Author

Shagun Marwah

Browsing

The moment a person decides to prepare for IAS, whether being the result of impetuous passion, careful persuasion, or a new formed excitement to ‘try their luck’, he/she is also well aware of the fact that they are now in the race of the largest, toughest and the most demanding competition in the entire world. Yet, at that moment, nothing seems to strike a chord with much intensity. It’s only after a few days, when the real fever sets in and the symptoms of a classic IAS aspirant begin to show

Here are a few common problems and their cures:-

1. I-have-already-achieved-something Syndrome: The mention of preparing for civil service examination has an unusual reaction on people. In the awe of such lofty goal, it gets you both extremely appreciative reactions from friends and relatives, so much so that it already makes you stand on a pedestal. This makes you slightly over-confident and proud.

 Cure: It is imperative to understand that these increasing dialogues are also forming a bridge to an ocean of expectations which will soon leave you burdensome with pressure. The same relatives who are now showering you with praises will also be the ones on the lookout of the result dates much before you, yourself. So keep your focus steady and be your own critic and your own teacher. Do not spoil yourself with others’ comments. Be your own constant source of encouragement and motivation from the beginning to the end.

civilsdaily

2. Chasing the wrong side of the same dream: Keep your eyes on the prize? We agree. But when the list of the rewards only contain red-beaconed white ambassadors, king-sized houses with gardens, and being treated like royalty, then these dreams are only worth spending a few seconds or minutes on, and not to be “guided” with.

Cure: Concentrate on the real sense achievement of becoming a civil servant, which only includes your contributions for the country. Think of all the changes you can make with the powers you’ll gain, instead of the feeling you’ll get with being saluted by others. Think of how proud you’ll feel when you’ll get a chance to represent your own country and its rich heritage, instead of being fascinated by the shopping sprees and around-the-world tours. Instead of the materialistic pursuit, reflect on the satisfaction for the service of your nation and its people.

Want more motivation? Read this list of 5 Amazingly Badass Bureaucrats You Would Be Proud To Know

3. Live-in relationship with insomnia: “Neend ko maaro goli. Sirf padhai pe dhyaan do beta.” is a routinely dialogue, which soon becomes music to the ears of every civil service candidate. After acknowledging the incredibly large syllabus that UPSC has gladly gifted to all its aspirants, not only sleep, but even a few extra minutes spent on eating food or talking to someone on the phone appears to be a sinful waste of time; and why not? For a syllabus as vast and comprehensive as this, it would easily take an eternity to fully finish all the topics of all the given subjects.

Cure: Relax. You don’t need to become a zombie and sacrifice all of your personal time with others. Study hard but not so vigorously that it ends up affecting your health. Don’t get flustered by the amount of material that needs to be studied. Nobody can prepare all and everything. In the end, it’s all about how ‘well’ you have studied, and not ‘how much’. So manage your time correctly to each and every subject, and give your hundred percent to each topic you study, every time. Make every minute count. Don’t study for the sake of studying, to crack the exam. Instead, study to gain new knowledge with tons of curiosity and interest.

Read this quick 5 step guide to help you start your IAS Prep while in college.

4. The jack-ass of all trades and master of none: “Arrey, Mr.Sharma ka beta vahan se coaching leta hai, toh tum kahin aur se kaise?” “In books pe time waste kyun kar rahe ho? Maine jo books boli pehle woh padhke dekho.”- This is where the most confident ones also start sweating under the rays of uncertainty and soon get drowned in the sea of doubts. “Am I doing it the right way? Am I doing it from the right place?” An even worse problem is when even the smartest ones are unable to separate genuine wisdom from verbal toilet paper. Thus, leading to a state of profound perplexity, which if not treated on time can also result in a chronic state.

Cure: Early diagnosis is the best cure. Don’t ignore. Be on a lookout for all the signs/symptoms of wrong medication (also known as, advice). If you’re not feeling comfortable with the prescribed books or new study techniques, change them. Don’t be hesitant or embarrassed to speak out. Not everyone is you, and that is your power. It’s you who should decide what’s best for you and your capabilities. Stick to what you know and what you feel good studying with. It’s your journey, not theirs. Not every advice, freely available to you is right. So take your time to analyze what you can really do before believing all the advice given to you.

5. The fear of missing out (FOMO) Preparing for civil services not only brings about a change in one’s attitude, but also a gradual change in one’s lifestyle. Now this may not seem like a problem at first. But when you see your friends catching up on the latest blockbuster movie or attending a great party, while you’re at home reading about Prithviraj-Jaichand’s legacies or find yourself with bundles of topics in NCERT books yet to be covered, you are bound to feel a little envious. You start to feel cut-off from your friends or the world outside, and feel stuck in your web of responsibilities. Very soon, you start feeling exhausted and become greedy for a change. While some remain unaffected, for others, it becomes a huge problem.

