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Little Things

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In an endless pursuit for the extraordinary, something essential is lost. Does everything compulsively have to be ‘the best’ ? 

The quest for excellence sought by everyone is characterized by its subjectivity. Excellence might be defined differently by the same person at different points in time. But in all these varied searchings’, something is mutual. The mutual feeling of achieving something ‘great’. Something that redefines recaptures the ordinary; and makes it into the extraordinary. “You deserve the best there is.” Sometimes this statement can be very difficult to believe. Simply because everything cannot possibly be ‘the best’.

Expectations have a lot to play on in this conflict of wanting the best. The disillusionment that dawns on you, when your expectations and the reality portray a stark contrast; this selfsame realization hits strikingly. The only great thing that comes from this compulsive expectation for the best is great distress. But then, is expecting bad? Can hope make us a prisoner? Higher the expectations, greater the distress. The only question is that how we deal with this disillusionment. It takes time, sometimes more than we can offer. But all of it settles in.

When we seek something great, we often forget to register the lack of greatness. There is a lot that can be said of the ordinary or not-so-great. Remember when Hermione Granger smelled Amortentia, she thought of parchment and freshly mowed grass? That is just how simple, tangible, and reachable our passions are. We are all passionate about these ‘little things’. But to think about it, these little things matter a lot. Our failure to register something or someone does not rule out its existence. These little things will be found out. They will come to your notice. And when they do, they will mean a lot to you.

The simplest joys are the ones that give you that warm, fuzzy feeling of comfort. Being exerted all the time will only make you question everything crankily. A heartfelt smile, an uplifting conversation with your loved ones, the innocent laughter of children, the morning songs of birds, the regular cycle of the sun or a filling meal finished with desserts, there is something about these little things that brings you closer to your own self. They teach you something about gratitude. And all of us could use some lessons in gratitude. Right!

Feature Image Credits: Scopio

Kartik Chauhan

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DUB Speak

Overwork and Frustration

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College is often described as a place that opens you up to a vast avenue of possibilities. But what is the cost of initiative?

An important realization in everyday life is that our proficiencies are varied. It is with this realization that we must wrestle with knowledge. There is always something to learn from every experience and from every person that we meet. But is there a limit to this learning? Is it somehow possible that in order to become the best version of ourselves, we sacrifice on our present not-so-perfect version? Is it true that pushing yourself to the limits yields the best results? Overreaching can sometimes inspire an internalized toxicity.

 

To allow a deeper exploration into our potential, we usually take up all the things that come our way. You cannot know what the opportunity means for you, what it might yield to your benefit after all, right? It is advisable not to retreat into inaction. It is your action which must be checked occasionally. When the quantity of your action does not yield the reasonable sense of satisfaction, it is time to be on your guard. This does not mean that one should give up on the task, but one should be in a position to analyze their own human resource investment, and if need be, reconsider this indulgence.

 

However, it is never that easy to give up on things. There is always going to be some level of discomfort in giving up things. In this, we are always on a certain creative verge. “What if tomorrow it becomes more rewarding?” or “What if some other job might be more challenging and less rewarding?” you might think. Do you give up things when they become challenging? Not initially, but gradually, when the exhaustion transcends the technical faculty and starts affecting your mental faculty, you can step back, and without any guilt.

 

“If you say yes to everyone, you will feel obligated to perform to satisfy their expectations. And no one is obligated to assist anyone. If you are not in your best, you can say no. It becomes the other person’s understanding that you rely on, when you say no. They should be able to understand if you are inaccessible, and there is nothing that you should be afraid of in that unavailability.” says Kalrav Vashishtha, an English Literature student at Hindu College, who manages to capture an important idea through this argument.

 

Saying no to some things really takes the frustration away. And the discussion here transcends to the idea of being emotionally unavailable for someone when they are in a bad mental state. Overwork is not only something which is caused by taking up too many projects, but also something which is caused by dealing with too many subjects at once. It is very important to waste some time on activities like stalking Kim Kardashian on Instagram. We do not realize it when we are engaged in a lot of jobs; there is always some task that pleads urgency. We do not realize the importance of ‘wasting time’.

