DU Beat, Author at DU Beat - Delhi University's Independent Student Newspaper

A new method of entrance examination has been devised by the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) where marking more than one option would not be considered incorrect and will be evaluated accordingly.

Jawaharlal Nehru University is set to introduce objective type questions for the next entrance examinations. The entrance will have multiple choice questions in checkboxes where the students can select more than one correct option. The online entrance is scheduled to take place in December this year. Comprehensive and detailed work is going on with experts to work on this model of examination.

Earlier, in July 2018, the University decided to start online entrance examinations from the next academic session. This was among many decisions taken up during the 146th Academic Council meeting in July. A number of other issues to bring about major improvements in academic and research activities of the students were also taken up. Many academic council members felt that this decision would bring fairness and efficiency to the admission process.

While speaking to DU Beat, Oorja, a student of JNU said, “The students are against the objective entrance test. It is going to hamper the ethos of the University. It is very important for the students to have a subjective test at least in M.A. There are many students who appear in JNU entrance exam who have a little knowledge of the internet and it’s working. It’s basically a move by the Vice Chancellor of the University, making JNU work like another university in the country. The question paper will also be outsourced with examiners from outside formulating the questions. This looks like a move towards privatisation. Nivedita Menon and KM Chenoy are two faculty members who are opposing this move endlessly. ”

Sudhir Suthar, Secretary of Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers Association (JNUTA) said, “The Teachers Association is against the move by the University. This system of examination is itself questionable since JNU campus has internet connectivity issues and there are a number of students from rural backgrounds as well as students from North-east and other parts of India who do not know how to operate on the ongoing technology. The examination centres earlier had some regional autonomy but with this move, they are going to lose their autonomy. The students used to get some help manually in understanding certain things earlier but now the students will have to do all of it on their own.”

Anoushka Sharma

[email protected]

Feature Image Credits: Indian Education Review

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Events

Fight Night: The Road to Pinjratod’s Upcoming All Night Protest

By DU Beat October 5, 2018

Despite several marches and protests, the curfew rules in several girls hostels in the University haven’t changed. Now, the organisation Pinjratod, which has been on the forefront of this movement, has new plans.

Two days ago, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology saw a wave of uprising as the women students refused to enter the hostel till their curfew time was raised. Yesterday, students from Punjab University in Patiala too carried on their hunger strike against curfew timings, with one of the girls even suffering from a case of dengue. Meanwhile, all this week and today, the walls of North Campus are being enveloped by rectangular posters sporting reddish hues, posters calling out students for responding to the call of change echoing all over the nation, for joining Pinjratod’s all night indefinite protest.

Pinjratod has also been news in Delhi University with their bold approach in making PGs and hostels less regressive for women students. It started from one cause but now stands for many other injustices that students in the University of Delhi face. Thankfully, with recent protests erupting in different nooks and corners of the country on these very same issues, Pinjratod’s support is only increasing. Often, the case has been that boys hostels are found to have more flexible timings or curfew as compared to the hostels of their female counterparts, which is seen as unequal and unjustified by many. The dissatisfaction behind this can clearly be seen in examples mentioned above. However, this time, it seems like an all out demand against the authority as the indefinite protest is aimed at demanding a “complete removal of curfew for all girls hostels”.

A member of Pinjratod on the condition of anonymity states in conversation with the DU Beat correspondent, “The freedom of women students in university spaces has constantly been curtailed through the imposition of arbitrary curfews by hostels, under the pretext of “safety.” Pinjratod has been persistently raising demands with the DU authorities against the discriminatory curfews and the time has come we remind them again. A memorandum has been submitted to the Vice Chancellor, with the various demands regarding hostel allocation, curfew timings and fee structure, etc. As always, there has been no action taken by the authorities. It is about time we rise to the call of the muffled voices of the women students across colleges and we appeal to all women to join us for the indefinite protest that is to be held on Monday. This fight for liberation shall be maintained. Our oppression shall not be trivialised and this blatant sexism in the name of caution by our detainers shall not be normalised.”

