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College Round Up: Hindu College

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With yet another academic session almost coming to an end at the University of Delhi, it is time to look back at the year that has gone by, before all of us get busy with semester examination preparation. Going by the thought, DU Beat brings to you its exclusive series ‘Colleges’ Round Up (2017-18)’, where we present the highlighting incidents of numerous DU colleges that took place over 2017 and 2018.

From various controversies and protests to successfully organising fests —Mecca, and Mushaira, Hindu College has had quite an eventful year.

Feature Image Credits: DUB Archives

Raabiya

[email protected]

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Features

Letter From The Founder of DU Beat

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DU Beat began as a dream. In a pre-Facebook world, there was no way for students to come together and talk about the issues that affected them, the issues that mattered. DU Beat aimed to bridge that gap. And with that small dream in mind, I founded DU Beat.

It was not easy. We faced resistance from everyone – teachers, students, political parties, the administration. No one knew who this new entity was, where it came from, and what it was trying to do. But we were the ones who wanted to talk about what mattered – education, fests, clean bathrooms, well-stocked libraries, healthy canteen food, healthcare in colleges, and many more issues without the pressure of political rhetoric.

We started from scratch, from nothing. The first publication was a Big Bang of sorts. The universe of DU Beat was infinite molecules coming together to form student groups that would focus only on the real issues. We thought college students must learn from the best and so we elicited writings from the best we knew – from William Dalrymple to publishing the last ever interview of Sabina Sehgal Saikia to Shashi Tharoor – we worked hard to get these diverse perspectives.

We engaged with principals, teachers, karamcharis, and students alike. All with a singular purpose – to evolve the student experience to the best it could be. We thought about the biggest problems facing students and brought about campaigns like ‘Dirty Loos’ to hold DU colleges accountable for the conditions of restrooms to writing stories about lack of healthcare to providing systematic knowledge about intercourse through the wildly popular Sex Amma column.

For me, the most inspiring idea behind DU Beat has been how it enabled students who had been involved to find their calling. From our first ever Head of Content and Head of Design running their own start-ups to subsequent alumni becoming investigative journalists, being featured in the Forbes ‘30 Under 30’, winning national awards, and attending Ivy League schools, DU Beat alumni conquer the world. We learnt at an early age what it meant to break the mould.

Education is important to attain abilities. It also teaches obedience, which often is not a helpful skill for innovation. The best innovators break the mould, look at life from a micro lens, understand problems, find solutions, and change the world. This has always been the main focus of DU Beat. To find passion, inculcate it, and excel.

Marx said, “Question everything”. This is the philosophy that propels DU Beat to constantly strive for brilliance, find cutting-edge stories, and bring news that is important and relevant to students week after week. Journalism is the fourth estate. Its role is to question the authorities and set notions and norms, and to bring to light new and better ways of life for students at every level. Over the last 10 years, DU Beat has committed itself to this standard of excellence. It will continue to do so for another 10 years. And 20. And 30. And 40. And on and on and on.

Happy 10 years! We have loved being a part of your lives. We hope you bring us the same love, care, and commitment, always.

 

Kriti Gupta
Founder, DU Beat

Feature Illustration by Sayanee Mandal for DU Beat

 

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DUB Speak

An Ode To You, Dear Reader

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From a time when student reporters had to run around to capture pictures of protests and then send them to their copy editor to ensure that it goes for the weekly print issue, to posting live stories on Instagram – our journalism has travelled a long way in the past 10 years. Amidst the chaos of getting quotes from people in various administrative hierarchies, student leaders, documenting the events and happenings around the campus, and raising crucial issues regarding gender and sexual health among students – we have played a major role in initiating conversations through our student journalism in the past decade.
In the words of Kofi Annan, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations, “Information is the first step towards liberation.” Be it through printed copies across colleges or reports on our social media handles, we have tried our best to keep you updated about what all happens in DU, while sincerely hoping that the experience has been as liberating for you as it has for us. Right from raising issues concerning women’s safety in the campus after the Nirbhaya case in 2012 and the haphazard introduction of the Four Year Undergraduate Program in 2013, to raising the issues regarding the right to dissent and debate post the violence at Ramjas College in February 2017 – we have represented students in media and given a voice to the unheard. As completely independent journalists, we have embraced our responsibility, sometimes even at the cost of our safety.
We are an entirely student-run platform – a badge of honour we wear with pride. From ideating stories, writing, investigating, raising funds to print copies, to regular managerial work, every little thing in our organisation is handled solely by undergraduate students. We recruit students, train them to excel in their various fields, and prepare them to work in professional settings. In the past 10 years, students who have worked at DU Beat in various capacities have gone ahead to lead major teams at Google, pursued journalism in globally influential outlets like The New York Times and Huffington Post, excelled in academics as Commonwealth Scholars, and begun their own media initiatives.

Externally, our journalism has also allowed our readers to succeed in their lives post their time at Delhi University. Many students still write to us, detailing how our news about admissions helped them bag a seat in the college of their choice. Inspired by our journalism, many of our readers have gone ahead to pursue a career in journalism, while others have benefited from our humble initiative of an independent student-run media outlet.

After successfully organising Mushaira, the Literature festival of Hindu College on 30th and 31st January with the Hindu College Parliament, to commemorate 10 years of independent student journalism, our team would like to raise a toast to our long-standing relationship with you, dear reader. Let the University and these printed words stand witness to our effort of making our University a more efficient, democratic, and liberating space.

 

Srivedant Kar
[email protected]

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