

Today’s youth has long been tagged as the ‘indifferent lot’, obsessed with technology, clothes, flashy cars, money minded to the extent that they’d pursue their higher education from the country’s top colleges and then go serve in the foreign land for the sake of heavy pay packages. This might be true for a percentage of the present generation, but the majority tells a different story. Street theatre, environmental activism, teaching underprivileged kids along with pursuing their own studies are only a few examples of the various ways by which students of the varsity are showing their patriotism. But if you go talk to them, they’d call it not flashy patriotism but would rather describe it as their duty.

Street theatre in itself is aimed at bringing to the fore a social cause and talking about it to the public. This year again, the Delhi University theatre circuit has seen a number of commendable street plays based on often-ignored issues like promotion of secularism, whistleblowing, and the problems faced by the people of north-east India.

SGTB Khalsa College’s play, ‘Dharma’ is its students’ initiative to promote secularism in the country. The play talks about the existence of unseen lines which prevent people from marrying a person of another religion, or worse, even visiting an area dominated by people of a religion whom they abhor. Intolerance towards other religions is an abomination that is prevalent especially amongst the people who call themselves educated. The play does not promote atheism or target any particular religious group, but is rather aimed at promotion of secularism amongst the people. “Religion is not a way to reach God but rather a way to live life. Religion dominates our life and through ‘Dharma’ we wish to promote religious tolerance amongst the people”, says Kunal Arora, a member of Ankur, the dramatics society of SGTB Khalsa College.

The members of Verve, the dramatics society of Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies, have made a street play on ‘Tu maar de seeti’ which literally translates into ‘blow the whistle’. The play revolves around the concept of whistleblowing, which is the act of telling on all sorts of wrongdoers. Abraham Lincoln had once said, “To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards out of men.” Whistleblowing, rightly justifies this dictum, instead of being a passive observer, one should consider this active approach and raise his voice against all forms of oppression/injustice/wrongdoings. Another thing that instantly made these young men and women fall in love with whistleblowing as their theme is a song called ‘Bilqis’ by Rabbi Shergill. The song talks about the tragic fate of a few, then relatively unknown people, who were ruthlessly murdered for talking about the right things. A refrain from the same song goes, ‘Jinhe naaz hai Hind par wo kahan the?’ (Where were those who took pride in India?) All of the team members could easily and very strongly relate to this refrain and this has been an inspiration for them ever since.

Another striking feature of this theme is its timing and its relevance. It comes at a time when the whole nation is riding on an Anti-Corruption, patriotic sentiment. This theme tries to make people realise that they are equipped and they can actually make a difference on an individual level. “The idea behind performing this play was never for garnering acclaim or winning competitions, it was more of an endeavour by a few college students to actually set things in motion and harness the power of street theatre to bring about change. As soon as we could, we took this act to the streets between ordinary people and tried to share our vision with them. This play has already been performed at Hauz Khas Village, Chandrawal Village and Green Park area in New Delhi. This is also our tribute to those martyrs who were killed for making the right noises”, says Rohit Benival, a member of Verve, the dramatics society of SSCBS.

“Our biggest motivation is a sense of patriotism and consequently, the biggest reward is somebody actually absorbing the essence of our act. In our act, we use whistles as a symbol for raising our voices against all things wrong. The simple message that we try to communicate is: whenever you see something wrong happening, don’t stay quiet, blow the whistle! After one of our performances in Chandrawal village, a kid, somewhere around ten- eleven years of age, came running towards one of our actors and said, “Can you give me your whistle? Our canteen-wala (School caterer) charges extra for bad food. I will blow the whistle””, he adds.

