Scene was sorted, some had snorted
Some writhed in newfound ecstasy,
Some indulged in drunken revelry,
While the rest just wandered in gay abandon
An acid laughter at the peak of incision
The green of it all was stark to the vision
Instruments all around, Alterations in bulk
A livewire played in the ear, distant hypnotic beats
They came for a different perspective
A different dose, I believe
Good or bad, who are we to decide?
For them, it could pass off as Heaven
1st – Ishan Marvel
Delhi college of arts and commerce
2nd Anhiti Patnaik
Lady Sriram College
Special Mention:
Jonathan Daniel Luther
NUS
A student of Philosophy Hons 3rd year at LSR, Anisha Ahmed, was tested positive for the dreaded Swine Flu early last week. Her friends immediately informed the faculty upon which the college decided to take preventive measures to keep it from spreading.
In a special assembly called by the principal, Dr. Meenakshi Gopinath, the students were informed about the first detected case of Swine Flu at LSR and urged not to panic. Dr. Gopinath announced that the entire 3rd year batch of Philosophy Hons. Students will get a week’s leave with full attendance from college. Moreover professors who have taught Anisha will also be taking a week off. Students in the Dance Society of which Anisha was a part and those who traveled with her to or from college have also been granted leave.
This swift action is merely preventive in nature, Dr. Gopinath explained. The students on leave will take the time to take stock of their health and make sure they are not harbouring the infection. She also requested other students who may have been close to Anisha or shared space with her to inform the college in order that they may take leave as well and not risk endangering the other students. Anisha’s close friends have already been to get themselves tested and one of them has been declared clear of the infection. The other’s results are still awaited.
Interestingly enough Anisha was suffering from none of the symptoms when she was tested for the HINI virus. She claims to have merely gone to get herself tested because a close friend of hers had caught the disease. She is now resting at home under quarantine and though appreciative of any preventive measures the college might take, feels there is no cause for panic. Upon being asked whether the swine flu hysteria is justified she is vehement in her response. “Not at all”, she said when DU Beat contacted her over the phone. “Swine flu is like any other flu. I feel perfectly normal and hardly have any symptoms at all. The saddest part about it is that I am confined to one room. Now I’m just whiling away the time watching movies”, she laughs.
Dr. Gopinath is of the same opinion as to the flu scare. In her address to the students she emphasized the need to keep calm. She stated that only if students begin to panic will the college and hostel have to close down.
The monkey rampage in several colleges of Delhi University has been a problem for the students and staff alike, the animals being the cause of major havoc and many complaints over the years. Recently, however, two colleges of Delhi University have come up with a rather odd method to get rid of this menace- langurs. St. Stephens and Delhi College of Arts and Commerce have employed langurs to help keep the college premises and surrounding locations free of monkeys. They are handled by keepers that have been employed by the college to take them on rounds everyday.
Drishti Anand, a second year student of DCAC states, “Initially it was difficult for students travelling by public conveyance to reach college as one couldn’t cross the long stretch from the main road to the college without encountering monkeys, who have even attacked students in the past. These cases have drastically come down since the college has kept the langur to keep them away.” Students of St. Stephens seem to gain relief with the arrival of the langur as well. Says Simi Sara Thomas, a third year student, “I remember the time when the monkeys created a nuisance and disturbed the whole environment of the college. That doesn’t happen anymore.”
However, this move by the colleges is highly questionable. While the langur in Stephens is owned and kept by the keeper himself, DCAC keeps the animal in a dark room, and rather inhospitable conditions. On enquiring about the same in DCAC, the guard reluctantly admitted to the fact that the animal was sometimes kept within the college premises in the absence of the keeper, and if let out, it was moored to a tree with a leash. The students confirm the same. The keeper himself was unavailable for comment. A case along similar lines took place in 2008 when PGI employed langurs to keep away monkeys from PGI and Punjab University. Consequently a case was filed against them in the High Court by animal activists on the grounds that the langurs are schedule- I animals. Hence their use for the purpose was deemed illegal as it violated the provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act as well as the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal Act, 1960. Also, special permission from the Animal Welfare Board of India, Chennai, needs to be taken to use the langurs for this purpose. This makes one question the conditions in which these animals are kept in our own university and whether if it is even right to keep them for such a purpose at all.
In 1975, Emil Matalik put himself forward as US Presidential candidate. He advocated a maximum of one animal and one tree per family because he believed that there were too many animals and plant life on earth. Louis Abalofia also put himself forward: his campaign poster featured a photo of him in the nude, with the slogan “I have nothing to hide.”
