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The Chai Story

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If Delhi was to be a country, chai would be its national drink.

We’re a nation of tea lovers, so much so that a former chai waala now presides over the country as the Prime Minister of India! The drink is an indispensable part of an average Indian’s life.

Here is a list of chai points which are a hit amongst our on-campus colleges.

1. Metro waale bhaiiya, near the parking lot, Vishwavidyalaya Metro Station, New Delhi
 As Delhi acquires the trappings of a modern metropolis, the carts dedicated exclusively to serving tea are becoming fewer. But, it is still possible to stop in the middle of a busy road and quench one’s thirst for tea for just a couple of rupees.

Each morning, be it winter or summer, a bhaiyya would pull out his chai cart at the entrance of Chhatra Marg, opposite to the Vishwavidyalaya Metro Station parking lot. As the tea boils on his kerosene stove, students who would get down from the metro to proceed to their north campus colleges would stop for a cup. Apart from the stove and kettle, the tea cart has plastic jars of fen and rusks, the classic chai accompaniments.

Yet the chai is perfect on its own. With a hint of crushed ginger, it is not too strong, too milky or too sugary. Sometimes a leaf from the tree above falls into the kettle, as well.
2. The Chai Story, Satya Niketan-
The Chai Story, a chai outlet located just opposite Venkateshwara College in Satya Niketan, provides a simple, cozy, and refreshing ambiance and different varieties of teas and lite bites. The cozy corners and mouth-watering fast food items make it a perfect place for meetings, conversation, or just spending some time with friends.
3. Sudama Tea Stall, North Campus, New Delhi
As and when you step into the university area, you will hear about Sudama Tea Stall. At any given time of the day, you will see this place flooded with college students. Even at 7 pm, you’d find the place filled with students discussing college projects, or just chilling with chai.
4. The Singing Tree, opposite Market No. 1 in CR Park
The place is best known for kulhad chai, lemon tea, lopchu, and Davidoff coffee. Once you’re here, you will become a fan of this place. This street-side hippie joint is a great place for the student crowd looking for options which are within their budget. It’s a popular spot for students of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College and Deshbandhu College. While at Raju Bhaiyya’s shop, pair your cup with some crispy biscuits or Mathri.
5. JP Tea Stall, D-School, North Campus, New Delhi
Winter might be coming but we Indians are not concerned because we’re armed with the drink of the aam aadmi and the elixir of productivity itself- chai.
The tea stall at Delhi School of Economics is your spot if you’re looking for some “chai pe charcha”, because the humble stall is the scene for a plethora of discussions on issues ranging from national interest to international affairs, amongst students (with the occasional presence of the professors as well).
6. Suresh Tea Stall, Hudson Lane, GTB Nagar, New Delhi, Delhi 110009
Famous for his Rajma Chawal and parathas, the appearance of the chaiwallah might be deceptive but you will be surprised to know that the cost of a bhand of his tea is Rs 10 and he sells not less than 150 cups of tea in a day.
150×10=1500.
When asked about his work hours, he says, he keeps making tea from 7 in the morning to 10 at night, with a one and a half hour break in the afternoon. The economics of tea is backbreaking, indeed.
7. Gweyer Tea Stall, North Campus
As you sample teas in Gweyer, remember what British politician William Ewart Gladstone said, “If you are cold, tea will warm you; if you are too heated, it will cool you; if you are depressed, it will cheer you and if you are excited, it will calm you”. Gweyer makes unadulterated desi chai like adrak ki chai and lemon tea. Located at a walking distance from most North Campus colleges, the place is totally a hottie! (read: hot tea)
8. Ganesh Tea Stall, Patel Chest, North campus, New Delhi
A mix of new-age ‘quirky’ and old-style charming. 
From sizzling spiced tea to a cup of refreshing lemon tea, the love that the students of KMC and Campus Law College have for GTS is unparalleled. Their sun shines with its first sip and sets with the last one.
Feature Image Credits: Hemant Goyal
Vaibhavi Sharma Pathak
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DUB Speak

Hookah Ban in Delhi

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The Delhi Government has put a ban on serving of hookahs in Delhi and has asked the Municipal Corporation of Delhi to cancel licenses of cafes and restaurants that defy the orders.

