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Top 5 Books Banned In India

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The Indian government has always made pretentious claims about idealism and socialism, yet goes on banning books – a distortion of the freedom of expression – to claim their supremacy. About 20 books are officially banned in India currently, and imports of many others are denied by the customs department.

But are the bans really worth it? With greater permissiveness and social freedom, uncensored copies of the book are anyway floating freely on internet.

Indian writers and economists have said much harsher things. Yet, in all these years nobody has bothered to take them into consideration. Analysts from Reporters Without Borders rank India 131st in the world in terms in their Press Freedom Index, falling from 80th just 11 years earlier. Here are top 5 books that are censored in India.

 

1) The Satanic Verses

Amongst the oldest, yet youngest controversy as is evident from incidences of Jaipur literature festival. India was the first Country to ban the Book following the hostile response from the Muslims all over the Globe. He has been in a hiding for over a decade. Fatwa was imposed on Rushdie by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini for demeaning Islam. Rushdie had to live in hiding for nearly a decade.

2) The Great Soul

Joseph Lelyveld, the Pulitzer Prize winner and former executive editor of The New York Times penned a biography, “The Great Soul”, inspired by Gandhi’s life in India and South Africa. The reviews claimed that the book exposed Gandhi’s sexual life and bigoted views. Reacting to it, the book was called for a ban in Gujarat, Gandhi’s hometown has. But imposition of nationwide ban was abjured, citing Lelyveld’s clarification. Still book is not let inside India by customs department.

3) Nine Hours to Rama

Nine Hours to Rama written by historian Wolpert, a professor at University of California. This book is a fictional account of last day of Gandhiji’s lije and focuses on how Nathuram Godse planned Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination. It got banned because it exposed the poor security provided to Gandhi, and hinted at possible incompetence and conspiracy.

4) Lady Chatterley’s Lover

“Lady Chatterley’s Lover” by D.H. Lawrence was considered as obscene because it was an account of a women’s illegitimate relationship with her Gardner. It has depiction of sex and politics gave rise to controversies and was unanimously banned in India and Britain (though Britain lifted up the ban). But the ban is not followed as it should be and you can find books in some stored. The court said that the court does not protect those who take delight in “sexual pleasures and erotic writings”.

5) The Polyester Prince

Australian journalist Hamish McDonald wrote this account of Ambani’s rise in 1998, which remained unavailable in India, partly because of concerns that Ambani would sue if the book got released. The books asserted that many of the rules and regulations were turned down to serve his purpose.  An updated version” Ambani and Sons”, was written down which is available in book stores.

 

 

 

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Movie Review: Battle Royale (Japanese)

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Battle RoyaleBased on the novel of the same name by Kenta Fukusaku, Battle Royale shook the world when it first appeared on screen in 2000. Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Kinji Fukasaku, the movie raised quite a furor in Japan at its time of release and caused many eyebrows to be raised in film circles. However despite the gore fest that the movie undoubtedly is, its theme was finally endorsed by critics for the disturbing insight it led into the workings of power, and the critique of cruel and authoritarian governing systems that it engaged with. Set in the near future, the premise of the story is set by the prologue title card, which reads: “At the dawn of the millennium, the nation collapsed. At fifteen percent unemployment, ten million were out of work. 800,000 students boycotted school. The adults lost confidence, and fearing the youth, eventually passed the Millennium Educational Reform Act—AKA: The BR Act…” With juvenile delinquency on the rise and the increasing discomfiture of the government, the Battle Royale Act or the BR Act serves to create the means of keeping the youth in check and frightening them into submission. The Act allows for a randomly selected class of students to be selected each year to participate in the Battle Royale, a three day programme in which the students are whisked off to a remote isolated area where they are fenced in, given basic survival packaging and weapons and told to kill each other off. Only one person, the last one alive at the end of three days, may be allowed to go home safe, and if there are more than one left at the end of three days the explosive collars they have been forced to wear will detonate, killing them all. The movie begins with a Ninth Grade class ragging their teacher Takeshi Kitano. One of the students slashes him with a knife but is protected from resulting prosecution by one of the protagonists Noriko. Kitano resigns soon after in frustration. A year later while on a school trip the class finds itself gassed and kidnapped only to find they have been selected for the military sponsored Battle Royale programme and Kitano is the one behind it all. Now if any of them wants to get out alive, they must ensure that all their classmates are dead. Armed with an arbitrary weapon contained in their safety kit, which could range from a paper fan to a tin shield to a submachine gun, they are now set lose in an island where suddenly age old classmates have become a threat and friendships hold no value. We see how even as different people react differently, either by joining wholeheartedly in the blood fest, refusing to be party to it, hiding away or rebelling against the ones responsible for it, ultimately almost all fall victim to a game constructed by a power much larger than any one of them. The excessive gore, violence and bloodshed hence gets sidelined by the deep emotional and psychological trauma of the experience and it’s the latter which ends up being the more horrifying aspect of the film. Apparently influenced by both his own experiences when his class was drafted to help out during World War II and the highly competitive educational and work environment stifling the youth, the movie simply shows us in an extreme form problems which already exist today and solutions which governing bodies already recourse too albeit in a less palpable manner. Although often compared to Lord of the Flies, the movie’s premise is different in that this is the controlled aware adult world knowingly, consciously and deliberately manipulating the hapless youth into engaging in gory violence. The violence is never shown to be a natural impulse on the part of the youth in ungoverned situations, though it is shown to be an easy way out in times of desperation. This notion of organized planned state authorized barbaric toying with helpless citizens has been oft used in fiction, most notably in the recent bestselling book The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, which has often been compared to Battle Royale by critics. Indeed as far as dystopian Sci-fi or indeed cult movies go, Battle Royale is a must watch for every true connoisseur of films. My Rating: 4.5/5 ]]>