Being promoted with the posters reading “DU against curfew”, the protest is set to start from 4 pm on the 8th of October. There are other allied demands such as need-based allocation of hostel seats (instead of merit) and strict implementation of SC, ST, OBC and PwD reservations in all women’s hostels. With many negotiations, aid by the Delhi Commission of Women (DCW) and scores of protests, the University hasn’t really nodded their heads to Pinjratod’s demands in the past. So, would this week’s effort by Pinjratod succeed in breaking the shackles of the University’s unequal hostel rules or would it again lead to inaction and further delays on the part of the authorities? That, only time will tell.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat

Shaurya Singh Thapa
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Campus Central

Delhi University Gears Up For NAAC Visit

By DU Beat October 2, 2018

Delhi university forms mock teams and sends a questionnaire to various departments ahead of their NAAC visit.

The National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) will be visiting various departments of Delhi University between 29th to 31st October. The grading provided by this body is particularly important for the allotment of funds and grants to the varsity by University Grant Commission (UGC). It has lead to the University’s mock teams conducting checks and visits to various departments and faculties and ensuring they if they have been properly prepared for the visit. The administrations of various colleges and heads of departments were recently mailed with a questionnaire of 103 questions in this regard.

Questions such as does the DU department celebrate national festivals or observe the birth and death anniversaries of great Indian personalities? Is there a policy in place to check plagiarism? Are there committees in place to check student-related issues? Formed an integral part of the questionnaire. Student-centric issues such as complaints of sexual harassment, gender sensitisation, the safety of northeastern students, and steps to check ragging and hooliganism have to be taken into account. The questionnaire aimed to evaluate whether there was student participation in committees. They also took into account alumni associations in the department and whether they were constituted through fair and transparent periodic elections and their functions.

Questions regarding gender sensitivity as well as safety and counselling have also been included as important parameters. Another category which has been given great focus is the green practices in place, including paperless offices, have also been mentioned in the questionnaire. Apart from education-related facilities, the administration also wanted to know whether the college has held recreational activities, fresh parties and farewell for students, a professor further added.

Feature Image Credits: India Today

Bhavika Behal
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Photo Story

Tips On Monochrome Photography

By DU Beat October 2, 2018

Why Monochrome Photography

The black and white give a timeless quality to the images. Hence, it’s one of the reasons why people are going for monochromatic photography more. This is all because of the thoughts behind the vision, a vision about portraying a colourful time as a different, colourless era. Also, people are into throwbacks more these days, and what else could justify the feels if not monochrome.

“To see in colour is a delight for the eye but to see in black and white is a delight for the soul.” -Andri Cauldwell

Shoot RAW

The best way that photographers can capture high-quality images, whether colored or monochrome/black and white is to shoot RAW files. But if you shoot raw files simultaneously and set the camera to its monochrome Picture Style/Picture Control/Film Simulation mode, you get an indication of how the image will look in black and white. Having pictures clicked in raw gives you more pixels, added mouldability and ease when it’s finally time to edit and post-process your shots. Alternatively, you can shoot in both RAW + JPEG, if you also want to keep a JPEG version of each of your shots.

Image Credits to Akarsh Mathur — Image Credits: Akarsh Mathur

Look for Contrast/Shape/Texture

The complimentary and adverse colours that bring a colour image to life are all reduced to black and white or shades of grey in a monochrome image and you have to look for tonal contrast to make a shot presentable, In colour photography eg: while capturing colored portraits, the eye gets immediately drawn to a red object on a green background. However, in monochrome photography, the brightness and contrast are same over these areas which results in a flat image that is dull straight from the camera. Thankfully, its is possible to adjust the brightness of blacks and whites separately to introduce some contrast. There are always exceptions, but as a general rule look for scenes that contain some strong blacks and whites.

This can be achieved by the light or by the brightness (or tone) of the objects in the scene as well as the exposure settings that you use. Setting the exposure for these brighter areas also makes the shadows darker, so the highlights stand out even more. Look for shapes, patterns, and textures in a scene and move around to find the best composition.

Try Long Exposure

In monochrome photography, long exposure shots work effectively well, especially when there’s movement of water or clouds. To enhance tonal contrast, the highlights of the water during the exposure, for example, can be recorded across a wider area.

