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Lady Shri Ram College for Women

The Legend Lives On- the Retirement of Meenakshi Gopinath

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The final word has been said and the stage’s been set for her farewell. As Dr. Meenakshi Gopinath officially retires as the principal of Lady Shri Ram College for Women, we take a look at her extremely dynamic career.  From her initial years as a student at LSR to the principal of the same prestigious college in the country, her journey has been long, but it’s a path lit up with achievements and laurels. Over the years, she has truly lived up to the title of the “phenomenal woman”.

She started out on her enriching voyage by graduating from her Alma Mater, LSR, in Political Science. She went on to get her masters degree from the University of Massachusetts, USA and her doctorate from the University of Delhi. Her post doctoral work, as a Fulbright scholar was at Georgetown University, USA, but she clearly yearned for more. Having acquired so much knowledge and gathered a resourceful mind, she went on to conquer the world.

After having joined her college once again, as a teacher this time, she became the principal of LSR in 1988. And since then there’s been no looking back for this symbol of grace and intellect.  She is the Founder and Honorary Director of WISCOMP (Women in Security Conflict Management and Peace) a start-up which she founded in 1999, which  promotes the leadership of South Asian women in the areas of international politics, peace, security and diplomacy.

Dr. Gopinath has piloted and fostered confidence building measures through regular workshops and collaborative projects among intellectuals of the SAARC region and especially between Pakistani and Indian young students. She has authored Pakistan in Transition (1975) and co-authored Conflict Resolution – Trends and Prospects (2003) and Transcending Conflict: A Resource book on Conflict Transformation (2004) and Dialogic Engagement (2005). Her list of credentials continues to form a long list.

PHEW! This woman can blow your mind with her persona and her personality. To hear her speak is mesmerizing. She utters words with panache and confidence. Everything about her drips of excellence. That is why she has received various awards including the Padma Shri Award, Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi Award, the Rajiv Gandhi Award for Excellence in Education, the Mahila Shiromani Award, the Delhi Citizen Forum Award and Qimpro Platinum Standard Award for Education and Celebrating Womanhood South Asian Recognition Award for Social Harmony.

She’s been an inspiration, a teacher, a guiding force and in short, an enigmatic person. No wonder as she retires on 28th August, 2014, the entire college will skip a beat, because MG bids adieu to her home.

Concluding, I would just like to quote lines from Maya Angelou’s famous poem, (slightly altered) which truly sum up the magic of LSR and its association with MG.

“It’s in the click of her heels,
The bend of her hair,
The palm of her hand,
The need of her care,

‘Cause she’s a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s her.”

Image source: Headlines Today

Ishita Sharma

([email protected])

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Small Screen

TV Show Review: Penny Dreadful

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When I say Penny Dreadful, I expect half of the people to assume the gothic leading lady from the poster to be the ‘Penny’- supposedly, the villainous and thereby the dreadful. Somehow reminding us of shows like The Vampire Diaries and True Blood.

But we can’t help it, can we? Well, she is wearing a necklace made of scorpions and no matter how badass it appears in the posters, it does warrant an assumption of her being a good old vampire goddess. Though I assure you, this is definitely not the case.

The show derives its name from a 19th century British publication type under which ‘Penny’ stood for the fact that these books were rather cheaper to purchase than any other publications running in the market. Similarly, ‘dreadful’ stood for the lurid and suspenseful storylines that this publication offered. So, just to clear it out, there isn’t a ‘Penny’ in the show.

Set in the same century as the actual Penny Dreadful publication, the show is extraordinarily refreshing, considering the fact that it delves into the genre of fantasy, which is repeatedly churning out the same story lines again and again. Penny Dreadful is a psychological coaster running for about 60 minutes as it aims to keep you at the edge of your seats and at the same time satiating your appetite for science fiction and the supernatural. Not to mention, its standards to adapt from the classics. Yes, not ‘classic’ but ‘classics’ given that several adaptations like Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Frankenstein, Van Helsing and even Oscar Wilde’s Dorian Grey have been successfully made into one single show.

And I must add, Penny Dreadful has an amazing cast helming the project. Eva Greens (the women with the scorpion necklace/ Vanessa Ives) and Josh Harnett (as Ethan Chandler) being the crown jewels of this loaded casket.

As they say it rightly ‘There is something within us all.’

