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The Dilemma of a Fresher

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For a Fresher, the whole dilemma of entering into a new phase of life after coming to college is an intriguing one. But unfortunately, the whole process is not all rainbows and sunshine!

The phase just after school between bidding goodbye to one part of life and entering into another part in college is perhaps the most memorable one in everybody’s life. One is filled with gusto and fresh ideas for planning (or not) the new life. For the outstation students especially, the newness and freedom of it all is a whole level of euphoria. But in the midst of jungle of blooming hopes, flourishing sense of independence and sky high aims of adventure, there remain certain dark and murky areas with tangles and traps.

These dark and murky areas are the thoughts that at times cloud a student’s mind when he/she moves into a new life. The sunshine apparently doesn’t penetrate through the whole jungle.

On one end of the pole is the sadness of leaving the warmth of parent’s hugs and presence along with leaving the sweet comfort of a home and on the other hand is the happiness of getting to make a new and defined life for oneself where one needs to be one’s own parent. A dilemma is what one finds oneself in. Where one has the opportunity to make new friends and to know more people from all over the country, one also somehow loses out on the friends one might have had since childhood. Where in one place you are more than thrilled to become a part of the world, a sadness of leaving the town where you were the world of someone else, always remains.

Such thoughts are natural. Such thoughts are what make us human. But for a student just starting college, these thoughts can at times be hard to handle. The voices inside the head get too loud that they become almost incoherent. A lot of people I know who belong to states other than Delhi and are studying in DU found it very difficult to cope with the change in the initial stages.

As much as this phase appears to be an exciting land with all sorts of new and unknown things, with open doors and arms waiting to embrace you, it is just as much a confusing knot of tangles where you might find yourself tripping on trivial things or even, trapped.

Image Credits: Hindustan Times

Akshada Shrotryia

[email protected]

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Photo Story

Tips for Low Light Photography

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As photographer Hillary  Grigonis puts it, “ If photography is writing with light, then low light photography is like writing a novel with a half inch pencil stub.”  As one of the most complicated style, low light photography is though but no less rewarding. 

 

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Here are six tips and tricks to up-skill those brilliant shots taken in the dark.

  • ISO: The higher the ISO number, the more sensitive the camera’s sensor is to the light that is reaching it.
    In layman’s language, ISO is the artificial light created by the camera sensor. The additional noise that is generated by using a high ISO which can be filtered out somewhat in post-processing. one should also keep in mind that Don’t take your ISO more than 800 (low- end cameras) and 3200 (high- end cameras) to avoid grains.
  •  Use a larger aperture: The larger the aperture, the more light is entering the lens. Shooting at f/5.6 lets in more light than shooting at f/18. It’s important to (remember that , the lower the number, the larger the aperture.)
  • The shutter speed. More light is captured the longer the shutter remains open: Keep in mind that a A good rule of thumb for clear hand-held shots is to keep the shutter speed no slower than 1/60 of a second. Use a tripod if you’re shooting at anything slower than that, though you can have I have had success at slower hand-held shots using lenses with image stabilization.

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  •  Avoid the pop-up flash: If one needs to use a flash, try to avoid the on-camera pop-up: It tends to flatten the appearance of the an image because the light is hitting the subject directly. Invest in an off-camera flash, angle light so that it is not directly in front of the subject, and use reflective surfaces and diffusers to soften the light. Strategically placed constant light,  (using soft white bulbs, ) work excellently for providing additional ambient light without sacrificing the atmosphere of the setting.
    In outdoor situations use flashes that enable a rare curtain. It will allow you to drop the shutter speed and still get a sharp image. Lowering the shutter speed will allow the sensor to capture enough ambient light and the flash will throw through just the right amount about of light on the subject.
  • Use your camera’s exposure compensation capabilities: The scale on many of today’s DSLR’s allow from -3 to +3 stops in 1/3 stop increments . Dial the exposure compensation to the positive side to purposefully overexpose the photograph.
  • Use of Tripod/Mono pod : Getting a clear and focused image in low light is a difficult task.The use of a tripod/mono pod would be a great help to get good, clear, and stable image in low lighting. The more focused and clear the image is, easier it is to edit it in post-processing.e.
    .com

Image Credits – Ayush Chauhan for DU Beat

Adithya Khanna 

adithyak@dubeat

 

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Campus Central

College Societies and New Students

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This article focuses on how the society culture of colleges affects the newly admitted students and what they teach them since many come with a dream of joining one.