The hazy touch of the movement too adds textural contrast, if used with objects of solid property in the frame. If want, one can go with neutral density filter, for example, ‘Lee Filters’ Big stopper or Little Stopper to customize the exposure and extend shutter speed (by 10 and 4 stops respectively).

When exposures extend beyond for say, 1/60 sec, we need a tripod to keep the camera steady to avoid the haziness. It is suggestible to go for a remote realease or mirror lock-up to control the vibration and for aptly sharp images.

Take Control

Also, colored filters can be used to change the contrast if shooting digital B&W images, it’s usual to restore until it’s processed. Adobe Camera Raw, which has more effective tools (in the HSL/ Grayscale tab) for you to adjust the brightness of eight different colors that form the image, Photoshop’s Channel Mixer was the preferred means

It’s easy to change one of these colors to make the image anything from white to black with the sliding control. Although, one should keep an eye on the whole image while adjusting a particular colour, since such gradations can make it look unnatural.

The adjustment of the brightness of a red or pink t-shirt with red sliding control might have an impact on the person’s skin, especially the lips.

Tonal range and contrast can be changed with the help of the Levels and Curves controls, but what helps you in creating separation between objects of the same brightness with different colors is HSL/Grayscale.

Feature Image Credits: Akarsh Mathur for DU Beat

Adithya Khanna
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DUSU Elections 2018

Interview with Aakash Choudhary, Secretary of Delhi University Students’ Union

By DU Beat September 28, 2018

On Sunday, 23rd September 2018, DU Beat conducted an interview with Aakash Choudhary, the newly elected Secretary of Delhi University Students Union from National Students’ Union of India.

Here are the excerpts from the interview:

Question: Tell us about your journey from being a student in Sri Aurobindo College to DUSU Secretary.
Aakash: I took admission in Sri Aurobindo College (SAC) in 2014 and later contested the election in college for the post of President in 2015. That was the biggest election in terms of margin of votes where I won by 450 votes. I also
stood in the state NSUI elections and continued my studies simultaneously. In 2017, I graduated from SAC and
took admission in Campus Law Centre. I cleared my first and second semester exams with an aggregate of 58 percent, with 75 percent attendance. Then, I contested for DUSU elections. The party also considered me since I
had a good academics and attendance record. I had also been very active in the student politics. I had planned all
this in 2012 itself.

Question: Now that you are the DUSU Secretary, which are the areas you would like to focus on?
Aakash: The off-campus colleges like Aditi Mahavidyalaya, Bhagini Nivedita College are very far and it takes almost
two hours to reach there. When I visited these colleges, I noticed there were no proper playgrounds and sports facilities for students. In fact, many off-campus colleges do not have a proper functional library, medical
room or even a water cooler. So, firstly, I would like to focus on these colleges and provide them with the facilities
available to the other colleges.

Question: How do you plan to ensure a violence-free campus where our academics remain free from political
interference?
Aakash: NSUI campaigned last year with the motto of ensuring a violence-free campus, free from money, and
muscle power. The campus was peaceful last year, with no violence and insolence. This year we repeated the points of violence free campus in our manifesto. However, due to some reasons we only won one seat in the elections. At present, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) is in power with 3 seats. As you have seen the violence created by Shakti Singh and his supporters in Zakir Husain Delhi College and violence on Kawalpreet Kaur in Kirori Mal College was caused by ABVP. So, I feel that ABVP indulges in violence on campus.

