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Delhi’s Autowallahs- Pioneering on Road Infotainment Since Time Immemorial

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We, Delhiites, have certainly travelled in autos at least once in our life. This is almost as certain as the autowallah charging you “Meter se 10 Rupai extra.” As students, rather, as DU students who are late to the first class almost every time, travelling by an auto is day-to-day business.

So what are the basics that make up for a mundane auto ride from point A to B? First and foremost, whether the autowallah is ready to ferry you to your desired destination or not; on a good day you’ll find a compliant guy in about 3 attempts. Secondly, is your chosen autowallah ready to go by the meter; if you are really adamant about it and it is your lucky day, you’ll end up riding a DTC. Thirdly, and the focus of the article is the socio- political issue that the autowallah would shed light upon in his choicest words. The autowallah’s banter maybe the simplest of rants about the traffic with a garnish of his favourite cuss words or a complex sometimes right wing sometimes left wing talk about the state of our polity.

So I shall now narrate 2 stories of interesting rides around the city.

The first incident happened when my professor of Indian Politics took an auto to go someplace, he didn’t mention where. So being the last person to act as a social pariah he started chatting up the autowallah and the stories the autowallah had to share were rather interesting. The autowallah came from a better than middle class household from a state in the Hindi speaking belt. He claimed to have had acres of land and decent amount of cattle to his name. Yes, even to my professor it struck as a rather odd thing for such a guy to be driving an auto in Delhi and he enquired as to what went wrong. So, our autowallah in question lost most of his assets because he had decided to stand for the local elections. He lost all his money in campaigning, and buying off voters which means most of his expenditure was on “dhols, dhotis and daaru”. Indebted as he was, to raise his head above the debt and to make a living, he now drove an auto on Delhi roads. Though one can still wonder if the expenditure on dhotis and daaru had gone down for him or not.

The second case in point is something that happened when I took an auto to get to college the other day. Not only did the autowallah go by meter he also slowed down and pulled up at the curb when he had to answer his phone! Who in this dammed city does that?! When I appreciated him for that action he went on and explained about how he always went by meter and never acted as a “bhaokhaanewala driver”. He also added that two of his sons were studying in leading engineering colleges in the country and as proof of his honesty he did not merely keep the change when I paid him, he returned me the exact amount of change adhering to what his meter said. His auto was famous and revered in the city, he said as he had the unique number plate that read ‘0002’. That was a rather refreshing start to my day since it did not include a game of What Price is Right with an autowallah.

This city has presented all of us such quirky travel tales. To the extent that in 1971, the then TOI Editor took a taxi from his office to get home and what the taxiwallah said, he reported the next day as an example of how delusionalMrs. Gandhi had the common gentry with her ‘GaribiHatao’ slogan. When he settled in the back seat the taxiwallah remarked, “Sahab election kebaadaapaagebaithna hum peechebaithenge.” Needless to say, both of them stuck on in the same seats even after the elections.

So it has been rightly said that if you want to tap the pulse of our city take a ride or two in an auto and make sure that you don’t sit back reading a book or listening to music cause the autowallah bhaiya has a lot to tell.

 

Anugrah Gopinath
[email protected] 

 

