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Annual Cultural Fest of LSR: Tarang ’17

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lsr annual fest 2017

The last day of the annual cultural fest of Lady Shri Ram College for Women, Tarang, created mass hysteria with the exciting events going on simultaneously in different parts of the college premises. ‘The Battle of Bands’ began with rock bands from different colleges where the Hindu College Collective from Hindu College, University of Delhi emerged as the winners. They were followed by the Asteroids and the Loose Puppets in second and third place respectively. In the event ‘Sangam’, the Indian choir competition, Swaranjali of Hans Raj College bagged the first position, followed by Alankar of Hindu College and Samranjini of Gargi College. The nukkadnatak or streetplay event was attended by the dramatics societies of various colleges from all over DU with fascinating scripts. Issues such as casteism and child abuse were discussed. It was a non-competitive event, but the amphitheatre remained crowded with the frenzied audience. Baila, the western dance competition mesmerised the crowd with amazing performance, such as those by Maitreyi College who were declared the winners. Participants of Jesus and Mary College and Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce bagged the second and the third positions respectively. Saaz, the Indian duet competition entertained participants for where Daulat Ram College emerged victors, followed by Kirori Mal College and Hans Raj College.

In addition, there were other events such as ‘Story Telling Competition’ by Elocution, Still Life Painting, and ‘Down the Rabbit Hole’, of which the latter was inspired by the classic novel Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll and was presented by Hive, the fine arts society of LSR. Workshops like those of beat-boxing and modern calligraphy, as well as mystery rooms were also conducted. Students of colleges from all over both DU and other universities participated in these events.

The scrumptious food stalls, footwear stalls, jewellery stalls, and candy stalls drew the crowd but the most attractive events of the last day were the performances of stand-up comedian Kenny Sebastian and indie-pop singer Lucky Ali. Kenny’s jokes hit the audience’s funny bones and the crowd exhorted throughout. Kenny took over the guitar, presenting his funny lyrics along with melodious tunes and tickled everyone till they let out boisterous laughs. Lucky Ali with his evergreen voice and his classic hits of the last two decades made sure that his fans were satisfied with his style of performance and the songs. He sprinkled the show with his major hits such as those from Kaho Na Pyaar Hai as well as some non-commercial indie songs.The festive merry feeling in Tarang 2017 throughout all three days was the best way to begin with the season of fests in DU with massive participation of students from colleges all over India.

 

Image Caption:Tarang 2017 comes to a close after three days of immense extravagance

Image Credits: VibhanaKanwar for DU Beat

 

Radhika Boruah

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E-Issue

Ellen DeGeneres breaks People’s Choice Awards record with 20 wins

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Ellen DeGeneres is a name synonymous with the American comedy and entertainment industry. She is known all over the world for her humour, smile, charm and tremendous courage, making her a force to reckon with. After spending over 20 years in the American entertainment industry, in 2017, Ellen bagged 3 more People’s Choice Awards, making her award tally the highest across Hollywood. She won awards in the fields of Favourite Daytime TV Host, Favourite Animated Movie for Finding Dory, and Favourite Comedic Collaborator. Previously, Ellen has won awards for Favourite Daytime TV Host six times along with Favourite Talk Show Host four times, Favourite Comedic Actress four times and Favourite Humanitarian. Ellen was presented the trophy by Justin Timberlake who referred to her as ‘one of the best people on this planet’. Ellen, humbled by her 20th win, thanked her audience for their support, motivation and laughs.

Apart from Ellen’s 20 wins at the People’s Choice Awards, she has also won 29 Emmys, numerous other awards for her charitable works, and most recently, the Presidential Medal of Freedom given to her by President Barack Obama. Ellen has also hosted popular and prestigious events like the Academy Awards, Grammy Awards and the Prime Time Emmy Awards. Ellen is truly an icon the world admires as she personifies the importance of courage, grace and determination in order to lead a commercially successful life. Ellen has always taken bold steps in her life, which have led to her global significance. She was the first openly lesbian television actress who talked about LGBT issues, bullying and depression. Her coming out story gathered a mixed reaction in a slowly modernising America. In 2008, she married her long time girlfriend Portia de Rossi. Ellen and Portia have been very proud of their step towards gaining marriage equality for all same sex couples across America. Ellen is a proud humanitarian who engages herself with charitable causes across the world and also stands strongly for animal rights.