 

Overwork or over-exhaustion due to work gradually leads to a constant state of frustration and fussing. There comes a point when everything that you do, for instance you write an article, frustrates you and makes you question your abilities. Short temper and eccentricity become a part of your emotional spectrum; a very unhealthy state of mind, that is. But it is important too, in that it makes you want to take a break. Step back. Relax. Say no to work. And keep up with your own self. Do what makes you feel passionate. Something for your own. It is not selfish. It is in fact, rewarding.

 

 

 

Feature Image Credits: The Nanjinger

 

Kartik Chauhan

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DUB Speak

Social Media Depression

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A convincingly coy justification to increasing psychological strains among students is sought in their connectivity to social media. Convenient, right?

 

It is not unheard of: social media causes depression.Social media is an endless space that connects all of us and brings us closer to each other in certain ways. The convenience of communication has been supplemented by this selfsame medium. But the idea of defending social media on the pretext of such rewarding connectivity is not entirely correct.

Social media is not without its vices. But the point of discussion is not these vices. It is, in fact that how these negative impacts have overshadowed our idea of looking at something a lot more intricate than this technological network- mental healthA lot of people will claim that social media is the central cause of deteriorating mental health among youngsters. Unfortunately the statement cannot be entirely overruled, but the magnitude of its truth can be questioned.

 

The competition and toxicity on social media causes strain. The constant activity can be extremely exhausting. Which is why we feel the need for “detoxifying”. In providing the vent, social media is helpful. The additional utility of this vent is the challenge we face.To say that social media is the primary source of depression is equal to saying that Diwali is the source of all pollution in Delhi. Such broad classifications eliminate the seriousness of the actual issue. However, looking objectively at issues is not a modern-day practice. Most of it has to do with escaping the responsibility by leading on with the scapegoat; in this case social media addiction.

 

We need to acknowledge the factors that contribute to depression. Is it societal expectations, filial obligations, and/or personal-overwhelming-anticipations? What is causing depression? The questions we need to ask have been left unattended as the answer is sought in indifference.Dealing with depression more informedly can only become more real if we first analyse the factors contributing to this delirium. Finding the causes is really the half-way. If you feel that social media is causing unwanted uncertainty and toxicity, by all means, take a drift away from the swamp. But if that does not help, the only measure that remains is introspection. It is always more than what it looks on the surface. Looking is all that matters.

 

Social media is not the only source of depression. Your source is different from mine. And it is in this subjectivity that the centrality of this discussion rests. Find your causes and factors. Because labelling indifferently is not a healthy practice.

 

Feature Image Credits: Freepost Press

 

Kartik Chauhan

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Campus Central

Selective Intellectualism: JNU Scholar Allegedly Harasses DU Students

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In another appalling display of outright sexism and misogyny, a Jawaharlal Nehru University scholar has been subjected to a significant questioning and criticism.

The Women’s Development Cell (WDC) of Miranda House has posted a statememt on their Instagram handle alleging that over the past few weeks they have received various complaints about a post-graduate student of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), a former All India Students Association (AISA) member, ‘sending lewd jokes’ to the college girls. WDC said that the JNU student ‘is a sexist man who unapologetically indulges in harassment of women’.

 

Aman Sinha, the JNU scholar in question reportedly claims to be an intellectual, aware, and socially-sensible individual and identifies himself as an active revolutionary voicing the concerns of women; and in that, being a fighting to intitiate a change in the society. However, the accusations (the substance of which has been denied by Sinha) levelled against him suggest otherwise. The aforementioned statement by WDC Miranda calls him out as a ‘woke boy’. Earlier this October, Sinha was denied participation in the Pinjra Tod protest near the Arts Faculty in North Campus after various women complained about his presence making them uncomfortable. AISA had removed him from their organisation earlier. By his own admittance Sinha was caught indulging in “rolling and smoking a joint”. Questioning of this illicit behavior was justified by Sinha as being an activity that he did away from the crowd and for his own.