At the end of October, the Delhi government declared the ban of serving of Shisha, popularly known as Hookah in cafes and restaurants within the capital. The government also asked Municipal Corporation to discredit the license of the places which continue to serve hookah despite the ban.

The main reason behind the ban was the harmful effects hookah has on the health of people. The health threats posed by hookah have been a matter of debate for long. Times Now reported that State Tobacco Control Cell conducted several raids in various parts of Delhi and the analysis showed the presence nicotine in a significant amount in almost all the samples. This ban is a solid step taken by the Delhi government to take a stand against the problem of smoking.

Hookah is apparently seen as a safe alternative to cigarettes as it is claimed or had been claimed to not contain tobacco. It served the purpose of smoking without causing the ill-effects. It is most popular among the young population indulging plenty in the process of smoking. However, on the basis of recent results and this concrete step taken by the Delhi government, it can be said that hookah is not safe and not at all a harmless alternative to smoking. Also, smoking hookah includes taking a greater number of puffs in comparison to cigarettes.

The ban is also focused on preventing the younger generation from indulging in smoking such harmful substances. The ban raises a great deal of concern on how much of the youth is actually involved in smoking. The growing generation naturally learns from the people before them and it has now become a trend to start smoking hookah from a young age. Not doing so results in being labeled as either “innocent” or “incompetent”. The tendency to smoke hookah is seen as a “cool” thing. Who doesn’t want to be cool? Some do it for fun; some do it to imitate others while others do it to avoid the insults. Regardless of whatever the reason is, almost every teenager does hookah at least in the big cities.

A month on from the ban, many places still serve hookah in the capital. For cafes and restaurants, it’s their business and they will want to sell more. But what about the people like us? What about teens who are still in school? Doing hookah does seem like a good sport, but we need to start filtering what really is right for us and what is not. Teens are attracted to stuff and very easily get addicted, but someone, somewhere, somehow needs to find a way to stop this. And it’s not just about the government banning such substances. This ban raises concern. It is a good start, however, there is still a long way to go in order to solve this issue.

 

Feature Image Credits: Rozana Spokesman 

Karan Singhania

[email protected]

 

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Arts & Culture

Why Know About Principal Thampu’s “Stormy Course”?

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Why should students read Principal Thampu’s memoir as titled above?

Well, because they are at the center of it! The book is all about them! They’d agree; if they believe, as I do, that education is student-centric. There isn’t a single event dealt with in this book to which they are irrelevant.

The sanity of the sphere of education is far more crucial for students than it is for teachers, administrators or managements. The integrity of the learning milieu is of utmost importance for them. Why else would they struggle so hard, long so deeply, to get into a ‘good college’? What is a good college?

Secondly, they must read this book, if they want to know what really happened and did not happen. All the while the tumult raged, they were dished out one-sided versions. Surely, truth cannot be one-sided, just as the road you travel cannot be only the left side, and not also the right side! Those who respect themselves would not wish to remain dumping grounds for the falsehood fabricated by others. Just ask yourself: why are some people so scared of this book?

One of the strengths of this book is that it offers a perspective on St. Stephen’s, which most people lack. That includes teachers too, which is a pity.  I find it strange that we take pride in being Stephanians, but remain ignorant of the essence of our Alma Mater!

Third, they must read this book to see how adversity can be transformed into an advantage, suffering into strength and calumny into creativity. We cannot control how life will treat us. But we can decide how we shall respond to the challenges that are thrown at us.  What matters is not what is done to us, but what we do with whatever happens. That’s the secret of being human!

For that to happen, we need to enrich our intellectual life, broaden our perspective, heighten our inner strength. When life puts us to the test, we will have only our inner strength to bank on. All labels fall away. All props crumble. You will have only yourself, who you are, the stuff you are made of, to draw from. I share my experiences candidly with my readers to drive this point home. I have been asked by innumerable people-

How did you survive the ordeal? The book answers that.