Cure: With some being masters in the art of self control, others find it a little difficult to decline exciting invitations for outings, or don’t mind whiling away a little more time in just ‘chilling’ with others or alone. They feel that they can make up for all the lost time, but then that time never really comes. It is very easy for someone to resolve that they will do it, but very few have the ability to stick to it. It all depends on one’s mental strength to understand what is right and wrong at the deciding point of time and stick to their commitment. Without mental strength, your mind will start making excuses and you will end up putting off all the work that you must do. You need to distance yourself from everyone and everything that you feel are the main cause of your distraction. Realize the true importance of your goals- what made you decide to do this in the first place, and is wasting time on anything else worthy of it? Would you prefer a moment of satisfaction or a lifetime of happiness? This is what it all finally comes down to.

Start slow and Build upon your basics. If you are in college, we would suggest you build your basics on newspaper reading first. It is important to build a good rapport with current affairs and the Civilsdaily android app is a good way to keep up with UPSC related News.

Download NCERT Solutions PDF for Free

Shagun Marwah

[email protected]

Picture Credits: www.civilsdaily.com

With an objective to help us think from the perspectives of ‘untouchables’ and question the mainstream discourse which pushes such sections of the society to the margins, The Sociology Department of Maitreyi College organized the release of the third issue of its newsletter- Sociologue: Aao Baat Karein and a talk by Professor Bezwada Wilson on 3rd November, 2016.

The event began with the arrival of Professor Wilson who was greeted by a token of appreciation followed by the release of their newsletter, Sociologue along with all the teachers of the Sociology Department. With this year’s theme as ‘Margins Speak: Disempowering the Mainstream’, the event acted as a catalyst to bring about the much needed change in the minds of the young generation and create an awareness towards the evil practices of untouchability which are still very much prevalent within our society in the most shocking and inhuman ways.

Professor Wilson, an Indian activist, one of the leading figures of the Dalit Movement and an honorable Ramon Magsaysay Award winner, was thus, invited on the stage to speak about the widespread barbaric practice of manual scavenging in the country. Having been born in a family of manual scavengers where he too, was made to “adjust” from time to time, he saw his family suffer humiliation at every step which spurred him to take action against this indignity.

dsc_0056-001
He spoke of the degradable plight of the scavenging communities in India who have been “traditionally” employed into the occupation because of their low caste for manually cleaning toilets and the human excreta of others with their hands as a means of survival, for which they are paid Rs.20-30 per house. Some of these people are also hired by the Municipal Corporations for cleaning the railway tracks on platforms and paid a substantial amount from Rs.20 – 30, 000. It is here where Prof. Wilson urged the members of the society to “look at the problem from the perspective of a human being and help such communities to look beyond the wages” and stop this form of injustice immediately.

According to him, “to allow a human clean the excreta of another person is a sin worse than any other and is clearly a human rights’ violation.” Yet, he ruled out that despite a law being passed by the central government in 1993, not a single case has ever been registered by the witnesses of such acts. He thus, wants the people of this nation to “look at this problem from their own lens” and do the needful to curb this dehumanizing practice by raising their voice and standing together in unity for uplifting all the marginalized sections of the society.

However, he clearly agreed on this to be a grueling task for he faced some of the greatest difficulties in getting the bill against the abolishment of this practice passed in the Supreme Court for several years. He recalled being thrown out the office, rejected, wait-listed, ignored and refused by the authorities for having looked into the matter of scavenging. Despite countless efforts and innumerable collection of data and evidences such as photographs of lakhs of women scavengers taken repeatedly by Prof. Wilson and his team of volunteers, due to the lack of justice and concern shown by the judicial administration of the country for the untouchable community, no official and clear judgment was declared.

He also recalled visiting some families in the villages who felt gravely affected by this occupation and narrated some of the most emotional and heart wrenching instances of children witnessing their family members and loved ones suffering from diseases and losing their parents due to the immense amount of work they were forced to do. He therefore, aimed to teach all scavengers to fight back and refuse being submissive on carrying out this profession any longer, as a result of which, many women courageously threw buckets in which they earlier completed scavenging and fought back for rehabilitation.

He ended the program with his request for this issue to be acknowledged and dealt with, on an urgent basis and “submission of us, as citizens and students to join hands in the support of taking low caste members out of this occupation without being dependent on the Judiciary for any kind of justice.” He further encouraged us to “be bold, courageous and speak the truth as long as we live.”