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MOVIE REVIEW: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

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Perhaps the fact that this is one of the most highly awaited and anticipated movies of the year will make any review of it redundant, since most people would have made up their minds to watch it irrespective of what the reviewers have to say. Hence the job of the reviewer, already difficult in the face of the hysterical fanaticism surrounding the Harry Potter franchisee, will be made even more challenging as a result of the insular audience. Moreover, in the event of a less than obsequious review, the reviewer shall almost certainly be torn apart by a furious fandom.

However be that as it may, it needs must be said that the movie based on the sixth installment of the Harry Potter series fails to meet up to expectations. Directed by David Yates and produced by Warner Bros., the film seems to have set out to create a story all of its own, merely borrowing a few characters from the original book in the process. To those familiar with the Harry Potter books the events as they unfold in the movie shall come as quite an unpleasant surprise. Although movies traditionally do diverge from the original plot in the novel to make it shorter or more visually appealing, the gross elimination of absolutely essential points in the book and its replacement with trivial frivolities will be a thorn in the flesh of every true Harry Potter fan. Gone are the detailed memories of Voldemort’s past that Harry explores during his sojourns in the penseive. Characters crucial to the story of the seventh book have completely failed to make an appearance while the culminating and highly anticipated fight between the death eaters and the students within the Hogwarts castle is entirely and inexplicably absent.

What results is a tame and insipid story full of school girlish romance and little else. Almost the whole of the movie focuses on the trials of the heart faced by the main characters, and while this was indeed touched upon in the original book, it seems to have assumed centre stage in the movie. The producers may have been trying to cash in on the massive Twilight craze with this cheap stunt, but the result is that the plot is a gigantic failure.

Not so the cinematic effects. While the corrupted storyline might cause it to be voted the worst Harry Potter movie plot wise, the breathtaking cinematic effects are sure to raise its stock sky high. Brilliant direction and exquisite animation and special effects make the movie an intensely wonderful visual experience. Harry Potter’s world, albeit the twisted one of the movie, comes alive with this motion picture. Truly, magic never looked so real.

The acting again is mixed. Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange is simply breathtaking in the short while that she occupies the screen, while Rupert Grint playing Ron Weasely does a creditable performance. Michael Gambon is an imposing albeit slightly over the top Dumbledore while Alan Rickman as usual plays Snape to perfection. Jim Broadbent too, very well portrays the newly introduced character of Horace Slughorn. Daniel Radcliff and Emma Watson however are again disappointing with their amateurish acting and unconvincing manner of expression.

Overall, the superb cinematic effects manage to make up for both the weak plot and tiresome lead actors, saving this movie from becoming the utter fiasco to be added to the list of failed book adaptations that it was otherwise headed to be.

My Rating:

Plot/Story: 1/5

Special Effects: 5/5

Overall: 2.5/5

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Fashion

Movie Review: Terminator Salvation

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Written by John Brancato and Michael Ferris and directed by McG, Terminator Salvation is one for the history books, to be listed under major fiascos of the film industry. It seems to have set itself to compete with Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines in terms of busted potential.

The plot is set in 2018, after the occurrence of Judgment Day, during which the software Skynet destroyed most humans in a Nuclear Holocaust until only ragged scraps of humanity, called the Resistance, remain fighting the machines.

The story begins with John Conner (Christian Bale) discovering plans for creating a new terminator using living tissue during an attack led by him on a Skynet base. As he returns to the Resistance headquarters- a nuclear submarine- to report the matter he is told of the discovery of a frequency of waves that can disable the Skynet machines. He is also informed that he has been blacklisted by Skynet and is being hunted by terminators. However the person that figures topmost among the people Skynet wishes to eradicate is not him but a human named Kyle Reese. The tapes left to him by his deceased mother Sarah Conner had already revealed to John that Kyle Reese was his father, and that he sends him back in time himself to save his mother. Realizing the importance of keeping Reese alive Conner thwarts authority and attempts to save him from the Skynet base where he is kept prisoner. To this end he enlists the help of a bio-machine Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) for whom he initially entertained deep suspicions which are nevertheless overridden by Marcus’s assertion that he believes himself to be human. The culminating scene is the clichéd escape from mad killer machines and the movie itself ends with John Conner telling the Resistance that though the battle may be won, the war was far from over; a chilling threat of more Terminator flicks to come.