Life becomes an adventure, not when you take the path of least resistance, but when you stand on your feet and fight the good fight, not because you love fighting but because the ideals under attack are so dear to you that compromising them is worse than death.  As I have written in the book-

Life becomes worth living when there is a goal worth dying for.

Students of St. Stephen’s College, in particular, should read this book because this is, very substantially, a continuation of the morning assemblies! Many of the insights and principles embedded in this book have been introduced to them through the assemblies. Yet, there is this one thing that you will not fail to note….

When you encounter those insights on the pages of this book, they will, I assure you, strike you with a touch of freshness that could make you feel you are meeting them for the first time! That’s the alchemy of writing.

Finally, we all need touchstones to test the mettle of our being. Who are we? Where do we stand? How strong are we? How far can we go? And how long endure?

We need to know. But how can we know? Mostly we take these things for granted and drift along. So, we remain under-prepared. When the sting of life touches us, we burst like balloons. We need not.

My memoir is a case study, for young people, on being ready for the challenges of life. Life without challenges is flat and boring. It is not different from the life that animals lead. Life is great because of storms too. Life is beautiful, as Nietzsche said, because it is painful. And pain, says Khalil Gibran, is the raw material for joy.

India has 40000 college principals. How many of them write memoirs? In half a century? Why is this such a scarce genre?

Because most people prefer an easy passage. So, they sit out their tenures. The chair becomes larger than them. They become ‘chair’ men and women. That is to say, the only relevant thing about them is that they occupy chairs. Then, one day, the chairs go. They are reduced to nothingness.

What a pity!

It does not have to be like that. It should not be so with you. Believe you me, it is not like that with me. I continue to be as vital and significant post-retirement as I was while in office.  Without this spirit, one is only a scarecrow ensconced in a chair.

Stephania, remember, is not a label, but a quality of being alive. It is a benchmark for vitality and a seal of stature.

This I say without fear of contradiction: a work like On a Stormy Course would not have been born in any other educational institution in India. So, in that sense, it embodies the essence of the College. Surely, you would welcome an opportunity to feel it!

Finally, you must read it also because this book is a gripping narrative, splendidly written.  This is not what I am saying, but everyone, who has read it. And I find it hard to disagree with them!

Read it here (http://amzn.in/6uBl8Pu) and tell me, if you can.

 

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News

Server Failure During CAT Exam Creates Havoc

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CAT 2017 was conducted last Sunday in 140 cities across the country. In the most parts of India, the exam ran without any hassle. However, around two hundred aspirants who appeared at a Kalkaji Centre in Delhi suffered major delay and confusion.

In a shocking incident, around two hundred candidates appearing for CAT 2017 at On line Edu Solutions, a test centre at Kalkaji, Delhi were unable to take the test in their designated slot due to technical glitches. Owing to the delay, students whose exam was scheduled for the morning slot (9 a.m. – 12 p.m) could write their paper at 4:30 after they were moved to other centres at Noida and Greater Noida.

Candidates at the centre had to sit for one hour after the commencement of the exam as the systems started failing. They were told that the technical glitches are being faced by all the centres in the country. Around noon, when the candidates started getting restless the head of the institution informed that only their centre was facing the server failure and not all the centres in the country. This irked the students and parents.

P.N. Shivani, a CAT aspirant who had to take the exam in the second slot in the same centre, witnessed the whole scene. Speaking to DU Beat about the state of confusion and stress which unfolded at the venue she said, ‘There was a lot of commotion and ruckus outside the examination centre. Parents were worried and wreaked havoc at the centre out of anxiety.’
At around 2 p.m. in the afternoon, six buses were reportedly arranged for the candidates to be moved to other test centres in Noida and Greater Noida. Out of 250 students, only 60 students could take the exam during the scheduled time period.

