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Farewell

Is it Even a Goodbye Without Looking Back?

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You all remember the good parts of DU but what happens to the unpleasant ones? Here’s to
remembering the experiences that made us grow.

As a high school student, I only dreamed about getting into Delhi University (DU). Little did I know
back then that this place would not just be another academic choice but would slowly merge with
my very existence. Walking through the gates of my college on that odd day of February 2022 to
today when I walk through them for one last time, it was not a journey about just growth and
achievements, but it had more to do with the person that I am today. The transitions and
experiences, coloured in both black and white, did leave a sweet and sour touch in my mind. And as I
write this, it makes me more grateful for the bitter notes. So, here’s to taking you through a memory
lane and if you call yourself a student journalist, hang in, for it’s worth the wait.

Journalism for me was going to be something that I study within the four walls of my college but
thanks to DU Beat, I was acquainted to the realities rather than believing in the “coloured” reality
that is taught in colleges. As a first-year student, all I really wanted to do was go on the field, do
ground reporting, and write a copy that my editors would appreciate. However, from watching the
iPhone using protestors (irrespective of their political orientation) to experiencing the horrors a
student can inflict on another student, our university’s dark side needs to see the light of the day.
In a university like DU, not everyone can feel safe or rather is safe. From students to teachers, the
cries in their voices are seemingly falling on deaf ears. When students were sexually harassed in top
North Campus colleges or the time when an annual fest turned into a massacre of women’s respect,
the authority failed us, the unaffected students failed the inflicted ones. Having no accountability
and sprawling disastrous issues have all tainted the dreams of high school students.

Even the professors are not left out of it. Be it the journalism department in Kamla Nehru College,
the philosophy department in Lady Shri Ram College, or teachers in Ramjas College, Indraprastha
College for Women or Kalindi College, the professors of various departments have been subjected to
mass displacement. If this was not enough then professors in 12 DU colleges, which are funded by
the Delhi government, faced large delays (over 3-4 months) in receiving their salaries. It is saddening
to see that the professors who have given their everything to this university are also not safe.
To top off all these situations, we have infrastructural issues and trust me when I say this- if your
college has a washroom with a door and a door latch, it is a privilege. Back in 2023, a student of
Lakshmibai College had to enter into a fight with the authorities for medical compensation. A ceiling
fan fell on the student and as a result, she was under a lot of distress from the serious injuries. Even
when clearly the authorities should have taken accountability, it is the students who have to fight for
what should have come from a place of rational conscious. Question about if our percentages
deserve such a treatment continue to loom over the university without much sign of any
improvement.

In addition to all this, we have a fierce battle in student politics between the right and the left where
one has considerable “power” and the other has a voice without that power but the main takeaway
is that none of them might have solutions to the grassroot issues faced by the students. Though this
is a topic which you and I can discuss over “chai” (as promised by these people), yet do think aboutwho hears us when we are under distress? Who will stand with us in front of the authority which
keeps on wronging us?

Nevertheless, DU has a lot of darkness but without a doubt, it showed all of us the light in its own
way that we all would now follow. These experiences do not look pleasing but because of how we
were exposed to this darker part, it shaped us as individuals. And though these situations form just
the tip of the ice that I reported through my three years but this too would not have been possible
without this platform which gave me the power to bring forth the mishaps of DU, gave me a family
which got my back, and experiences that I will cherish till the end. On that note, as you exit this
university, remember: you can leave DU but DU would not leave you.

Read Also: Why Farewells are Good ?

Featured Image Credits: Ankita Baidya for DU Beat

Ankita Baidya

[email protected]

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Farewell

Romanticization: A Guide to Enjoying and Surviving Delhi

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A little lost, a little more petrified, I entered Delhi with so many questions about the unknown that lay ahead of me. Delhi’s beauty and charm have always kept me grounded. As I leave this place soon, I wanted to share my ways of coping with Delhi and its vagaries.

I have never loved Delhi, I still don’t. The pollution here makes my lungs sick to the core, the gaze of certain eerie men colonizing the turn around a lonely street makes me want to vanish, the dichotomy of bungalows lining the colonies of GK and children begging on every red light, the disparity between the ignorant filthy rich ones and gross ghettoization of a certain few, the disgusting student politics of DU, the scorching sweltering summers, the smoggy and bitter winters, and the list for why Delhi is not the most lovable place for me continues. But for the last three years that I have spent here, Delhi has become my habit. A habit that has shaped me in ways I could have not imagined. A habit that has taught me things that I thought were beyond my capacity. A habit that has shown me things I otherwise would have left unseen. I don’t love Delhi, but I have a lot to thank Delhi for.