The plot is shallow, vague and full of inconsistencies. The form of narration doesn’t spark interest and the sequence of events is cluttered and confusing. For those unfamiliar with the Terminator series the story remains entirely incomprehensible while for Terminator fans it is an insult. The brief appearance of Arnold Schwarzenegger as homage to the previous movies only causes the disparity between them to be felt more strongly. The only saving grace of the movie would be the cinematic and sound effects. The movie packs a punch in terms of violence alone, since rarely a minute goes by without some spectacular explosion. However although the resounding booms and showers of fire are entertaining in themselves, without a strong storyline to pull them together they become meaningless and ridiculous. Hence the violence and action sequences seem to lack the zest and intensity of the first two movies and seem washed out by comparison.

Cloaked in ambiguity and trying to make up for plot holes with meaningless violence, the movie is rendered even more unbearable due to uninspired acting. Christian Bale is boring even when wrestling with berserk terminators and the supporting cast is inconsequential. The only actor to make his presence felt is Sam Worthington though even he is hampered by a poor script and insipid co-actors.

The movie doesn’t even have the panache to be BAD, it is merely annoying. Only people crazed by the Terminator franchisee will have something good to say about it. Perhaps the fact that it is a Terminator movie is good enough for some viewers, but for those who value sense over sentimental hysteria it would be best to give the latest addition to the Terminator Saga a wide berth.

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Uncategorized

Fact File : Courses of DU reviewed

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Predicting what somebody will do in college is pretty much like predicting what one would buy in a well-stocked candy store. The person may emerge with a beguiling variety of interesting goodies, or may emerge clutching the same tasty treat that has pleased his/her palate in years past. So while we can’t tell you what to buy from the store, we can give you an idea of which aisles to purchase from. So DU Beat brings you the verdict, straight from the horse’s mouth as students review their own courses.

Political Science : This is not a dry and distant course on the structure and functions of the Lok Sabha. On the contrary, it teaches you to politicize and theorize absolutely everything around you. If studied well, it can open your mind to a whole new world of radical ideas and interpretations. The first year course on political theory is crucial to your understanding of the subject. However, with papers on Indian politics, international relations and comparative politics, the second year of the programme is most enjoyable. Third year throws open the possibility of choosing a paper from a number of options, including a course on feminism, the United Nations, etc.

P.S.: Steer clear of guidebooks if you really want to love and live the subject. Colleges with good Political Science departments: LSR, Hindu College.

Applied Psychology : Now this particular course, as one student appropriately puts it, is “industry oriented”. It demands heavy research work and multiple field trips primarily to facilitate a practical application of what the student has learnt . As a major advantage, it adds on to your exposure on field, and gives a sense of what it would be like to work there. So anyone who wants to take up applied psychology must be prepared for tons of reports to be completed, a lot of research work, and to add to that, a series of sleepless nights.

To make it clearer, here is a brief account on the course structure for you.

If you choose Applied Psychology , you will be covering General Psychology, Systems and theories in psychology , statistics and research methodology in the first year along with fun experiments concerning mental testing.
Second year will see a lot of field exposure with social psychology (with field experiments), industrial psychology (again with field studies), statistics and research methodology again.
In the third year, students get to choose between developmental and advertising psychology along with a compulsory paper in abnormal psychology.
And finally, to tell you guys how easy or difficult it will be to get through this course, here’s a synopsis of the last years’ cut offs.

This course is also available for male students It is available in Gargi college, Sri Aurobindo (E) College, SPM College and Vivekananda college.

GARGI COLLEGE – 86-90
SPM COLLEGE- 78
SRI AUROBINDO (E)- 68
VIVEKANADA- 88.5

Philosophy (Hons) : Those who opt for Philosophy (Hons) expecting it to be an easy, boring course are in for a surprise. The syllabus is pretty interesting for 1st years, who are introduced to the 9 schools of Indian philosophy including Jainism, Buddhism and Vedanta along with a bit of Math. It gets even better in the 2nd year with themes like history of western philosophy, early Greek and social and political philosophy. 3rd year students will have ethics and contemporary Greek philosophy among other subjects. As is commonly assumed, the course isn’t all about mindless ‘rattoing’, but is in fact open to discussion, allowing for creative interpretations of the various theories. Time to look past stereotypes and give the course its due credit, we say!

Cut offs (according to last year)
67 – 73: JDM, KNC, Gargi, Daulat Ram, IP,78: Miranda Hindu: 74-89 LSR – 84.5, Stephens : 84

Economics honours : This is easily one of DU’s most hankered after courses. Although it is categorized as an arts subject it involves a lot of application. The course includes mathematics, statistics and principles of economics, all of which revolve around reasoning and application .This course is definitely not a a static subject, and contrary to popular misconception it is not an exceedingly uphill one either if one has their basics clear. In fact the course enables students to have a better understanding of day to day life

The 2nd year is one of the toughest and undoubtedly one of the most theoretically inclined. Good news for the math-phobic ones: you can easily drop it in the second year and go in for something else like political science The third year syllabus is comparatively easy ,as relatively speaking the subject load is less than the previous year.

