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Lady Shri Ram College for Women

Dalai Lama addresses students at LSR, inaugurates new academic complex

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His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama visited Lady Shri Ram College for Women on the 20th of March 2014. Talking about morality, ethics and the idea of a healthy inner-self, he spoke on “Success, Ethics and Happiness”.

Initially scheduled to start at 12: 30, the spiritual leader arrived for the inauguration of the new academic complex at around 2 p.m. With the sound of the gong marking his arrival, he first inaugurated the Aung San Suu Kyi Centre for Peace and then the Dr. Bharat Ram Academic Complex. This was followed by the lecture in the auditorium.

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During his address to the audience at LSR, His Holiness spoke of inner-wealth, stating that inner-happiness was above all material wealth. With the ideals of universal responsibility, compassion and altruism dominating the speech, he also focused on social responsibility. While speaking to the set of young girls, he emphasised the importance of the female community to create a better 21st century. He believes that they should play a more active role to bring compassion and empathy to the world. He also appreciated India’s secular framework, stating that it was the only nation in the world where people of all faiths and religion lived together.

Coming to ethics, he spoke of ethics being a necessity for a peaceful and happier world. He says, “Success requires ethics. Ethical life means honesty. Honesty brings trust. Trust brings friendship. Friendship brings unity. Unity leads to a more peaceful world”.

 

His ideas were followed by a series of questions that members of the audience wanted to bring about in the discussion. Students and faculty raised questions about the definition of success as well as questioned ideas of whether happiness could exist without spiritual belief. The religious leader says that even non-believers can be happy as long as there is awareness. On defining success, he stated that when at the end you are at peace and happy, that is success.

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The event closed with the vote of thanks presented by the Students Union President of the college, Tanvi Bist. This was followed by Yashaswini Basu, the Cultural Secretary of the college presenting his holiness a long life prayer with the signature of students and it’s recital in Tibetan by the college students.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama will also be visiting Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) on the 24th of March on the occasion of the college’s Annual Day.

Image Credit: Mugdha for DU Beat

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News

499 doctoral degrees, 162 medals given at DU Annual Convocation

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On 14th March 2014, University of Delhi conducted its 91st Annual Convocation for Conferment of Degrees. Candidates who emerged successful in examinations of 2013 were awarded in the Convention Hall of the Viceregal Lodge, University of Delhi. Among these degrees there were 499 doctoral degrees, 35 DM/MCh degrees and 162 medals to be conferred upon the successful students.

Lt. Governer of Delhi and Rector of Delhi University, Najeeb Jung was the Chief Guest at the event who also happens to be an alumnus of Delhi University. The Vice Chancellor of Delhi University, Dinesh Singh welcomed the Chief Guest to be a part of ceremonial procession along with the Pro Vice Chancellors, Director of South Campus, Dean of Colleges, Treasurer, Registrar, Deans of all Faculties, Principals, Executive Council and Head of Departments of Delhi University.

“I do not know if these prizes mean what they should really mean to the young minds, therefore I am largely speaking to them. You must think how this recognition can be put to good use and what the real duty that descends upon you is. These medals are conferred upon you to encourage and keep working for a bright future of India”, said Vice Chancellor Dinesh Singh to the 700 people who were present at the gathering.

The Lt. Governer Najeeb Jung said,” There is no greater pleasure than having the opportunity to speak to these young minds who have this enormous quantum of energy seemingly waiting to burst forth and contribute to various facets of life. This is the time for you to understand the value of internal and external peace, forthrightness and openness to accept viewpoint of others and an intrinsic belief in having an inclusive society which will only lead to peace in our country” at the annual convocation.

He quoted the verse from Rubayyat of Omar Khayyam translated into English in 1859 by Edward FitzGerald,

“Dreaming when Dawn’s Left Hand was in the Sky
I heard a voice within the Tavern cry,
“Awake, my Little ones, and fill the Cup
Before Life’s Liquor in its Cup be dry.”

He emphasised on the need to remain empowered and proud, to say, “I am the master of my fate and captain of my ship” while choosing from the unlimited number of choices that life offers to the young souls at present.

