Archive

2017

Browsing

Dipanvita Sehgal’s Debut Novel, A Feminist in the Making was launched on 8th July 2017 at Oxford Bookstore, CP. The event was as glammed up as glammed up can be. For a first Book Launch, triple the amount of estimated guests turned up out of which more than 60% were random visitors and members of Oxford Bookstore and were simply awestruck by Dipanvita’s story’s Synopsis.

Everybody just grabbed seats and sat down to hear her speak and then a roaring applause followed after each and every question that Dipanvita answered in the Q and A round. She linked the idea to current affairs and topics. She explained the unfairness of GST on basic necessities like Sanitary napkins and explained to some readers why Feminism and Tolerance are of utmost importance in today’s sad era and state of affairs. Oxford Bookstore, CP worked as an amazing host, the staff was cordial, snacks were delicious and wonderful pictures were taken for four hours straight. Some of the most famous Bloggers of the city turned up for the show and while they usually listen to the event and go sometimes, Dipanvita’s repartee, well-articulated ideas and superb extempore answers were so impressive that they all took Dipanvita’s Publicist and Manager Nikhita Anil’s (CEO and Co-Founder, MadPro Media) number so that they could contact her to fix interviews with Dipanvita and to invite her for talks, discussions and Career Counseling Sessions.

Many people from the Literati visited and encouraged her and put some amazing and thought-provoking questions on the table to which Dipanvita had the most crisp, concise and witty replies. Many important people visited from Schools and want Dipanvita to drop in to share her inspirational story and to discuss Feminism and Gender awareness with the students. So many strangers walked up to her and said she is very inspiring, took pictures and autographs and hugged her before they left. Dipanvita got late and stayed on at the Store for everybody till 10 in the night because she did not want anybody who wanted to have their copy signed, to go back home disappointed. She patiently answered all the Interview questions and gave due time to everybody around including people who wanted to have a personal chat about life, love and depression with her. Idea Pulp Entertainment made a long cover Video of Dipanvita, of some close associates who had read the book and of new buyers and their inclination to buy a copy. The response was overwhelming from all the quarters. We have a strong feeling that this novel is on its way to becoming a Bestseller!

 Go grab your copy of A Feminist in the Making now by clicking on the following links:

 

Indian Readers can purchase their copy at Amazon by clicking here

Or at Flipkart by clicking here.

For readers across the globe, you can get the novel here. 

You can visit the Author’s website to know more about the author or check out her FB page to stay in touch and get the latest news about her novel.

 

By

A Feminist in the Making Team 

 

With the admission season well underway and the University of Delhi (DU) having released its third cut-off list for undergraduate courses, it has now been confirmed by the Admissions Committee that more than half of its seats are already full. “Over 30,00 out of around 52,000 seats in various DU colleges have already been filled, along with payment of fees,” confirmed Professor Maharaj K. Pandit, the Chairman of DU’s Admissions Committee.  The university has yet to release the fourth and fifth cut-off lists, which are expected to be released on 13th July and 18th July, 2017, respectively.

That within a span of three cut-off lists in a mere fortnight, more than half of the seats should have been filled up, only attests to the university’s ever-growing popularity among students. B.A. (Hons.) English and Economics remain the most sought-after courses. DU clearly is very much a top choice for aspiring undergraduates, as the statistics reveal that several colleges such as Lady Shri Ram (LSR) and Hindu College have already closed the admissions to some of the courses. This year, a marginal dip was recorded in the cut-offs. Yet, the highest percentage, as per the latest and third cut-off issued by DU, remains 98 per cent for B.A. (Hons.) in Psychology in LSR College. By the fifth cut-off, almost all seats are expected to be filled up. As it turns out, the sky-high percentage and quickly disappearing seats which make DU one of the most viable and prestigious education institutions of the country, also make it the hardest to gain entry into. The admission season, so far, has been anything but a smooth-sailing for both the university and the parents and students. But with more and more seats being grabbed and choices in terms of the courses narrowing down, if there were ever a time to hurry in order to make it to DU, it would be now.

