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A Glimpse in the Life of an Off-Campus Student

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Out of 60 colleges that fall under the University of Delhi, at least 20 colleges are not located in ‘primal’ locations – the North and South Campus. Despite forming a decent share of the total students studying in DU, these colleges are often overlooked and their worries not given equal impetus compared to fellow north and south campus colleges.

In light of the recent news reports citing safety concerns for female students of Bhim Rao Ambedkar College, we must address the issues that an off-campus student generally faces. After interacting with several students from the aforementioned category, the following is an attempt to point out the mutual problems and arrive at hopeful solutions-

  1. Hostel/PG Facilities – Out of the 15 Delhi University Colleges that offer hostel facilities, only 2 are off-campus colleges: Maharaja Agrasen College and Keshav Mahavidyalya. Both colleges offer hostels only for girls that too with a very limited capacity. It becomes a daunting task to find PGs especially when the college is in a relatively secluded area. Famous PGs in Kamala Nagar are a go-to for most students in the North Campus, but off-campus students don’t enjoy a similar structure. A lot of times, students rent flats with fellow batch mates where may end up paying higher. There are steps being taken to fulfill the lack of such facilities, as Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College and Shaheed Sukhdev College for Business Studies are in the process of building hostels which would be open soon.
  2. Limited reach of on-campus events – Any organiser of an event or a quiz would agree that gathering footfall for society events is a herculean task. Since many colleges are in far-flung areas, students think twice before attending that college’s event in comparison to a North-Campus College where one can miss a couple of lectures and attend the rest. Consequently, finding sponsors for societies is extremely taxing as most sponsors consider an event’s footfall before investing money in the society. A few colleges which enjoy famous reputation may not face this problem, but many which are comparatively newer and not as well-known have to go through a struggle to raise funds.
  3. Lack of University-wide Facilities – Every north campus student can avail the benefits of centralised photocopy shops, university special buses, and has easy access to the parts of Delhi University that are relatively unknown to most off-campus students. Vice Chancellor’s Lawns, DUSU office, Mind and Body Centre, Conference Centre are at the threshold of every North Campus student. To top it, protests and marches are a regular thing in North Campus, and many students are yet to experience the power of dissenting voices through this wonderful medium. Moreover, any news of relevance to the student community reaches late to a student who isn’t in those extreme directions.
  4. Fewer student-centric hangout spots – While north campus has Hudson Lane and Kamla Nagar, south campus has Satya Niketan, off-campus college students end up in varied places each time. Depending on the location, the surrounding locality of the college can either be lackluster, with very few areas of interest or with extremely pricey restaurants that primarily cater to families, barring a few outlets opened for students. College canteen becomes the last resort especially when breaks between classes are of a shorter duration.

In addition to the above, the newer off-campus colleges have to face the brunt of being new.  Students there have complained about lack of exposure in comparison to other colleges with established Placement Cells and decades-old society culture. The management doesn’t entirely trust students and many college rules digress from commonplace practices eg. the system of ECA or Pink Slips is not prevalent in many newer colleges where the management repudiates the students’ requests. An implication of this system of long procedures is heavy focus on academics and figuratively no co-curriculars to participate in. Connectivity is another major problem for students of Maharaja Agrasen College, as the nearest metro station isn’t exactly near to their college.

Regardless of everything mentioned, there are several bonus points of being an off-campus college student. The infrastructure of some off-campus colleges is better than many of its extreme counterparts, DDUC, MAC, and SSCBS being great examples of that. The students who disdain the heavily politicised atmosphere during elections season do not need to fall prey to unnecessary harangues. Opportunities to start new societies tend to be on the higher side, and ways to escape droning lectures are always innumerable. Specialised courses, sprawling campuses, hi-tech facilities, and immense focus on academics steal the spotlight from north and south.

