Latest
DU Beat – Delhi University's Independent Student Newspaper
40 Results

mental health societies

Search
Arts & Culture

An Open Letter: Why I Left My Society

By

Societies have been touted as the best way to engage in extra curricular activities while studying in Delhi University (DU). There are times however when they fail to meet the expectations we have and make us ask whether its time to leave.

The first thing that many of us in first year are told after we get into DU is that our lives will revolve around whichever college society/ies that we choose. “ classroom se zyada society mai seekhega tu ( You will learn more in your society than in the classroom.)“ , “tujhe tera crowd society mai milega (You will find like-minded people in your society.)” While these monikers might stand true for the right society for an individual, it is not universally true.

What one should keep first and foremost with all endeavors including societies is the affect that it is has on our mental health. Societies and the extra work load they bring can have a negative impact even if we are surrounded by wonderful people in the society. Paridhi, a first year student from Jesus and Mary College, says “ I was not in a good place mental health wise, and I didn’t think I could commit to the work in a way I would’ve liked to, that resulted in me learning more too. With something like Poetry too, despite the society being full of amazing, empathetic women; it felt like a burden to keep afloat with everything that was going on.”

In the current political scenario, if you are one of those who believe that now is the time to stand up and raise your voice for what India stands for, a college society can be a roadblock in your way and a source of frustration. Lots of societies choose to be ‘apolitical’ o down right apathetic to the situation in the country. With your societies refusing to take stands and/or prioritising practice or work before dissenting, It is a very valid reason to leave your society. Apoliticism, of all things, is ironically one of the things followed in many societies that function around expressing your opinions. All this, amongst major national political crisis.

Another reason one would join a society is for professional growth, and this dilemma between professional growth and fun is the reason why many of us end up in academic societies as well as cultural societies. But managing many societies at a time isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, which at times forces one to leave a society. Theoretically, one should go for professional growth but cultural societies get an upper hand because of the family like feeling that one gets owing to hours and hours of practice, hundreds of cultural fests to compete in and the liberal way in which they function.

But not all societies are a family, a fresher to the society may find it difficult to socialise with their seniors, thus getting the sense of lonesome even after spending most of your day with their society. This feeling of alienation could also be the reason you want to leave your society.

Amidst all these fun and partying that these societies offer, they also come with a pinch of salt in the form of toxicity arising from the “circuits” that each society has in the University. Every weekend there is a new competition, a new tournament, with the same people in the circuit one would see the same people quite often! While many of us would want to be friends with different people within the circuit, there is also this competitiveness owing to everyone’s desire to win the cash prizes that leads to this toxicity. Sadly, this is the ugly truth of societies that make it unbearable for someone who is not much dedicated to the art.

Whatever be your passion, there is a society for that, but at the same time, if you feel like a particular society would not help you to pursue your dreams, it is okay for you to leave it and make a trail of your own, for one can take the road less traveled.

Feature Image Credits: Hitesh Kalra for DU Beat

Akshat Arora

[email protected]

Prabhanu Kumar Das

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
Campus Central

Protest at Jesus and Mary College Condemning Violence against Students

By

Students participated in a peaceful protest held at Jesus and Mary College on 8th January 2020,  where they also faced problems by the Student Body due to restriction of dissent by the Administration.

Jesus and Mary College (JMC) saw students gather on the 8th of January 2020, outside the campus in Chanakyapuri, New Delhi at 10:30 a.m. to show solidarity against the brazen misuse of political power and violation of basic Fundamental Rights by the Government. The state-sponsored violence meted out to the students of various educational institutions across the country was strongly condemned, in a silent protest held in front of the campus.

1578488824620_3_IMG_20200108_111548

Students condemning State-sponsored Violence

Despite the absence of the Students’ Council from the place of protests, a message was circulated by them before the protest, condemning violence and voicing their support for freedom of speech in a peaceful way. The students, however, were sceptical at the apolitical stance of the student council, which had earlier refused to comment and release a statement of solidarity condemning the violence citing different views of students. Some students also cited the pressure from the administration when it came to the college societies and departments to release solidarity statements.
Later, the Students’ Council urged the students to come inside the college campus and protest after seeking permission from the Principal.
Some students chose to continue the protest outside the college campus.

The silent protest was held in a peaceful manner, a welcome change that encouraged and fostered dissent in the erstwhile apolitical campus of JMC. Students held banners criticizing the government and the forces of law and order. A healthy dialogue about democracy was fostered, in a protest that saw attendance by students from other colleges too. No disruptions by the police occurred. A group of students joined the protests at The Faculty of Arts, North Campus immediately following this at 12:00 p.m. Students affirmed their support for dissent against authoritarian forces, condemned the growing excesses of fascism within the country and stood up for student-worker unity.

