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The Legend is Back: Histrionica 2013

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“The only festival that celebrates the artistic you, and lets you discover new horizons. Histrionica is about you, me and us. Four Days of celebrating life”

A fest that inspires such a plethora of emotions must definitely be something special. At the Dramatics Society of Shri Ram College of Commerce, Histrionica is nothing less than the unifying edifice on which the society is built. In the field of dramatics, and more specifically, in DU theatre, such tales of passion are what sustain the spirit of the art that they perform. And it is this spirit that shall be celebrated with full gusto, at HISTRIONICA.

Since its inception  in 2004, it has been the endeavour of the Dramsoc to not remain confined by the proverbial mould of DU festivals, and hence, DIFFERENT has always been synonymous with Histrionica. It is the only festival of its kind in Delhi University, where the entire Dramatics community of DU celebrates and rejoices in each showcase as an expression of some unique creative idea and thought. And this year, Histrionica goes one step further.

Histrionica 2013, which will be taking place from the 14th to the 17th of February, promises to be the Mecca of all theatre lovers and the Holy grail of all music enthusiasts. To put it in their words, they’ve got “a li’l something for everyone.” From Charades, the Stage Play Festival, to Aahavan, the Street Event, they’ve got it all. Not only theatre, the festival this year round has a distinctly musical note to it. Livewire, a Battle of the Bands followed by a star band performance, and Saaz: the Classical Music Night will surely delight our music lovers. Apart from theatre and music, Histrionica also has a lot to offer to amateur photographers in DU. In association with the Delhi University Photography Club (DUPC), they are organizing SHUTTERS, a photography competition. And for all those who have secret dreams of acting or just like to have a bit of fun, SUM OF PARTS, the Skit Competition guarantees both. Last but not the least, comes JUST FOR LAUGHS, a comic afternoon with one of the best stand-up comedians of the country.

Looks like Histrionica 2013 is the place to be at? So follow them on their facebook page and website to know more exciting details, and also watch this space for more.

www.facebook.com/Histrionica.SRCC

www.histrionica-srcc.org

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DUB Speak

The perks (or not) of being a 3rd year

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Do you ever suffer from the common case of mild hysteria coupled with pangs of self derogation and just a tiny dash of “all-hope’s-lost”?

Well, then you’re probably a 3rd year student at any one of the colleges across Delhi University. But brace yourselves, for the waves of nostalgia that’ll wash over you in the final months of your life as an undergraduate are about to hit you, and hit you hard.

How could a poor soul deal with all of this at once without any sort of guidance and yet be expected to come out of it with flying colours (read marks)? We know it’s a stretch and that’s why we decided to help our brothers/sisters with a little sense of direction on how to go about this mammoth task.

  1. If you’re currently buried under a huge pile of projects/assignments/tests that need to be submitted within the next few days and the only way anywhere seems down;
    • Do not panic. Take deep breaths and try to organize the work and get a strategy in place even if you eventually end up not following your game plan. It just feels good to think you’re growing up.
    • For once, pay attention to the work and don’t just mindlessly copy from the nerd in class. This might be your last chance to take away something from three years of graduation.
  2. If the entrance exam results are driving you up the wall because you know you deserved more than that girl who didn’t even study;
    • Blame it on your bad luck. Tell everyone around you how you burnt the midnight oil trying to crack this one and how it was unfair on God’s part to put you through this. Not only will it help you get over the pain, but God might just take pity and turn your luck around.
    • Don’t depend solely on God’s benevolence and make alternative plans. Just because you didn’t clear this one entrance doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world. Be open to alternative avenues and a little exploration.
  3. For if and when nostalgia hits you;
    • Throw a get-together/party/picnic that’ll be the best memory of the three years past and the one story that you’ll tell your future generations proudly.
    • Accept that it’s almost over, tell the people around you that you’ll probably miss them and snap out of it. There’s no better way, honestly.