In a screenshot of the WhatsApp chat on this issue shared by Purnima, a victim of Sinha’s explicit insensitivity, Sinha abused the women who objected against his misbehavior.

Image Credits: Purnima Vijaya
Image Credits: Purnima Vijaya

 

Anoushka Parija, the President of WDC told The Times of India, “There was so much concern about the JNU student’s predatory nature that the victims circulated a thread of messages warning girls to stay away from him.” He kept texting one of the girls for months and to get a reaction out of her, sent unsolicited lewd jokes and videos.As reported by Times of India, Parija said, “We have put out a statement so that more students can come forward with their experiences. We will be sending these complaints to the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) of the college and will eventually take legal recourse in the issue.”

Responding to the alleged claims against him, Sinha told a daily, “The statement has no mention of any case nor is it talking about a specific incident. This is an attempt to malign my name. The statement from WDC on social media is an act of vendetta against me by a few members of the organisation and many women have come out in my support.” Parija mentioned, “Details of specific complaints cannot be revealed on social media, but all the complainants have valid proof.” The college body has also appealed to members of “the intellectual circles” who associate with the JNU student to stop doing so.

Purnima Vijaya, another victim of Sinha’s, talked to DU Beat about the issue. She says, “Aman Sinha has denied all the allegations by claiming that the WDC has a personal vendetta against him, but that’s a very useless defense. I am not a part of WDC, I have nothing to do with it to be honest. I have been personally attacked by the obsessive and stalkerish behaviour of this person.”

Continuing on this note, Purnima remarks, “His counter statements have absolutely no meat, in the entire thing, he keeps talking about how he is the real feminist and none of his victims are. This again is just plain narcissistic behaviour. We are not floating accusations in the air, we have consolidated legit proof and put it up for everybody to see. His statement doesn’t address any of the evidence that has been put out against him. As an unofficial collective fighting against this pretend-feminist Sinha, it is felt by us that Sinha must address the accusations directly or apologize. Far too many victims have reached out to the WDC; detailing their gruesome and disgusting experiences imposed by Sinha on them.”

DU Beat contacted Aman Sinha. He said,”It is important to believe the survivor’s narrative especially in our brahmanical patriarchal society since women have been silenced for too long. But how feminist is our vision if it refuses to acknowledge multitude and a pastiche of voices? It is also true that women to carry a patriarchal mindset gaining if from the Indian feudalism. Is it the egalitarian society we aspire to, one where only one voice is given legitimacy and credibility? The political model of sieving trauma as a truth runs the risk of what Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has called the danger of a single story.”

The posting of the statement and subsequent reactions to the various instances of women speaking against the alleged predatory nature of Sinha has been a practice in resistance. The entirety of the problem puts the intellectual circle in question. Tha vain revolutionary spirit; a facade for ulterior political motives, makes us see all actions more clearly.

 

Following is the link to the statements of victims of Sinha, shared by Purnima Vijaya.

https://drive.google.com/drive/mobile/folders/1X2j1H-bxc8KlOjLwTY7RD01fI4Mzf4p1

 

Feature Image Credits: WDC Miranda House

 

Kartik Chauhan

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Small Screen

The Negative Impact of Prankster YouTubers

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Pranking is increasingly becoming a means of sustenance for many YouTubers. Humour is after all, harmless and entertaining. But is it?

Maximum entertainment is derived from an interactive and intriguing piece of art. But the idea of entertainment is more than just an exciting piece of work. It is really about subjectivity. It is an impressing of ideals on the audience, as it also truly holds a mirror to the society. The content that we feel connected to most is the expression of an artist that we find most relatable. An increasing effect of pranks clouding over media-content is not very latent. Pranking is now an expression of humour.

Humour, again is not easy to classify as a term. It is subjective. The true concern then is the act of deciding when humour becomes more than just something to celebrate. Even in its subjectivity, the idea of humour is extremely broad in the sense that it deals with human values; and in that, it must hold some ethical ground. You might enjoy an offensive joke, but to someone else, it might be a humiliation. Logically, even in humorous banter, we need to practise certain restraint.