In Ghalib’s sense of reality, our capital, the heart of our country, is more than just a city. It is an emotion, a feeling, or an experience. Because it is not just a city, stepping into its realm is as overwhelming as it can be. Such is the power and influence of this place that its stories and perceptions are well embedded in one’s mind without even entering its abode. For a coming-of-age woman like me, one enters the city with light, wary steps, since the concerned directions of caution from those who love us echo louder than the cacophony of Delhi’s infamous vehicle horns. Over time, this city consumes you; no matter how long or short one stays here, it becomes a part of you, and you become a part of it. Delhi becomes synonymous with comfort; despite its notorious reputation of being unsafe, the city starts to feel like home, like a comfortable relationship that turns into your habit before you even realize it. The same dread and caution that once gripped you transitioned into a new sense of liberation. Before you even realize it, the city will have you enamored by its charm and romance.

Delhi, as a city, breathes romance and thrives on it. From the historic alleys of ancient monuments whose architectural marvels exude the romance between the architect and the art, to Ghalib’s verses on love that intuitively reverberate in one’s mind as they scale the galiyan of Purani Dilli, to the canteen of Hindu college where Rockstar’s Jordan met Heer for the first time, to the couples dispersed in the tulips-clad lawns of Lodhi Garden, to partners swaying in synchrony to the beats in a college fest, being huddled together holding hands on e-rickshaws in North Campus, to this very city being the birth place of the king of romance, we all grew up watching Shah Rukh Khan. For those not fortunate enough to find love in their college life, a sore pit is what Delhi digs in them. It did the same to me.

Fortunately, Delhi and my college life have taught me that romance isn’t bound by a singular definition or interpretation. The last three years spent here, on an all-girls campus in the south of the city, have revealed to me the myriad of ways one can show and experience love and romance, not just to others but to yourself as well. I have learned to romanticize the most mundane parts of my daily life here, and I have learned this from the best, Delhi. For me personally, at this point in time, it feels out of place to be in Delhi and to not beautify, glorify, or romanticize parts of my life. The will to get up well in time before the morning lecture, get dressed, don the quintessential DU outfit, with jhumkas, juttis, silver bangles, short kurtis, and off lately, a new edition, my clip-on nosepin. Grab a book to put in my tote; the read is usually something female-centric; it fits right considering the environment I have spent my last three years in. Post-class, if the sun is merciful, dillydallying in the lawns has been the unbeatable go-to; otherwise, coffee at Khan Market or GK M-Block for the win. On days when the wallet feels a little light, our college café’s cold coffee and the sev-puri stall behind the back gate do the deed.

Wearing sarees to college fests and events, learning to take and give compliments a little more freely, posing with reckless abandon on college lawns, taking endless photos of your female friends for them to choose one, and commenting profusely under the same photo they chose to post despite you being the one who spent hours selecting it, became the new normal after coming here. Honestly, leaving behind your home and coming to Delhi hasn’t been easy. This won’t be easy for most; not every day is going to be fun; most days it will be utterly normal, boring, and bland. But if you can ape Delhi well, romanticize stuff, and get going, you should be good to go. That’s how I enjoyed and survived the city!

Read Also: This is a Farewell, Not a Goodbye

Featured Image Credits: Nabeera Jamal for DU Beat

Rubani Sandhu

[email protected]

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Farewell

Academia aur ye Article, Paani Mai Gaya, Chapak!

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In between writing about politics or my own personal journey at DU, I ended up with a chaotic rant for the final piece at DU Beat (DUB) to reach my last deadline. Please bear with me one last time.

I remember my first day at KMC, arriving an hour late for a two-hour calculus lecture, followed by a brief chat with my new classmates and the news of a ceiling falling on a professor. Days passed, ceilings kept falling, and I eventually found my folks, and college found a contractor, and college became fun and safe. From working in societies, interning, and holding positions of responsibility to parties and trips, and, eventually, adopting a pet with my friends, I had my dream college life. DUB was certainly the highlight of my college time.

I will never be less grateful for this place. It offered a space for my thoughts, a thought for my thoughts, obviously memories, and friends. It gave me a new identity, where people knew me by my work and not my work because of me.

While the breeze of nostalgia kept on hitting me as I was figuring out this piece, I took my phone and flicked through my DUB highlights. Gender and queer rights, saffronization, casteism, new and old laws—my writing covered a lot of angles and dimensions, but what I noticed about my own writing today is my inclination to write about college or academic spaces that are crumbling while we take shade under them for our futures.

