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September 2012

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Dinesh Singh

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If Mr. Dinesh Singh were a Pokémon, he would surely be from the same family as the cumbersome and exponentially lazy Slowpoke. Like his far cuter counterpart, the Vice Chancellor of Delhi University took a while to wake up and realize that he was digging his own grave by not paying heed to any of the furious questions hurtled at him by the agitated youth studying in the capital. With issues such as safety, accommodation, and elections hanging by an incredibly thin thread, Dinesh Singh finally took matters into his own, highly slippery hands and addressed the students on 1st September.

If replying to tricky questions was an art, none could have been better than our beloved Vice Chancellor. Every controversial question was tackled with a diplomatic smile and a not-so-subtle subject change. Since safety was of utmost importance, girls were promised a hostel with free travel facilities as well as the installation of CCTV’s all around the campus. Looks like programmes such as Big Boss are not enough to satisfy the TRP-hungry show producers and their equally bored audience. Next in line is a peek into the lives of the young and frustrated DU Students.

With some great ideas in the pipeline, such as mobile canteens and easy access to Wi-Fi, it is quite a shame that this pipe is similar to Delhi’s sewage line constructed during the colonial times; untouched and never to be modified. Dinesh Singh was obviously daydreaming when he announced that disabled-friendly modes of transport would be provided in the form of DTCs and Metros, forgetting that the college campus itself would still be a nightmare for those facing difficulties. He also seems to have taken Dalrymple’s description of Delhi as the city of Djinns quite seriously, with his strong belief in an invisible hostel that has already been magically constructed for girls in South Campus, in a location that shows it is still clearly under-construction.

If I were bestowed with the honor of being made the Vice Chancellor of DU, I would dye my hair and get a face-lift to make sure my dynamic audience has its eyes glued on me instead of snoring at the back. Then the words that come out all airbrushed from my lips might as well be ignored. While mentioning the proposition that the football teams in DU would be getting a special training in New Zealand, I wouldn’t add the extra advantage being offered to the women’s soccer team being sent free of cost. This hidden information exists for the sole reason that, brilliant though the opportunity sounds, Dinesh Singh conveniently forgot to mention that the facilities for women’s soccer are relatively new and still under development in many colleges. So unless there was a secret agreement between New Zealand and India regarding the exchange of their excess population of sheep in return for female textile workers disguised in soccer cleats and sweat absorbing shorts, It is hard to see how this would boost the morale of rising sport stars without motivating them to train first.

My humble request to our Vice Chancellor would be for him to invest in an expensive hearing aid, so that his ears don’t fail him when questions regarding various important issues are shot at him. However, if I were in his place I would definitely arm myself with a shield, just in case one well-aimed arrow leaves me struggling to form coherent sentences.

 

 

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Campus Central

International Hindu Model United Nations Conference 2012

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Hindu College’s annual MUN conference took place from September 13 to September 15 at the Conference Centre, North Campus. This MUN conference is one of the most coveted in the DU circuit. The Secretary General of the conference was Bharat Seth. In the opening ceremony, he welcomed all the delegates, executive board members and international press members to the conference and promised a fruitful debate. The chief guest was veteran politician Mr. Somnath Chatterjee. The conference was a culmination of 5 committees namely- General Assembly (third committee), United Nations Global Compact, Futuristic Security Council, War Cabinet of India (1962) and United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference(1994). [caption id="attachment_8305" align="alignright" width="266" caption="Somnath Chatterjee, Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 2004 to 2009, was the Chief Guest at the event."][/caption] “The executive board members were really good and highly experienced , which took the level of debate to a new high. Everyone in the committee was very well researched and this was a fact well acknowledged by the executive board too.” said Tanya Kak, a participating delegate. The MUN was organized by Caucus, the Group Discussion and Model United Nations society of Hindu College, that aims to promote formal panel discussions in order to increase awareness amongst the youth on important socio-political issues.]]>

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Campus Central

ABVP’s Reaction to Defeat in Elections

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Ritu Rana from ABVP who stood for the post of President giving an interview accusing NSUI of foul play soon after the results were out

“ABVP calls Delhi University to be closed on Monday, 17th September because of unfair means in calculation of votes in DUSU elections”. This is the message that was widely circulated on Sunday nights, causing wide absenteeism in colleges on Monday.

