– Koh Choon Hwee
It was Wednesday and it was very befuddling why Madam still had not shown up in class. My attendance was in jeopardy, thanks to a clumsily conceived MOU – Memorandum of (supposed) Understanding – signed by my home university and the lovely LSR; clumsiness on the part of my university of course, which went with a very Confucian pedantry on hours and attendance and algorithms of credit conversion, as well as a supreme ignorance of Indian ‘culture’, whatever that word means.
Thank Bhagwan for something to read away the time, for the copy of DU beat was foisted on me by Pragya Mukherjee and the very strange insight that her article has proffered – on the Indian conception of Japanese culture. So apparently old Indians think that Japanese culture is all about “pornography or gory violence”, while young Indians think that Japanese equals “anime and video games”. Pragya thinks Japan is more than that, and is a bit upset at the village-mindset-type-reactions that greeted her decision to learn the language. How all very fascinating, which made me want to tell you about what I think Singaporeans think about Indians; or rather, what happened when I revealed that I was going to spend a year in your lovely country, to my lovely family and friends.
There were your usual what the flucks and dire (racist) warnings about how Indians talk very well, very eloquently, but don’t believe them, they will cheat you, they love your money more than they love you – until I pointed out that that’s what they say about the Chinese too, the money bit at least. (Yeah I’m a Chinky!) “Why India?” was a common question accompanying a scowl or a look of utter incomprehension. “The future is in China, not India!” – which is, by the way, the reigning consensus in tiny Singapore, but that’s not the point since I’m certainly not in India to fleece people and institutions of their money, which is what they inevitably mean when they say the future is somewhere. Better yet, I was at a Bollywood dance class at the Singapore Khalsa, alongside Punjabi Sikh Aunties and one Punjabi Sikh Uncle when all of them surrounded me and one Auntie Gurmeet said, “Careful, don’t let those Indians bully you, okay girl?!” Yeah, Singaporean Indians are not Indians, so obviously true but I hadn’t realized it till then. (But I guess I would not consider myself China Chinese, so there.)
At the other end of the spectrum there was Weify, the ONLY South Asian Studies Final Year Honours student this year from my home university (and my best friend from college) who plays Jana Gana Mana on Youtube at home and weeps prolifically and then emails me about it. Bhagwan. The South Asian Studies Department is one of the smallest departments, filled with Indophiles who are just the sort to go screaming inside Weify’s car one night, when it went past a Minister’s house, hands plastered on car windows, just because there were Gurkhas on duty guarding the place. GURKHAS!!!! One of them (Haza, who may be gracing LSR corridors next year) wanted me to bring back some mud from India. I deleted her text message.
So I finally came, landed, moved in, and it’s been a good six months or so into the “Indian experience”. Recently, the Incredible India commercial has been showing on TV quite a lot and I’ve never seen that Incredible India. Though, I have been rendered incredulous countless times. Teacher strikes, student strikes, autowallas also want to strike. I have crashed the AISA hunger strike against the school fee hike. I say ‘crashed’ because my presence was thoroughly fraudulent as I snuck away to eat dinner at McDonalds. Except I was kindly informed that some of the leaders had went off to eat supper at night anyway, since it was a “relay hunger strike”. This is to me what chopsticks are to you, fascinating!
Unlike Pragya, in response to her editorial titled “Wrong About Japan”, I don’t think I could make a better country out of India, just by learning more of it. It hasn’t made a better me, I’ve just been fleeced and freeze-d, and now I’m thinking what the point is to this article, and my exchange program. I don’t think there is a point actually, except that the journey has been flucking funny.
The National Alliance of Peoples’ Movements (NAPM) organized a dharna on the 16th and 17th of February at Jantar Mantar for the Narmada Bachao Andolan. Hundreds of oustees of Maheshwar dam came to Delhi for the two day programme to demand that the construction of the Maheshwar dam should be stopped immediately. The construction of the Maheshwar dam, touted to be one of the largest on Narmada, is going to affect around 50,000 to 70,000 peasants, fisher people, boatpeople and landless workers who are supposed to be provided with agricultural land but so far, though the construction work is nearing completion, the rehabilitation process has only progressed to some 5%. Even after repeated pleas to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, there has been no move to stop construction and through this dharna, they hoped to attraction to the oustees’ plight and strengthen their struggle for their rights.
When: 1st to 28th February
Where: Sugar ‘N’ Spice, he Village Restaurant Complex, Siri Fort Auditorium
What: The Indian restaurant goes spicy this February with the Kashmiri Cuisine on their HOT CHART. Aroma richness in taste of the Kashmiri dishes is enough to blow your gustatory senses. Delicious dishes like Goshtaba, Aromatic curry dish-Rogan josh, Kashmiri Mutton curry -Mutton Yakhni, Macch, Tamatar Chamaan, Rajmaha, Creamy Rice Flour Pudding -Phirini and Kawha are all present on the menu.The vegetarian dished will cost around Rs. 300 and the non-veg ones around Rs. 400. Both lunch & dinner will be available within the restaurant timings from 12 to 11 pm
The Debating Society of Shri Ram College of Commerce hosted the 5th Ernst and Young SRCC Debating Festival 2010 in association with Titan and styled by Uni Style Image from 6th to 9th February at the college premises amid increased fanfare and excitement. The festival is the biggest of its kind in India and is the only festival dedicated to debating, having more than 4 different types of debates namely the conventional debate, parliamentary debate, turncoat and the group discussion. Over the years it has become one of the most prestigious debates with more than 40 colleges from all over India participating.
