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Sri Venkateswara College

Nexus’ 15 kick-starts with nukkad naatak, sufi night on Day 1

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Sri Venkateswara College’s annual cultural fest, Nexus flagged off on the 23rd February 2015. The fest was inaugurated by celebrated Bharatnatyam dancer and Padma Shri awardee, Geeta Chandran and Prof. Dr. Jaspal Singh Sandhu, Secretary, University Grants Commission.

The day kicked off with the vibrant nukkad natak performance by the Asmita Theatre Group, who enacted their self directed and self written skit Mard. Asmita Theatre Group, which is nearly 22 years old, has been performing regularly at the Shri Ram Centre in Mandi House. The street play projected the various edicts of the current social issues and mindset of the people towards women in general. The play kept the crowd entertained till the competitive events started.

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Technical glitches delayed the start of Western Music (Trio), hosted by Crescendo, the Western Music Society of the college and caused teams to rely purely on acoustics. The external judge for the event was Garima Aneja, the lead singer of Constellation Project. With 90’s as the theme, teams performed songs by pop stars from their childhood. Gargi College won the first prize, closely followed by Lady Shri Ram college.

According to the judges, the girls from LSR displayed beautiful transition between songs, from Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears; but the team from Gargi took it away thanks to their dynamics and balance of voices. They sang Hallelujah, which the judge said has the potential to go very wrong, but they performed it exceptionally well.

The Folk Dance event was judged by well known Bharatnatyam artist, Kodhai Narayan where SGTB Khalsa stood first here. Teams from Gargi and Mata Sundari came in second and third respectively. The Indian Vocal(Group) competition concluded with Miranda House bagging the first prize. The second prize was won by Kamla Nehru College. The event was judged by a panel of three judges which included Avinash Sharma, an awardee of V. Bani Ram Medal & Tushar Pandey Gold Medal. The other two judges were Ms Surabhi and Dr Sudhakarna Karakoti, Faculty of Political Science, Sri Venkateshwara College.

Nexus also hosted renowned Sufi artists, Nizam Bandhus for the Sufi Night. The trio of Chand Nizami, Shadab Faridi Nizami, Sohrab Faridi Nizami performed on Day 1 with their Quwwali group. They sang their famous numbers like Kun Faya Kun, Dama Dam Mast Kalandar, Allah Hu among many more.

They were seen indulging in shayari sessions with both students and teachers. With their sufiana andaaz, Nizami Brothers gave the valuable messages of belief in god, importance of partents and love.

Ria Malhotra from Gargi College says, “Events like these are different and they are nothing less than the star nights that Delhi University’s colleges host. Performance by Nizami Brothers was the best experience till date.” Sufi Night ended with Nexus’s crowd dancing to the final few songs of Nizami Brothers and Vice Prinicipal, R.P Singh saying a few words for the Quwaali group.

Image credits: Mugdha for DU Beat

Ishaan Sengupta
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Arushi Srivastava
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Iresh Gupta
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Vani Vivek
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Campus Central

Day 2 at Antardhvani showcases CIC projects, instrumental music and folk dance

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The second day of Antardhvani had competitions like folk dance, instrumental music and group song lined up. Along with that, the Innovation Plaza and Clustre Innovation Centre showcased the work and research of the students for visitors to learn more about.

The Cluster Innovation Centre on the patio that took place on the second day of the University fest Antardhvani was eye catching and resourceful. It was nothing but a room full of innovative ideas. The volunteers were very helpful and went out of their way in order to help the people understand the various projects they have been working on.

Some of the interesting projects were the “Digital Reconstruction of Lost Arts and Craft”. Through this project the students wanted to revive the lost arts and art work that have been lost in time through 3D modelling, laser scanning method and digital tracing. The objective of this project is to undo the damage done to the ancient art work by using latest technology and to promote the concept of viewing art virtual through virtual museums. Another innovation project is the “Modelling Metro Feeder Bus Service in North Campus”.

