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Shri Ram College of Commerce

The victor carries on as SRCC Youth Conference 2015 ends

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Shri Ram College of Commerce’s annual Youth Conference of 2015 ended on 19 September with the theme, “..and the victor carries on..” after seeing eminent speakers from various fields address and inspire the students.

Related reading: Day 1 of SRCC Youth Conference 2015

Mr. Kaushal Mehtani, Director Finance with the BIG 4 was the first speaker of the day. He advised students to have a clear goal in life but also not to follow it blindly but rather, cautiously.

The crowd was visibly excited at the entry of legendary veteran cricketer, Mr. Kapil Dev. Talking about how playing for the nation was the best thing he did in his life, he asked students to follow their passion just the way one falls in love. This speaker session was a rather interactive one where audience got an insight into Mr. Dev’s life and ideas.

The main attraction, arguably, of the day was Mr. Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Being an exemplary actor and with the ‘unconventional’ (a word he claimed to dislike) choices of roles he makes, the actor talks about his early days and how getting just a 40 seconds scene in a movie seemed momentous then. What made him stand apart from the rest was the fact that when others lost hope, he carried on like a real victor.

The next speaker was Ms. Shikha Sharma, CEO Axis Bank. She said, “In a competitive world like this, forget your gender. Don’t consider yourself unequal and also don’t expect any privileges. Companies run on purely on talent.” She spoke of her vision of 33% of rural India going digital in the coming few years.

The one man orchestra and record holding beat boxer, Vineeth Vincent, stole the show and many hearts (surely those of boys too) with his fine tunes and funny stories. After which, the founder of the company Alma Mater, Varun Agarwal took over the stage. He talked about his bestselling book, How I Braved Anu Aunty and Co-founded a Million Dollar Company and gave the audience some tips on how to stop procrastinating.

Once the side-kick in the Pretentious Movie Reviews, Biswa Kalyan Rath is certainly a world- class comic in his own right today. Keeping up with his style of comedy Biswa this time targeted the overly enthusiastic festival celebrations that nobody can escape. In spite of being the last speaker of the day, Abish Matthew was delightful as ever with his tongue-in-cheek humour. He also presented a song for the audience with a guitar about how youngsters shouldn’t waste themselves over drugs. “Bob Marley and The Who are who they are because they drank doodh,” went the lyrics.

 

We covered the event live on our Instagram and Twitter handles!

Tanya Aggarwal: [email protected]

and Ankit Kumar: [email protected]

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DUB Speak

Jeopardy over nominations in Hindu and Hans Raj a week ahead of polls

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In a bid to demand transparency in the nominations of the electoral candidates, the students of Hans Raj College held a silent protest on Friday morning, September the 4th. The protest was held at the main gate of Hans Raj College from 8:00 PM to 10:30 PM.

The nomination of Parveen Gartaan for the post of president of Hans Raj College was reportedly cancelled after the silent protest by students. However, there has been no official notification regarding the cancellation. The college administration conducted a meeting with Dr. Rama, the newly appointed Principal regarding the same and Dr. Rama was unavailable for comments. 

The opposing panel accused Parveen Gartaan for violating the norms set by the University for contesting in the elections and also claimed that he was suspended before in an alleged case of threatening and abusing other students. Terming the matter to be rubbish Change Panel has promised to clear the matters of withdrawn nomination on Monday. However, it has introduced their new presidential candidate for the elections.

Dear Hansarians,Leaders Change but Team remains the Same!!We present to you our Presidential candidate – ISHVENDER…

Posted by Change Panel, Hans Raj College on Friday, September 4, 2015

A similar protest was staged at Hindu College on the 2nd and 3rd of September after the list of candidates for the student union was released. The incumbent party’s PM candidate, Raman Singh was not included in this list because of which nearly a hundred students assembled in the foyer outside the principal’s office in a peaceful manner, demanding answers. Having found her answers unsatisfactory, students continued to protest until the administration set up a special committee to review the case.

On the 28th of August a group of students were found in PM Candidate Raman Singh’s hostel room having a party, by the Principal who entered the premises late at night after being tipped off about the same. Although Raman was not in his room at the time, the authorities found alcohol causing them to immediately sentence him to community service and terminate his candidacy. After two days of protesting students were disappointed when the review committee decided not to overturn the Principal’s decision causing the party to put up a new candidate Ashish Holaria one week prior to elections.

 Nidhi Panchal and Shraman Ghosh

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QWERTY

QWERTY: SOCI’ASM, THE APP THAT MAKES YOUR PHONE LIGHTER

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Have you ever ended up purchasing an overpriced application from the mobile store, an application which is good for nothing? It turns out to be heavy; consumes a lot of memory; space and crashes while making your cell phone practically unusable.

Social applications are really heavy and consume a lot of battery. This is where our app of the week, Soci’asm, comes into play. This application is a life saver for those who are very active socially and always run out of battery just because of heavy usage. Also, it does not put any load over the cell phone. Soci’asm is an android based application which integrates three major social platforms – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. This integration is really fast and reduces the pain of downloading three different applications which ultimately saves a lot of space on the cellphone. This results in making the phone much faster. Soci’asm is easy on the battery life of the cell phone. It’s really light and updates content under different tabs with a simple thumb swipe.