It is this restraint that is lacking in the YouTube pranksters’ fraternity. You will see thumbnails of blurred (and sometimes not even blurred) women being asked uncomfortable but “humorous” questions by a promising YouTube “artist” on your YouTube Trending List. Videos like “Would You Rather Slap Me or Kiss Me?” and others are extremely unacceptable. These videos are shot without the consent of the starring participants because the camera must record their authentic reactions.

Shooting around public places like parks and metro stations, these problematically curious adventurers cause discomfort and insecurity. A few days ago, four girls from Delhi University were captured on record sitting in the Central Park in Connaught Place. When they questioned an actor with the “hidden” cameraman– a part of the pranking troop– the actor mentioned that they were “shooting for a YouTube video for their channel”.

It is appalling how easily you can justify something like this borderline stalking act by using the hidden camera argument! There is no element of consent or respect that concerns this rancid humour. Does this impeach of people’s privacy by recording their actions deceptively has any healthy appeal to it? The sadly egregious reality is that such content actually finds an audience of millions on YouTube.

Disbelieving the actual existence of this creepy behaviour in our daily lives, Debopriya Bhattacharya, a Literature Major from Hindu College says, “So all this time I thought these were ‘fake’ videos but now that I know they are shot without consent, it gives me all the more reason to abhor them. I feel these videos are the cheapest forms of entertainment that are out there on the internet and what’s more surprising is that these videos have an active ‘audience’.”

It is difficult to defend the audience when that selfsame audience feeds on such sick content. These videos and experiments also make it difficult to challenge the everyday issues that disallow women to be an equal member in the social settings; as most of these videos capitalise on objectifying women. Humour cannot be allowed to be subjected to this festering of lowly “pranks”.

Pranking as an act is not the problem, however. Healthy humour is really the lifeblood of entertainment, but the important factor to be considered is active and informed participation of the people involved in the act.

Discomforting people and creepily stalking their footfall, to cater to your needs of providing the society with something to laugh about is not cool. Humiliation is not humorous as it is not the idea of entertainment. Period. It is time we start calling out such “pranksters” before they capitalise on YouTube views and subscriptions.

Feature Image Credits: The Daily Dot

Kartik Chauhan
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DUB Speak

Dealing with FOMO in the First Year of College

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Feeling a little unguarded, somewhat alienated, and left-out; these are some of the emotions every first-year student experiences in the varsity. Read on to find how much you relate to this FOMO.

Our minds are truly very efficient in the act of abbreviating words, phrases, and expressions. Fear of missing out, popularly called FOMO, is a promising contestant in this ‘Championship for the Most Used Abbreviation’. Social
media updates in the past few months have been smattered with this FOMO. As everyone would acknowledge, the University of Delhi is always bustling with activities. There is always an event happening, and with every event that manifests, with its promised delights, it becomes a challenge to decide which one you would attend. With so many events, and opportunities waiting, one is bound to miss out on some of these. Let’s face it, if dates of two fests clash,
you cannot be at Tarang and Mecca at once. It is important to prioritise and make your experiences worth remembering, rather than participating in everything.

Thus, the problem is amplified for us, the first-year students at the University. The phase of transition is undoubtedly challenging. Every milestone comes as an expectation of a quick transformation. But it is very important to realise that the process of transformation is slow and in this process, there is a lot that needs to be given up.For instance, if you apply for an internship, you will be coerced to give up on your Netflix binge.
Amidst professional commitments and companionships, there is always a trade-off. Understandingthe economics of this subject matter, say, the presence of companionships in an internship,is important. But this, in no way
implies that indulgence in a social exchange is undesirable, or futile. It is the complex trade-off that evokes the said FOMO. For the longest time, you have been told that college can skyrocket you into the space of your dreams. However, it is true that college can be a tough pedestal where fixating on things can cause distractions. Sometimes,
it is better to let go of some things, and grasp other things.
In the decision regarding this trade-off, a more pressing question haunts you, how do you decide that the that the choices you make are for the good? You do not.These choices have to be made, sometimes instinctively, and other times more consciously. However, more importantly, this is just one element in the various elements that constitute FOMO. The idea of FOMO disables gratitude.