This project works for the easy accessibility of commuting for students who find it difficult to travel by rickshaws everyday.The model comprises certain important pointers like the bus sizes, time charts, pocket friendly fares and alternative routes. This project will reduce the chaos caused by the rickshaw walas, specially outside the metro and will make travelling easier.The innovation centre also had a section on proper junk management in the university. The interesting part about every project was the fact that they put up charts, diagrams, model diagrams and mathematical diagrams that gave all the visitors a better understanding of the project.

Post by DU Beat.

The Group Song took place in the indoor stadium and it attracted an enthusiastic crowd that cheered and clapped along with the performers. All the seats on the ground floor and the ones on the next level , on either sides were packed. In total there were seven groups who performed on the day. The performers were from Shaheed Rajguru college, Miranda House, Aditi Mahavidyalaya, NCWEB, CIC, IP College and Dayal Singh. The last performance by Acharya Narendra Dev College witnessed a huge uproar from the audience. It wasnt exactly in the form of a typical group song as it comprised of a male and female vocalist while the rest played their respective instruments. They performed a song named “Madari” which has a very catchy tone and they performed it beautifully. The Group song ended with this last performance on a good note.

The Instrumental Music Competition saw participants/teams perform either individually or in teams of 2. Each team was given a bracket of 5 minutes: 2 for sound check and 3 for performance. While most of the participants strung the tunes of their guitars, some participants played the keyboard,  the sitar, the santur and 2 teams fused flute and guitar together. As the harmonious and melodious renditions of ‘Hare Rama, Hare Krishna‘ , ‘Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram‘ and ‘Tum Hi Ho‘ filled the air, a serene atmosphere was created, interrupted only by the applause. First, Second and Third positions went to Shashank (Flute), Somitra Thakur (Sitar) and Dhruv Kumar (Keyboard) respectively.

The Folkdance Competition witnessed an overflow of audience at the venue. The most colorful and energetic event amongst all saw 14 groups perform. Each team was supposed to perform for only 5 minutes, and could have only 6-12 members. Folkdances from Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Maharashtra were brought to stage. Koli, Dandiya, Bhadhai, Bhangra and Ghoomar won a lot of applause for their coordination and song choices. Lutti, Gidda and Bhangra were performed on live music and drumbeats. Three different Marathi folkdances were exhibited namely Koli, Dhangari and Lavani. The enthralling performances brought forth the 3 winners. First position went to Mukul and team’s Bhangra(Devnagar Khalsa), Second to Kriti and group’s Badhai (Gargi college) and Third postion went to Anmol and group’s Gidda.

Meghna Mitra
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Ayesha Saraeen 
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Image credits: Kashish Madan for DU Beat

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Campus Central

Back off Broadway, Delhi University has just arrived! 

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Lady Shri Ram College for Women – Smell of Lemons This play by LSR celebrates theater through its subtlety, consisting of four distinct short stories set against the backdrop of totalitarianism. This play is everything we cease to be, it’s bold and exciting but doesn’t underestimate the audience. Ramjas College – The Open Couple This is?farce about sexual politics in marriage; it’s the madness that follows what makes the rest of the story. The?show is a joy to watch with quite a few up close interactions with?the audience by the cast itself, do go to get a glimpse of the talent if you can. Stage Plays  Sri Venkateswara College – The Goat, or Who is Sylvia The simple tale of a married man and his family, whose lives crumble when the man of the house falls in love with a goat, makes the plot line whilst focusing on the limits of an ostensibly liberal society. Catch one of their?shows and you are bound to be impressed in between the constant bursts of laughter.   Hans Raj College – Metro Eleven people together in the same compartment of a metro and how their journey suddenly comes to a halt when it stops. This play rejoices in its normalcy that can lead to extraordinary situations, it’s provocative in all the right ways but doesn’t try too hard.   Shri Ram College of Commerce– Pune Highway Three young men are holed up in a room just off the highway after witnessing a murder makes the essence of the play. A comic thriller that explores the survival of friendship in extreme circumstances- the play is filled with tension, nostalgia and?humour.   Madhurya Sundar [email protected] Featured Image: Chirag Sharma Image credits: Bharat Mohindru]]>