 

Feature Image Credits: So Delhi

 

Vijeata Balani

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Gallery

Getting Started with Long Exposure Photography

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Neutral density filters are darkened filters that are placed in front of the lens, requiring a slower shutter speed for the same amount of light to reach the sensor. There are two systems available: screw-in and drop-in or square filters. The filters come in different strengths (3-stop, 6-stop, 10-stop, etc.) which describe how much you need to lengthen the exposure time to maintain a well-exposed image. These filters require you to lengthen the exposure time for the same amount of light to reach the camera’s sensor in order to get a well-exposed image. The filters are darkened and their strength dictates how much you need to slow down the shutter speed. Compared to doing this without filters, using an natural density filter allows you to use a much longer exposure time while still maintaining optimal quality (the sharpest aperture of your lens). [Image Credits: Amazon]
To get started, place your camera on a tripod and focus the lens to infinity. You'll want to use a cable release to eliminate camera shake of any kind, as it will ruin your photo. Set the camera to B "Bulb" shooting mode and set your aperture between f/2.8 - f/4 for optimal results. Depress the remote to open the shutter. The main thing to keep in mind while deciding on the correct exposure is how to capture both the shadows as well as the highlights. If you are successful in obtaining the right shadows, you will be able to produce an excellent night scene that will win you compliments. When taking long exposures, the key is to keep the shutter open only long enough for the desired effect. If you keep the shutter open too long, you’ll lose the details in whatever light source is illuminating your subject, and you might even lose the ability to identify what the subject is. When trying to create a light trail, the shutter should be open for at least one second, and therefore requires a tripod. Use shutter priority mode and start with one second shutter speed and see what the result is. If the trail is too short, add two seconds, and then keep adding 2 seconds until you get the lighting effect that you want. If there is too much blur, then your shutter was open too long, and you need to dial it back down maybe a full second.

What is long exposure photography? Long-exposure, time-exposure, or slow-shutter photography involves using a long-duration shutter speed to sharply capture the stationary elements of images while blurring, smearing, or obscuring the moving elements. Long-exposure photography captures one element that conventional photography does not: an extended period of time. The paths of bright moving objects become clearly visible. Clouds form broad bands, head and tail lights of cars draw bright streaks, stars leave trails in the sky, and water waves appear smoothened. Only bright objects will leave visible trails, whereas dark objects usually disappear. Boats in long exposures will disappear during daytime, but will draw bright trails from their lights at night.

This post was aided by information from here, here, and here.

Photos by:
Vansh Sabharwal
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Hemant Goyal
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Hindu College

Hindu College Under Fire for Sexist Poster

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On the morning of 4th October, an image was posted by Pinjra Tod – a collective against the sexist and discriminatory practices in higher educational institutions – on its Facebook page. The image was of a poster from Hindu College, which said “Hindu mein Maal aur Maal dono milta hai”. In Hindi, the word “maal” is a slang term that is used to either refer to women in an objectifying manner, or to refer to narcotic substances.

An excerpt from Pinjra Tod’s caption sums up the view of those aghast at the language used in the poster thusly: “The many ways in which patriarchy reinforces itself every day in our campuses to convey the message that we may be studying in a university, we may be sitting in classes together, but women are to be primarily seen as sexual objects of exchange amongst men.” The poster almost seems to be bragging about the presence of women in the college, who are apparently not to be treated as equals or as peers of same intellectual calibre, but primarily as objects for men to lust over. Women are used here in the same breath as addictive substances, indicating that both are objects for pleasure. What adds to the whole issue is the fact that the poster was used during a Freshers’ party, and was probably one of the first messages that the new students picked up from their seniors regarding women’s place and perception in the institute. Universities are meant to widen horizons regarding thinking openly, but the regressive poster seems to be contributing towards promoting the opposite.

The Prime Minister of the college’s student union, Brijesh Tiwari, issued a statement that condemned the incident on Facebook. An excerpt from it said, “The Hindu College Parliament unanimously condemns the usage of such shamelessly gendered and misogynist phrases on campus or anywhere else. We at the Parliament consider it our utmost endeavour to arrive at a stage of gender equality, withering of misogynist practices and tendencies, and an overall climate of equal opportunities for all genders. We recognise how such phrases and their usage become an impediment in trying to achieve all of the above. The Parliament ensures that it will do its best to nip all such practices in the bud and to ensure that the student-driven crusade against misogyny must never be weakened.” Further, administrative lapses on part of the organisers and “deeply entrenched” misogyny that is “not a new innovation” were blamed.