Question: What was the moment that you recall as being particularly unique in course of your entire campaign?
Aakash: I went to campaign in 52 colleges of DU and felt so blessed that everyone gave me such a warm welcome. This is because of 4 years of hard work which I have done. I went to SAC 5 days before I got my election ticket. That moment was very overwhelming, all the students came out from their classes and cheered for me. In fact the day I got my ticket, I once again visited SAC, however I reached a little late. Most of the students had left, but still the
others gave me a very warm welcome. It’s said that the colleges in Kalkaji campus are dominated by ABVP, but
since I have studied from that campus, I proved it wrong which was evident in the election results where I won by a margin of 6700 votes.
Question: In DUSU, there is a famous saying, ‘Kabhi jaat, kabhi gujjar’. Why have DUSU elections become so caste
dominant?
Aakash: This is primarily because maximum votes in DU are from both these communities. If you look at South Campus, maximum votes are from the jaat community whereas in Kalkaji Campus, gujjars dominate the voting scenario. Family support is another factor in politics which leads to the dominance of both these communities.
Question: Since you are from NSUI, student wing of Congress and Lok Sabha elections are going to be held next year. So do you think there will be a desire for Congress to return?
Aakash: I firmly believe that Congress is going to return in the next elections even if it’s in coalition with some
other parties. If you check the election results of Jaipur National University and many other universities, NSUI has
won with flying colours. Some people may feel that ABVP has bagged three out of four seats in DU and NSUI has fallen weak. But everyone knows the case of EVM tampering that took place on the result day. Along with this,
ABVP DUSU President Ankiv Baisoya is also under the scanner due to his fake degree.
Question: DUSU has always been a stepping stone for making entry into Indian politics. Arun Jaitley and Ajay
Maken are well known examples, so are your future plans also in line with this?
Aakash: Yes, I am currently pursuing law and will practice it for some time. My main focus will be in politics only. I
belong to Rajasthan and the area is still not developed. The mentality of many people in Rajasthan is still limited to sip a cup of tea and read the newspaper in the morning. I would like to work for my native place and develop the area.

Question: As the DUSU Secretary, what role do you think the Union plays and what stand should the Union take
on national issues?
Aakash: I think the reserved category students in DU don’t get equal opportunity. They need help financially. The funds of the reserved category students have been reduced to INR 1800 crores by the University which are still on hold. The central government is trying to bring autonomy and privatise education. The main job of the Union at present should be passing of funds for the students. Placements of the students should also be taken care of.
Question: You have been the President of the Students Union in your college. How has that helped you emerge as a
student leader?
Aakash: After becoming the President of SAC, I understood what I wanted to do. SAC has always been famous for
hooliganism and entry of outsiders. I remember an incident where J-star came to our college fest, someone slapped him, and apart from him 100 people were on stage creating ruckus. I didn’t like this at all. So when I became the President, the first and foremost thing I did was meeting and submitting an application to the SHO and DCP of Malviya Nagar. I told them that students in the fresher’s party should only be allowed with proper ID-Cards. I created a bit of pressure on them because of earlier instances that took place in the college. Also, during my tenure, I introduced two societies-Debating Society, and Arts and Crafts Society. I set a trend of a combined farewell of all the departments in the college like it takes place in North Campus. Now the canteen of SAC also has 5 functioning ACs. In short, the college has seen a transformation.

Question: We all are well-aware of the case of EVM tampering during the election results. What is the latest update on the same?

Aakash: The High Court has asked the University to secure the EVMs till 29th October 2018. I am hoping that the hearing reveals the true verdict. Aakash concluded the interview with a smile and said, “Baaki dekhenge aage!” (“Let’s see what happens next!”) The NSUI has also alleged that the DUSU elections 2018 were not
conducted in a free and fair manner. Many national political leaders like Ajay Maken have also spoken against
this issue, and pointed out that the University of Delhi should release some sort of clarification on the
problems of vote counting.

Feature Image Credits: Mahi Sanjay Panchal for DU Beat

Anoushka Sharma
[email protected]

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Campus Central

Dyal Singh College Students and Teachers Denied Entry in College, Principal Suspended

By DU Beat September 26, 2018

In an infamous event from Dyal Singh College, students and teachers were denied entry to their college and subsequently, some were beaten up.

On Monday, 24^th September 2018, hundreds of students and some teachers of Dyal Singh College (DDC) were left stranded on Lodhi Road, having been denied entry into their college by private security guards. Amidst chaos and confusion, some students started protesting and a male teacher was beaten up.

This lockdown was the result of a suspension of all classes and administrative work declared by Amitabh Sinha, the Governing Body Chairman of the College. A meeting was scheduled by him to review the nullification of the presidency of the newly elected Students Union President Rohan Awana (allegedly from ABVP) by the Election Committee after it was discovered that he didn’t follow the code of conduct. A firsthand witness and student from DDC said, “The professors who contested the suspension against the Principal’s order were attacked by our college union”.

