The Kuzart Lane organised a Street Photography Weekend from 7th September to 9th September, the main objective of which was to give a chance to amateur artists and designers of different fields such as photography, oil painting, canvas painting, and designing to showcase their work. The theme for the same was, “Street Photography – The Faces of Delhi.”
Here is the event in pictures clicked by our photographer Nishesh Bhasin.
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BITS Pilani & Nokia presents OASIS 2011- The Roadtrip in association with Wildstone.
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“Not all those who wander are lost”
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There’s a syndrome that makes students unsure of plans after college.
To-be grads exhibit common symptoms of shooting questions about future plans at any bewildered acquaintance passing by, scrutinizing and pin-pointing flaws if that person even discloses one. More specifically, you must have observed/realised that you/others daily improvise a plan of action after graduation. Furthermore, students get irked if others (worse your lecturer) frown upon your ideas. Every neighbour, aunty, chachi will be too eager to take important decisions for you if you let them. Maybe because of the sheer numbers, the idea of a rat race seems amplified. So what figures when you’re suddenly facing a dead end in terms of what to do with your time? Or better put after you get a degree, how crucial are the choices you make and is it all exaggeration? Some are extremely lucky to have a set agenda and glide through life as if they command total control on their fate. While others less fortunate have to pick fields on one momentous day while filling the fees for a course where there’s no turning back, or worse accepting a job offer that reasonably pays well. It’s also easy to follow fads and everybody guiding you in a million directions. The pressure of making a decision shouldn’t weigh us down. Taken, a lot is at stake particularly our yearnings for approval and admiration from people around us. So even if a decision seems wrong today, wait and watch. In future-hindsight, the pieces of the puzzles will fit in and look a lot more satisfactory. We all will just about end up fine. But the means of getting there is what causes all the trouble and sleepless nights. It forever puts that question mark in our heads. Because in the end it is the journey that counts and you surely don’t want to remember it by harping about decisions you wish you had taken. Ending with slightly cheesy but largely relevant lines for our times by Dr Seuss:
You have a brain in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself in any direction you choose.
You’re on your own.
And you know what you know. The freedom to choose belongs to you.
Sometime before the world began perceiving him as a once-brilliant success-cliché who’d simply gone stark raving mad and taken to penning scathing novellas about intolerable ex-wives, Hanif Kureishi produced his debut novel The Buddha of Suburbia – a curiously satirical work that drew almost entirely from Kureishi’s own tumultuous teenage years growing up in the suburbs of South London.
The book is an-almost Bildungsroman of sorts, as it is the chronicle of a short time in the life of half-Indian teenager Karim Amir, (‘an Englishman born and bred. Almost.’) whose narration is a sardonic account of the in-between-ness of his origins: suburban, non-white, (‘more beige than anything’). Pop music, sexual explicitness and suburban self-denial come together in a raucous clash of cultures in ‘70s Tory England, with little doubt as to which side Karim favours.
So what sets Karim apart from the legions of leather-and-Levi’s clad punk heroes found in Beatnik literature, sniffing in disdain at the inanities of suburbia? Young, disrespectful and suspicious of bourgeois working-class pretensions, Kureishi creates in Karim a peculiar anti-hero who is vain, foolish and prone to too many chatty exclamations of hyperbole and superficial witticisms, but somehow rises to any satirical occasion with a laconic, exaggerated insight that is uncomfortably close to the truth.
The ‘Suburbia’ is Chislehurst, snug in its complacent manicured lawns, racist attacks on Pakistanis, and absurd fascination with all things Oriental and exotic, where deadly conformity rules supreme and deviations from established norms are not tolerated kindly.
The ’Buddha’ in the title refers to Haroon, Karim’s father, buttoned-up bureaucrat by day and velvet-waistcoat-clad-mystic yogi by night, dispensing a vague mish-mash of Buddhist and yogic philosophy to suburban yuppies seeking redemption of a higher call than polished wood flooring. Haroon’s mystic stint and eventual relationship with the dilettantish Eva Kay, opens up a world of staggering new possibilities for Karim, as it is she who unfolds the world for his restless ignorance to delve into.
Eva’s unforgivably cool son, Charles, a mediocre musician, with his platinum blonde hair and emotional coldness, is the sexual focus of Karim’s Chislehurst years, who later markets himself as a punk rocker Charlie Hero to the musically forgiving Americans.