 

Feature Image Credits: India Mart

Sandeep Samal
[email protected]

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Campus Central

The Ongoing War: Attendance Vs Admit Card

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As mid-semester examination are approaching, the age old tension of attendance shortage is being clearly visible on many students faces. With lots of hustle and bustle, students manage to get a high percentage to land in India’s best university but then the monster of attendance still manages to get a 100% in every educational institution.
Let’s hear what the experts have to say on this at Quora:

“This really depends on which college you’re in. Some colleges are super strict about these rules, and some are super relaxed. To give you an example of the range, I know people who’ve had no problem collecting admit cards for their exams with 4% attendance, along with people who’ve had to sign bonds for 65% attendance, just to be able to site for exams. The fluctuations happen because even though the University has a common guideline of 67% attendance, colleges end up making their individual rules for attendance requirements. Depending on how seriously your college takes this matter, the possible consequences are: Relaxed attendance rules

Go ahead and collect your admit card, without any hassles.

Moderately strict rules

You’ll have to sign a bond that says that you’ll maintain the required attendance mark in the coming semester.

Very strict rules + Very low attendance%

You’ll be debarred from the exams, and parents might be involved. This situation might incite hunger strikes and protests from the affected students in the college.”

As per 2016, sources said that more than 100 students, whose attendance was below 66.67 per cent, have been detained across all colleges in the University. While some colleges such as Deen Dayal Upadhyaya (DDU) College has detained 48 students, Dyal Singh College has detained 55 students across 15 courses. “We have detained 48 students this semester across all courses. Their continuation in the college is subject to two conditions — if they have cleared their first semester papers, then they will come back next year when the incumbent batch reaches the second semester. But if the student has not cleared his first semester papers, but has been detained in the second semester too, he will lose his seat in the college,” said SK Garg, principal, DDU College.

Now only the dates of receiving admit card will decide if medical certificates can still save the students’ careers!

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat

Naimisha

[email protected]

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Pros and Cons of Clicking Photos in Winter

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The winter season brings with it a lot of mesmerising scenes much to the delight of a photographer. However, it has some disadvantages too.

Photographers keep lurking in different places looking for the perfect setting and clicking endless pictures to get a flawless photo. And the winter season offers a visual spectacle with those misty clouds and drops of water running through the leaves in the morning. The sunrays oozing out of the fog and the snow-covered mountains shining golden during sunrise can make any photographer’s jaw drop. And these are just a few to name. But, it is not as easy and inviting as it seems. The winter season is as harsh on photographers with the cold weather and freezing temperatures testing the photographer’s skill. Here are a few pros and cons of winter photography.

Pros

  1. A good amount of blur can be created with all the air wrapped in the dense fog. This comes in use while capturing portraits or any other object.
  2. The winter season brings a dark touch in the background with itself and so, capturing bright colors create a good spark in the picture.
  3. One very relieving thing about winters is the minimized air pollution. This suits best for doing Astrophotography because clearer skies help in capturing some really good pictures.

Cons

  1. The dense fog is not always kind to the photographer. It becomes difficult to focus on the object and click a sharp picture.
  2. The lack of warmth of the sun in winters makes it very difficult to capture bright pictures as is the case in summer.
  3. The low light haunts from picture to picture as it creates darker pictures with more shadows.
  4. The dew and fog can end up ruining the camera as the sensors and camera lenses may get damaged.

Well, it really is a tussle to decide whether winters are advantageous or not for doing photography. It has its share of pros and cons. And at the end, it is all upon the photographer to get the best shot possible. Also, where’s the fun of getting great pictures if it isn’t challenging to click one?

 

Feature Image Credits: techradar.com

Akarsh Mathur

[email protected]

Karan Singhania

[email protected]

 

 

 

 

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The Myth of Effortlessness

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Effortlessly excelling is a virtue that is aggressively glorified in popular culture. If there existed a hierarchy of achievements, effortless excellence would be at the very top. The idea that some people are extremely intelligent, good-looking, and sociable without trying hard is a problematic façade that needs to be discredited immediately.

