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Gender Equality Mela 2017 at Miranda House

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Gender Equality Mela is one of the key annual events conducted by the Women’s Development Cell of Miranda House. It is a celebration of the will to survive and thrive. It is a part of the efforts at generating discussions and creating a space for saying what is often left unsaid and for including those who are often left behind in the ideas and plans of ‘development’. The Gender Equality Mela is a part of MH-WDC’s campaign with One Billion Rising (OBR).

This year’s Gender Equality Mela was based on celebrating feminist conversations towards equality, the central theme being ‘Gender and Work’. There was also the celebration of MH-WDC’s Coffee Table Book, ‘Azaad Labon ki Guftagu’ which strives to provide with snapshots of MH-WDC’s journey and their tireless efforts at ‘engaging with wanting to create a more equal and free world, a world where gender equality becomes a live reality for us’, as the book reads.

The 3-day event played host to numerous speakers and panelists like Suneeta Dhar (feminist activist, Jagori), Bulbal Das (legal feminist activist, All India Women’s Conference), Jyotsna Chatterjee and Padmini (Joint Women’s Programme). These speakers emphasised on the introduction to the history of the feminist movement. The topic of manual scavenging was taken up by Bezwada Wilson (National Convener of Safai Karamchari Andolan) and Bhasha Singh. The session on Child Rights and Child Sexual Abuse was taken up by Vaishnava (Bud Foundation), Veronica Xavier (Child Rights and You) and Natuve (dramatics society of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College). The round table discussion on Students in Politics consisted of speakers from Pinjra Tod and Ramjas students. An ‘unconference’ was also organised which placed emphasis on feminism through art, language and music.

On Day 2, the session on Gender and Intersectionality was taken up by Dr. Chandra Sagar and Kusum Ji (All India Network of Sex Workers) and Renuka Bhagat. The session on Trans Community and Work was taken up by Rudrani Chettri. A session on Women and Work through development framework was also conducted by Neetha N. (National Labour Institute). The interactive session on ‘Queering Workplaces’ along with Lafz 2.0, the open mic featured speakers from Nazariya and Delhi Queer Pride. Day 2 also showcased nukkad natak performances by children from SMS (Srijanatmak Manushi Sanstha), LSR dramatics society and Anukriti, the Hindi dramatics society of Miranda House.

On Day 3, the first session on Taking Feminist Conversation Forward was hosted by celebrated author and feminist Kamla Bhasin, wherein she presented her letter to patriarchy. The second session on Women and Media was conducted by Rakhee Bakshi (Women’s Feature Service), Shrey Ila Anasuya (Feminist and Freelance Journalist), Radha Rani (BBC) and Deepajana Pal (fiction writer). The session on Gender and Masculinity was taken up by Pavel (Breakthrough India), Ahmad Farz (CHSJ, Centre for Health and Social Justice) and Apurv Jain (worker on issues of gender and sexuality). The 3-day mela ended with a screening of the movie Hidden Figures.

 

Image Credits: Miranda House Women’s Development Cell

Joyee Bhattacharya

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Miranda House tops the list of best institutes in India released by NIRF

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National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), the institute ranking body under the Ministry of Human Resource Development released the rankings of the educational institutions of the nation today. Many Delhi colleges made to the prestigious list, with as many as three colleges in top five and six colleges in top ten from the capital. Miranda House emerged as the best college nationwide with Shri Ram College of Commerce on the third, Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College on the fifth  and Lady Shri Ram College on the sixth position.  Many premier colleges of the capital like St. Stephen’s College, Ramjas College , Hindu College, Hansraj College etc. did not participate in the ranking.

As per a news report by the Hindustan Times, more than 3,300 educational institutions participated in the rankings, which took around 20 parameters into consideration. IISc Bangalore, which recently achieved an important distinction after being ranked eighth best small university of the world in the Times Rankings,  topped the overall list of the best higher education institutions in India. It was followed by Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IITM) at the second spot and IIT Bombay at the third. A total of seven  IIT’s found place in the top ten, which also saw Jawaharlal Nehru University grab the sixth and Banaras Hindu University at the tenth position. The University of Delhi has been ranked 15th in the list.

In the list of the top universities, JNU featured second emerging as the best central university of the nation and  Jadhavpur University was fifth in the list inspite of the various allegations and the political crisis surrounding these universities.

“Jadavpur and JNU haven’t got good ranking for raising slogan for Afzal Guru but for doing good work,” Prakash Javadekar, the Human Resource Development Minister under the Government of India was quoted as saying in a press conference following the release. He also said that the institutions which fared well in the rankings will be provided with more funding or grants, enhanced autonomy and other benifits.