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Campus Central

 A Publishing House of our own:  The Delhi University Press

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st April, 1961. DUP received a maintenance grant from 1961 to 1974. But, the account has been commercial since 1974. It is situated right next to the Computer Centre in the Delhi University premises. Delhi University Press takes up the responsibility of printing, binding and any other related work required by any department, college, hostel, centre, etc. belonging to the Delhi University. As of now, it prints answer books, degrees, envelopes. Binding and re-binding of results, salary bills and other related work are being outsourced through approved printers. In order to get a printing order, one needs to collect a ‘printing order form’ from the Delhi University Press office. The form is also available on the official website of DU. The order should be submitted fifteen days in advance if the soft copy isn’t provided, duly signed by the HOD. The department is then provided with only three proofs and the final proof must be submitted within 24 hours.

The copies of the final proof start getting published only after its approval from the department and are delivered in about 3-30 days.
Once the department receives the complete printing order, it is supposed to verify the quality/quantity. The bills are processed after the verification and the order can also be collected from DUP office. At the present moment, DUP faces lack of infrastructure and staff. The sanctioned staff strength is 95 but only 16 people are working there. DUP has maintained two kinds of printing charges since its account is commercial.
The first printing rate is the one charged to the departments and the second one is the one paid to the printers.
There is a certain amount of profit that the Press gains through these rates which is used to meet the financial requirement of the employees and other expenditures. The University highly recommends all the colleges to get their printing work done by DUP alone unless the Press Manager himself refuses to undertake the work. Delhi University Press has been instrumental in handling the printing work of the Delhi University despite its immensity and continues to fulfil its purposes.]]>

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Campus Central

Shivaji College organises Vibrations 2015 with Neha Kakkar and Badlapur cast

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th and 18th February, 2015. Professor K.S. Rajendran from National School of Drama delivered the inaugural address. He described the significance of performance and art and its correlation with various aspects of life.  Veda, the Sufi rock band, commemorated the festive atmosphere with its vibrant numbers. Apart from competitive events, participants attended the fest to catch a glimpse of Bollywood stars Varun Dhawan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Yami Gautam who graced the occasion and interacted with their fan following while talking about their new movie Badlapur. [gallery ids="30174,30175,30176,30177,30178,30179,30180,30181,30182,30184,30185,30186,30187"] The audience at competitive events cheered their colleges’ teams during the dance competition in which GTBIT bagged the first prize. The glamour quotient was maintained by the fashion show and Maitreyi College proved its mettle and stood first. The second day saw various colleges competing for titles in events such as nukkad natak, singing, photography and painting. The first prize in Nukkad Natak was bagged by Gargi College and second by I.P College. The event concluded with a performance by Neha Kakkar, the Bollywood singer. Dr. Shashi Nijhawan congratulated the students and teachers for their contribution in making this festival a memorable success. Credits: BismeeTaskin Islam and Cultural Society, Shivaji College]]>

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Indraprastha College for Women

IPCW’s Abhivyakti holds non competitive stage play festival

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It was a sight to watch, when on 13th February 2015, Abhivyakti, the Dramatics society put up the fifth edition of its annual non-competitive stage play festival with much fervour. Surabhi Dogra, the President of Abhivyakti explains, “Abhivyakti’s endeavour is to provide a non-competitive platform to the stage play teams of the Delhi University Theatre Circuit so as to celebrate theatre by removing the shackles of competitiveness.”

The event began with performance by Kirori Mal College called “Words, Words, Words”, a thought-provoking play about the identities we have in online chatrooms and the impact of teenage psyche. LSR presented its play “Smell of Lemons”, a play consisting of four distinct short stories set against the backdrop of totalitarianism. Hilarity ensued with St. Stephens’ College “Carnage”, and with such immaculate performances, they has the audience’s undivided attention, with a loud roar of laughter right on cue.

