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2018: A Pandora of Goals from a University Student’s Lens

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We grew up breaking new year resolutions, at times breaking ice to pave new ways and sometimes breaking ourselves. Let 2018 be a year of some realistic goals that we must make to  acquire the best version of ourselves.

We often make goals of achieving the best marks, getting into the best college, and creating the best career but sadly, less do we invest in creating the best of us. Goals are perhaps not the materialist needs but rather a ladder to grow, grow as a person with determination in the eyes of adversities. You get to understand these unconventional goals as you slowly leave the doors of school life and turn to the faces of university, a goal in itself.

Let’s look into some secret goals that we all wish, we would do!

1) To break down– We are often taught to stay strong but then as we grow older, deep inside we realise that how essential it is to break down, break down before it breaks you. Cry out, scream out, break some vases and throw some tantrums and hold yourself up again.

2) What if? – So, still stuck wondering ‘what if’ you would have done that? ‘What if you do that?’ well what if I say DO IT, right now! There would always be so many buts and ifs however, the reason that you are still thinking about it the sole reason why no ifs shall stand a chance. Be it be your ambitions or a grand confession of love!

3) Pick your battles – “Sometimes you have to let go of some wars to win a battle.” Don’t pick every argument that it exhausts you at the end, be wise enough to be choose your battles. It takes determination and courage to ignore unnecessary fights.

4) Challenge yourself– Challenge yourself a little more, do things that makes you scared. Be it be walking away from a toxic relationship or developing jogging habit. Remember, as your knees beg for rest from life, push yourself a little more. The beauty at the top is worth it.

Finally, promise yourself to pick every stone that time throws at you and make a beautiful monument using it.

 

Feature Image Credits: Freepik

Naimisha
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DUB Speak

Lady Gaga: Artist of the Generation

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2018 will mark the tenth anniversary of iconic songs like Poker Face, Just Dance and Paparazzi and it’s only fitting to honour and learn from the woman, who within those ten years has been able to do what very few artists have been able to do.

1. No lip-syncs – One of the best things about Lady Gaga is that she remains true to her art. She can dance in 10 inch heels, sing immaculately, and maintain her breath while doing all that. Whether she is performing jazz, pop, or the American national anthem, she sings live and does that flawlessly. Her “Sound of Music” tribute at The Academy Awards in 2015 remind us of her impeccable vocal abilities. She can perform her well orchestrated songs over just a piano, with ease.

2. Pride and activism – She was the only modern generation pop artists that chose to stand up for LGBTQ+ rights when policies such as ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ were being followed in the American army. In 2010, she wore a 50 pound meat dress at the VMAs to share her message that we’re just meat and its the various identities that make us humans. She stands up against bullying and started the ‘Born This Way Foundation’ in order to spread a message of acceptance through out the world.

3. Raised the standard of the music industry – Before Gaga made everyone go gaga, hollywood celebrities did not experiment with their craft and their fashion. Nicki Minaj had black hair and Beyonce was seen sporting jeans to the red carpet. Her craziness and uniqueness brought a revolution and her music has always been out of the trends. She creates her own music, writes the lyrics and is not merely just a singer.

4. Superbowl 2017 – At this year’s Superbowl Halftime Show, Mother Monster not only jumped from the roof and performed acrobats throughout the performance but she was a one woman act. The last woman to perform alone at the show, viewed by over 100 million people live, was Diana Ross in 1996.

5. Charity- She has her own NGO and  has been an advent donator to various causes including natural calamities throughout the world or against issues like rape and mental illness. She recently donated $1 million Dollars to relief efforts for Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, José, Maria and the Mexico City earthquake. As a rape, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and fibromyalgia survivor she has been working hard on these issues.

6. Strong Headed Woman – In 2013, Gaga broke her contract with her long time manager Troy Carter in order to pursue her creativity without bounds. She overworked and also went through a severe hip injury in 2011 during her Born This Way Tour. She released Artpop afterwards, an intensely creative and experimental album.

7. Flawless Actress – She has accredited with the lead role in American Horror Story Season 5 where she played the role of “The Countess”. She won ‘Best Actress’ at ‘The Golden Globes’ for her role in 2016. In 2018, she is set to release her first full feature film – “A Star is Born” as the lead actress alongside Bradley Cooper.