Three years down the line, I have no hesitation in stating that DU has undergone significant changes. I am leaving this place with a heavy heart and hope not to return. DU is no longer the space it used to be. It was never ideal or close to being perfect; problems persisted even then. But today it has a completely different goal: eliminating its foundations as a public central university. Whether it’s academics, diversity, policies, or how societies function, everything is falling under the grip of constant surveillance.

It is not just DU; educational spaces and education as a whole in India are fast altering to meet the political requirements of those in power. It is being used to steer young minds in a certain political and ideological direction. From book revisions to the implementation of new education policies, everything is being modified not to improve educational quality but to strengthen ideological grip. History is being rewritten to safeguard the future of present politics.

While some of you may find all of this too much, or you may believe I am exaggerating, however, this idea in itself is proof. Your professors suddenly disappearing from college, the grip of college administration on societies, societies like North East cells struggling to stand due to a lack of students, crackdowns on academicians, fee hikes, the dominance of specific student groups that makes you think twice before organizing an event, and many other examples demonstrate that educational spaces are under scrutiny, and a lack of conversation and understanding is the reason for the silence surrounding these issues.

I would have included quotations or data, but I wanted this piece to be a record of my personal experiences (or rants?). As someone who wants to be a professor and continue in academia, the concept and aspiration are no longer the same. My constant detachment from my own subject and the state of educational spaces are constantly asking me to build a new dream. While I navigate my way through all this, planning to pick up my subjects again during my masters, and trying to reshape my dream instead of eradicating it, I hope that more people will start talking about it.

In lieu of breaking the custom of not including a picture in my print piece (as I always go over the word limit), I’m going to end my rant here to avoid succumbing to my academic crisis. I’m not sure whether this piece makes sense in the farewell issue, but I wanted to talk about academia in my last piece at DUB as a copyeditor.

Ending my post with the hope that DUB would continue to be bold and talk about politics freely. All my love.

Read Also: Farewell: Mourning our Lost Memories and Experiences

Featured Image Credits: Dhruv Bhati for DU Beat

Dhruv Bhati

[email protected]

 

 

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Around the Campus

Pride, Privilege, Politics: A Third-Year Perspective on Being Queer in DU

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queer in du

As final-years gear up for farewell, here is an attempt by a first-year queer student to ask and articulate what their LGBTQ experience has looked like.

When I first took up this piece, I must admit the tinge of narcissism I brought to the table with me. As a first-year student, I wanted to look up to these seniors—these wonderful, proud, queer seniors, whose mere existence on campus had made me feel safe and like I belonged—for answers. It’s as if my long-suppressed desire of stopping every queer senior in their tracks and bombarding them with questions had finally found a less-creepy outlet. I wanted to ask them if they had felt the same way. Had they stepped into college with similar dreams and aspirations as me? Did those dreams come true? Did they feel just as lost and lonely? Was the feeling going to last forever, or was there someone to turn to? I reached out to the ever-so-loving hand of the guiding senior that DU had taught me to trust so much.

As you can imagine, my plan of mapping out a queer journey and, vicariously, a personal trajectory too, is not exactly how things panned out. Assuming the existence of a single, unified, queer DU student experience was a fallacy in the first place. Each day at DU is a lesson in the incredible diversity of this university, and its queer students are no exception. Queer people are far from a monolith, and their journeys as students at Delhi University are shaped by their wide range of backgrounds, privilege, and family values. Equally important is the college in which they land.

It is certainly true that for many, DU, or college in general, represents a highly liberating and exhilarating experience—to be away from the shackles of one’s often queerphobic and non-accepting family and to experiment, question, and live on your own terms perhaps for the first time is no small deal, after all. The question I wanted to pose, however, is how often those hopes are realised. 

I did have very high hopes about Delhi and queerness but it didn’t meet my expectations. Queer people in Delhi have this very secluded, exclusive circle. The community itself has not been too welcoming. If you see a bunch of queer kids hanging out and you think that you can just go and blend in with them, you probably can’t.

Titas, a final-year student from Miranda House

This feeling of alienation, resulting from a homogenised, elitist, and exclusive queer culture, is one that I sadly found echoed by most final-year students that I talked to. Another person lamented,

Being queer is always supposed to look a certain way in DU. I, as an individual without coloured hair, multiple piercings, non-ability to party, drink alcohol, etc always feel like I don’t really belong in these circles.

An anonymous final-year queer student

Rejected from these social circles, one may turn to queer collectives and gender cells for community—or at least so I thought in my naivety. The very existence of these bodies in most DU colleges remains an exception to the rule, especially when it comes to whether or not the college administration recognizes them officially. Much to my disappointment, I was additionally disillusioned about the integrity and effectiveness of these bodies in colleges where they do exist.