Feature Image: DU Beat

 

Deepannita Misra

[email protected]

 

This year’s admission cycle has once again been subjected to a tumultuous trajectory. On Friday, the Supreme Court stayed the counselling and admission procedure in IITs, NIITs, and all government-funded engineering colleges. The order was passed to counter IIT’s decision to compensate for the erroneous questions in the Joint Entrance Examination ( Advanced) paper by awarding them 18 bonus marks. It is reported that 33,000 candidates have already enrolled in IITs spread across the country.

The apex court, with Justices Dipak Misra and A M Khanwilkar on the bench, ordered all engineering colleges to cease the admissions procedure until the marking controversy could reach a conclusive decision. The proceedings came into effect after two students filed a petition to contest IIT’s decision. “It is a problem and it has to be solved at the earliest … We will think about the solution but don’t create further confusion by giving admission,” The Indian Express quoted the bench.

The contention stems from IIT’s decision to award 18 bonus marks to all candidates for the incorrect questions in the paper. The breakdown of this includes offering 11 marks for incorrect questions in Paper II and 7 marks for incorrect questions in Paper I. The argument that whether the marks should be awarded to all the candidates or only to those who attempted the said questions has been brought to the fore by this restraining order.

However, the IITs have reasoned that the said solution cannot be executed. Appearing for IITs, Attorney General KK Venugopal has commented that the re-evaluation of the answer sheets of 2.5 lakh students was not possible. He further mentions the two courses of action implementable. “We do not know who took test in Hindi. It is very difficult to find out and that is why it was decided that bonus marks be given to all students. Till date, more than 33,000 have already taken admission and whole process would have to be started afresh if merit list is revised,” Venugopal said.

He further argued that out of the fallacious questions, two questions were there in only one set, out of a total of 10 sets of question papers which was in Hindi medium. The two practical options at hand, he says, are ether to continue with the bonus marks or to refrain from including the wrong questions.

IITs have filed an affidavit to fight the plea, which mentions:

It is respectfully submitted that the relief is entirely against equity since the process of seat allocation is going on and around 33,000 candidates have already accepted the allotted seat and reported for physical verification of the documents … It is submitted that in case ongoing counselling and admission process is disturbed, the admission procedure of more than 36,000 students in 97 institutes under the joint seat allocation programme for IITs, NIITs, IIITs and GFTIs (Government Funded Technical Institutions) would be scrapped.

The other side of the legal tussle is led by Senior Advicate Vikas  Singh and lawyer D K Devesh, who maintain that the decision taken by the leading engineering college is ‘arbitrary and illegal.’  The petitioners rationalised that despite clearing the exam, their ranks had been devalued substantially due to this mechanism.

The Apex court sought to cite a precedent of 2005 when the Supreme Court ordered that the awarding of bonus marks can ask be justified to those students who attempted the eponymous questions.

This year’s JEE Advanced was conducted on May 20th and the results were announced on June 11th, 2017. Every year lakhs of students eye the JEE entrance to enroll into the likes of IITs and NIITs. The bench has scheduled a hearing on July 10th to reach to a conclusion after examining all options.

 

Feature Image Credits: Hindustan Times

 

Saumya Kalia
[email protected]

Students claim that almost 70% of the questions that were asked in the Department of Buddhist Studies entrance exam, held on 5th July between 8am to 10pm, were repeated in the PhD entrance exam, held on the same day between 4pm to 6pm. A few students, who appeared for the PhD entrance exam, have filed a written complaint with the University on Friday, 7th July, saying that the paper repeated 36 out of the 50 questions asked. It seemed to be a matter of concern as many students apply for both the courses and those who appeared for the MPhil test had advantage over the others as they had the time to discuss the answers before they appeared for the PhD test.