Disclaimer: These are general life rules and not written in stone. Try and mold them according to your needs/situation. The least that Delhi University teaches its students is ‘jugaad’.

 

Surya Rajappan
[email protected] 

Image source- www.anxiety.com

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Features

A Dialogue With The Dalai Lama

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Tomorrow, 14th January 2013 Delhi University and the Mind and Life Institute has organised a dialogue with His Holiness, The Dalai Lama to discuss Science, Ethics and Education. Apart from Dalai Lama, Professor Dinesh Singh: Vice Chancellor of University of Delhi, Arthur Zojonc: President of Mind and Life Institute, Richard J. Davidson: Professor of Psychology Wisconsin-Madison University, ThuptenJinpa:  Scholar neuroscience studies, Stanford University, Tania Singer:  Director Mask Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and brain sciences will also be present to talk about these topics.

The venue has been fixed at Convention Hall, Vice-regal lodge, University of Delhi and the first round starts from 9 am to 12:30 am and the second from 1:30pm to 4:30 pm. To participate in the event, the interested Delhi University Student has to send a write up of 100 words on why he/she wants to be a part of the discussion. We can say that it is a once in a life time opportunity to see and hear his holiness talk about the topic which so closely relates to us.

 

Aishwarya Chaurasia
[email protected] 

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Bazinga

Bazinga

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A lot of mortals, Mayans, their descendants and otherwise believe that the world shall meet its end on the 21st of December of this year that has gone by, viz. 2012. As always there is the ardent group of the nay-sayers, the non-believers, the sceptics. These members of highest pig-headedness as well as optimism are found in generous dosage across the face of planet which is apparently approaching its long-forecasted doom.

The supremely intelligent coterie of people, the powers that be at Delhi University however are those who belong to the yet another category of people, the most commonly found – the sloths. If our sources are to be believed, news is that all checking of examination answer-sheets has been put on hold. This affects courses from the undergrad level, and taking its path through the post-graduate courses infiltrates the doctorate programmes. The process of checking the answer-sheet will slowly begin only after the 21st of this month, after every agency confirms that life will go on.

Our source informs us that the authorities at the University feel that in the event of the apocalypse, the declaration of results leaves no one in good stead. One one hand, it calls the teachers to check scores of answer sheets, which may all be to no avail, thus expending their energies in vain. The other concern being that they “wish that the students end their time on Earth without the additionally depressing knowledge of their scores”, though exceptions may abound for the sundry genii who populate the University in peaceful cohabitation. For them, we offer our commiserations.

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DUB Speak

College Misfits

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Every college of Delhi University has a culture of its own which defines it. The culture is as instrumental in getting the college a ranking on the glossy pages of the most-prestigious education magazines, as it is in getting its students to feel what they do about the dynamics of the subject that is, “college and me”.

One of the most unfortunate things that could ever happen to a student, all strapping him up for the big-bad world is that he finds himself fenced in by people, fellow students he is not able to associate with. (This statement is made, notwithstanding the age-old adage- “It’s all in the mind”).

Following is what the self-confessed misfits had to say about the college they are still struggling to adapt to the ethos of.:

Shri Ram College of Commerce:

I have always been rather flippant about things and more creative and subjective than moulded into a thought frame which gives me opinions about what’s happening in this world in general. Encountering people by the dozen everyday in college, who would kill to glamorise their CVs and who swear by the “B-plan and Case Study lexicon” in all their discussions, and with little encouragement by the college authorities to talk about activities I could more relate to, like music and Art, I have just never been able to feel that sense of belongingness to this place, or more precisely, to the crowd. Also, the course (in my case) has never been an incentive to feel happy about the place.

Lady Shri Ram College:

I longed to find nutcases of girls around me in the campus, but in vain. The girls were (with no offence meant) always prim and proper, with hair in place, and a certain “LSR twirl” on their tongues. The fantastical college world I had imagined for myself in my dreams came crumbling down when I first set foot on the grounds of this institution. I almost resigned, calling “this” part of the world extensively phony. Though I still feel lost, I think I have come to terms with the culture of the college.