8. Awards and Accomplishments – She is not only a thirteen time Guinness World Records holder but has won six Grammy Awards, an Oscar nomination, awards from the Songwriters Hall of Fame, and the Council of Fashion Designers of America. With 27 million albums and 146 million singles sold, she is one of the best-selling music artists of all time. She was also Billboard’s Woman of the Year in 2015 and Time’s person of the year in 2010.

Paws up!

 

Feature Image Credits: Pinterest

Varoon Tuteja
[email protected]

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DUB Speak

What is Propaganda and How to Identify It?

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In the world of “Alternative Facts” and viral WhatsApp forwards, propaganda is a powerful political tool. Propaganda and advertising are inextricably linked and are often difficult to identify.

Propaganda is deliberate manipulation and distortion of facts, popularised through mass media, with the intention of convincing the general population something that may not necessarily be the truth. Propaganda may not always be outright lies, sometimes it means stereotyping, projecting a negative image of a particular community based on a sole incident, hate-speech, fear mongering etc. Conversation regarding propaganda, what it represents, and the kind of influence it holds is more relevant today than ever before. Many experts credit Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 United States Presidential elections to propaganda. By discrediting the entire western liberal media, projecting himself as a highly successful businessman, and calling him an ally of the blue-collar working class he won people over despite having no political experience. In truth Trump is far from what a successful business person looks like. He inherited his wealth and has multiple failed ventures under his belt, some of which include Trump University, Trump Magazine, Trump Steak, Trump Casinos, and Trump Vodka. He plans on introducing tax-reforms that would give tax breaks to billionaires, which is the last thing a blue-collar ally should be doing. Closer home propaganda would mean the endless WhatsApp forwards circulated some of which spread lies and hate about certain communities and groups. Messages like “UNESCO has declared the Indian national anthem, flag, Prime Minister, etc. to be the best” are classic examples of propaganda. Their aim is to placate the masses regarding where the country is heading, perhaps distract people from bigger problems.

Two big questions that come to mind are: first, if propaganda is just psychological manipulation, then is advertising not propaganda? And secondarily, is all propaganda bad? While there is a slight distinction between advertisements and propaganda, the former encourages people to consume certain goods while the latter is a way to cause change in the long term thought process of people; propaganda and advertising are co-dependent tools. Propaganda can be spread through advertisements while advertisements can use propaganda in order in influence consumer behaviour. The greatest example of propaganda in advertising is the “Diamonds are Forever” campaign. Diamond company De Beers, had a monopoly on the diamond market and consecutively they wanted to influence the demand as well. Careful marketing, including articles about Hollywood celebrities and their engagement rings, ad-campaigns correlating a man’s love for his sweetheart, even his personal success to the size of the diamond on his fiancés finger made rounds. Marilyn Monroe coquettishly singing “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friends” influenced and underlined the importance of diamonds. Diamonds are far from rare and cannot last forever; they can very well be chipped, shattered, and damaged. But the propaganda and advertising in this campaign was so thorough that even a century later people continue to regard a big diamond as the ultimate token of love. Our spending habits, our voting patterns, and our lifestyles are influenced by advertising and propaganda, more so than we will ever know.

However, propaganda and advertising are not always bad. Anti-smoking, anti-drunk driving campaigns are all forms of propaganda as well. They instil fear in the mind of viewers are can often exaggerate the influence of smoking on one’s health, but their impact on society is positive. This form of propaganda discourages a lot of people from taking up the habit of smoking. During the Second World War the “Rosie the Riveter” campaign that showed a woman in a blue shirt and red bandana flexing her muscles was also a form of propaganda that encouraged women to participate more actively in the war effort by working in factories and industries. The “Dunkirk Spirit” and the “Keep Calm and Carry On” posters are also examples of British propaganda that helped boost the morale of the people and contributed to the victory of the Allies and the ultimate defeat of the Nazis and Fascists.

In 2018, the context of propaganda has changed. Propaganda is not an exclusive tool of governments anymore. Media houses, political candidates, and anyone with enough resources can contribute to propaganda and spread hysteria, panic, and hate. Our world is not solely the world of televised advertisements and posters anymore. Alternative facts, viral stories, and a personalised Facebook feed that strategically shows you posts similar to your beliefs is a dangerous combination that makes us all vulnerable of believing in fake news. In order to identify problematic news pieces here are a few steps we can take-

1. Believe news sourced from verified media outlets only– a large number of small websites, blogs, and pages have popped up that share misinformation or deliberately distort facts in order to incite hate or fear. Most of these pages are paid by political parties and their purpose is to advance a particular ideology. Following unbiased and verified media outlets, and believing their stories exclusively would be a good way to not engage with these propaganda tools.