North-east India has always been considered a region unsafe to visit, while the problems of the people living there have always been ignored. “Our play, ‘Ugte Suraj ka Sapna’ talks about how the people of the north-eastern part of the country are still fighting for their existence in the “mainland India”, as they say. It depicts the discrimination of the people of that specific region. It also discusses the loopholes in the constitution regarding that area. It shows the disparities between the rights of northeast people and the rest of Indians. The region has faced decades of ignorance from the media. None of the major movements have been covered by the media. It has failed to capture the 11 year long hunger strike/struggle of Irom Sharmilla against the law. The centre point of the play is that the common man of north-east India gets sandwiched between the pressure of insurgence and the implications of AFSPA and they still have hope for a new morning,” says Ayushi Aggarwal, a member of Manchatantra, the dramatics society of SGGSCC. “It has been years and they haven’t seen the dawn. It’s high time for the sun to rise in the north-eastern part of the country. Our slogan is ‘Save Democracy, Repeal AFSPA’”, she signs off.

Lavanya Julaniya, a second year student of Miranda House has an interesting and inspiring story to tell. Lavanya attended the Global Youth Summit in London in January, 2009.

Global Changemakers was founded in 2007 when six young activists, brought together by the British Council, were invited to lend the ‘voice of youth’ to the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum. Since then, the network has grown to a community of over 730 Changemakers in 121 countries world-wide. The mission of the programme is to empower youth to catalyse positive social change and to bring together social entrepreneurs. It has expanded since its inception, and is now built on three pillars: Learning, Doing and Advocacy.

Amaani, meaning aspirations in Arabic was envisioned at the Global Youth Summit after seeing so many young people take action in their own communities to bring about a positive change. Amaani is a non-profit teaching initiative for disadvantaged children who do not otherwise have the means to obtain quality education. Amaani is supported by the British Council’s Global Changemakers Programme and is collaboration with Leaps and Bounds institute.  Amaani breaks from the conventional class room teaching and classes are conducted with hands on models and experiments. Creative and innovative methods are used in order to facilitate growth in the child’s knowledge and imagination. Fun workshops are conducted from topics ranging from subjects like astronomy, botany, zoology, history, geography, literature; all are part of the curriculum. A nature table, story time and celebrating festivals are integral to the program. It roughly takes about a month’s time to complete one project. At present there are four centres running in New Delhi – evening classes for children of workers, sweepers, peons etc at St. Stephen’s College, SRCC, Hansraj. The fourth centre is outside Nehru Place metro station where such workshops and teaching is organised for children who live in the nearby slums and often beg all day.

Rohit Beniwal, Kunal Arora, Ayushi Aggarwal, and Lavanya Julaniya are only a few names. There are thousands of more young people who in contrast to the general perception about the youth are coming forward to show their love for the country, and spreading out their message through their work.

Shweta Arora
shwetaa@dubeat.com 

I cannot boast of being a great social worker or preach righteousness to anyone; I simply want to acknowledge the fact that there still are some individuals who try to make a difference in the lives of those who start believing they are lost in an abyss of inky darkness.

Sanjivini Society for Mental Health, a purely non-profit organisation, works tirelessly towards the goal of reinstating people’s faith in themselves.

It is a premier organisation that has been providing counselling, a much needed service, absolutely free of cost since 1976. People with problems ranging from stressful life situations to severe mental illness can find solace here.

With two centres in Delhi, at Qutab Institutional Area and Defence Colony, Sanjivini’s volunteer body is the mainstay of the organisation. They are a set of committed individuals who work without remuneration. They come from all walks of life, are stringently selected and intensively trained in order to maintain the quality of counselling.

The work at this noble institution is carried out at two main units- the Crisis Intervention Unit and the Rehabilitation Centre. The Crisis Intervention Unit provides confidential psycho-social counselling for a wide spectrum of emotional distress and mental health problems, ranging from self esteem issues, inter-personal problems, depression, suicidal inclination, substance abuse and minor mental illness. The Rehabilitation Centre is a pioneering programme that works towards the rehabilitation of persons suffering from chronic schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. It is a full-day therapeutic facility.   Over the years, their Community Outreach initiatives have been directed towards the goal of de-stigmatizing counselling by raising awareness.