Image Credits: DU Beat

Nikhil Kumar

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Miranda House

Day 2: The final day of Tempest’17 concludes with Mohammed Irfan’s Super Hits

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The final day of Tempest 2017 witnessed a huge footfall for competitions organised and the much awaited Star Night.

The first event of the day was the Acapella competition organised by Orpheus, the western music society of the college. The event saw a string of high voltage performances by all the major music societies of the university. The event which was adjudged by Awarthanga Chiru, the prodigal musician and Laura Santana, an renowned jazz performer, saw Zephyr, the music society of Kamala Nehru College emerge as the victor followed by the western music society of Lady Shri Ram College and Swaranjali, the music society of Hansraj College ending up as runner up and second runner up respectively.

The second event of the day was Sangam, the solo instrumental competition organised by Geetanjali, the Indian music society of the college. The event was adjudged by Dr. Bipul Kumar Ray and Ranjeet Bishwas, both prominent musical artists from varied fields of the art. Budding musicians from varied colleges gave their best in the game, which eventually saw Shikhar Aggarwal from delhi Technological University win the first prize, Rohan Prasanna from Hansraj College win the second spot and Sanjay Anand Menon from DTU ending up third. In the following western choir competition, Hansraj College emerged as the winner for their outstanding performance, with Gargi College and Hindu College trailing at second and third positions respectively.

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This was followed by the Indian Dance Competition where Nrityakriti, the Indian Dance Society of Maitreyi College and SGTB Khalsa College tied for the first position. Nrityangana, the Indian Dance Society of Sri Venkateswara College secured the second position.

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Mohammed Irfan drew the curtains to Tempest’17 as he serenaded the crowds with his hit numbers like Baarishein and Fir Mohabbat. He did not limit his performance to his own songs. The audience seemed thoroughly involved as he made his performance more interactive by dedicating songs to the Principal of Miranda House, the Faculty members as well as the audience.

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The much awaited Tempest 2017 lived up to its expectations. A student of Miranda House, in a conversation with DU Beat said, “ This academic session had been very busy for the college. It was very impressive how the union managed the resources efficiently and blessed us with a very good fest this year”

Image Credits:  Jasmine Chahal, Hitanksha Jain, Gerush Bahal and Divyansh Dayal for DU Beat.

Tooba Towfiq ([email protected])

Akshara Srivastava ([email protected])

Swareena Gurung ([email protected])

Nikhil Kumar ([email protected])

Joyee Bhattacharya” ([email protected])

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Uncategorized

A Miranda House student sexually harassed at SRCC’s fest

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Meghna Singh, a student of Miranda House, recently went through a horrific incident when she attended KK’s concert of the last day of SRCC’s annual fest, Crossroads. When she came home from the concert, she noticed white spots on her black trousers. According to her, a man had masturbated on her during the concert and the evidence was all over her trousers.

She described the whole incident on Facebook. In her now widely shared Facebook post, she explained the details of the entire incident. She narrated that she could sense something fishy when she felt a guy behind her in the concert. Subsequently, she and her friends, who were scared but alert, held each other on to form a human chain during the concert for protection.  She had put up the Facebook post on a public platform in hopes that people would get to know about the harrowing things that can happen to women, even in public and to stand up against such incidents. But instead of the support she was expecting, she got mocked at and trolled.  and she was labeled a ‘liar’ and an ‘attention seeker’. On her Facebook post, which has over 8000 comments, many shockingly accused her of being a ‘liar’ and an ‘attention seeker’. This translated into a extensive battle-ground with many people in support of her rubbishing such claims and extending their sympathies to her.

The picture posted by Meghna Singh on Facebook while narrating the incident.
The picture posted by Meghna Singh on Facebook while narrating the incident.

The unprecedented trolling that Meghna faced, forced her to post another status update explaining herself. She explained the hollowness of the claims made by those who opposed her and thoroughly explained the incident further. She said that initially, she didn’t realise what was happening and it was only after coming back to her PG and changing, she noticed the spots on her trousers. She also added, “There was a guy right behind me who,after a while, started feeling me up. I wasn’t sure as I couldn’t recognise if it was his hand or his fingers. Then after a while I could smell the odour, I could feel that something fell on my left leg which I thought might have been sweating and since the place was quite crowded I couldn’t be sure about it.” After the guy tried to get closer again, she along with her friends resisted him and tried to form a human chain to avoid any accidental touches. “After a while, that guy again tried to get closer when I pushed him away shouting “Please bhai tum niklo yahan se” then he whispered something to his fellow partner. They were 3 guys who were there & they exchanged some gestures and then abruptly left. After I returned to my PG and changed, I saw these spots on my pants along with some white discharge. I realised that my intuition of “sweat landing on my left leg” was actually his semen because of his convenient masturbation amongst the crowd of around hundreds of people.” 