The word effortlessly is defined as- “in a manner requiring no physical or mental exertion.” The word ‘effortlessly’ and its relevance, usage, and impact in on our daily life has increased significantly in the last decade. Social media and television have contributed to making “effortlessness” an extremely desirable virtue. Today we are connected to everyone, from our favourite celebrity and the Prime Minister to distant relatives and close friends on various social media platforms. This has resulted in greater knowledge including copious details about how most of us lead our lives. This means that a range of emotions, especially our joys and achievements are greatly talked about on the aforementioned platforms. This has accentuated the desire to seek effortlessness.  Suddenly, doing amazing things is not good enough — doing amazing things effortlessly is what is most sought after.

And while this trend of effortlessness has become even more prominent in recent times, it can trace roots to centuries ago. Sprezzatura is an Italian word originating from Baldassare Castiglione’s The Book of the Courtier, where it is defined by the author as “a certain nonchalance, so as to conceal all art and make whatever one does or says appear to be without effort and almost without any thought about it.” Sprezzatura, or studied carelessness, has something that has been socially desirable for a long time, but its impact now is greater than it has ever been.

Effortlessness or doing things effortlessly has become a virtue and this can be confirmed by looking at current trends. Effortless chic, slouchy clothing, a relaxation in everyday language along the rise of athleisure, all signify one thing- that “trying” to look, act or sound a certain way is no more aspirational. Examples of the myth of effortlessness are- that bedhead selfie from your favourite movie star, a perfect boomerang of your friend blowing bubbles, or those stories your class topper puts a day before the exam claiming to be horribly unprepared. These are ways of making one look carefree and unbothered. The idea behind making oneself look carefree is that by looking like we don’t care for much, we automatically make our achievements even more impressive. This could be a reason why people who always score well claim to have not have studied. Projecting the idea that “this is no big deal” has become a huge problem. People are prone to perceive things on surface value. When someone appears to be effortlessly perfect, we are prone to be harsh on ourselves. We then assume that the internal mechanisms of our life are not as fabulous and interesting as those of others. The truth is things require effort, especially if they need to be remarkably good. No matter what others say, scoring a good CGPA, possessing a good physique or having a healthy social life are all activities that require time, effort, and dedication. Effortlessness is a myth, a lie that has been glorified to the extent that we have begun to chase it even if it costs us our peace of mind.

By claiming to be naturally perfect and accomplishing extraordinary feats without trying much, we set up both ourselves and those around us to ridiculously unattainable parameters. As a consequence, it impacts not just our self-image negatively, but also that of others.

 Sprezzatura or effortlessness with effort is a practice that needs to be avoided like the plague. Sprezzatura strokes our ego and appeals to our vanity but it is a slippery slope to walk on. It compels us to constantly discredit our conscious effort and toil simply to look cooler. “Trying” or working is not portrayed as glamourous and that is also a part of the problem. Television and popular culture will never be completely honest about the number of weeks’ work from dozens of people that took to make Blake Lively look like Serena Van Der Woodsen, but that does not mean we can’t play a role in being breaking this myth of effortlessness.  By being forthcoming about our achievements and taking into account the work that we put in anything — be it our outfit or our final exams — we will set realistic and attainable goals for all those who look up to us and admire us. We will, therefore, through our honesty and lack of pretension, contribute to someone else’s success and peace of mind.

 

Feature Image Credits: ASOS

Kinjal Pandey

[email protected]

 

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Nap Your Way Through the Exams

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During exams, students go an extra mile to cover the syllabus in a time bound system. They burn the midnight oil to complete the course and neglect sleep altering their biological clock of the body. Almost no student that I’ve talked to has ever even thought about power naps as a means of augmenting their revision. A daily power nap can make a genuine difference to the exam prospects of all students.

The term ‘power nap’ is a bit misleading. Research by Harvard and other institutions over the past 30 years suggested that a power nap of around 20 minutes is generally considered to be the optimal length. During this short period, the aim is simply to lie down in a dark room, close your eyes, clear the mind of all thoughts, and relax. You might well find that you begin to lightly doze off after a short while, and that’s allowed, but we’re not aiming for full sleep. In fact, if you do have a power nap for much longer than around 30mins, then you’ll be much more likely to fall into a deeper state of sleep. Doing so will mean that you’ll feel groggy when you wake up, which is counter-productive. Setting a timer to quickly rouse yourself at the end of a nap will avoid this problem.