Picture Credits: Aastha and Bayar Jain
Shagun Marwah
[email protected]

Political feud or economic conceit, moral depravity or social detriment – it all calls for a strong crossfire at Trenchant, The English Debating Society of Maitreyi College. With an aim to spread myriad ideas and express the most interesting and thought provoking opinions during the Vigilance Awareness Week 2016, an Intra – College Debate Competition was organized on 2nd November.

The event began with a warm welcome to all the chief guests of the session which included Manish Tondon (CVC), Satish Nagpal (CVO), Dr. Yaduvanshi (Zonal Manager, PNB) and Sh. N.D. Bansal (Circle Head). The motion of the debate competition was declared as the following: This house believes that in India, there is ample participation of public in promoting integrity and eradicating corruption. The students participated in teams of two, with one speaker for, and the other against the motion. There were a total number of five teams, that is, ten speakers who enlightened the audience with powerful statements which accentuated the fact that the citizens of the country have enough power to eradicate corruption while enhancing the values of honesty, goodness and unity at the same time. Anjali Sahu, Tavishi Verma and Yogya Gautam bagged the First, Second and Third Position of this year’s debate competition, respectively.

After the debate, a ‘Share to Care’ initiative was organized where all the participants, judges as well as the members of the audience came together to create a healthy discussion on the battle against corruption and the importance of our consistent efforts to make a difference by raising our voice against it through such speeches and debate competitions. A few students shared their experiences of fighting corruption on a small but significant scale through situations as common as with a constable at a sweet shop to something as ‘openly yet secretively’ done like a bribe taken by a traffic policeman. Mr. Manish Tondon, then also joined in on his experience of being offered to get a driver’s license made by giving a substantial amount of bribe.

At the end, Sh. N.D Bansal gave a speech about the most essential measures for eradication of corruption by the youth and explained a four pillar strategy which must be followed earnestly by every citizen of the nation. The four pillars thus, involved Prevention, Enforcement, Education and Cooperation.

“For me, what made the Vigilance Awareness Week a grand success was the sheer amount of hard work and the sense of commitment from everyone involved in the event and the ‘share to care’ initiative which, I’m glad to say, was not only relatable to our fellow college students but also to those with high authorities such as our Tondon Sir. Steps like these strengthen our hope in ourselves as agents of change, big or small.” said Nimisha Sinha, President of Trenchant.

Thus, the debating society of Maitreyi College successfully played an extremely important role in the Vigilance Awareness Week 2016 and accomplished in doing their bit as responsible citizens as well as the voice of youth.

(With Inputs from Mallika, Swati and Kashika)
Picture Credits: Swarnima Narayan
Shagun Marwah
[email protected]

Darkness has clouded one of the most prestigious universities in the country as Najeeb Ahmed, a student of the School of Biotechnology of Jawaharlal Nehru University has been missing since 15th October, 2016 with no record of his whereabouts till date.

The incident was preceded by an altercation with members of the RSS-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) at Mahi-Mandavi hostel, where it was alleged that on the night of October 14, Ahmed slapped ABVP activist Vikrant Kumar, who had come to his room to campaign for the hostel polls. Later, when the students complained of violence being inflicted over Ahmed, the matter took an ugly turn. He was thus, found missing the very next morning from 11 a.m.

An FIR was registered for kidnapping and wrongfully confining a person at the Vasant Kunj (north) police station by Ahmed’s mother who rushed from her hometown Budaun (UP) to Delhi on October 16 after a receiving a worried call by his son on the night of October 14. According to a report by The Hindu, “The administration met with Najeeb’s family only four days after he went missing despite his mother having spent every hour outside the Administration Block requesting help to find her son.”

The Left-controlled JNU student union alleged the University for doing little to trace Ahmed and punish members of ABVP. In protest, around a hundred students tried to block the Nelson Mandela Marg the following week and later, confined the JNU Vice Chancellor M Jagdeesh Kumar and other senior officials in the administrative building for over 20 hours until he termed the blockade as illegal and warned that the “law will take its course” if they are not allowed to go.

According to a report by NDTV, the Home Minister has directed Delhi Police to form a Special Investigative Team to trace the missing student. Meanwhile, fresh sloganeering has started at the administrative block with an increasing number of students who have gathered at the protest sites and will continue to fight until Ahmed is found, safe and sound.

Shagun Marwah
[email protected]

With Inputs from Hindustan Times

Picture Credits: www.hindustantimes.com

 

A few days ago, I came across a quote about our dear old Mr. Walt Disney who believed that whether someone was as young as six years old or as mature as sixty, they still remained a child deep inside. Having pondered over this beautiful thought, I couldn’t resist the urge to go a little deep into it and regain the much-required clarity of life that I had been living without for quite some time now.