One of the biggest challenges of college is finding your place, and footing in a tough crowd. For some of us, this discovery comes naturally. But for many others, this exploration is exhausting to a depressing extent. This imbalance
also prepares you for a special bond. You can never fixate on opportunities or people. The right people will hep you discover organic relationships with pure joy. ‘The fear of missing out’ will only be a joke to you when you will see how celebrated you feel in good company. You will discover your true blessings in thecelebrations. Though it is not easy,
we would all be a lot better off if we considered our gratitude more honestly. FOMO then, becomes asettled idea until the point when it slims down to a realisation that enables you to enjoy the moment instead of dwelling on the chanceslost. So, the next time you feel lost, feel it truly. It is only in the losing that we find ourselves.

Feature Image Credits: The Buzzing Story

 

Kartik Chauhan

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DUB Speak

Permanence of Happiness

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In the age of optimism and positivity, happiness is an obligatory emotion to be experienced. The feeling is undermined as the feeling is overstated.

Happiness excites a certain rush in us. The feeling of pure joy is a mix of celebration, and satisfaction. More often than not, happiness comes to us as returns to an investment. There is the cost of effort involved that yields benefits, the reaping of these benefits is most certain, even if the duration sometimes hints otherwise. However it is this attainability of benefits that becomes increasingly expected and in the event of losses, it builds up to a mounting sense of grief.

It is important to acknowledge the fact that happiness cannot be a permanent emotion. And by that logic, it is only reasonable to say that neither is sadness. It is often felt that the phases of sadness last longer than those of happiness, and that it is because of this disequilibrium that we as students, and more broadly as people, feel sadness to be stronger emotion than happiness. In fact, it is really a matter of perception. I feel that sadness makes us think more deeply. It makes us question more objectively everything that is seemingly “wrong” around us – or more personally, within ourselves – a questioning that shakes our respective opinions and often remodels them.

In the aforementioned dilemma, it is natural to feel miserable. The disillusionment that comes from experiencing a moral conflict is in itself educational. You cannot expect to overcome such conflicts rashly. An important task is to extract the best lessons out of every challenge. Not feeling happy about something is such a challenge. Sadness felt due to a relationship, or due to academic inefficiencies can sometimes mean a change of heart or behavior. It is never advisable to stick to a challenge so as to let it feed on you eternally. In such a situation, letting go is a valid solution. Feeling sad is not so much a problem as feeling incapable of happiness is.

Many people define their goal in life as: to be happy. As different as this ideal setup is from reality, it is also an interesting perspective. That you could feel happy even in conflict, and keep up the resistance. The emotive thinking then, becomes an initially instinctive feeling. A feeling which later becomes a choice in that the emotion becomes a choice for you to act on. Dwelling on a positive emotion exhausts us in due course, whereas for a negative choice, it is otherwise. Why do we feel trapped in sadness? It is because we let go of the truth that happiness is inevitable and more importantly, that it always within. Darkness is a comfort, because it gives us an excuse to explain the absence of light; an excuse to evade responsibility. It is not wrong to feel misery, because that feeling is itself important to revel in the subsequent joy. But it is just that stepping out of it is really the important action to allow the balance of sadness-happiness to restore.

Remember that neither happiness nor sadness is a permanent emotion. And that neither is an obligation. Live in them, with the belief of a balance, because the balance always strikes.

 

Feature Image Credits: Unsplash

 

Kartik Chauhan

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Your Beat

Complaining about 2018: A Fad

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The good and the bad, the world somehow settles into this binary. It is the inevitable balance that brings us closer to ourselves- a balance that needs acknowledgement.

Joy is a complex emotion driven by our beliefs. Sometimes, you find it in the smallest of things, but more often than not, you lose it somewhere in the madness around. How can you tap something that you have been made to feel incapable of? You wait. You feel the misery, and then live in the joy that follows, it is always a balance. Through all phases of dejection, you become a little more grateful, a little more compassionate, and a little more you. Encouragement comes from the erratic.