Dogra adds, “In this fifth edition, actors brought to life their various kirdaars/characters through different genres onstage.” After a break followed IP College’s own play scripted and directed by Dogra, which managed to keep the audiences riveted. Ramjas College moved everyone with their play, “The Open Couple”, about a man convincing his suicidal wife that an open marriage is politically correct. Tables are turned when she herself confesses to a new man, and now the husband becomes suicidal. The event culminated with another performance by Kirori Mal called “The Players presents”.

Kritika Narula
[email protected]

Image Credits: Tarunima Kumar, IP College

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Arts & Culture

Sugar, we’re still singing this in 2015!

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(If you read the title in tune of that one song, we feel you!)

If you pay attention to pop culture and wake up dazed and confused one morning, you can be excused for thinking that it’s 2005 and not 2015. Figure this: Fall Out Boy has popular singles and an album in the top 10 of Billboard 200, kids are making Supernatural references and gushing about YouTube.

Call it a creepy coincidence or just a twist in modern pop culture that moves just about as fast as memes come and go today, it’s surprising to see things that were relevant ten years ago, still be topics of discussion and here are some of the most pervasive features from 2005:

1. YouTube

Admit it, we’ve all wasted hours on this video-sharing website, whether to look for old concerts, catch up on TV shows or just to procrastinate doing assignments by searching for cute cat videos (shh… no one’s judging.) Launched in 2005, YouTube brought videos as a medium of expression to the forefront. Fast forward 10 years and it’s still the go-to site for watching interesting videos or to, you know, procrastinate.

2. Television:

Supernatural and How I Met Your Mother will find their way to every conversation about popular TV shows. 2005 saw premieres of these and some of the other popular TV series, few of which are still running. 2005 also saw the comeback of ‘Doctor Who’ on UK Television after a hiatus of 16 years. Grey’s Anatomy, the cliched TV series everyone hates to love but can’t help watch anyway, also saw it’s first episode premiering in 2005. In short, your library would be missing lots of favourites if it weren’t for 2005.

3. Music:

Fall Out Boy has singles in top 10 charts all over the place, Blink 182 are airing internal strifes in public and Paramore is being talked about. No, you did not just walk into a rerun of a music enthusiast’s life in 2005. It’s 2015 all right and despite the fact that ‘Sugar, We’re Going Down’ is ‘so ten years ago’, Fall Out Boy’s 6th studio album ‘American Beauty/American Psycho’ was number 1 on the Billboard charts just a week ago, Tom DeLonge’s exit from Blink 182 was a topic of heavy discussions in the music scene and Paramore just won a Grammy for ‘Best Rock Song’, 10 years after their debut.

Talk about longevity!

Shubham Kaushik 
[email protected]

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Spo(r)tlight

Miranda House celebrates women’s participation in sports at Erobern 2015

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Miranda House organized the third edition of its annual sports festival, Erobern, from 12th – 14th February 2015. Dr. Pratibha Jolly, Principal of Miranda House and Dr. Poornima Roy, Bursar along with other members of the Sports Committee were present for the opening of the festival.

Dr. Pratibha Jolly declared the event open, welcoming the participating teams and urging all colleges across various universities to continue coming together for sports events which will help them push their limits of endurance. She was presented a souvenir by the Sports Society of Miranda House and her address was followed by a yoga presentation and an aerobics routine by the students of Miranda House.

Teams from 12 colleges, including those from Lady Shri Ram College, Jesus and Mary College , Gargi College and other women’s colleges of Delhi, participated in Erobern. Talking about the importance of sports, Paridhi Baluni, President of the Miranda House Sports Society said, “Sports play a vital role in our daily life and this is one thing we can feel passionate about. It can be Taekwondo for one and Basketball for someone else as the focus sport. It builds confidence and keeps a person fit, which is really important.”

Participants for the game of Chess at Miranda House
Participants for the game of Chess at Miranda House

The first day of Erobern hosted knockout matches for Volleyball, Ball Badminton and Netball. A competitive event for Aerobics also took place which witnessed the team from Gargi College emerging as the winners, facing competition from Kamla Nehru College and Miranda House.