“I am happy to receive the award and all my family and friends are very happy at the award conferred upon me by the University”, said Neha Lal, a BA(Honours) Journalism student from Lady Shri Ram College (LSR) who won the University Medal for securing the highest marks in her course at Delhi University.

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Hans Raj College

Day 1 at Hans Raj’s Annual Cultural Event: Of dance and drama

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The Fine Arts Society and Dramatics Society of Hans Raj College organised Annual Cultural Event on 12-13th March. The event aims to bring all the cultural societies of the college together to perform for the home crowd.

Chief Guest for the event was Dr. Suchitra Gupta – Deputy Dean, Culture and Youth Affairs, University of Delhi. She said, “I appreciate the effort of college authorities for organising this cultural event in the cultural week alloted by the University.” The event was also attended by the college principal, Dr. VK Khwatra; ECA Convenor, Mrs. Sonal Gupta; Hindi Dramatics Head, Mr. M.P Sharma and other teachers of various departments.

The first day began with the Rangoli Making in front of the auditorium with participation from both students and teachers. This was followed by Swaranjali – the music society of college performing it’s Indian choir composition called Pratham Gajavadana Dhyaye Sada. After the spiritual Ganesh Vandana, the lamp lighting ceremony took place. All the guests for the day lit the holy lamp.

Dr. V.K. Khwatra while addressing the audience said, “Cultural activities are the essence of one’s college life. Irrespective of what your future plans are, each student should go through the process of joining a society in college and doing something productive along with studies.”

The performances started with Terpsichoreon – the choreography society of college performing their annual dance production. A 10-minute dance act on the theme, “personality fear” talked about how we should accept and acknowledge this fear because one can by no means overcome this personality fear.

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Siddhi Jain with her Bharat Natyam Performance

Siddhi Jain, the ECA entry for dance performed Bharatanatyam for the audience. The act performed was a ‘Pushpanjali’ – which means an offering of flowers. Siddhi is a disciple of Guru Jayalakshmi Eshwar and has been learning Bharata Natyam since the age of five years. She has also performed in Japan under the cultural programme JNESYS.

Oorja – the western dance society performed thereafter. The western dance was performed on a medley of various hindi and punjabi songs. Tanushree Pande, the president of the society said, “Oorja is the only society to have bagged a chance to perform with world’s best Latin dancers at IFL 2013. We consider this as a great achievement.”

Santosh – a Sanskrit honours student of the college was handling fillers in the event. He was entertaining the audience with his Hindi shayari.

A Kathak dance was performed by a Srihari Madhav, a trained Kathak Dancer. He is also an ECA entrant into the college for dance and is part of Terpsichoreon. He started with a ganesh vandana by Late Guru Pandit Durga Lal which was followed by conventional kathak performance on Panjitji’s compositions in teentaal. Srihari who is trained Kathak dancer from Kathak Kendra, the national academy of Kathak dance says, “During my childhood, a teacher used to come to train my sister. I just joined in then. Not many male dancwers go out to learn this dance form but a form like this stays with you for life.” Srihari is a proud performer for CWG 2010 Youth Festival and Didacta Education Fair in Hanover Germnay.

Day one ended with a performance by Hansraj Dramatics Society who presented their much acclaimed production ‘Holi’. The play has won the first position at SGTB Khalsa, Daulat Ram College and Jesus and Mary College. Holi, a story about a bunch of hostel friends showcases the different levels of temperament of today’s youth. A play that projects the events happening in a single day talks about the realistic lifestyle of a college hostel and how the timeline changes from day to night. The production has also won awards at Dyal Singh College, Hindu College and St. Stephens College. Purusharth Budhiraja and Nirmal Kothari, actors for the production have also bagged the best actor awards. Mrs. Gupta, the chief guest who is also an eminent theatre personality gave members of Holi a small feedback and expressed her desire to have one common theatre production for the whole university.

Mrs. Sonal Gupta, the ECA Convenor said, “It is great to see how all the societies of the college excel in various competitions all over the country. It is a matter of great pride for the college.”