At the beginning of each year, we are easily driven by our “resolutions” and ideas. But soon, the zeal lessens. In
these moments of discontentment, sadness becomes a routine. The only joy that becomes, is the idea of complaining. Basking in the January sun in the afternoon; the warm, fuzzy feeling that goes a long way to heal our respective deliriums are all blessings that we sometimes fail to register.
Gandalf, the wizard from Peter Jackson’s, The Lord Of The Rings, says, “I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay small acts of kindness and love.”

The idea of love and kindness can be difficult to display. The instability and roughness become a part of our lives, and not without some purpose. It is in our conflict that we receive kindness from others and in that, we restore our own balance.
However, at the end of each year, the idea of celebrating the joys of the year that has been, is overtaken by the idea
of complaining about the not-so-happy days. Quite possibly, 2018 was not the year for everyone. But even through
the rifts, there is a lot we can learn.
“Even the acknowledgement of the sadness is very important. Resisting this acceptance to evade self-accountability can also be challenging later,” says Chahak Gupta, a third-year literature student at Hindu College. “This builds up to a troubling self-victimisation induces us to be a little less grateful than we should be,” she says.

“2018 was a challenging year for sure. But I will remember this year for how significant it has been in my life: a not-so-tranquil upheaval of sorts. The problem and the solution followed in a fashion,” says Pratiksha Rana, a student of Fine Arts at Amity University. Sometimes the best thing to do is to live in the moment.
Complaining takes the pressure off of you, but it just passes it on to the listeners. A positive thought, on the other hand, it encourages relationships.

The joy we feel is driven by our belief, and so is the sadness, or any emotion for that matter. So wouldn’t it help to
reflect more on the joys, every now and then? Complaining about the sadness seems to be taking over us, and hence, the joys often tend to feel underwhelming.
When this year ends, maybe we could all think this: “For bringing me closer to myself, for bringing me closer to my
dreams, for inspiring gratitude in me, for introducing me to numerous joys and sorrows, I am thankful for this last
day of an amazing year.”

Feature Image Credits: Kartik Chauhan for DU Beat

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Arts & Culture

Celebrating Ordinary

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In a world like ours, everyone wants to be more than just ‘ordinary’. Ordinary is not desired, but is it a vice or a virtue?

In the process of growth, we learn much and more. More often than not, this process transforms us into new individualities and identities. But, it is only true to say that this transformation comes at some cost. The cost is nothing but everything- our emotional indulgence. Through all this, a lot is lost, as a lot is gained. But I think it is important to hold on to your ordinary, as you develop into the extraordinary- being yourself as you become better.

All of us are always engrossed in this confusion. The gulf between the ordinary and the extraordinary is becoming a problem for the students. It is always claimed that the university offers you the best exposure and opportunities; and as a dutiful student, you must rise up to these opportunities. The internships and the extracurricular activities, as we all would agree, require the best efforts and that ‘extraordinaire’. It is this pressure perhaps, that allows self-doubt to induce anxiety greater than free thinking would induce enterprise. We begin to doubt every action and effort, because it is felt that it is more important to be effectively excellent at every thing that is, rather than focusing on a select few and excelling at them efficiently. We forget that running after everything leads us to nothing.

It is not wrong to try your best to learn things. But when the effort burdens you down, and in fact, the failure to achieve something causes a personalized distress- a feeling that makes you question your own worth- you must back out. Every once in a while, it helps to say ‘no’ or quit things that seem to be too frictional. You can be ordinary at most things, and that is not a discouraging thought. Accepting your own ordinary is the key to achieving peace. It is not an advice to give up on your endeavors, but in fact, it only means that you must address the fact that being the best is not necessarily the idea.