Most administrations are happy to use places like the Queer Collective tokenistically to appear progressive when required, but otherwise want everyone to be hush hush about the same on most accounts. You’d expect at least DU professors to be progressive and all that? Most aren’t.

—an anonymous final-year queer student 

Problems of elitism are quick to seep into queer collectives too. Their effectiveness, in that case, seems to stem from how empathetic and accepting an environment they are able to cultivate and the true sense of community they may foster.

We were able to start a queer collective in our college. It’s not a formalized society, but it does exist as a safe space for people to come and talk about things. I personally saw a lot of people journeying from what they thought was their cishet identity to their queerer identity, and that was really nice to be able to see them be open with their friends and have that safe space. So, I think in terms of the University, if we just have more places like that where people, one, have the ability to learn, and two, have this community where they can talk to people, it would be great in terms of making the University more queer-friendly.

— Sagarika, a final-year student from St. Stephen’s College

As with all things DU, politics also factors in a big way when it comes to being queer on campus. While for some, their identity becomes a political statement in itself, others prefer to distance themselves from such a stance.

The “safe” space of DU definitely comes with multiple terms and conditions. At a time when there is a humungous right-wing upsurge in the university, there is constant control of the queer folx around.

The queer community itself is largely covertly divided because not everyone has the access to the same kind of social resources and that creates the image of what queerness is acceptable and what is not. Nonetheless we have come a long way from multiple colleges to having just gender cells to now having queer collectives. It is definitely a step forward but there still stands a long way to go.

But amidst all the brouhaha I hope that people never lose sight of the fact that pride was and must always remain a protest first and a celebration later. To alienate one from the latter is a disservice to the history of this deeply political movement.

– Anwesh Banerjee, final-year student from Ramjas College

One of the loveliest anecdotes that I came across while working on this piece was one shared by a final-year student from one of DU’s women’s colleges. I must spare the details for the sake of anonymity, but they described finding, within the pages of decades-old library books, queer love letters and Urdu shayari written for and by the women students of the institution. There is solace to be found in this history of queerness at DU, but it also signals the continuing presence of queer students as part of the diversity of this campus. LGBTQ+ voices have mattered and will always continue to matter as queerness continues to shape this dynamic university space.

Read also: The Need for Queer Collectives in Colleges

Featured Image Credits: Scroll.in

Sanika Singh
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alumni

Learning To Speak Truth To Power

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A deeply personal essay on the degree about to be gone past, and a final attempt at courting the essay form and being the Joan Didion of DU Beat one last time.

It has been three years. Let that sink in first.

Three years ago the world around us was struck by what will go down in history as a life-halting and soul-sucking pandemic. Freshly off my board examinations, like all students from my batch, I had dreams of making it big in this world. I too thought a liberal arts degree would equip me with words that would have the power to change the world around me and albeit propel me eventually towards a career in the liberal arts. However, the sudden imposition of the pandemic which immediately drove us within the four walls of our house seemed to indicate that I need to reconsider these choices.

At a time when my family was mourning for loved ones lost to the pandemic and finances seemed precariously perched, the obvious decision for me would have been to stick to a college in Kolkata, my hometown – and why not? There was an entire pool of prestigious institutions for me to choose from and one could always pick up the dream of moving out of your hometown for one’s postgraduate studies. To avoid giving my parents and family members weekly bouts of anxiety I even enrolled in a Kolkata college but everyone around me knew that my heart was not there. After a six month long wait that felt like an eternity when I got the merit list making it evident that I had indeed made it to one of the leading North Campus colleges in a degree I have wanted to pursue from the day I could think, I knew this was a decision I had to make. Back then, everyone around me seemed hesitant – is it really necessary? What was I trying to prove? But my guts said otherwise.

A year of online classes and two years of being in Delhi later, I am glad I stood my ground that night. Coming to the University of Delhi has not been the sweetest of experiences, but the bitterness that underlines this has now started lifting its head up in the form of a sweet melancholic nostalgia. With thirty days left for this degree to end, I look back on the years gone by and the moments of euphoria and heartbreak. I then look at the mirror (and trust me as a literature student freshly off Lacan that is difficult) and realise the person, or subject (yes I will crack Literature major jokes) is barely the lanky, long-haired boy who stepped into this institution so many moons back.