The user interface of the application is also really simple and friendly. The app combines different social platforms in one window under three different tabs which are easy to access. We reviewed it by using the app on a Samsung E-7 and it worked without any crashes or lags. The app had no issues while multitasking. Soci’asm is very small in size as well (under 2 megabytes).

Final Verdict: Soci’asm is light, fast, and saves battery and memory. What else does a smartphone user need? The app is available for free on the Google Play Store and an iOS version will be rolled out soon.

Sahil Siddiqui

[email protected]

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Top Picks

5 Social networking platforms to befriend when boredom strikes

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Too bored of the daily routine?

This is one question we all face at some point of time in our lives. Sometimes we reach a tipping point of boredom and every other thing looks as if it will lead to more of tedium. So, how to get yourself out of this situation? Well, the answer is turning on your internet and going online to surf some cool websites which will surely make your day a tad more interesting. In other words, the boredom is bound to go away. So here is a small collection of those websites you must surely visit or subscribe to:

Vine

The short-looping-video sharing website/app Vine Image Credits: adweek.com
The short-looping-video sharing website/app Vine
Image Credits: adweek.com

This platform, also available in the form of an application, takes you to the world of small looping videos. You can share, like, post, repost (revine, in this case) any video of your choice. You can also use hashtags, something which has become a phenomenon in the recent years. The facility of hashtag can also be attributed to the fact that Vine was bought up by twitter soon after its launch.

Flickr

The photo embedding/sharing website Flickr Image Credits: othersiteslike.org
The photo embedding/sharing website Flickr
Image Credits: othersiteslike.org

Not interested in short videos? No issues! You can go to Flickr, a photo embedding/sharing website/app that was launched way back in 2004. Through Flickr, you can check into the online world of millions of images from all the parts of the world and of almost everything that exists on the planet.

8tracks

The app that lets you create playlists and share them through tags and other social media, 8 tracks Image credits: 8tracks.tumblr.com
The app that lets you create playlists and share them through tags and other social media, 8 tracks
Image credits: 8tracks.tumblr.com

This is something for the music lovers out there (well, that includes almost all of us)! 8tracks is one platform through which you can create and listen in to playlists created by other users. The only condition is that the playlists need to be of minimum 8 songs. The experience comes free as well as paid (The paid service is called as 8tracks plus).

Instagram

The popular photo uploading and sharing app Instagram Image credits: colorlib.com
The popular photo uploading and sharing app Instagram
Image credits: colorlib.com

Although, it looks like another photo-sharing website, Instagram allows you a unique experience when it comes to photo sharing. You can add the specifically made class-based filters to make your pictures look better. You can also share your pictures on other social networking sites including Facebook, Tumblr, etc. The latest updates of Instagram also allow you to share your videos and look up videos/pictures of others as well.

Reddit

The website with a difference, Reddit Image Credits: themarysue.com
The website with a difference, Reddit
Image Credits: themarysue.com

This is something different from all the other networking sites. Reddit makes you post links for some specific contents which are then voted up or down with the already existing strong reddit community. The link with most upvotes moves to the first page of their subreddits for being the best voted content.

Featured Image Credits: australianbusinessreview.com.au

Brij Pahwa
[email protected]

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Miranda House

Top Ten Alumni: Miranda House

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Miranda House is one of the premier colleges of Delhi University in all respects. From academics to sports to cultural activities, it has kept itself at the forefront of all fields since its foundation in 1948. It has served as the abode of learning and development for some of the strongest female personalities in India today who influence public discourse in and about the country. Here’s taking a look at some of the strong women from diverse spheres of life who were once ‘Mirandians’:

 1. Brinda Karat

She is one of the most known female faces in Indian politics and activism. A communist politician, she also became the first woman member of the CPI(M) Politburo and served as the general secretary of the All India Democratic Women’s Association. She graduated with a degree in Bachelor of Arts from Miranda House and then pursued a Masters in History at the University of Calcutta. She has been a prominent campaigner for Gender issues in the country from the beginning of her political journey and gained prominence in the campaign for reform of rape laws in the 1980s. She has authored Survival and Emancipation: Notes from Indian Women’s Struggles which is a comprehensive book on the wide ranging concerns of the women’s movements in India from a left perspective.

Brinda Karat

albooksinthecity.blogspot.com

2. Sheila Dixit

Another influential female politician from the ranks of Miranda House, Sheila Dixit is best known for having been the Chief Minister of Delhi for nearly 15 years. She pursued her Masters in History at Miranda House and today is one of Indian National Congress’s most recognisable faces. She led INC to three consecutive victories in Delhi from 1998 to 2013. She also represented India on the U.N. Commission on Status of Women for five years, from 1984 to 1989. Controversies about corruption and some insensitive comments made about the Nirbhaya Rape Case have marred her image in recent years.