“It was shocking to learn that questions asked in the MPhil test and the PhD entrance were the same. Students who had applied for both the tests benefitted,” the complaint said. However, the head of the department, KTS Sarao said: “It is not possible that so many questions will be same. Many departments hold same test for admission to both MPhil and PhD but we conduct separate exams. The syllabus is similar so there is a possibility that 3-4 questions are same but not as many as some students are alleging,” and rejected the allegations.

 

With inputs from Hindustan Times.

Image Credits: Hindustan Times

 

Anagha Rakta
[email protected]

Robert Frost once espoused, “Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.”  I resonated with this quote when I read Love in the time of Pokemon: Poems about love, loneliness, and other funny things by debut poet Anurag Verma. As someone who doesn’t like to read poetry per se, this book was oddly captivating and relatable. The collection of 23 poems induces themes of tragic humor, isolation, randomness, nostalgia, love, and urban sprawl. The book was ranked number 4th on Amazon bestseller list, while its free Kindle version topped the charts.

We got an opportunity to have a tête-à-tête with Anurag about writing, weird names and lonely people living in matchbox apartments. Excerpts:

 

Why does the name on your book read Anurag minus Verma ?

There is an interesting story behind it. I was a confused kid, so while I was filling the class 10th board exam form, I forgot the spelling of my surname due to nervousness. ‘Verma’ or ‘Varma’, I thought. I called up my father but he was busy in a meeting. So wrote my name without any surname. Therefore all my official documents like passport, Aadhar Card were without any surname because they are based on my class 10th form. Although on Facebook it’s mandatory to write a surname. So I wrote Anurag Minus Verma. I found it more interesting and from then on I use it as pseudonym.

2

 

Most of your poems like ‘The man who did nothing’, ‘Sadness of building after rain’, ‘Big city loneliness’ and ‘Add Poem’ are set in an urban backdrop and give a sense of cynicism. What personal experience and observations shaped these poems?

Most of the poems are a result of wandering on the streets of the city. Eavesdropping on the the conversations of strangers, looking at people sitting alone in apartments or having random conversations about life with drunkards at a wineshop. The more you talk and look at them, the more you realize the amount of loneliness which is out on display on city streets. Though I don’t look at it from hopeless gaze because there is also a great deal of humor among people which somehow becomes the tool for survival in this strange world. That is the reason I want to incorporate various shades of human life such as loneliness, humor, nostalgia among various other things. City plays an important character to incorporate these elements.

Can you share your favorite lines from the book?

all the weight of those years

which have piled up into

minutes, days, week, years

are right here,

unfolding in the

Hotel Supreme Heritage

 

where two people watching a separate dream together,

are walking through their own nightmares

and I wonder that from the weight

of the collective loneliness in the room

the building will collapse and we would

be just another 2 people of the world dead

by the volcano of love.

When was the first time you decided that writing was was something you had to do? Was there a moment of epiphany, or the realization seeped in gradually?

I think it was during engineering. I was living kind of a purposeless life. I wrote some stories and poems during that time. For the first time I felt mildly felt good about my existence.  I had serious issues with expression in the form of spoken words. As an introvert, it was difficult for me to talk and say what I feel. When I am writing, I feel powerful, maybe the only time. I can say things which are not possible to say otherwise. Writing gives a certain degree of power to the misfits. In fact the first time I proposed a girl was through an SMS, while she was sitting in front of me.

What is the best thing about writing poetry?

Poetry gives you the chance to mix your nostalgia with fantasy. It gives a certain degree of meaning to many random events that had happened to us, and if a poet can express that with immaculate observations then it can create magic. So even a painful breakup from your girlfriend becomes an exciting opportunity to write poetry. All poets subconsciously love pain.

What’s the worst thing about writing poetry?

Difficult thing about writing the poetry is the vulnerability associated with it. You need to dwell in your past events to derive minute details and observation. For example, to write about your first love you need to time-travel to that event in your mind. So, after so many years you are back at that lost world again which you have tried to hide in your subconscious mind. You are there, smelling the perfume of your lover, feeling the texture of her dress. It opens up barrage of memories associated with it  and then evenings become lonelier.