Feature Image Credits: Paridhi Puri for DU Beat

Paridhi Puri 

[email protected]

 

Keep Reading
By
Campus Central

Eco-friendly Campuses of DU: A New Face of Miranda House

By

With plastic becoming a major menace, here is an insight into how the students as well as the authorities of Miranda House have taken up several steps to make their campus a plastic-free space in the University of Delhi (DU).

Plastic is one of the most ubiquitous materials in the economy, but with the increasing awareness about its ill effects and negative impact on the environment, and the spreading of the news of its complete ban by the Government, several colleges and institutions have started substituting plastic with other less harmful or biodegradable options. Miranda House has also taken many such initiatives to discourage the usage of single-use plastic.

The first step taken by students and societies was to conduct a plastic-free fresher’s party to welcome the freshers to a “Green Miranda”. Vatavaran, the Environmental Cell of Miranda House, along with the Department of Geography, encouraged the Student Councils of all the Departments to conduct their respective Department fresher’s without the usage of plastic in decoration and food. As a novel and creative initiative, the “Green Departments”, which successfully conducted a “plastic-free fresher’s”, were provided with certificates. individuals.

The bigger question becomes, how many end up staying the same throughout? Inner healing does not happen in a day, the lives of Buddha and Mahavira are examples of the years of mediation that one must do to achieve such unearthly feats, to begin with. It is a gradual and slow process, like medical treatment or a fitness regime. The transformations are always temporary in nature, and one needs to mould their mind with continual practice to achieve maximum results. The human mind is a very complex enigma that has wonderful, and miraculous features to it that surpass the earthly plane. For thousands of years, the sages of India called ‘rishis’ had proved the same. They had, through continual and rigorous mediation, opened their chakras and achieved feats that seem inhuman in today’s age. One may desire to achieve such transformative abilities, yet not all of us can invest the time and energy to be able to achieve them.

Being part of an age where everything in our lives mostly revolves around speed and technology, it does not mean that selfactualisation cannot be achieved. The answer to it is as simple as the Sacred Games chant we have become used to hearing now – Aham Brahmasmi. Brahma, the creator, resides in one’s soul or Atman, and is nothing but the abode of creation and creative power. We believe what we wish to believe, and we hold on to our perceptions and inhibitions, but the moment we prepare ourselves to see beyond our rigidity of thoughts, we become free of our bonds. Thus, you must understand that eternal bliss or happiness of the being is possible for every one of us. If one wishes to invest even a few minutes of their time in life-altering activities persistently, one will achieve peace, calm, and a stress-free environment where creative energies can be released to bring a positive change in the mind and space that we occupy.

The most effective and simple exercise would be to concentrate on one’s breathing as one assumes a comfortable position for a span of just five minutes. It is all but a matter of faith – not in any external idol, religion, or God-men, but in the power of our intrinsic energy as a vehicle to transform our stress into positivity. One’s present should be of concern only if one wishes to change it for a different or a happier future. There is a need for change. It all begins today, if we keep our buzzing phones aside, and take a few moments to ourselves for the sake of positive mental health. Aatreyee Tamuly, a student of B.A. (Honours) History at Miranda House, said, “I think Miranda has taken the ‘No Plastic Campaign’ pretty well. It was great seeing all the departments taking part in the no plastic campaign during the Department fresher’s party.” The usage of plastic in the canteen has decreased, as they have started providing steel plates and spoons instead of plastic plates for serving food. Providing straws has been stopped completely. Nescafé has substituted plastic cutlery with wooden cutlery and plates with paper bowls.

The National Service Scheme (NSS) of Miranda House conducted various events to discourage the usage of single-use plastic. One such event was a collection drive on the campus to collect all the plastic bottles and other plastic waste. The collected items were then handed over to the plastic recycling centres. Another major step by the NSS was to celebrate Onella, a social mela (fair), with the theme of “No Single-Use Plastic”. Several posters were circulated with the message of avoiding plastic usage. Onella successfully encourage secularism, raised funds, and promoted the social cause of avoiding plastic usage. A Replaft competition was organised by the society where the students were supposed to reuse plastic to make craft items. The decorative material made from reused plastic was sold at Onella. A signatory campaign to discourage the usage of single-use plastic also found its way into the celebrations. Another initiative by the society was to organise a “Plog Run”, which involved plastic-picking plus jogging.

Priyanshi Singh, a final-year student of Miranda House, expressed her views on the initiatives. She said, “I feel that the initiatives taken by authorities and students to avoid usage of plastic are really good, but I feel more could be done to it. For instance, created tautology are still being sold on the campus, asplastic cold drink bottles and water bottles are being sold and used. Instead, they could only sell glass bottles or cans. Selling some packaged items like chips can also be avoided, which could also lead to a healthy lifestyle. Whatever has been done to minimise it is good, but still some more steps like substituting aerated drink bottles with cans and glass bottles should be done.” However, the initiatives taken by societies and authorities can only be successful if one takes steps on an individual level as well. The words of Margaret Mead ring a bell at this moment – “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Feature Image Credits: Namrata Randhawa for DU Beat

Priya Chauhan

[email protected]

 

Keep Reading
By
Campus Central

Eco Friendly Campuses: A New face of Miranda House

By

 

With plastic becoming a major menace, here is an insight into how the students as well as the authorities of Miranda House have taken up several steps to make their campus a plastic-free space of the University.