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Campus Central

Parampara 2013

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Every year, the Department of Mass Media and Mass Communication, Indraprastha College for Women, University of Delhi, organizes its annual media festival, Parampara. This year, PARAMPARA will be held from 28 February, 2013 to 5 March, 2013. Day 1 and Day 2: 28 February & 1 March, 2013 The festival started with On-the-Spot Filmmaking Competition, where student teams make their film in a span of two hours. These films will be then screened among an audience comprising of more than 300 film enthusiasts and judged on the basis of content and technical concepts. Day 3: 2 March, 2013 Day 3 includes various Inter-College Competitions like the VJ Hunt, Q-MAT (Quiz on movies, advertisements and Television)and Debate. These competitions invite students to rattle their brains, knock on their creative side and win attractive prizes. Day 4 and Day 5: 4 & 5 March, 2013: Day 4 starts with the inauguration of ‘FRAME POLITIK’, a photography competition cum exhibition, featuring both competitive and non-competitive sections. Students will be judged by esteemed jury members. This will be followed by the 9th edition of MISE-EN-SCENE, the annual International Students’ Film Festival. It includes the screening of movies made by students and judged by an esteemed jury. The resounding success of the last editions gave students an opportunity to catch a glimpse of the works of some noted filmmakers. In the past, we have screened movies by film makers like Mr.AnandPatwardhan, Mr.RohitShetty, Mr.Anand Gandhi, Mr.AnuragKashyap, Mr Mike Pandey and Mr. Anwar Jamal. This year, we are going to screen ‘Twittamentary’directed by Tan SiokSiok and ‘Beware Dogs’ by SpandanBannerjee. The college has previously had entries from colleges and universities both at the national and international level, including London Film Academy; School of Liberal Arts, Pakistan; Film School Zlin, Czech Republic; Hamburg Media School, Germany; Savannah College, United States of America; Film and Television Institute of India, Pune; L V Prasad Film & Television Academy, Chennai etc. Students’ films are screened in the long films and short films sections, in the fiction, non-fiction and animation sub-categories.  ]]>

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Campus Central

IP College Lit Fest- The Artist, Society and A Pinch of Heroin

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JFK once remarked in the pink of his health, “In free society art is not a weapon…. Artists are not engineers of soul.” Nonetheless, the two aspects function synergically. It may seem as a puerile analogy but an Artist is to the society what Tom is to Jerry; incomplete without one another. This is where Indraprastha College’s Literary Fest held on February 27, 2013 took off to explore new links between “The Artist and Society.” The starting hours witnessed the paper presentation competition which saw everything from the juxtaposition of Charles Dickens and Chetan Bhagat to the stereotypes about pornography. In the paper presentation, one of the topics, Censorship, controversy’s favorite child and the parasite that derives its strength both from an artist’s creation and society’s admonishment, was resounded in a new tone and as we all know, the worst part about censorship is **************. The Paper presentation competition was followed by a small spectrum of competitions: Poetry and Fiction Writing, the only time you had the liberty to claim that a bird was a human being or to explain how human emotions and snails are alike, Book-Jacket Designing as half of the world judges a book by its cover, and Crossword for teachers. The results are still awaited. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that the creme de la creme segment of the Literary fest was the session with the guest speaker, Jeet Thayil of Narcopolis fame. Narcopolis, his debut novel, had been nominated for the Man Booker Prize 2012. Fully game to sedate the audience in a lyrical fashion, Jeet Thayil began by reciting his poems. His reference to Jim Morrison and Horses Latitude easily owned some people. Subsequently, he read one sentence from his novel-a sentence that spanned six and a half pages. Jeet Thayil’s advice to budding poets was quite simple-“DON’T DO IT! WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU!” Lastly, he entertained questions of general as well as of personal nature from the curious lot and later signed the copies of his book before the session ended.Everyone was still in a daze after he finished because of the pinch of heroin he must have added to his words when no was looking.   Shreya Bharadwaj [email protected]]]>

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Campus Central

Harmony 2013: Day 3

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To Stephanians, the company of one another is absolute bliss that alleviates any spurt of boredom. As stereotyped as it may be reckoned, St. Stephen’s is a world of its own for the college dwellers who rejoiced in harmony in the entirety of the fest. Frequent showers of rain interrupted Day 3 of Harmony. However, this didn’t let down the spirits of the Stephanians and they kicked off with the day’s event with avidity. First event of the day was Scavenger’s Hunt, which saw huge participation. About 49 teams got registered for this fun trail. They were given a list of 48 items to be collected in 1 hour in which they could collect only 5 pictures in total for any item. Shreya, Siddharth, Anusha and Diksha battled out and managed to win this competition. Up next was FLAME {Fashion, Literature, Art, Music, Entertainment}, the Quiz that received a handsome response from quiz lovers and drilled them with some mindboggling questions. The students showcased their creativity with colors and brushes in a Texture Art competition. The topic given to them was “abstract” and students in large number painted their masterpieces. Sherlock Holmes drew huge crowds where a team of two {one impersonating Sherlock Holmes and the other as Watson} set to solve the murder mystery. All the teams were provided with a case study, which they were asked to solve in given time. Five selected teams who reached the finals were then allowed to interview suspects and witness the crime scene. “It was really very interesting, something different” shared of the participants. This was followed by Theatrics in the college hall. The aura of the college was very musical where songs were being dedicated by students to their fellow mates. Paintball and graffiti were also a welcome addition at the fest. Theatrics was conquered by Yang and Subodh, claiming the first and second position respectively. Giving way to sarcasm and exaggeration alike, Mocktaves gave vent to the mimicry talents of the students. Participants gathered to mock and imitate the extremely popular professors of the college who in satirical view had everybody rolling with laughter. Rahul emerged as the clear winner who with his extremely entertaining act had everybody in splits. Footloose was another event which commenced with a number of participants paired to rock to the tunes. Elimination after each thump rendered the top ten participants exulting in the glory and ultimately trying to oust each other. This by far was the most amusing event where everyone let their hair down.  The day concluded giving way to a rocking performance by the band Parikrama, preparations for which were in full swing.  