For one, this University puts you in place. And for good. Especially for a city-bred, English-educated man like me, buzz words like “Unity in Diversity” and “caste masquerading as class” became stark realities. Thrown into a liminal campus space where people of a host of disparate cultures not only lived together but often came into violent conflict with each other was a lesson in life. The spurious nature of identity politics left a stark impression upon me and while multiple friends and lovers became alien overnight, in the by-lanes of Gupta Chowk and Jawahar Nagar, I found my greatest lessons in kindness and empathy. You could be sharing a small plate of Malabar Biryani in Cafe Lucid all by yourself and the person sharing the table with you, suddenly strikes up a conversation and before you know it you have made a friend for the next set of semesters to come. You might be strolling down the ridge on a sultry evening and you will chance upon the sight of two lovers stealing moment, and you silently smile to yourself for this moment of rare affection that wasn’t yours to begin with you — but now is, because moments are meant to be borrowed and loaned, till you find yours.

During my tenure as an author for DU Beat, I have written on a wide range of subjects – ranging from student politics to cinema. But the one thing that I have continued advocating for and writing about relentlessly is issues pertaining to queerness and the queer experience. And on that note, in this final piece of mine, I wish to mention something. Loneliness is one of the biggest problems plaguing every student who lives on this campus on a daily basis. It is divorced from alone-ness and it is something that operates at a structural level. Its violence is less performative from the stone-pelting in protest marches and its cure amorphous. In fleeting moments it buries itself in the fists raised to the chant of azaadi and under the varying colours of the Pride flag. But it raises its uncanny head on metro rides where you see a stranger taking glitter off their jaws with tears in eyes and the person in tattered cargos as they scour your canteen for the millionth time with pamphlets people will stamp over in seconds.

The University of Delhi, and I never thought I would say this, is a family. Yes, because families are spaces with imbalance power dynamics. If there is anything I have learnt from these three arduous years it is this, there is nothing greater in this world than your truth and you alone and speak the same (Foucault says hello at this point) . If you choose to let this university teach you anything then let it be the urgent need and the requisite power required to speak this truth and claim your space. Be it a battle of queering the space, or gendering the discourse, or dismantling caste hierarchies. This is a place, and you belong, let no one tell you otherwise. For the ones who think the reality of the world begins when you step out of the bubble of your college, you are wrong. Aren’t you the real world in all earnest?

 

Anwesh Banerjee

[email protected]

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Arts & Culture

Farewell: Mourning our Lost Memories and Experiences

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With graduation right around the corner, third-years sit by as they lose all hope of getting a physical farewell, or any of the college experiences for that matter. DU Beat spoke to some of them in order to get an insight into their psyche and know the popular opinion that has been going around.

The pandemic has taken away a lot of things from us, but most of all, it has stolen away some of the most beautiful days of one’s life — a real chance at a college experience. With having completed a year, confined to the four walls of our room, we sit and wonder as our dreams, hopes, ambitions fade away into the lone. 

Anushree Joshi, a third-year student at LSR says, “The greatest loss of finishing college online is the ability to sit and look my peers in the eyes as they tell me about their days and I tell them about mine. The anxiety of things ending, in any normal year, would be wrapped up in the hullabaloo of celebration — multiple farewells, graduation dinners, and the lasts of meals and outings.”

But there’s a pang of ineffable sadness now, in knowing that some of the teachers who have changed the way I look at life have never even seen my face in real life, or might not remember it. It’s a loss much less significant than what this world is experiencing right now in different ways, but it’s a loss incredibly personal and irreparable,” she added.

Another, 3rd-year History major Aanya Wig elaborated on her wishlist for the New Year’s this year, “I wished to go back to campus, I wish I could sit in class and attend a lecture, I wished I could sit in the sun in the front lawns, I wished to get another vada pao, I wished I could hear the chirpy voices in the corridor, I wished to walk on campus again, and I wished to spend a little more time with the wonderful women at college.”

How does one then even begin to grapple with such questions, then? During the past year, people have lost people, their incomes, and even their interest in anything and everything around. The thought of bidding goodbye to such spaces of liberalism and inclusivity to be out there in the ‘real world’ is frightening enough that now, we even have to deal with not being able to go back to college for that one last time: sit in those lush green lawns, or juggle between classes as you order that cup of ice tea or chilly cheese Maggi from the Nescafé and sit at your favourite spot which makes you feel home with people who have stayed with you during the past three years, even when everyone else left. How does one even begin to get closure?

I don’t think the idea of online classes was bad in itself because yes, it was the need of the hour, but like million other things, this idea was also not executed well. Not only the students, but the teachers also faced a lot of issues to get adjusted to this new normal. Not to mention how it has adversely affected the process of learning in itself,” expressed Somya Jain, an Economics major at LSR.