This is, however, not the first instance of discrimination and sexism in Hindu College. Back in August, women students protested the administration over the differences in the hostel fees for men and women. The newly opened women’s hostel, in the college’s 118-year history, charged its residents more than double the fees charged from the men.

 

Image Credits: Pinjra Tod

Rishika Singh
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News

Jamia Students demand for reinstating Student Union

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Lately across the country, in the absence of a notable opposition decisions of the establishment, students have taken it upon themselves to stand up to the authoritarian policies. Lately, the spur of student movements in the JNU, DU, University of Hyderabad and other campuses has also spiked up the enthusiasm in other Universities where student politics have been suspended for long for the revival of Student Politics and the demand of Student Union elections. On Thursday, students of Jamia Milia Islamia University staged a protest march and submitted a memorandum to the Vice-Chancellor Talat Ahmad demanding the restoration of the Student Union and demand of elections.

Eleven years back, the University had suspended the Student Union on the account of student leaders interfering with the administrative process of the University in 2006. The Union was disbanded after a scuffle broke out between the union president and the proctor over the former having a say in the allotment of hostel seats, which the university was not willing to agree to. Later in the year 2011, Hameed Ur Rahman, a student approached Delhi High Court for the matter. Najeeb Jung, who was the VC during that period told the court that the environment was not conducive for polls.

Recently the students have formed a Joint Action Committee (JAC) with members from various students bodies’ including the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti, All India Students’ Association and Jamia Students’ Forum to raise the demand for a Union. Speaking to a major national daily, students of the JAC said that they would “resort to democratic means of protest” in case the varsity does not meet the deadline of announcing a date for the polls.

However, the administration on receiving the memorandum said that the university had no objections to the formation of a students’ union but it could not give the go-ahead as the matter was sub judice. Talat Ahmad, the vice chancellor of the University who is known to be personally in favour of having a student’s union said, “When the matter is in court, I cannot take decisions that would end up in contempt of court.”

The University which has a rich past of student activism during the freedom movement remains an environment devoid of a students’ voice today.

Interestingly, Jamia has a strong union of teachers and non-teaching staff.

Image Credits: jamiajournal.com

 

Srivedant Kar

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News

18% GST on Educational Institutions, DU Professors Want a Rollback

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Professors from the University of Delhi want the removal of the Goods and Services Tax which is applicable on academic activities such as application forms, examination fees, and entrance fees.

Former President of Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) and a professor at the Department of Social Sciences, Aditya Narayan Mishra has already written to the Union Human Resource Development Minister Mr. Prakash Javadekar to reconsider charging the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from students as it will ‘burden’ the students by making education inaccessible.

“The imposition of the 18 per cent GST on the admission and examination forms for the young trying to get admission in universities, on the other hand, is nothing but education denied to those coming from economically weaker and backward sections of the Indian society,” reads the letter written to the union minister. “Please withdraw GST on students’ fees immediately and make education inclusive,” Mishra said in the letter.

The GST, India’s biggest reform tax, passed as an act in the Lok Sabha on 27 March 2017, finally coming into effect across the country on 1st July 2017.

With a motive to make the taxation process simpler by eliminating the concept of multiple taxations, the GST is all set to strike the education sector as well. A lion’s share of the economy is fulfilled by the quality education and high levels of literacy. However, the way the tax will affect the education process makes the faculty of most Delhi University colleges apprehensive.

The faculty is protesting against the imposition of 18% of GST being levied on admission as well as examination forms for students across universities, claiming it will slow down the social transformation of students.

Teachers claim this move will neglect the economic situation of the students and their parents, who are working as watchmen, security guards, or are engaged in other menial jobs. “The government needs to make higher education accessible to youth, treat it as an instrument for upliftment for those unable to afford it. My students have expressed their parents’ inability to afford higher education if they have to pay money at every stage,” said Rajesh Jha, a professor at Rajdhani College to India Today.