Societies are the most fun part of college. So much so that many colleges are primarily known for their societies and the students they have produced. For the students who have just stepped out of school and are entering into the realm of college life, societies are a way of making contacts with senior students and learning things that interest them.

A society in college is not just a mere group of people who share a similar interest towards something and put their efforts into winning all the events that come along, but a family. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that most people prioritise society work over classes and assignments. Getting into a society also helps in building up a social life, especially for newbies.

A college in the University of Delhi is known not just because the students taking admission scored the desired percentage as required by the cut-off but also because of the ‘society culture’ there. One might hear Alahyaa doing their morning routine in Daulat Ram College or one might witness a practice session of Shunya in Ramjas College. Societies never fail to amaze the new students, the very reason why there is a huge line to audition to get into some of them.

Likewise, the society culture helps student look at things from a new and different perspective. One looks up to the seniors in college as he/she manages the work and organizes the fests. One tends to admire instantly the president of a debating society when he/she comes up to speak. There is therefore, a lot to learn from the societies. The most important of all learnings being, teamwork.

Isn’t it absolutely amazing to see how the seniors of your society manage every single thing on their own? As first-year students, we are immediately drawn towards them and admire their art of handling things so well. We learn to voice out our opinion and at the same time listen to what others have to say. We learn management and we learn hard work. We learn to keep our calm when inviting and calling people to our events and we learn to be patient with them all. We learn that our strategies won’t work every time and that a little failure will come sometimes with huge successes and that it is okay.

Image Credits: DU Beat

Akshada Shrotryia

[email protected]

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Admissions 2018

A Note to the Batch of 2021

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Dearest Fresher’s

Savour this moment, as you stand in long queues, sweaty and hassled with the ongoing admissions process, because at this very second, as you make an important decision, will mark the beginning of a great adventure.

You are on the threshold of joining an institution which will introduce you to some of the brightest minds of our generation. Once you finally make it here, throw yourselves into the movements, music, theatrics, and magic of this Varsity and you’ll become the best possible version of you.

We wish we could quote Dumbledore and say, “Help will always be given at Hogwarts (read DU) to those who ask for it”. However, DU is not kind, these old-experienced walls believe in tough love. You will not necessarily get the best infrastructure or faculty, but it will provide you with opportunities to make the best of it. There will be problems, but there will also be protests against those problems. It will be your choice to pick a side which will make all the difference.

With almost a 100 colleges dotted in across National Capital Region, the University is a like a breathing-living spider web. It houses not just the future of this country but also it’s present. And at this moment it is welcoming you, another batch of thousands of stakeholders, into its vibrant universe.  Its sheer brilliance of talent and knowledge can be tempting and intimidating, but with a little patience and confidence you’ll fare well.

We hope these three years give you group hugs, jitters, breakdowns, laughter, and solace which, for the years to come, will translate into splendid stories and memories.

Good luck! We’ll see you around.

 

The DU Beat team

Kinjal Pandey

[email protected]

Niharika Dabral

[email protected]

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Campus Central

What to Fear and What Not to Fear in College

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A college is a place you enter with apprehensions. However, you need not pay heed to all the apprehensions you have in your mind. Filter your fears. Here are a few things that you need to weed out before you throw yourself at the upcoming adventure!

