A Performer’s Collective of Young People in Delhi, The Yellow Brick Project is making different genres of dance accessible to wider audiences of varying age-levels in Delhi. After the success of their first performance ‘Razzle Dazzle’ at Kamani Auditorium in 2009, they will be staging ‘Dear Delhi’ on the 27th and 28th of July 2010 at the Kamani Auditorium at 7 PM.
The Yellow Brick Project is a Youth Initiative by Prerna Kapur and Nitya Vaishnavi Singh, graduates from Lady Sri Ram College. The team for ‘Dear Delhi’ consists of about 70 people (aged 15-25 years), mostly students from within Delhi University and students from foreign universities who are home on vacation. The entire event is being executed by this young team, from choreography, dance, sets, costumes to event management and photography. This project focuses on interweaving different dance and musical styles including Jazz, Hip-Hop, Lyrical, Ballroom, Indian and Contemporary style dance. Film, audio-visual production and elaborate stage set-up add to the glamour of the performances by this group.
‘Dear Delhi’ has something for every audience in it as it moves through the familiar and much-loved sounds and sights of Delhi. “Dear Delhi’ narrates the experiences of its people-students, homosexual couples, tourists, single women, college professors, people from other states working in Delhi . Touching the lives of everyone who has experienced love in some form or the other, this performance hopes to remind everyone of the beauty of love, in Delhi.
This performance is being mentored by Atul Jindal and Karan Kumar from The Big Dance Academy and Clarence Gonsalves, bassist for the popular band- Them clones will be providing the music. The Radio Partners for this event are HIT 95 FM. For more details on the performance, email at [email protected] or visit the Facebook group- The Yellow Brick Project. For tickets, please contact Suvidhi: 9811127271. Tickets are available for Rs.200, Rs.300, Rs.500 at Cafe 6 in Hauz Khas, Teksons in South Ex.
The Common Aptitude Test results were declared on the 28th of Feburary this year. However the prevailing sentiment around the university and the 2,41,000 aspirants who took this finger-biting management exam in the country largely echoes disappointment.
Some students have in fact expressed complete shock. Says, Anwesha who took the CAT 2009 and was rather surprised by her disastrously unexpected result says, “It was a big shock. After the mismanagement in holding the exam, we expected the results to be clear and uniform. However, I’ve seen the most unpredictable pattern this year. In the mocks, we were always prepared with a certain pattern and were accustomed to the difficulty level. But this year, unexpectedly we were faced with 60 easy questions which erodes the chances of securing a good percentile given that results are relative.”
Similar responses have been recorded from students who were sure of their performances but feel they have not been marked appropriately. Arushi, another aspirant cites that in spite of calibre, intelligence and proper practice, an ingredient which is required these days to make it to the elite corridors of IIMs is got to do with one’s luck. Although this seems may seem slightly over exaggerated, most students have expressed similar thoughts, calling this an important factor.
In spite of the technical glitches that occurred in November while conducting the exam on a country wide scale, some have still made it to their dream colleges. Interestingly, a third year Stephenian Hiba, whose exam got cancelled thrice before she actually wrote it, waited for 4-5 hours at the examination centre before learning that it got rescheduled and got her admit card the evening before the actual exam, has managed to secure a 96 percentile and is hopeful of getting admission in a good institute.
However, one might consider the students allegations on mishaps of results and non transparent criteria of receiving calls as not entirely justified keeping in mind the success of those who managed to receive calls from the prestigious management institutes.
The success story of Urvashi Gupta of SRCC, who received a call from IIM-Ahmedabad after securing 99 percentile, is one such example. As a relief to most taking the CAT 2010, she says that she started her preparation only 3 months before the exam and focused to a large extent on the online tests available on site of coaching institutes. She has also witnessed unexplained results in her friends groups and is hopeful that justice shall prevail to the hard workers.
Each IIM has a different criterion of calling students for personal interviews and this year IIM-A has given weight age to Class 10 and 12 grades as well and IIM-B has come up with certain credit to work experience.
DUBling’s view: Given the present situation, one ought to be prepared with a fall back option. For now, all we can say is its best not to hype the exam to an extent where it is impossible to deal with the results. All we can hope for is a bright future for all deserving candidates.
Professor commits suicide
Mahesh Chander Jain, a 63-year-old professor of the prestigious St Stephens College allegedly jumped to death from the second floor of his south Delhi residence, apparently due to depression.
BJP takes on Tharoor over tweeting
“Too much tweeting will lead to quitting” was BJP’s friendly word of caution to
Hyderabad plane crash: Searching for explanations
When an Indian navy airplane tumbled through the sky on Wednesday, it crashed into a three-storey residential building near the Begumpet Airport in the heart of Hyderabad city.