Ellen has been viewed as an icon of phenomenal success and strength. Her ever expanding network of global significance keeps growing as she proves to the world that being happy and being who you truly are must be complementary terms in order to produce a successful life. May she keep putting a wide smile across our faces forever. We love you Ellen!

Picture Credits: Fox News

Joyee Bhattacharya

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QWERTY

QWERTY: Big acquisitions of companies built by Indian techies

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Many Indians take the risk of starting their own venture, especially in the field of technology. However, there are only a few who are rewarded handsomely for taking that risk. Making the right decisions can lead to the success of a company, and when it comes to selling the company, the right choice is what makes it or breaks it. Selling too early and selling too late, both roads lead to financial regret and loss of zeros at the end of the number on the cheque. Here’s a list of few Indians companies that sold to the western giants such as Facebook, Google and others:

 

1.      TupleJump

TupleJump was a Hyderabad based startup which focused on machine learning, a field of artificial intelligence. The company was acquired by Apple very quietly, sometime in 2016, for a whopping $20 million. The company comprised a very small team of 16 at the time of acquisition. It was started in 2013. It is Apple’s first acquisition in India.

Image Credits: github.com
Image Credits: github.com

2.      Flutter

Navneet Dalal and Mehul Nariyawala founded Flutter, a startup focusing on gesture based technology. The company is known for their “flutter app” which allowed users to control apps such as iTunes, VLC and others using hand gestures and movements. The brilliance of the app lay in the fact that no additional hardware was required, unlike Microsoft’s Kinect, at that time. It was acquired by Google in October 2013 for $40 million.

Image Credits: Wikipedia
Image Credits: Wikipedia

3.      AppDynamics

Jyoti Bansal founded AppDynamics in 2008. It is an IT operation and application performance maintenance company, working majorly in the area of managing performance and availability of applications on cloud platform. It was acquired by Cisco for $3.7 billion.

Image Credits: appdynamics.com
Image Credits: appdynamics.com

4.      Little Eye Labs

This Bangalore based startup makes software which analyses the performance of android apps and generates detailed reports. It was acquired by Facebook in January 2014. Although the actual amount hasn’t been disclosed, the deal is said to have been sealed in the range of $10-15 million. It was the first Indian company acquired by Facebook.

Image Credits: littleeye.co.in
Image Credits: littleeye.co.in

 

Kavach Chandra

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Cultural Festivals

Hacks for the DU Fest Season

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There are a few elements within the peripheries of life which are known to flourish magnificently in association. Food and happiness, heartbreak and ice cream, weekends and binge-watching, and University of Delhi and the fest season. With a multitude of colleges bringing forward numerous reasons to escalate excitement levels with intriguing competitions and enthralling events, have a look at the musts to guarantee a satisfying fest experience!

  1. Classes, Society, and Work Management

All fun and no work make Jack an even duller boy. Amidst the excitement to sway to the rhythms of fun, take a step back and engage in some Time Management 101. There are a plethora of legendary fests which wait for your presence, so juggle between events by squeezing in the occasional classes between fest and society meetings, and treat yourself to some fest-fun later!

  1. The Entry Logistics

With Facebook reminders of fests and events also come reports of buying passes in black or selling fake IDs. While some colleges relax entry restrictions, others tighten them to reduce the possibility of non-DU students getting into the realms of the fun which everyone is talking about. Find out about the requirements of your scheduled fest, and be prepared.

  1. Wardrobe Woes

As the weather transcends from the chilly winters to the warmly-pleasant summers, it is important to plan your outfits keeping the weather in mind and so as to not go through the ordeal of repetition. Keep up with the trends, do smart shopping, and go for outfits which are easy to handle and maintain!

  1. Get Ready to Roll

As you set the stage to make the best out of this period, make sure all internal matters are taken care of. Shield yourself from the cold, for a fever can put your fest plans to rest. Eat and drink at regular intervals so as to not tire quickly, and come prepared with some Chandler Bing-unlike moves to grace the DJ nights.

With the energy levels full to the brim, are you ready for the season of fun?

 

Image Credits: DU Beat

 

Saumya Kalia

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DU Annual Fest Season

Day 2 at Tarang’17 : Thriving on thrills

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A confluence of talent, enigma, and exuberance, the second day at Tarang gleamed with enthralling events and exhibitions to be lavished upon!

As the extravagance spilt over the second day of Lady Shri Ram College’s fest, Tarang, a vast spectrum of talent exhibitions was gloriously presented by teams from a multitude of colleges. With colours of vibrancy and exhilaration floating around the rooms and corridors of LSR, the penultimate day of the fest let spirits soar high and eyes feast upon all the magnificence as a day of exhilaration unfolded!