In what is being regarded as a highly imprudent move, the ABVP is busy garnering attention and public support because they feel that the DUSU elections vote counting process was rigged.

‘I think they are being too egoistic, they should just accept that they have lost and move on”, says Professor Prachi, of the English Department, Hansraj College.

As commonly known by now, ABVP lost the elections as NSUI sweeped the polls to victory. Subsequently, the former accused DU of using unfair means to calculate votes but strangely did not file an application requesting a re-counting of votes. “It’s stupid, if they so strongly believe that the elections were rigged, they should have filed an application immediately, rather than engaging in hooliganism”, says Vaishali, a student of Hansraj college.

This move by the ABVP was also not very successful as classes went on as usual in most colleges, where no reports of ABVP stalling classes was reported. However, the ABVP activists were able to make their presence felt in colleges like KMC and Ramjas, where the activists stormed into classrooms and demanded that the students leave the classrooms, thereby disrupting normal college routine.

“They just entered into our classes even when our professors protested. They did not let the class continue.”, says Nupur, a student of Ramjas college.

While no new move has been introduced on part of ABVP, speculations are that they will not raise this issue further, because of lack of evidence and also since they don’t want to spoil their party image.

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Campus Central

Entrepreneurs of DU

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The one thing that is common in all Delhi University students is their tendency to dream big. Everyone wants a posh car, a big house and of course, a job that pays well and keeps them satisfied too. But some students take it a step further to actually work on their dreams by starting their own enterprises while balancing college life. Here’s presenting a few entrepreneurs of DU. Mayank Jain of Keshav Mahavidyalya’s  venture, SocialBuzzar launched in November, 2011 can be described as ‘The One-Stop Shop for all your Social Media needs!’  The team takes care of every aspect of social media marketing from content creation to campaign strategy development for a firm. With big names like McKinsey & Company and HCL already featuring in their clientele list, this undertaking is all set to take on even bigger projects in the future. Entrepreneurs Shoury Gupta, Medha Bankhwal and Prateek Handa, students of Shri Ram College of Commerce aim to commercialise theatre and bring together students approaching expertise in finance, acting, directing set management and so on from institutes across Delhi. ‘It started with a random conversation of starting our own business. Then we realized that theatre is what we love. So why not combine theatre and business? The result was Turntable Productions’, said Gupta.Started just in February 2012, this enterprise has already staged 4 shows of a bilingual play ‘Footnotes’ at Alliance Francaise, earning a total profit of over Rs.50, 000. Madhav Sethi, a second year student from College of Business Studies, is the brain behind Muro, an interior decoration company with a mission ‘To Poster the World’. Launched in June 2012, they can turn any wall into a canvas using themed posters, wall arrangements and single posters, amongst other products. ‘We’ve already finished quite a few individual posters and are currently working on 3 orders for full walls’, said Madhav. They plan to collaborate with interior designers and architects in the near future to expand their operations.    ]]>

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Campus Central

Backbenchers, Alert!

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“Score- 85,00,000! Beat that man!”
“S**** you!” (Excuse the profanity)
“Sshhh! Sir’s watching!”

Pay a visit to the underbelly of a typical 2012 class, the back rows, where the goons of the class sit equipped with their iPhones, iPads, iPods (alliteration?), sometimes, EVEN a laptop, and the aforementioned are just a couple of exclamations you will find them bursting into as they try to establish and break Temple Run records and catapult the Angry Birds to victory, which sometimes catapults them into a soup (when the hush baritone voice is replaced by an innocent shriek of excitement which unfortunately floats into the professor’s ears).

“When the teacher is boring, you don’t have any other option. Bless the soul who invented these applications”, says a rather defiant Sonakshi Agarwal, of IP College.

Earlier the games that were close to the heart of a quintessential backbencher used to be the humble Tic Tac Toe, the brain-racking Bollywood/Hollywood, desperate times even saw students coming back to the kindergarten-ish Name Place Animal Thing. Though there has been a fall in their use (finally somewhere statistics come handy), but the technologically-paralysed backbencher with a trashy phone (like that of the writer’s) still relies on their simplicity when the professor’s words evade her comprehension and ambit of interest.

Games are not the only activity bored students have resorted to.  Sakshi Chauhan, who graduated in the not-so-tech-year of 2006 fondly recalls, “Sitting in the last row, I used to prepare shopping lists for the coming month as my college was located in the hub of fancy shopping locations like GK, South-Ex, Delhi Haat etc. The professor used to think I was just being sincere and taking down notes.”