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Interviews

Exclusive Interview: Bewakoofiyaan with Ayushmann Khurrana and Sonam Kapoor

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From talking about the “bewakoofiyan” they did in college, to exploring the urban and corporate side of Delhi with their upcoming movie Bewakoofiyan, we sat down with Ayushmann Khurrana and Sonam Kapoor recently. Hear them speak about love during recession and the experience of working together as co-stars for the first time. Plus, Sonam gives our readers some tips on budget fashion and questions the radicalism of Ayushmann’s dressing sense.

Presenting Sonam Kapoor and Ayushmann Khurrana in conversation with our correspondents Ishika Gupta and Iresh Gupta (Videographed by Abhinav Arora).

Ishika : Tell us something about Bewakoofiyan and what is it that students will love about your movie?

Sonam : This story is about how love is more important than materialistic needs. Sometimes you get to relationships or get married to people for various reasons like money, job or education. But sometimes you need to be with someone because you love them, because they make you happy and he/she is a nice person. And I think that is the most important thing and at the same time very basic and simple. But kids or young people these days are actually forgetting that. They get to relationships saying that “She is hot” or “She is sexy.”

Ayushmann : (laughs) Sketch of the film is that this guy (points toward himself) is jobless. And his girlfriend earns more than him and she is hot. The father has a problem with that, of course. The sketch is very simple but the story is unusual, it is realistic. It is not those typical rom-com movies. It is based on recession.

Iresh : This is a very unique pairing for the movie. You guys have been paired for the first time together. So how was it working with each other? Like comparing to your co-stars in the past?

Ayushmann : TERRIBLE! It was really bad… It is the first time I am working with a star. I have worked with debutants in the past. Yes, of course she is a star! Lets be straight now. Earlier I thought she is a fashion icon, so the pairing will be quite odd and unusual with I being a guy next door and she being a fashion icon but when I got to know her, personally I got to know that she is very simple, sweet and sorted and she has seen life so I have learned a lot from her, not only how to be on camera but also how to be off camera.

Sonam : (hugs Ayushmann) Okay, honestly it was amazing working with him. Actually, I have never had the same co-star in any film. Everytime I do a film it is someone else. So how is it working with him? The only person I have worked with twice is Abhishek (Bachchan). One was Delhi 6, the other one was this not so happening film, Players. Everybody else has been new. I have worked with 10 different heroes. (laughs) So yeah. He is awesome.

Ishika : As we grow old, we get freedom. With that comes a lot of responsibility and we get a lot of chance to exploit that responsibility. So what were the bewakoofiyaan that you did when you were in college?

Sonam : I only studied till the 12th. Unfortunately I could do bewakoofi only till high school. After that I started working. The biggest bewakoofi I have done in my life is not going to college. So people who are in college, please go to college.

Ayushmann : Bewakoofi in school, having crushes on teachers and seniors. That was crazy. The feelings are not mutual, so that’s the biggest bewakoofi. Apart from that, being an actor is also a bewakoofi. It is quite under weighed for someone who is not from the industry and is unaware about the frills of the industry. When people are judgemental, you have to be a master and completely in control of your head to be an actor. It is very difficult.

Iresh : You both came to SRCC to promote your film, so how was the experience in the university? Or Delhi as a whole, as the movie is majorly shot in Delhi and Gurgaon apart from Dubai?

Ayushmann : I was back with a bang in Delhi. It was my third film in Delhi. The city has a lot of character. There is Old Delhi and New Delhi. Jaise vicky donor purani delhi ki thi, yeh nayi dilli ki film hai. It is more urban. This is the first time we are exploring the urban side of Delhi, its corporate side like Gurgaon and Cyber.

Ishika : When we are in college we have a very minimal budget and everyone wants to look good. So what advice will you give to the students about budget fashion?

Sonam : Go to Dilli Haat, pick up every accessory possible for 100-200 bucks, get a kurta or anything from any of the markets and accessorize yourself and you will look beautiful. I think so. I guess it is all about mixing and matching, being artistic, being yourself and having an expression.