 

 

“We obviously thought we avoided that situation when she pushed him so we went back home,” says Antara Kashyap, one of Meghna’s friend who was there with her at the time. When Meghna found out what had happened, her friends asked her to speak up about it.“She sent us the picture in a WhatsApp group saying it was semen. It smelled and it was definitely discharge. We asked her to put it on Facebook and speak up about it. It was the right thing to do. The first negative comment was from an old “friend” who laughed it off. Then one guy said it could be srikhand and it shocked us.”

Meghna and her friends had not anticipated so many negative comments on the post. Antara said, “We never realised there would be thousands of such people, literate ones at that, who’d comment, slut-shame her and make this something to laugh about. Meghna and all of us, we have gone through a lot. We don’t deserve this hate. Meghna is a strong girl, she’s unfazed. I can’t say that about myself. Maybe that’s why thousands of victims of sexual abuse do not speak up. If you speak up they try to break you down.”

Meghna’s post was meant for people to see the unspeakable truths of harassment which are not absent in the campus, especially during the fest season. Parismita Talkudar, one of Meghna’s classmate, recounts a similar story, “I went to see one of my favourite star of Bollywood. We waited for 3 hours to have a glimpse of Shah Rukh Khan at Hansraj College last year. We were surrounded with a whole lot of people and we decided to stay together holding each other. One of my friend was behind a guy who looked innocent . In fact when some people were pushing her, he told them not to. When SRK came after so long, the crowd pushed each other like a wave and we got separated. There was a guy who helped me get out of the crowd. As I waited outside the ground for my friends I saw one of them almost in tears. The guy who was behind her, and who we thought was a nice person, actually came on her. She was disgusted as she could feel something wet on her top and when we looked at it, we could clearly see semen. This isn’t something that happened for the first time only with Meghna. This happens, with a lot of girls. But some decide to keep quiet.”

 Featured Image: thealternative.in

Anagha Rakta

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DU Annual Fest Season

Prof.Romila Thapar examines the Idea of Heritage with students at Miranda House

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Miranda House, 15th February: Eminent historian Prof. Romila Thapar along with Prof. Kumkum Roy (Centre for Historical Studies, JNU) participated in a conversation on ‘The Many Meanings of Heritage’ in an event organised by the History society of Miranda House. Pertinent questions on the idea of heritage were raised and addressed by the two speakers.
At the very outset, Prof. Thapar raised the central question of what constitutes heritage. “Is heritage something that each generation invents for itself? Is it representative of the entire society? Who gave us this heritage? Speaking of the process of selection of heritage, she said that it is bothersome that heritage is treated as if it were a package that we’ve inherited from the past, handed down virtually unchanged. Every entity considered as ‘heritage’ has a history of its own.”
According to Prof. Thapar, we tend to regard entities such as trophies of conquest, mausoleums, paintings and sculptures as heritage. She argues, however, that even as simple and non-consequential a thing as black-and-red pottery from an urban excavation site is heritage. This brought the conversation to an important question of how ethical the process of selection actually is. Should we allow people to select heritage or term everything as heritage?
Prof. Thapar believes that in this process of selecting and not selecting something as heritage, the sentiments of the people directly attached to that entity should be taken into consideration. To this effect, she cited the example of the Niymagiri Hills in Odisha, where tribals have opposed the usage of the site for bauxite mining as it is sacred to them. She added that heritage is something that can be celebrated by some people and negated by others. In this process, however, the opinions of the marginalised such as the adivasis should not be deemed inferior and suppressed by others who have a greater say in this matter.
On the responsibility of historians, she quoted E.H. Carr, “The historian that is aware of the concerns of the present very often becomes the one who is successful in studying the past.”
As it happens with most stimulating conversations, the audience were left with even more questions to discuss and ponder upon at the end.

Photo courtesy: Jasmine Chahal for DU Beat.