The day witnessed events of a broad range – from the photography competition, the treasure hunt, and the script writing competition to workshops scaling around sculpting and jewellery-making. Vaktritva, the public speaking society, organised Tarkvyuh, the parliamentary debate competition. Gaurav and Pratyush from the Delhi School of Economics cross team won the Hindi parliamentary debate.

An a cappella competition titled A Cappella – Pitch Please organised by the western music society of Lady Shri Ram College saw the final participation of the nine best western music societies. The melodies of Coldplay, Twenty One Pilots, and other contemporary artists were performed on the stage. The competition was judged by Miss Sherry Mathew and Miss Kamakshi Khanna. At the end of all the performances, Kamakshi Khanna, singer/composer of “The Stage” fame, took the stage and performed three songs from her latest album Cakewalk. “It’s so great to be back here, back to my favourite auditorium”, said Kamakshi, who is also the ex-President of the western music society of Lady Shri Ram College. The results of the completion were as follows: first position grabbed by Euphony of Gargi College, the second position was secured by Echo of Jesus and Mary College, and Swaranjali of Hansraj College seized the third position.

The competitive pulses escalating with every question, the quiz society unrolled the pop culture and India quizzes. The former, open to all participants, witnessed cross-college teams. In the pop culture quiz, Abhishek Kapoor, Akul Gurtu, and M Vishnu Vardhan bagged the first prize, with Varun Rastogi, Rabin Jacob, and Puranjay winning the second prize. The third prize was awarded to Raktim Nag, Raman U, and Gokul S. In the India quiz, Soumya Sagar, Kartik Puri, and Ankush Bhardwaj secured the first prize. Apratim Chandra Singh, Jayant Verma, and Bishal Kumar took the second prize and Ankur Agraj, Abhishek Mishra, and Priyam Sneha bagged the third prize.

The Indian musical society of LSR organised Bandish, the solo instrumental competition, with participants displaying their prowess on the equipment of their choice. The room was filled with melodies of beats circling the atmosphere with each participant.

The aesthetic creations were also presented by Hive, which organised the musical interpretation painting competition. The first prize was won by Narendra of College of Arts, with Anishka from Kamala Nehru College and Sushmita from Deshbandhu College bagging the second and third prizes respectively. A Special Mention prize was also awarded to Avani from Hans Raj College.

 

As the chords crawled in the depths of the heart, the dance society presented Mudra, the classical solo and duet competition. A myriad of riveting performances clad in artistic precision and cultural aura paved the way for applauses and appreciation. In the solo category, Aishwarya from Sri Venkateswara College, Nimisha from Janaki Devi Memorial College bagged the first and second prizes respectively. Chhavi from Gargi College and Unni Vishwanath from Hans Raj College won the Special Mention prize. In the duet category, Tejaswani and Nandita from Hans Raj College were awarded the first prize.

 

 

To set in motion the rhythmic wave for the evening, the Indian musical society organised Amalgam, the fusion band competition which witnessed the participation of six teams after the screening of 17-18 teams online. As the bands performed compelling compositions from the realms of the industry and that of the soul, the crowd collectively cheered for the beautiful ambience. With Hans Raj College seizing the third prize and Shiv Nadar University bagging the second, the team from Shaheed Bhagat Singh College was awarded the winning prize in this enthralling event.

 

A glimpse of the fusion band competition

 

Drawing the eventful day to a close, Tarang’s pro night on the second day witnessed the enigmatic presence of the EDM artist Anish Sood. An Indian musician leading the path to Electronic Dance Music within the periphery of the country, the DJ played the likes of The Chainsmokers’ Closer and Don’t Let Me Down, amongst other songs and compositions. The tunes sent the audience into a daze, who swayed rhythmically to the edgy music and went gaga over the artist. With the lights shining at their brightest and the waves of energy palpable, the evening ended on high notes and the crowd yearning for more!

Anish Sood live at #LSRTarang17 

Feature image credits: DU Beat 

Saumya Kalia

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Niharika Dabral

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Vineeta Rana 

[email protected] 

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DU Annual Fest Season

Day 1 at LSR’s Tarang’17: ‘Redefining Rhapsody’ kicks off with a bang

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Lady Shri Ram College’s much-awaited annual fest, Tarang, is finally here. Tarang 2017, with its theme of “redefining rhapsody” is a three-day long spectacle taking place from the 3rd to the 5th of February 2017. With starry pro nights, exhibitions, games, competitions, workshops and great food, the first day of Tarang was definitely a hit.