Sakshi Gupta ([email protected])
Poornima Kharbanda ([email protected])
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Campus Central

Literati

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Everybody has read Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in their childhood and all of us know about the seductive but murderous Count Dracula. All of us have also seen movies in which aliens invade the earth or aliens save the day. In short, Fantasy, which summarizes it all, was the theme of Gargi’s literary festival, Literati 2013, which was held on February 15. Since the theme itself was so versatile (including fairytales, science fiction, the gothic, romantic fantasy) the discussions initiated at the festival were equally diverse. One of the panel speakers Dr.Anuradha Ghosh discussed fairytales and folktales, how the word ‘fantastic’ carries different connotations in relation with the two and the connection between folktales and literature. Dr. Christel Devadawson, another speaker, drew our attention to ‘Portraiture’ in relation to Lewis Carroll’s Alice books. This mapped a discussion on Sir John Tenniel, the renowned caricaturist in Victorian England, as the illustrator of the Alice books and the politics of Victorian domesticity. The third speaker, Dr. Debjani Sengupta talked about the origin of science fiction after World War I. This was followed by a specific discussion on Indian science fiction, particularly Bengali science fiction where she discussed Leela Majumdar’s story Stairs. As the discussions ended we were forced to ask ourselves- “What is the real?” and “Who dreamed it?” Now “this is a serious question….” With such illuminating and thought provoking discussions, the day had just begun. What followed were Student paper presentations. The theme, being so interesting, the papers presented were all the more captivating. The topics ranged from the sexist representation of Wonder woman in the comic books and stereotypes of men in fairytales to a comparison of the Grimm brothers’ fairytales with the Walt Disney version. One of the papers tried to bring out the fantasy in Manto’s realistic short stories revolving around the world of a partitioned India which was really worth applauding. Spin a Yarn was the next activity which required the participants to weave a story around a sentence provided to them on the spot. It proved to be one of the most hilarious and interesting of all activities. Participants invented stories in which they fainted after smelling the fragrance of fresh fruits and one of them woke up to be a boy when paradoxically he was actually a boy. These generated fits of laughter among the judges, teachers and students. The activity really did give wings to the weirdest of our imagination! Twist the Plot was next on the line where the students were given the beginnings of two popular stories, Cinderella and Harry Potter, only to give the story and their genres a new twist. Book-Jacket designing was also organized to serve the creative instincts of the students. Cherry on the cake, this year’s Treasure Hunt surprised the students with its witty clues which tested both their general knowledge and presence of mind. “This year’s Literati will be the most memorable fest with its ‘fantastic’ ride” remarked a final year student of the college. The carnival ended on a high note where everybody had thoroughly enjoyed themselves and had explored their imagination to the fullest. After all what is the world but our imaginative invention? And the winners were: Paper Presentation     :       Anuj Gupta Spin-a-yarn                :       Chhavi, Nandita and Anuj Book-jacket design    :       Harshita Twist-the-plot           :       Anuj Gupta Treasure Hunt            :       Nidhi, Khushbu and Poorva