Eco students are also said to have an edge during On the whole Eco. Hons is a very dynamic , porous course.

Colleges good for economics: St. Stephens, Hansraj, Sri Venkateswara college , LSR.

Cut offs : Last year

LSR :94
Stephens: 96( For commerce students)
Kirori Mal College: 89.75 for science students
JMC: 91( humanities)
Hindu: 90 ( humanities)

Mass Media and Mass Communication : This is a one-of-a-kind course offered by DU. Many DU colleges offer courses in journalism but Indraprastha College for Women is the only college that offers a consolidated course in mass communication. This is an all-embracing course and hence, admission to this course is held via a three-tier entrance. It covers almost every aspect of media and endows the students with a plethora of avenues.

The first year primarily focuses on print media along with a basic understanding of the functioning of various media in India. The second year revolves around the diverse field of advertising, while the third year gives a hands-on experience of camera handling and film production.

In a nutshell, this 3-year course is a comprehensive degree that enables its students to pursue a full-fledged career in media, even without a PG.

English Honours : Contrary to popular belief, English Honours is not about Grammar, or writing letters and essays the CBSE way. It deals more with understanding and interpreting Literature.

The three years course encompasses Literature from all over the world. The course begins with Victorian and Indian fiction from the 19th and the 20th century respectively and goes on to Shakespeare in the second year .The second year is particularly enjoyable for the choice of optional papers; you could read classical epics, popular fiction or European drama- suiting your interest. We go on to reading post colonial Literature and Modernism in the last year.

The course is enlightening if you take interest, but it can just as easily become your worst nightmare if you don’t harbour any love for the written word.

Colleges reputed for this course: LSR ,Miranda House, St. Stephens , JMC, , Kamla Nehru College , Hansraj and Venky.

History : This course is not treated very favourably by a large number of college aspirants. It is the utilitarian subjects such as eco and b.com that turn their heads. A deeper look at the curriculum provide us just the reasons for avoiding or embracing the past(History Hons).

Through the course of three years it delves into India’s antiquity, medieval attitudes and modern ways. Accompanying this is the story of human evolution, history of ancient Europe, providing a compelling tale of the Romans and the Greek. Rise of Modern Western Europe, American or Russian history, as per choice, keeps the second year nice and varied. Third year carries along Chinese and Japanese history, Rise of Moughals and History of Modern Europe.

It is intriguing for the inquisitive sort, showcasing the world trends and currents. Disastrous failures and miraculous successes of the venturesome and the unfortunate are aplenty; choose carefully!

Colleges reputed for History Hons: Hansraj, Hindu, St. Stephens, JMC ,LSR

B.Com (Hons) : You guys have a lot to study! 6 mains in 1st year itself, including financial accounting, stats, computers and even a bit of business law and along with that, 2 subsidiaries. 2nd year brings with it another 6 main papers (corporate accounting, business mathematics, income tax law and practice…etc.) plus 3 subsidiary ones. Those who make it to 3rd year will have the pleasure of studying macroeconomics, management accounting, Indian economy and other fun topics. Already cringing? Well, at least you will be spared the Qualifying Hindi exam that your friends from other courses will have to give in the 1st year!

Cut offs of colleges known to excel in this course:

Hansraj: 94-95
Hindu: 94-97
LSR: 95.5
Shaheed Bhagat Singh College: 90-95
SRCC: 94.5-98
Venky: 94.3-95
JMC: 93

(Contributions : Aditi, Aina, Tanya, Anmol, Mehroo, Himani and Kriti)

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Movie Review : The Colour Purple

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getattachmentAn extraordinary film based on an immensely powerful novel of the same name by Alice Walker, The Color Purple is a reflection on the conditions prevailing in the United States in the early 1900s, and the state of African American women in those times. Directed by Steven Spielberg, the film tells the story of Celie Harris (Whoopi Goldberg), a poor African American girl growing up in the Southern United States. Celie is a victim of early abuse, having been twice impregnated by the man she believes to be her father by the age of fourteen. Her children are taken away from her and she is made to marry a local farmer Albert Johnson (Danny Glover) who had had his eyes on her younger sister Nettie. She suffers further abuse, verbal and physical, at the hands of her husband, until she is left a mere silent shadow of a being, devoid of any spirit. The one bright spot in Celie’s life is her sister Nettie who comes to stay with them in order to escape their father’s lasciviousness. However when Nettie rejects Albert’s advances, he forces her to leave by physically throwing her out in what makes a heart wrenching scene, with Celie desperately clinging on to her sister. Nettie leaves, promising to write, but Celie never receives her letters, making her believe that her sister had died. After Nettie’s departure Celie falls further into her pit of despair. Her step-son Harpo marries a vocal, intimidating woman names Sophia (Oprah Winfrey) but when he attempts to lord over her she leaves him, taking her children with her. The sudden reappearance of Alfred’s old lover, Shug Avery (Margaret Avery), is the turning point for Celie, as she finds herself increasingly attracted to Shug. Shug is the one who inspires Celie to throw of her diffidence and recover some of her old spirit. News from her sister further lends Celie strength until she is able to defy Albert and leave together with Shug. After many tumultuous events and emotional scenes the movie ends with Celie’s touching reunion with her children and Nettie and indication of a change of heart in Albert.