The request for the aforementioned General Body Meeting was denied by the Principal of the College, Dr. IS Bakshi, who confirmed that he has received several emails from Amitabh Sinha for the same. In one such email, he asked Dr. Bakshi to immediately put up a notice, “To avoid any serious situation, all academic, non-academic, and any other type of activities were instructed to be suspended for both colleges. Unfortunately, I have been told that the order to suspend classes on 24th September has not been put in the public/college domain by you”.

Dr. IS Bakshi, responded, “The decision to nullify the election of President was solely based on documentary evidence of the violation of the code of conduct and not on an ideological basis. The normal functioning of the college cannot be suspended for a GBM meeting,” Following this, he has been accused of serious allegations of administrative and financial irregularities and the Governing Body will be launching an inquiry to the matter.

Later that day, the current college Principal Dr. IS Bakshi was suspended and asked to hand over the keys to Principal of Dyal Singh Evening College, Dr. Pawan Kumar, who would be taking charge of the Dyal Singh Morning College. On the bright side for Dr. Bakshi, a student from Dyal Singh College said “We are all supporting the Principal”, implying the common sentiment amongst students.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat

Nikita Bhatia
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Uncategorized

Bazinga: Tinderr Adds New Feature of ‘Horoscope Matching and Sharing’

By DU Beat September 21, 2018

In the modern world that we live in, there’s always an attempt on the part of app developers to introduce unique features to stand out from the crowd of other apps. In that regard, Tinderr came up with a ‘horoscope sharing and matching’ feature, that allows users to share horoscopes over the platform.

Tinderr now allows users to match their horoscopes with the people they are interested in. Interestingly, the chat box opens up only when at least 16 qualities have matched. One of the developers at Tinderr told DU Beat, “It gives us immense pleasure to announce that Tinderr in India shall work simultaneously with horoscopes. This brings an element of cutting edge innovation to matrimony, yet at the same time, simplify it.”
In the new version of the app, the users are supposed to upload their horoscopes rather than their ‘Bio’. The horoscopes can either be uploaded in the form of a pdf file, or the users can upload their details like place of birth and time of birth, and the app shall get their horoscopes prepared. For this process, Tinderr has tied up with more than 10,000 Pandit jis across the nation. As the user swipes right for a person, the app first checks whether the horoscopes are compatible or not. In case of incompatibilities, the algorithm first checks whether there is any ‘upaay’ to the problem, such as marrying a goat, or even a tree for that matter. Once the ‘kundli doshs’ of both the parties are solved, the chat box opens. Changes have also been made in the ‘expressions’ section. The earlier ‘heart and catapult’ setup has been exchanged with an ‘engagement ring and catapult’ setup. An ‘engagement ring’ from both sides shall lead to the ‘totally comfortable’ conversations across a secluded table in a fancy restaurant with two pairs of parents keeping an eye on the ‘couple’. For its Gold users, Tinderr also provides exquisite deals on fancy banquets.
With this added feature, Tinderr aims to revolutionise the matrimonial horizon altogether. The reception of the users is yet to be accounted for, but there is a wave of extended happiness amongst parents of single youth of the marriageable age.
They see it as a blessing as this saves them from the expense of calling up relatives and saying, “Koi Suitable Ladka/ ladki Ho Toh Dhyaan Rakhna Humara.”

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

Feature Image Credits: The Times of India

Aashish Jain
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Uncategorized

NSUI Alleges Ankiv Baisoya Submitted Fake Documents for University Admission

By DU Beat September 18, 2018

The newly-elected DUSU President, Ankiv Baisoya of ABVP has been accused of furnishing a fake certificate from Thiruvalluvar University for securing admission in MA in Buddhist Studies in Delhi University.

Ankiv ABVP — Ankiv Baisoya, DUSU President 2018-19. Image Credits – Jagran Josh

On Tuesday, 18th September 2018, National Students Union of India(NSUI) questioned the admission of the newly elected Delhi University Student’s Union (DUSU) President, Ankiv Bisoya of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). It was alleged that Ankiv submitted fake documents to get admission in the University of Delhi.

