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In light of recent events, safety in North Campus has been proven fragile. But even the failure in this test has not incentivized the necessary authoritative action.

 

Delhi University’s North Campus is famously known for its prestigious colleges. Some of the best colleges in the country are all smattered in close vicinity to each other. But in recent months, the same area has come to be known for its increasing crime rates.

 

On 2nd December, a tragic incident happened in the campus at nightfall. The incident started doing rounds on social media in a couple of days, to the utter disbelief and outrage of all students and residents of North Campus alike.

In the Facebook post, shared by multiple people, the following message was broadcasted:
“With utmost shock and anger, we inform you that our dear friend, Sandipan, a PhD student of Delhi School of Economics, was attacked by a couple of phone snatchers with knife late night on 2nd December. He was stabbed multiple times and is now admitted at Hindu Rao Hospital. The incident happened on the Naala bridge at Patel Chest. This is just opposite the Maurice Nagar Police Station.”
Pointedly, the area in question is a frequently visited place by all students in North Campus. A huge number of students reside around the area and so, the famous food outlets of North Campus are accessed via the same road. However, the incident raises questions on the presumed comforts and safety of the area, that the students expect before they take up expensive lodgings there.

 

The post continued, “Despite giving the number of the bike to the police, no action has yet been taken. The incident and the police inaction is telling of how dangerous our own campus has become.”

 

Multiple cases of phones being snatched have been reported by students. Within the first week of the commencement of college, a student of Hindu College lost her phone to the self-same phone-snatchers. Another student of Hindu College, on her way back from Vishwavidyalaya Metro Station to her PG in Shakti Nagar said, “I was sitting in a rickshaw with three other friends. The rickshaw came to a halt in front of Daulat Ram College where two men on a bike rushed past us and took away my phone.” The incident was traumatic for her to recount later.

 

As reported by DU Beat earlier, Aashish Jain, a student of Kirori Mal College (KMC) recalled the incident when his mobile phone was snatched. “I was right outside the college gate when I was on a call,” he said, adding that he hadn’t realised that people on motorbikes were keeping a watchful eye on him. “I disconnected the call, and was going to put the phone in my pocket when one of them snatched it from my hand and ran off on their motorbike.”

 

Unfortunately, safety is not a concern because of these material losses alone. Safety of girls is as always only an agenda in the pompous manifestos of all political parties. A student recalled being stalked by a group of men in their car when she was returning from her college one evening. Such stories are far from uncommon. It is sad that we should demand for gender-specific safety in such an eminent area.

 

Casual sexism and misogyny that all of us observe everyday go on to show that legal action in seclusion cannot ensure safety of women. We need a more ‘human’ approach towards the issue. Calling out such abominable behaviour is our resistance. It is ironic how an area that is marked for its institutions and their excellence, should be called out for its degrading safety measures.
“Delhi Police must immediately book the perpetrators,” notes the same Facebook post (aforementioned). “DU administration and the Delhi Police must ensure safety of students around the campus and around every college of DU.”
The inaction of the authorities can easily be explained in their inability to apprehend the perpetrators as yet. It is high time that proper action is taken. The ignorance towards these seemingly petty crimes may prove more harmful otherwise.

 

Feature Image Credits: Dailymail

 

 

Kartik Chauhan

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It seems like the idiom ‘time flies’ has never been truer. With college, extra-curriculars, and the ever-present technology, we always have something to do and are never truly alone with ourselves.

 

It may seem to many of us that the semester just began, and in what seemed like the blink of an eye, it is over. We tend to be so occupied in building our future, that we forget to live in our present. It is a relentless process of looking at the forthcoming adventures, which never hurts, and is, in fact, a great thing to do.

But, we need to reflect on ourselves. Keep a constant check on whether what we are doing is giving us joy. Often, there is an inexplicable sadness that accompanies people our age. It is okay to have emotions and be as vulnerable as is humanly possible but don’t get scorched by a flame that is not worthy of it.

Our thoughts are our feelings, and if we don’t organize, divide and label our thoughts, we never understand how we feel. We keep going on about life, shoving all of our opinions aside, robotically. But that goes against human-nature, hence the sadness. We hope that tomorrow will bring something better along with it, but we never actually think our way through.

Careers, relationships, budgets, these all are the things that need to be looked into and given a quality-check frequently. And this is to be done alone!

‘Alone’ is a word that most people fear, but shouldn’t. With the ease of commute, travel and communication, modern humans are never truly alone, and have a certain phobia of the concept. But we need to learn to be friends with ourselves, to enjoy our own company. We need to talk to ourselves, we are our best judges.