The movie is a disturbing revelation of the cruel and brutal treatment meted out to women in a society where they are commoditized. The double subjugation suffered for being a black and a woman is clear in a time when a ‘coloured’ man was treated as sub-human by the whites and a ‘coloured’ woman treated even worse by the men. This is spelled out unerringly in the movie when Alfred screams out to Celie as she drives away from him, “You’re black, you’re poor, you’re ugly, you’re a woman, you’re nothing at all!”

 The movie scarcely follows the plot of the novel, with a large chunk of the original story missing, which includes Nettie’s account of Africa. Moreover the entire issue of lesbianism, which is a major theme in the book, is barely hinted at due to its controversial nature. However in spite of its drawbacks the movie is still one of Spielberg’s finest creations. It is successful in portraying a heart rending account of a woman who learns to fight against injustice and the agents of her suffering. Spectacular performances on the part of the entire cast, flawless direction and a moving story line makes this movie well deserving of its title as a classic.

 

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DUB Speak

NCERT removes three Class IX history chapters; is it questionable?

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The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) decided to remove three History chapters from class IX syllabus. Some of them include sections on caste and class struggles.

As per the Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar’s curriculum rationalisation exercise aimed at relieving students from “curriculum overload”, the NCERT decided to delete three chapters from the class IX History textbook, ‘India and the Contemporary World – I’. The decision, taken on 18 March, and has been brought into effect from the 2019-20 academic session onwards.

This is the second textbook review undertaken by the incumbent government, as reported by The Indian Express, which also mentioned that even though Javadekar’s recommendation to the NCERT was to cut curriculum by half across all subjects (by 2021), up to 20 per cent reduction was made in social science textbooks while cuts were kept to a minimum in mathematics and sciences. “The changes, they (sources) said, had been made based on over one lakh comments received from parents, students and teachers”, the report said.

The syllabus cuts have been brought about as per HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar’s curriculum rationalisation exercise.
The syllabus cuts have been brought about as per HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar’s curriculum rationalisation exercise.

The decision was covered widely by the media and invited criticism for the nature of the deletion, for it omitted chapters covering caste-based and other social conflicts.

One of the chapters, ‘Clothing: A Social History’, described various clothing norms to which different sections of the society were subjected and the responses that followed. One section from the chapter that especially stood out, both in media reports as well as in the critiques by academicians was ‘Caste Conflict and Dress Change’. The section described the clothing rules imposed on the Shanars in Travancore, wherein, women could not cover their upper bodies; the conflict over the dress rules that ensued; and the following reformation.

“The Shanars (later known as Nadars), many of whom were considered a ‘subordinate caste’ and so were generally prohibited from using umbrellas and wearing shoes or golden ornaments. Men and women were also expected to follow the local custom of never covering their upper bodies before the dominant castes”, the chapter read while adding, “Under the influence of Christian missionaries, Shanar women converts began in the 1820s to wear tailored blouses and cloths to cover themselves like the dominant castes. Hindu reformers such as Ayya Vaikunder also participated in the dress reform. Soon Nairs, one of the dominant castes of the region, attacked these women in public places and tore off their upper cloths.”

Cartoonist Orijit Sen’s ‘A Travancore Tale’ is the story of Nangeli, an Ezhava woman, who cut off her breasts to resist the ‘breast tax’ imposed on her for covering her upper body. Image credits: scroll
Cartoonist Orijit Sen’s ‘A Travancore Tale’ is the story of Nangeli, an Ezhava woman, who cut off her breasts to resist the ‘breast tax’ imposed on her for covering her upper body.
Image credits: scroll

As per the report by The Indian Express, the CBSE had issued a circular in 2016 to its affiliated schools announcing the omission of said section. However, the section remained part of the NCERT textbooks until the curriculum rationalisation exercise.

The 2016 circular came in light of the direction given to the CBSE and the NCERT by the Madras High Court to examine a complaint on the “incorrect information” concerning the Shanar community, as per a public interest petition filed by the Advocates Forum for Social Justice, The Hindu had reported.

Talking about the critique of the decision, Scroll.in wrote, “The Renaissance Protection Committee, a platform of various community organisations under the aegis of Kerala government, said the Union government was attempting to erase the historic struggle of lower-caste women from the record.”

The chapter also described how “women in Victorian England were groomed from childhood to be docile and dutiful, submissive and obedient” and the manner in which “norms of clothing reflected these ideals”.