So if a power nap isn’t actual sleep, then why is it any good? Surprisingly, studies have shown that the body and brain benefits from a power nap in the same way as they do from regular sleep. Sleeping for a full 8 hours every night should be a major component in every student’s plan for achieving exam success. Since a power nap mimics the effects of overnight sleep, it helps recuperate the sleep deprive state of every student.

A power nap refreshes the body and brain, heighten alertness and promote a positive frame of mind. This in turn improves concentration and attitudes to study. A power nap relaxes the body and brain, helping to reduce stress. It boosts cognitive function (short & long term memory) and enhances the brain’s ability to absorb information. It is very luring to brush up the concepts right before exams, but taking a power nap before it will consolidate what you have studied and hence help you to bump the grades.

 

Feature Image Credits: Pinterst

Sandeep Samal
[email protected]

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Crumbling Infrastructure and the Ad-Hoc Culture are Dragging DU Down

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It’s 2017 and the University of Delhi (DU) is crumbling under degrading infrastructure, a culture of ad-hoc and degrading standards of education; the only sustenance is DU’s history and the pride associated with it and the sense of exclusivity and hype partly owed to the ridiculously high-cut-offs.

Delhi University with its ridiculously high cut-offs, glitzy fests, and star nights and a long list of alumni winning accolades in the world of politics, films and academia, has a lot to boast of.  Its reputation and prestige, along with its hype and exclusivity make it a dream institution for students across the country. The culturally rich and “woke” campus is coveted by undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students across the country. But Delhi University has been systematically degrading to meet not just global standards, but it has failed to match up to the infrastructure and resources offered in colleges in India. Globally, DU is ranked as 481-490 by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) rankings, which is largely regarded as the most accurate ranking for universities.

The ugly truth about the University of Delhi is that despite having some of the best students and faculty members from across the country, it fails to reach its full potential or even push its own horizons. Ceilings have fallen in Daulat Ram College and College of Vocational Studies, Gargi College students complained of lack of an adequate number of washrooms, and most colleges are witnessing their main building slowly crumble away. A significant lack in number of classrooms for tutorials, no proper arrangements for recreational and extra-curricular activities, and a severe shortage of adequate sports facilities is a problem faced across colleges in DU. India has grown out of the phase where it only had the bare-minimum- when the then Prime Minister Shastri had to ask citizens to fast once a week due to grain shortage. But while the rest of the country has come out of that era of scraping by and having only the bare-minimum, DU has not. Apart from the top five or six colleges, most of the colleges still lack proper resources, auditoriums, and interactive classrooms. But infrastructural resources or the lack of them is not Delhi University’s only problem, the ad-hoc culture is as well. The practice of inviting teachers to teach temporarily in colleges as ad-hoc lecturers has become extremely common. As a consequence of this, lecturers often shuffle from college to college as they are replaced. Since their jobs are not permanent and are highly dependent on the authorities’ whims and fancies, most ad-hoc lecturers find themselves under immense pressure to meet the expectations of their immediate superiors. This is necessarily a bad thing because lecturers have often complained of ill-treatment under such a system, as is evident by the extensive number of protests that take place regarding the same issue. While these academics dedicate their time to save their jobs and seek a certain degree of stability in their lives, any autonomy that they have- to teach with absolute freedom, confidence, and passion, to criticise anyone from college authorities to governments and administrations, to speak fearlessly without censoring their opinion- is snatched from them. Most of us would think this isn’t a particularly big problem; after all they are completely free to teach the prescribed curriculum as they please. But the point is, Delhi University gets its je ne sais quoi from the kind of space it reserves to discuss unconventional and unpopular opinions. The very spirit of the university can be summed up by its culture of questioning and challenging status quo and the emphasis it lays on political awareness, activism, and protests. When its academia- the people responsible for providing students not just knowledge about the curriculum but also about the world- tread with fear and are afraid to speak their minds, students may also be afraid to do the same.