Ayushmann : I don’t know if I should talk about fashion or not. Fashion for me is a mood swing. If you feel like an introvert one day, you can be in jeans and a t-shirt. If you feel like radical or an extrovert one day, you can be radical to fashion. I am only radical when I am with Sonam. Otherwise I am okay with my jeans and t-shirt. When you are with Sonam, you have to make an appearance. There is an extra pressure to look good.

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Arts & Culture

Food Review: Dig in at Diggin!

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The new eating joint, Diggin, right opposite Gargi College at AnandLok shopping centre has caught quite a few eyes ever since its opening around the annual fest of Gargi college this year.

The ambience of the place will definitely seem inviting as you step inside with a brightly lit dine-in area and painted walls. The book shelfright next to the entrance sets the feel of the place from the start. Diggin also has an outdoorset up for those good weather days when you can use a great ambience and food. The staff is friendly and will make you feel at ease and even volunteer to click your photos.

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The food at Diggin has its good, okay, bad and amazing moments. The usual delights of the place are its pasta especially Penne Arrabiata, Mint-Oreo shake, Gelato and Rocher ice cream, however, you can also enjoy their pizzas which would not disappoint you when it comes to their size. What probably won’t live up to the expectations is the blueberry cheesecake ice cream (you might enjoy it too, you never know!) and crème brulee.

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Despite the good enough food, the one thing that’ll keep you from coming back again is crunch it puts on your wallet. The restaurant is not price friendly despite being opposite a Delhi University college and that is its major shortcoming. An interaction with a Gargi student who has visited the place a couple of times revealed that “The food is good but it is hideously expensive, the prices are not at all compatible with a DU student’s budget”.

We all know how important money is in college life and how frequently we end up splurging our monthly pocket money in a day or two, however, if you are in a mood to splurge and don’t know where and how to spend it we would recommend you to go and try out Diggin and hopefully the burn in your pocket won’t hurt much after a good and heavy meal.

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Hans Raj College

Hansraj’s Vanijya Utsav: 2 days of banks, stocks and more

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The Commerce Department at Hans Raj College organised their Annual Department Fest, Vanijya Utsav 2014 on the 21st and 22nd of February. The participants in ‘Vanijya Land’ (as well termed by the organisers) were seen solving case studies, formulating marketing strategies, dealing in stock, acting like banks, quizzing and taking part in certain games and fun events that were organised.

Prof. JP Sharma, Head of the Commerce Department from Delhi School of Economics inaugurated the event. The event started by launching “De Facto” – The Annual Commerce Magazine by Commerce Society.

Vanijya Utsav was divided into two kinds of events namely – flagship events and filler events.

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Most of the Flagship Events had hosted their online preliminary round before the main event. Although this was not an elimination round, it provided the winners a direct entry to the Campus Finals.

Except for the on-campus events, The Bank Theory an online event comprised of a case study based in ‘Vanijya Land’ was conducted. In the same, in order to earn a coveted bank licence, participants had to propose the best profitable plan in a real life scenario. Prizes worth rupees three thousand and books worth rupees one thousand were given away as prizes.

Flagship Events comprised of Chase The Case (Case Study Competition), Marketing Mayhem, Bullzai (Mock Stock Competition), Bizinga (The Business Quiz) and Be the Bank (Banking Event).

Chase the Case

The case study competition required participants to analyse various case studies provided to them, formulate solutions and present them in front of the judges. Round 1 and Round 2 of the prelims were held on the first day of the event while the finals were held on 22nd February. Sukrit and Vaibhav from Delhi Technological University (DTU) bagged the first position and were awarded Rs. 10,000. Arushi and Nikhil from Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) and Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies (SSCBS) respectively, were adjudged second and won Rs. 5000 as a team.

Marketing Mayhem

Marketing Mayhem gave participants an opportunity to step into the shoes of the marketer and analyze the ever-changing consumer needs and come up with innovative solutions to gain that elusive competitive edge. The event took the participants through a journey ranging from product development to brand resurrection, to winning over the customers with innovative strategies and putting their creativity to a test. Representatives from SSCBS, Mudit and Mayank were declared the winners and Abhinav and Akash from Hansraj were the first runners-up. Rupees ten thousand and five thousand were awarded to both the winning teams respectively.

