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Maitreyi College recently organised an event in collaboration with Central Government’s Department of Biotechnology

 

In the first of a series of events, Delhi University’s (DU) South Campus institution, Maitreyi College organized an interactive session for school students to gain knowledge on environment issues, increasing pollution in the river Yamuna and the practice of waste segregation.

 

The college hosted students from around eighty schools in the city to visit its campus in Chanakyapuri, New Delhi and interact with the University students and faculty. The event – a conference as well as an interaction, was organized in collaboration with the Department of Biotechnology of the Central Government on Friday, August 29th, 2019.

 

 

 

The school students were given an opportunity to express their understanding of the issues of climate change and river pollution, through the means of skits, short films and a poster-making competition.

This move is in line with the recent developments of environmental concern around the world. They not only include the local issue of the flooding of the river Yamuna and its poor state of cleanliness, but also occurrences such as that of the Amazon Rainforest’s wildfire, unabated rise in the level of microplastics in our water bodies, and the rapidly emerging concern of e-waste in the current global environment.

 

Chairman of the Governing Body of Maitreyi College, Shri Balaganpathy Devarkonda, said in a conversation with The Times of India, “…such events are important to bridge the gap between elementary and higher education and encourage students to indulge in discussion.”

 

The interaction of the students saw the mention of the Jal Shakti Ministry that has been recently introduced by the government to address the crisis of water management in the country. Students also discoursed regarding the potential way forward for the resolution of the crisis and pledged to take positive steps towards water conservation and cultivating a clean and green environment for all.

 

 

Featured Image Caption: Students at Qudsia Ghat, Yamuna riverfront

Featured Image Credits: DU Beat Archives

 

Bhavya Pandey

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The Econometrics exam of second-year B.A (Hons.) Economics was conducted on 22nd May 2019. It had a lot of errors which created a problem for many students.

The last exam of B.A. (Hons) Economics for the fourth semester students was conducted by the University on 22nd May 2019.  According to sources, the Econometrics question paper was full of errors which created a lot of confusion among the students. In Jesus and Mary College, Atma Ram Sanatan Dharam College, and Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College, students were informed about the corrections around 11:40 a.m. which was very late. By that time it was not feasible to attempt the questions according to the new changes. However, many colleges like Hindu College and Deshbandhu College did not receive the corrections at all.

In one of the questions, there was a change of sign from ‘+’ (positive sign) to ‘-’ (negative sign). This created a huge problem for those students who had already attempted the question with the positive sign since the paper was extremely lengthy. Moreover, the students were not left with any time to make the changes.

Riya, a student of Maitreyi College said, “Due to the hassle of errors and corrections in the exam, the students sitting in the examination hall felt distracted and I found it harder to concentrate. One of the corrections came around 10:30 a.m. or 10:45 a.m. I had already attempted half of that question. After the change in the signs, I had almost no time to redo the question since the paper was lengthy in itself.”

A student of Hindu College informed DU Beat that the students were not informed about any corrections and the exam was pretty easy. However,  the students are now worried about their marks since the paper they attempted wasn’t uniform with the other colleges.

According to a student of Kamala Nehru College, except for the first and second question, all the other questions had major errors. “There were corrections or clarifications in almost every question and the usual format of writing standard errors below the estimated error further below the estimated parameters was not followed which led to confusions. Some questions also had wrong signs of ‘T ratios’ but since there wasn’t much time, nothing could be done about it”, said Sanjana Sejwal, a student of Kamala Nehru College.

However, another student of Kamala Nehru College says, “The errors in the questions I attempted were general so I did not face much problem. The changes in the answers were also a matter of few minutes. So overall the exam was fine for me.”

It is also important that the University should recheck the question papers for any corrections beforehand so that the students do not face any problem during the examination. Making corrections in the question paper at the last moment also leads to low confidence level during the exams. Announcing the corrections in the examination hall distracts many students and creates a panicky situation.