Do you remember yourself as a child? What were the things that you loved doing the most? For me, it was usually considering the walls of my bedroom as a blackboard to draw and write things on, indulging in the world of cartoons on Pogo and Disney channel all day, dancing endlessly to the songs of my favorite Bollywood movies, getting as sweaty and messy as I possibly could while playing outdoor games (where I was always made a denner since my ability to run fast was terrible, unfortunately) and, then rewarding myself with cola or orange flavored lic-lollies. Ah yes! Those were the good old days.

Today, when I reflect back on the kind of person I was earlier, I realise that we all have something in common. We’ve become utterly boring. We’re all in such a hurry to grow up and break away from our shackles of restrictions that while running towards the perfection of our goals, we’ve forgotten what real happiness feels like. We don’t realise that by taking too much of stress, over-analyzing the simplest of situations, or cribbing consistently about everything wrong in our lives, we’re only pushing the kid in us further away from our heart and soul.

We’ve become so serious in our lives that we’ve somewhere, lost ourselves in the process of becoming something more or better than what we are today. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against fulfilling your responsibilities or doing better work than they expected, but all I wish to say is: Just Do it with a little bit of fun! Take everything lightly, and remain relaxed in situations that push you to your limits of endurance. Instead of breaking rules or heading for a tragic meltdown, take a break when you need to, by simply indulging in funny little child-like joys.

According to Carl Jung, “What did you do as a child that made the hours pass like minutes? Herein lies your key to what you should be doing in your worldly pursuits.

So here are a few ways to get in touch with that inner child of yours –

Don't be afraid to get dirty!
Don’t be afraid to get dirty!

Visit a Playground. Let your clothes get all muddy and greasy. Swing as high as you can by touching the sky and go dizzy on the pleasure of merry-go-round.

Eat, run and have fun!
Eat, run and have fun!

Go for a picnic with your friends. Instead of just sitting, eating and taking selfies, get active. Games like Hide and Seek and Ice Water never get old. So, run, fall, get up and again run until you catch them. Allow yourself to sweat as much as you can. The messier you look in the end, the more satisfied and happier you’ll be.

Immerse yourself in timeless fun!
Immerse yourself in timeless fun!

Play board games for a while. What better way to pass hours in the blink of an eye? Take out Carom, Scrabble, Monopoly or Snake and Ladder and get started. If these are not available, try playing UNO and let yourself forget all your worries.

Lion King, Shark Tale, Finding Nemo, they are all great!
Toy Story, Lion King or Frozen, they are all great!

Watch a Disney movie or an animated one. There’s nothing more enjoyable than to grab some popcorn and laugh ceaselessly at the cute little visual expressions and animation of movies like The Lion King, Finding Nemo, Tangled, Frozen, Anastasia, Toy Story and many more.

No need to look at the clock.
No need to look at the time.

Sleep like a baby. When was the last time you slept for hours, undisturbed without having nightmares of pending deadlines and assignments? Consider sleep as an essential daily necessity, and not a task.

Give in to the cravings..
Give in to the cravings..

Pamper yourself with yummy delights. Stop worrying about your calories. There’s plenty of time to go on a diet. Indulge in the sinful goodness of Double Cheese Margarita Pizza or hot chocolate fudge sundaes. You deserve it!

And be at peace.
And be at peace.

Stop Obsessing over everything and let it go. Remember how carefree you were as a kid? That wasn’t the result of a perfect life, but an uninhibited reaction that lets you vent out your feelings, once and for all, without lingering it forever. If you’re happy- jump and dance, if you find something funny- laugh out loud from the bottom of your heart and if you’re sad- cry in big sobs until the pain subsides.

Thus, deep inside each of us, there is a child, who is yearning to be free from all troubles, ecstatic for simply being alive and excited for all the adventures that life has to offer. In short, there’s a child who simply wants to “play” through life.

Embrace that inner child and let yourself play!

Image Credits: Lifehack

Shagun Marwah

[email protected]

Along with a letter to our President Pranab Mukherjee, the teachers serving Delhi University on an ad-hoc basis have also sent a memorandum in this regard to the Prime Minister’s Office, HRD Ministry and University Grants Commission (UGC).

According to a report by The Indian Express, over 200 ad-hoc teachers of the University of Delhi have written a letter to President Pranab Mukherjee, requesting regularisation of nearly 4,500 such teachers who have been serving the varsity for several years in university departments and colleges. Unfortunately, the mentioned teachers mark half of the total faculty positions in the university.