2. Examine financial and familial ties between the media houses you follow– is a particular news channel presenting a biased version of current events? Are you seeing a spike in the number of one-sided stories they are publishing? Doing a small google search on whether that media house is financed by a major politician or their family member would be another good step that could give you additional clarity.

3. Notice leaders who discredit media outlets that speak against them– If a political candidate speaks against any media house that highlights their problematic behaviour, calls them fake news or tries to question their legitimacy, it is a sign that they are trying to control the narrative around them by discrediting free media. It is an alarming sign that should not be underestimated. By effectively discrediting press, one silences their opponents or at least makes their words redundant- this is a common tool employed by authoritarian leaders, and one we must watch out for.

4. Name calling, generalisation and stereotyping– When people in the public eye try to call their political opponent names, use racial or derogatory slurs for them, try to generalise the behaviour of fringe groups and extremists as that of the whole community, use lone incidents in order to stereotype a group, it is propaganda at its finest. These things when done repeatedly over an extended period of time can make most people hateful and prejudiced. Such irresponsible behaviour should always be called out and discredited immediately, especially if made by people revered and followed in the public eye.

It is impossible to avoid all forms of advertising and propaganda- the two are deeply rooted in modern society. What we can do is keep ourselves alert and informed. By being conscientious, responsible, and considerate we can reduce the negative impact of propaganda.

 

Feature Image Credits: The Advocate

Kinjal Pandey
[email protected]

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Reviews

Desperate Housewives: A Review

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What will you get if you combined “Sex and the City” and “Friends” together? Desperate Housewives! It is a sitcom that ran for 8 seasons covering the lives of 4 female friends and their neighbours at Wisteria Lane in a town called Fairview. Mystery sets in when one of the housewives, Mary Alice commits suicide even though she seemed to be happy in her life. She, as the narrator, unfolds the story of what had happened after she had killed herself. Like any other soap opera, it has the usual characteristics of betrayal, dark secrets, revenge, and manipulation, but combined with the intense bond that Bree, Susan, Lynette and Gabrielle share along with the humour that runs along the show, makes it a completely unique show in itself. If you loved friends, you’ll love this show just as much. Bree Larson is the perfect housewife who will keep her home spic and span and take all measures to hide her family’s secrets. She is very religious and old-fashioned and having a gay son definitely brings about a change in her. By the end of season 4, she learns to trust her friends with her secrets. Susan is a dorky and widowed woman who falls in love with a new neighbour Mike Delfino and ends up marrying him. Lynette is a mother of 4 children who has to leave her success in the workplace to gain success as a mother. Gabrielle, on the other hand, is a runway model-turned-housewife after she married a rich man, Carlos Solis. While the directors and producers might not have a direct progressive ideology, it is subtly liberal and that makes it more consumable. More than housewives, these four women take on the roles of detectives, advisors, organisers, and even hold conventional jobs throughout the show. The enforced stereotypes scattered around the show are funny and parodic commentaries on the concept of traditional households. Moreover, it is relatable to the dis-functionality of a regular Indian household. The humour, sarcasm, and relatability of the show make it a gripping and addictive watch.   Feature Image Credits: The Hollywood Report Varoon Tuteja [email protected]]]>

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Fashion

College Fashion Blunders

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Being college going students, we are busy with travelling, studying, and hanging out, we often forget to focus on our sense of style and the individuality it generates. While it is totally acceptable in fashion to experiment with new styles and pieces, yet there are certain mistakes that we tend to make when it comes to dressing up for college.

1. Occasion, and season appropriate clothing: It is a boon that Delhi University does not have a dress code but as young men and women, we tend to use that freedom and steer beyond a rational sense of fashion. Wearing mini-skirts and shorts with no thigh high boots in winters is a big no-no. Wearing a denim jacket in summers will make you sweaty and that’ll definitely ruin your look, if not your day.

2. The disease of flip-flops: Oscar Wilde tells us that we can never be overdressed, but underdressing is a calamity. I’d be a millionaire if I had a dollar for every time I see someone wearing flip-flops to class. Moreover, when they pair it with sweatpants, my instant reaction includes an eye-roll and an urge to give them a Miranda Priestley treatment from “The Devil Wears Prada”.