Woods back from family counseling
Tiger Woods is back at home after a week of family counseling in Arizona and is trying to get into a routine that includes golf and fitness
Karun Chandhok becomes second Indian driver to race in Formula One
Karun Chandhok’s long wait seems to be over as he becomes the second Indian to drive in Formula One after signing the deal with Hispania Racing team for the 2010 Formula One season, when the season starts in Bahrain next week.
Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor on Thursday.
Recently admiring the sheer genius of the Beatles with a friend, the innate awesomeness of their lyrics triggered a debate. Well, certainly we weren’t debating the brilliance of the Beatles, (like that’s even debatable) but the inspiration behind it. The song in question – Lucy in The Sky with Diamonds. The initials of the song might, or probably do refer to LSD. However, what made me go out on a foot was the denial of the other possibility. While , unconcerned about the Beatles substance habit and not ignorant of it either , what irks me is the follow up argument of this eternal debate – evocative imagery of the song which according to some is an automatic implication and consequence of a drug induced high. In the words of my favorite little girl in wonderland – ‘Let’s pretend’, nay imagine, imagine the sheer strength of imagination that naturally lets you “Picture yourself on a boat on a river, with tangerine trees, and marmalade skies.” Drug induced escapism, you say. Drug induced? Maybe, but that is not the point of my argument .Escapism, definitely. Let fantasy set you free, after all don’t we really all live in our own bubbles. It’s simply a question of what bubble you chose to live in, so why not grant the Beatles a chance to imagine inhabiting a place where rocking out people eat marshmallow pies. With the approaching close of the session, attendance issues, submissions and deadlines, are sure to trigger the escapist in us, make a plunge down that rabbit hole. If you don’t know what I am talking about, for heaven’s sake, catch the recently released Alice in Wonderland movie, without me having to entice you with Johnny Depp! Consider the increasing popularity of social networking sites, which not only awakens the escapist, but perhaps the exhibitionist in us. Think Fahrenheit 451, or Through the looking glass, maybe even Karthik calling Karthik. Think Farmville! What more obvious case of escapism can you find than people procrastinating over imaginary crops going bad or troubling over imaginary bovine invasions. The common weal is not an LSD induced dream but the desire to escape the repetitiveness of every day life. Why should this alternate reality automatically be equated with a divorce from reality; imagination with hallucinations; reality as the death of all possibility?
I conclude with the words of John Lennon
‘You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us And the world will live as one’
“A set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, involving the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs”. Isn’t the above statement too complicated to be understood? That’s what religion is-Complicated.
It all started with masses striving to find links with which they may form groups, and be together. Couple this effort with the concept of god. The intention was right but it resulted in an entangled cobweb of misunderstood facts and prejudiced opinions. If I may, I’d like to elucidate with an analogy. The abstraction of religion has evolved over time. This evolution has been similar to the course a river takes.
The river starts with a single rigid glacier- white, pure and serene…high and unapproachable. Religion starts with rigid texts from rigid minds- considered pious and pure…complicated and incomprehensible. Just as glaciers are features that a common man may admire from a distance and hail those who ascend on them, religion too is an idea that an ordinary believer may follow and not explore. The origin of both the river and religion is on a difficult ‘terrain’.
In its early lap a river bursts its way through the valleys, spreads the gushing sound in the quiet surroundings and instil a sense of lively motion around its channel. Religion, too, spreads rapidly when it’s young. The number of men it influences initially may be less but the magnitude of this influence is considerable. The development of this new thought stream infuses a fresh dynamism in its adherents. But, along with this new lease of life ,that a river spreads where ever it goes, it erodes whatever comes in its way. It collides with rocks and forms dangerous rapids that shriek and express the mood of the river. The brainchild of religion too may contradict existing voices lead to controversies that make noise. After this potent phase the river calms down. It enters the plains and has a lesser velocity.
Its reach widens and spreads as it forms distributaries. The river now becomes accessible, productive and symbiotic with other creatures. It’s now navigable, irrigates, gives drinking water and hence becomes a part of people’s lives. Similarly, after the vehement chapter, religion becomes mature and mellows down. It is now accepted by a lot more people and reaches out to the common man. Religion now becomes a part of a man’s identity.
But the identity of the river is now diminished once it forms distributaries. Its unidirectional flow is lost. Nile becomes Damietta and Rosetta. Likewise the identity of religion is lost when sub sects are formed. It looses the agenda, objective and direction. A follower of Islam becomes Shi’a, Sunni or Zaidi. A Christian becomes a protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican or a Baptist. At this stage the flow of religion is completely confused and aimless. The soul and purpose of the hypothesis of religion is absent. More than a tradition it’s a trend. Finally all distributaries fall in a deep, vast and endless water body called the ocean. All streams have the same end, no matter from where they originated. Coming from different glaciers, they all aggregate to form the same salty water body making waves… Though their content is same pole to pole, still we name five oceans. Though their quintessence is perpetual and coequal, still we name countless religions.