 

Take a look at the Day 1 happenings at Tarang captured by us in time-lapse. 

 

 

The western music society of LSR organised events for both solo participants, as well as teams of three. In the solo category, Zacharyah Matthew Abraham of Ansal University,  Kishore Ningthoujam of Amity University and Gurpreet Kaur of Jesus and Mary College won first, second and third place respectively. In the trio category, Kishore Ningthoujam, Lishma Manandhar and Rhea Toor, accompanied by Saarim Khan from Amity University won the first prize, Shikha Agnihotri, G.S Kasturi and Manikaant Suryan, accompanied by Ujjwal Sharma and Ashanka Saha from NSIT won the second prize and Riddhi Sharma, Rigzin Angmo and Klirka Engtipi from Shri Ram College of Commerce won the third prize.

The dramatics society of the college held its stage play event “Yavnika”, and presented five of the best productions of this year. Among the participants were – Yakshagana, the theatre society of Northern India Engineering College, who performed “Shunya Battey Sannata”; Sri Venkateswara College’s Verbum, with “Learning to Drive”, a nonchalant yet hard-hitting play that revolved around child sexual abuse; Natuve, the theatre society of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College with their hilarious production “PA…BHA…KA…”; Shunya, the theatre society of Ramjas College with “Evam Indrajit”. The last performance of the day was “The Play That Goes Wrong” by Dramanomics, the theatre society of the College of Vocational Studies. The non-competitive event allowed the different societies to showcase their performances without any rivalry.

 

SlamNation, a slam poetry completion organised by the Elocution Society saw powerful recitals of spoken word performances. 

The umbrella painting competition conducted under Hive, the Fine Arts society, brightened up the amphitheatre with vibrant and colourful creations.

Check out a sneak peek from the competition

The latter half of Day 1 at Tarang saw a steady rise in footfall, perhaps in anticipation of the star performances scheduled for later in the evening.

The Indian music society organised ‘Malhar’, the Indian solo classical competition. Bhargavi from Kirori Mal College claimed the first position, while second position was shared by Shreya from Shri Ram College of Commerce and Gurditt from Guru Tegh Bahadur Institute of Technology. Rajagopal from Shiv Nadar University took the third place.

“Izzaz”, the choreo group dance competition was organised by LSR’s dance society. The first position was jointly shared by Hans Raj College and Gargi College, while the second position was won by Kirori Mal College.

 

Towards the end of the night, Kanika Kapoor made a short appearance to endorse fashion brand Lulu and Sky. She gave away vouchers of the brand to winners from a previously organised competition and sung a few of her songs like ‘Chittiyan Kalaiyan’ and ‘Da Da Dasse’ on popular audience demand.  The highlight of the day was Prateek Kuhad’s soulful concert. He had the crowd completely captivated with his honey-like voice and lilting music.

 

Missed Prateek Kuhad’s performance? We’ve got you covered! Catch a glimpse of his performance below

 

 

 

The first day of Tarang also offered a range of workshops on pottery, jewellery making and modern calligraphy. With such an energetic start, the next two days of the fest are surely something to look forward to.

Feature image credits: Harshit Thukral

Niharika Dabral

[email protected]


Kriti Sharma
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Vineeta Rana

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Arts & Culture

The Jaipur Literature Fest 2017 experience

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Jaipur Literature Festival celebrated ten successful years of organisation in 2017. The event was organised from the 19th to the 23rd of January at Diggi Palace, Jaipur. The 2017 edition of the festival featured writers, poets, speakers and artists from a variety of genres of literature.

 

The event began on the first day with an enthralling musical performance by the Shillong Chamber Choir, followed by the keynote address by Gulzar and Anne Waldman. The five day event went on to witness a huge crowd from India and abroad, acknowledging international authors and artists like Emma Sky, David Park, Roberto Calasso, Hyeonseo Lee and Rachel Dwyer. Indian authors who added to the festivity of the event were Devdutt Pattanaik, Ashwin Sanghi and Dhrubajyoti Borah. Other artists who spoke of their field at the festival were Javed Akhtar, Shashi Tharoor, Sudhir Mishra, Imtiaz Ali, Rishi Kapoor and Neel Madhav. After a long day of sessions and interactions, the organisation held a Music Stage: Cultural Night of Jaipur Literature Festival at Hotel Clarks, Amer from 19th to 22nd January, 2017. These cultural nights saw splendid performances by some of the best greatest performers in the international and Indian music industries. The musical genres ranged from indie and electro to folk and sufi, ensuring that there was something for everyone.  Artists like Rajasthan Josh, Band Kabir Cafe, Raghu Dixit, Inna Modja, Lisa Hannigan and others put up breathtaking shows on all four days.