Shweta Sharma and Akshita Luthra

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Features

I Impact India

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I Impact India, a CSR Consultancy started up by DU Students, successfully completed its first innovative social campaign with the support of Rotary Club of Delhi, ‘This Valentine’s, Spread Love to those in Need!’ I Impact India is the brainchild of three socially committed individuals who have carried out social service in their individual capacities but now wish to robe in Corporations and philanthropists for countering such issues on a large scale and provide benefits to them in return. The social entrepreneurs uploaded a video on YouTube, which was aimed at highlighting & sensitizing the viewers about the social issues of today. Towards the end of the video, they promised to donate packets of biscuits equivalent to the number of views on that video. “Our idea is to provide Value for Charity through such Innovative Cause Related Marketing Solutions which would lead to positive brand image and simultaneously help in eradicating social ills,” said Parneet Chopra, the co founder of the organisation. Adit Grover, a part of the I Impact founding trio, stated that the aim of taking the campaign online was to reach out to as many people possible, creating a stong impact and making everyone feel involved in making a difference.

As per the success of the campaign, the team members celebrated their Valentine’s Day by distributing over 7,000 biscuit packets to kids of Kusumpur Pahari slum. The kids had a great time and marked the spirit of the day by indulging in hand printing, flying balloons and relishing their biscuits. According to volunteers Aabia and Lovejot, “The video was inspiring but seeing those smiling faces was even more satisfying.”

“We have upcoming projects in the field of Sanitization, Women Empowerment and Child Development. Effective & Efficient utilization of funds and core competencies can surely help eradicate these problems,” said Onkar Khullar, another founder of I Impact.

To watch the video, click the link below-

(http://bit.ly/1pack1view)

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Events

Delhi Dance Fever, an Initiative by Twissha Cultural Educational Society

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Delhi Dance Fever is an event organized by Twissha Cultural Educational Society with Big Dance Centre. The aim of Twissha Cultural Educational Society is not only to cultivate the culture of dance far and wide, but also to use it as a medium to spread awareness and address social issues. This extravaganza every year brings dancers from all over Delhi on a common platform. Here, you get to taste the perfect blend of different dancing styles along with some unique flavour added every time.

The first round termed as “FIRST IMPRESSION” was a two-day episode, held on the 11th Jan and 12th Jan 2013, and a fantastic opening to DDF with North and South Campus teams performing on different days. The teams were given songs two days prior to the first round. In spite of this little twist, the teams left everyone speechless with their terrific performances and creativity. The esteemed judges were Meiyang Chang (actor, reality show star), Karan Kumar (choreographer, Dance India Dance star) and Shemoni Parekh, Choreographer, So You Think You Can Dance, USA. The episode got even better when popular choreographers like Meher Malik, Atul and Karan, Manik, Shraey and Kartik, Abhinaya and many others from different genres of dance took classes for contemporary, lyrical jazz, hip-hop, belly etc. The active participation of dancers in the first round explains the rich culture of dance in Delhi.

Now, after the first round, the second round is much awaited. The second round is scheduled to take place in Hansraj College on the 15th February, where all choreography societies will come up with a flash mob, that’s based on their production. In the second round, teams show off their main production. Usage of props and lyrics are not allowed. Teams will use only a chart to present their theme in the beginning.

The next round will take place in IP College on the 21st February, where North and South Campus teams will come together and compete. What makes this round interesting is that, western and choreography teams will combine and perform on various offsite locations. An excellent fusion of different dancing styles is anticipated. Later, North and South Campus compete for the title, by forming two montages respectively on a theme decided on mutual agreement. The results will be declared on the same day.

The final round will be held tentatively on the 27th Feb. in Shri Ram College of Commerce, where western dance teams show off their electrifying performances. This round challenges them to perform in a particular theme given, within a time limit of 2 minutes.

DDF this year has also come up with a new initiative of holding an award function post the event. Various nominations and awards will be given to the teams, dancers, backstage members etc. A new idea of adding a ‘People’s Choice’ award is very exciting. The team that gets maximum likes on YouTube will be awarded with the title.