Times are changing and universities across the world are constantly innovating and offering its students better facilities. Those attempting to silence me for criticising DU’s lack of resources might say that since DU offers a highly subsidised education, it cannot obviously meet global standards due to financial reasons. The truth is, even Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) offer a subsidised education (while there was a revision in the fee structure, a professional degree is bound to cost more) as well. To say that one government-funded institute can have adequate resources at its disposal while another cannot, makes little sense. Change is the only constant and those who fail to evolve, stagnate and then disintegrate. For the University of Delhi to continue living up to its hype, it needs to evolve and adapt to modern times. Better resources, facilities for students and teachers and reformations in its problematic ad-hoc culture are some ways in which it can do the same.

 

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat

Kinjal Pandey

[email protected]

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Small Screen

Vikings: An Era Resonating in the Present

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The fifth season of the TV series “Vikings” premieres on 29th November this year. The TV series has been a phenomenon travelling back to the time when swords and stones brought power.

Vikings is a TV series based on the saga of Ragnar Lothbrok, one of the most popular Norse heroes the world has known. The series portrays the rise of Ragnar (Travis Fimmel), a farmer who became the king of Kattegat. The story is set in the 13th century and noticeably has very distinct features. One cannot help but draw similarities from these features.

Regarding law, the land has its own judicial head known as the ‘Earl’. The Earl hears the cases and gives his verdict on who is guilty. He is the most respected figure in the area. Villages today still have Panchayats where cases are discussed, and the head delivers his verdict. The jurisdiction today has a lot of law institutions, but it all still comes down to the judge who acts as the sole decision maker. The Vikings follow their God called ‘Odin’. He is believed to be the first of them and is known as the ‘Father-of-All’. All the people strive to go to Valhalla, an enormous hall where Odin resides. One must do good deeds and be a true warrior to be eligible to go to this place after death. This does not sound very different from what we know as heaven. We too strive to go to the place where we believe the God resides and all of us want to do great deeds for the same. There also happens to be a Seer, a person who can foresee the future. People go to him to find answers to their questions and know more about their future. We have our seers in the astrologers who claim to foresee our future. The people also make human and animal sacrifices to please their God seeing it as a way of inviting luck and glory. We make offerings of our own kind for the same reasons. Sounds familiar, eh?

Ragnar is an ambitious man. His ambitions lead him to create a secret team and be the first person to successfully discover and raid the North(England). This is what leads to the people hailing him as a leader. He is the one to do something that no one ever has done. The formula for creating history remains the same even today. Talk about being envious, Rollo, the brother of Ragnar is jealous of his brother’s fame and wants his share of popularity. How he wishes to kill his brother by using his brother’s trust in him. Betrayal and using people’s trust is not an unfamiliar concept. It won’t be wrong to say it is still very much in use.

The entire journey of Vikings deals with how Ragnar comes to power fending off the people who want to snatch it from him. The series is a magnificent display of how he attains and protects his power learning about men and life during his dynamic journey.

These are just instances highlighting the features depicted in the series which seem to be common in the present day scenario. We have moved from Earls to Supreme Courts, from swords to guns, and from Valhalla to heaven. The medium of beliefs and values have changed, but these beliefs and values remain the same. We have come a long way from using stones to smartphones.  However, the taste of power still lures us all. The desire to attain authority and enjoy power resides within all of us.

The human behavior is so unique yet seems to be so simple. All of us have our own features, and yet jealousy, backstabbing, and fragility towards power have been prevalent even after all these years. The thing about human behavior is that we are all humans and we ought to share some similarity. Be it the 13th century or the 21st, those who can go beyond limits are the ones who are hailed. It is just that the criteria have shifted from discovering new lands to discovering new ideas. Modern day has brought with it the modern ways of doing things, but the motive of doing things seems to have remained the same. We claim to have come far from our past, and yet we seem to be just repeating what has already been done.  This historical drama takes us to the past, and you’ll be surprised to know that although a lot has changed, our core values remain the same.

 

 

Image Credits: The Mind Reels

Karan Singhania

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