What I would suggest is sit and look back on what you did this semester; where you were when it started, and how far have you come? Then imagine where you want to see yourself in the next 10 years. All the things that you are doing right now, which are in line with your ‘ideal future-self’, keep doing them and get rid of all the wasteful things. It is important to clean the shelves, wipe off the dust, and create a clean space within. And then, make self-reflection a habit!

 

Image caption: Importance of self-reflection.

Image credits: The Social Rush

 

 

Maumil Mehraj

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Delhi University is not just a place of learning but it also provides a variety of opportunities for all-round development of students. This article shows just some reasons why this remains an ideal choice for students.

Delhi University is a vibrant place to study and probably one of the foremost universities in the country. There are various reasons why this is the ideal place for a diverse group of people to come and rack their brains together. At the risk of sounding like propaganda, here are our top reasons why you should opt for DU over other universities:

1. Holistic learning: Delhi University hosts numerous undergraduate programmes through its affiliated colleges in various streams of studies under different faculties namely Arts, Social Sciences, Applied Social Sciences & Humanities, Commerce & Business Studies, Mathematical Sciences, Sciences and Inter-Disciplinary and Applied Sciences, around 70 postgraduate courses in addition to diploma and advanced diploma courses, certificate courses, Ph.D and M.Phil programmes. Sports and ECA category students are also given freedom to develop their extra-curricular activities. Such a plethora of courses means that students get to experiment and explore various disciplines. Combined with a distinguished faculty and research opportunities, this provides for a holistic learning experience. Academic excellence: In the year 2018, The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) under the Ministry of Human Development saw 5 DU colleges make it to the top 10 colleges in the country. The University overall bagged the 7th rank. In the National Assessment and Accreditation Council’s yearly assessment, most DU colleges end up in the top ten slot. Regardless of the ranking parameters, there are other aspects like teacher-student relations, opportunities for research, and presence of well-stocked libraries that make this place a haven for students around the country. As one of the foremost undergraduate centres of learning, it also attracts the best of the brightest students in the country.

2. Diversity: In terms of cultural diversity too, Delhi University attracts students from all across the country as well as other nations. You will get an opportunity to interact, live, and dance with the best of the minds of the country.

3. Campus life: The campus life in Delhi University goes beyond the red-brick canteens. It is always bustling with research seminars, talks, film screenings, society fests, and not to mention the college fests that happen in every winter semester. The central location of the university means that students are in constant touch with not just students from other colleges but also from other heavyweight Institutions such as the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).

4. Teaching faculty: Delhi University’s myriad teaching faculty adopts a student-friendly approach to learning. Their diverse research interests and numerous publications mean that they are also experts at their fields of interest. An exposure to them certainly helps the students here.

5. Fest season: Come winter, you will wait excitedly for the fests, which will mean that all the colleges in the University will open their doors to other students. You will meet new people, eat amazing food and dance to the beats of the likes of KK, Benny Dayal, and Nucleya, amongst the many artists that visit DU. It is the perfect time to meet new people, places and that occasional crush you will persistently stalk for the next two months on Facebook.

6. Protests Season: There are three seasons in DU: test, fest, and protest season. Whether or not you are politically inclined, it is the best place to see different kinds of student movements develop from scratch. From the anti-autonomy strikes to the protests held by Pinjra Tod, students here are politically very active, and they often organise creative ways to assert themselves. Students are not just restricted to the classrooms but they also have an acute sense of the happenings of the world around them.

7. Placements: Although the rate of placements varies from college to college, it is one of the most successful universities to get placements in the country. Students also branch out to different streams of higher learning once they graduate from the university.

7. Food: If you are like every other student at a university, you are most likely to be a foodie too. For foodies, DU is among the best possible food havens. Whether you fancy a plate of savoury momos (Dolma Aunty’s) or just that perfect cuppa, (Sudama’s Chai) the university and its food joints will cater to your taste buds. Explore areas like Majnu ka Tila, Old Delhi and Hauz Khas to get other kinds of food experiences. Moreover the canteens of the different colleges also present low-cost, hygienic food that will leave you wanting more. The city: History, myth, language, and centuries of culture merge together in Delhi and lend a unique touch to the University. With an active nightlife, markets, food joints and places to hang out with your friends, the city provides immense opportunities for a new cultural experience. For both the avid traveller and the casual wanderer, Delhi is a treasure trove of monuments, forts, rivers and ancient nooks and crannies. The short distance between the city and hill stations like Dharamshala, Shimla, Manali means that those road trips might just manifest during your college years.

Feature Image Credits – India Today

Sara Sohail 

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