College has a huge role to play when it comes to shaping the person you would be. When they regurgitate the idea of, “choosing course over college”, they’re not entirely wrong, as when the chips are down, you have the refuge of your books at least because if the college refuses to choose YOU, you’re in for trouble for the next three years of your life.

 

Vatsala Gaur
[email protected]

Image credits: Additi Seth
[email protected] 

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Events

Bhaasha 2012 at St. Stephen’s

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India, with its cultural and linguistic diversity, has among the richest traditions of theatre in the world. Nearly every language, every region, has its own form of theatre. In an attempt to bring all these onto a common platform and learn from the various traditions in theatre characteristic to different Indian languages, the Shakespeare Sabha of St. Stephen’s College initiated Bhaasha, a Multilingual One-Act play competition in 2011.

In addition to this attempt, Bhaasha was also initiated to reflect the idea that that language, while being an important tool of theatre, is not the be-all and end-all. Bhaasha is the manifestation of our belief that theatre transcends language.

The idea of a multilingual theatre competition is pretty new to Delhi University and was conceived only last year. In its first year ‘Bhaasha’ was a bit of an experiment and entries were restricted to within Delhi University. We received wide and enthusiastic participation and the audience was treated to a feast of theatre over two days. The Shakespeare Sabha entered two non-competitive entries. The first was a short mime and the second, was ‘Ibn Batuta’, far more elaborate and wider in its scope. The production embodied the spirit and the underlying idea of ‘Bhaasha’. ‘Ibn Batuta’ featured seven regional languages. Actors recited poetry in Punjabi, Malayalam, Rajasthani, Manipuri, Tamil, Bangla and Urdu evoking themes and emotions varying from pathos to revolution. The concept and execution of the play was widely acclaimed. Of the competitive entries, it was Shunya, the dramsoc of Ramjas College that carried the honours with its brilliant play, “Bang! Bang! You’re Dead!” The honour of best director went to Aarushie Sharma and Heena Aggarwal of Ibtida (Hindu College) for their play “Us Paar”.

Having tasted success with our experiment, we have looked to expand the scope of Bhaasha. In only its second Bhaasha has gone national and much to our relief, multilingual. The entries this year are diverse in character and presentation.

This year, we open with ‘ABOHOMAN’, a play by St. Stephen’s based on an episode from the Mahabharata followed by ‘WHAT THE HELL’ – a comedy of emotions by Ibtida (Hindu College) inspired by Jean Paul Sartre’s ‘No exit’. Next up is ‘KUTTE’, Vayam’s (Shivaji College) adaptation of Vijay Tendulkar’s comment on the modern workplace. We wrap up the first day with Ankur’s (SGTB Khalsa College) take on Manto’s ‘THANDA GOSHT’.

First on 6th November is ‘LAAL PENCIL’, Astitva’s (Dyal Singh College) play on the association of a girl with her red pencil. Jadavpur University, Kolkata present their play ‘HARADHAN PRAMANIKER PROSTHAN’ – a growing up tale that connects six drastically different lifetimes together.  Following this, is ‘NOISES OFF’, a play by SRCC about the multi-fold, quieter behind the scenes narratives that play out their stories even before the real tale can begin. Last year’s winner, Shunya (Ramjas College) then presents ‘SAINTS AND SINNERS’, four stories, of four unscrupulous men. The concluding performance is that of the Hansraj Dramatics Society. Replete with songs, the play revolves around the passionate misery of Topan Lal Keshwani.

A brilliant experience and a celebration of Indian theatre, Bhaasha has been a treat for the audiences, performers, judges and organisers. We expect Bhaasha 2012 to be twice as good, twice as entertaining. And we hope that in the years to come Bhaasha will grow further and its underlying idea will come to fulfillment.