Despite highest qualifications in the field of knowledge, these teachers are only recognized by the University administrators as numbers and mostly considered in the months of April-June when they get subjected to a repetitive ritual of filling the forms and facing yet another interview in the month of July, only to answer the golden question: “What new will you bring this year?”. With basic minimum wages, these teachers are faced with bitter refusal of medical leave or paid leave to get married or have kids, and denied basic necessities such as library membership, computers and password to Wi-Fi connection or real rooms to sit in.

On being deeply affected by the current situation, one of the ad-hoc teachers shared her thoughts on how this has, “dissuaded my brightest students from teaching as a career option. When they saw me sitting in the corridors, waiting to face yet another humiliating interview, their ideas about a good teacher crashed. The disparaging reality of teaching as a profession dawned on them just when they had become passionate about it.”

As per the University Grants Commission (UGC) and Delhi University’s guidelines, ad-hoc appointments should be made for a short period of not more than four months and proportion of these faculties should not be more than 10 per cent of the total number of teachers.

However, it seems that the varsity of Delhi University has developed a culture of appointing ad-hoc faculties even on permanent sanctioned posts for years, which has lead to a situation so critical that in some colleges, the proportion of ad-hoc faculties has reached to 90 per cent who have been working for 5 to 10 years and in few cases, even more than 20 years on an ad-hoc basis.

“We demand that the appointments of those ad-hoc teachers who have been serving the university for years be regularized and they be saved from the discriminatory and exploitative service conditions which are affecting the teaching-learning environment of the premier institution.”, the letter said.

With Inputs from: The Indian Express

Image Credits: www.scroll.in

Shagun Marwah

[email protected]

With a majority of third year students diving straight into the apprehensive state by their mission to crack Entrance Examinations like CAT, GMAT, IAS or CA, we bring you a handful of tips which must be followed earnestly during the preparation.

On entering the third and final stage of your college life, it seems like you’re on a topsy-turvy ride that constantly revolves around the fear of missing out on everything that you might never get a chance of experiencing again (such as outings, road trips and hanging out with college friends) and the realisation of seizing that last opportunity to pan out all your career goals (by studying like never before, preparing for entrances, applying for placements and internships everywhere).

If you thought you were the only one stuck on this ride with an inability to get off and make the right decision for yourself, you are wrong. If only surviving these last year’s bitter-sweet emotions with continuous attempts to make each day memorable weren’t enough, most of us have an extremely important entrance to prepare for that is bound to change our life after college.
Without cracking this entrance, we cannot see ourselves even halfway across where we want to be in future. Thus, considering all possible outcomes, here are a few tips to help you crack your entrance while balancing your college life:

Self Study is Important
Irrespective of whether you attend weekly coaching classes or more than two institutes for better preparation, it’s imperative that you learn and revise the same topics once you’re back home. (And no, this does not include your daily homework). In fact, if you didn’t study yourself, you didn’t quite study at all.

Keep your exam’s topics on your tips
Create a proper schedule for covering the maximum number of topics each day. Understand which chapters need more concentration and practice than the rest, and divide the amount of hours you need to devote on each of them accordingly.

Remove every ounce of self-doubt
Once you begin, there is no turning back. Hence, indulgence on all the reasons why you wouldn’t be able to crack the exam every now and then is nothing but a few minutes or hours wasted on negativity which is totally unnecessary.

Achieve the ability to follow deadlines
Creating short deadlines after every few days for chapters or topics that need completion gives you an extra push in the right direction, instead of waiting for a test or the actual exam (god forbid) till the very last date. Even if you don’t finish everything, you end up doing or learning something in the end, at least.

Choose a common time/environment to study
Choose that setting or time of the day when you’re most comfortable in your surroundings and likely to concentrate perfectly on everything that you study, whether it’s in the early morning hours of the day or in the quiet solace of nights.

Study while surfing the net
While checking out the latest videos on YouTube or uploading your pictures on Facebook, spend enough time in referring to a few online tutorials as well. Always keep an eagle eye on as many previous years’ sample papers as you can find and practice mock tests to brush up your skills.

Take a break but never procrastinate
Understand that as much as short intervals are necessary, they must not exceed their probable limits. Listening to music, watching a comedy show or talking to someone who instantly cheers you up are some of the most highly recommended suggestions for relaxation of mind, but for not more than one or two hours.

Go, get some fresh air
Nothing good comes from staying aloof from the entire world by staying in the four walls of your home every day. Grab some hearty lunch or go shopping with your friends, once in a while, to get the change you deserve- and require.

Attend college regularly
Missing out on important lectures and delaying your assignments due to lack of time (and interest) will only increase the intensity of your stress later, and add an extra load of burden during the time you may already have a lot going on already. It’s better to take one step at a time, and do everything simultaneously.