Bullzai

An event modeled on the stock market that made participants taste the extremities of the equity market. Book building, short selling, high funda derivatives – a game based on luck, skill and strategy stock market saw the maximum participant turnout in the event. Both the top positions were bagged by teams from the host college. Vikas and Gautam were adjudged the winners and Sahil & Ayush took away the second spot.

Be the Bank

Be the Bank, whose finals were also held on the second day of event, broke the mainstream idea of being a customer to the bank. Instead it challenged the participants to step into the shoes of banker and groove their way to survival in economy. Mohit and Shivam from Ramjas were the top scoring bankers in the events whereas Palash and Ishan from the host college secured the second position. Their bank accounts were also credited with Rs. 15000/- in total.

Bizinga – The Business Quiz

Bizinga -The Business Quiz covered not only questions from the business world, but also from other fields, which in some way or another, will have a business connect. Teo Thomas from ICAI bagged the second position and won Rs. 3000/- and Manu Abbi and Om Prakash from Delhi School of Economics were declared as the winners. Cash Prize of Rs. 5000 was awarded to this team.

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Filler Events

The Soccer Strategist, a filler event saw the teams trading amongst themselves by negotiating or trading at the market price at the changing price levels of shares of two football teams, the live match for which was being played by the volunteers right in front of participants. Prizes more than Rs. 1000/- had to be awarded and Anurag and Pranjal from Hansraj College won the competition.

Along with these flagship events, Vanijya Land had various fun and light events going around. Pictionary, Brand Mania (Advertisement related) and Logo Identification grabbed interest of many participants. Prizes were given out in kind for these events in the form of books and chocolates.

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Bazinga

Bazinga: Arvind Kejriwal to become the new Vice Chancellor

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Disclaimer: Bazinga is DU Beat’s weekly column of almost-believable fake news!

The real reason for Arvind Kejriwal’s resignation as Delhi’s Chief Minister has finally been unearthed. He is set to become the new Vice Chancellor of Delhi University. Kejriwal wanted to target the youth and wanted to bring about change in the nation. He has now discovered the perfect way to do so by directly associating with the students and grooming them to make India a better nation. Party sources confirmed his appointment as the Vice Chancellor and he will be taking over from the next semester.

Kejriwal is set to revamp the education system of the University by introducing several new diploma courses. Some of them are based on how to do a sting operation and learning to stay hungry for several days for fasting purposes. He is also set to introduce a post graduate course called Master of Dharna Management. It will be a full-fledged two year program. Apart from this he will add Muffler Designing as a mandatory subject for under graduates of all courses as a recreational activity.

He believes that if every individual in the country has the basic training of conducting sting operations, it would help catch many corrupt officials and students are the best place to start. As a believer of peaceful protests he aims to teach students how to respectfully defy authorities to get their own way in life. An Aam Aadmi Party official said that these courses are as important as values and ethics and hence, need to be instilled into students from the very beginning.

This is just the beginning and a lot more is yet to come. It will be interesting to see how many well educated well trained anarchists come out of Delhi University after spending four years under the Kejriwal regime and what they make of the nation.

Disclaimer: Bazinga is DU Beat’s weekly column of almost-believable fake news!

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Hindu College

Highlights of Hindu College’s Mecca 2014

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A rock night with Papon and the East India Company, a night full of dance with DJ Nucleya of Sunburn fame and Mohit Chauhan’s voice to wrap-up the three day fest – major events at Mecca 2014 in one line.

Along side elaborate crowds in the evenings, the fest was also rife with food and several informal events.

We list out all of it for you!