Shivani Dadhwal, a KNC student elaborated on the losses we have all faced as a collective,

Having spent 50% of the time at online college is sad, there are so many unfinished Nescafé ice teas, college gang trips, classes, fests, outfits to wear to college, impromptu plans, whacky canteen food combinations, conversations and jokes. Abruptly, one was made to pack it all up and just walk away.”

It’s okay to mourn, it’s okay to get disheartened or even feel at loss here, but it’s not okay to not gift yourself the right to celebrate your own graduation. You deserve this farewell (even if it’s online) more than anyone else and hold on to your memories, learnings, and celebrations for your tomorrow will find you much farther than where you are today.

 

Featured Image Credits: DU Updates

 

Annanya Chaturvedi

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Farewell Season

The Journey of A Lifetime: Signing Off, Editor-In-Chief 2019-20

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Here are a few words by Anoushka Sharma, Editor-In-Chief, DU Beat, sharing the experiences which built her journey, as she bids adieu to this family. While this journey comes to an end, the memories last forever. 

On 6th July 2018, while scrolling through my Facebook feed, I came across a post by DU Beat which read “DU Beat is hiring Correspondents”. Back then, I was very hesitant to apply, but applied anyway and today I can proudly say that was the best decision of my college life.

I was recruited as a correspondent in July and soon began my love for writing news reports and covering protests. I remember talking to my Editor and giving her ‘live updates’ from the Delhi University Students’ Union vote counting day in September 2019. I remember being with my fellow DUBsters, walking in the heat all tired and hungry, covering every nook and corner of the place, and then leaving with a big smile on our faces because we had covered the vote counting day properly (even though the results did not come out during the day).  I was soon promoted as a copy-editor and then began my journey of being on countless WhatsApp groups, calls, discussions, and meetings. It took me some time to realise that the two DUB WhatsApp groups I had on my phone were now nearly 12, and the mailbox which seemed empty, was now flooded with unedited articles, graphics, and photographs to be scheduled for the day.  Antaragni, the cultural fest of IIT Kanpur was the most memorable event for me. It holds so many memories for the team. That was the outstation coverage which made me realise that this DU Beat is not just any organisation, but my new family. There are many instances like this, which I could probably talk about and not write, because if I start doing so, this goodbye note would not end.

Apart from being attached to this place to almost at an unhealthy level, this place has given me a family. DUB has made me a better writer, a team player, and most importantly, a better person. I can never be grateful enough to this organisation for teaching me patience, responsibility, time-management and the importance of upholding values. DU Beat has been the highlight of the three years I spent as a DU student. I have attended more Monday meetings than my AECC lectures and lost sleep on the countless cycles of print edits. I joined this organisation to improve my writing skills, I still don’t know when my passion for writing expanded towards for the organisation and its members.

My tenure as the Editor-in Chief of this organisation has been the most rewarding experience of my college life. The team has given me so many opportunities to learn and grow. The members of the team (who I also refer to as ‘my kids’) are extremely talented and creative. The team of 2019-20 has achieved newer heights this year- hitting 50K Instagram followers, interviewing celebrities, and being nominated for the prestigious Ramnath Goenka Awards, to name a few.  When I joined DUB, I wasn’t really sure about collaborating with new people, but today, I can confidently say that I trust my team more than I trust myself. Over the last one year, this team became my support and my priority. With them, I learnt the importance of delegation and management. Teaching the team has been one of my fondest memories here and I think not a single day has passed by in my journey as a DUBster where I didn’t check the WhatsApp groups talking about new ideas and projects.

I have been fortunate enough to work with a team of departmental heads who have given their best to train the team and produce better each day. These six people have been the closest to me all throughout and this journey wouldn’t have been smooth without them. More than that, I am extremely proud of the copy-editors at this organisation. They are the most hardworking bunch of people I have ever had the opportunity to lead (though I troubled them by faltering on deadlines, and in fact my copy-editor had to pester me for two weeks to write this note). Copyeds, you guys will always have my heart.

For any person who comes across DU Beat, it’s just an organisation, an internship opportunity, a media platform, or a newspaper. But for me, DU Beat has been an experience. This is place where you get to work with the most talented bunch of University students who come together to take a stand on student issues, and define the truer sense of journalism. Facts, ethics, and credibility have always remained the guiding principles of DU Beat, the baton which I hope the upcoming batches will uphold with care.  This place reflects the hard work of each and every person who works as a correspondent/designer/HR manager/ marketing executive/photographer/videographer/video-editor to report objectively and tirelessly round the clock to produce the eight pages of newspaper you see on Wednesday, and the content that is uploaded on our digital platform daily.