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Campus Central

Finance and Investment Cell, Hindu College presents Enigma 2013

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The Finance and Investment Cell, Hindu College is conducting its inaugural fest, Enigma 2013. Combining elements from Economics, Finance, Politics, Psychology, Quizzing, Logic, Analysis and Social Science, the Fest presents to you a set of completely unique events that will take you on a roller coaster ride through a variety of challenging rounds that will test your ability to think, balance and act a wide range of options, each seeming tougher than the next! Enigma is slated to take place on 18th and 19th February, 2013, from 10 am to 2 pm (both days). Registrations for the same are both online and on-the-spot. Enigma 2013 boasts of cash prizes worth Rs 10,000 per event. Apart from that, the first 100 online registrants get an assured prize as well! Here are 4 headline events scheduled to take place during the Fest: Breaking the Bank: 18th February, 11 am (http://goo.gl/4KL90) A financial thriller with a psychological twist. Need we say more? The Great Indian Tamasha: 18th February, 10 am (http://goo.gl/yTn5y) Tests your ability form alliances, negotiate and defeat your political opponents through sheer boldness, analysis and a dash of cunning. Dungeons and Dragons: 19th February, 11 am (http://goo.gl/ao5E9) It takes the brave, bold fast thinkers to see the glory of the final round and the enticing prize at the very end. The Balancing Act: 18th February, 12 pm (http://goo.gl/emfE3) You step into the shoes of the Finance Minister and face the tough choices he faces. The balance between fiscal responsibility, growth, social welfare and political goodwill lead to a fast-paced game with ever changing variables. Visit their official website for any other details about the fest: http://fic-hindu.com/  ]]>

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Sugraahi- Winds Of Change

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Charlie from ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ (a novel by Stephen Chobosky) very rightly says, “We are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we’ll never know most of them. But even if we don’t have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them”. In today’s world, a lot can and should be improved. And we, the people, have the power to affect real change. What most of us lack is the sensitivity to our surroundings. We need to broaden our minds and learn to understand and appreciate the attitudes, feelings and circumstances of others.  In the spirit of this, Parivartan, the social service society of Sri venkateswara College, is hosting an NGO MELA -SUGRAAHI on 12th February 2013 in the front lawn of the college campus.

Representatives from various organizations and NGOs are coming to interact with students regarding their work. All the organizations will put up stalls and open up registrations, distribute pamphlets and manage various activities. Members of Parivartan have been volunteering with many of these organizations such as Friends Organization (works for the rights of the differently abled), Green Peace India and Sweccha (work for environmental causes/awareness), Dil Se (provides shelter homes to street children), BloodConnect (a student run organization that organizes blood donation camps across NCR), The Leprosy Mission (works for people suffering from leprosy) and National Association of Blind (works in regard with blind students). Other organizations that are coming include Yuvati (works for empowerment of women), Grameen Foundation (works for empowerment of women in rural India), Deeksha (works for the environment), Udayan Care, Goonj (both work to uplift kids without basic necessities) and Make a Difference (spreads education to kids). NGO MELA- SUGRAAHI a great oppoutunity for students from all over DU to interact with and become a part of such organizations and start affecting change.

The day starts with the inaugural ceremony at 10:00am with an address by the Chief Guest, Mr. Harsh Mander, an Indian social activist and a writer. At present, he is the convener of ‘Aman Biradari’ which works for secularism, peace and justice. His writings includes a collection of essays ‘Unheard voices: Stories of Forgotten Lives’ and Fear and Forgiveness: The Aftermath of Massacre (2009) among other works.

The day follows with events and competitions and you are sure to find something that’s right up your ally. There are going to be a number of skits and dance performances by kids from the various NGOs and organizations from 10:30am to 12:30pm. You won’t be able to help being won over by these. For all those up for a bit of a challenge, the fun kicks off with a photography competition at 9:00 am. This is followed by a kite flying competition starting at 11:00 am. Other events include face painting (12:30 pm onwards). To top it all, there’s a blood donation camp that’s going to be held from 10:00 am onwards. in foyer of college. Here’s your chance to really do something and help someone in need. And what is a MELA without food! Don’t worry, there are going to be enough opportunities for food, games and fun.

Hopefully by the end of the day, with our hearts  a little lighter, we will all have become a little more receptive to the world around us, ready to “do things.”

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