Day 2 saw league matches for Volleyball, Netball and Ball Badminton taking place wherein the top 4 teams of each category played against each other. A competitive event for Taekwondo had participants from different weight categories fighting for the gold. It ended with Miranda House winning the overall first position, followed by Daulat Ram College and Laxmi Bai College with second and third position respectively.

Teams from different colleges had also put their mental abilities to test in a competitive event for Chess in which Miranda House won the top spot. Second day also saw Balloon Pop as an event for specially abled students of Miranda House which included a 30 metre race and Shot Put event.

Volleyball match in progress at Erobern 2015
Volleyball match in progress at Erobern 2015

February 14, the final day of Erobern, recorded participants from different colleges preparing for final matches and the prize distribution ceremony. The first position for Volleyball went to Janaki Devi Memorial College, followed by Laxmi Bai College and Miranda House.

The Ball Badminton event saw Maitreyi College take the first position whereas Miranda House and Gargi College emerged as the winners for second and third place.The final match for Netball was an intense match between Miranda House and Jesus and Mary College that saw Miranda House adding another win to its winners’ tally.

Erobern ended with a prize distribution ceremony in which the Head of the Miranda House Sports Society, Dr. Amita Rana gave away the medals and trophies to the winners.

Image credits: Greta Khawbung

Shubham Kaushik
[email protected]

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Gargi College

Kanan Gill, Kenneth Sebastian perform at Gargi’s Reverie 2015 Day – II

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Aabhaas, the Street Play competition was organized by Kshitij, the Street Play society of Gargi College saw enthusiastic participation by numerous colleges of Delhi University. Covering numerous themes, every street play highlighted a different situation influencing the society at large. Urging spectators to ponder upon what they have to convey, the participants’ clarion call of ‘Aao Aao’ gathered wide scale attention.

Hansraj College’s Hansraj Dramatics Society enacted ‘Tamaasha’ that talked about the manipulative nature that dominates most people today. The play highlighted the fact that diurnal things are often stretched beyond the limit turning them into a source of entertainment. . The event gathered a massive audience which was carried away by the vigour of the participants.

“Our play was well received. However, the atmosphere was slightly noisy given that the music from other events was very loud. I personally liked Khalsa’s performance- the way they delivered the dialogues to the audience”, said Sapeksh Kanoja, participant of College of Vocational Studies.

aabh

The event was judged by Mr. Ankit Jaiswal, professionally involved with Manchatantra of GGS, Mr. Agat, Theatre teacher and Mrs. Chhaya Sawhnei, teacher convener of Kshitij. Guru Tegh Bahadur Institute of Technology emerged as the winners in the event. The second position was bagged by Guru Gobind College of Commerce and Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College was declared third.

Zenith, the Western Dance Competition organized by Enliven, the Western Dance Society started at 3 pm with a total of 13 teams performing. The jury for this event comprised of Ms. Mallika Baid, dancer and choreographer at Dance Works and Dr. Reema, Asst. Professor at Gargi College.

dance

Enigma of Kamala Nehru College won the event. Closely following were teams of Gargi College and Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce which were declared second and third respectively.

Winner’s Tally:

Hindi Conventional Debate:

1st position- Sonal, SGTB Khalsa College

2nd position-Rahul, SGTB Khalsa College

3rd position- Anupriya Rana, Gargi College

Overacting

Rahul Yadav, Shivaji College

Kanan Gill and Kenneth Sebastian’s stand up acts at Gargi’s Reverie 2015

The surprise element of Reverie 2015, the stand-up comedy performances Kanan Gill and Kenneth Sebastian, saw the crowd of Gargi College going into a frenzy just to witness the event. Taking over the stage first, Kanan Gill was welcomed with an uproar of applause.