Crossfire, the parliamentary styled debate saw more than 45 teams battling it out for the top slot. There were 5 qualifying rounds after which 8 teams made it to the knock out phase. The motions were based on various themes like a time set on international relations, lifestyle, gender and privacy, law and economics. The finals saw a duel between Hindu College and Ramjas debating on the motion “This house believes that evidence obtained illegally should be admissible in court” with Hindu College emerging victorious. The Hindu team consisted of Kabir Nanda, Rhea Chatterjee and Mehak while the Ramjas team was made up of Siddharth Thyagarajan, Aanchal Kapoor and Karandeep.
The finals of the 33th Shri Ram Memorial Conventional Debate was judged by Kapil Arora, Partner with the Advisory Services of Ernst & Young, and Shishir Sinha, Senior journalist CNBC Awaaz. Only 5 teams made it to the final round, the motion debated being ‘this house believes capitalism will kill itself”. Urvashi Gupta of SRCC won the best speaker while Danvir Suri and Ananya Kotia of Hansraj won the best team.
Renegade was the turncoat debate. A turncoat debate is one in which the speaker first speaks in favour of the motion assigned to him and then against it. Every speaker got a different motion. Pranay Bhatia of IIT Bombay won the best speaker award and the second best speaker was awarded to Danvir Suri of Hansraj College.
The event knowledge partner Alchemist conducted Synergy-the group discussion. Kunal of Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Sciences (NMIMS), Mumbai won the GD while Urvashi Gupta from SRCC was adjudged the second best speaker.
The winners of the various events were given cash prices along with Titan watches.
1. Furry bags: Bags that look like they will come alive any second and go “woof!” are not cool. They are meant to carry stuff in, not to be used as substitute pets so go hide them before PETA gets onto your case.
2. Excessive colour: Rainbows look pretty in the sky but we do not need walking, talking versions of them down here, thank you.
3. Sunglasses indoors: You can be excused of this only if you’re an underworld don or you’re blind. So unless you want people grabbing you by the hand and guiding you to classes or scampering away in fear every time you pass by, STOP! Or get a gun/walking stick to go along with it.
4. Too many accessories: December went by a long time ago so you can stop pretending to be a Christmas tree now.
5. Extra tight clothes: Squeezing into tiny clothes will not make you shrink, but it does make you look like an overfilled balloon, waiting to burst.
Beat the heat with a scholarly retreat
STANFORD SUMMER PROGRAM
Stanford Summer Session classes feature open enrollment, accessible instructors, small classes, a diverse student body and a stunning campus. Undergraduates and graduates from around the world are drawn to Palo Alto and Stanford’s lifestyle: the best of academics, research, athletics and recreation.
Summer visitors take eight-week courses in the schools of Humanities and Sciences, Earth Sciences, and Engineering. A ten-week Physics sequence is also offered. Credit earned may be eligible for transfer to another college or university.
The university began reviewing applications in January, 2010. You will receive a decision concerning your admission via email approximately one week after receipt of your completed application. Students are strongly encouraged to apply as early as possible. The application deadline is June 13, 2010.
For more information visit: http://summer.stanford.edu/
LSE SUMMER SCHOOL
LSE Summer School offers over 60 three-week courses taught by LSE’s world-renowned faculty. All courses take place on our main campus in the heart of London.
Courses can often be taken for credit against your own degree, and are examined to LSE standards. Summer School courses are drawn from across the university, and are divided into six subject areas:
Accounting, Economics, English Language, International Relations, Government & Society, Law and Management.
The deadline for applications is May 28 2010.
For more information, including eligibility criteria, visit: http://www2.lse.ac.uk/study/summerSchool/Home.aspx
OXFORD UNIVERSITY INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMES
The international programmes organized by the Department for Continuing Education attract hundreds of students each year. Participants come from over fifty countries, mainly the United States, other European countries, China and Japan.
Some of the programmes are liberal arts courses in the humanities and social sciences; others are vocationally orientated in such areas as English language teaching, law, public policy and administration, and theology. Most programmes are short, lasting from one to six weeks, and many are held in the summer; however, a few extend over several terms.
Admission requirements vary from programme to programme.
For details about the programmes and their requirements visit: http://international.conted.ox.ac.uk/
INTERNATIONAL SUMMER SCHOOL
The International Summer School at the University of Sussex welcomes hundreds of international students each summer from mid-June until mid-August. You can study with us for either four or eight weeks and choose from more than 60 courses in the humanities, sciences and social sciences.
There are many exciting new courses on offer for 2010 including courses in business and management, psychology, sociology, and history.
2010 Session dates:
Session 1 dates: 28 June – 23 July (4 weeks)
Session 2 dates: 26 July – 20 August (4 weeks)
Last date for application: 1st April 2010
For more details visit: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/iss/
Credit:
SRISHTI RASTOGI
B.COM(P) 2ND YEAR
RAMJAS COLLEGE
The English Literary Society of Hindu College will be organizing its annual creative writing competition, Flare, from February 1 this year. Started under the aegis of Dr. Lalita Subbu, Flare is one of the most eagerly awaited competitions in Delhi University. The competition is open to all. A maximum of two poems and one short story will be accepted from each participant. The entry fee for short story is Rs 50 and for poems is Rs 25 per poem. Entries will be accepted over a one month period, that is, from the 1st of February to the 1st of March, following which a magazine consisting of the entries received will be published. The best thing about Flare is that it Imbibes participation from one and all and is not restricted to the English literary circuit, or Hindu college or even Delhi University. Dr Subbu always encouraged college students to explore their talents. This is just one of her ways of doing it. The English Department dept is extremely proud of flare and eager to keep up tradition. Participants are required to send in their entries to kudos.hindu@gmail.com and are also required to submit a hard copy to the organizers.