A similar situation arose in the General Elective exam where there was a change in the format of the question paper and students were supposed to attempt five questions out of eight instead of four. It must be noted that some colleges asked students to attempt only four questions whereas students of other colleges were asked to attempt five questions.

However, it is necessary that the University and the Examination Committee looks into the matter and work out a solution which helps the students.

 

Feature Image Credits: Edexlive

Priya Chauhan

[email protected].

Due to the extreme inconvenience faced by students and teachers alike, the Maitreyi College administration has constructed a four-storied block which will be functional by the end of this semester/ early next semester.

Maitreyi College may have won the “best garden of DU Award,” but the picturesque college has been suffering from an acute shortage of classrooms. There are 17 undergraduate and two postgraduate courses of Arts, Science, and Commerce being taught here. Naturally, this means that the number of students enrolled in the college is high, and the infrastructure isn’t sufficient to accommodate them.

The timetables given to students of Maitreyi College are scattered, owing to the inability of the administration to provide them with a place to study. In some instances, the students have to wait for as many as five hours between two classes. This often leads to a sense of disinterest among students and they end up skipping the last lecture, as opposed to waiting for five hours in the campus.

To add to the problems, the classrooms allotted are different for each subject and after every period the entire roll of students has to shift to another room. In doing this exercise, 15 minutes of study are lost from a one hour lecture, ultimately leading to a loss in the syllabus coverage.

The students are of the opinion that there should be permanent classrooms assigned to all the departments.

The college has bamboo rooms, which are individual rooms built outside the main buildings, and they usually serve as places where the general electives and the tutorials are conducted. But the occupancy of these huts depends on the first-come, first-served basis, which often leads to uncertainty and chaos.
The only department rooms that Maitreyi College has are very few in number, and less than 10×10 feet in area. This space crunch doesn’t allow more than 10 students to be present there at one time without being immensely uncomfortable. “Imagine a class of 46 students having their tutorial in a tiny department room. I am sure none of us would want that,” says Deepika, a student of Maitreyi College.
Besides, it has come to light that the students who take lectures in Hindi lag behind in their syllabus because the frequency of their classes is often compromised to accommodate their English-medium counterparts. This assertion, however, remains largely unverified.
Taking into account this troubling lack of classrooms, the administration started the construction of a new, four-storied block about a year and a half ago. It is built right next to the basketball court and shares proximity with the library block. This new building is expected to function by the end of this semester and should put an end to many, if not all, problems that the college faces. The said building is currently out of bounds for students which leaves little scope for exploring, but judging by the dimensions its capacity looks sufficient.
Other than the new block, the college hostel is also being built in proximity to the campus. It is estimated to be ready in about a year’s time. The administration wasn’t available to comment on the matter, however, the staff seems pleased with the new block of Maitreyi College is expected to put an end to the shortage of rooms developments.

 

Feature Image Credits: Maitreyi College

Maumil Mehraj
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The tussle between north campus and south campus has been old and continuous. While both campuses have their own hangout spots from Hudson Lane to Satya Niketan and Kamla Nagar Market to Hauz Khas Village, north campus wins with a McDonald’s in its vicinity. Swedish House Mafia tells us, ‘don’t you worry child. Heaven’s got a plan for you’. Finally, heaven’s plan has come to fruition. Tables have turned as Maitreyi College is now getting its own McDonalds franchise.

It is unbelievable how the college student union pulled this off, especially amidst the lack of proper infrastructural facilities throughout the university. An optimistic student of College of Vocational Studies placated, ‘Though my college has been dealing with collapsing roofs, but at least we will have a McDonalds nearby.’ Appreciating the commendable efforts, another student exclaimed, ‘Take that North Campus! I’m lovin’ it’. While south campus students are clearly delighted by the prospect of their own McDonald’s, other off-campus colleges don’t share their enthusiasm.  Talking to DU Beat about the upcoming fast-food outlet, a visibly frustrated student of B.R. Ambedkar College said, ‘As if the campus students didn’t have enough bragging rights. What’s next? An on-campus cinema? Do they even know we exist?’