And then there are/have been/will be those, who staunchly believe in the Books-are-a-man’s-best-friend theory, though course books OBVIOUSLY do not feature in this category.  These can be observed, inadvertently drooping their heads, poring over the latest bestseller, in paperbacks or on E-book. But however popular the E-Book reader becomes, as long as likes of these exist, the back benches will forever resonate with the sound of flipping of pages (mind you- STRICTLY non-syllabus).

Passing of message chits may have been replaced by texting and WhatsApp, pen fights by Fruit Ninja, but the backbenches shall forever remain lush with memories and while you’re reading this as the lecture is on, let me inform you that you have just missed your name on the roll call!

 

Vatsala Gaur
[email protected]

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Campus Central

UberJogi- A Start Up With A Difference

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UberJogi is a customization start up that deals with hand painted T-shirts and printed promotional corporate apparel. Started by three girls in August 2011, this enterprise has climbed ladders of popularity in a very short span. Like all other start ups, this too has a story. Vasudha, Tanvi, Raashi, were very good friends, and students of commerce and business studies. But they also possessed zeal for art which eventually prompted them to start their own line of hand painted and printed line of clothing. “We started at the college level. Designing t shirts for college societies, customized t-shirts for our friends and they loved our work”, says Tanvi. They also have a brand ambassador program, wherein students of different colleges are selected as representatives of UberJogi. “This helps us reach out to our audience more. And the ambassadors also get earnings and work experience. So it’s a two -fold benefit”, says Vasudha. In a scenario, where most student startups are around event management or content development, this one clearly stands out. “It happens often that customers don’t get the ideal design that they want. So they tell us what kind of theme do they have in mind, and we create what their mind reflects. It’s an “image-wear” kind of thing”, adds Tanvi. Amidst this, what also catches your attention is the name. “UberJogi baba is our mascot. Uber is german for ultra cool, so it means an ultra-cool baba”, says Raashi. Tanvi, Raashi and Vasudha are the ones that handle the entire work. From marketing, to sales, to designing, hand painting shirts, everything lies in their hands. “Don’t you feel short of manpower?” I ask. “No, we believe in girl power”, says Tanvi, with a laugh. UberJogi has designed for colleges like LSR, JMC, CBS, Khalsa, MAMC and IIM-A. Most of their sales are online; they also sell through an online portal called Indiebazaar. The cost of their hand painted T-shirts is Rs.700-800. They have also designed for cafes like OTB and Masha in Hauz Khas village. Their most recent addition in the venture is designing a line of customized hand painted T-shirts for Thadi- the village café at at Hauz khas village.  They also organized a photography competition on the theme “rustic India”, and the shortlisted few were on display at Thadi. “The theme is related to Indian culture, which corresponds with Thadi’s theme to. “, says Raashi. When you found a startup, it comes with a free bag of apprehensiveness. “Our parents were apprehensive, but when they started seeing the results, their worries vanished”, says Vasudha. Also, other people were apprehensive about an all girls start up, but they decided to go ahead with it and proved everyone wrong. “When people talk about UberJogi, it feels great.” says Tanvi. Their future plans include venturing into hand painted home furnishings, accessories, etc. We wish all the best for it!   You could find them on Facebook here, http://www.facebook.com/uberjogi?ref=ts     ]]>

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Campus Central

Chess Menace : No Relief In ECA Admissions

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In a decision ruling by High court, Delhi University was advised to lay down fresh physical standard criteria for students who take admission under the sports quota for indoor games like chess.

A division bench of Acting Chief Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw said:”No doubt it is the physical fitness which leads to mental fitness. However, it should be examined as to whether for a person playing games like chess the level of physical fitness mentioned in the rules is appropriate,”

The university was directed to reformulate physical standards for games like chess which it could implement from the next academic year.

The judges were of the opinion that the existing physical standard criteria was apt and justified for outdoor games and also indoor games like badminton and table tennis, in which physical activity was involved, but different standards of physical fitness may be required for games like chess and carrom.

Petitioner Chetna Karnani, a chess player who secured 72.5 percent in her Class 12 exams, had sought admission under the sports quota. She applied for B.A. (English) course in four colleges of the university under the sports quota for chess players. She failed in the fitness test.