 

dhoomimalgallery.com

3. Nandita Das

A conversation about the most influential contemporary Indian women cannot miss out on Nandita Das. She has carved a niche for herself as an actress and director, hailed as a champion of alternative cinema about important humanitarian issues. She is known for her roles in the movies Fire, Before the Rains and for her directorial debut Firaaq, which was based on true stories, set in the aftermath of the 2002 Gujarat riots. She also has a Masters in Social Work and continues to advocate on issues of social justice. Among the many awards she has to her name, including the Filmfare awards and those won at International film festivals, she was also bestowed with the award of ‘Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters’, a very prestigious civil award by the French government and in 2011, she became the first Indian to be inducted into the Hall of Fame of the International Women’s Forum, Washington DC.

nandita das

 verveonline.com

4. Mallika Sherawat

She has scorched not just Bollywood but Hollywood screens as well, infamous for her strong expression of sexuality and for being one of the few Indian actresses to try and cross over to Hollywood. Born Reema Lamba, Mallika obtained her degree in Philosophy from Miranda House. She is famous for her bold roles in the movies like Murder, Pyaar Ke Side Effects and International films Hisss, The Myth and Politics of Love. She received Honorary Citizenship of Los Angeles in recognition of her career achievements and charity work. Mallika is known for her strong views and reactions, which saw her being embroiled in some controversies as well.

Mallika-Sherawat-6

dailymail.co.uk

5. Anita Mazumdar Desai

Shortlisted thrice for the Booker Prize and recipient of the Sahitya Academy Award for her 1978 novel ‘Fire on the Mountain‘, she is considered to be one of India’s most influential female authors. Throughout her novels and short stories, she has been known to focus on the cultural and social changes in the Indian Society through relatable characters and their relationships. She is a graduate of English Literature from Miranda House and has won several awards for her work. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and the American Academy of Arts and Letters, she is also the Emerita John E. Burchard Professor of Humanities at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and writes for ‘New York Review of Books’.

Anita Desai

mid-day.com

6. Meira Kumar

Known for being the first woman Speaker of Lok Sabha, she is a 5 time MP and started out as a lawyer and diplomat. She served as the Lok Sabha speaker from 2009 to 2014. She has also served as Cabinet Minister in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. She is known for actively participating in movements pertaining to social reforms, human rights and democracy.

MEIRA_KUMAR

itimes.com

7. Anjolie Ela Menon

She is one of India’s leading contemporary female artists and has had her work on display in solo exhibitions all over the world. She studied English Literature in Miranda House and talks of her time in the college fondly, remembering her teachers who were trained from Oxford or Cambridge and whose portraits she used to paint. She has represented India at various shows and was awarded the Padma Shri in 2000.

Anjolie Ela Menon

weeklytimesofindia.com

8. Mira Nair

One of India’s most well known film-makers globally, Mira Nair is famous for her films The Namesake, ‘Salaam Bombay!’ and Monsoon Wedding which are known for their accurate portrayal of Indian culture to the rest of the world. She studied Literature at Miranda House before moving to Harvard to learn about documentary film-making. She also famously rejected the offer to direct ‘Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix‘ stating that she was s“better suited to emotions, human beings, and less interested in special effects.” Mira Nair has been the recipient of a number of honours globally, including those at Cannes and Venice Film Festivals. She was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2012.

mira nair

thecrimson.com

9. Anuja Chauhan

Often hailed as the best chic lit writer in India and “the only Indian writer of popular fiction really worth buying” (sic), Anuja Chauhan has authored three popular books- ‘The Zoya Factor‘, ‘Battle for Bittora‘ and ‘ Those Pricey Thakur Girls‘. She is also behind many of the catchiest tag lines in contemporary Indian Advertising from her time working at JWT, including- Pepsi’s ‘Yeh Dil Maange More!’, Kitkat’s ‘Kitkat Break Banta Hai‘ and Lay’s ‘Be a little Dillogical‘. She was also one of the youngest Vice Presidents in JWT before resigning in 2010 to pursue a career in writing. She has regularly featured in ‘Brand Equity’ as one of the hottest creative directors in India. . Her book ‘The Zoya Factor’ has won Cosmopolitan Magazine, India’s Fun Fearless Female award for literature in 2008 and the India Today Woman award for Woman as Storyteller in 2009. Her writing is often compared to Jane Austen’s, especially for ‘Those Pricey Thakur Girls’ and she is known for her fresh ‘Hinglish’ dialogues and witty, colourful characters.

anuja-chauhan

pinkvilla.com

10. Shovana Narayan

Known as one of the best Kathak danseuses in the world, Shovana Narayan is a holder of a Masters in Physics from Miranda House. She is well-known for her dancing and choreographing abilities, lauded for being the embodiment of the great artistic and social traditions of India. She has also trained several Kathak artistes, some of whom are leading artistes of the young generation. She has been an active researcher as well, having discovered 3 Kathak villages near Gaya with documentary and official records with 80 published articles in several journals and newspapers. She has mesmerised audiences globally and was awarded the Padma Shri in 1992.

shovana narayan

anandway.com

Shubham Kaushik

[email protected]

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Arts & Culture

Amitav Ghosh, Gulzar grace Penguin’s literary festival

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India Habitat Centre played host to a literary festival organised by Penguin India from 14th to 22nd march. Under the name Spring Fever, the festival features eminent personalities like Amitav Ghosh, Ram Jethmalani, Gulzar, Shashi Tharoor, Shobhaa De and Gurcharan Das, and also includes variety of cultural and theatre performances. Here we bring you a glimpse of some of the literary discussions that took place this year!