Swareena Gurung

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Events

Economics accessible for all: Book launch and interactive session with Prof. Ashok Sanjay Guha

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Economics, while all-pervasive and key to the functioning of all realms of society, is also often blamed to be dry and inaccessible for the general population who aren’t well-versed with the jargon that comes with the discipline. Prof. Ashok Sanjay Guha‘s latest release, Economics Without Tears: a New Approach to an Old Discipline, is an attempt to change that perception. Through his book, Prof. Guha, who is recognised as one of the most impressive contemporary Indian economists, attempts to not only introduce economic theory to students and the general reader, but to also show that economics can simultaneously be a learning experience and huge entertainment. The book has been received with much adulation by the who’s who of the world of economics, including Jagdish Bhagwati, Professor of Economics, Law and International Affairs at Columbia University, and Pranab Bardhan, Professor at the Department of Economics at University of California, Berkeley.

The book is set to be launched by Prof. Yogesh Kumar Tyagi, the Vice – Chancellor of the University of Delhi, in the presence of the author, on February 13, 2017, in an event that is being organised by the Department of Economics of Miranda House, in collaboration with Penguin Random House, India. The launch will be followed by an interactive session with Professor Guha and Dr. Parikshit Ghosh, who is an Associate Professor with the Delhi School of Economics.

The event is open for all students and teachers of and beyond the University of Delhi.

Date: February 13, 2017

Venue: Seminar Hall, Miranda House

Timings: 10:30 a.m.

(Students must carry their ID cards for entry)

With inputs from the Department of Economics, Miranda House

Shubham Kaushik

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Features

Explore Delhi with Musafir, the Heritage Walk Society

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Wise men opine that it is the lessons learnt outside the classroom which stand the test of time and the limitation of a fading memory. Travel is the best teacher and the musafir (traveller), the most fortunate student. With this philosophy in mind, the History Society of Miranda House presents to you its Heritage Walk Society, Musafir.

Started in July 2016, Musafir organises heritage walks that aim to create awareness about the rich history that the city has to offer. Delhi presents a mind-boggling scenery of sorts, the juxtaposition of the old with the new. In the background of modern infrastructure, consisting of high-rises and malls, live the remains and ruins of a glorious shared past, rich in heritage and culture. Through the medium of a heritage walk, Musafir strives to educate those with an active interest in Delhi’s vibrant history.

These walks are conducted by the students of History from Miranda House. Soumya Sahai, Vice President of Musafir , says, “ Each walk is headed by a history student of Miranda House, who is able to provide a lot of historical information in a fun and interesting way.  Unlike tour guides, these walk leaders are able to contextualise facts and talk about a wide variety of things, from architecture to the society of the past.”

While initially these walks were held only for Miranda House students and faculty, now these are open to all DU students. Last semester, walks were organised to Lodhi Garden, Qutub Minar, Qudsia Bagh, Jahanpanah-Begumpur, Old Fort and Red Fort. This semester, one walk was held in the Mehrauli Archaeological Park on 15th January and another is scheduled for 5th February to Jama Masjid. To participate, check out the poster given below for details.

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A chance to explore and discover one’s roots rarely comes along. Do take this opportunity and join ‘Musafir’ as they take you on an enlightening, yet equally delighting journey through Delhi’s deep and insightful past.

Feature Image: Jasmine Chahal for Musafir and DU Beat

Kriti Sharma
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Notice banning ‘selfies’ and ‘modelling’ at Miranda House

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Miranda House has issued a notice for the students of School of Open Learning stating that clicking selfies, combing hair and ‘modelling’ has been banned from the college corridors and that the students will be suspended for a day if caught indulging in the said activities. Varying reasons have come up for the notice being put up – authorities say clicking selfies is a threat to the reputation of the institute and claim that college property has been harmed in the past because of it.

The notice says: “Some students have been found clicking selfies, combing hair and modelling along the corridors. This is wastage of time. The university does not give permission for all this. If any student is found wasting their time, they will either be suspended from the class or will be asked to leave the university premises.”

The Principal of Miranda House, Dr. Pratibha Jolly, told Hindustan Times that the notice was put up only out of safety concerns. “We encourage our girls to be outspoken. We can’t stop them from doing anything. This was an unsigned advisory put out by SOL and it was only keeping in mind the way students dangerously perch on parapets and hang off poles. They might get hurt,” she said.

The notice is unsigned and was apparently put up in November 2016. A faculty member said that the build-up around the issue is being created now only because there is a hidden political agenda behind the hype.