The court declined to grant any relief to Karnani saying that “unless the Delhi University prescribes fresh standards for games like chess, we cannot grant any relief to her”.”Laying down all these standards is not the function of the courts, therefore, this court can only direct the University of Delhi to consider the matter in the light of our observation and after in-depth deliberations come out with the physical standards which are required for these games.

 

Sakshi Gupta
[email protected]

 

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The Plight of a Student of a College Not Affiliated to DUSU

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Last year was my first year in college and as the elections approached, I started to root for that holiday that all my friends were getting. The election day holiday. But my bubble burst when I realized that my college is not a part of Delhi University Student Union (DUSU). I study in Indraprastha College for Women, yet another all-girls college which is not a part of Delhi University Student Union (DUSU). So election time for us is just like any other time, dull and drab with no new excitement. It’s the same old life of everyday. In spite of being located in North Campus, all we get to do is hear about how alive other colleges are- campaigning, rallies and demonstrations- and not get to see it. Nobody is shouting slogans or bribing us to vote for them, no graffitis and no agenda fliers littered all over, nothing.  We completely miss the election hullabaloo that happens in most other colleges. We’re never a part of any election scandal! No candidate barges into to our college and (to our major disappointment) disrupt our classes or create a commotion! And the worst part, we do not get a holiday on the election date. We have regular classes throughout the day since we don’t have to go and vote. We miss being a part of one of those DU cults that define it.

What we don’t miss is well the hooliganism that is rampant during this time, mobs, fights, eve teasing and the likes of these. We all saw the extremities it could go to when a girl was molested during a rally. I guess this is why all girl colleges abstain from being a part of DUSU. Better safe than sorry, but safe is sure boring! We feel rather left out and it’s not like people spend that holiday voting, they have fun, we don’t even get to do that. So it’s just really sad! There are too many disadvantages and not enough advantages to balance it out. But let me make one thing clear, it is not about who wins to represent us; it’s the whole experience that is worth having which we are deprived of.

So, where is the democracy which everyone claims to live in and how come we don’t get our adult suffrage rights?

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Gallery

DUSU Elections 2012

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Election time in Delhi University is the time when the University, and North Campus in particular, become abuzz with campaigning, rallies, shouts of slogans, graffitis, fliers, ceaseless promises and what not. This year was no different. With an average 40% turnout- a record of sorts, NSUI sweeping the polls and a visibly dissapointed ABVP alleging foul play, DUSU 2012 had a lot to offer.

Here’s a glimpse of the election season captured by our photographer Swadha Singh.

[slideshow gallery_id=”3″]

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Campus Central

Marks Fiasco at Sri Venkateswara College

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DU students once again, were on the losing end due to nonchalant teachers and unconcerned office staff.

The incident happened in Sri Venkateswara College, with the students of 3rd year English Hons. when teachers of two subjects- Literary Theory and English Literature 5 muddled up the internal marks. This lead to an overall reduction of two marks in each of these subjects out of the total of 25 marks for internals. The teachers who were supposed to give marks out of 4 sets (out of which an aggregate is taken) only gave marks for 3 sets and hence the reduction in the aggregate. The office staff did not bring this to the teachers’ notice and conveniently entered the wrong marks into the system, leaving the 4th column blank. All students of Literary Theory (which is an optional paper) suffered, while the teacher of English Literature 5 simply overlooked a sheet and one third of the class ended up getting the wrong aggregate.

“Students had noticed the glitches before the college had sent out the marks to the university. But office people were highly uncooperative, at times rudely talking to us and even chucking us out of the office.” Said Kriti Talwar, one of the many students who lost out on marks. The office staff only noticed the errors once the marks had been sent out to the university. Apparently the anomaly had occurred in other departments as well and nothing was done until it was too late, and marks had been forwarded to the University.

A committee was set up to look into the matter much later. “We were asked to fill a form and then come back and ask in a month’s time. Recently the Vice Principal informed me that the cases sent to the University had been sent back, and they’d refused to address these. Vice Principal asked me if I had any contacts in the University I said, no. He said, “Phir toh kuch nahi ho sakta. Find a contact and get it done.” Kriti said.

Additionally, some students involved in the various societies did not get marks for attendance. Students now have given up.

 

Anugrah Gopinath
[email protected] 

Picture credits: Sapna Mathur

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