Image Credits: jaipurliterarturefestival.org
Image Credits: jaipurliterarturefestival.org

 

Apart from literature and music,  Ojas Art, has been an annual fixture of JLF, instrumenting and incorporating visual arts into programming, and providing a platform for artists to showcase their work and also awarding the best to encourage them. Since 2008, JLF has seen growth in numbers of both speakers and spectators. Appreciating the grand tenth anniversary celebrations, a spectator was overheard saying, “India is very rich in literature and the growth of partisans in these literary events in the recent past is highly appreciable.”

Radhika Boruah

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Bazinga

BAZINGA: Teachers blame bad handwriting of students for late exam results

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In typical University of Delhi fashion, exam results for the previous semester were released late, almost two months after the exams ended. Students were so nervous for their results during the long gap that most of them even forgot that they’d given an exam in the first place!

DU Beat investigated the matter with the intention of writing a scorching article criticising the effete administration but learned that all the teachers who had corrected the exam scripts now unanimously blame the bad handwriting of students for delaying the declaration of results.

According to Professor Soandso from Mata Kali College, “Before I started correcting the answer scripts, my eye power was +2, now it has increased to +2.5! I don’t think we get paid enough to scrutinise the scribbling of students for almost 5 hours straight every day during the correction period.” When asked why the second year results were declared the latest, she said, “Because their handwriting was the worst!” She seemed so flustered at even the mention of answer scripts that no further interrogation was possible.

Many members of the Delhi University Teachers’ Association have pleaded to the university to increase their payment for correcting the scripts, or better yet, to install a computer software that will aid them in deciphering the almost code-like handwriting of students.

DU Beat recommends to all students reading this to make efforts to improve their scripts or wait for another two months, as is customary, for their DU results.

Disclaimer: Although when it comes to Delhi University, almost anything is possible, our Bazinga column of believably fake news is to be enjoyed and not to be believed!

Photo credits- blogspot.com

Swareena Gurung

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Features

Explore Delhi with Musafir, the Heritage Walk Society

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

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

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

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

img-20170202-wa0002

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

Feature Image: Jasmine Chahal for Musafir and DU Beat

Kriti Sharma
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DUB News

KYS approaches DCW over selfies ban notice at Miranda House

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selfies ban notice

Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS) has approached the Delhi Commission of Women with a memorandum alleging that Miranda House has framed “highly discriminatory and anti-women” rules for the students of SOL.

Earlier in January, an unsigned notice put up at Miranda House made news for apparently “banning” women students of School of Open Learning (SOL) from taking selfies, brushing their hair and modelling, claiming it as wastage of time. Principal of Miranda House, Dr. Pratibha Jolly, later said that the notice was only suggestive in nature.

Recently, the Krantikari Yuva Sangathan, an association of SOL students, has approached authorities on Tuesday, demanding a written apology from the college administration and to stop the discrimination against women students of SOL. The memorandum also demanded that “humiliating treatment against SOL students” should be discontinued and strict action should be taken against staff members if found harassing these students.

An official from the Delhi Commission of Women told The Indian Express, “We have received a representation from students alleging that discriminatory practices being adopted by college and such a misogynistic circular has been issued. We have asked for a point-wise reply from the college on the students’ complaint within seven days.”

Previously, the students of SOL also staged a protest against Miranda House’s college administration for framing “sexist and discriminatory” rules and had submitted a memorandum for the annulment of the notice, effective immediately. While the notice was withdrawn, the college staff resorted to collecting identity cards of the SOL students before every class.

On Friday, pamphlets were being distributed in the Miranda House campus in order to encourage other students to join their movement.  The pamphlet stated that “Miranda House exercises an institutional bias” against the students of SOL. It also said that the selfies-ban notice was published only because of the social profile of the women students of SOL, and demanded an end to this discrimination. The KYS also called the notice an act of “moral policing” and termed it as “misogynistic.”

Image credits: Ifsha Zehra, Miranda House

By Anagha Rakta ([email protected])

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