On the other hand, some say the ban has to do with the college repute. Thinking of selfies as a threat to the status of Miranda House, a college official, who wanted to be anonymous, told The Indian Express, “Students hang from poles and pillars, sometimes they even vandalise property. A stone light near the cafeteria was broken. They put up these photos publicly, and since Miranda House buildings are so easily recognisable, people may think no serious studies take place here.”

Whatever the reason for the ban may be, students at Miranda House – SOL as well as regular ones – are not taking it well. Some SOL students feel that the new rule is a discrimination against them. Hindustan Times reported a student saying, “We anyway don’t have proper facilities. And now such rules being imposed on us. This is discrimination as many of us come from lower middle class families.”

A regular student of Miranda House, Joyee Bhattacharya, told DU Beat, “I feel that academic excellence depends on the willpower of the student to learn and blaming this solely on clicking selfies is a little far fetched. As far as damaging/vandalising the property is concerned, a notice addressing all students of MH and SOL should be put up which speaks about caring for our campus property wholly.”

Anagha Rakta
[email protected]

 

 

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Innovation Projects

Students of Miranda House find a sustainable way to control mosquitoes

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As a part of their Undergraduate research project some students from Miranda House College have devised a new way to control mosquitoes that is environment friendly, sustainable and economical.

Recently the city had its first dengue victim of the season leading the New Delhi Municipal Corporation to wake up and commence their mosquito control drives all across the city. Meanwhile some young researchers of Miranda House College have come up with unique and more effective research study on controlling mosquitoes. The research was a part of the undergraduate research project that was taken up by these students who were keen to learn more about research and at the same time contribute to the society.

They have come up with various plans to control breeding of mosquitoes. On being asked about what change they could expect in the society if their project is taken up to a higher level, Radhika a second year student from Life Sciences said, “Through this mosquito- based research, I hope awareness will be propagated among each individual to control fostering mosquito population which is causing life- threatening epidemics. We can take a course towards pollution free, safe and clean technologies to control the mosquito menace.” The research team consists of four students who were guided by a faculty member. “Having pictured research as something that is done at a very high level, we were really excited to take up the project that caters to our curiosity which revolved around what research is all about” said Kanika, a Zoology student who was a part of the team.

Dr. Vimal Thareja who mentored this project spoke to our correspondent and stressed upon the importance of practical learning rather than going for rote learning. She further emphasised on the need to encourage inquisitiveness, keen observations and innovations at undergraduate level.  The students also presented their project at a seminar on the occasion of celebration of World Environment Day at Gandhi Bhavan where their project was highly applauded.
DU Beat has always encouraged undergraduate research in Indian Universities. Young students coming up with such ideas are a ray of hope in a field which is exclusively thought to be a part of the curriculum of higher academics. More of such projects should be taken up to foster a better academic environment in the universities.

 

Team Members- Shruti Acharya, Kanika Anabh, Garvita Goyal and Radhika Bastora

Mentor- Dr. Vimal Thareja

 

Srivedant Kar
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Image Credits
Shruti Acharya, Team member

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Miranda House

ABVP gets questioned intensely at the manifesto reading in Miranda House

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Miranda House organised the manifesto reading session of their students union as well as the DU students union elections, on 6th of September. Students showed overwhelming support for All India Students Association (AISA) and Students Federation of India while ABVP was questioned regressively.

The manifesto reading witnessed a huge turnout. Candidates standing for the post of MH students union read out their Manifestoes and answered a plethora of questions from students.

This was followed by manifesto readings of the Presidential candidates for DUSU from various parties. Kawalpreet Kaur, AISA’s presidential candidate hit a chord with the students and received an overwhelming support.  She was questioned later for the allegations of rape against Anmol Ratan, one of AISA’s members from JNU. She condemned the act and appreciated the fact that their party took a strong position against one of their own and had even requested immediate arrest.

DU-ABVP’s president, Abhishek Verma came next in the line to read out his party’s manifesto. The audience starting pitching questions at him as soon as he took to the podium. In fact, the functional college union had to control and convince students into listening to ABVP’s manifesto first.

As soon as the ABVP manifesto was over, students started questioning the party’s ideology and it’s position on the issues of dissent, debate and especially gender.  Allegations such as instances of eve teasing, the harassment of two Quint Journalist and Pinjra Tod activists by members of ABVP, among others were directed against the party.

SFI’s presidential candidate, Navjeet Punia, who is also a student at Miranda House, addressed the audience later and was received well.

Polling for both DUSU and MHSU elections will be held in Miranda House on 9th of September.

DU Beat wishes all the candidates a very Good Luck!

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