Do you think that poetry is reviving again these days, especially with the advent of online platforms?

In the contemporary times, distribution of any art has become much easier. It’s easier to find an audience as there are lots of distribution channels available like Instagram, blogs, etc. But in terms of form and content it has become more mediocre than it was before. Now the sensational content and loud performances have taken the place of poetry which comes out from deeper observations of life. It’s more or less dead. Until someone brings a revolution, to transform it into humane, playful and contemporary form, the way it was imagined to be.

Few days ago I was reading about the writer who did a social experiment to prove shallowness of poetry in current times by posting meaningless verse on Instagram from his alter hipster ego. He instantly started getting thousands of likes and followers even for writing lines such as ‘love made her wild’.

So for the advancement of any art, we need deeper and relentless probing of human soul. Technological advancement can only help us to a certain degree.

Any tips for budding poets?

Experience life in its ugliness and beauty. Both are glorious. Never fall for easy routes. Be relentless, restless, peaceful and sometimes be nothing at all. All art derives from particular state of mind state. Prepare that mind state and let the words destroy you beautifully. As Bukowski said “For all things will kill you, both slowly and fastly, but it’s much better to be killed by a lover.”

 

About the author: Anurag is a filmmaker and Video Editor, besides being a poet and a failed computer engineer. After completion of his Masters in Arts and Aesthetics from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU, Delhi), he went to pursue a course in filmmaking from FTII, Pune. Some of his films have been shown at various film festivals across the world.

 

Picture Credits: Anurag Verma

 

Niharika Dabral
[email protected]

On 5th July 2017, CCTV cameras captured Riya Gautam being stabbed multiple times by her stalker, just 100 metres from her house in Shahdara, East Delhi. In a tragic turn of events, despite being taken to Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, she died on the very next day. Gautam, 21 years old, was pursuing her graduation from the University of Delhi (DU) via the distance education mode and aspired to be an air hostess soon. Among witnesses to this gruesome incident was Piyush Sharma, a 12-year-old boy and Gautam’s neighbour, who reported that the victim was stabbed in the neck from behind. Initially, she ran into a photo studio to seek help, but finding it desolate, moved onto another nearby shop. The attacker kept following her until the neighbours began to gather, following which, he ran in the opposite direction, as per eyewitness accounts.

Incidentally, Adil, the 22-year-old attacker, was known to Gautam’s family as he had stalked her in the past too. A complaint had been registered just three months prior to this incident. After the family filed the complaint, however, he disappeared.The police informed the family that he had fled to Gujarat. Girwan Singh, the father of the victim, who works at Maulana Azad Medical College, insists that the police find Adil as soon as possible. Concerned that he is still a threat to the society, Singh persists that “he should get the death sentence”.

This incident is the latest in a string of such cases of stalking in the capital, all having ended up with the victims losing their lives. A lack of awareness and preparation in dealing with such cases, police negligence, and a serious lack of coordination have all attributed to their deaths in the past as well. Incidentally, this is tied to the bigger and often neglected issue of mental health. Perhaps it is time, along with appropriate and faster action being taken by the law-enforcement authorities, to educate the masses about mental health issues and how to deal with them too. When it comes to sidelining and ignoring mental health, the aphorism that the biggest threat lies within comes true drastically.

Image credits: victimsofcrime.org

 

Deepannita Misra

[email protected]

 