Plastic is one of the most ubiquitous materials in the economy but with the increasing awareness about its ill-effects and negative impact on the environment and the spreading of the news of its complete ban by the government, several colleges and institutions have started substituting plastic with other options.

Miranda House has also taken many such initiatives to discourage the usage of single-use plastic.

The first step taken by students and societies was to conduct a plastic-free Fresher’s party to welcome the freshers to a ‘Green Miranda’. Vatavaran, the environmental cell of Miranda House, along with the Department of Geography encouraged the student councils of all the departments to conduct their Department Freshers without the usage of plastic in decoration and food. As a novel and creative initiative, the ‘Green Departments’ which successfully conducted a ‘plastic-free freshers’ were provided with certificates.

Aatreyee Tamuly, a student of B.A. (Hons) History, Miranda House said, “I think Miranda has taken the ‘No Plastic Campaign’ pretty well. It was great seeing all the departments taking part in the no plastic campaign during the Department fresher’s party.”

The usage of plastic in the canteen has been decreased as they have started providing steel plates and spoons instead of plastic plates for serving food. Providing straws has been stopped completely. Nescafe has substituted plastic cutlery with wooden cutlery and plates with paper bowls.

All along, the National Service Scheme (NSS) of Miranda House has conducted various events to discourage the usage of single-use plastic. One such event was a collection drive on the campus to collect all the plastic bottles and other plastic waste. The collected items were then handed over to the plastic recycling centre.

Another major step by the National Service Scheme (NSS) was to celebrate Onella, a Social Mela with the theme of ‘No Single-Use Plastic’. Several posters were circulated with the message of avoiding plastic usage. The regular Diwali Mela (Onella) was celebrated as a Social Mela this year to encourage secularism, raise funds and to promote the social cause of avoiding plastic usage. A REPLAFT competition was organized by the society on the eve of Onella in which the students were supposed to reuse plastic to make craft items. The decorative stuff made by reused plastic was sold at Onella. A signatory campaign to discourage the usage of single-use plastic also found its way into the celebrations. Another initiative by the society was to organize a ‘Plog Run’, which was plastic picking plus jogging.

Priyanshi Singh, a final year student of Miranda House expressed her views on the initiatives. She said, “I feel that the initiatives taken by authorities and students to avoid usage of plastic are really good, but I feel more could be done to it. For instance, plastic bottles are still being sold on the campus, as plastic cold drink bottles and water bottles are being sold and used. Instead, they could only sell glass bottles or cans. Selling some packaged items like chips can also be avoided, which could also lead to a healthy lifestyle. Whatever has been done to minimize it is good, but still some more steps like substituting aerated drink bottles with cans and glass bottles should be done.”

However, the initiatives taken by societies and authorities can only be successful if one takes steps on an individual level.  The words of Margaret Mead ring a true bell at this moment. 

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

 

Image Credits: shiksha.com

Priya Chauhan

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
Arts & Culture

Mood Indigo’19 Multicity Eliminations Conclude at NSUT

By

The Multicity eliminations for Mood Indigo’19, annual cultural fest of IIT Bombay took place at Netaji Subhas University of Technology (NSUT) on 12th and 13th October, 2019.

With great anticipation and excitement, the first day of Mood Indigo’19 Multicity eliminations was on for a great start. Multicity eliminations were held at Netaji Subhash University of Technology (NSUT) for IIT Bombay’s fest, with innumerable teams and societies, from all over Delhi and nearby cities, participating in the prelim rounds in Delhi, to grab the opportunity to compete at one of the most sought-after fests.

The Day 1 saw a lot of competition and some wonderful performances. The bars and expectations were set high.The level of talent and rigorous eliminations makes one only wonder how much more will we see in the fest to follow, given the number of contestants that were hand-picked from Delhi. Being one of the eleven of these eliminations.

The day was quite lovely with the lawns of NSUT, the venue being filled with loud drumbeats and louder slogans.It was the street play teams warming up for the coming prelims. The competition was tight with 34 teams competing for a spot.The main auditorium had various events lined up beginning with Conchord, the group based acapella competition that had eight colleges as participants, followed by Singing the Indigos,  the solo western singing competition, and MI Idol, solo Indian singing competition.