The professor’s sentiments echo the feelings of most of the underprivileged parents of this country, those who wish to send their children to premier government institutions but are unable to given their financial restrictions. “The country’s goal must be to make education as accessible as possible, but with further taxation on university fees, it seems to defeat the purpose”, commented a former professor from the University of Delhi.

“Given how caste and class politics plague the inclusion of so called ‘lower caste’ people into the educational premises due to being enmeshed in the vicious cycle of caste privilege, the government’s move on taxation isn’t quite smart, it only manages to marginalise the already marginalised”, opines a former student from Miranda House.

 

Feature Image Credits: India TV Paisa

Ankita Dhar Karmakar
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DUB Speak

A Love Letter to Girls’ Colleges – The Torchbearers of Feminism

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Gargi, Daulat Ram, Kamala Nehru, Lady Shri Ram, and other girls’ colleges are not just institutions of higher education for women – they are symbols of resilience and strength; they are icons of feminism. 

The role of women’s colleges is to provide a space for women to learn and grow. These safe spaces help us tap into our hidden potential, which had earlier been buried by the heteronormative gender norms present all around us. Women are acutely aware of the baggage that comes with being women. The amount of scrutiny and censure that we go through across our lives is shocking. We are so accustomed, so numb to this omnipresent censorship, that we come to know of its existence only when it has been lifted. When college life began and I came to experience the freedom that came with being in a girls’ college, then and only then did I realise exactly how much I had been stifled by the outside world. Everything from our appearance and clothing, our language and behaviour, our social habits and ways of life, invite intrigue. We are ever so conscious of every aspect of our being and existence simply because we know we are constantly judged for it. Gargi College, Maitreyi College, Daulat Ram College, Miranda House, and every other women’s college out there in Delhi University and across the rest of the country does not just represent a place where women pursue higher education; these colleges act as symbols of strength, attesting to the resilience of women.

When students protested last year in my college, I saw women beating huge drums, chanting slogans and sitting in the sun for hours, without their spirit breaking because they were fighting for a greater cause. I learnt from professors who introduced me to feminist literature and to capitalism’s role in the subjugation of women, who made me write lengthy papers on how women had been relegated to a minor role for centuries. These conversations happen in co-educational institutions of higher education and I am more than certain that most of them do an excellent job talking about the aforementioned issues. But anyone who has set foot in a girls’ college knows that the walls of these colleges hum with the words Gloria Steinem and Mahasweta Devi. Conversation about feminism and gender roles is not limited to the classroom. Society practices, canteen breaks, and casual conversation revolve around topics that are not discussed enough in mainstream media and popular culture.

Another gift that a girls’ college education gave me was the gift of real life idols and heroines. My professors with their deep sense of idealism and duty turned out to be the most admirable of people who command immense respect. There were occasions when I all but wanted to climb on top of my desk and shout “O Captain! My Captain!” because of how fierce these lectures were. College presidents, seniors, classmates all turned into real life idols who constantly served as examples of women who win. Life was one giant Pinterest board coming to life, with both interesting outfit ideas and life-changing quotes being available at the same time.

I have begun to slowly shed the decadent remains of oppressive societal norms and expectations. The environment of a girls’ college was so “woke” and aware that it changed who I was. It told me that my opinion was relevant, that I must not let small things slide by, that every jibe or sexist joke that I ignore and do not call out contributed to a larger cycle of sexism and misogyny. A greater sense of self-esteem and pride came with learning in such a positive environment. As I carried heavy desks or climbed ladders to put up hoardings and banners – tasks which I hadn’t done before because they were traditionally physically challenging tasks automatically assigned to men – I realised how gender norms had limited and caged my potential. The realisation of my physical strength is merely a metaphor for every lesson that I learnt while being in a girls’ college. The idea of certain jobs being done by men and others by women is so deeply ingrained in our culture that we don’t really question it or realise how problematic it is. Recognising gender roles and actively fighting them was another life lesson that college taught me.

