As you enter college for the first time, you feel anxious about your old wardrobe. Read ahead for some fashion tips and tricks to overcome it!

As soon as you enter college, choosing the right clothes for your wardrobe becomes a challenge. School and wardrobe is however an oxymoron. What clothing details did we have in school for that matter? Only that monochromatic skirt, white shirt, or black/green pants. Thus, hating your old wardrobe in college is a natural emotion. But don’t throw everything away, just yet! Here are some tips for your wardrobe from a fellow DU student.

That Farewell Saree? Keep it.

This one is for those who wore saree on school farewell for the first time: DU and sarees have a beautiful relationship. Sarees will become a quintessential clothing component of college wardrobe. Right from your college’s Diwali Mela to the traditional day of DU fest or your farewell. Saree will be needed a lot. So don’t discard either your annual function’s or farewell’s saree. You can rejuvenate it by wearing different blouses.

Treasure your MUN suits

If you have done debating and attended Model United Nations (MUN) conferences in school, those black, blue, navy and brown formals that you wore will be needed in college too. You may join the MUN circle of your college or simply sit in an internship interview. Thus, don’t fight with the formals that you already have. You can give them a new look by pairing them with new shirts, but keep the foundational suits intact.

The Delhi/DU Fad 

As an outstation student, I was always anxious about what the “Delhi fashion” would be like. So as a first-hand note, I suggest freshers not to over-buy many things from their hometown. That’s because most clothes lose their shine amongst DU fashion. A better option is to only keep essentials like jeans, shirts, leggings, tops, etc. Rather buying things from local Delhi markets like Sarojini Nagar and that too at economical rates can prove to be more lucrative. Besides that, don’t fret too much over what people around you are wearing. Pick your own style.

Mix-Matching is the Key 

Your war-peace relationship with your old wardrobe shouldn’t delusion you into believing that it’s not worthwhile. In college, people mostly do things in a DIY way. Someone will be seen wearing jhumkas with jeans. Others will be seen wearing saree with shoes. Yet it all looks beautiful. Thus, freshers, you shouldn’t be worried about investing in paired or expensive clothes. Just go about accessorising your outfits. If you have an old top, you can pair it up with new earrings that you can buy.

Footwear and Top Wear

Lastly, it’s advised that you beautify your college wardrobe by mostly investing in top or footwear. Top wear is one thing that catches everyone’s eyes just like your heels, sneakers, boots, etc. So keep your old jeans with you and try only buying new tops. That’s because only footwear and top wear undergo drastic fashion changes.

So if your little first-year tummy is getting anxious, ask it to calm down. College fashion is mostly flexible and you will find peace with your wardrobe easily!

Read also: https://dubeat.com/2019/09/auburn-umbrella-the-pervasive-print-culture/

Image Credits: Fabindia

Navneet Kaur 

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The Delhi University administration announced that they would reduce the syllabus for the freshers by 30% for them to be able to manage their studies during the lockdown. 

On 19 February 2021, Delhi University released a notification in which they announced that they would reduce 30 per cent of the syllabus for first-year students for all the courses. The reason for this which was stated in the notification was that students did not have any classroom experience and the shift from school to college in a virtual setup was tough for them.

While contacting first-year students, a sense of relief was observed amongst everyone as most of the students were very worried as to how they would be able to cope with the increasing pressure of studies while focusing on co-curricular in college as well.

“This is huge news, we weren’t totally expecting this at all!!! I am really thankful for the DU to implement this change considering the fact that adjusting to college is tough in the 1st place only and now we are in a pandemic, hence focusing on academics is getting really tough.“

Anonymous Student of Hansraj College, 1st Year 

Many students were surprised about the fact that the administration went ahead and agreed to implement this change considering the fact that there was no demand from the students as such, but still, the administration went ahead and took this decision.

“I am really shocked that the DU administration went ahead and took this decision by themselves considering the fact that there was no aggressive protest made regarding this. It is really heartening to see that the DU administration is actually concerned about the well being of the students. I have never seen DU make a decision like this in my college life ever.“

Anonymous Student of Miranda House, 2nd Year 

Professors are also happy with this decision as they are also finding it hard to introduce college curriculum to 1st-year students virtually and for them, this burden has been slightly reduced too.

We also contacted a professor of a distinguished college in DU as well to understand her perspective on this issue.

“I am really happy with this decision since everyone in our college’s faculty was finding it really difficult to help students adjust to the curriculum of the college. This decision by the administration has made our job much easier.”

Professor, Delhi University 

For many students and professors, this is a concern, as well as most of them, feel that the students might miss out on the curriculum which they were looking forward to studying and which might help in their studies for 2nd year.

“This is a very callous move from the administration? Have they even thought about what to remove from the syllabus and what not to? And also what about the fact that the students are being derived from the education which is their right and which they might need for the future? These are the questions which the administration seriously needs to focus upon.”

2nd Year Anonymous Student, Delhi University 

DU has officially not released any details about what should be removed from the syllabus and what should not be removed. This news has garnered mixed reaction across all the spectrums, but it is to be seen whether or not it is ultimately beneficial for the 1st year students.

Disclaimer: Disclaimer: Bazinga is our weekly column of almost believable fake news. It is only to be appreciated and not accepted.