Aagaaz, the Street play competition, organised for Mood Indigo, the fest of IIT Bombay witnessed a tough competition among 35 teams. The judges of the competition were Swati Pandey and Sharad Chaudhary. This competition had several impactful performances. The unequivocal energy, intensity and moving street plays, left the audience in an awe. Each team put forward their best foot and highlighted issues affecting the society today and from time immemorial. Jesus and Mary Collegelead by DivyaNunhoi Sharma bagged the first position followed by Venkateshwara college lead byAryaman Sethi and Atma Ram Sanatan College under Tushar Bahirwani.

Conchord which was judged by Mr Diyatom Deb and Ms. Aswathy had the winning college LSRperforming covers of “Lost in the World” by Kanye West, “Berlesk” by Christina Aguilera and “Shrutika”which was led by ShilpikaBuragohain. The second place was bagged by Jesus and Mary College headedby Khushi Pallavi.

The solo competitions which began with western songs had the same judges with around competitors. The Indigos saw LSR bag both first and second positions with Gina Garbyal being first and Shilpika Buragohain second. Followed by Jesus and Mary headed by Khushi Pallavi.

This was followed by a felicitation ceremony for the judges and the Indian solo singing competition that MI Idol judged by Mr. Jamil Hasanand and Mr. Yatin Arora. Deen Dayal Upadhyay College secured the first and the second positions. First being Kushagra Dudeja and Second Nityaa Ramesh.

Ms and Mr Mood Indigo Delhi, as a part of IIT Bombay’ fest was also held. The judges for this event were Mallaica Chatterjee and MC Snub. The competition involved a showcase of talents. Each of the 16 participants fought hard to bag the title, with talents like singing, rapping or dancing.

Jennifer Dhupar, of Jesus and Mary College, and Sachin Rager, of Swami Shraddhanand College, were awarded with the title of Ms and Mr Mood Indigo Delhi. They will now head over to Mumbai for the finals at IIT Bombay.

Rap Battle competition, Mi’nem, was held between 16 participants, competing to win the title and get selected to go to Mumbai. The judges of this competition were MC Snub, Tez Bhai and Arjun Arora. The competition brought to light talented individuals from a multitude of colleges and universities. Each performance filled with immense emotions, from one’s life experiences to the political environment, a myriad of stories poured out. Aman Mishra bagged the first position and Abhi Baisla bagged the second.

Day 2 of Mood Indigo’s Multicity round began at around 10 AM on Sunday. The elimination rounds opened with poetry slam competition inside the mini auditorium of Netaji Subhash University of Technology. Five participants from Keshav Mahavidyalay, Rukmani Devi college and IIT,Delhi poured heart and soul while reciting their poetries in hopes of qualifying for the final show in Mumbai. Juveriya Khan from Keshav Mahavidyalay who performed a heart wrenching poetry on mental health and suicide made her way to Mood Indigo ’19. Next in line was a stand-up comedy elimination round called Humour Us where five contestants exhibited their quirk and wit Madhur Virli from IIT, Delhi stood out as the sole qualifier.

Simultaneously, three dance events were happening in the hall area of administrative block of the university. It started with Indigo Saga, a thematic group dance competition where eight teams from various colleges of Delhi grooved on contemporary music. Wearing similar attires and synchronizing steps on every beat, young performers charmed the event with mesmerising dances. LSR team led by Anjali Kaushik and IIT Delhi team led by Manan Patel paved their way for the finals. Indigo Saga was followed by Desi Beats, a Bollywood style dance competition and Beat the Street, hip hop street dance event. LSR, Zakir Hussain College and Motilal Nehru grabbed 1st, 2nd and 3rd positions respectively in Desi Beat while Shaheed Bhagat Singh College and ADGITM qualified in Beat the Street.

All the selected teams and individuals from Delhi will be competing against people from other states in Mood Indigo’s 49th edition scheduled between 26th and 29th  December in IIT- Bombay.

Stephen Mathew

[email protected]

Shivani Dadhwal

[email protected]

Priyanshu

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
Your Beat

Sustaining through Narcissism in College

By

 

If you thought college would be a fresh start after the grind of the school system, you are only partly right.

In spite of all the glamour-doused imagery on celluloid—all thanks to Dharma Productions and Balaji Telefilms—college is NOT all that. In college, you will be made to confront issues and situations that you would have never confronted before. Experiences that you have never been a party to. People you never thought you would meet. And in many ways, this unpredictable nature of college is what gives it the edge. Randomness shapes a routine, gradually. However, this transition can be highly taxing. Change always disrupts our balance, and to deal with such a disruption, we need a constant. This constant comes to us in the guise of narcissism.