Initially, the outlet will be functional from within the college canteen. The administration wants to re-vamp the canteen to match the aesthetic of a McDonald’s outlet.  A college official exclusively shared with DU Beat that, ‘We have to regularly cancel the tenders of our caterers since the students in the college choose to eat out rather than in college. As a result, the caterers end up leaving because they hardly make any profit and, finding new caterers is not an easy job.’  She informed us that the students will also get a personalised meal, and all items will be available at a subsidised rate.

Since junk food is directly linked to obesity, high cholesterol, and diabetes, it becomes controversial for an institution to endorse a fast food outlet. Researchers have observed that students need wholesome and healthy food to improve their mental rigour and health . To this, a college official insisted that the college will ensure maximum supervision over the quality of food items. She further added, ‘As much I would like my child to give up junk food, there’s little I can control. Hence, if the college is proactive in taking steps to ensure the quality of the food, I feel a little secure.’

This new change comes right on time, just before the renowned DU fest season. If exploited, it can become an efficient and profitable marketing scheme. It will be intriguing to see how an in-campus McDonalds outlet will impact the crowd turn out and also if other colleges will follow suit. Moreover, it can also be expected to positively affect the admission intake this year.

Disclaimer: Bazinga is our weekly column of almost believable fake news. It is only be appreciated and not accepted.

 

Feature Image Credits: Grub Street

Varoon Tuteja

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Walking through the lanes of the photography exhibition about ‘Cultures of Sikkim’, the Department of Sociology of Maitreyi College released it’s fifth issue of its bi-annual newsletter ‘Sociologue – Aao Baat Karein’.

The attempt behind this is to create a sociological dialogue on the issues raised through the newsletter. It specifically focused at not so known- artforms, music, cinema, literature and sports of North East. The Chief Speaker for the day was Dr. Nitoo Das acclaimed Poet and Faculty at Department of English, Indraprastha College, DU. Her poems have appeared in national and international publications at various times.

The event witnessed cultural programme bringing to limelight, the traditional dances of North East States and showcase of antique ornaments from the lap of seven sisters. There were various students from different colleges of Delhi University to witness the event. The Chief Speaker, emphasised on the diverse tribes that constitutes North East and the challenges to counter the dominant narrative of the region by bringing it to mainstream.

As music is the food for thought, the event came to an end, with the tunes of A&R band.

 

Feature Image Credits: Anahita Sharma

Naimisha

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As the DU Fest season comes to a close, we look back to consistent and fantastic performances of different societies from various colleges and award them with points as per their winning streak and the positions they secure. The excelling society in the Western Dance Category has been Zeal from Maitreyi College who have continued to time and again plant their flag at DU fests.

The best college society in each category was selected by creating a tally of the top 3 positions at competitive events held during various cultural fests of this season. Whenever a society won the first prize they were awarded 3 points, for the second position they received 2 points and for the third position, 1 point was added to their tally.

Zeal secured a grand total of 15 points, taking the lead, and was followed by Misba from Shri Guru Gobind Singh College with 14 points and Verve from Sri Venkateswara College with 6 points.

The Winning Society at a glance

Zeal of Maitreyi College

Zeal has secured positions in majority of DU’s fests like Montage, Nexus, Reverie, Tarang, Crossroads.

Performing Members

Ishita Kwatra

Jesika Gulati

Shivangi Bhadana

Shivali Bhadana

Anjali Raj

Bhaswati Das

Anviksha Tripathi

Mallika Gupta

Pragya Badbria

Preeti Agrawal

Sanjeevini Singhal

Swikriti Bhatnagar

Tripti Gambhir

Vasundhra Sharma

CHOREOGRAPHER – Akshay Danwani

The President of Zeal explains: “Our name speaks for us, because success takes not only technique but also passion!” When asked about their best performance and why it felt so great, this is what the team had to say: “Talking about our best performance this season, it was definitely our opening performance with the new production at St. Stephens! With all the anxiety and pressure kept aside, the fresh taste of performing felt like coming back home to the stage, and with some crazy energy from the audience, we couldn’t do anything but dance our hearts out!”