But it’s not all fair and sunny in the land of girls’ colleges. These colleges are often targets of various jokes being circulated on DU-related unofficial social media pages. Girls’ colleges are portrayed as gloomy places where the greatest concern that the student body has is the absence of men. Not only do such jokes undermine what these institutions stand for but also try to distill and limit the essence of our college life to the lack of interaction with members of the opposite gender. Ergo, men continue to influence and largely dictate the narrative surrounding our colleges even when they are not part of them. Not only that, recently, certain Facebook pages sharing DU-related content have been circulating problematic posts regarding girls’ colleges. These posts at best reiterate pre-existing negative stereotypes about girls’ colleges and at worst express outright violence, ridicule, and hate. This shows how our colleges are now under the same kind of scrutiny and judgment that we once were. It also tells us that the battle is far from won.

The respite gained by entering these institutions is temporary. The walls of these safe spaces shall not be home to us forever; life will once again go back to being what it once was when we graduate. The fight for gender equality will not be won by creating safe spaces for women in every street and corner. On the contrary, by reclaiming what is ours – the streets and public spaces and parks and libraries and markets – then and only then will we be able to truly live the way we want to. When co-educational colleges start talking about gender as frequently as people in girls’ colleges do, when these discussions do not just involve and concern women, then and only then will we truly be able to live in a free, liberated environment. Then we would not need safe havens from the outside world and the need and idea of educating people on the distinction of gender will die out. Perhaps then, girls’ colleges will lose their relevance, but they would fade out with glory, their contribution to the cause of feminism and in the fight for equality being fundamental.

 

Feature Image Credits: Debating Society of Daulat Ram College

Kinjal Pandey
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Arts & Culture

Play Review: Joothan by LGT Auditorium Repository

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Often times we see that the screen or stage adaptations of classic novels do not do justice to the nuances of the written text, however, director Ishwar Shunya’s “Joothan” based on Omprakash Valmiki’s autobiographical book of the same name recreates the monumental story with equal effect.

Joothan (leftover food from one’s plate that was traditionally eaten by low caste people after they collected the plates of the upper caste folks) chronicles the life and struggles of Omprakash, a “low-caste” boy living in an Uttar Pradesh village during the 1950s.

From early on, the play illustrates the social standing of Churas,a low caste community whose job is to clean toilets, work as labor, tan leather from dead cattle, etc, and establishes how economic deprivation of the untouchables is a result of the caste system. There are numerous moments in the 1 hour 45-minute long drama when the performances will give you goose bumps and the overwhelming feelings of anger, triumph, sadness, and hope.

One of the most powerful scenes in the play is when Omprakash’s mother throws dirty pattals (leaf plates) at a dominant caste patriarch when he humiliates her. Though the play is littered with tragedy, there is a segment which depicts a policeman sodomising a Dalit youth with an iron rod. The vividity of the scene is triggering and particularly disturbing. I almost wished the audience was warned about it.

The dialogues are honest and hard-hitting, with a liberal dose of crass expletives. While the casteist terms such as Chura, Chamaar, and Bhangi were used to portray the brazen abuse of Dalits, a section of the audience laughed each time these terms were uttered. The fact that the audience was seeking comedy in the humiliation of marginalized folks showed insensitivity of urban crowd.

The acting is on point by a superb cast. Abhijeet Singh plays the antagonist Chaudhary and Daroga very convincingly. Rohit Kumar enacts the innocence of young Omprakash with perfection that makes the viewer root for him. Anas Khan personates the adult Omprakash and arrests the attention of everyone.

The live music by Prasoon Narayan, Sachin, Prashant Misra and Raj Kishor made the production stellar. Kabir bhajans such as ‘Ud Ja Hans Akela’ alongside old Bollywood melodies like ‘Pal Pal Dil ke Pass’ serenaded the audience.

Lightning by Sachin Kumar and Badal Singh complimented the impeccable set that was designed by Kanchan Ujjal Singh. There were at least five to six different backdrops and the transition from one background to another was perfectly handled by Tanvi Goel and Manish Kumar. The collective efforts of the cast and crew encapsulated in a long, standing ovation.