Sanjivini organises a fundraiser once every two years to ensure that their unerring service to the society can continue. The fundraising event this year was ‘Karna’- a ballet in Mayurbhanj Chau presented by the Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra at Kamani Auditorium on 24^th January. Dr. Abid Hussain(former Indian Ambassador to the US) and Mr. Keshav Desiraju(from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare) were present at the occasion.

The ballet was a beautifully executed, heart-wrenching piece on the life of one of the most inspiring characters of the Mahabharata. The performance was very apt for the occasion as it depicted a person who faced hostile circumstances throughout his life and was denied his rightful place in the social milieu. The dancer who played the role of Karna was a delight to watch and won many accolades, much like the ceaseless efforts of Sanjivini.

FinX: The Finance Society of CBS

In a world where pragmatic knowledge is essential, a unique initiative such as that of the Finance society of Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies goes a long way in bridging the gap between the classroom culture and the real world understanding.

Incepted in 2008, FinX is a unique initiative taken by the students of S.S.C.B.S with the intention of providing financial education and testing the financial acumen of students. The society runs a weekly e-paper, the Weekly Pulse, throwing light on major developments in the world of business and finance and giving insights on the effect of policy decisions in the macro economy.

The USP of FinX though is its mock stock trading game – FinWiz. Among the various stock trading simulations doing the rounds in colleges, FinWiz comes closest to matching the bullish and bearish trends of the stock exchange market.

Chirag Jain, student coordinator of FinX says:

“Since we believe in matching up to the standards of our highly intellectual and stimulating participants, each event entails a proper format depicting the vagaries of the stock markets, its dynamic spirit, of being moved by the forces of real demand and supply, its uncertain nature and the thrills of playing with virtual money. Apart from pioneering mock stocks, we organize finance quizzes, bidding wars and online contests.”

FinWiz

This year Fin Wiz is scheduled for January 31 and is being hosted in partnership with the Bombay Stock Exchange. Chirag adds, “BSE is helping in making the event grander. Also their representatives will be explaining the concepts of stock markets that are going to be tested within FinWiz. So, for those who don’t have previous knowledge, BSE will ensure you are quickly equipped with the needful acumen.”

The society also indulges in holding other competitions such as Fight of the Knights, FinQuizzitive, Bulls and Bears and Debt o Blast throughout the calendar to test the skills of finance enthusiasts from Delhi University.

As Rich Dad from Robert Kyosaki’s series would proudly put it, ‘Anyone who is not financially literate cannot see into an investment’.

Shashank Gupta
shashank@dubeat.com 

In June last year there was the ‘fake certificate’ scandal which helped 12 students get admission in DU on the basis of fake ‘SC/ST certificate’. And now, the Ramjas teacher quits after the OBC quota row. Sudhir Kumar, an ad hoc statistics teacher, teaching in Ramjas resigned on Tuesday after being asked to relinquish his post. He got the teaching post by stating himself under the OBC category but is allegedly a member of the general category, following the response to a RTI application. Though he was an ad-hoc and his appointment remained valid for 4 months, he had completed serving for one-and-a-half year till date. His application for extension of employment was renewed at least 4 times.

The mechanism of how it all works throws light on the fact that Delhi University follows the Central list for making appointments from the reserved categories. Each department in the college maintains a list of ad hoc teachers who’ve applied in each category, to be used when the vacancy arises in the college. The college demands this list from each department and makes appointments after conducting selection rounds for the applicants stated there-in.

Now, the case in question stems from the fact that Sudhir Kumar who was appointed under the OBC category as an ad hoc lecturer in 2009 does not belong to the category of ‘Kumar’ stated in the OBC list (as is dictated by the central list). This all was revealed after the reply to a RTI application filed on the issue.

What follows any scam is a huge blame game and so has happened in this particular case. The college authorities feel it’s the consequence of the departments’ negligence because they make appointments based on the lists supplied to them by the respective departments. On the other hand, the department feels that they are not to be blamed for such a fallout, given that they have no procedure to check the authenticity of the OBC certificates submitted to them by the potential candidate.

