There was something about that little big city, the city with skyscrapers rising beyond their means. It lacked a skyline. The only horizon it shared with infinity was the abandoned old town circumferencing its sidewalks. Unlike the multi-storeyed giants, the broken shacks seemed to sprout up like weeds clutching at the loose remains of fertility, sapping in all they could before they were inevitably killed by the giant’s shadow. And yet, ironically, the mighty buildings needed those dark fissures to complete their being just like the bejeweled church needed its tattered pilgrim staring up at its grandeur in admiration, knowing he could only pray to be forgiven for the flaws he held and yet never become flawless enough to dawn the purple velvet and reach a higher God.

It was drizzling when he arrived. The sun had almost set. The gigantic glass exterior of the buildings created a replica of the setting sun on its walls. It made one wonder at the power of the glass to keep the true and false from merging by a fraction of an inch. Ca studied how the geometrical architecture and neat symmetry lent a severe sense of dominance, like an army preparing to march into war. The view from the French glass of the twenty ninth floor of his hotel room made everything seem miniscule beyond recognition, making it hard for him to see the rim of the ghost town which was camouflaged by the synthetic neon of the city.

After much thought, Ca made a call.
“It’s Ca Damon. Tell Mr. Adams I have refused to make the blueprints for his building. No skyscraper shall be built there. And cancel all my meetings for tomorrow”
The Cartier struck midnight.
He put the alarm for 5AM and went to sleep.

Ca boarded the first metro out of the city. He did not need a map to know where he was going, knowing the place would still be where it stood twenty eight years ago. And with that realisation flashed before him all the memories he had locked away the day they took him away to another world. He remembered her everyday. He remembered her face as she said goodbye to him from the broken window of the little blue house one last time before Colonel Damon took away the bleeding ten year old boy into the tank and vanished around the next corner. He remembered coming back to find nobody home.

Getting off at the last station, he looked around. He knew he was in the right place, breathing the air that was once his own. The dark gates of the ghetto stood like guards to an ancient city where every dilapidated building, every burnt house told a story. The decaying houses stood around looking over him as he walked, their remains bringing back a crimson history. Unlike the uniformity of the city, every building held an individualistic appeal and location which was authentic to its being. The early workers stopped to look at the man in the silk jacket.
After fifteen minutes of what seemed like an aimless stroll, Ca stopped before a stained cerulean house with rusty old broken green windows, moss adorning its dewy walls. It had stooped with age. But every part of the tattered building proved its strength, demanding the attention of the higher God with all its flaws intact.
It had been thirty five years since the war ended, but the memories of his past still remained in the house. Sitting on the porch, holding his mother’s kerchief, Ca looked at the silhouette of the gigantic monsters, monsters he had built all his life to hide the broken glass of his frayed home. No more.
“I did it for you, ma.”
In that moment, he realized it had never been him looking over the town; it was the town that had looked over him all along.

Now that the first week is past and the grind of classes has begun, freshers, keep your eyes peeled for audition notices while we tell you a little about the societies that can be a huge part of your three years.

The Drama/ Street Play Society: Be it stage productions or street plays, the drama societies of every college no doubt add the colour to campus with their mind-blowing performances. Being part of the drama society also comes with long hours of practice at getting your act just right plus oodles of fun.
The Debating Society: Debaters are generally the ones you see in D-school (in North Campus at least) discussing politics, economy, philosophy or just how awesome the last tournament was. The ‘Debsocs’ require awareness of current issues, a grasp of logic, a willingness to learn and practice and an insatiable capacity for living it up!
The Film and Photography Society: These are the people you just can’t get hold of because they are busy watching, swapping, discussing movies or the ones who stumble all the time since they only see the world through their lens. All you need is a camera and a love for the motion picture!
The ‘Choreo’ Society: They revel in themes, songs and choreography. They dance till they drop [literally] and swear by the intoxication. If that’s your passion, then this society promises you a brilliant, jiving three years.

The Fashion Society: They are the budding fashionistas, adding the ‘oomph factor’ to any college and they demand the attitude, hard work, patience and a sense of style that is a must for anyone on the ramp.

The Indian/Western Music Society: All the jamming and singing which provides a lovely break from the monotony of classes is the Music Society. Knowing how to play an instrument, a good voice or just a finely tuned ear for music is all you need to be a part of these performers!

And there are more, just look closely on every notice-board you see. There’s something for everyone who loves panel discussions, the environment, MUNs, art…the list is endless!

A few controversies, dozens of protests and several meetings later Delhi University has implemented 12 semester-based Under Graduate courses for Science from the academic year 2010-2011.
The initial sign of change was a letter sent from University Grants Commission (UGC) suggesting academic reforms in early 2008. A subsequent proposal to introduce a semester system was sent to faculty of DU by the Vice Chancellor. Blueprint of implementation and syllabi was finalised on May 13, 2010 and conveyed to principals of all colleges by May 25. The inspiration of this development came from successful models of higher education in America and Europe.
Courses of Science like Physics, Chemistry, Statistics, Botany, Zoology, Anthropology, Geology, Bio-Chemistry, Microbiology, Anthropology, Bio-Medical Science, Nursing, Electronics, B.Sc Programme of Life Sciences and Physical Sciences will commence the bi-annual examinations with 24 papers in total, four every semester. The syllabus previously included 60 hours of lectures per subject per semester, but after much discord, it was reduced to 48 plus 12 hours of tutorials.
The new academic schedule has a 16-week long semester with mid-break from 4th to 15th October, 2010. However, preparation period and conducting examinations has been significantly reduced to 20 days starting from 20th November till 10th December. The second semester will begin from 3rd Jan, 2011 and go on uninterrupted till 16th April.

Meanwhile, sources in administration confirm that preparation of syllabus regarding semester system for the Commerce Department is in its finishing stages. This will be approved by the Academic Council. Future students of B.Com, academic session 2011-12 can expect a semester based course. As for Social Science, nothing can be ascertained as the faculty has strongly been opposing it. They question the practicality of reforms unless proper infrastructure is in place with appropriate efficiency.
Devansh Dwivedi studying Computer Science (which runs on semester system) feels keeping aside the factor of preparation, the course is quite manageable. “We have sufficient time on our hands in comparison to the students in the annual mode who cram last minute and pass even when they have a reasonably longer prep period. The syllabus is well structured for semesters and papers are well divided, even though the course is quite intensive”, he says.
Institutions such as IIT and JNU have been successfully operating on semester system while Bombay University has experimented with it in post-graduate courses.