Winners Tally

Eight college fests were referred to while evaluating the top societies tally this fest season which were: Tarang, LSR; Ullas, KNC; Tempest, Miranda House; Montage, JMC; Mecca, Hindu College; Reverie, Gargi College; Nexus, Sri Venkateswara College; Crossroads, SRCC. The society emerged victorious at the following fests:

1st Position: Montage, Nexus, Tarang, Crossroads

2nd Position: Reverie

3rd Position: Ullas

Hover on the icons below to know more about their victories.

Feature Image Credits: Ishita Kwatra
Image Credits: Alex Arthur

Design by Alex Arthur

 

Baani Kashyap
[email protected]

Enactus, the global non-profit community which seeks to inspire action, has transformed communities in more than thirty-six countries with the help of visionary minds. Emphasising on the monumental impact of entrepreneurial action, the Enactus community has been working towards manifesting an independent world by generating employability through its unique projects. Colleges under the University of Delhi have established their presence through relentless efforts and have emerged successful in catering to the plethora of social issues plaguing thousands of lives. Here is a compilation of the events, projects, and achievements of the prominent Enactus societies of the University of Delhi.

Enactus Ramjas

The Ramjas chapter of this social venture commenced in 2011 and has successfully catered to three models of business since its inception. These include the Enactus Store, Project Bawarchi, and Project Transcreation. Enactus Store is an online platform which specifically caters to the products and services of Enactus teams all around the country. Project Transcreations seeks to help the transgender community to sustain their lives through providing them with entrepreneurial avenues such as cab driving, jewellery making, etc. They have also launched their very own beauty parlour in Saket solely run by transgenders. Project Bawarchi is a canteen exclusively being run by victims of drug and substance abuse near North Campus and is accompanied by food carts and tiffin delivery. The society has also conducted myriad events to serve the community this year. Under the umbrella of its Project Transcreations, Enactus Ramjas organised a transgender fashion show along with an LGBT pride march. It also conducted the biggest Enactus Festival in February of this year and saw a successful participation. Semi-finalists of Enactus Nationals 2016, the society has carried out more than 30 sensitisation campaigns related to drug abuse since the launch of the project.

Enactus Hindu

Conceptualised in 2014, Enactus Hindu launched its Project Veerangana in this academic session. The social endeavour aims to propagate safety ideals for all by transforming young, unemployed women into self-defence instructors. The previous social campaigns of the society include Project Shreshth and Project Oorja. Their pilot project, Shresth, transformed a group of financially dependent women from the Badli Industrial Area, Rohini into self-sufficient entrepreneurs who manufacture and market incense sticks under the brand name ‘Aanchal Aggarbatis’. Project Oorja strives to preserve environmental balance by providing clean solar lighting solutions to tackle the menace of rising carbon footprints. Under its current project, the society introduced a campaign titled ‘Be A Veerangana,’ and witnessed two months of intensive offline and online promotions, encouraging women to share instances of harassment and breaking the taboo around crimes. At Mecca 2017, the annual cultural festival of Hindu College, their team conducted ‘Road to Safety,’ a unique? simulation of the streets of Delhi, with the objective of raising awareness about simple safety measures which can come in handy in our day-to-day lives. The animal community was also served with its ‘Warmth for Paws’ initiative to provide clothes to street dogs with sweaters made from discarded woollens in the bitter cold months of December and January.

Enactus Khalsa

One of the youngest members of the Enactus community, the Khalsa chapter of the non-profit endeavour germinated in August of last year. While their pilot project is currently under development, they successfully organised an awareness campaign within the college. Titled #LetsMakeGodTalk, the students of the college were induced to deliberate upon the social sphere. On Daan Utsav, the society also organised a visit to a girls’ shelter home and spent a day there with the kids playing games and interacting with them.