Masque, the English dramatics society of Hindu College recently performed at the Akshara theatre on 6th and 7th of this month. Eeshaan Tiwary caught up with Vikalp Mudgal, the president of the society, who gave us the lowdown on the performance.
It was actually a precursor to the fest season, providing an opportunity to the first years to get a feel of the stage and will not be performed in competitions. The reason for this as stated by the President is that they are a collection of 5 short plays with the longest having a duration of only half an hour and hence, will evidently not work in competitions. However, he said that they do aim to have a new production ready in time for the IIT Delhi fest. Another thing that sets them apart is that there is no theme to the plays. The performance was not supported by the college and costs were covered through ticket sales.
The excitement over the week was definitely sparked by the New Delhi Book Fair held at the Pragati Maidan from 29th August to 6th September.
Armed with an impressive array of books the place saw enthusiastic crowds on almost all days, the interest refusing to peter out till the end.
The usual Rs 100 stalls with stacks of popular reads were naturally the centre of attention, hiding as they did some gems buried beside their more commonplace brethren, absolute steals provided your eyes proved sharp enough to spot them.
Popular publishing houses such as Penguin, Harper Collins, Oxford, Random House, etc shared the floor with deemed ones such as Sahitya Academi Publications. Books written in every which language, Indian or otherwise were in good stock and children’s books too proved great crowd pullers, with the well loved Children’s Book Trust deserving special mention.
An interesting sight that greeted us was the Graphic Novel. Having arrived in large numbers, these comic adaptations of well known classics were definitely capturing a large portion of the spotlight, their prominent presence in the book fair suggesting that the Graphic Novel culture has finally made its presence felt in the great capital.
Jaswant’s Singh’s book signing sessions for his much talked about novel “Jinnah: India-Partition-Independence’” also received their fair amount of attention, probably benefitting from the court drama and finally the revoking of its ban by the Gujarat High Court.
All in all, the fair was a great success and left all enthusiastic shoppers eagerly awaiting the next one.
Dispels fear of racist attacks
On 31st August the Australian Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard visited Lady Shri Ram College (LSR) and Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) as part of her inaugural five-day visit to India to strengthen the ties between the two countries especially in the field of education.
Julia Gillard discussed Women and Leadership with the students of LSR addressing concerns regarding politics, the functioning of power and governments and the limitlessness of a woman’s potential to shine in any of these fields. She answered queries regarding the state of politics in India as well as her own country and explained how strong unshakable principles are essential to any good government. She tried to instill in everyone’s mind the belief that a good government is a must for a country to flourish and that women ought to play a role in the making of a good government.
She ended the interactive session by assuaging all the audience’s fears and doubts about the safety of Indian students in Australia, emphatically stating that the government was maintaining an attitude of “Zero tolerance” for any violence committed against foreign students. They were running regular patrols in sensitive areas and policemen were kept on high alert to prevent any undesirable event from occurring again. “There are now more police visible on the streets patrolling those areas where there has been problems”, she stated.
The engaging session with such a distinguished personage and fine example of a woman in power was an enriching and rewarding experience for all students.
Smack, crack, DMT, cocaine, LSD, mescaline, horse tranquilizers, nitros, valiums, opium, psilocybin and then of course marijuana; for some reason the very mention of this motley collection must have made a considerable number of you flinch, just like it did to your parents, their parents, teachers, interlocutors and so on. History shows that drugs have always been deemed ‘evil’ in civil society, and for understandable reasons too. They are known to be harmful, to muddle up your priorities and are apparently retrogressive in nature; and of course, they make one question the established status quo, and consequently disturb it. Yet, in spite of knowing this there has always been a sizeable faction, which has doggedly embraced this lifestyle .Why? Curiosity, rebellion, plain stupidity, apathy, frustration, the reasons are innumerable. The only way to really know for oneself is to be a party to the crime and indulge. Why are drugs derided and are made victim to such severe antagonism when at the same time they are purported to stand for love and peace? Case in point, Woodstock, isn’t it an impressive fact that such a large congregation of young people managed to live out three anarchical days of harmony and bliss amidst all the hardships? Our beloved leaders and statesmen cannot even bear to sit out an entire assembly session without chucking microphones and footwear at each other, and yet after all that inane bickering they are allowed to make rules, rules by which the rest of us are supposed to live by, but then these things have been going on since time immemorial.