I wish I had the opportunity to tell all of this to every member personally, but with the Coronavirus pandemic, I’ve still not been able to get over my missing ‘lasts’ from this organisation- the last fest coverage, the last meeting, the last team picture, and the farewell.

DUB has been the primary recipient of my attention since the last two years and I haven’t regretted a single moment that I spent here. To DU Beat and all the people I had the honour of working with, thank you for everything.

Signing Off,

Anoushka Sharma

Editor-in-Chief 2019-20

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DUB Speak

The Rants and Preachiness of a Student Storyteller; Shaurya Thapa’s DU Beat Biopic Pitch; Signing Off Web Editor 2019-2020

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Here are a few words by the Heads at DU Beat, sharing the experiences which built their journey, as they bid adieu to this family. While this journey comes to an end, the memories last forever, Shaurya Thapa, Web Editor 2019-2020, shares his honest words with us.

All right, all right, all right, where do I start? I joined DU Beat aka DUB aka DU ‘Beats’ (as some people call it) in my second year. I was a closeted kid in school, in the sense that I didn’t question or observe many things around me. I didn’t do that cause’ I never cared about what’s happening.

Then, some amount of maturity did come to my head in College. That way, I feel blessed that I got a shot to study in North Campus. I saw a lot of anger, bitterness, communal emptiness. Everyone seemed to have their own issues. I interacted with rebels, closeted rebels, intellectuals, pseudo-intellectuals, artists, academics, Vella observers, potheads, extremists, radicals, feminists, sexists, bigots, pacifists, everyone. And everyone had a different story to tell.

I took a course called B.A. History (Hons) and while I don’t aim to be an IAS officer (like many History students from Hindu College become) or a Historian, I did get inspired by the scribes that I have read about in the history of various empires. I became a storyteller, a communicator of the different tales that the different subjects of the kingdom of North Campus told me.

And that’s what prompted me to join DUB, a place where I got to learn new things. I started questioning the morality behind institutions, protests, people, ideals, and a lot of other concepts.

It has been quite a trip under people like Niharika Dabral (ex-Associate Editor of DU Beat, fun fact-she’s the one who took my interview) and Rishabh Gogoi (ex-Head of Photography) and correspondents like Priyanshu and Faizan.

Now, let’s get to the other side. Throughout my tenure as a Correspondent and the Web Editor, I have also got a mock corporate culture-like session from DUB. I have realised that there are people who can snitch on you, who can betray your trust, be problematic and hypocritical, etc. It’s funny to see some people in the team who post all consciously woke feminist stories on their Instagram, who click photos or write reports on pride parades.

But then at the same time, these very same people might not think twice before using words like a ‘chakka’ as a funny slur, people who might feel that ‘Harassment toh hota rehta hai. Why should we issue a note that Stan Lee was allegedly involved in harassment cases on the day he died? We should respect his legacy’, people who would ‘slut-shame’ fellow people and judge them by their preferences in men, women, or whomsoever involved. Fights, ‘bitch fights’, ‘behind-the-back’ fights, I have observed enough people with their share of this in DU Beat at times.

All I’m saying is that maybe such differences in opinion and problematic behaviour might be common in society. All we can do is maturely handle such matters and try speaking up whenever possible. In some cases, I have been a silent observer and I will have my regrets for those times.

On the positive note, some of the double-faced/problematic people that I faced have actually improved a little over the past few months. And I’m really glad about that. The others who are still ‘dheet’, I just pity those lost souls.

Anyway, enough with the preachiness and the rants, I should now start thinking about my future. Being the Web Editor of India’s largest student newspaper was just a baby step. Now if I graduate (whenever I pass after the global pandemic ends), I might aim to be a bigger storyteller.

Signing Off,

Shaurya Singh Thapa

Web Editor 2019-20

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Arts & Culture

2020: Not The Year of Students

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As the war on the wretched virus wages on, every single person is also dealing with the consequences of the same. With their whole future in front of them, students are staring a mammoth obstacle in front of them.

The year 2020, as many says, has turned the world upside down. Numerous concerns surround the apprehensive students. The Economic pandemic that will follow this outbreak topping the list. With the markets crashing down, major industries will suffer a huge loss leading to unemployment and layoffs. Travel and Tourism industry which employs around 4 crore people expecting 12 lakh layoffs while the retail industry expects 1 crore layoffs. The stress of having unemployment is already circling every student’s head.

Getting a placement only seems like a handful of a challenge for them. And with DU signalling more delay in third-year examinations, the challenges only seem to increase. While DU authorities are confident that they can conduct the examinations online, many doubt their ambitious plans.