A devotional beginning

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Image Credit: Gurman Bhatia for DU Beat

The Annual festival of Hindu College, Mecca started on 20th February. Deputy Commissioner of Police, S.P.S Tyagi, was invited as this year’s chief guest for the opening ceremony. The topic for this year’s festival is “Brilliant Bharat”, celebrating the cultural diversity ever present in Hindu as well as an emphasis on uniting these feelings of brotherhood. Following this formal commencement of Mecca, the cultural show kick-started with a semi-classical dance performance by the Indian Dance Society, Adrita. This was followed by another enthralling performance, with Iskcon mustering heavy support as their Hare Krishna Mahamantra (Search for Happiness) were chanted and danced to by the engaged audiences.

Rock Night with Papon

Angaraag Mahanta who is more famously known to us as Papon performed at Hindu’s Rock Night along with his band East India Company on the first day of Mecca 2014. A large crowd turned up cheering as Papon stepped on the stage and took a hold of his mike. He started the performance with songs like Khumaar (performed by Papon in Coke Studio) which talks about how a guy is passionately in love with a girl but has to spend a difficult day waiting for the night to come when he can see her.

Post by DU Beat.

He also sang many of his more famous songs including Dinae Dinae, Kaun mera from the movie Special 26, Kyon from Barfi! And Jiyein kyun from Dum Maaro Dum. However, what really got the crowd going were Papon’s little quirks and jokes as he explained the meaning behind his songs and how in life everything figures out in the end and you find what you are supposed to be, like he did despite being a college dropout.

Post by Angaraag PAPON Mahanta.

DJ Night with DJ Nucleya

The second day of Mecca 2014 saw Nucleya take over the stage in collaboration with MTV Indies. Performing for the first time in Delhi University, Nucleya kept the audience on their feet for almost an hour long set. A bass heavy electronic artist from New Delhi, he played all his major hits including Street Boy, Akkad Bakkad, Bangla Bass and also a remix of Bollywood tracks like  Dum Maaro Dum and the Sound Trippin produced Tung Tung, which the audience enjoyed immensely. 

 Star Night with Mohit Chauhan

After the first day that featured Papon and the East India Company, the closing act of Hindu College’s Annual fest Mecca 2014, was all about Mohit Chauhan.

The popular singer of Silk Route fame, came on stage at quarter to six and the crowd went crazy. He started the concert with his Rockstar single, ’jo bhi main kehna chahoon’. Even in the first song, he made sure to interact with the audience making them go ‘ya ya ya’ in order to match the lyrics. Maintaining the romantic mood of the song, he went on to sing ‘Kuch khaas hai’ and then Yeh dooriyan followed by Tum se hi from Jab We Met.

Oodles of food

So many performances and so many activities do definitely leave our stomachs growling a bit. However, the numerous food and beverage stalls at Mecca indicate that the coordinators of the event had already foreseen such hunger. Making it an essential condition to avoid the embarrassment of Mecca 13’s lack of food joints, the Organising Committee seemed to really prep up the event this year around.

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The cluster of food stalls in and around the Cricket Tree (C-Tree) had been converted into one of the major hangout spots of the festival. From the street favourites, Bhel-puri and chaat, to extensive preparations of Kathi Rolls and Shawarma’s, to elaborate wholesome lunch meals, the food stalls seemed to offer something for everyone. Yes, there was ice cream, a variety of popcorn and ‘Bangs‘ of flavour as well.

Informal Events

Apart from playing host to several major competitions, Mecca also included some informal events to engage the heavy traffic present at the college. These events, such as Face Painting, Paintball and Lazer Maze brought out a lighter side of the festivities.

lazermaze

Lazer Maze, a beat-the-clock gaming concept by the Start-up company Ent-Innova, involved an intricate heist mission, with its simple design creating quite a buzz around the college campus. The organisers were pleased with the response, considering their respective events were held at the same time as the major competitions. Paintball however, did not get the desired response as the Hindi lawns remained relatively deserted throughout the fest.