And so turns out that no one feels entirely responsible for the statistics teacher getting away with his not-so-perfect con for one-and-a-half year before getting caught. Yes, DU never ceases to amaze me.

Mannat Sandhu
mannats@dubeat.com 

So what is it that makes them stand apart from all the other debating societies? Ask any of their members and pat comes the reply “Passion and Dedication”. “ Every member of our society feels very passionately about it and that is why every time we face competition we give nothing less than our hundred percent.” , says Pratham, President of the society.

The dynamic presence of the society can be seen and felt, be it Delhi University, NLS Bangalore , FTD, TERI or any other major competition you can think of, there is no other society which has lifted the trophy the number of times they have. Over the last few years it has continued its excellent run at major debate competitions.

“The Ramjas Debsoc was started by two incredibly talented people; Nikhil Menon and Harris. It was unheard of 6-7 years back, these two gentlemen taught themselves how to debate and rallied around debating circles for invites. The following year Ramjas had its first 3 member parliamentary debating team with the inclusion of Harsh. They as a team were unstoppable and went on to win everything. Even though Harsh graduated quite a while back, he is still very popular in the Delhi University debating circuit and is, incontrovertibly,one of the best debaters Ramjas has ever produced. Seniors took a major interest in training juniors and the process included rigorous mock debates. Kartik Mishra and Pradyumna Jairam were Harsh’s immediate juniors and they carried the mantle forward. Later on, Siddhartha Thyagarajan, Vishwajoy Mukherjee and Prithvi went on to form another ‘dream team’ and won 11 out of the 13 debates they participated in. Ramjas has a very intensive style of debating, a particular structure, the speeches of a PM, DPM and whip are different and organized in a way that appeals to the adjudicator. “, says Dhruva Desai, an alumnus of the Ramjas Debsoc.

Talking about his stint at the legendary debsoc, he further goes on to say, ” I, Pratham and Aditya Sarin were a team. Aditya is one of the calmest debaters I’ve ever come across, while on the other hand Pratham and I use to bounce around, shout out at the top of our lungs and get agitated very quickly.”

The society started its new calendar with multitudes of freshers lining up to prove their mettle on the debating platform. So what does it take to be a part of a society that has a legacy of outstanding debators? “You should have it in you. Its an open society. We don’t keep any auditions. Anyone who has the passion can join the society , we provide training to hone the skills they already possess.”, says Pratham.

The most momentous achievement of the society was ‘Polemic’, the first ever debate tournament that the society organized in 2006 . Since then it has become one of the most coveted titles. Polemic ventured into newer pastures by making significant changes in the format of parliamentary debates which was later adopted by almost every college in Delhi University. For the last couple of years they have forayed into prestigious international debates like the All India Inter varsity Debating Tournament at Dhaka where their team reached the quarter finals, being the youngest team.

Shivangana Vasudeva
shivangana@dubeat.com

Believe this; as many as three Economics Honours students have scored a mortally depressing 99 per cent in the first semester examination. Certain professors did not believe the reports that emphatically proclaimed the same by the respective dailies they pursue and patiently waited for a note in the Errors and Omissions section, and when none came promptly filed an RTI for investigation into the whole affair. Nor can one blame them.

Meanwhile the University which had had to deal with numerous protests against the semester system was quick to attribute this anomaly to the success of the semester approach. Unfortunately this theory has few takers. Besides, Economics is considered to be the most trying of courses in the University where only six months ago students struggled to cross the 85 per cent barrier. Given this, a mere change in the scheduling of teaching and examination can hardly explain the astronomical jump.

Neither would one find the answer in the Darwinian Theory of Evolution. The theory does state that organisms evolve overtime to better deal with their environment but the same theory categorically rules out such adaptations overnight. To conclude, evolutionary theory would explain why a hundred or so years from now, all and sundry might secure a 90 per cent but in this case, the theory falls flat.