 What not to fear in college

1. Not making friends that are ‘good enough’
You need to stop fearing the possibility of meeting new people and not being able to be good friends with them. Remember that in college, you will meet all kinds of people, with different backgrounds, beliefs, and interests. It may be difficult initially, but you will be able to gel well with at least some of them, eventually. Everyone around you is as apprehensive as you about making friends. You must realise that it is necessary to just be yourself and do your own thing, comfortably.  It is not the time to go looking out for ‘cool’ people to hang out with, though it inevitably happens.

2. To fail, at anything
College is the time when you have the luxury to fail. You are just starting out. You must give yourself the space to fail at things. Failure means, at least, you are trying. At college, you receive new opportunities and you must experience trying them all. Even if you fail, trust us, you’ll have a funny story to laugh at with your friends later.

3. Being “uncool”
When you receive a little freedom in college after school, everyone around you would want to be the “cool” kid. The societal pressure around you will also make you judge yourself based on what you do and what you are. You need to be cool to hang out with that cool gang. It is completely okay to be driven away by the DU fads. However, take time to realise yourself. Do not lose yourself in the middle of those million voices out there. Everything that is cool is not right for you. Remind yourself once in a while how it is completely okay to be different. Be proud of what you do and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

What to fear in college

1. Not taking initiatives
You must fear not taking initiatives at college out of “fear” or laziness. You need to realize that while you are at college, you should focus on contributing to the institution and leaving a little bit of yourself in it. You need to make an impact with the initiatives you take. Don’t be intimidated by the word initiative. It can be as big as beginning a new society in your college and as small as making a revised timetable for your class. The initiatives you take give you a sense of responsibility and can be taken as an opportunity to inspire people. Once out of college, you will not be driven by ‘authorities’ or seniors. You would need to drive yourself to stay in the game. Taking initiatives at the college level will teach you exactly that, even if you start small.

2. Thinking you are here only to study well
If you think you are at a college only to study and score well, fear your thinking. College is very different from school. You can not make your CV look well only with a high-grade point. The CV must entail extracurricular activities in the direction of what you aspire to do in the future. When a company is looking to hire you, they want to see how many initiatives you take, how many positions you can handle at once and what all skills you have learned at different institutions. The recruiters realise that the college in itself cannot give you a wholesome development and that anyone who wants to go beyond the books has practical knowledge and interest needed to do the job well!

3. Letting your apprehensions take over your wishes
This must be your biggest fear! You are going wrong when you let your apprehensions and doubts chain you to inactivity! Everyone has that little voice in their head telling them they can’t do it. But how do you know if you never even try? Take that voice as a challenge rather than a conclusion. This is the time when you can experiment the most. Do what you wish to try. And if you fear to fail then read the above list again!

Feature Image Credits: Daily Mail

Khyati Sanger
[email protected]

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Campus Central

Reasons to Choose Delhi University Over Others

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Delhi University is not just a place of learning but it also provides a variety of opportunities for all-round development of students. This article shows just some reasons why this remains an ideal choice for students.

Delhi University is a vibrant place to study and probably one of the foremost universities in the country. There are various reasons why this is the ideal place for a diverse group of people to come and rack their brains together. At the risk of sounding like propaganda, here are our top reasons why you should opt for DU over other universities:

1. Holistic learning: Delhi University hosts numerous undergraduate programmes through its affiliated colleges in various streams of studies under different faculties namely Arts, Social Sciences, Applied Social Sciences & Humanities, Commerce & Business Studies, Mathematical Sciences, Sciences and Inter-Disciplinary and Applied Sciences, around 70 postgraduate courses in addition to diploma and advanced diploma courses, certificate courses, Ph.D and M.Phil programmes. Sports and ECA category students are also given freedom to develop their extra-curricular activities. Such a plethora of courses means that students get to experiment and explore various disciplines. Combined with a distinguished faculty and research opportunities, this provides for a holistic learning experience. Academic excellence: In the year 2018, The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) under the Ministry of Human Development saw 5 DU colleges make it to the top 10 colleges in the country. The University overall bagged the 7th rank. In the National Assessment and Accreditation Council’s yearly assessment, most DU colleges end up in the top ten slot. Regardless of the ranking parameters, there are other aspects like teacher-student relations, opportunities for research, and presence of well-stocked libraries that make this place a haven for students around the country. As one of the foremost undergraduate centres of learning, it also attracts the best of the brightest students in the country.