Read also: https://dubeat.com/2020/12/bazinga-du-to-reopen-colleges-for-next-semester/

Featured Image Credits: DU Beat Archives 

Sloka Roy

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f 2020 wasn’t a reminder enough, read on to know why love is so much more than its two-dimensional V-Day’s interpretation and deserves to be celebrated beyond it.

A Roman priest, Hindu College’s infamous ‘Damdami Mai,’ and Archies’ busiest days of the year all have one thing in common – Valentine’s Day! Like every holiday involving greeting cards, it’s- heteronormative, commercial, and reeks of privilege. But it doesn’t necessarily have to be so.

In a pre-pandemic world, most students would have confessed that it is hard to take a break and spend time with those you love, and the pandemic has done a great job of making people grateful for their friendships and relationships. However, some of us won’t need much time to fall back to our old ways – only hoping and wishing for some time to ourselves, or with the people, we really want to be with, rather than actually making it happen.

The hectic schedule of online classes, coupled with regular society ‘meetings,’ and the never-ending burden of internals and assignments add to the monotonous cycle of weeks passing by (did we even realise that January 2020 is already over?!). Before another semester passes by under the garb of binge-watching and mindless scrolling, it might be a good idea to make use of this Valentine’s Day to finally get that self-care session done after a long day of online classes or plan an open-air picnic with friends or family who you’ve been dying to meet since March last year (celebrate responsibly in COVID times).

For us, students, this time of the year is ideal to get on the bandwagon of Valentine’s Day-derivative holidays that are springing up all over the place, without necessarily subverting the traditional connotations of the day – celebrating a “Palentine’s Day” where you get together with friends to cook and eat your favourite food or “Galentine’s Day” for an all gal-pal trip to your favourite hangout spot. These may seem frivolous at the outset, but trying out new recipes or revisiting old memories with your friends outside of your Instagram story archives can be a great way to spend the ‘day of love.’

Having fun and enjoying yourself shouldn’t start and end on a day and can definitely be done in your own company. This V-Day, have a dose of self-affirmation and make it a point to pledge a few minutes of each day towards your health and well-being. This can be something as simple as spending a few moments being grateful and counting your blessings, or penning down your thoughts at the end of each day, or even starting a guided meditation routine. Start with something small that you think will make the next day a little better for you to take on.

Last but not least, remember that at the end of the day…this is just a day. Characterised by all the media brainwashing, the hyper-romantic portrayals, and the clichéd notions of love — bear in mind, that it is far from the reality of celebration of love. Make the most of the time on your hand to do something that you would truly enjoy and not something you’re made to think you’ll enjoy.

Read also: https://dubeat.com/2020/04/editorial-dealing-with-uncertainty-during-covid-19/

Bhavya Pandey

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Ten years down the line, looking back to these days, what will we remember? Countless memes on the internet foreshadow that 2020 would be a landmark year in future history textbooks and that we are living through historical events. Maybe, we are. But who is to say what actually makes history? 

I am not denying that the countless memorable events in the past year are historical. Instead, I am attempting to focus on how this history is being narrativized. Who are the people appearing in it? What are those names and dates that will come in History Tests to write short notes on?

Most of us will have different answers. What makes those answers different is our personal attribution to those specific events, dates, people, and our own individual experiences. Many of us are staunch followers of the social distancing protocol, some are vacationing, some face severe symptoms of the CoronaVirus, some don’t even feel that they have it, while millions are losing their lives. Some are still pondering new ways to work or study from home; many lost their jobs, while a majority were walking back to their hometowns just to not starve.

Our experiences of the previous year are layered with social, economic, psychological, cultural, and religious angles. And it’s highly unlikely that all our very different, individual, and emotional experiences would be remembered. Maybe a few memoirs make it through, a few exceptional pieces of writings, fictional or otherwise create a stir to emphasize the individuality of history. But, what always makes the cut is the collective history.

The epiphany of the fact that we all would end up being just numbers of statistical data used to research the long-lasting biological or economic effects of the pandemic makes one realize that even the history we study is marred with overshadowing of the collective over personal. It makes me wonder who were the countless and nameless ‘Yous’ and ‘Mes’ during the era of Independence, or how the lives of people were affected by the welcoming of the Indian Constitution in 1951. Everything – history and the process of its narrativization – is political. Our past, its idealization, the nostalgia of a greater or a more democratic, more traditional, more ‘Indian’ India, might as well be a shadow of an era full of countless people with their sufferings forgotten.

On 26^th January, the Indian population watches the parade, celebrates, and takes pride in the legacy of our Democracy and its Constitution. Maybe, this year after living through these countless ‘Historical Events’ we can understand that taking history on its prima facie is honestly a lie. History is refined. It is filtered and cleaned, which when looked upon with a magnifying glass reveals all its gaps and flaws. And let’s face it, only a handful of us try to make attempts to look at this history more closely and fill these gaps. The rest just sip a cup of chai, read obnoxious WhatsApp historical facts aloud like it is the Holy Bible, and take pride in chest-thumping nationalistic pledges, not realizing that, just like we are erasing a part of that past, we are simultaneously being erased in the future’s past.

Read also: An Epicureanist Appraisal of the Year Past- What I Learnt From 2020: Ignorance Can Be Bliss

Feature Image Credits: Fine Art America

Sakshi Arora 

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