A google search of the word ‘narcissism’ delivers rather alarming results: A disorder in which a person has an inflated sense of self-importance. Often, psychologists and writers try to distinguish between self-love and narcissism and declare the former to be a healthier exercise. Although there is no denying the fact that there is a disease called Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD), the practice of self-love can sometimes be undermined. In such a case, it becomes important to transcend the subtleties associated with self-love and practice narcissism instead. Self-love can sometimes be deceiving, in that it entails a certain level of responsibility towards others. There is an element of consideration involved. Quite possibly, one might not have the ability to indulge in this exercise at times.

Ovid’s “Narcissus and Echo” is a story wherein Narcissus, a beautiful youth falls in love with his own reflection, rejecting sexuality. Narcissism has been misunderstood to mean self-adulation of physical characteristics. Again, it is about that, but it is much more.

College somehow makes us more vulnerable to tension, because, from the safe space of school competition, it throws you into a world of versatility. You might have been the best at Fine Arts in your school, but the society President at your college is definitely better. This is when narcissism helps. It hauls you out of your insecurities. It gives you self-awareness and boost, that is often found lacking in college societies or academic circles.

The boost of self-importance goes on to define our behaviour. It is good to be self-absorbed for the simple assurance that “yes, you have got this.” Self-love fails us here, because it is considerate, and as previously mentioned, the faculty to be considerate for others might be lacking in personal crises. You need to be there for yourself, sometimes more pressingly than you need to be available for others. There is a lot of joy in giving, but such joy is retained in our potential to be happy in our own first. And given that we are, no doubt, a generation of burnt-out dreamers, which constantly needs validation and assurance, narcissism is the way forward.

College is about giving yourself time, finding your mood and your element, and that invites a lot of mental strain. So be a narcissist and applaud yourself, be a narcissist and claim you are the best until you are indeed the best.

As long as you are not drinking from a cup that has your picture in a victory pose or wearing a similarly styled shirt to college, you are fine. If you have already done these things, well, good luck.

Feature Image Credits: Mail and Guardian

Kartik Chauhan

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
DUB Speak

To the Batch of 2022

By

Here is a note from our Editors to help you embrace a world that feels new and scary (but not for too long).

  • Facing the Transition: School to College

NBC once used to air a sitcom called Community. Troy Barnes, one of the lead characters is a high school jock, but at Greendale College, hardly anyone raises a brow seeing him. It’s initially disappointing but eventually, Troy finds his weird bunch of friends and enjoys his life of leading the not-so-popular life in college.

The highlights of every school are its star students – the trophy-kissing champions, the high-ranking class toppers, the big-mouthed debaters, artists, writers, quizzers, and so on.

However, if the competition keeps decreasing, and hardly puts sweat on one’s brow, then one might succumb to pride and arrogance. Luckily, after high school, if you get enrolled in an educational institution like the University of Delhi (DU), it becomes an enlightening destination for a much-needed reality check.

Many ex-head boys and head girls, school toppers, the ones that might have worn the ‘Mr Popular’ and ‘Miss Popular’ sash in their farewell, would feel disillusioned because the world of college needs starting over.

You see, there are hardly any Karan Johar-style heroes in the college, hardly any people around whom the whole world revolves; it is like this film set and we are all members of the supporting cast.

The school debating champion might make a face on hearing better intellectual arguments made by members of various debating societies. The conventional poet from secondary school might now explore more spoken-word genres in the college literary circuit. Your magnificent high school self might look like a watered-down version of itself in college.

Therefore, it is up to us whether to continue fussing over having lost our high school glory or whether to pick up the pieces and work on building a new glory all over again.

In the end, Andy Samberg’s lines from the 2016 film Popstar would best sum it up – “Sometimes, you’re up. Sometimes, you’re down. But the trick is not to lose yourself along the way.”

  • Mental Well-being in College

College is a rollercoaster ride, with many ups and downs. Keeping up psychological wellness may appear to be a simple activity, yet a number of students battle to make that a priority in view of the measure of work they put in, consistently. They have a regular course with assignments, projects, extracurricular activities, sports, internships, along with a social life and 24 hours isn’t sufficient time in a day. The path to graduation, while maintaining a balance between social life and good grades is definitely not easy especially for the students just transitioning to college where, just a few months ago, they had to raise their hand to use the bathroom!

To the batch of 2022, you will endure stressful situations in your first-year. But it is important to not let that sink you and to find ways to cope with it. The experience of first-year is always sublime; suddenly, you are not a kid who would ask permission from their parents to go out, but a responsible person who will make wise and responsible decisions about their own life.

The pressure of fitting into the University culture can take a toll on your mental peace. You might end up thinking that you are not the perfect kid you used to be in school, and in reality, you might just not be and there is nothing wrong with it. The best way to maintain peace is to not compare yourself to others. This comparison leads to unrealistic expectations from oneself which makes us blame ourselves for certain things and situations that are beyond one’s control. Sometimes, we can be really harsh on ourselves without realising.