NSUI released a letter from the Controller of Examinations of Thiruvalluvar University, Vellore. The letter stated that Ankiv’s BA certificate is fake and not genuine. According to NSUI, they received the letter from internal sources. The NSUI said that Baisoya had presented a mark sheet for admission to the MA (Buddhist Studies) course, but Thiruvalluvar University clearly refused they had enrolled a student of such name, and a mark sheet of that serial number was not in their records.

On contacting NSUI regarding the same, Saimon Farooqui, National Secretary of NSUI said, “We got hold of this document through internal sources. The State President of Tamil Nadu NSUI helped us to procure the document. It’s not surprising to see ABVP get into such dirty politics, the same is the case with their parent party (Bhartiya Janta Party-BJP). We will be seeking legal advice and also plan to meet the Delhi University officials regarding the same.” Lairab Neyazi, National Media Co-coordinator of NSUI added that this is a huge matter of concern. He said, “How can he become the DUSU President when the certificates are not authentic? We will file a complaint on this.”

Marksheet released by Thiruvalluvar University. Image credits – NSUI

However, ABVP refutes any such allegation. They term this as propaganda of NSUI. DU Beat contacted Monika Chaudhary, National Media Convener of ABVP. She said, “ NSUI is not able to digest the fact that they have lost the DUSU elections, they are spreading propaganda’s every other day like the Electronic Voting Machine issue and now questioning Ankiv’s degree. Delhi University gave admission to Ankiv Baisoya after due verification of its documents. It’s the process of DU. Even today DU has all the right to verify documents of any student enrolled in university. But it’s not the job of NSUI to provide certificates to any person. DU has all the right to verify documents of not only Ankiv but all DUSU office bearers to stop rumors in future.”

Speaking to DU Beat, Baisoya said, “The allegations are all false. NSUI is finding new ways since they could not achieve success with the EVMs. Also, the letter is dated 7th September 2018 and elections took place on 12th September 2018. Why did NSUI take so much time to disclose the document? I have reservations on the language used in the document. This letter released by them is fake and I would just like to tell everyone that I am the DUSU President.”

121cac64-9ffb-47bd-a455-2bd9d6a93906 — NSUI tried to further legitimise their claim by sharing a photo of the envelope, with the University stamp clearly visible. Image Credits – NSUI

On questioning NSUI as to why the document was released 11 days after procurement from Thiruvalluvar University, they said that they received the letter by post and therefore it took time to disclose the fake degree. They also provided DU Beat with a photograph of the envelope that apparently contained the letter, which has a prominent stamp from the University.

Update:

Earlier the Controller of Thiruvalluvar University clarified promptly on the fake degree of Ankiv Baisoya, followed by the cross-checking by reputed media houses. Saimon Farooqui, National Secretary of the NSUI, commented on the matter saying, “Today, the Registrar of Thiruvalluvar University has again clarified to the deaf and dumb DU Administration about the fake degree of Ankiv Baisoya. Despite of this, the DU Administration is acting in a biased manner on purpose by removing Admission officer and delaying the process by different means to slow down the course of action, hence favouring ABVP.

e0b4b44b-bd45-4eb1-82bb-10f95528fd43 — Image Credits – NSUI

The NSUI came out with the following demands;
1. The Declaration of Sunny Chhillar as the DUSU President with immediate effect.

2. The Arrest of Ankiv Baisoya for deceiving the students of DU and DU administration by means of misrepresentation and fraud.

DU Beat is attempting to contact ABVP representatives for their comment on the matter, Updates will be posted promptly.

Feature Image Credits: Jagran Josh

Anoushka Sharma

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Life at Delhi University

How To Ace At Multi-tasking

By DU Beat September 18, 2018

Make a To-Do List each morning

Starting your day by making a to–do list can just be what you need to set your day on a certain course. With it comes the added bonus of the level of satisfaction you will get while ticking each one thing off your list at a time and might just motivate you to fulfill the targets set for the day. It might just give you a whole other of clarity about what it is that you need to do.