Enactus Miranda House

An active member of the social community, Enactus Miranda House has been the launching pad of four successful initiatives since its inception in 2011. Namely Project Zaffran, Project Jazba, Project Tarang, and Project Daryaft, the society aims to boost the issues of financial dependency amongst the women community, strengthening the standing of acid-attack survivors, developing environmentally complementing products, and enhancing the tourism sector, respectively. This year, the society organised a seminar – ‘Astitva’ in relation to Project Jazba, along with a seminar with Mr. Vikramjit Singh Rooprai on the occasion of Heritage Day under Project Daryaft. The annual festival of Enactus Miranda House – Impressa 2017, was organised with the theme ‘Breaking Stereotypes,’ and witnessed events such as open mics and movie screenings. In addition to organising a waste collection drive, the society has also conceptualised an internship programme ranging from the Campus Ambassador Program to Synergy, the Winter Internship Program to propagate ideals of entrepreneurship and initiative.

Enactus SRCC

Perhaps the oldest member of the Enactus community, Enactus SRCC has been doing pertinent projects for a decade now. Some of their recent projects are as follows. Project Life On Wheels facilitates micro-credit for rickshaw pullers by enabling them to own their rickshaws. Project Aahaar is an initiative to rehabilitate underprivileged women by providing them with culinary training. Project Azmat was an endeavour to liberate manual scavengers by providing them with a sustainable source of livelihood through a development of a micro-enterprise and to facilitate construction of proper toilet systems. Project Sattva was an initiative to bring efficiency in India’s dairy sector by the rearing of high yielding cattle and value addition to milk through a mutually beneficial relationship. Project Asbah aimed at providing clean drinking water to rural households through the development and marketing of clay-based water filters produced by a community of potters. With projects like these, Enactus SRCC secured the second runners-up position at the Enactus Nationals 2016. They have received the prestigious KPMG grant and Walmart grant in recognition of the progress made by their projects.

Enactus Shaheed Bhagat Singh College

Since its formation in 2014, Enactus SBSC has come a long way with three socially relevant and inspiring initiatives. Their first project, Project Karva aimed at the upliftment of women. Under Project Roshni, visually impaired people were taught how to make candles as an attempt to become independent as well as self-sustaining. Inspired by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, they conceptualised their third project, Project Aahar, which seeks to provide affordable as well as hygienic food to people in need. Other than the projects, two fundraising campaigns were conducted this year. From 5th-7th October 2016, Campaign Umeed took place where members sold bookmarks and notebooks made by the specially challenged children of Deepalaya School. On the 109th birth anniversary of Bhagat Singh under Campaign Anghaar, candles made by the visually impaired to the students of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College were sold. Campaign Sparsh addressed the women residing at Anand Parbat and introduced them to NGO GOONJ’s ‘My Pad’ – a kit that contains undergarments, sanitary pads, and a manual on menstrual health. They also addressed the issue of child sexual abuse as it is one of the major evils surrounding Anand Parbat through organising interactive activities for the children and showing videos that demonstrated the difference between appropriate and inappropriate touching.

Enactus Maitreyi College

Established in 2014, Enactus Maitreyi is currently working in collaboration with the National Coalition of People Living with HIV on their third project – Project Samya. True to its name, Project Samya aims at bringing equality to women affected with HIV who are evidently socially excluded and are often forced to quit their jobs. Enactus Maitreyi’s first project, Unnayan, helped the women of Mayur Vihar to make and market a liquid dishwasher, ‘Clean Ninja’ for them to become self-reliant. They launched their second project, Swadhin in 2016, with the aim of helping the physically impaired community by equipping them with entrepreneurial skills. This year the society started its own plantation drive. Other than this, Enactus Maitreyi purchased stationery items for the specially-abled students of Anukriti School, with its own funds by keeping aside INR 2 from the sale of every product. To raise funds, Enactus Maitreyi launched a fundraising campaign called,#IDidMyBit, which was conducted over a period of 2 months. A photo booth in Connaught Place was also created to raise money.