Stories are powerful, they bring communities together, encourage communication and help us in expressing ourselves. Youth For Seva (YFS) announces “Story-fied: Come, be a storyteller!”, a unique campaign to engage volunteers to narrate a story based on the theme of ‘Resilience’ to under-privileged children with an aim to motivate and inspire them and also help them inculcate values.
img-20170706-wa0000
Remember the heroes of your story that motivated you to become the person you are right now in your life? YFS is giving you a chance to be that hero for a child and inspire a child through a story. Through these stories you can also become the reason behind their smiles for a day. This will help many children to take part in listening activities and this will help them in boosting their concentration power and confidence. Every story has its own magic, which will help to light the lamps of many up coming champions.
Being the youth, we have the power to change the world and make a difference.
COME VOLUNTEER WITH US, COME, BE A STORYTELLER!
The ‘Come, be a story-teller initiative’ is open for people from across India. Please register here: https://goo.gl/swXcaL
We will map you to a school and send you a book, as well as list of activities you can choose from, for the post-reading session. It is as simple as that and the more, the merrier! Come, be one among the 10,000 story-tellers India is going to see over the July 21-23 weekend.
For any queries drop us a mail at [email protected]

On Thursday, the Delhi High Court directed the Central Board for Secondary Education (CBSE) to accept all applications for re-evaluation. This is the result of a plea that was filed by students against CBSE challenging their notification, dated 28th June that imposed conditions on re-evaluation of mark sheets that students were only allowed to submit applications for up to 10 subjects and up to 10 theory questions per subject. A bench, including Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar, was hearing to this plea. The CBSE notification also mentioned that a revised mark sheet will only be issued if there is an increase of 5 or more marks, which the counsel called “arbitrary”.

The bench said, directing the board: “It cannot be denied that grave and irreparable loss/damage would be caused to the petitioners as far as their admissions to colleges are concerned,” and that the relief would be “admissible to all similarly situated students who seek reevaluation of their answer sheets.”

The bench posted the matter for further hearing on 26th July, issuing notice to the Centre, CBSE and Delhi University.

Image credits: livelaw.in

Anagha Rakta
[email protected]

As the flurry of admissions takes lakhs of undergraduate aspirants by storm, a case of turbulent admission presents itself; reeking of sheer injustice and irony. Aspiring to take admission under the Children of War Widows Category (CW Quota), Anjali Sirohi’s brother, and son of Late Lt. Col. Ravinder Kumar, was subjected to a harrowing experience. The authorities refused to accept the documents submitted by the applicant and asked his mother to provide proof of her husband’s death.

Probing the issue

Anjali took to Facebook to narrate this unjust tale on July 5th:

Image Credits: Anjali Sirohi's Facebook
Image Credits: Anjali Sirohi’s Facebook

Through the Facebook post, Anjali sought to draw eyes of the netizens to the exploitation and blatant mishandling of the issue by the authorities.

According to the regulations, Anjali’s brother fits in the 3rd Priority, the ‘Widows/Wards of Defence personnel who died in peace time with death attributable to military service.’ In their case, the Certificate of Educational Concession was drawn up by the Rajya Sainik Board. However, during the actual process, authorities from the Kendrya Sainik Board (KSB) were called in to verify these certificates, who refused to accept Sirohi’s document on grounds of corruption in the ‘Rajya Sainik Board’. The KSB authority further added that the certificate is not admissible as it doesn’t mention the term ‘with death attributable to military service.’ Speaking to DU Beat, Anjali says, “The exact terms were not mentioned in our certificate, due to which the person from the KSB refused to accept our documents. However, this phrase was mentioned in some certificates and not in others. The blatant discrepancy in record-keeping is the Board’s fault and cannot be pinned on us.”

The sheer apathy which the family was subjected to is deeply disturbing. Anjali went on to add that the officer asked her mother to prove the death of her husband as an official document, bitterly humiliating her. “After eight years, my mother was asked to produce documents proving her husband’s death conditions and was forced to pull all strings for arranging the certificates. The sheer humiliation she had to endure by the authorities was uncalled for”, she says.

Anjali had also tried contacting the Army Veterans Cell and the PMO’s website to seek for help but wasn’t acknowledged with a response. Last year, her sister who aspired to enroll in the University of Delhi’s Faculty of Medical Sciences-Lady Hardinge Medical College, was not granted admission due to a series of issues. Anjali explains how the seats were awarded to two students of influential figures – seats which should have clearly been offered to her sister who was eligible for it. They proceeded to take the issue to the High Court, never receiving a climactic order for the same.