Though the theory of religion has grown, evolved and matured, still we find aberrations within this perception. There are lines of discrimination drawn within this thought on the basis of flimsy assumptions.
If all religions endorse the idea of goodness then why do we need a god to be worshipped? Gods, who are religion specific; who speak in different languages and accept prayers in different languages.
Why can’t we consider the soul of all religions as divine- instead of the bending in front clay models and stone statues? Why can’t we be just humans- instead of Christian, Hindu or Jewish?
Why cant there exist only one religion- the religion of goodness, truth and honesty?
Why five oceans. And not one?
What weighs a thousand pounds and runs around the world fighting hunger? Hippo! The latest brand of melt in the mouth munchies in town, Hippo has become one of the first few snacks to successfully break the chain created by the wafer biggies. With its six odd new flavours totally unheard of in the country before, we are finally moving beyond the tag of ‘Masala India’ to perhaps a more global, more diversified taste. The packaging is impeccable with no more than what’s required on it. The distinctive colours kept together on the shelf don’t fail to attract your attention, even if from a fair distance. And they fit in your mouth at one go! While the tang of the flavours is quite unique and deserves much credit, it is the whole campaign behind the product by Parle which made Hippo a success in a relatively short period of time. That is because, instead of concentrating on the product, the message behind it was focused more upon courtesy the mascot and the theme song. Who would’ve thought we’d believe an unseen hippopotamus into agreeing with his pro-peace theme “Pyaar Baant te Chalo”? But we did, maybe because for once someone wasn’t trying so hard to sell us a product by putting Saif Ali Khan’s face on it. The attempt became more like a labour of love instead. Thus, the concept is funny without being frivolous. Also, if one notices intently, a hippopotamus endorsing the food product instead of a tanned six pack bloke seems more believable too. Which brings us to a little or maybe not so little, fact about these or any other chips. It’s out. The ‘baked, not fried’ tag does not help. Hippo does contain fat, and saturated fat just like all other chips. Maybe the cryptic warning comes attached with the size of the mascot. Implying, the makers have kept it real. Ah what the heck, we’re not dying of clogged arteries just yet, and hippo seems to be eating just as much too. So lets give Hippo the benefit of doubt. Besides isn’t that the whole point? Pyaar baant te chalo! ]]>
Bilingual edition – Translated from Spanish to English by Alastair Reid If you are a poetry enthusiast, then neglecting Pablo Neruda’s work is indeed a crime of the first order. One of the most renowned poets of the twentieth century, Winner of the World Peace Prize and Nobel laureate, Neruda’s 1962 collection of personal poems, ‘ Fully Empowered’ in my opinion is certainly one of the best, if not the best. Versatile in theme and form, the collection is a camera lens vision ranging from the most grandiose to the most profoundly simple. The collection begins with the deeply evocative and mesmerising personal poem, ‘the Poet’s obligation.’ a pattern which is inherently present till the end. Along with setting the tone for the rest of the poems, the entire collection and more specifically this poem is an intensely moving personal statement that explores the poet’s motivation and obligation – providing a voice to the things and people that remain unrepresented. It is within this framework that the nutshell volume functions , which adds to the remarkability of this nutshell collection – there is something in it for everyone .One of Neruda’s own favorites , ‘Fully Empowered’ has a transcendental yet unpretentious grace , which seems to come from a more mature , reflective poet. As a reader of Fully Empowered encapsulates, ‘It is an elegant collection of poetry that touches on the many facets of Neruda’s character: his love of nature, his amorous tendencies, his compassion and empathy for the working man, and ultimately, his acceptance of the finality of existence.’ My personal favourite of the collection are his series of beautiful single lyrics like ‘ Goodbyes’ and ‘To Sorrow’ One characteristic of his poetry is the distinctive tone of his poetry which is obviously meant to be read aloud. Here in lies the translator’s challenge and Alastair Reid has indeed done ‘poet’ic justice to it. My rating – 4.5 / 5 ]]>
With just a few months to go before the intended implementation of the semester system, various departments of the University continue to express their inhibitions and doubts about the pragmatic success of such a system in such a vast varsity like DU. The English Department , in its last general body meeting held on 16th December , 09 again rejected the semester system. However, on Dec 18 , the empowered committee constituted by the vice chancellor for working out modalities for implementation of the semester system at the undergraduate level , put up a proposal of their detailed deliberations and changes to the existing plan on the university website i.e . www.du.ac.in.. Though no general body meeting has been held by the varsity teachers of the English department , a recent development has been the rejection of the system and the proposed changes by the professors of Delhi School Of Economics ,post December 18th . Additionally individual concerns have been voiced and questions raised by numerous
A broad outline of the changes and the probable implications and consequences they entail:
Curriculum:
Change :
MINORS- Students may do 6 papers in one subject and get a ‘Minor’ in his degree.The other choice would be that they can do 2 -3 subjects in a package laid down by the Dept. All Honours courses will have 16 papers. Environment will be learnt from a CD, Internet and periodicals. without teacher or classes
Only one language will be compulsory. The specifications for Eng and Hindi honours student aren’t made available yet and nor is there any mention of whether there will be a choice in this regard.