“From childhood, girls were tightly laced up and dressed in stays”, the chapter on clothing mentioned about dress norms in Victorian England. Image credits: NCERT
“From childhood, girls were tightly laced up and dressed in stays”, the chapter on clothing mentioned about dress norms in Victorian England.
Image credits: NCERT

The other two chapters deleted from the syllabus were named ‘History and Sport: The Story of Cricket’ and ‘Peasants and Farmers’.

The former didn’t really touch upon caste per se except for an excerpt from historian Ramachandra Guha’s ‘A Corner of a Foreign Field’, which mentions how Palwankar Baloo, a Dalit bowler, was not elected to play in the Quadrangular tournament for the Hindus because of his caste identity and how the captainship of his younger brother, Vithal, a few years later and the team’s victory against the Europeans under him was equated to Mahatama Gandhi’s “war on untouchability”. Apart from that, the chapter primarily focused on the English roots of cricket; the organisation of cricket in colonial India on “the principle of race and religion” and its changing character; and the sport’s association with decolonisation.

‘Peasants and Farmers’ on the other hand described the situation of farmers in the capitalist economy and with the coming of modern forms of production. “For the poorer farmers, machines brought misery. Many of them bought these machines imagining that wheat prices would remain high and profits would flow in. If they had no money, the banks offered loans. Those who borrowed found it difficult to pay back their debts. Many of them deserted their farms and looked for jobs elsewhere. But jobs were difficult to find. Mechanisation had reduced the need for labour”, the textbook mentioned regarding the nineteenth and twentieth-century American farmers. It further described the conditions of the opium farmers of Bengal under the colonial dispensation.

Conversely, the new directives of the NCERT also made some modifications: earlier, out of the three chapters – ‘The French Revolution’, ‘Socialism in Europe and the Russian Revolution’ and ‘Nazism and the Rise of Hitler’ – from the first section of the book, only two had to be taught; now teaching all three has been mandated.

Even though much of the media coverage focussed on the explicit section regarding the Shanar clothing revolt, the other deleted chapters also contained social histories of people across class, gender and racial identities. This realisation becomes more pronounced if contemporary situations are considered – farmers are still distressed; morality through clothing is still imposed; casteism is still an ugly reality. Naturally, a class IX textbook couldn’t have gone into considerable depth. However, by completely getting rid of chapters, which can have a bearing on how students learn to understand the realities around them, a major goal of education suffers a setback.

Yet, complications arise when we consider what chapters could have even been deleted. A case can be made that other chapters, ranging from the ones on European revolutions and Nazism to  those on forest society under colonialism and pastoralists in the contemporary world, are also equally important and that removal of any chapter would have taken a little away from the academic experience of the students.

Hence, perhaps the “curriculum rationalisation” exercise could itself be reimagined. Yes, the content of the books can be simplified as much as possible without compromising on its quality or scope. But more significant changes might be brought about by altering teaching methods and assessment systems. Chapters don’t become burdensome in and of themselves; they become so when the examinations, for which students are required to prepare these chapters, are structured such that they end up curbing creativity, imposing uniformity and encouraging memorisation over conceptual understanding. Unfortunately, that is yet to change.

Image credits: The Indian Express

Prateek Pankaj
p[email protected]

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Campus Central

Student Groups Carving Equality in the Varsity

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The University of Delhi (DU), despite several shortcomings, has given birth to a fair share of strong women. DU has taught and forged generations of strong women like Chhavi Rajawat, Mira Nair, and Shikha Sharma amongst others. A huge amount of credit for this goes to groups that have taken upon themselves to diffuse progressive ideas in the campus and beyond. Let us take a look at a few of these amazing associations.

Women’s Development Cells – Your Local Feminist Propaganda Machines

Women’s Development Cells (WDCs) in the University of Delhi have been created with an aim to not only try to bridge the gaps prevalent between both genders in terms of equality, but to also initiate conversation with regard to sexism, patriarchy, ignorance, and the general discrimination that is faced by women in status quo. Here is a look at the work of some of Delhi University’s very own WDCs:

Lady Shri Ram College for Women

Lady Shri Ram College (LSR) was one of the first colleges of Delhi University to start its own WDC in 1985. The WDC of LSR is also one of the most active ones, with a commanding social media presence. The team believes in initiating active conversation as it constantly promotes feminist thinking in the events organised by them. Through the last academic session, the WDC has worked with organisations like Nazariya and Eco Femme which work for the improvement of the situation of women all over India. They have organised several guest lectures, book readings, slam poetry performances, movie screenings, and an event called “In Hysterics” which invited participants to perform stand-up comedy, and merged the act of humour with feminism in Tarang-the annual cultural festival of LSR. The WDC also organised protests in their college to condemn the flinging of semen-filled balloons on students of LSR and Jesus and Mary College (JMC)

Daulat Ram College

Pragati, the Women’s Development Cell of Daulat Ram College, hosted activities that included seminars, workshops, lectures, debates, essay writing, poster making contests, field trips, film screenings, street plays, graffiti competitions, pledge walks, and filmmaking lessons. Activities organises by the cell last year included self-defense training workshops in association with the Women’s Cell of Delhi Police, collection drives in association with the NGO- Goonj, a workshop on child sexual abuse in association with Rahi Foundation, The Teach India Campaign, in association with The Times of India and British Council, I am Shakti Movement with the India Today Group, etc. The WDC of Daulat Ram College has effectively organised multiple inter-college conventional debate competitions, slam poetry events, and poster presentations on the theme- Women: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow.