This brings us back to the University. The University obviously has the capacity to induce such a jump and the motive too. It needed something to redeem itself and support its decision to implement the semester system. Thus many people are of the opinion that the University itself has engineered the fiasco. If such is the case, the University must surely be cursing itself. Is it totally oblivious to the first and the most important law followed by all cheaters the world over, to wit, ‘never get a ninety’?

It is very clear why the University cannot make a habit of playing a Santa for its students. Colleges the world over follow a certain calibration of marks and if all of a sudden students start scoring 99 per cent regularly; that calibration may not apply to DU. LSE for example admits students scoring above 70 per cent. I cannot see the college continuing to do the same for DU unless the current crop of first years proves to be full of raving geniuses, our University scores might lose all their credibility.

Urvi Gupta
urvig@dubeat.com 

“I’m going back to basics
To where it all began
I’m ready now to face it
I wanna understand”

So go the lyrics of a popular song by Christina Aguilera, and the same line of thought was followed by the students of the Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, lovingly called DCAC, who in their maiden attempt at hosting a Model United Nations (MUN) conference, titled DMUNC (hosted between August 26-28), made sure they stood out from the rest.

For all those who are clueless about what MUNs are, we give you the official definition by the United Nations Association of the USA: “The Model United Nations is a simulation of the United Nations system. Students assume the roles of ambassadors to the United Nations and debate the current issues on the UN’s agenda. Through diplomacy and negotiation, Model UN students seek ways that the world community can deal with complex global concerns such as the environment, economic development, refugees, AIDS, conflict resolution, disarmament and human rights. Young people of all backgrounds and walks of life participate in these educational exercises to experience first-hand decision-making processes and diplomatic work at the United Nations.”

MUNing has become a verb in its own right and over the last few decades, it has seen a rapid increase in popularity amongst school and college students alike. For those who are frequent MUNers, it is nothing less than an addiction. For proof, search Facebook for a page titled ‘MUN Addicts Anonymous’. From actor Samuel L. Jackson to Chelsea Clinton (Don’t ask us who she is), many popular faces in law, arts and business have MUNed in their early years. Many claim that they have benefitted from this experience and it is regarded as a very engaging means to the development of important skills such as research, public speaking, problem-solving, cooperation, formal interaction and reporting. In India, the earliest MUNs were given an impetus by law schools, which deem it necessary for their students to have this experience. However, it wasn’t long before other colleges caught on, and schools followed suit too. College MUNs saw a relatively freer atmosphere than MUNs at the school level, because of the evident difference between the conduct of a school student and a college student, and it is a widely held opinion that school MUNs are relatively “stricter” in their rules and manner of running.

MUNs at the university level often witness a lot of frolicking and merriment, where flirtatious or cheeky exchanges between delegates abound in the formal course of the conference. Punning, mocking, innuendos and double-meaning statements are even more commonplace. While MUN Purists regard this playfulness as “degeneration” of MUN values, more liberal MUNers look forward to it as a good way of making new friends and added social interaction. Whether this takes away from the core spirit of an MUN, which involves stimulating debates and intense research, is a contentious question. Purists also believe that over the years, the quality of research and training, which a delegate ought to undertake before every MUN conference, has also seen a plunge. Participants are thought to be more concerned about the lunch timings than what they are presenting.

Sidharth Das, regarded as one of the best MUNers in the country (with a profile that boasts of 35+ MUNs), Secretary General of DMUNC ’11 and President of DCAC’s MUN society ‘MUNitions’, says about this degeneration: “A major difference between now and then is that almost every delegate was trained properly prior to an MUN and the difference between a trained delegate and the others was clearly visible when they stepped into council. Hours were spent in front of the computer reading through all possible documents that might help us in the council, that might give us an understanding of our countries’ foreign policy, or a flaw in another’s which we might point out and question them on.” He goes on to talk about the current scenario where most just browse through Wikipedia for information, how many are unaware of the rules of procedure, take greater pleasure in passing chits than raising a noteworthy point, and adds “While there isn’t anything wrong with having fun, but perhaps fun at the expense of the purpose of the Conference is a flaw that needs correction.”