That the fest is principled on the exchange of stimulating and diverse ideas was conspicuous on the first day when eminent author Amitav Ghosh previewed his last novel in the series Ibis Trilogy. This novel is to release next month by bringing out some unknown aspects of the Indian military history in the 19th century. The trilogy which is set against the first Indo-China opium war brings out a historical narrative that is both untapped by any other scholar and is engaging. As Ghosh denied delving into the realm of non fictional characters, he said choosing fictional characters within a non fictional setting allowed him fluidity.

The session started with Ghosh making the first book reading of the novel Flood of Fire. The reading accurately brought the experiential part of the wars through fictional characters that were fought by Indians and were mainly undocumented. He claimed that there is only one firsthand account by an Indian soldier among the Indian soldiers who fought for the British.

Many in the audience associated with Delhi University were elated when a brief discussion with Ghosh in a lighter mood came up after a question about Shadow Lines, another of his great works was posed to him. The novel features in the BA English Honours syllabi of the university. The question was about the whereabouts of the character Tridib. Ghosh also recalled messages sent by readers to him on his facebook page. The session ended with the author dedicating 30 minutes to the signing of the books that the audience bought at a stall in the amphitheatre.

Spring Fever 2015 also included a discussion on the impact of social media in new writing. Eminent Hindi writers like Ashok Vajpayee and Nidheesh Tyagi were in conversation with novelist Yasser Usman. Also present in the discussion was Mr. Shashi Tharoor, a writer and a politician who’s known as the “Twitter Minister”. All the personalities shared their views on the changing trends in social media and censorship. The panel seemed to have agreed that social media ensures democratisation of speech but hate speech and abuse runs free, too.

“Everyone has a right to speech but I’ve seen that users of social media seem to think that they also have a right to prematurely judge which is unethical in my opinion”, Mr Vajpayee was quoted as saying.

However, everyone agreed that censoring is not a way to tackle abusers and trolls on the internet.
“There will always be a certain section of society which will disagree with you and use the means of abuse when they’re not satisfied with your opinion”, said Mr. Tharoor. The discussion ended with the conclusion that social media should be embraced as a powerful literary tool in a democracy.
This was followed by Dastan Alice Ki, an Urdu rendition of Lewis Caroll’s books Alice in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking Glass.

Sampooran Singh Kalra, popularly known by his pen name Gulzaar, also visited the Penguin Literary Fest at India Habitat Centre on the 21st of March. A huge crowd gathered at the foyer to watch the Indian film fraternity’s legendary director and lyricist.

Some of his most celebrated songs from Bollywood were played and then translated into English. Each song was followed by memories recalled by the veteran who has bridged the gap between Bimal Roy and Vishal Bharadwaj in the 59 years of his career.

He showed his humorous side as he cracked jokes with the audience on the non-translatable nature of some of his songs like ‘Ibn-E-Batuta’ and the pronunciation of lyrics in songs like ‘Challa’. A lady from the audience was bestowed with the opportunity to sing ‘Mera Kuch Samaan’ live in front of the crowd which she did beautifully after which Gulzaar narrated how R.D. Burman mistook the song for a movie’s scene when he read it first and how he ended up composing it in one sitting itself.

The other songs that were mentioned included Dakiya Daak Laya, Chor Aaaye Hum and the foot tapping Chaiyya Chaiyya the credit for which he dedicated to A.R. Rehmaan.

Gulzaar ended the interaction with a fresh poetry called ‘Main Nazmeim Odh Kar Baitha Hun’ which stole a loud round of applause from the audience. A collection of his songs has been compiled into a book by his name which was on sale at the fest and the owners of each copy were given the gift of Gulzaar’s signature on it towards the end of the event.

Kartikeya Bhatotia
[email protected]
Sidharth Yadav
[email protected]
Ishani Rajkhowa
[email protected]

Image credits: Raagini Sharma

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Top Picks

Over a cup of coffee: Places around Delhi to hold meetings

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It happens so often that you need to hold a meeting, be it for discussing an event, practicing for a competition or for an internship, and a plethora of other reasons. Fixing up a meeting at  a place where you can spend hours brainstorming over the agenda, (without death glares directed at you) and which does not go hard on a student budget, can be a difficult task, but guess what? DU Beat to the rescue! Here’s a list of places in Delhi, ranging from shackled colonial buildings to neo-modern cafes, where you can hold meetings and not be badgered or chivied to take leave.

1. Kunzum Travel Café

Reality meets utopia in this unique book cafe. Located in the forever-bustling Hauz Khas Village, Delhi, Kunzum Travel Café is adorned with travel memorabilia. While the ambience sounds tempting, here’s the cherry on the cake: they have a ‘pay what you like’ system, and you are not obliged to buy anything. Beat that.

kunzum
The Kunzum travel cafe | Image Courtesy: Official website (www.kunzum.com)

When can you visit: Tuesday – Sunday, 11:00 am – 7:30 pm

2. Indian Coffee House

One of those old, rusty, dilapidated buildings that refuse to die, with its colonial charm, the location and utility of the place overshadows the ramshackle furniture. This place was meant for conducting meetings. With the provision of outdoor seating, it almost always remains occupied, but morning meetings cannot have a better destination.