Hindu College

The WDC of Hindu College was established in the year 2006. Since then, it has been committed to raise awareness about issues like female foeticide and sexual harassment. On 8th February 2018, the WDC of Hindu College collaborated with Delhi State Legal Services Authority to bring to light the legality surrounding harassment at workplace, domestic violence, and property rights. Subah is the annual bilingual magazine of the Women’s Development Cell of Hindu College. What makes this magazine standout is the fact that it is a handwritten magazine that started in 2014. Paras Arora, President, Women’s Development Cell, Hindu College, told DU Beat, “Subah has essays, book reviews, interviews, poems, and artworks by not only the students of WDC, but also the faculty, non teaching staff, and alumni of Hindu College.”

Kirori Mal College

Parivartan, the Women’s Development Cell of Kirori Mal College (KMC), organises film shows, workshops and other events on issues such as gender stereotyping, discrimination, and violence. The WDC also provides the services of a trained counsellor and hosts bi-weekly meetings called “The Forum” on issues related to gender, sexual violence, harassment, sensitisation, patriarchy, femininity, masculinity, and so forth. Parivartan organised an open-mic session to discuss gender inequality prevalent in today’s time to celebrate the occasion of International Women’s Day on 9th March 2018.

Miranda House

Miranda House has an extremely active WDC. It is popularly known as a “space for exploring gender stereotypes, making connections between private lives and public worlds, and sensitising students to a feminist understanding of their lives and contexts.” The Cell organises lectures, workshops, documentary screening, and discussions on topical, pertinent issues. They organise campaigns to raise awareness about several issues concerning women. One of the most popular events hosted by the WDC of Miranda House was called “Letters to Patriarchy” on 15th February 2018, in which the audience discussed how patriarchy is a hindrance to equality. In 2016, they collaborated with Goonj (an NGO) and organised a campaign to provide women with sanitary napkins.

Sri Venkateswara College

Shakti, the WDC of Sri Venkateswara College, is a proud feminist society that refuses to comply with gender norms or the patriarchal setting of the environment. It aims to inculcate values of gender inclusivity in its students and reduce discrimination on campus. The WDC is active and organises talks and seminars to initiate an active conversation on gender based discrimination. Shakti also organised an Entrepreneurship Talk and Women’s Conclave, Shaktiodaya, where they hosted prominent feminist scholars like Kamla Bhasin and Usha Ramanthan amongst others.

Pinjra Tod – The Coven of Witches

Pinjra Tod is an autonomous feminist collective, which comprises primarily of DU students, and has been working for the freedom of women within university spaces. Their protests and campaigns have most notably revolved around the abolishment of curfew timings which are discriminatorily implemented in women’s hostels and paying guest accommodations. Since their inception in 2015, Pinjra Tod has consistently worked towards amplifying the concerns of women by curating and creating plays, nukkad nataks, poetry sessions, group exercise sessions, public meetings, and hearings.

Thanks to the creative minds at the collective, all their events are crowned with snazzy titles like – Bus Hai Teri Meri, Chal Saheli, and a long bus ride in public transport. They have been popularly accredited with inventing famous slogans like ‘Karengay Politics, Karengay Pyaar’ and ‘ABVP Why So Creepy’. One thing that distinguishes this advocacy group is its night marches. Tinged with militancy and loud sloganeering, the night marches are held in campuses and residential colonies that house large number of students to showcase dissent against discriminatory curfew timings. They gather outside hostels and sing songs and poems of feminist struggle. Often, those who participate in these marches resort to physically breaking the hostel gates, climbing over them, and even get involved in violent altercations with opposing factions.

While speaking to DU Beat about the problems that Pinjra Tod faces, an activist said, “The greatest challenge we face is to continuously build our collective strength, and to create effective support systems for women across the different locations and experiences that we come from.” She further added, “The rising cost of education including the hostel fees and paying guest accommodation rents, surveillance on campus, the indifference of the administration are everyday challenges that we face. Lastly, the rise of the right wing in the country and the changes they are introducing in the education system and social dynamics has made things much harder for all women in society desiring to live a life of freedom and dignity.”

Nazariya – The Rainbow Mafia

This Holi, the University of Delhi (DU) saw unprecedented uproar against the prevalent harassment that plagues people, women in particular, after a student of Lady Shri Ram College for Women raised the issue of being hit by what appeared to be a balloon filled with semen. In response to this, protests and awareness campaigns were organised by several groups, and at the forefront of these protests was Nazariya. The collective was subjected to trolling on social media but instead of shying away the members reclaimed insults like “Rainbow Mafia” in a clever fashion.