It is in London, less than 20 miles away but an alternative universe itself with its hot promise of endless drugs, sex and excitement, that Karim eventually discovers a talent for acting and develops the first of many disillusionments with love and politics. Karim’s maturity can be measured by the distance he travels from Chislehurst, and the perspective he gains on Charlie.
Kureishi’s beginnings as a playwright make plenty of appearances in the technique and narrative of the novel, evident in the precedence of speech over description. Karim’s calculated colloquialisms and the ambiguity between speech and thought are liberally interspersed with mock-dramatic cliché and theatrical narcissism. The comedy of the novel relies on the narrator’s determination to stay on the surface of things – to combine candour with caricature, espousing an irreverent take on his surroundings while remaining absolutely straight-faced.
“Perhaps in the future I would live more deeply,” he says with comic solemnity as the novel ends, “But that is not for now”.
RATING – 3.5/5
Iva Dixit
Amidst the fast track efforts of Anna Hazare and his supporters in their quest to bring transparency in the Government’s functioning and the country at large, controversies about his approach still remain. However, what needs to be questioned is whether or not Congress’ actions and stand on its defence or to maintain law and order in the country (as they argue) is the best or not.
While Congress has always had its base in strong foundations and morals since the British times, the history of the dominant family of this ruling party (the same one that Anna might be in the process of bringing down) may be of greater interest to all.
For starters, the Gandhi family, almost every member of which is/has been ‘someone’ of the country, has nothing to do with the man who abolished apartheid in Africa and got freedom home. Indira Priyadarshini, Motilal Nehru’s daughter (who at first didn’t pass the exam for Oxford) married Feroz Khan. The surname Gandhi came only when Feroz Khan following Nehru’s request changed his surname (and not his religion) from Khan to Gandhy and later on to Gandhi. She later had two sons – Rajiv and Sanjiv Gandhi; Sanjiv’s name was changed to Sanjay following his arrest by the British police and seizure of his passport. The older son Rajiv, who went on to become the Prime Minister of the country, became a Catholic to marry Sania Maino (Sonia Gandhi). Rajiv’s children were named Raul and Bianca (their rhyming Indian names derived as Rahul and Priyanka later on). If you were to question the citizenship of his children, you might be surprised to know that as per the Italian law, Rahul Gandhi is an Italian citizen. Converting his citizenship by the Italian law requires him to forfeit his Italian one in lieu of the Indian one. While Rahul was admitted to St. Stephens on the basis of sport quota of rifle shooting, he ended up doing his BA from Rollins College, Florida in 1994. The faster-than-Munna Bhai alias Raul aka Rahul got an M.Phil. degree from Trinity College, Cambridge the very next year in 1995!
While historical or social relations stand ‘given’ in many cases, it is the actions that decide the course the leader and his party shall take. Taking this argument into account, what should decide Congress’ dexterity is the response it has to situations like the one it is facing now.
While Hazare’s means to fight may not be most democratic but that is not to say the way Congress is dealing with it is the best it could do. The ban to the-next-thing-Anna-shall-do is certainly not a wise stand to go by. The Congress’ ineptitude became pronounced when it refused to probe this matter further post Anna’s refusal to the Lokpal Bill draft as suggested by the government. Had it then grabbed the opportunity, the movement would not have boiled down to a political game.
Now that the opportunity to act is lost, any action is just not going to work for the long-lived party. While some say it’s the time to test the new leader of the party, it might as well be the time to bid adios.
Surabhi Mall
The long list of upheavals in the University this year, just got longer with the changes proposed in the examination date sheet.
With the sudden change in examination date sheet , the latest follow-up of the rescheduling comes from the B.A Economics IIIrd year students who are much more disturbed than the rest by the advancement in their exams by as many as ten days. The change, which was made to accommodate for the clash in the JNU entrance exam and one of their main papers (a 100 mark Development Theory paper), has not really solved the purpose, and on the contrary added to their worry.
To bring their denunciation into notice, an online petition has been raised directly addressed to the Vice Chancellor with their primary complaint being irrationality in the post-change schedule and no time to prepare. This petition (whose link can be found on Facebook as well) was initiated on the 10th of April and has over 100 signatories to it in two days time.