When can you visit: Monday – Sunday, 09:00 am – 09:00 pm

 

ICH - www.sodelhi.com
The open terrace area at Indian Coffee House, Mohan Singh Palace, CP | Image Courtesy: www.sodelhi.com

3. Fursat Se – A Cultural Café 

Yet another unique cultural concept, this book café is the nook for creative people. Rooftop? Check. Artisitc décor?  Check. Pay as you like? Check.

fursat
Fursat Se – A cultural cafe ( Shahpur Jat, New Delhi) | Image Courtesy: www.ixigo.com

When can you visit: Monday – Sunday, 11:30 am – 7:30 pm

4. Madras Coffee house

It can give a tough competition to ICH on the age of the furniture. Jokes apart, this place can be a good place to meet up, provided you order something. Unlike ICH, however, it has less mobility of furniture.

MCH - www.zootout.com
Madras Coffee House, Connaught Circus, Block P, Connaught Place, New Delhi. | Image Courtesy: www.zootout.com

When can you visit: Monday – Sunday, 11:00 am – 10:00 pm

5. Cha Bar

Heaven is for real, and what could be better than having a meeting in heaven. Located in Oxford bookstore, this place redefines the concept of high tea. The ambiance is so professional and spruced up that one cannot want to leave. But you’d need to order in proportion to the hours you wish to bask in the heavenly bliss of this book café.

When can you visit?: Monday – Sunday, 11:00 am – 9:30 pm

Also, no points for guessing, Cha Bar has been our favorite meeting spot too!

 

Tons of coffee and intense discussions on DUB strategies. Starting the semester already!

A photo posted by DU Beat (@du_beat) on


For a detailed Cha Bar (Barakhamba Road, Block- N, CP) review, visit here.

 

6. Triveni Tea Terrace

Located bang opposite FICCI Auditorium in Mandi house, this place has mixed reviews. It is a great pace to meet fewer people. However, if your meeting is scheduled at peak hours, it might not be a good venue.

When can you visit?: Monday to Saturday 12:30 PM to 3 PM, 4:30 PM to 6 PM

triveni
Trivent Terrace Tea, Tansen Marg, New Delhi | Image Courtesy: www.buzzintown.com

 

Drop by these places and if you’re lucky enough, you might bump into some of the dedicated DU Beat folks!

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Interviews

Interview: Satyarth Nayak, bestselling author and DU alumnus

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A Delhi University pass out student, Satyarth Nayak’s book has been praised by the likes of Amish Tripathi and Ashwin Sanghi who called it ‘a fantastic blend of myth and imagination’ and ‘Intelligent, intriguing, intense’ respectively. Hindustan Times and The Hindu also have similar rave reviews for the book. The Emperor’s Riddle has topped several national bestsellers list and The Asian Age Top 10 Bestseller chart ranking #1 for four consecutive weeks and is also being considered for a thriller feature film.

Author Satyarth Nayak answers some of our questions regarding being a new age writer in India, the growing publishing industry of India and his experience as a DU alumnus.

1. Let’s begin with your journey of becoming the country’s bestselling author. Tell us something about from where you began.

A. I am a Delhi based author, script writer and a former Correspondent with CNN-IBN, Delhi. I love the thriller genre and always knew that my first book would invariably be a mystery novel. I call my book a freak act of nature. One fine evening after re-reading one of Dan Brown’s novels, I had this sudden curiosity to know if we have any similar esoteric mysteries or secrets in our Indian history and culture. It was a random search on the Net during which I stumbled across this beautiful story associated with one of our most iconic Indian Emperors. The man’s vision mesmerized me. The more I read about the Emperor’s fascinating deed thousands of years ago, the more I knew that I had to tell this story. That’s how this journey began and I am glad the book has become a bestselling thriller and praised by writers like Amish Tripathi & Ashwin Sanghi.

2. For those who are yet to read The Emperor’s Riddles, what would you describe it as? Tell us what it’s about.

A. The media is calling this a history meets mystery since they are both parallel tracks in the novel. The present day track has my main lead walking a trail of cryptic riddles scattered all over the country that they must solve one by one to reach the final enigma while the historical track involves the evolution of an Emperor. The legend used in the book involves a fascinating historical secret of one of our greatest and most celebrated Indian emperors. It’s also probably the first Indian thriller to use Buddhist iconography and mythology. If you love murder mysteries, myths and legends, intriguing investigation and that twist in the end, you will love my book. And there are plenty of riddles to solve. The path beckons…can you crack them all?

3. Being a new age writer, what do you have to say about the upcoming publishing industry and the growing concept of literary agencies?

A. The best thing about the Indian publishing industry today is that it has expanded massively to incorporate writers from every nook and corner of the country. Writing is no longer an elitist exercise. Today many Indian publishers are open to new talent and new writings. Self publishing and e-publishing have also emerged as new options to put your work out there for the world to read. Literary agencies in India are still in the fledgling stage but surely a viable option especially for debut writers. Agencies edit & polish your manuscript, pitch it to publishing houses and negotiate the best deals. However keep in mind that a genuine literary agency does not charge for any of these initial services and take their cut only when the book starts to make money.

4. Your works have been compared to the likes of Dan Brown. How does that feel? Tell us about the inspiration behind your writing.