Enactus Sri Venkateswara College

Conceived in 2015, Enactus Sri Venkateswara College has been appreciated for its innovation and uniqueness of projects. The society has successfully churned out three projects, namely Project Captain Compost, Project Aushadhi, and Project CiggB. Project Captain Compost aims to provide a solution to the garbage menace in the city while uplifting the social and economic status of ragpickers at the same time, and Project Aushadhi merged the two issues of homelessness and medicinal waste. Winner of the Blue Dart Grant worth INR 40,000, the society launched Project CiggB this year which focuses on the disposal and recycle of used cigarette butts. To establish a communal outreach, they organised stalls in the fests of Hindu College, Indraprastha College for Women, Kamala Nehru College among others, along with stalls and exhibitions under ‘Heartist,’ where they provided a platform for street artists to showcase their skills and sell their products. In association with ‘People for Animals’ and Enactus SRCC, Enactus SVC also set up a winter cloth collection drive in December 2016. They have also collaborated with ‘Parivartan’, the social service society of Sri Venkateswara College for interaction and skill development of slum children and organised a special event for them to celebrate Children’s Day.

Enactus Hans Raj

A cognizant member of the Enactus community, Hansraj College’s Enactus has been running four projects since its commencement in 2011. Project Lekhni has been successful in helping five women from Jhandewalan to rise from the status of victims to the masters of their lives, Project Boond seeks to solve the problem of clean drinking water for the underprivileged masses by providing them with low-cost water purifiers that run without electricity, and Project Mithaas is an endeavour aimed towards providing a stable source of income to farmers in India by encouraging them to adopt beekeeping as a practice. Enactus HRC conceptualised Project Aaangan this year to provide day-care facilities to working women of lower income strata. Winner of the Best Project for showcasing the spirit of VEER at Enactus Nationals 2016, Enactus HRC has, in addition, conducted a donation drive for Project Aangan. Aashayein’16 was an initiative for the kids of an NGO Navjyoti to help them experience the dream they wished to live. It was a small drive by Enactus Hans Raj to fulfill wishes and spark a fire in them by overcoming challenges.

 

Feature Image Credits: Google Sites

Saumya Kalia
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Niharika Dabral
[email protected]

They talk about freedom, they talk about expression, they talk about creation and they talk about celebration. They sin and shake the foundations of society’s very being. They are Abhivyakti, the theatre society of Maitreyi College. Uncivilised Daughters, an annual production of the year 2016-17 marks the meaning of this society. To begin the journey of this year, Abhivyakti showcased their production on 2nd September at Akshara Theatre.

The play began with classic brashness, breaking the rules of a woman’s civility. The rustic opening with a gibberish song was more than appealing to a great number of audience. This scene is a story in itself, a story untold. With Rashi Sharma playing the violin, Shriya tandon leading the background with the subtle tune of harmonium and Shivani Behl creating an aura of awe from beats of the djembe, the play makes a man get inside a different world, an unimaginable world.

The first scene in the order is the make-up scene. How beautiful is this world of plastic? How sensational is the world of make-up? Let’s set some standards of beauty. Maybe that will help ? This, is what is mocked and this is what is on-your-face, perhaps.

The set changes and scene 2 takes place. This scene is named the waxing scene. Through heart-rendering monologues of six girls sitting in a shitting position, the scene brings chills down the spine. After all, who imagines a girl to be shitting? Suddenly a transition takes place and the scene shifts from being less intense to more intense. Inspired from Virginia Woolf’s a room of one’s own, the dialogues between the actors define the need for a separate space. A space to read, to write, to smoke and to masturbate. With the emphasized lines being, “Ek adad kamre ki zarurat hai..” How typically the metaphorical joker represents the society and a sub conscious mind is a breath-taking observation.