While some refused to sign the petition on the claim of it being of no avail, most have shown resilience and helplessness towards the autonomous decision making body of the Delhi University and accepted the new schedule.
As the current batches fall guinea pigs of the yet-to-be-evolved semester (or sham-ester?) system, the daily-formulating changes (the latest being that of the doing away with application procedure and an expected sky-high cut-off), there is increasing worry and furry among teachers and students of what’s going to be in store for the next year.
Surabhi Mall
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The 25th to 27th March weekend saw an influx of book lovers into the North Campus as the area turned into a huge book mart offering a wide array of books at cheap rates.
Called the Delhi Weekend Book Bazaar, the fair was organized at the Faculty of Arts lawns by the National Book Trust (NBT), India’s largest government publishing houses. Dina Nath Malhotra, emeritus president of the Federation of Indian Publishers, inaugurated the bazaar on Friday, the 25th March.
This Bazaar consisted of books with themes ranging from art and culture to medicine and literature. The number of publishers complimented the multiplicity in the variety (being at least a 100!). The approximately 150 stalls were distinctly designed as if to showcase the link between the book culture and the popular culture. In addition to the new ones, archaic and rare books were also being offered at reasonable rates.
The Book Bazaar was on from 10 a.m to 9 p.m on all the three days with publishers for the first time being permitted to sell their books at maximum discounted prices. The initiative was a part of the centenary year celebration of Delhi becoming the capital city of Modern India. Since Delhi has had a rich culture of Sunday book markets in the past 50 years, the event clearly accentuated the historical tradition of the capital city. In fact, Daryaganj has been one of the largest book marts of the capital in the part offering books at easy-on-the-pocket prices. Only lately has the market cut down in size with rampant police raids.
The fair had an enriching Sham-E-Ghazal on the first day organized by the Delhi Academy and a poetry recitation by the Hindi academy on Saturday. The extravaganza was clearly an effort to re-create the past charm of ‘Dilli’ and its cultural heritage in the true essence.
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Surabhi Mall
Just when you thought DU is stepping up the security measures on its campuses, an outrageous incident comes to the forefront just days after the murder of Radhika Tanwar. In a shocking development, a professor from Indraprastha College was sexually harassed and threatened by a dozen DU students because she protested against their ‘holi hooliganism’.
The incident took place three days before Holi on March 17 when the professor was walking on Hudson Lane near North Campus around 6am. A group of boys was throwing water balloons and making lewd gestures at the girls passing by. When she tried to intervene, they threatened and abused her. An FIR was registered by the police after a distressing period of seven hours during which the professor had to undergo harrowing questions and humiliation. What is even more shocking is that perpetrators were let off on bail even before the professor could receive a copy of the FIR.
The incident started a wave of outrage among the University Community. The frustration among the teachers and students was evident as they poured out on the streets of North Campus for a protest march on March 22. The march spanned over four hours and saw the participation of around 1000 protestors consisting of students, teachers and members of All India Students’ Association (AISA). The protestors visited Hindu College, Ramjas College, SGTB Khalsa College and School of Open Learning to meet the respective principals. They demanded punitive measures against their students for sexually harassing and intimidating the professor.
“ An example should be made out of the perpetrators by meting out the harshest punishment possible in such a case, its high time authorities take action and not sit and wait for the worst to happen,” says Prachi, a student of IP College.
In turn, the students and teachers were promised strict action against the accused by the college heads. Vice-Chancellor Dinesh Singh wrote a letter to the area SHO asking for a proper enquiry and action into the incident. Meanwhile a case of criminal intimidation and molestation has been registered against the group of students.
Despite all the protests and police complaints, Delhi still has a long way to go where women’s security is concerned. Even worse is the fact that most of these incidents go unregistered due to non-cooperation of the police. “If the police takes 7 hours to register an FIR for an educated professor who has the support of the University Community, then what hope do young girls and underprivileged women have, of being heard?” says the IP professor.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police (north-west), Meenu Choudhary, will look into the allegations against the indifferent attitude of the police officers in registering the case.
With more and more crimes against women coming to light, it is time that more concrete steps are taken in this direction besides public outcry to make the university campus a safer place for women.
Ishitaa Saxena