2. Diversity: In terms of cultural diversity too, Delhi University attracts students from all across the country as well as other nations. You will get an opportunity to interact, live, and dance with the best of the minds of the country.

3. Campus life: The campus life in Delhi University goes beyond the red-brick canteens. It is always bustling with research seminars, talks, film screenings, society fests, and not to mention the college fests that happen in every winter semester. The central location of the university means that students are in constant touch with not just students from other colleges but also from other heavyweight Institutions such as the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).

4. Teaching faculty: Delhi University’s myriad teaching faculty adopts a student-friendly approach to learning. Their diverse research interests and numerous publications mean that they are also experts at their fields of interest. An exposure to them certainly helps the students here.

5. Fest season: Come winter, you will wait excitedly for the fests, which will mean that all the colleges in the University will open their doors to other students. You will meet new people, eat amazing food and dance to the beats of the likes of KK, Benny Dayal, and Nucleya, amongst the many artists that visit DU. It is the perfect time to meet new people, places and that occasional crush you will persistently stalk for the next two months on Facebook.

6. Protests Season: There are three seasons in DU: test, fest, and protest season. Whether or not you are politically inclined, it is the best place to see different kinds of student movements develop from scratch. From the anti-autonomy strikes to the protests held by Pinjra Tod, students here are politically very active, and they often organise creative ways to assert themselves. Students are not just restricted to the classrooms but they also have an acute sense of the happenings of the world around them.

7. Placements: Although the rate of placements varies from college to college, it is one of the most successful universities to get placements in the country. Students also branch out to different streams of higher learning once they graduate from the university.

7. Food: If you are like every other student at a university, you are most likely to be a foodie too. For foodies, DU is among the best possible food havens. Whether you fancy a plate of savoury momos (Dolma Aunty’s) or just that perfect cuppa, (Sudama’s Chai) the university and its food joints will cater to your taste buds. Explore areas like Majnu ka Tila, Old Delhi and Hauz Khas to get other kinds of food experiences. Moreover the canteens of the different colleges also present low-cost, hygienic food that will leave you wanting more. The city: History, myth, language, and centuries of culture merge together in Delhi and lend a unique touch to the University. With an active nightlife, markets, food joints and places to hang out with your friends, the city provides immense opportunities for a new cultural experience. For both the avid traveller and the casual wanderer, Delhi is a treasure trove of monuments, forts, rivers and ancient nooks and crannies. The short distance between the city and hill stations like Dharamshala, Shimla, Manali means that those road trips might just manifest during your college years.

Feature Image Credits – India Today

Sara Sohail 

[email protected] 

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DUB Speak

Unchallenged Bigotry in Indian Families

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Indian millennials and Gen-Z have been trying to uproot the culture of making bigoted comments in everyday conversations a thing of the past. Somehow, it seems difficult to call your elders out for the same, but it is important to do this if one wishes to live in harmony with one another.

The conversations around the dinner table at night are similar in most, Indian middle-class families. It heavily revolves around religion and minorities. It hardly matters if the parents are highly educated or amiable. They absolutely hate certain religious minorities and believe all of them actively engage in terrorist activities and that their religion teaches violence. They believe that Hijabi women are unequivocally oppressed and have no control over the course of their lives. Middle-class Hindus often declare how they can’t trust minorities anymore and engage in overt and covert bigotry by calling them names or refusing to rent out their flats to them.

Have you ever noticed how your mother takes out another steel glass for the housemaid and the man who takes out your garbage when they ask for water? The housemaid always sits on the floor while watching television while the other members of the family sit on the sofa. This is all casteism. Sometimes, your parents ask a person’s surname to know their caste and if that person somehow qualifies an exam or gets selected for a government job, they attribute it to the reservations in place for them. All of this reeks of ignorance and privilege.