 

Visit their Facebook page for more details, http://www.facebook.com/Bhaasha.SSC.

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Events

Orizzonte- A Management Fiesta for School Students by DDUC

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There are numerous inter college fests held in DU all around the year. However, there are very few events organised for school students by colleges. Fests for school students allow them to catch a glimpse of college life and the kind of competitive events that take place at a university level. Addressing this, the Department of Business Studies, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College is organising Orizzonte, its first ever Annual Management Festival for Schools.

Scheduled for Tuesday, the 16th of October, Orizzonte will be held at the North Campus Conference Centre. The selected events are sure to challenge the students’ creativity, analytic abilities and reasoning. The competitions include core management related events like Product Designing, Stalking the Stock (mock stock), Biz Quest (business quiz) and Think Pot (group discussion). In addition to these, a Movie Making competition will be held, with the theme ‘Black and White’ and an entertainment quiz, The Couch Potato Quiz, will be a fun event with students answering question about TV show sitcoms and Harry Potter.

The program will also allow students to get a feel of what it is like to study Bachelor of Business Studies, the only undergraduate management course in the University of Delhi. The theme for the event is “Exploring new horizons” and the entire proceedings of the day have been carefully laid out, keeping the theme in mind. The main aim of Orizzonte is to inspire school students to think differently, and compete with each other on a whole new level. As Sanchetna Kapur, the President of Spettro the BBS society of DDUC puts it, “Through Orizzonte we hope to provide students an opportunity to explore the various aspects of management education and the prospects of the same. It will radically change the way a school student looks at competitive events and allow them to challenge themselves in a healthy manner”.
Further details about the event can be found at https://www.facebook.com/Orizzonte.Dduc

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Campus Central

Mid-semester Break – A Break? Really?

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Lying on a vividly-hued hammock in your backyard, on a breezy day (those not blessed with the expanse of a backyard and hence with a hammock can replace the imagery with a couch or what-please-you), poring over one of your favoured leisure reads, calling out for the mother whenever the glass of lemonade needed to be refilled…aah! THIS constitutes the paraphernalia of a perfect break, unlike the “break” the university had planned for us which, as I put, and most of my other fellow university slaves would agree to, was a blatant misnomer for one!

How would you exactly describe a break? Well, a period of time when there is complete detachment from anything paperback, hardcover, spiral-bound, containing the writings of a wasted someone (resemblance to “books” is purely intentional, yes). It does NOT entail being buried into a plethora of reading material, with eyes glued to the computer screen (for research purposes of course), counting the number of hours before we could finally shove that assignment away and take a breather!

Being an outstationer, a break is something I start looking forward to since the moment I set foot on the New Delhi Railway Station after coming back from one! This time I took more books and fewer clothes, owing to a string of tests after the college re-opens.

Also, the one thing that really upset hosteliers and day-scholars alike was the short span of the holidays. “Before the semester-system was put into practice, the break used to stretch for a minimum of ten days. These were over in a jiffy. Before I could raise my head from the ten thousand assignments that I had to complete, it was time to bid-adieu,” said an outraged Divya Mehrotra, a Pol. Science student of IP College, who also happens to be a hostelier.

The time of the month the break came about also did not go down too well with most students. “The break should have been clubbed with the Dushhehra holidays. This time of the year means more to us than just the festival. Now, I’ll have to miss classes to accommodate the festival,” quoted Nishita Banerjee, a student of History from LSR and a hurt Bengali.

So, the break which stands for a refreshing change from the mundane and routine life of attending classes, commuting, meeting deadlines, bunking classes (yes, that’s part of the routine, isn’t it?), didn’t really fulfill its promise. And, with the examination datesheet being declared JUST before the break began, it couldn’t get worse. Kudos to the VC!

 

Vatsala Gaur
[email protected]

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Campus Central

PTMs in DU: Hello, Military Camp!