Study on the go!
If you spend a substantial amount of time in commuting to and from coaching, try carrying at least one book or some notes with yourself to read, revise or learn a few concepts to make good use of the free time you get.

Turn off your gadgets while studying
As long as your phones are buzzing with WhatsApp texts or Instagram notifications, it’s difficult to resist the urge to approach them. Have a sense of self control and turn off the internet; put your phone on silent and distance yourself from the digital world for just a few hours.

Realise that it’s never too late to begin again
Do not indulge yourself in self pity and criticism for not being able to study for a few days. Just breathe. Make yourself a cuppa and start again. You can still always make up for the time you’ve lost by putting in a few extra hours.

Never underestimate the power of snacks
Whether it’s the gooey goodness of chocolate brownies and chilled ice cream in the middle of the night or early morning sandwiches with extra mayonnaise, it’s essential that we pamper ourselves with enough food to keep our brain active 24X7.

Believe in yourself more than anyone else
Before you think of quitting, try to remember the real reason why you decided to pursue this in the first place. Be your own constant source of motivation and stay focused on your dream regardless of the number of obstacles that try to stop you.

Remember- “Every battle is first won in the mind, and then on the field.”
Best of Luck, everyone!

Image Credits: www.derwentstudents.com
Shagun Marwah
[email protected]

Being a student of Delhi University and a resident of NCR, the daily comfort and convenience by which I have been travelling to college for more than two years now would not have been possible without the revolutionary invention of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation. Hesitant at first because of my unavoidable confusing road sense, today, I cannot imagine my journey to any place, near or far in the city, or its neighboring places without it. The metro has shaped me into a more confident, excited and spontaneous traveler than I confess to be and despite my level of laziness, I could not have asked for a better means of transportation in Delhi.

Every year, there are millions of newbies who may need to begin their journey but remain doubtful for not being as aware or assured of the delightful and not-so-delightful facts of this wonderful creation just yet, which could be of help. Thus, having gained enough knowledge from my own experiences, here are some of the things that I feel, every daily commuter through Delhi metro should know:

1. Delhi Metro Smart Card

First and foremost, if you’re a soon-to-be daily passenger of metro, it’s imperative that you buy a Metro Smart Card or Travel Card for a hassle-free journey. You can recharge it once with the amount you feel suitable for yourself (starting from Rs.100-200) and use it for multiple journeys based on the value available on it. They not only help you save your time and efforts in waiting at long queues for tokens, but also let you save money by providing a 10% discount each day.

7c6e0227-08ea-4048-bb49-9b45bbc0c9bf
Image Credits: blog.ridlr.in

 

2. Avoid the Rush Hours

Nobody likes to travel in overcrowded compartments where you’re most likely to get stuffed, pushed or worse- stepped on by someone’s big foot. To avoid being the victim of such situations, try traveling by the clock if you can. With the rush hours being from 8 – 10 am in the morning and 6 – 8 pm in the evening, try starting a little early from your destination, if possible. The early birds get a wonderful reward- a comfortable seat and more air to breathe in.

Image Credits: www.indianexpress.com
Image Credits: www.indianexpress.com

 

3. Travel Buddies

Traveling long distances can be boring after a few minutes. To make your journey fun, try traveling with a companion. If they aren’t available, make music or a novel your best friend and feel the difference. Watch time fly in front of your eyes as you plug in those earphones and get immersed in a world of your own.

Image Credits:www.fakingnews.firstpost.com
Image Credits: www.fakingnews.firstpost.com

 

4. When a Metro gets stuck

Don’t get jumpy if the metro stops in the middle of your journey. It’s very normal for the metro to stop or slow down at stations like Qutub Minar, Kirti Nagar or any other, sometimes. It doesn’t mean that the metro’s dysfunctional or that you’ll be stuck on the bridge for hours. The worse possibility is of making you a minute or two late, but would you rather consider being stuck in a road traffic jam for hours in the heat, with absolutely no way out? I don’t think so.

Image Credits: www.indiatvnews.com
Image Credits: www.indiatvnews.com

 

5. One Metro with more than just one Final Destination

Before boarding the metro, understand that being at the right platform might not get you where you need to go. It will only get you closer, for every metro that arrives on that very same platform is required to reach two or more destinations and will thus, have it written/announced before arriving. Thus, check before you sit. For instance, a Qutub Minar metro will not take you to Huda City Centre and a Noida City Centre one will not reach Vaishali. It’s best to avoid such mistakes.