Women are often subjected to misogyny by the society for every action of theirs. Older people in the neighbourhood, largely women can’t help but talk about girls who wear skirts or talk to boys in a demeaning manner. The middle-class impression of a gay man or that of transgender people has been taken from ‘The Kapil Sharma Show’. The public laughs at this representation of gay men or trans people, from a show which is infamous for its homophobia.

In 2016, there was a spate of attacks on Africans in Delhi and Noida. They were beaten up with cricket bats, bricks and iron rods for no reason at all. However, the government refused to call it a ‘racist attack’. The discourse going around at the time in every Indian middle-class family was that Africans can’t be trusted because all of them deal with drugs. So, they think it’s a reason good enough to attack them. Same goes for racial attacks on people from North-East. When they go to metropolitan cities like Delhi and Bangalore, they are called by racial slurs like ‘chinki’ and are harassed by their own countrymen. South Indians are collectively called ‘mallu’ and face colourism.  Being prejudiced against minorities and marginalized communities has been so ingrained in us, right from the childhood that this sickening mentality has been normalized in our daily conversations.

It’s not easy to change the narrative around these subjects. Our parents grew up with these ideas and even if you call them out for their prejudices, they would ask you to shut up because after all, they have seen the world and know better. All we can do is learn as much as possible about caste, class, race and gender and recognize privilege whenever it benefits us. The next time your parents and relatives or neighbours make any problematic comments, calmly tell them where they’re going wrong. I am hoping this is how we’ll change our society and its thinking, one family at a time.

Feature Image credits– Indian Express

Disha Saxena

[email protected]

 

 

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Uncategorized

Beating the heat this exam season

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We realise that the heat has made exam season even more unbearable,  folks. We have been tinkering with this problem all summer. Here is what we have unearthed.

As we breathe in the parched air of the exam halls, we look at ink-stained fingers and the slouched shoulders and the empty water bottles, desperate for a respite from the exams and from the blinding scorching heat. Here are our favourite tips for beating the heat while we have our noses buried in books:

  • Stay hydrated: This might not be the most original idea, but it has stood the test of time. Turns out keeping your body hydrated during exams might mean you end up actually not eating your hair at the end of a study session. So, keep those liquids near you, kids!
  • Sun blockers: Please don’t make the mistake of stepping out of the house without that shield, folks. Your skin is the largest organ of your body and deserves some care as well.  I leave it to you to choose the brand; just keep your skin type in mind.
  • Quick bites: For mid-study session meals, opt for hydrating and refreshing fruits like watermelon or fresh veggies like cucumber. They not only hydrate your body and keep you healthy; you can almost trick yourself into thinking you can finally get off of those baggy junk foods. You can also infuse your water with fruits; just buy an infuser bottle and add some refreshing and citric fruits and mint to it. This will give all the fruit-lovers out there some incentive to go through some plain, boring old water.
  • Change your hairdo: Go a little bonkers this exam season and change your haircut or hairstyle. If you’ve always wanted to chop off your hair, this is the best possible time to debut a pixie cut or long bob.  Keeping your hair off the back of your neck will help you cool down your body temperature. And if anyone asks you what happened, blame it on the Kardashians.
  • Take more showers: This shouldn’t come as a surprise. Whether you want to hibernate inside your tub for a few hours every day or take quicker baths multiple times a day, we promise not to judge. Just make sure you don’t let multiple showers dry out your skin by moisturising afterwards.

Happy Studying!

Feature Image Credits: Akarsh Mathur for DU Beat

Sara Sohail

[email protected]

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DUB Speak

A Journey of Growth and Countless Memories, Signing Off: Abhilasha Gandhi, Head of Media Operations 2017-18

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Almost 2 years ago when I was going through random posts and memes on my Instagram feed, I came across a post that essentially changed my life. The post read, “DU Beat is hiring new Human Resource Managers.” But more than that particular line, what I noticed was the line above it that said, “You don’t need to be a professional to join us, but you might end up becoming one.” And so I did.