Go and watch this LGT Auditorium Repertory production whenever you get a chance, because it will be totally worth it.

Poster by Ishwar Shunya
Poster by Ishwar Shunya

 

Feature Image Credits: Niharika Dabral for DU Beat 

Niharika Dabral

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DUB Speak

The Other Side to The Story: Are Societies Always Learning Hubs?

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College societies are regarded with huge importance for giving exposure and bridging the gap between academics and fun. But is the end result always worthy of the effort? We probe into the matter.

Three months of time is enough to decrypt the nitty-gritties of college workings and to figure out which societies one wants to prioritise and which one wants to miss. Usually, freshers are told by their beloved seniors that the precursor to a happening and exciting college life is joining multiple societies, something which is baseless and definitely not a necessity. Why is it so, that the reason why Delhi University is so sought after, tantamounts to nothing by the end?

College societies are portals to the real world, they provide the right extent of exposure and push students to pursue their passions positively. While most performing societies work all-year round to put up a successful production or composition, it’s the academic societies that are abundant and pique interest of all students. Academic societies provide a much needed relief to many from hectic practice schedules and offer a platform for like-minded individuals to converse and deliberate on topics that interest them. Oftentimes, these societies are regarded with utmost importance as many conduct several rounds of recruitment and grill interviewees to the core. The international organisation, Enactus, is one such example of an academic society which foresees immense applications and has the potential to drive change through devoted hard work. Therefore, what matters is the effort taken and milestones achieved in terms of experience gained and lives affected.

Unfortunately, from a year’s experience of working in various academic societies, my learning outtake has been next to nil. While Enactus has established itself as a force to reckon with, other similar societies have had mixed responses. The obvious undercurrent for joining a society is almost always CV enhancement, something which ends up irking the very job interviewers it was meant to impress. Learning takes a backseat, and constructive criticism gets lost amid the mindless events churned out. The primary focus shifts to gathering footfall at an inter-college event over encouraging society members to learn from relevant examples. Interested students who joined the society because of the initial good impression, face the brunt and eventually get used to the farce.

It does not matter how many societies one is a part of – what bears fruit is what you learn from your time in one and how you see yourself growing further there. Fancy titles and exclusive posts matter little in front of all the learning that one can gain from discussions and knowledge shared. Exposure demands context; without purpose any society can fall apart. An Entrepreneurship Cell without any members interested in entrepreneurial pursuits is what results in a culture of lackluster learning. Prerequisites like ensuring likes on the Facebook page or forceful volunteerism hamper the effectiveness of this wonderful medium. The number of societies that focus on developing members is definitely rising, but so is the number of societies that solely aim to organise a few events the entire year and call it a day. A shift from the growing CV culture to knowledge-sharing can happen only if the person is in a position acknowledge this and members are willing to change from years of established patterns.

 

Feature Image Credits: Kuulpeeps.com

Vijeata Balani

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Features

What has the BHU Incident Been All About

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The Banaras Hindu University (BHU) has been on the boil following alleged molestation of a student on 21stSeptember, by three men and the university officials refused to take action and blamed the victim, instead.

What have been the circumstances?

The protest is on going for quiet afew days. This began midnight on 21st September, Thursday, after three men riding on a motorbike molested a student, pursuingBachelor of Fine Arts degree of the Mahila Mahavidyala of BHU.

The alleged molesters hurled abuses, passed lewd remarks, and touched the victim inappropriately only a few metres from where a security guard was present. The girl, the protesters said, cried for help but the security guard did not move to make an attempt.

The girl was traumatised when she reached her hostel. When her hostel-mates gave her assurance, she narrated the entire incident to them. Concerned over everyday eve-teasing and frequent molestation of the girls on the campus, a group of students of the hostel went to report the matter to the warden.

The girls complain that instead of listening to their grievances, the warden blamed the victim for the incident. “What were you doing outside your hostel so late?” the warden allegedly asked the victim as reported by India Today.