3. The (fake) designer label hoarder: It’s very natural to be attracted to the sense of high fashion that a designer piece brings but not everyone is fortunate enough. Rather than carrying a fake Louis Vuitton birkin that looks cheap, carry an affordable branded purse that looks elegant and matches your style. Or, try to get your hands on designer items during their sale season and then, show it off unapologetically.

4. Lazy cuffing: If your pants are too long and you haven’t had them trimmed or you just like to cuff them for styling reasons, it is important to learn the art of cuffing. Cuffing shirts does not only make them casual enough for college but also save you from the heat in the summer.

5. Inappropriate sizing and proportion: It is obvious one should stick to their size of clothing, but the aesthetic of baggy clothes can be trendy. The general rule around it is to wear something structured and fitting to balance the look. The lengths of your clothes should be fashionable. Pro tip: A fitting t-shirt with chinos along with vans can be your go-to look whenever you’re running late.

6. Bridal make-up look: It is not wrong for girls (and boys) to wear a full face of makeup. Makeup is an art form and improves your aesthetic but it is imperative not to overstep. A BB cream, mascara and lip tint can go a long way for your everyday college makeup.

 

Feature Image Credits: Teen Vogue

Varoon Tuteja
[email protected]

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DUB Speak

New Year’s Eve and the Obligation to Party

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It has become mandatory to party on New Year’s Eve and hang out or else the occasion will be considered “boring”.

The new year is not far away and everyone is busy making plans on how to spend the night of 31st December. People who seek to enjoy this day to the fullest are filled with enthusiasm. However, the celebrations now seem to have become a battle of not being left behind in terms of partying and hanging out.

It is a pity that what was once seen as an option to spend the eventful night has now become a compulsion. Having all that alcohol running down one’s body while wildly jumping and listening to famous trance music in a club seems to have become “partying goals”. There is hardly anyone left who plans on doing things differently. The problem is that we want to appear cool by uploading fake candids and putting catchy captions and the urge to do so, unfortunately, is completely natural given that everyone around is doing the same.

Among everyone’s “cool” plans, if there is someone who plans on spending the night with their family, taking a nice ride, or maybe simply cutting the New Year’s cake, that person will instantly be labeled boring. We need to accept that we are obsessed with alcohol, and a great chunk of it is because we have seen things that way. We have seen it in the movies, we have heard it from our elders and we have watched others do it. We have been waiting for the chance to experience drinking on our own, and celebrating without alcohol isn’t worth thinking of anymore.

If we think about partying during the New Year, it is funny in many ways. For instance, before starting anything new or commencing with any activity, we are praying to god or maybe eating something sweet. But when it comes to the New Year, we end up welcoming it by intoxicating ourselves with different substances i.e in an unconscious state. If we really expect to have a positive year ahead, how positively do we welcome it?

The New Year celebrations too seem to have become a victim of a party-frenzy attitude. And talking about doing something special, what’s special in doing something that we do on any random weekend? So, let’s break this obligation this year and actually do something different — something worth remembering!

Feature Image  Credits: The Fix

 

Karan Singhania

[email protected]

 

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DUB Speak

Lack of Women in the Indian Stand-Up Comedy Scene

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The young stand-up scene in India has opened up numerous avenues for people wishing to work in comedy. But young as it is, this horizon is already dominated by men, both in terms of numbers and reach. Read on to find out why this is problematic and how we can rectify it.

The Indian stand-up comedy scene is on the rise. Social media has given certain comics and collectives an almost cult-like following, the kind that was once reserved for movie stars. In fact, for movie stars, collaborating with these young comedians is one of the best ways to gain social media traction while promoting a film. However, the stand-up scene and what it stands for has changed drastically in the last five years. Stand-up comedy does not represent a random person cracking self-depreciating jokes in a club on a Saturday evening anymore. Today, it stands for millions of views on YouTube and Facebook combined and the content going viral within hours of being uploaded. For instance, every time All India Bakchod (AIB) puts up a video, my Facebook timeline experiences a sense of mass hysteria, with people wildly sharing and appreciating their content.