The love scene is a reflection of what happens in a world which runs through the norms of a civilized society, which is probably a farce. The present day commercialisation of love and the various status symbols involved in “being in a relationship” brings home the exclusivity of love and how it functions in today’s world. The baseless of this irony reflects through a hilarious song, the lyrics of which are: Baby khana khaya kya Baby aaj nahaya kya Baby recharge karaya na Baby pyaar nibhaya na

And so forth and so on..

The baraat scene, last in the sequence of the scenes lays thrust on the nudity of baraat, mostly evident in any indian wedding. To know the absurdity of bribe, commodified love and the mother of all show offs, welcome to an Indian wedding. The scene is just a practical trailer. The play ends with a poem, disturbing the sub conscious state of a human mind. The beauty of the poem is it’s honesty. To qoute the unqoute, Asabhya betiyan aati rahengi.

With Uncivilized Daughters, Abhivyakti has set a standard in itself. And what makes it best is it’s supportive audience. The beauty of using minimalist prop makes the stage all the more attractive and aesthetic in appeal.

The show was absolutely house full and not even an inch of space was spared. The audience left no stone unturned to encourage the team. The theatre was a jam packed business.

The cast includes: Malvika Singh Arsh Dadwal Rashi Sharma Shivani Behl Mrinal Yadav Chaitali Pant Urjita Manan Bharadwaj Shikha Dimri Prakriti Anand Mariyam Sara Vrinda Sehgal

On the instruments: Sampurna Dutta (tabla) Rashi Sharma (violin) Shivani Behl (djembe) Shriya Tandon (harmonium)

Sounds: Priyali Dhingra Lights: Garima Lunia

Written and guided by: Kuldeep Kunal

Directed by: Sana Thapa

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Every year, societies from colleges across the campus compete neck to neck and put up spectacular performances during the fest season. This year too, saw certain teams shine a little brighter than the rest. We bring you a series with college societies that put their heart and soul into their respective fields and took home the top prizes at various cultural fests.

The best college society in each category was selected by creating a tally of the top 3 positions at competitive events held during various cultural fests of this season. Whenever a society won the first prize they were awarded 3 points, for the second position they received 2 points and for the third position, 1 point was added to their tally.

For the Folk Dance category, Nrityakriti of Maitreyi College scored the maximum points in the tally. Nrityakriti’s 12 points were followed by Nrityangana, Sri Venkateswara College that scored 10 points. Bhangra Group of SGND Khalsa College bagged third spot scoring 7 points.

 

The Winning Society at a glance

 

Nrityakriti, Maitreyi College

This year, Nrityakriti presented an amalgamation of Haryanvi Folk Dance which managed to capture the hearts of spectators and jury alike. Their performance was widely applauded at different dance events which eventually led them to emerge as the top society.

The President of the Society, Akshi Sangra, shares the success mantra with us, “For a highly committed and dedicated team, there is no such thing as failure. If we fall 10 times, it is 10 lessons learnt. Our success mantra is nothing special. We just work hard and try our best to achieve our group goals. We have been very lucky to have Sanjay sir as our teacher and mentor as well. Apart from this, Nrityakriti is known for adjusting in adverse situations. It’s one of the things which makes us succeed in what we do. Doesn’t matter how slow you go as long as you don’t stop.”

Names of Performing Members: Akshi Sangra Vaishnavi Sharma Aastha Bansal Himanshi N Singh Shikha Akanksha Nambiar Ankeeta Talukdar Priya Das Bazila Priti Yadav Barkhaa Goswami Abhilasha Gandhi

Winners Tally: Nrityakriti

Six fests were included in our analysis for this series which were: Ullas, KNC; Tempest, Miranda House; Montage, JMC; Reverie, Gargi College; Nexus, Sri Venkateswara College and Shruti, IPCW.