Infuriated by the warden’s moral policing and indifferent stand, the girls sat on a dharna outside his office at around midnight on  21st September. The women staged a bigger dharna at the Lanka Gate of the BHU campus on  22nd September, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Varanasi.

22nd September was a stressful day:omen from other hostels and courses also joined the protest. The protesters demanded action from the Vice Chairman,Girish Chandra Tripathi, who wanted to meeta few of the protesting girls in his office chambers, as claimed by the women. “What happens is that the VC calls around 10 students and warns them against raising their demands. The students are suspended without giving a chance of resting their case. The matter ends there. We are concerned about our safety,” Akansha Singh, one of the girls who was protesting, told India Today.

Later, BHU issued a statement saying that the protest by the girls demanding safety on the campus was politically motivated. This comes into light although, unlike Delhi University or Jawaharlal Nehru University, BHU doesn’t have a students union. Teaching staff too don’t declare political affiliations.

After the violence on Saturday, the girls took out a silent march. But the police apparently had an issue with this as well, brutally chasing the protesters away, allegedly with batons. Yet the girls continued to lead the march, supported by many male students as well. The demands of the students were simple – they want installation of CCTV cameras, proper lighting of the campus and gender sensitisation of university staff and security personnel.

Did the administration do anything so far?

Beside making sexist and discriminatory statements (In an interview to The Indian Express, Tripathi justified the discriminatory policies against women students, particularly with regard to hostel curfews on the grounds that, “security for boys and girls can never be at par.”),U.P Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath sought a report from the commissioner of Varanasi on the entire episode.

The government has so far removed five officials for negligence of duty and transferred them to other places.An internal inquiry, found them responsible for alleged disturbance and violence, thus removed to ensure fair enquiry. Meanwhile, 1200 students have been booked for violence.

Chief Proctor, O.P Singh, resigned from his post, and the government appoints BHU’s first woman Chief Proctor, Royana Singh.

However, this is not a rare instance in Banaras Hindu University’s history. According to a report by Huffington Post, there has been a surge in cases related to sexual crimes and harassment in recent years, ever since the current Vice-Chancellor, Girish Chandra Tripathi, took office. In 2016, there were cases of sexual assault, including gang rape of a male student and complaints of harassment made even by female faculty members. The frequency of such severe crimes points to the authorities and administration’s lack of seriousness in addressing safety issues. This is particularly the case with women, who already face a spate of curfews and curtailment of freedoms. Calling these restrictions ‘strict’ would be a understatement, for they apparently treat adult women like tender creatures of pristineness and purity, who shouldn’t go out to for their own safety. Consider some of the statements of the Vice-Chancellor, like “Consumption of non-vegetarian food makes women impure according to the Malviya values,” “Girls who study in the night are immoral,” and “Don’t think like a journalist, think like a father. Think of what ‘appropriate clothes’ would mean to a father,’’ upon being asked what constitutes “appropriate clothes” in this Youth Ki Awaaz interview, where his sexism is on open display. Through absurd rules like no phone calls post 10 p.m., no internet connection in rooms, and deadlines on venturing out, in the name of “protecting women”, they are being robbed off their freedom. Depriving a whole section of the society from thinking for themselves and allowing them the same freedoms as men is deplorable, and it is even more shameful when it happens in the constituency of the same man who tweeted, “Women empowerment is crucial to India’s growth. Days of seeing women as ‘home makers’ have gone, we have to see women as nation builders”.  Keeping aside the dismissal of homemakers for a moment, one is presumed to think that the way things are, “nation-building” will only be done till 8p.m. – the hostel curfew time.

 

Feature Image Credits: The Indian Express

Rishika Singh
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Ankita Dhar Karmakar
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Arts & Culture

7 easy DIY Projects to make your PG or Hostel Feel More like Home

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Homesickness is a serious problem every outstation fresher experiences when they move into their PG or Hostel. Decorating your room is more than just making it look pretty; it’s about creating your own personal space that you’re comfortable in, and it’s about creating a home away from home.