But like every young and vibrant industry, it seems that women are not given their due in comedy either. Some of the most prominent faces in the Indian stand-up comedy scene are AIB, East India Comedy (EIC), Schitz en Giggles (SnG) Comedy, Vir Das, Kanan Gill, Kenny Sebastian, and Radhika Vaz among others. While Radhika Vaz, Mallika Dua, Aditi Mittal, and Kaneez Surka hold a place in this scene, they do not enjoy the same kind of following that their male counterparts do. To put things in perspective, let us take a look at the numbers. Aditi Mittal, Radhika Vaz, and Mallika Dua – three of the most renowned female comics in India – collectively have 230,000 subscribers on YouTube, while Kenny Sebastian alone has one million. There appear to be two basic reasons for this. The first is the presence of this “guy gang” of young male comics that seems to have hijacked the current scene. The second is that people simply assume that women are not funny, even when they clearly are.

This “guygang” that I talk about is a group of young men who extensively collaborate with other male comics and provide each other new horizons for exposure to a different audience. This is a symbiotic relationship of collaborations, guest appearances, and drop-ins that help both parties by making their content more interesting and simultaneously increasing their fan base. AIB, SnG Comedy, Kanan Gill, Kenny Sebastian, Zakir Khan, and Abish Mathew are always working with each other, thus effectively doubling their audience each time they collaborate. The lack of such a group for women results in the reach of Vaz and Mittal being limited to the audience that is subscribed only to their respective channels. The second phenomenon that plagues female comics is that people believe women cannot be funny. This syndrome that dissociates women from humour is deeply rooted and ingrained in our minds. Come to think of it, when has a guy ever used humour as a defining feature of the women in his life? The idea that women cannot be funny is so entrenched in our minds that it prevents us from appreciating the funny women out there. For example, Radhika Vaz did a hilarious piece on women being uncomfortable with bodily function around someone they just started dating. The sketch was relatable and garnered immense applause from the live audience. However, a lot of people in the comments section said things like “How is this comedy?”, “Do people even laugh on her jokes?”, and “This is about just as funny as a miscarriage.” This is problematic since most male comedians put up pieces that are, at best, mildly funny but their work does not incite the same kind of anger. Female comics are expected to deliver every punchline and call-back that is nothing short of absolutely hilarious because if they fail to do so, their work would be seen as another excuse to reinforce the belief that women are not funny. Indian female comics therefore have to work twice as hard to get half as far.

The brand of comedy that these women put forth is not only relatable, but also very real. Through their sketches, they call out everyday sexism and double standards, all the while making us laugh. Their brand of comedy, which is both “woke” and devoid of sexist jokes, fails to make certain sections of the population laugh simply because the joke is on them. In recent times, people have degraded what humour means by limiting it to making fun of men in drag or using the “annoying girlfriend” trope for laughs. These jokes are popular because they require little thought and provide the comfort of upholding the status quo. It is in such times that these female comics act as beacons of light, proving that humour does not have to put a community or gender down to make people laugh. Another valuable lesson from this situation is to understand the need for working together and being united in order to grow. When women start to actively seek out, mentor, promote, and educate other women in all spheres, be it films, music, comedy, politics, or business, we will witness the stratospheric rise of a generation of women who value friendship and sisterhood and are duly appreciated and recognised for their work.

 

Feature Image Credits: Blogbeats

Kinjal Pandey
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Arts & Culture

Book Review: Remember Me by Mary Higgins Clark

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If you are spending this Christmas or New Year snuggled up in the warmth of your home or PG and thinking of some suspense thriller to get you through those party hours then Remember Me can serve the purpose well. This thriller written by acclaimed author Mary Higgins Clark is full of twists and turns and will surely keep you engaged.

Menley Nichols is trying to come to terms with the tragic death of her 2-year-old son, Bobby while taking care of her infant, Hannah. Adam’s old friend, Elaine helps the family get the Remember House at Cape Cod on the shore along the beach. The house has legends attached to it. She gets her bouts of post-traumatic stress a number of times while vacationing at Cape Cod with her husband and baby girl. Meanwhile, a death of a rich girl takes place in the neighborhood and her husband, Scott Covey is suspected of the murder. Menley’s lawyer husband, Adam takes up the case of defending Scott while juggling work in New York. On nights when Adam is away, Menley has nightmares of her accident of her son which wakes her up abruptly as well as Hannah, she hears/hallucinates her dead son calling out to her. Time and again, people say something about the house which alerts her even though she absolutely loves the house. Her work for her magazine and next children’s book keeps her distracted and partly sane. Her work also helps her to discover stories about the house she is living in and the city. But amid all this, Adam is not at ease when Scott is acquitted. The plot twists and turns to solve the ultimate questions nagging Menley and Adam’s minds.