As many students aim for higher students in India as well as abroad, the sudden change in the schedule and work environment of the whole world has left students on pins and needles regarding the upcoming entrances and selections. As many universities from around the world start their entrance examinations and other formalities for admissions from April to June. Students who plan on studying abroad, are becoming sceptical of their future aspects leading them to rethink their priorities and choices.

This botch to the whole semester has left students perturbed. Manav Gupta, a third-year B.Com (Hons) student, said, “The uncertainty which is surrounding the virus as well as our examinations has left me confused and frustrated as to what I should study and what I shouldn’t. It is also truly disheartening that my batch will be missing our last days of college and might even our farewells”.

Not only is this wretched virus affecting the students with dreams of studying  abroad, but also the ones who have been preparing for various entrance examinations in the country. Be it NEET, JEE or SSB, all these exams have been postponed and uncertainty hangs over them.

Akshat Singh Rathore, an Army aspirant who was preparing for SSB this year, said, “Last year I took a drop to prepare for SSB examinations, but not only have the exams been postponed but also the stress over the preparations for the same is growing”.

Similarly, Mrinalika Chauhan, who had recently cleared her Tata Institute of Social Sciences entrance exam, said, “I just cleared my TISS entrance process which includes an exam and a series of interviews. But the result of the same is not being declared due to the coronavirus and this has put me in dilemma, should I wait for the result or should I apply elsewhere also”.

In addition to this, the first and second-year students are also suffering with many teachers facing difficulties in finishing the course in time. Even though many colleges were quick to take classes online but recent incidents have derailed this effort as well. Many teachers have reported incidents of harassment by students in online classes via obscene messages and language.

Speaking on the issue, Shitakshi Thakur, a student of Maharaja Agrasen College, said, “Just recently we had a class on Skype and it was an utter disaster as well as an embarrassing for us students. One of the students disrupted and disturbed the class again and again. It feels like we aren’t ‘educated’ enough to take online classes.”

The Coronavirus and Economic Pandemic along with the social distancing has taken a toll over the students’ mental and emotional health. However, the pandemic is also a stark reminder of how powerless humans are even though we tend to think otherwise.

 

Feature Image Credits: Paintvalley

Aniket Singh Chauhan

[email protected]

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DUB Speak

With a Heavy Heart: Signing Off, Head of Photography 2019-2020

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Here are a few words by the Heads at DU Beat, sharing the experiences which built their journey, as they bid adieu to this family. While this journey comes to an end, the memories last forever. Vaibhav Tekchandani, Head of Photography, who has been one of the warmest and friendliest faces also helped us reach new heights under his leadership. Read on to see his farewell note for the session 2019-2020. 

My journey at DU Beat began in September 2018, of course, this was after I was rejected by my Head of Photography, Akarsh Mathur, who thought I would not be able to give time to the organisation. I don’t know what happened after that, but it didn’t feel like the end of my journey at DU Beat, so I applied again. After clearing the interview round with a positive result, I was a member of a team that had so much to give to me.

Starting from Village Area, my gaon, that gave me a family, gave me love. In the beginning my concern was that since I joined late, the team might not be as open to a new member since strong bonds and friendships were already formed. However, as and when I joined, the whole team was so welcoming I cannot explain it in words. It was overwhelming.

I am not a guy who attends college, therefore, college life meant nothing to me until my 1st year but then I joined DUB in my 2nd year and that is what made me realise the actual essence of college life. It gave meaning to the whole ‘DU Culture’ that I had not yet experienced. I never really looked forward to Mondays until Monday meetings at 4 pm became a thing (let’s just say I was there at sharp on time to make me look extra responsible).

DU Beat as a whole taught me a great deal, it taught me how to get yourself into the barricades with just your confidence, taught me to work in a dynamic environment and with not just the photographers but all the departments at once. From being a photographer to be an unofficial bouncer, I’ve seen it all and I can’t be happier about the people I have seen it with. To add to it and for a little more effect, let’s just say they’re magic beans to my jack.

The next tenure when I was appointed as the Head of Photography, it was one of the most beautiful moments of my life, to lead a complete photography team in such a big media organisation paved a way for one of the best journeys that I’ll cherish forever. I honestly could not have asked for a better team. All I ever hoped was to be as good as my former Head of Photography, Akarsh Mathur, if not more.

I’m super proud of my team and they are a bunch of the most talented people I’ve come across. DU Beat has made me a better photographer, filmmaker, and mentor. It has given me new skills, exposure, friendship, a chance to work with great and humble people and most importantly a part of my life to look back to. DU Beat will always be something close to my heart, something I’ll always treasure!

Signing off,

Vaibhav Tekchandani

Head of Photography 2019-2020

 

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