 

Beginning with how he can see his face every time he switches on the TV (thanks to the matrimonial advertisement he just shot) he went on cracking the audience up on his analysis of the old show ‘Mahabharat’. The entire auditorium was filled with the mirth of modern-day, highly relatable comedy which was thoroughly enjoyed by all spectators. Furthermore, Kanan welcomed Kenneth Sebastian on stage who’s well-known amongst the younger generation for his stand-up comedy and musical performances. Instantly, the audience was caught in a laughing fit when he started describing the plight of central schools across India and how much he loved grade 10 Biology (we all know why!). Kenneth interacted with the audience time and again when he spoke to a few girls from the stage and composed satirical songs based on whatever little knowledge he could gather of them. A packed audience at Kenneth Sebastian's performance at Reverie 2015. The interaction was gladly welcomed by everyone in the audience, hoping to speak to Kenny. The performance lasted for about an hour and a half and ended on a note of massie appreciation and exuberance on behalf of the students and staff of Gargi College.

Shaily Sharma ([email protected]) and Arushi Pathak ([email protected]) for DU Beat.  

Featured Image Credits: Mugdha for DU Beat.

To catch further glimpses of Reverie 2015, visit our Facebook page,here:

Post by DU Beat.
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Shri Ram College of Commerce

Union Ministers Smriti Irani and Ravi Shankar Prasad at SRCC Business Conclave Day II

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SRCC Business Conclave

After a session by Mumbai Dabbawaalas’ CEO Pawan G. Agrawal and the political face off by BJP-INC-AAP on Day 1, Business Conclave at Shri Ram College of Commerce hosted sessions by Smriti Zubin Irani and Ravi Shankar Prasad on the second day.

Sh. Ravi Shankar Prasad
Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology

Ravi Shankar Prasad gave a noteworthy lecture on ‘Digital India’ at the SRCC Business Conclave. He opened the session by quoting instances wherein he had recognised the impact influenced by youth over technology.

Bringing to the audience’s view an account of recent figures pertaining to the growth of technology in India, Sh. Ravi Shankar Prasad stressed upon the current status of IT in our country, the need for its growth and its importance in our daily lives. He talked about how all upcoming policies under his purview will function with an ‘eye for a future of aspiration, growth and achievement’ along with ensuring ‘digital literacy’ throughout the country.

“The new guidelines for Ministry of Communications and Information and Technology set by the Prime Minister focus on our motto of ‘Indian Talent + Information Technology = India Tomorrow’ [IT + IT = IT]”
– Sh. Ravi Shankar Prasad

He spoke of the various facets of technology and how the dependence we have on it may actually be beneficial to the economic growth. His speech ended with a plan for future developments that he presented and an interactive session for students. The closure witnessed quite a few heated discussions regarding the validity and feasibility of promises made by him and his ministry.

Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani
Union Minister for Human Resource Development

Smriti Zubin Irani, Union Minister of Human Resource Development visited SRCC for the second session of Day II. The programme commenced by lighting of the lamp at SRCC Sports’ Complex. Sh. Ashok Sehgal, Principal of the college welcomed Irani and seeked blessings of Mata Saraswati, the Hindu Goddess of knowledge and education on behalf of all teachers and students.

Union Minister of Human Resource Development Smt. Smriti Z. Irani live at #SRCCBusinessConclave.

A photo posted by DU Beat (@du_beat) on

Smriti Irani opened the floor to questions immediately after taking the dais. As part of this interactive session she talked about about skill development as an important aspect and introduced the audience to her idea of collaboration with foreign universities. Irani also focused on bridging the gap between what is taught and what is professionally required by amalgamation of efforts between school education and higher education. On the Delhi University front, Irani addressed issues regarding the supplementary exams for final year students and AICTE approval for the B.Tech students of the erstwhile FYUP batch.   

HRD Minster also cleared doubts on recent reforms in the education system at University level by sharing her vision behind introducing ‘choice based credit system’. In addition, she expressed her views on how introduction of grading system in place of numerical marking will benefit the students in terms of credits and mobility.

Image Credits: Ankit Kumar Meena for DU Beat

Iresh Gupta
[email protected]

Madhurya Sundar
[email protected]

 

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