 

Priyanka Kapoor

[email protected]

 

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DU Dhaba

5 Reasons Why Social Offline is The Place To Be

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The chances of you going to Hauz Khas village and not finding a new, flashy, easy on the eyes eating joint are slim to none. Social Offline is yet another one of Hauz Khas’ new additions. But before you write it off as yet another pretentious café, here is what makes it stand out:

The Space:

Strategically located in an endearingly filthy alley in Hauz Khas village, Social Offline has an undeniably kitschy-industrial vibe which becomes apparent as soon as you walk past its hashtag plastered bare-brick walls lined with exposed piping. Inside, the café-cum-workplace has the ambience of a buzzing countryside pub set in a rusty warehouse, accentuated by stray pulleys hanging in corners, bare lightbulbs and rustic wooden furniture all overlooking good old Huaz Khas lake. Overall, the look is undoubtedly innovative, even down to to the trademark hashtags on the toilet rolls that double as napkins.

The Food:

Keeping step with the laid back atmosphere, the menu is essentially a plethora of every imaginable kind of comfort food, all served in their signature eccentric urban style. The Mexican lamb poutine was devoured in seconds, leaving us watery eyed and satisfied, while the Biryani was wholesome, delicious and brilliantly simple. Even the Thai Thali was as delectable as it was pleasantly humble, without any of the pretentious add-ons and exorbitant prices so typical to Hauz Khas Village. If nothing else, can you really go wrong with an All-Day Breakfast Platter?

The Booze:

It’s probably safe to say that I remember only the bare minimum after the ‘Booze’ section came into the picture considering I indignantly decided that I could take on one of their ‘Longest Long Island Ice Teas’ unassisted. I was tremendously mistaken. This ‘L.L.I.I.T’, which looks essentially like a gigantic test tube, tasted like the floor of shady theka in Delhi, though in its defence, it did get me adequately hammered.

The Crowd:

A pleasant blend of overly- energetic teenagers pumping their fists to EDM and a slightly more sophisticated, but equally inebriated, hipster working crowd, Social has it just right. Another plus is that the size of the place gives you plenty of room to escape whoever it may be you want to keep a safe, no-hands-on-ass distance from.

The Concept:

Obviously keeping with the ‘Work Hard, Play Hard’ motto, Social Offline is a concept in itself. During the day, upcoming freelancers, small companies and designers who don’t have the luxury of renting their own workspace can rent a table or conference hall, helping them to meet new people and, well, Socialize. The idea is to help people stay connected without a screen in front of their faces, and Social Offline has executed it brilliantly.

Imagecredits: http://theyellowsparrow.in

-Damini Gupta

St. Stephen’s College

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Spo(r)tlight

A time to ponder: Indian Cricket Team’s recent performance

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Following the 4-0 loss in 2011, Indians again had to face humiliation at the hands of the Englishmen. This was their second successive test series defeat in England, where they lost 3-1 to the hosts. India claimed their first overseas win since 2011 when they won the second Test at Lord’s, but surrendered the final three matches meekly, the final indignity being their downfall at The Oval when they lost by an inning and 244 runs within three days. Such poor performance has triggered speculations about M.S. Dhoni’s and Duncan Fletcher’s future.

Ever since their world cup victory in 2011 India has slumped in test series on foreign soil without an exception. Duncan Fletcher’s tenure too has been like a rollercoaster ride with few important victories including the Champions Trophy and some major setbacks like the loss in the finals of the recent T20 World Cup and the overseas test series loss to Australia and New Zealand.

Such debacles have drawn heavy criticism from all corners of the cricketing world. “I must say his (Test) captaincy has been very poor of late, especially in this series. Then again, who would you replace him with? We don’t have a replacement available,” said Vengsarkar (former Chief Selector), speaking to The Indian Express.

“Not only the captain, there’s a dearth of quality Test talent at the moment, which is the real tragedy of Indian Cricket. The selectors can’t be held responsible. They didn’t have other options apart from those 18 players who were picked for England. This was the best available squad but it failed to perform.” Vengsarkar added.

Following the Test defeat BCCI has decided to act decisively to ensure some damage control for the remaining five-match one-day series against England. Ravi Shastri’s appointment as the Director of Cricket is one such temporary measure or a sign of deeper changes ahead in the Indian Cricket team management.

Other changes are that, bowling coach Joe Dawes and fielding mentor Trevor Penney have been given a break for the ODI Series, while Sanjay Bangar and Bharat Arun have been made assistant coaches and R. Sridhar named as fielding coach.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India has also assured that the changes are for the next five matches, but as India is the defending champion for the upcoming World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in February next year, more “big” decisions will be needed to retain the crown.

 

Rishabh Sharma

[email protected]

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Features

Project LEAP- Be an Educator, Be the Change

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Poverty, population and illiteracy are perhaps the biggest hindrance in the progress scale of India. There are thousands of children in our nation who either have no accessibility to schools or are a target of social and economic problems that hinder them from continuing their school life. Project LEAP primarily trains sincere and active volunteers as Educators, who further help in educating these  children.