Winners’ Tally

Western Dance Competition

First Position: Mudra – Jesus and Mary College
Second Position: Verve – Sri Venkateswara College
Third Position: Oorja – Hansraj College

Nukkad Natak

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Gargi College’s Kshitij with their Annual Production Joota. Image Credit: Abhay Makhija for DU Beat

First Position: Gargi College for Joota
Second Position: Hansraj College for ‘Rihaai’ and SGTB Khalsa for ‘We, the people’
Third Position: Lady Shri Ram College for Jaha neelam hai Insaniyat and College of Vocational Studies for Lajja

Battle of the bands

First Position: Andolan
Second Position: Conundrum

Panache – The Fashion Show

fashionshow
The winning team from Lady Irwin College with the judge.

First Position: Lady Irwin College
Second Position: Pearl Academy of Fashion

By Akhil Goswami, Surbhi Grover, Isheeta Sharma and Mridul Sharma

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Hindu College

Papon’s ‘Khumaar’ grips Hindu College

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Angaraag Mahanta who is more famously known to us as Papon performed at Hindu’s Rock Night along with his band East India Company on the first day of Mecca 2014. A large crowd turned up cheering as Papon stepped on the stage and took a hold of his mike.

He started the performance with songs like Khumaar (performed by Papon in Coke Studio) which talks about how a guy is passionately in love with a girl but has to spend a difficult day waiting for the night to come when he can see her and moved on to an Assamese folk song that joins into a Punjabi folk song explaining how the song was about how India is united despite its diversity and even though our diversity might pose problems once in a while it’s all right because while the rest of the world is black and white, India stands out with all its colours.

He also sang many of his more famous songs including Dinae Dinae, Kaun mera from the movie Special 26, Kyon from Barfi! And Jiyein kyun from Dum Maaro Dum. However, what really got the crowd going were Papon’s little quirks and jokes as he explained the meaning behind his songs and how in life everything figures out in the end and you find what you are supposed to be, like he did despite being a college dropout. He also introduced his band mate Jinti who is professionally an automobile engineer but now runs cars through his guitar followed by a demonstration by Jinti on the same.

Papon ended his performance with “Banao” and a Bihu song for all his Assamese fans.

Right before Papon came on stage another artist performed on the stage of Mecca 2014, Jasleen Kaur Royal. Jasleen who is a Hinduite, has been a participant on India’s Got Talent and is currently working with Parikrama. She sang songs like “Pani da rang”, “Iktara” and “Shaam savere”.

Missed the performance? Here is another glimpse!

Post by DU Beat.
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Miranda House

Imtiaz Ali and Alia Bhatt visit Miranda House to promote ‘Highway’

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Director Imtiaz Ali and actress Alia Bhatt visited Miranda House College on 19th February for the promotion of their upcoming film ‘Highway’ which is slated for release on 21st February.

The programme started with the official trailer of the movie, popular songs like Pataka Guddi and Maahi Ve and a behind the scenes video of the movie being played. After that, Pratibha Jolly, the college principal officially welcomed them on stage where both of the stars talked about the movie and their experience while shooting the film. “I totally believe in girl power,” said Alia Bhatt while addressing the all girls’ crowd, “and Highway is true dedication to girl power.”

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Open only to students of Miranda House, the event was followed by an interactive session with the students. The students asked Imtiaz about his life as a student of Delhi University, his journey as a filmmaker and his inspiration behind his films. Alia was asked about her debut film, her character in Highway and how much she relates to the character she plays in the film. She also sang a few lines of Ishq Wala Love from Student of the Year on popular demand by the crowd.

After the interactive session, Imtiaz and Alia gave away free music CDs of Highway to the students who asked the best questions. As a memoir, the college principle presented hand-dyed scarves to the guests.

With the end of the interactive session, a small competition among the cultural societies of the college was held, which was judged by Imiiaz and Alia. Anukriti, the Hindi dramatic society of the college won the first prize and was really appreciated for their expressive performance. The second prize was won by Ariels, the English dramatic society.

“The experience was extremely exciting and equally tiring for the film club. From controlling the crowd that went berserk, to running around trying to get small details like Alia’s green tea right, all of it was worth it for we had an amazing time doing it” said Namita Aggarwal, the Film Club president of the college. “The event went successfully and that gives me immense satisfaction” she added.

Image Credit: Greta Khawbung for DU Beat

Post by DU Beat.
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