A. As I told you the book happened because of Dan Brown so being compared to him is probably the ultimate compliment I can get. It feels wonderful to be put in the same category but I cannot allow that to make me complacent. It feels great to have made a successful debut but I still have miles to go and many more books to write. I have grown up reading and admiring the greats like Poe, Holmes, Christie, Wallace and Dan Brown. I have secretly wanted to emulate them and toy with the minds of the readers like they do.

5. You are a Delhi University pass out. What do you have to say about the kind of platforms DU gives to asppiring writers?

A. Yes, I graduated from Venky and did Masters in English Literature from Stephen’s. The fact that DU now offers a course in Creative Writing is such a welcome development. I wish I had that opportunity when I was a student. This will certainly go a long way in nurturing young and aspiring talent. Also the various college fests provide excellent writing competitions which are a fabulous platform for upcoming writers to test their skills.

6. Do you plan to write a sequel to The Emperor’s Riddle, or perhaps a screenplay?

A. There’s no sequel planned but one of my characters in The Emperor’s Riddles will embark upon another adventure in my next book. We do have an interest from Bollywood to convert the thriller into a film. Screen adaptation is always an exciting option though it will be a challenge to condense the book into a two hour format. The book will have to be modified accordingly and the screenplay is being written as we speak. Let’s see how it shapes up.

7. A lot of writers prefer sticking to the same genre of their bestselling works. Will you prefer writing thrillers like The Emperor’s Riddle or would you like to explore some other genres as well in the future?

A. Thriller is my favourite genre and as of now I intend to stick with it. There are quite a bunch of wicked ideas in my head that are clamouring to be turned into books. Having said that I also love history and am deliberating over a historical epic based on a fascinating character from Indian regional history. Cinema writing also interests me and I might do something in that direction as well.

8. With the increased exposure on social media, self publishing of the books, do you think it has become easier for writers to break into the market?

A. It has made life easier to some extent but it has also opened the floodgates for more and more writers clamouring for attention. With so many people writing and so many books getting published, you will have to be exceptional to stand out. Social media draws out more talent but also intensifies the competition.

9. Anything you’d like to say to your readers for the response they have given to your book? Any news regarding when they’d get to read something more from you?

A. I would obviously thank all my readers for their leap of faith in picking up the book of a debut author and bringing us this far. I now owe it to them to make sure that my next book is even better. My second book is also a mystery thriller but I am exploring mythical fantasy and sci-fi in this one. A cinema book based on one of the most iconic films of Bollywood is also on the cards.

10. Would you like to say something to aspiring writers in Delhi University?

A. I would advise them to write only when they get an idea that absolutely grabs them by the neck and makes them sit and write. Only when they have that one idea that makes them want to do nothing but write should they begin. It’s also imperative that debut authors promote their book as much as possible. The publishers will certainly do their bit but authors these days also need to spread the word about their book. Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads are excellent social networking tools to make readers aware of your books. And enjoy the process of writing. Unless you have fun writing, readers won’t have fun reading!

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Campus Central

Personalities at Mood Indigo- Concerts, LitFest and Proshows

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Asia’s largest cultural festival became an exhilarating chapter at end of the year for students from Delhi University and other universities across the country.

This edition of Mood Indigo, IIT Bombay attracted hefty number of more than 126000 students from over 1800 colleges across India. With a Limca record for the maximum number of international artists at a cultural festival, Mood Indigo this year featured Epica, a symphonic metal band from The Netherlands. The festival also witnessed Sander van Doorn, an international DJ for EDM night on Day 1.

Indian artist line up included Vishal & Shekhar and Adnan Sami along with famous authors like Neelesh Misra and Amish Tripathi for Litfest segment and prominent chefs like Vikas Khanna for the food festival.

Here is a list of all the personalities who visited IIT Bombay for Mood Indigo this year.

Amish Tripathi

Amish Tripathi, author of Shiva Trilogy addressed a group of aspiring writers and a few members of teaching faculty from IIT Bombay on 26th December 2014. As a speaker for the LitFest, he talked about his journey as a management graduate and then a writer. Dispensing his thoughts about character building as a writer, he stressed on creativity instead of organized and surrendered art.

Tripathi also sermonized the crowd with information about Indian mythology and how India is a land where liberalism and religionism go hand in hand. The author also revealed the possibilities of his book to be a Karan Johan movie soon.

[caption id="attachment_28467" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]Amish Tripathi for LitFest at Mood Indigo Amish Tripathi for LitFest at Mood Indigo[/caption]

Sander van Doorn and Zaeden – EDM Nite

Mood Indigo danced to the Electronic Dance Music on Day 1 of the festival. Sahil Sharma a.k.a Zaeden performed the opening act for EDM night. The 18 year old DJ transformed the calm competitors at IIT Bombay to exuberant youngsters.

Sander van Doorn, the main artist for the night played the best tracks of electronic music for about two hours. SVD is a Dutch EDM producer and DJ. The physical set at IIT campus for EDM night complemented the Indian and international artist line up in an extraordinary manner.

The headbanging crowd at EDM night very well paralleled the enthusiasm of both SVD and Zaeden.