Here are a few details about how this organization is effective at large measures. LEAP is a one year project that requires volunteer presence in school every working weekend (on the basis of specific school calendar).

Becoming I Foundation

Each Becoming I member is carefully trained to spearhead as well as create projects, the main idea behind it being to connect young people with community development projects on an international level. To instill the audacity to bring about powerful, sustainable change from within- remains the prime objective of this project LEAP.
Project LEAP

Project Leap is a planned and innovative intervention aimed at providing a wholesome learning and growing environment to every child in India. Students with underprivileged backgrounds are provided with a specialised curriculum which focuses on integrating dance, music, theater, art & craft, sports and public speaking with the NCERT curriculum

Thanks to its dedicated volunteers trained as ‘Educators’, this special integrated course helps to achieve a  three-fold impact:
– Increased Admission rates

– Decreased Dropout rates

– Greater learning outcomes

Volunteer role in LEAP

The Project Leap volunteer program is designed to provide an immersive leadership experience to young people interested in diving deep into the Impact Space. Volunteers, who have expertise in any one of the art forms mentioned above, should definitely be a part of such an effective and dedicated project. One must be equipped with qualities like utmost sincerity, professionalism and commitment to be an Educator. Those who wish to take up this challenge do sign up at:

http://www.becomingifoundation.org/apply-for-project-leap/

The meeting schedules will be created based on your convenience.

 

Image source: www.becomingifoundation.org

Surbhi Sharma

[email protected]

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Biblio

Harsh Agarwal shares his experience with ‘Nazaqat’

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The KNC Book Club held its first book reading session for this semester with Harsh Agarwal, author of three books the most recent being ‘Nazaqat’.

The session started out with Harsh talking about what it took to get where he is, his experiences along the way and also what it means to be an entrepreneur and author in the present day scenario. He talked about his transition from an engineering student from the National Institute of Technology (Silcher) to an author and how he dealt with problems along the way, what was expected of him and what people thought of him. In fact, he has published the book ‘Nazaqat’ under the name ‘Sasha H Singhal’.

Students present shared their  views on why they write and what it is like to share their writing on social media platforms. Harsh also went on to talk about his previous two books ‘An Incursion of Insight’ and ‘Life In A Nutshell’. He read out short excerpts from ‘Nazaqat’, giving  an idea of the trajectory of the storyline and introduced  the main protagonist- Nazaqat, a prostitute turned entrepreneur who documents her need to have her biography written and also deals with issues like legalization of prostitution.

The book reading was followed by a question and answer session and a book signing session where the students got a chance to interact with the author on a personal level.

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DUB Speak

The Curious Case of the E Rickshaw

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E-rickshaws, initiated by former CM Sheila Dixit around the time of the Commonwealth Games, have been flourishing ever since. Be it Delhi University’s North Campus or outside metro stations all around the city, the e-rickshaw is what stands out amongst the rickshaw lot. E-rickshaws, due to their fixed, convenient cost of rupees 10 per person and by virtue of being faster than their non-electronic counterparts, have been a favored option.

However, with rising prices, the e-rickshaw drivers have been soaring their prices to up to Rs.30 making them unattractive to commuters who would rather take an auto for the same cost. In addition to this is the question of safety in these “eco-friendly” vehicles. Although fit to be included in the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 due to its battery of up to 650 watt, these light weight, open rickshaws are not only excluded from many legal implications but are neglected to the extent that they do not even possess a number plate, neither are they registered.

As a result, it is almost impossible to even register an FIR in case of an accident which seems very likely as the drivers are mostly inexperienced, non-licensed profit-seekers who ferry an overload of people in the vehicle meant for four. Furthermore, they refrain from spending on battery maintenance which makes these rickshaws even more prone to fatal accidents.

Amidst allegations from the Indian Foundation of Transport Research and Training (IFTRT) and the NDA government’s effort to keep its promise of legalizing them, e-rickshaws have become subject to a ban and await a final decision from the High Court. In my opinion, this ‘humane’ alternative to manually pulled rickshaws can become the star of ‘extra-mile’ transport if systematically regulated by the government.

Ishani Rajkhowa

[email protected]

Image source: www.thehindu.com

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Humouroscope

Humouroscope: 24th-30th Aug, 2014

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Aries: Your patriotic fervour is at an all time high this week. But please refrain from singing “Sandese Aate Hein” in Suniel Shetty’s voice as the national anthem.

Taurus: I know that you have over-heard the cute doctor mention your “Cologne” but I don’t think she was referring to your “Hugo Boss” and “Chanel” collection. What are your thoughts on Ileostomy, child?

Gemini: There are probably three superheroes crushing on you right now. Yea, really, I kid you not! But unfortunately, they cannot reveal their secret identity so that’s a bummer.