Anjali’s mother was able to get the revised certificates documented in time. Hinting at a flair of hope, Anjali says, “The officers have accepted the certificate and we are now awaiting further actions as per the procedure.”

The framework of the CW category

Every year, candidates are admitted in the varsity through the CW quota, which offers respite to candidates hailing from a defence background. The University allows a provision of 5% (increased from last year’s 3%) of seats in each course to the children of eligible armed forces. The 5% concession offered to these candidates takes place in a particular order as per the guidelines. The admission procedure is conducted within a common pool of applicants at the Conference Centre in North Campus, where these applicants proceed to get their documents verified as the category list keeps descending. Documents majorly include the CW Category form, death certificate of the father, and the pension order.

Where the irony lies

The last few years have witnessed an erratic upward trajectory in our nationalistic attitudes. From debates about intolerance to altercations alluding to endorsing ‘anti-national’ speech, the country has grown conscious of the scrupulous membrane of patriotism which we’re bound to conform to. Amidst these confusing times, a certain pattern seems to have developed with each conflict – the usage of soldiers as a noble foundation of one’s argument. Some may nod their heads in agreement while others may regard it as a sour attribution to our country when I say the rhetoric of ‘Humare jawaan sarhad pe lad rahe hai’ has been used as frequently as the flinging of the blame on women when it comes to rape.

Sadly, this is where the adulation of the armed forced ends. Beyond the chatter of hailing and exultation, there lies the stark reality of exploitation of these families and the apparent unawareness which plagues them. Anjali recalls her encounters with various such families who remain in the dark about the quota services available to them, and how their rights are snatched from them, making them more susceptible to suffering.

It is important to comprehend that this is not a solitary incident; there are innumerable families of the armed forces who share a similar fate but are unable to exercise action due to the lack of services at their disposal. This issue is riddled with blatant corruption, mismanagement, and an unveiled disregard for those families who carry the baggage of the past. Awareness about these provisions needs to be disseminated. Only then can one truly laud the machinery and councils in place which seek to cater to the force of justice.

 

Feature Image Credits: Anjali Sirohi

Saumya Kalia
[email protected]  

In yet another worrying move for aspirants, the University of Delhi (DU) has decided to stop the admission of all candidates who passed their 12th grade examinations from the Haryana Board of Secondary Education (HBSE). Contradictions between the marks displayed on HSBE’s official website and those mentioned in the applicants’ mark-sheets led DU’s officials to take this extreme measure.

“While on the website, the score has been segregated by giving 60 marks to theory, 20 for practicals and 20 for continuous evaluation, the mark-sheets show a division of 70:20 with 70 for theory and 20 for practicals. This has been rejected by the varsity…” said a senior official of the admission committee, as reported by The Pioneer. DU had contacted the HSBE formally a few days ago, but the officials claim that they received “no communication” from the Board. With all lines of formal communication between the Board and the varsity thus collapsing, the students are stranded and left to fend for themselves. The colleges which had previously granted admission to the candidates of the Haryana Board on the basis of documents, since discovering the loophole in their mark-sheets, have suspended their admission. Furthermore, the admission committee has notified other colleges not to proceed with the admission of these candidates from now onwards.

With thousands thronging the varsity from all across the country and the globe, and only a few days available to the students to grab their seats after a new cut-off list has been issued, being denied admission on the basis of a faulty mark-sheet comes across as something unwarranted and unfair. While the Board refuses to cooperate, the University refuses to bend its rules for anybody. This tussle could go on perennially with the chief casualties being the hundreds of helpless, innocent students unless the authorities on both ends wake up soon to resolve the matter.

However, when approached by the Press Trust of India, the varsity denied the declaration of this decision. M.K. Pandit, Chairman of the admissions standing committee, refuting the above decision stated, “There are students from Haryana who are being admitted to prestigious colleges. News relating to stalling of admissions is false!”

 

Feature Image credits: EduShine

Deepannita Misra
[email protected]