Here is the list of winning performances by Nrityakriti, Maitreyi College:  

I Position: Tempest, Miranda House and Reverie, Gargi College

II Position: Ullas, KNC and Nexus, Sri Venkateswara College

(Hover on the icons below to know more about their victories)
Shreya Srivastava
[email protected]

Abhilasha Rajput, a Second Year student of B.Sc Physical Sciences was recently elected as the new President of Maitreyi College, Delhi University for the session 2016-17. With a passion-driven attitude and a dynamic personality, she is known to grab every opportunity that comes her way. Along with being an essential part of the Student Union for more than a year, she has also been an earnest and a zealous member of Vistas- the photography society of Maitreyi and represents as the coordinator of several NGOs such as Umeed and LFT (Leaders for Tomorrow) for her enthusiastic contributions and work. As a proficient artist, she is currently in the process of selling her homemade handicrafts and creations online as well.

DU Beat got a chance to speak to her about the journey of her triumph and unleash her secrets of success.

Congratulations Abhilasha! How did you feel after being declared as the new President of your college? What do you think has been your real key for success or a quality that made you stand-out from the rest?

Thank you so much. I was overwhelmed on hearing my name being announced for the post of the President. The feeling is so good, that it’s indescribable. I believe that it was my unflinching dedication and complete honesty for every task that I fulfilled, which eventually paid off. Being a Committee Member in the Student Union for a year had given me the fortunate opportunity to learn all the functions of my college, make new contacts everyday and establish good relationships with students. More than that, the consistent encouragement and self assurance which I received from all my peers, juniors, seniors as well as my teachers was more than enough to sustain every ounce of strength and faith I had in myself. I would like to thank my parents, friends and teachers for their constant support and guidance.

What was your biggest challenge while running for the post of the President? How did you respond to your competitors?

Thankfully, there wasn’t any such troublesome obstacle in my way, apart from the few common problems that one is very much likely to face in every election campaign. Along with dirty politics, a few fights had also taken place between my competitors. Everyone played their own games and friends were being betrayed. But, in some ways, these only made me stronger and more resolute towards my goals. Throughout my campaign, I remained completely positive and determined to work as much as possible, and teach all the negative campaigners about the real secret of sincerity and hard work which alone made me achieve this victory today.

What were your main objectives in the election campaign and how do you plan on achieving them?

My main objectives in the campaign were to make our college campus cleaner and gardens more beautiful, provide fresh drinking water to the students via water coolers, ensure hygiene in every nook and cranny, and make Maitreyi reach greater heights by conducting bigger, better and more successful events in the future.
I plan to work on all this along with my student union team as soon as possible and would try to accomplish each and every goal without ever giving up.

What fueled your interest in joining the student union in the first place?

I feel it was my leadership factor that encouraged me to join the Student Union. It started when I decided to volunteer for college events like Annual fests, Seminars, Fresher’s parties, etc, and very soon, found myself get easily compelled by this kind of work. Volunteering for the ‘Admission Procedure’ introduced me to the recruitment procedure of the Student Union. So, I decided to come out of my comfort zone,worked extremely hard and became one of the Committee Members for the year 2015-16. My ex-presidents, Shelly and Manisha have been great mentors for me. They were one of the reasons I built up the courage to register myself for this post, as they boosted my confidence and hopes at every level.

In what spheres of Maitreyi do you intend on creating a difference and why? What would be your overarching purpose as a leader?

My ultimate goal would be to devote myself completely in the process of improvement in all sections of the college whether it’s in academics, sports, cultural events, or cleanliness, take into account the problems and most importantly, do everything I can to take Maitreyi to the list of the top ten colleges of Delhi University.
If there’s anything I have realized over these past few days following my victory has been the fact that everything happens for a reason. I still remember the time I was a little hesitant on joining an all girls’ college and remained unsure about my choice for several days. However, it was my mother who truly believed Maitreyi to be the best college option for me. How dearly right she was!
The ways in which my college has mended me, developed my skills and pushed me out of my comfort zone is something I would forever remain thankful for. So in return, I have and will continue to serve my college as my family, in as many little and big ways as I possibly can by being the president.

 

Shagun Marwah

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