The word ‘best’ itself is highly subjective. “Normal is an illusion. What is normal for the spider is chaos for the fly.” We can understand this famous quote by Charles Addams in the said context of ‘best’ by replacing ‘normal’ with ‘best’. In a rat-race, best is an imposition. An unhinged extraordinaire is deemed more valuable than a calm ordinaire. It is sadly a reality. The relevance of accepting the ordinary is therefore, ever undermined. Unreasonable expectations and ideas often disappoint us. Truly, we are all capable of wonders, but the idea is lost when we deem some wonders better than the others.

Ordinary is not a curse. Ordinary is not monotonous. Ordinary is a natural state of being. Everyone is ordinary in one way or the other, and more than ordinary at some other things. The acknowledgement of this fact is an encouraging thought. A thought that inspires to revel in the ordinary and await greater things through the retaining of our own true identities, instead of a strained ‘pedant’. In accepting so, you do yourself as much a favor as you do unto others around you.

As the extraordinary standard reaches a new high with every successive year, maybe we can remember to celebrate the ordinary, every once in a while.

Feature Image Credits: Kartik Chauhan for DU Beat.

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News

An Indefinite Hunger Strike To Battle Definite Tenure

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At least 500 ad-hoc teachers of the Delhi University plan go on an indefinite hunger strike from Friday, January 4, to demand permanent jobs.

The long struggle of the Delhi University’s ad-hoc teachers continues as the protesters come to another boil to claim their righteous place in the system. Delhi University teachers protest to demand implementation of UGC regulations, revised allowances and pension, maternity leave, etc., outside VC office in New Delhi, India, on Tuesday, 1 January.

As reported by the Hindustan Times, Himanshu Singh, an ad-hoc teacher in the department of Economics at Satyawati College, said, “Most of us have been teaching for over 10 to 15 years. We think it’s reasonable to demand a one-time ordinance to absorb all 5,000 ad-hoc teachers into the university since we fulfil the requisite criteria prescribed by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and were appointed by a duly constituted selection committee.”

The announcement for the infinite hunger strike came after the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) observed a strike on Wednesday to protest against the university administration’s delay in resolving several issues, including implementing UGC Regulations 2018, the regularisation and absorption of ad-hoc teachers, and releasing monthly pension, among others.

Thinking about the present situation, according to existing provisions, the university has to adopt the 2018 UGC regulations by January 18 as well as frame ordinances for them. “To make the ordinances, an empowered committee was formed to give a report, which would have acted as a draft for the Academic Council (AC) to deliberate on. After working on it for three months over the course of 10 meetings, it is yet to be brought to the table,” DUTA president Rajib Ray said, adding that the AC meeting took place after 16 months on Wednesday, January 3.

DUTA vice-president Sudhanshu Kumar claimed that the staff promotions were dependent on the acceptance of the statute. “There are around 3,000 teachers who have been waiting for a promotion for a decade,” he claimed. If the subcommittee report is not implemented by January 18, the in toto implementation of the guidelines would mean that the recommendations by the committee would be ignored, he added. Some suggested amendments by the group of ad-hoc teachers protesting to claim their position as respected and actualised members of the varsity include modifications of screening points for ad-hoc teachers and whether study leaves could be counted for promotions.

Kumar said close to 2,000 staff members gathered near vice-chancellor Yogesh Tyagi’s office and demanded action on the issues of appointment and absorption of staff members, clearance of pending promotions and implementation of pension schemes for retired teaching and non-teaching staff. The teachers’ body also demanded the implementation of maternity and paternity leaves for ad-hoc teachers. The last condition demands a question of fairness on the functionality of the system as a whole. Maternity and paternity leaves for the ad-hoc teachers has been a bone of contention. Denying these rights to the teachers is extremely problematic.

“Despite the Delhi High Court order, the university has not been releasing funds for retired employees. Several former employees, who worked in the varsity for over four or five decades, are suffering because they do not have money to treat their illnesses,” Kumar said.

The conclusion to these protests seems highly unlikely in the near future. As the ad-hoc teachers gear up for a two-day strike on January 8 and 9, the fate of the students hangs in the balance. It is high time the authorities rise to action for a righteous cause.

 

With inputs from Hindustan Times.

Feature Image Credits: Hindustan Times

Kartik Chauhan

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