[gallery ids="28464,28466"]

Neelesh Misra

Neelesh Misra, venerable author and Bollywood lyricist visited IIT Campus on 26th December 2014 as part of the LitFest. Neelesh addressed the audience as he talked about enthusiasm of writers and authors in the present age. The storyteller briefed everyone about his new rural newspaper called Gaon Connection and expressed his inability to accept all applications by new writers.

His session was followed by a Q&A round where he shared how lyrics of Bollywood songs today are different from those in early 2000s.

[caption id="attachment_28468" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]Mood Indigo member hands over the token of appreciation to Neelesh Misra Mood Indigo member hands over the token of appreciation to Neelesh Misra[/caption]

Adnan Sami – Contemporary Nite

The Pakistani origin singer performed on Day 2 of Mood Indigo. Adnan Sani wooed his fans with the exclusive musical delight. He sang his famous numbers like Sun Zara, Dil Keh Raha, Kabhi toh Nazar Milao and Lift Kara De.

Apart from this musical gratification, the singer was also indulging in jugalbandi with his esteemed band. Adnan also amidst his performances shared with the crowd his experience of losing 145 kgs in a few months.

[caption id="attachment_28469" align="aligncenter" width="1024"]Adnan Sami performing on Day 2 Adnan Sami performing on Day 2[/caption]

Rajdeep Sardesai

Senior journalist, Rajdeep Sardesai spoke on “Corporatisation, Politicisation and Sensationalisation of News” for the LitFest. He emphasized on responsible online media reporting and talked about importance of independence of media in our country.

The session was followed by a Q&A round, where Rajdeep also added that the world is headed towards digitisation of media. He also threw light on revenue system of media agencies.

[caption id="attachment_28473" align="aligncenter" width="599"]Rajdeep Sardesai at Mood Indigo | Source: Hindustan Times Rajdeep Sardesai at Mood Indigo | Source: Hindustan Times[/caption]

Epica – Livewire Nite

Epica, the symphonic metal band visited India for the first time for Mood Indigo at IIT Bombay. Epica’s performance featured an opening act by SLAIN which is reputed as country’s finest group of live acts in Melodic Progressive Rock/Metal.

Epica’s songs revolved largely around topics like philosophy, science, religion and world events. The group was witnessed employing human choirs and orchestras with additional embellishments such as spoken word recitals and lyrics in Latin and Arabic.

Epica was the only paid concert at Mood Indigo.

[caption id="attachment_28471" align="aligncenter" width="720"]Epica, Livewire Nite | Source: IIT Bombay, Mood Indigo Epica, Livewire Nite | Source: IIT Bombay, Mood Indigo[/caption]

Vishal-Shekhar – Popular Nite

The Bollywood music-directing duo of Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani performed the closing act at Mood Indigo 2014. Right after the closing-award ceremony, Vishal-Shekhar entered the performance arena pumping energy into the crowd of more than 7000 people.

The pair performed to the popular Bollywood numbers from composed albums like Student of the Year, Bang Bang, Om Shanti Om and Jhankar Beats. Open Air Theatre, IIT Bombay recorded exultant crowd singing along as both the singers individually also sang for them.

Shekhar played the keyboard as he set the record on romantic mode by singing Zehnaseeb and Ishq Waala Love. Vishal Dadlani then enlivened the tranquil audience by performing Madaari, Aao Na and Jee Le Zara among many more.

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Dr. Subramanian Swami

“It’s not the political position a person holds that matters, it’s the influence he has on the people”, said former cabinet minister and BJP leader, Dr. Subramanian Swami who quoted the line by Shri. Mahatma Gandhi. Part of the Mood Indigo LitFest, he guided a group of students on how to become better and responsible citizens of the country.

Realizing the need of young brains in the political system, he encouraged more and more students to enter the Indian politics and advised them to look into the intricacies of politics in our country. Emphasizing the need of innovation that fuels growth of the nation, Dr. Swami talked about innovational intelligence as well.

Others

Apart from the personalities visiting the campus for literature fest and popular nights, there were many others who enthralled the 126000 visitors by their special appearances. For the Humour Fest, Mood Indigo witnessed Carlo Jacucci, Marcel Mohab and Korean artisits for the Jump Show performing on different days.

Stand­up comedians of the viral Youtube series “Pretentious Movie Reviews” fame, Kanan Gill and Biswa Kalyan Rath were also seen performing on the campus. Raju Srivastava performed at the Comedy Show. Ayushmann Khuranna came to judge Mr and Ms. Mood Indigo contest and to promote his movie ‘Hawaizaade’.

Food Fest featured Chef Vikas Khanna who released his book ‘World Feast’ among other prominent chefs like Chef Ajay Chopra, Chef Varun Inamdar, Chef Dhaval Ajmera and Chef Sandeep Pande.

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Pt. Rupak Kulkarni visited for Mood Indigo Classical Morning. Apart from Adnan Sami, the category of Contemporary Nite featured Purbayan Chatterjee who is popular for amalgamating traditional Indian classical music with contemporary world music genres.

The International Music Festival had artists like The Los Dorados, Barmer Boys and indierock band Amsterdams from Romania. U-Theatre group from Taiwan performed their act called ‘Swords of Wisdom’, martial arts act to the beat of percussion instruments.  The FringeFest saw Yoshi and Gilard Shabtay entertaining the onlookers by juggling capabilities and surreal balancing acts respectively.