As I read the E-mail informing me that I was recruited, I was overcome with this feeling that the journey ahead was not going to be easy, but it was definitely going to be worth it. From then, my daily life became all about WhatsApp groups, emails, spreadsheets, and random people texting me at odd hours for work. A year later, I was given the position of the Media Operations Head, and with it, came bigger responsibilities. I was hardly keeping up, I made huge mistakes, but every time I thought of giving up, I had somebody from our lovely team picking me back up and giving me the strength to keep going at it.

Each and every day in my tenure at DU Beat (DUB) has given me something to learn, remember, and cherish for a lifetime. These 2 years have been the most overwhelming and fulfilling times of my life. It has transformed the frivolous girl that I was, into a much more sensible, responsible, and thoughtful person. I would say that there is a long way to go still, but DU Beat made the journey easier, by giving me a group of remarkably supportive friends, who turned into my family. I would not wish to, but I can only imagine what my college life would have been if I was not a part of this organisation. Parting ways from DUB will leave me with a huge void in my life that I might never be able to fill again. I am thankful for this journey, I am thankful for DU Beat.

 

Abhilasha Gandhi

Media Operations Head 2017-18

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DUB Speak

Breaking Barriers: The Pulitzer Prize Winners 2018

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The Pulitzer Prize, the highest American honour in journalism was recently announced. Here is a look at the winners.

The Pulitzer Prize, a prestigious annual award in the field of excellence in newspaper journalism, literary achievements, musical composition in the United States, was announced on Tuesday, 17th April. The annual prize administered by the Columbia University in New York City shook things up this year, by allowing new unprecedented entries like Kendrick Lamar making a foray into the twenty-one categories. Here is a list of some of the winners:

  1. Public Service: The New York Times for reporting led by Jodi Kantor, Megan Twohey and The New Yorker for by Ronan Farrow: The staff of the two newspapers was awarded the honour for their impactful coverage of the allegations of sexual assaults including those against Harvey Weinstein, and thus leading to new debates and “worldwide reckoning about sexual abuse of women” as the Pulitzer website mentions.
  2. Breaking News Reporting: Staff of the Press-Democrat, Santa Rosa California: The newspaper was lauded for its breakthrough coverage of the wildfires that spread through the city of Santa Rosa and Sonoma County by using an array of journalistic tools including social media, photography, video, etc.
  3. Investigative reporting: Staff of the Washington Post: The Washington Post was awarded the honour for their brilliant coverage exposing the sexual harassment of Republican candidate Roy Moore, and the subsequent criticism they faced for it.
  4. Explanatory Reporting: Staffs of The Arizona Republic and USA Today Network: The two newspapers were rewarded for their combined efforts to explain and report on the promise of the Mexico border wall by Donald Trump, heroin reporting and editorial writing in health care.
  5. International Reporting: Clare Baldwin, Andrew R.C. Marshall, and Manuel Mogato of Reuters: The Reuters correspondents through a dint of sheer hard work and determination that included countering the propagandist narrative that was being spewed by the Filipino government, exposing “the brutal killing campaign behind the President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs”, the Pulitzer committee mentions.
  6. Feature Photography: Photography staff of Reuters: The photo-journalists of Reuters were awarded the honour for their immense contribution in exposing the violence faced by Rohingya refugees fleeing from Myamar.
  7. Music: DAMN., by Kendrick Lamar: The first non-jazz and non-classical recording to be given this honour, Lamar’s album hit critical as well as popular acclaim soon after its release on April 14, hitting number one at US Billboard 200. The Pulitzer admits contemporary rap and with it, the multi-faceted African-American life, into the sphere of ultimate critical acclaim.     

 

Feature Image Credits: The New York Times

Sara Sohail

[email protected]     

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