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Remember the time when one weekend in a month (or two) neared like impending doom? Remember the circulars, placidly inviting all the dear parents for a “healthy” interaction with the teachers, about how their children were doing at school? I remember dying a little bit inside every time we got one of those. I also remember trudging along nervously, as I would lead my parents up the stairs, to the dark chambers of classrooms and staff-rooms where the teachers waited for the next victim to be slaughtered, while a friend would pass by with a throat-slitting signal and a whispered “yaar aaj to lag gai.” I remember sitting there awkwardly, being talked about in grave tones of concern like I wasn’t even there, having everything from my marks, habits, activities, uniform and even my friends being discussed and dissected. I wasn’t that bad a student, so I would alternate between taking my mom to the teachers who would praise me and those who were sure to land me a lecture on the way back.

Come college, I thought all that was over. But now after I’ve settled down into the comfortable routine of doing things my way, without having to worry about having my activities discussed later, DU decides to burst my bubble. Delhi University’s reported proposal to form a parents’ coordination committee sounds to me like taking a huge leap backwards in the process of student development. What has been supposedly proposed for better administration and policy making seems like not just another way to poke moral reprobation on students’ campus activities, but also as destroying the fundamental difference between college and school life.

When you become a college kid, you’re suddenly in a zone where you’re the only one looking out for yourself. There’s no one you’re really accountable to, be it about your attendance, your studies or the kind of friends you make. Your choices are your own and you’re the one who has to face the consequences. College is also probably the time when most of us learn to become responsible and somewhat independent, be it paying the fee (which I’ve experienced by now to be an extremely harrying process in DU), filling the forms on time or maintaining your attendance and proxies to be able to scrape through and give the exams. Part of the vibrancy and culture of college, which distinguishes it from school, is that when we’re dissatisfied, we can raise our voices because we know what we say counts, and the administration is accountable to US. If parents are going to be introduced in the college scene, for more “accountability” towards the students, what are the students going to do? We’re adults now, we hardly need parents as mediators. But I guess by the end of the year we might be seeing parents hawking around campus and parent-teacher meetings being held, in a back-to-school atmosphere where all that college will be left signifying would be a lack of uniforms.

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Campus Central

Biometric Attendence for Teachers Quite a Possibility

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Last month, the court had issued a notice to DU authorities after a PIL was filed by the Indian Council of Legal Aid and Advice, seeking to introduce a biometric system to register the attendance of lecturers and other teaching staff of the university. The PIL said that the attendance system should be introduced to ensure that a teacher “adheres to the teaching hours and days prescribed by the UGC and the university rules”. As per the UGC norms, the workload of teachers should not be less than 40 hours a week for 180 teaching days, apart from being available for at least five hours daily in the college. The working hours actually put in by a lecturer in Delhi University daily are just about three and half hours per day currently.

The affidavit filed by the registrar said: “The University of Delhi is committed to adopt and implement measures which are favourable and beneficial to the university system as a whole, such as the biometric system of attendance for its teachers in order to ensure their presence in colleges and ensure the participation of all teachers in the teaching/learning process.” Emphasising on the perquisites of teachers the affidavit read, “The teachers after the implementation of sixth pay commission have lucrative pay packets and are expected to fully justify the trust and confidence reposed by the society on them by working tirelessly for the betterment of the taught so as to prepare them for facing the challenges of life with confidence and knowledge.” The plea also stated that it seemed that the university was not implementing the biometric system under pressure from teachers’ unions. The university had tried to introduce the system in 2009, but had to hastily withdraw the order after Delhi University Teacher’s Association (DUTA) went on strike in protest.

This time around however, Delhi University has assured the Delhi High Court that it would adopt and implement the biometric attendance system for teachers to ensure punctuality. Following the assurance, the court disposed of the plea saying, “On the assurance given by the university, the court hopes and expects that biometric system of attendance would be introduced expeditiously.” The teachers are not expected to stall the move, which is aimed at uplifting the standards of teaching facilities.

 

Sakshi Gupta
[email protected] 

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