Drug use and abuse, there is a thin line that separates them, or maybe a fat one, it is tough to clearly demarcate Also, I must stress that it is not about how much of a thing you consume but rather how much of the thing in question consumes you. We, the younger demographic in particular, tend to treat everything as inconsequential and in an utterly callous fashion thanks to our naiveté and the cushy self-centred lives we have been accustomed to. As for the detractors, they would inevitably be ones who know nothing about drugs except for what they have been told by equally ignorant and dogmatic folks.
If done in the right quantity and in the right environment, mind-altering substances can provide an unimaginably blissful experience The scriptures and wise men of old knew it all, and yet they chose to employ euphemisms, probably to keep the commoners devoid of this knowledge since their gullibility and functioning were essential for the workings of the corporeal world. Eventually came the new order, capitalism and commercialism further marginalized the whole phenomenon for it was redundant in this material world of ours. Drug abuse, just like any other excess is deplorable and tends to get get out of hand. Furthermore, substance abuse may severe the individual’s ties with reality, an enjoyable process but one which isn’t recommended because in the end when the stupor recedes, you open your eyes to the same dull world and its obtrusive ways, eventually becoming slaves to recreation itself.
Apart from the vagueness of the metaphysical and spiritual realms, it is in art, literature and aesthetics that drugs find their true value and purpose in the tangible terms of this world. Drugs enable one to think clearly from a different perspective and see the special in the familiar, which together form the basis of discovery and innovation. Hallucinogens and sedatives have served as the muse of many a gifted artist, the influence behind many a great musician, and the driving force of numerous literary figures. Beauty as they say is in the eye of the beholder, or rather the state of mind. As Huxley, Blake and many others propounded, drugs help us explore the fascinating but dormant recesses of our minds, an activity that can also be undertaken through self-deprivation and meditation.
The whole debate is an endless one; are drugs bad, are drugs good? All I say for the sake of logic, is that one mustn’t let others judgments affect theirs, and not condemn things they know nothing about. As for the inquisitive souls, I would advise them to not get into things that they aren’t sure of since such endeavours could only lead to disastrous repercussions. Acquire adequate knowledge and suitable supervision regarding whatever you wish to try. Coming to those who think of themselves as enlightened, tread with caution for the path is a deceiving one because in the end, drugs are just vessels of recreation. They enhance your creativity, they fill you up with bliss but when you start centring your entire lives around drugs, you know you are losing it. It is here that one must exercise will and restraint, since life in all its totality is too precious to be wasted solely in the pursuit of hedonistic intoxication.
Q: The other day, my boyfriend called me by the name of another woman while we were in bed. I got very pissed off. But he swore he didn’t even know anyone by that name. Is it a big deal? I want you to help me get this off my mind.
A: Arey! These boys can do all these insensitive things. But my”sister from another mother” (oh well, it didn’t rhyme after all), it doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s sneaking behind your back. Let me tell you a secret. Whisper it in your ear, better still. During sex, guys’ brain powers down to the level of a monkey- a stupid monkey to be more precise. So a mental lapse leading to the blurting of a random name is hardly outside the realm of possibility. If he’s fantasizing about a celebrity or the new girl in his class, then obviously you have nothing to be thrilled about but it’s definitely not cheating either. You know what could help. One, you could concentrate on making more eye contact with him. In the likely situation that it doesn’t work , you can adopt more drastic measures. You’d prefer teasingly calling him Ranganathan or Swami in an attempt to make him realize his mistake.
Q: I’ve just come to DU and I have made a new boyfriend. But he has BO (umm down there). He looks like a bit of a hippie so I’m not sure whether he’s careful about his hygiene and stuff. I want to get this across to him politely. How should I do that?
A: I can very well imagine how big a turn off it must be for you, young lady. It’s actually a little tricky because you can’t really tell him that his private parts smell like fish, now can you. Even if you do phrase it in a little hoity-toity manner, he will be embarrassed.
Since you can’t always stick to breathing through your mouth, i shall give you some rather nice alternatives. Like you have “dadima ke nuske”. Yes, yes very much on those lines. Initially you could do with gifting him scented lotions or who knows, rub it on him yourself. Being naughty is never out of bounds! But that of course is a short-term solution and in most cases with a result not guaranteed. So try appealing to his vanity. What I mean is, try telling him how sexy groomed, trimmed and squeaky-clean guys are. I mean the hippie really has to have a hollow brain to not get a hint after this. So, don’t worry, be happy.