Stick post-its everywhere

This is for all those who find it hard to remember things. A post-it here and there might just help you remember things you probably wouldn’t have otherwise, be it that submission date that is looming over your heads and fast approaching with each passing of the day, or something as extremely simple as drinking 8 litres of water.

Make Choices

This might just sound easy in theory but stands to be the most difficult one as far as execution is concerned. Certain choices need to be made each day, whether it is attending that important class or that society practice or simply catching up on sleep because you haven’t slept in the past two days. It becomes detrimental to make it a point to set everything together coherently so that you know what you want to do that day and striking the perfect balance.

Make a schedule

A lot of us do not really seem to stick to schedules, however, multitasking requires strict follow-through of schedule so as to not waste time and do everything efficiently in a stipulated amount of time. Time becomes extremely important here and every single minute counts. Remember, there isn’t one single formula to ace at multi-tasking and it is certainly doable if you go along with the right kind of attitude and the sheer amount of hard work. But most importantly, it is to have fun in the process and learn truckloads of knowledge. Feature Image Credits: Big Stock Anoushka Singh [email protected]]]>

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DUSU Elections 2018

Setbacks of an Unaffiliated Delhi University College

By DU Beat September 16, 2018

DUSU (Delhi University Students’ Union) election is the time to relish the University’s characteristic aura. Unfortunately, unaffiliated colleges are denied this. Here’s what the marginalised community misses out on:

Monetary Relief

As students of colleges unaffiliated with DUSU, we are considered ineligible for receiving payments. While other students are entitled to receive customised stationery branded with misspelled names of VIPs in return for a mere promise of votes, we cannot even avail free eatables and movie tickets. Flyers do not lay around for us. Instead, we have to recycle our precious newspapers as mats for our books and butts. Also, is there any point in paying taxes when we can’t be a part of litter production that the government is paid to clean up?

The Grand Annual Carnival

Delhi University election is that happening time of the year when the campus transforms into a maha mela nagri. Colleges are adorned with festoons containing names of the sponsors. Campaigners throw flyers like confetti to convey their existence, through which students familiarise with previously unknown contesting candidates. Jeeps loaded with peppy youngsters block the roads to make room for more peppy youngsters jigging to the tune of the dholwala. Sadly, we hardly get to experience these festivities.

Awareness Programmes

General knowledge is not at our tips, thanks to the fact that nobody recites party manifestos and ballot numbers to us. Similarly, we are neither explicitly or casually cautioned about the wrongdoings of other parties, nor advised preventive measures to ensure upcoming developments that are in store for us. We understand that elections should not concern us since we do not play a part as voters, but it is a matter of shame that we are not up-to-date regarding DUSU affairs, considering that today’s student politicians are prospective future change makers of the country.

Anti Monotony Therapy

Election-themed tiles on walls and floors do not endearingly follow us to our washrooms. We have to bear through the entirety of our lectures without recurrent or perpetual sloganeering keeping us refreshed. DUSU goons aren’t interested to entertain us with their acts of hooliganism, due to which our college remains devoid of live brawling and vandalism. We do not of encounter real-life Bollywood situations like enthusiastic young students sticking out of open jeeps and sunroofs. Our colleges lack young vibes due to minimal graffiti. This is not what our college life was supposed to be like, our expectations have gone down the drain.

Social Inclusion

Even as Freshers, we were never insisted to accept the immense unconditional hospitalities that our future mentors had to offer, let alone being the recipients of welcome garlands on our first day of college. Unsolicited reminders, good mornings, WhatsApp group adds and Facebook tags never warm our hearts. Even the compulsory participation for campaigning isn’t expected from us. Pamphlets are never handed out to us in person except for when we are mistaken as desirable a.k.a. potential voters. We are also deprived of habitual celebrity visits that we always longed since we started keeping a track of the personalities occurring on campus posters and hoardings. Basically, we are treated unworthily of love.

In a nutshell, we are being subjected to the discrimination that no college deserves to suffer. This clearly defies the spirit of an ethical democracy.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat

Ananya Acharya
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