  • Coping Tactics

The toll your health takes on the distance from the familiarity of your home, maybe city, and definitely your school is also influenced by an intense need to compete (sometimes, you don’t even realise what you are competing for). This, to some extent, is not limited to a particular year in college. We do exactly what Yuval Noah Harari warned us against – “Nothing should be taken for granted, even if everybody believes it.” We take for granted the fact that it is a do-or-die world and college is the place to chisel yourself for it.

It takes some time to make peace with the fact that it could be a do-it-if-it-feels-okay or you-will-learn-it or you-do-not-want-to-do-it world, depending on how you navigate your way around the myriad of new opportunities that college offers. In fact, the very belief that it is your only chance to determine the course of your life by picking the right course in the best college, and hopefully getting it. Not being able to achieve it is disheartening, but inevitable for many considering that DU received 2,78,574 applications in the 2018-19 admissions season, and the odds of each individual aspiration being achieved with this number are moderate at best. Even probability, dear aspirants, is telling you to calm down and relax.

Marks and awards have always mattered, and will always matter in a materialistic world, but they will never be the endpoint of that world. For the sake of your health, a good rule of thumb would be to let go of your 18-year-old conditioning gradually, because it has prepared you to think of an ‘unseen, looming’ future. Everything has been justified to you – the cost of your deteriorating body strength and your mental well-being – by arguing that there is a brighter, safer, and more ‘stable’ future you are securing with the endless toiling. But the crux of the matter is – there will always be a future to be scared of and to chase, in true oxymoronic fashion. However, the present – right here when you are stepping into your college class for the first time – demands that you take things at your own pace and don’t participate in a race that tires you. It’s your year, and your life, no matter how many cut-offs or forms or society acceptances you think give it meaning- you choose, starting now, to pick your pace and path. In this new journey of life, have faith in yourself. As Christopher Robin from Winnie the Pooh says, “Promise me you’ll always remember – you’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”

With Love,

DU Beat Editors

 
Feature Image Credits: Debaangshu Sen for DU Beat

 

Anoushka Sharma

[email protected]

 

Anushree Joshi

[email protected]

 

Shaurya Singh Thapa

[email protected]

 

 

Keep Reading
By
Campus Central

When You Are Not in Any Society

By

Imagine not joining any society in college: would things be different? How would you make friends or create experiences? See college life from the eyes of someone who is not in any society!

The University of Delhi (DU) is prestigious for several things, including its societies and co-curricular activities. Societies are sought after, and the students look forward to joining these. Students in these societies are deeply passionate and spend hours every day practicing before and after college, going to competitions, missing classes. With so much time spent in one place, it is inevitable that you find friends and create experiences there.

But it is unfair to generalise these experiences; for many students, college is simply being able to have the gift of time and freedom. They can invest these wherever they want. They could miss a class or attend all, they could make friends slowly and organically from their own class or simply stick to their school friends, and they could make spontaneous plans after college because there is no practice or spend hours talking in their usual favourite spot in college. College fests are a fun time as they get to attend it with their college friend circles.

A common factor that all students who were not in any society talked about was the commitment that societies demand. The practices during college, missing of classes, hectic schedule, extra work, and drained energy every day were reasons to not join. Although they also struggled with notes and assignments, and not all of them attended every single class or kept 100% attendance, but they simply prioritised academics or a better mental and physical health.

Sumati from Kamala Nehru College comments, “I am pursuing Psychology without having studied psychology in school, so I had a tough first year and I only wanted to invest time here. I agree societies help people live college life to the fullest, but they can also put a huge burden or stress.”

Sanyukta Golaya of Indraprastha College for Women commented, “When I joined college, I was never quite as interested or inclined towards societies, the way I was towards my course. I was very clear that any time that I had after my classes would be spent making detailed notes and reading up for the lectures, I had the next day. I didn’t care whether not wanting to be involved in society work made me come off as a bore- I freely choose what I wanted to do with my spare time, and till date, I’m very content with my decision. I’ve managed to make friends, I’m happy with the way I’ve turned out in college, and I couldn’t be bothered whether others believed it to be ‘productive’.”

This perfectly brings out the false ideas of productivity that exist today. Contrary to the popular belief, these people are also able to pursue their passion outside of college through dance or music classes, writing for student magazines, going for MUNs, etc. Many of them find a way to hone their skills and follow their passion without investing their energy in any college society.

Being someone in the debating society, I know that a society can grow on you and you cannot imagine a life without it. Upon speaking to several students, I realised how life in its absence is also very special. Very few students said that they found college boring and, finding college life dull or lonely, they now look forward to joining something next year and the experiences it will bring. Others also talked about the perspective that having observed college for a while and settling in, they now felt ready to join something. But all students were happy with the choices they made, the effort they put in academics or outside and with the routine they chose in college.

Featured Image Credits: DU Beat

Shivani Dadhwal

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
DUB Speak

Why Students should consider Moving Closer to College

By

There exists a love–hate relationship with travelling for students, but here is why you should consider moving closer to campus.