When Das announced DMUNC, everyone knew it would be something to look forward to. And he proved them right by conducting a conference that followed the philosophy of “Back to Basics”, ensuring that everything in the conference would be just like a school MUN, minus any frivolity and solely for the purpose of competitive and stimulating debating. It was an effort that was much commended, and nobody could deny that delegates were enjoying the intellectual challenges posed to them.

It was an effort that was much commended, and nobody could deny that delegates were enjoying the intellectual challenges posed to them. Prakriti Kargeti, Undersecretary General, accrues the success of the conference to Das’ dedication and commitment, and adds that all their hard work and almost unfairly “rigorous sessions” of training paid off, enabling them to host an event that broke away from the tradition of contemporary Indian MUNs, from the initial application process to the closing ceremony.

No wonder so many tagged it as the ‘Das Model United Nations Conference’!

Aayushi Sinha
aayushis@dubeat.com

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“Not all those who wander are lost”

For further details:

http://www.bits-oasis.org/2011/

The book is an-almost Bildungsroman of sorts, as it is the chronicle of a short time in the life of half-Indian teenager Karim Amir, (‘an Englishman born and bred. Almost.’) whose narration is a sardonic account of the in-between-ness of his origins: suburban, non-white, (‘more beige than anything’). Pop music, sexual explicitness and suburban self-denial come together in a raucous clash of cultures in ‘70s Tory England, with little doubt as to which side Karim favours.

So what sets Karim apart from the legions of leather-and-Levi’s clad punk heroes found in Beatnik literature, sniffing in disdain at the inanities of suburbia? Young, disrespectful and suspicious of bourgeois working-class pretensions, Kureishi creates in Karim a peculiar anti-hero who is vain, foolish and prone to too many chatty exclamations of hyperbole and superficial witticisms, but somehow rises to any satirical occasion with a laconic, exaggerated insight that is uncomfortably close to the truth.

The ‘Suburbia’ is Chislehurst, snug in its complacent manicured lawns, racist attacks on Pakistanis, and absurd fascination with all things Oriental and exotic, where deadly conformity rules supreme and deviations from established norms are not tolerated kindly.

The ’Buddha’ in the title refers to Haroon, Karim’s father, buttoned-up bureaucrat by day and velvet-waistcoat-clad-mystic yogi by night, dispensing a vague mish-mash of Buddhist and yogic philosophy to suburban yuppies seeking redemption of a higher call than polished wood flooring. Haroon’s mystic stint and eventual relationship with the dilettantish Eva Kay, opens up a world of staggering new possibilities for Karim, as it is she who unfolds the world for his restless ignorance to delve into.

Eva’s unforgivably cool son, Charles, a mediocre musician, with his platinum blonde hair and emotional coldness, is the sexual focus of Karim’s Chislehurst years, who later markets himself as a punk rocker Charlie Hero to the musically forgiving Americans.

It is in London, less than 20 miles away but an alternative universe itself with its hot promise of endless drugs, sex and excitement, that Karim eventually discovers a talent for acting and develops the first of many disillusionments with love and politics. Karim’s maturity can be measured by the distance he travels from Chislehurst, and the perspective he gains on Charlie.

Kureishi’s beginnings as a playwright make plenty of appearances in the technique and narrative of the novel, evident in the precedence of speech over description. Karim’s calculated colloquialisms and the ambiguity between speech and thought are liberally interspersed with mock-dramatic cliché and theatrical narcissism. The comedy of the novel relies on the narrator’s determination to stay on the surface of things – to combine candour with caricature, espousing an irreverent take on his surroundings while remaining absolutely straight-faced.

“Perhaps in the future I would live more deeply,” he says with comic solemnity as the novel ends, “But that is not for now”.

RATING – 3.5/5

Iva Dixit

iva@dubeat.com