The twists are absolutely unexpected and keep the reader hooked to the very end. It is the perfect suspense read while you are fighting the winter blues because the story is set in the beach town of Cape Cod with the summer breeze and starry nights.

 

Feature Image Credits: Kobo

Prachi Mehra

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DUB Speak

The “Never-To-Happen” List of Semesters

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With the end of the semester, it’s that time of the year where we look back and think of all the things we could do.

The dreadful month with the semester exams are over. The endless preparation, extensive consumption of coffee and painstaking nights looking at the books while scratching the head are now all over. But end of the exams also marks the end of another six months of college, and we naturally end up evaluating the semester thinking about how things were and how they could have been.

Looking back at when the semester began, all of us remember the plans we had made and the things we had promised to do. We had made a plethora of points under the “not-to-do” list and the ones we wanted to do. There were six valuable months of the college life which we planned to spend by learning new skills and increase our knowledge. The list might have varied from joining internships, taking classes to being a part of the college societies. The main highlight of the list might have been the point to study seriously from the beginning of the semester. Now that the semester has ended, many of them seem a fantasy.

Time flies and this is probably the time when this fact hits us hard. We have all heard that college life is probably the best time of our lives. But this also happens to be the time when we shape ourselves for the future. The tug-of-war between making our resume and making memories seems to be never-ending. The semester that began with the most ambitious of targets ended up being filled up of nights that were spent drinking, the classes that were bunked, the most pointless of conversations that took place in the canteen and so much more. The thing is- this is what gave us joy.

But there’s always room for hope and improvement. So once again, with the coming of the new semester there will come a much planned and thoughtful list. This list will be much better than the previous one. This is will also have the points listed in a strategic manner such that the loopholes of the previous semester are covered. Some of us might also give ourselves the liberty of setting a bit more than what is possible. And all of us know the line, “If I set a big list, I’ll complete at least half of it.”

The process of preparing this list seems no less than a ritual and will probably be followed this semester as well. So let us all prepare our lists filling them up with the best and the most filtered points. But yes, let’s see how many boxes we tick this semester!

 

Feature Image Credits: IStock

Karan Singhania
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Campus Central

Questions Out of Syllabus In DU Semester Exam, Students in Despair

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Third-year Political Science students of the University of Delhi, who had opted for ‘Public Policy in India’, an optional paper offered in the fifth semester, have filed a complaint to the University over the out of syllabus questions in the exam.

Questions on the feminist perspective on the state, the forest policy in India, and a short note on Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan had left the third-year students of the University in B.A. (Hons.) Political Science  baffled, with many raising allegations that these questions were not part of syllabus. These students had opted for the optional paper, ‘Public Policy In India’, offered in the fifth semester and the exam was conducted on Saturday. Enraged students have filed a complaint with the authorities regarding the issue.

The question paper which is of 75 marks consists of 8 questions out of which any 4 are to be attempted, each question carrying 18.75 marks. Of these 8, three questions — Discuss the forest policy of India. What are the challenges facing the policy today?, Discuss the feminist perspective on the state, and a short note question on Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan have caused distress. Moreover, the Hindi translation of the question on feminist perspective was also not appropriate, students alleged. The complaint was first raised by students of Daulat Ram College and Ramjas College.

Students of Ramjas College have written to their Department Head Tanvir Aiejaz to mark them ‘leniently’ or they will be ‘at loss’. Both students and teachers have raised a hue and cry over choice being reduced/restricted to students after such out-of-course questions in the examination. Suranjita Ray, the teacher-in-charge at Daulat Ram College, has already written to the University’s political science head, Navnita C Behera, asking her to look into the matter. In the letter to Behera, Ray has said: “I request you to instruct the paper setters and the moderation committee to keep the prescribed syllabus in mind. Such a thing impacts the performance of students,” as told to The Indian Express. 

Some teachers have claimed that the question paper might have been changed during the moderation process. Usually, the varsity sends the question paper for moderation and then it is printed and sealed. A three-member board set up by the University prepares the question papers and a senior teacher of the department is enthroned with the responsibility of moderation. After the semester system came into effect, the process of setting the question paper and moderation norms have changed which thence arises many problems.

 

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat

Oorja Tapan

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