Images by Chirag Sharma, Ankit Kumar Meena and Mehr Gill

Iresh Gupta [email protected]

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Campus Central

Delhi University in 2014: Major reforms, policies and rollbacks

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Delhi University in the year of 2014 has had its share of controversies, confusions and unpopular decisions. While a few policies were altered, others were taken down for welfare of students or just to avoid overdone criticism.  A few changes also came across as positive and were welcomed by various related bodies across the University. Political parties, students, and teachers were all affected by these alterations in someway or the other.

As we enter the year of 2015, we list all that changed in Delhi University in the past year.

April 2014: University of Delhi rejected reservation of 85% seats for Delhi domicile students

The University of Delhi rejected the proposal of Delhi government for the reservation of 85% seats for the Delhi domicile students in April 2014. The demand was in all 12 colleges wholly funded by state government and other 16 colleges receiving 5% of its fund. These colleges included Maharaja Agrasen College, Shaheed Rajguru College, Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies, Keshav Mahavidyalaya and Deen Dayal Upadhayay College.

However, students from Delhi met Dr. Harshwardhan inn June 2014 to demand quota for Delhi students but there were no results recorded.

Read full article here.

May 2014: Delhi University allowed 5 % sports quota in post graduate courses

In an attempt to increase sports participation at higher studies level, Delhi University’s Academic Council(AC) had introduced five percent quota under sports category this year for postgraduate admissions. The reservation was imposed on all faculties barring medicine, engineering, technology and management studies.

Students applying under sports category were supposed to sit for the entrance examination but the admission under this category was determined by trial and interview.

Read full article here.

June 2014: Roll Back of Four-Year Undergraduate Programme

The programme that supported a four-year course study for undergraduates had amassed a lot of criticism since its inception. While protests to both roll back and not roll back FYUP continued in the University in April-June, the UGC has also appealed to the University of Delhi for review of FYUP on the basis of it being illegally introduced.

UGC claimed that the new course violates the National Policy on Education’s section on National System of Education that states for a 10+2+3 educational structure all over the country. Also, the University required the Visitor’s approval according to the Delhi University Act, the Visitor of all central universities, being the President of India. After a huge number of protests by students, teachers and political parties, FYUP was rolled back in June 2014.

Read full article. Demands | Rollback

[caption id="attachment_28418" align="aligncenter" width="600"]FYUP FYUP[/caption]

June 2014: BMS exam scrapped, admissions took place for BBS, BBE and BFIA courses

In a major development this year, Bachelor of Management Studies (BMS) was officially scrapped off. Instead, students were admitted to the three-year BBS, BBE and BFIA courses as was usual before FYUP was introduced. This will now be followed for the years to come. For the current session, results of BMS Entrance Exam were considered valid and were given 50% weightage. The remaining 50% were based on the results of board exams.

Read full article here.

August 2014: Transgender students recognized as third gender

After recognition of transgenders as a third gender by the Supreme Court in April 2014, Delhi University’s application form from this year gave space to the third gender. University had finally allowed transgender applicants to enroll in post graduate courses in the ongoing session.

Due to the FYUP debate this year, this proposed change couldn’t be implemented for the undergraduate courses but the same will be done next year for the session of 2015-16. Teacher recruitment forms also included the third gender category.

Read full article here.

[caption id="attachment_28420" align="aligncenter" width="620"]Transgender students recognized in DU Transgender students recognized in DU[/caption]

September 2014: Ad Hoc teaching staff exceeded regular teachers in Delhi University

Four months after the FYUP ‘miscarriage’ where ad-hoc teachers were left in jeopardy, Delhi University witnessed ad-hoc teaching staff outnumbering the regular teachers in September 2014. 5000 ‘temporary’ teachers were tagged as ‘permanently’ ad-hoc in the University. UGC norms however, only validate the appointment of ad hoc teachers in the time of emergency and also limits the proportion of these teachers at 10% of the total.

Read full article here.

[caption id="attachment_28415" align="aligncenter" width="620"]Teachers protesting for the rights of ad-hocs Teachers protesting for the rights of ad-hocs[/caption]

October 2014: Delhi University introduced revaluation again and allowed readmission

Following ABVP’s protest in October 2014, Delhi University promised to restart the system of revaluation in the University. According to the notification, the sheets were now to be checked by a single examiner. The students who had failed in their 1st year under the FYUP were allowed to apply for readmission to 1st year till the 29th of October, 2014.

Read full article here.

[caption id="attachment_28416" align="aligncenter" width="900"]ABVP's dharna to bring back revaluation and readmission ABVP’s dharna to bring back revaluation and readmission[/caption]

October 2014: Environmental Studies’ made mandatory in Delhi University

University Grants Commission this year made it mandatory for students enrolled in the undergraduate courses at Delhi University, to take up the course in Environmental Studies in their first or second semester. The qualifying course introduced had to consist of 100 marks as per the scheme notified for the three-year undergraduate programme, of which 25 per cent weightage had to be given to fieldwork.

Read full article here.

All images used have been taken from the articles mentioned in the post. Credits for the same have been mentioned in the original article.

Iresh Gupta [email protected]

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