Some students look at the commuting hours as ‘me time’, catching up on reading or brushing up their talents.

“It has some advantages too, I complete my work, and it also gives me time to read newspaper or books. The travel time is also used to compensate for the lost sleep,” says Anoushka Sharma, a second-year student of Delhi School of Journalism.But mostly, it is an exhausting task that renders them fatigued.

Metro stations like Noida City Centre, Dwarka, or Huda City Centre feature college students in their College or society T-shirts, at extremely early hours of the day, with a book in their hand, earphones plugged in, desperately trying and failing to attend that 8:30 lecture.

A four-hour-commute is not an uncommon occurrence for many students of the Delhi University as, due to personal reasons or otherwise, they don’t shift on-campus, or to a PG or hostel close to college.

However, research has proven that a long commute could have detrimental effects on the health of the subject. Be it short-term harms like irritability or fatigue, or long-term ones like hypertension, depression, or risk of heart-attack. Even though these may seem like a far-fetched outcome at the moment, there are, still, inconveniences that students face on a daily-basis.

Many students throughout the University have classes scheduled at 8:30 A.M., which to be fair, is a very decent time to begin education. But for that, students have to leave their abodes as early as 6:30 – 7:00 A.M., and are often late to lectures. A more convenient option for them is to skip that class, and miss on that particular subject.

Sakshi Arora, a first-year English Honors student of Gargi College says that her first lecture gets skipped often, because if she were to be in college at 8:40 A.M., she would have to wake up at 6. And it is fact widely acknowledged that early-morning sleep in winters is rather close to all of our hearts.

Delhi University is famous for its extra-curricular and each society demands a lot of time. In doing so, the commute gets pushed to later hours, which is a problem for a lot of the students, especially girls. “I have been commuting from Gurgaon to North Campus for three years now. While the metro is comfortable, I still consider taking a PG every other week because of the long college hours, thanks to being involved in multiple college societies and other ECA work,” remarks Bhavya Banerjee, a third-year student of Daulat Ram College. “I have a curfew which I cannot miss, and it means compromising on my college, or society work,” Jaishree, a second-year Ramjas student adds.

The Delhi Metro is applauded and appreciated by almost all of the students. “My sister taunts me by calling metro my second home. I am in the metro for 4 hours every day,” Sharma says. But the catch here is that the metro isn’t as well developed in the peripheries as it is in Delhi. Even after the end-stations, most of the students have to take a bus, an auto, or a cab to reach their destination. While metro could arguably be called a safe method of travel, it usually doesn’t put an end to all of the problems.

Another problem that students face is the holes that commute burns in their pockets. College students are anyway on a non-liberal budget, and a considerable chunk of it is spent on autos and metros every day. “I pay a lot more for commute in a month than my college tuition for a semester,” Sakshi added.

Many colleges offer on-campus accommodation for students and it does not get much more convenient than that. Imagine waking up at 8:15 for an 8:30 lecture, and actually making it to class on time!

The three or four hours spent going to and for could be put to better use. I won’t be preachy and say that you should study every minute you get. But think of improving your debating skills, or practicing extra with the theatre group, or helping the kids at the NGO for an extra hour. There is a lot you could do when you have 240 extra minutes in your day.

When you get home, your commute does not stop there, the hangover is still following. The fatigue demands at least an hour of rest, and another for procrastination. So the four-hours that are actually seeping from your day are much more than that in actuality.

Many great PG and hostel facilities are coming up, not just around the North and the South campuses, but near off-campus colleges as well. So if living conditions are a problem, you could check that off of your list. If budget is a concern in this case, these rooms are also available on double or triple sharing basis, which substantially reduces the cost.

We have students like Akarsh Mathur, who say, “travelling from Noida is so difficult, that I go to college once a month.”

I leave you all to be the better judge of your situations, and understand that time is the most important resource that we have. We must not waste it.

 Image credits: DU Beat

Maumil Mehraj

[email protected]

 

Keep Reading
By
Campus Central

Backbeat and IIT Kanpur: An Account of the Controversy

By

Backbeat, the music society of Ramjas College of DU, alleges being harassed and thrown out by the administration of IIT Kanpur at Antaragni 2018.

The team from Ramjas College reached Kanpur on the 24th of October. Members of the team allege that there was a delay of about three hours to get them checked into their rooms. They claimed that the rooms allotted to the girls hadn’t been cleaned at all and were unhygienic to the point that there were sanitary napkins thrown here and there in the washroom. The second problem was that the room wasn’t entirely allotted to the girls from Ramjas College. The administration had apparently told them that only six-seven more girls from different colleges would be staying in the room, and yet, the next morning 30 more girls barged into their room.