Implications : It seems the level will now be ‘non-Honours’ i.e. BA / BSc. As present concurrent disciplines are set to be replaced by 6 Pass course papers.
If Hindi is not introduced as a compulsory language , some colleges may want to do away with the option entirely. This in turn would lead to problematic questions regarding what one would do with the existing staff. Moreover , questions can be raise about the validity of a system which does not even make one paper in the local language compulsory.
Examination and Corrections
Changes :
There will be no house examinations conducted in January.
Exams will be marked centrally, by teams of 3-4 teachers each taking one or two questions only throughout the pile of scripts.
Fictitious Roll Numbers will not be used, thus the anonymity of the examinee will not be maintained.
Students shall not be given a right to re-evaluation of their answer scripts
Further, if students fail their first semester , they will not be given an opportunity to sit for their second semester examination.
Implications: Doing away of the fictitious roll number system to speed up the process of corrections may not seem to be the best solution , in fact it seems more faulty and impractical than the existing set up.
Things that might cause concern to students would be the manner of marking the exam without secrecy, which might lead to bias in the markers as they could tell the roll numbers of the students, be aware of their colleges etc, and worse, a student who found out the examiner could attempt to bribe him or her to ‘fix’ his paper. While we are not doubting the integrity of the examiners , disclosing the identity of the students is ironic for an examination system that does not trust its professors enough when it comes to internal assessment marks ,which are repeatedly moderated by concerned university authorities.
The first examination that students will give will be a full scale Delhi University examination in November as there will be no house examination. Interestingly enough ,many students and professors feel that these house examinatons are instrumental in preparing students about the more important University examinations ( in terms of weight age of marks).
This system will be additionally difficult for some students, especially the ones under quota or those general students who get in as late as mid September when quota seats are unfilled . With the university shutting down for the first two weeks of October in the light of the approaching Commonwealth Games, these students are faced with the real first semester exams only after being in college for less than a month. If they fail these , they would have to sit idle till July as they won’t be allowed to attend the second semester either.
INTERNAL ASSESMENT
The pattern of internal assessment will be significantly reworked as the house examinations will be done away with. Out of the 25 percent marks determined by the college ten percent will depend solely on attendance. Out of the remaining 15 percent 10 will depend on assignment ( s) submitted by the students and the remaining 5 on class tests.
SCHEDULES : classes and tutorials
Changes : The time tables will also have to be adjusted accordingly. Lecture classes will go up to 5 in each paper, the 5th period being for student presentations to be heard. Remedial measures for weaker students and late entries are being contemplated.
Implications :
However , tutorials will be reduced to only once a fortnight per student per paper with the tutorial groups being reduced to a minimum of ten students. The disadvantage is that even if the class size is 50 or 60 only 4 groups are allowed.
The 12th edition of the Men’s Hockey World Cup is going to be staged in New Delhi from 28 February to 13 March 2010. 12 teams will be participating in arguably the most important event in men’s hockey, alongside the Olympics. Along with world champions Germany and European powerhouse teams including the Netherlands and Spain, not to forget Australia, the host’s arch-rivals Pakistan have also qualified. The teams have been divided into two teams of 6 each. India’s pool includes Australia, Spain, and interestingly enough, Pakistan. The event starts at 4.30 pm at The Major Dhyanchand National Stadium, which is the sole venue for all matches, with three matches to be held every day during the pool stage. There is then a rest day on the 10th of March before the classification matches start on the 11th. There are three matches each day again to decide the 5th to 12th places with the final on the 13th following the 3rd place playoff match. Tickets for the pool matches and classification matches range from Rs 100 for the general stand to Rs 5000 for the VVIP hospitality stand. Each ticket is valid for all games being played on the day. For the final day, the general stand ticket costs Rs 150 while a VVIP stand ticket costs Rs 7500. Tickets are available at select Cafe Coffee Day outlets, 24×7 Convenience Stores and United Bank of India branches. Tickets for the first day are sure to run out fast with the highlight of the day being India playing Pakistan in the last match of the day.
The stadium was inaugurated, with major renovation work done, on 24th January 2010. The host team has recently begun practicing at the venue with various delays preventing then from using home advantage so far. The renovation cost over 260 crores and the stadium, spread over 32 acres features two synthetic pitches for match play and a third one for practice.
Forget all that. Just follow the words of Virender Sehwag and Priyanka Chopra and be there to support not just the national team, but also some excellent players and teams from around the world.