Image Credits: www.indiatvnews.com
Image Credits: www.thehindu.com

 

6. Beware of the large crowds

There are a number of Lines having various stations for different places in Delhi. To board a metro for a different line, there are a few Inter-change stations with the major ones being Rajiv Chowk, Central Secretariat and Kashmiri Gate. However, step with caution. These are the stations where you’d consistently struggle to get through the huge chaos of people coming at you like a bullet at any time of the day. So, make sure to keep all your essentials inside and don’t lose anything, especially yourself.

Image Credits: www.indiatvnews.com
Image Credits: www.indiatvnews.com

 

7. Women’s Compartment

There’s a reserved ‘women’s only’ compartment at the end of each metro to provide a better comfort level and convenience to all. However, there will be times when you would be forced to shift ‘a little more’ on your seat despite having no space left for the one who decided to sit with you. Kindly keep your cool with a ‘chalta hai’ attitude. While playing games or texting, you may even have someone peeking into your phone from behind, trying to make use of their free time as much as they can. Kindly spare them. (If possible)

Image Credits: www.mensxp.com
Image Credits: www.mensxp.com

 

8. The Delhi Metro App

To make your travel smoother, download the Delhi Metro Mobile App, which gives you every bit of route information regarding everything about the metro you need to board for your destination. You can also recharge your metro card on the DMRC website or download a Delhi Metro Map to avoid any confusion.

Image Credits: www.techotv.com
Image Credits: www.techotv.com

 

9. Travel Snack Eateries

To grab a coffee to help you stay awake during an early morning lecture or eat on the go while you’re on your way back home, many metro stations have provided us with the irresistible advantages of eating joints like Café Coffee Day and WH Smith or a substantial food court with plenty of varieties like those at Epicuria, Nehru Place, Rajiv Chowk and Huda City Centre metro station.

Image Credits: www.redfoodie.com
Image Credits: www.redfoodie.com

Therefore, in comparison to other public transportations like buses, autos or cabs, metro continues to remain a boon and the most favourable and safest option for all. You’ll be surprised at how it turns out more than just a form of conveyance but a possible destination for a collection of memories and new acquaintances for all.

Happy traveling!

Featured Image Credits: www.subways.net

Shagun Marwah
[email protected]

Since childhood, I have always been the type of child who would always get a little too excited about festivals – any festival, for that matter. I loved the idea of celebrations in life where close family and friends would find an excuse from their monotonous daily schedules and find time for one another to reunite, even if it only lasted for a few hours or a day. The concept of bringing together people with whom you’re associated, either by blood or close connections, always seemed to bring a smile on my face. The fact that they would have to forget their old grudges and forgive each other, all for an occasion which demanded an expression of love of their unbreakable bond despite everything, was inspiring.

Growing up, I heard many lovely stories about the festival of Raksha Bandhan. My mother used to tell me about the Indian King Peru, who refrained from causing any kind of harm to the great conqueror, King Alexander, only because of his wife who had earlier approached him and formed a bond with him like that of a sister. She also told me about the beautiful relation between Lord Krishna and Draupathi, and how, when the pandavas lost Draupathi in the game of dice and Kauravas were removing her saari, Krishna protected her in divinely elongating her saari so that it could not be removed.

At that time, she taught me that Rakhi meant a spiritual binding between a brother and a sister where they promised to protect each other for as long as they lived. Every year, seeing her and my aunts celebrate this festival at my nani’s house where they would tie a beautiful rakhi on their brother’s wrist and feed him a rasgulla or a barfi was heartwarming. Learning from our elders, me and my cousins would do the same. Funnily enough, my sisters and I developed our own little special ways of celebrating this festival. We would get excited at seeing each other’s rakhis and convince our brother on telling us whose rakhi he found the most appealing to wear, for which he would never give us one straight answer. As a kid, I still remember how slow I used to be in being able to tie a perfect rakhi, as I would either end up making a loose ribbon or a tight shoelace out of it. My brother would laugh ceaselessly at me, for which I’d deliberately stuff the whole sweet in his mouth and end up taking an extra gift of chocolates from him.

Today, with my cousin brothers being far away from me and having no brother of my own, I realised that I had no one to celebrate this festival with. However, this is the irony. Despite feeling lonesome about this fact, I discovered something meaningful. Why is it so necessary for us to have a brother to celebrate this festival? Where is it written that this festival cannot be celebrated among any siblings? After all, is there any difference between a brother’s protection and that of a sister’s? I have an elder sister and quite honestly, I have never felt the requirement of a brother in her presence. From taking care of me in the simplest ways, scolding me at my mistakes, teaching me the right things in her own ways, healing me with her comfort, protecting me from the people she didn’t approve of and defending me in front of my parents even when I didn’t deserve it, she has been there for me through everything and given me more love than anyone else in my life.