After a heated argument that ensued with the coordinator, the girls were provided a three-bedroom flat in the non-teaching staff area of the campus. At around 1:15 – 1:30 a.m. of the penultimate day of the fest, the girls received a call at their accommodation, assumingly by the IIT Kanpur electricity board on grounds that there is a logistical complaint regarding their flat. However, the girls claimed that they had neither made any such complaint nor was there any issue regarding the electricity. The callers kept on asking for the house number of their accommodation even after they had been told that there is no problem or complaint made by them regarding the electricity. Eventually, the girls cut the call without divulging information about the house number, thinking it to be some silly prank. However, they claimed that they were alarmed and called the other members of the society about 20 minutes after the incident had taken place. The male members had been given an accommodation facility about 2.5 kms away from that of the girls and had to walk the whole distance in the night.

After half an hour of the phone call, there was heavy knocking on the door. The same persisted for around five to ten minutes, without any voice or explanation. The Backbeat members further claimed that in an attempt to protect themselves, they went to the end of the room and armed themselves with whatever they could find and did not open the door. Ten minutes after the banging had ceased, the male members reached the girls’ accommodation and made the guards check the whole building. The guard did claim that a certain individual from the students’ team was there at the door and then kept changing his statement as to who it was. Later, the police arrived at the scene and the security guard apparently changed his statement and admitted to be the person who knocked on the door saying that it was a routine patrol.

While on the way to a new accommodation, the students were stopped by the officials who claimed that they had a meeting with the chairman who deemed them (Backbeat) as ‘anti-social’ elements and a threat to the fest. The officials then demanded the students to vacate the premises at the earliest. The students immediately asked for an official notice for the same and were told, “Fifteen-twenty minutes main bhago nai toh maar ke bhagayenge” (Evacuate within fifteen-twenty minutes or we will hit you till you’re forced to leave).

As the male members made way to their hall, they were greeted by a horde of guards who were stationed to ensure that they pack and leave immediately. After a while, a car stopped outside the hall and the IIT Registrar allegedly stepped out and started pushing the society kids around. The members claimed that this behaviour also hurt one of the kids who had visual impairment.

 


View this post on Instagram

Regards to everyone, First of all we’d like to state that we’re thankful to each and every society in the university circuit who stood up for us and would also like to show some very heartfelt gratitude to ‘Escape Artist’ who even came with us to the police station and stood by us, after the whole incident went down, we’re grateful to people who actually did boycott the competition and to all those who didn’t, we’re grateful for your verbal support too, we realise that everyone invested a part of their heart in making, practicing and finally polishing their piece, and the only reason to come to a 6-7 day long fest is to perform it, so we’re sorry to ask all of you to boycott the competitions, the request to boycott all competitions and the fest was something which got added to the verbatim in the heat of the moment, Now addressing the elephant in the room, this is not about the struggle of a single society, rather an attempt to make people aware of what goes down behind the curtains and how recklessly as important issues as physical safety, health and mental health are handled by a college fest administration, So it all began on the very first day, students of our society reached the IIT Campus at about 9:45 – 10:00 pm on the 24th of October, we had to wait for 2-3 hours to just check in and then rooms were alloted to us, The girls’ room was not cleaned at all and it was unhygienic to the point where there were used sanitary napkins just thrown around in the washrooms (find attached pictures), the commode had blood stains on it, it was already a very tiring day for everyone from the journey and then the whole registration process, the hospitality team of Antaragini was informed and they blatantly refused to take any solid action then and there, and instead laughed and chuckled about the whole situation, they were willing to take no action, after a lot of deliberation they gave the students a key to a common room, The coordinators assured us that apart from Ramjas female participants, only 6-7 more girls will stay in the room, which did happen eventually only till about 7:30 in the morning, 30 more girls from a different college barged into our room,(to be cont.)

A post shared by Backbeat (@backbeatramjascollege) on

In the video posted by Backbeat on its Instagram page, an adult can be heard saying, “Thappad marunga keech ke, dimag theek ho jayega sab“, in response to “Bhaiya, haath mat lagao.” 

The incident caused a major stir in the music circuit of Delhi University, with several societies sharing the video on their respective platforms. “It is important for people to know what really happened and to voice out against this unjust behaviour and call out the perpetrators to accept punishment for their wrongdoings. Stand with Backbeat. Stand with Justice,” said Neeraj Brahma Boro, a member of the Music Society of Kirori Mal College. There can be valid reasons to debar the participation of any society for misconduct, however, to ask an outstation society, with female members, to vacate accommodation immediately in an unfamiliar city (Kanpur) compromises the safety of students. The organisers should address this issue with the utmost importance as it sets a wrong precedence and may discourage the future participation of outstation societies.

DU Beat correspondents contacted the members of Antaragini’18 team but didn’t get any statement as the representatives refused to comment.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat

Haris khan

[email protected]

 

Keep Reading
By