Cancer: This week the moon is perfectly aligned with your constellation stars to form what is known as the justaloadofcrap triangle. This phenomenon occurs only once every thousand years and grants the people born under this star sign – absolutely nothing. Hence the name.

Leo: Good to hear that you have almost completely left eating chocolates except in the evenings when you visit the mall and pass by Dunkin Doughnuts.  Because you know you deserve a little break from the “strict diet” every “now-and-then”.

Virgo: Scratch this area to win a fantastic prize ->#########

Libra: We have received several concerned mails asking if the ‘Humuroscope’ section of the newsletter is “real”. Let me assure you that we hire only the best clairvoyants who could have spend their “future-scrying powers” in ripping off millions out of the stock market instead of working in a non-profit weekly student newsletter.

Scorpio: Be wary of people trying to fool you into elaborate schemes in order to rip you off of your hard earned money. Keep your money safe by transferring it to this address: www.totallylegitwebaddress.com/transferyourmoney/inthisveryrealbankaccount/seriously/trustme

Sagittarius: Get rid of all your loose change before trying to stealthily tip toe around your lady friends. This week is the “Belated raksha bandhaan week”.

Capricorn: You will have a hard time convincing that the smudges on your touch screen is from trying to beat your “Flappy Bird” score and not because you were texting your Ex the entire night.

Aquarius: Feeling nostalgic with a bit of vertigo? That’s the feeling of indigestion.

Pisces: I often run out of jokes by the time I reach you guys. Today is no different.

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News

13 years on: Irom Sharmila continues fast against AFSPA

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On 22 August 2014, 42 year old civil rights activist Irom Chanu Sharmila was re-arrested on fresh charges of attempt to commit suicide under section 309 of the Indian Penal Code.  The charges have been slapped on her by the Manipur state government as she has been on  hunger strike since 2 November 2000 for the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA) from Manipur when Assam Rifles killed 10 people at Malom area in an alleged encounter with insurgents. Ever since, Sharmila has been detained at the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences(JNIMS) from which she has been released and re-arrested again and again from time to time under provisions of the Indian Penal Code. Force feeding through nose is what has kept her alive for more than a decade now.

The last time when she was released was on Tuesday when Sharmila’s counsel Khadamani filed a revision petition after which the court agreed that there was no evidence to confirm that Sharmila is indeed trying to commit suicide and that the prosecution has failed to establish Section 309. However, since she refused to take food and water again after her release and even resisted medical check-up despite her deteriorating health, she was taken back forcibly to the hospital on Friday to be nose-fed like earlier.

Irom Sharmila’s family, expressing condemn at her re-arrest after being released by an earlier court, says they will consult their lawyer and plead before the court for her release again. Several civil rights groups and activists have called it “illegal” including Binalakshmi Nepram, the founder of Manipuri Women Gun Survivors Network, who says the former journalist-cum-social worker is only following the Gandhian way of peaceful protest.

 Ishani Rajkhowa
<[email protected]>

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Uncategorized

Behind The Scenes: Placements

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A common complaint of every DU student is that the placement cell does not work hard enough to get multiple companies on campus.  In my two years in placement cell, first as a member and then as a sub coordinator, I have not spent a day (college time or vacation) without checking my mailbox ten times a day to catch up with the list of companies contacting us at a point of time.

The year starts busily enough with prepping new members to help us enable a smooth process. For the best part of the year, your alarm clock is the early morning call of a company official wanting to discuss the placement process. From the formulation of report, inviting companies to campus, frantically find some free date to assign for a company process, orienting the student body on the college policy, organising workshops, preparing venues, garnering enough attendance to ensure the company doesn’t get offended, arranging the company’s requirements to the T- we do it all. Keep everyone happy – the company, college authorities and the student body – and become a machine following every instruction with no acknowledgement.

It’s fair enough to say that we signed up for the job role so we shouldn’t complain. However the surprising element in the work comes when you observe students treating the process crassly. A random chat with a company reveals that maximum students across the university don’t bother to read the job profile before appearing for the interview. Students routinely skip pre-placement talks and even drop out of subsequent rounds without prior information – the most unacknowledged part of our work is convincing a company to come back and visit our campus after students disappoint them.

Aside the frustrating moments, working for the placement cell opens your eyes to the extreme unpredictability of landing up with a job, warms you up to the company and definitely makes you a little less afraid as you walk up to the interview rooms. In this extremely competitive environment, placement cell folks have helped calm nerves of those in the waiting rooms, and also weathered themselves through the highs and lows of everyone’s experience to become better informed and more confident candidates!

Nitya Nangalia

(The author has been associated with the Placement Cell of Lady Sri Ram College (LSR) for two years. The views & opinion set out in this article is solely of the author)

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