Her mere existence has been the greatest proof that a sister’s protection is just as divine and powerful as that of a brother’s. In fact, I can proudly say that she has taken care of me and given me more love than any other brother in this world. Thus, for me, as the name suggests, ‘Raksha Bandhan’ does not stay restricted to the bond between a brother and a sister, but refers to a simple, beautiful relationship between any sibling who, irrespective of their age or gender, will continue to love, protect, laugh, tease, fight and stay with each other till the very end. So, if you’re a sister with no brother, go ahead and tie a rakhi to your sister and show her how much you mean to her!

Shagun Marwah
[email protected]

Image Credits: www.wallpaperhd.pk

If you’re a student in college, it’s quite apparent to hear the word ‘Enactus’ time and again, and be drawn towards it once you gather knowledge of their far-reaching projects. Enactus is essentially an international non-profit organization that brings together teams of university students with entrepreneurs and admirable educators to make a meaningful difference in their communities while enhancing their business skills to become great leaders of today and tomorrow.

In the Enactus India National Championship, students from all over the country are provided a forum to showcase the results of their extensive business ventures and community outreach projects through rounds of live, presentation based competition. Having previously won the Enactus National Championship twice, once in 2011 and the other in 2014, Enactus Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies (SSCBS) recently scored a hat-trick by emerging victorious, again, at the Enactus Nationals 2016 held on 21st and 22nd July at Taj Lands End, Mumbai.

Established in January 2009, the team of Enactus SSCBS strives to create a significant change in the society by using the fundamentals of entrepreneurship and implementation of business models to empower all the disadvantaged members of the society and make them self sufficient individuals.

The first and the oldest initiative that Enactus SSCBS worked upon was Sanitary Solutions that aimed at improving the sanitary conditions of women in slums and villages across India. They also promoted the safe and effective use of sanitary napkins by making them easily accessible and extremely affordable to the women of rural areas and urban slums. This initiative was started from the slums of Delhi NCR and later, spread throughout the nation.

Their second outreach initiative was Project Akshar which began in 2011 and focused on setting up low cost environment-friendly notebook production units through collection of waste paper, recycling of the same and binding of this recycled paper into notebooks by our entrepreneurs, i.e. victims of drug abuse and human trafficking. This year, they expanded the paper collection to six cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Gurgaon, Noida and Vaishali. Further, they also came up with an innovative new variant of producing extremely low priced notebooks, especially for the underprivileged children.

Another project which the team effectively worked on was Grammodhar which aimed at creating an overall holistic development of Ghamroj, a village 30-40 kms from Gurgaon. To stimulate their economy, they encouraged and assisted people in setting up new business ventures such as Poultry farming, beauty parlors and tailoring works. Since it was difficult to penetrate a village, the team also used several trust building activities (such as health camps, etc) to have their bonafide intentions felt.

The two projects which the team presented at Enactus Nationals 2016 were Raahat and Udaan. Through Raahat, the team aims at eradicating open defecation by providing safe sanitation facilities and improving the existing infrastructure of community toilets. They began by undertaking the management of toilet complexes in Sultanpuri and adopted a user centric approach which included the system of family passes, sensitisation and health campaigns. As a result, the population who defecated in the open dropped from 95% to 3% after only six months of their project’s implementation. Udaan, on the other hand, aims to promote digital literacy through setting up of computer labs in villages and teaching the working knowledge of computers to all children by women entrepreneurs. Currently, the team has set up 12 computer centres in villages across Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and many more.

On being asked to unveil the secret of their team’s continual success, Harsh Garg, one of the team members of Enactus SSCBS said, “What really sets our team apart is our approach towards problem solving. One of our core beliefs has been that we can solve India’s most daunting social and economic issues if we empower individuals to take an action against it. This is manifest in all of our projects. We do not just empower our entrepreneurs in terms of their income but also in terms of their capability to impact people. This leads to a chain effect in which setting up even a single computer centre or a production unit ends up bringing about a change in several lives. Another thing which differentiates our team is the amount of passion and commitment exhibited by each and every member of the project. More than a team, we are a close knit family which possesses an unconditional attachment for our work at Enactus, without which we cannot survive even one normal conversation, let alone a day.”

Currently, the team is busy with their preparation of new ideas for their project’s presentation at the Enactus World Cup, where they will compete against the National Champion teams from 36 other countries in Toronto, Canada.
DU Beat wishes the entire team good luck for all their future endeavors!

Featured Image Credits: https://web.facebook.com/EnactusSscbs/?_rdr
Shagun Marwah
[email protected]