The initial year of college can be scary, exciting and overwhelming. Hence, these DIY’s are aimed at maximizing your comfort in your PG or hostel and creating a stress-free environment:

  1. DIY PHOTO FRAMES USING DECORATIVE TAPE
Source: Pinterest
Source: Pinterest

All outstation students experience home sickness and one of the best ways to deal with that problem is to put up pictures of your family, friends, and hometown on your wall! Heavy duty frames are a major inconvenience and difficult to travel with and a quick and easy solution to make your pictures and posters look presentable on your wall is to use decorative/colourful tape to create customised frames around the pictures pasted on your wall! This DIY gives you the creative freedom to craft cool patterns aroud your pictures. The tapes are available in local stationary shops and online shopping websites. It is hassle free as you don’t have to worry about hanging your photo frame with a nail and hammer, and it is easily removable too.

Materials Required:

  • Decorative tape rolls
  • 1 scissor
  • Pictures/Posters
  1. DIY WALL TAPESTRY USING BEDSHEETS
Source: Pinterest
Source: Pinterest

The look of your room can become boring after a few months because of the unexciting monotonous paint that every room has in your PG/Hostel. To get a more homely feel, you can use this simple DIY to bring colour and contrast into your room! Using an old bedsheet from home, you can hang it behind your bed to create a wall tapestry. This project will allow you to personalise your room and enable you to change up your room once every few months using different bedsheets.

Materials Required:

  • 1 Bedsheet
  • Nails and a hammer
  1. DIY THROW PILLOWS
Source: Pinterest
Source: Pinterest

It is very important to feel comfortable in your  room and having a lot of throw pillows on your bed makes it feel very cozy. Using soft acrylic paint or fabric paint, you can paint on patterns on your pillows to jazz them up. You can even use tape to create stencils if you’re not good at free-handing patterns. The paints are easily available at local stationary shops.

Materials Required:

  • Paint brushes
  • Blank pillow cover
  • Soft Acrylic or fabric paints
  1. DIY PHOTO COLLAGE USING FAIRY LIGHTS
Source: Pinterest
Source: Pinterest

The ambiance of your PG/Hostel room is very different from the ambiance of your own room back home. To improve the same and add a personal touch to this DIY at the same time, you can hang up fairy lights on the wall to brighten up your room and add polaroids or pictures of you and your loved ones using paperclips to the lights to create a photo collage on your wall.

Materials Required:

  • Fairy Lights
  • Nails/Tape
  • Scissor
  • Photos and polaroids
  1. DIY PLANT POTS USING COFFEE CUPS
Source: Pinterest
Source: Pinterest

Plants can help bring about a calming and fresh energy into your room. Petite succulent plants are easy to manage as they are meant to be kept indoors and do not require much maintainance. You can use cute coffee cups as an alternate method of storing your succulents and even add patterns to the same using permanent markers.

Materials Required:

  • Permanent Markers
  • Coffee Cups
  • Sand
  • A small succulent
  1. DIY MESSAGE BOARD USING A WHITE BOARD
Source: Pinterest
Source: Pinterest

You can often miss out on important information regarding organisational changes of your PG or hostel because you weren’t physically present during the time that message was conveyed. You can hang a small A-4 size whiteboard on your cupboard or the back of your door so that it acts as a message board in your absence. These whiteboards are available in stationary shops and online shopping websites.

Materials Required:

  • A-4 size whiteboard
  • Whiteboard Marker
  • Nails and a hammer
  1. DIY MASON JARS FOR STORAGE
Source: Pinterest
Source: Pinterest

Storage of stationary or washroom supplies can become extremely messy. Mason jars are very convenient for storing pens, rulers, paints, brushes, toothbrushes, tissues, etc. You can personalise you mason jars and paint them with acrylic paints, or stick stickers on them to add a little pop. Mason jars are available in departmental stores or online shopping websites.

Materials Required:

  • Mason Jars
  • Paint
  • Paint brushes
  • Stickers
  • Ribbons
  • Scissor

 

Feature Image Credits: Pinterest

Bhavya Banerjee

[email protected]

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