Nazariya, a queer-feminist group is just six months old, but its presence can be seen across DU. They have organised stress management workshops, film screenings, panel discussions, and meetings. Slowly but steadily, their influence is growing. Talking to DU Beat about what Nazariya means, Ruth Chawngthu, a DU student and cofounder at Nazariya explained, “Nazariya means perspective, and the name was chosen to represent the fluidity of one’s perspective. Our goal at Nazariya is to normalise and destigmatise the diverse sexual orientations and gender identities, which is to say that we want to change people’s perspectives. It also means we are open to other people’s perspectives as well.”

When asked about what has been the most rewarding incident while working in this alliance, she said, “It’s kind of difficult to choose just one rewarding moment, the entire “Nazariya experience” has been rewarding. All our events till date, and all our initiatives have been executed with zero funding or backing, and were made possible solely due to the hard work and cooperation of community members. This, to me is rewarding because it shows solidarity and unity within the community which makes it distinctive.”

The Delhi University Women’s Association – Strengthening Sisterhood Since The Sixties

The history of the Delhi University Women’s Association (DUWA) is quite an interesting one. DUWA was founded in 1964, at a time when, as per the website of the association, “Women did not generally move out much and were restricted to the four walls and confined to the domestic chores.” According to alumnus of the University of Delhi, there existed a “Men’s Club” where male students and staff alike would meet for recreational activities and sports, however, there existed no such meeting place for women. Women members from the University were allowed to use the venue of the Men’s Club only on Wednesday’s, i.e. once a week.

Dr. Durgabai Deshmukh, who founded DUWA, was a freedom fighter and an advocate. She envisioned an association for the female fraternity of Delhi University. The Association culminated with the aim to benefit the female members of the staff and female family members of those in the staff of Delhi University and its affiliated institutions. The members of DUWA also provided assistance to the soldiers who had fought in the Indo-Sino War of 1962 and the Indo-Pakistan war of 1965.The Association has grown significantly since 1964. In 2013, it opened the Mind and Body Centre (MBC). DUWA also houses a Souvenir Shop that started in 2014.

Today the centre provides psychological counselling as well as homeopathic and naturopathic consultation. Those visiting the facility have to pay an annual registration fee of INR 50, after which they can use the services for free. In addition to this, the centre provides free yoga classes and also hosts a day-care facility available to the children of the staff of DU. DUWA Secretary Dr. Geeta Sahare told DU Beat that the institution receives roughly about 30 consultations daily from DU employees and students. She added, “Most of our clients require counselling for psychological issues such as low self-esteem, family discords, anxiety, depression, exam-related stress, relationship problems, etc. We receive a large response particularly during the admission season, as aspirants seek guidance in their selection of college and the admission procedure.” DUWA is an extremely positive step undertaken by the University to inculcate a culture of acceptance and initiate holistic care for all clients of DUWA by tending to their emotional, physical, as well as mental health needs.

 

Feature Image Credits: The Ladies Finger

Bhavya Banerjee | [email protected] 

Niharika Dabral | [email protected]

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Features

A Gyanodaya Indeed!

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Much has been said about the first ever Gyanodaya Express – the educational train journey for NSS & NCC girl students. Aimed at broadening the horizons of learning beyond the classrooms, this excursion toured Ahmedabad, Wardha, Mumbai, Goa, Bengaluru and Mysore this summer. But did the journey actually live up to all the hype? We get to you a first-hand account of Gyanodaya and an answer to that question.

July 8, 7:30 am, Safdarjung station: Aboard the Gyanodaya Express, we had little idea about the journey we were going to embark upon. Only high excitement levels. Pure adrenaline rush. A traditional welcome with shehnais and garlanding at the station awaited us followed by a warm send off by the Vice Chancellor himself. Counting heads, shifting seats, and managing the luggage, 940 girls aboard the train started their journey of knowing one’s own country, the Gandhian way!

Day long journey till our first stop, Ahmedabad, and we were all assigned multiple projects, given books and laptops with internet dongles so as to facilitate the process of preparing travelogues, book reviews and reports. The announcements of singing, sketching, photography and poetry competitions kept us on our toes. Sounds of antaksharis and dumb charades echoed the compartments and the tinkling sounds of raindrops outside made life in the moving train absolutely blissful.

July 9-10 – Destination One – Ahmedabad – We deboarded only to find Mercedes Benz buses waiting for us (ooh yeah!) to take us to our respective hotels. After wash and change, we were taken to Tri Mandir followed by Vaishno Devi Mandir (yes, Gods first, after all!). Greeted by Bapu’s three bandars, we spent the evening by the banks of the Sabarmati river at the Sabarmati Ashram which gave us a first hand experience of life at Gandhiji’s residence.

Interactions with the students of Gujarat Vidyapeeth the next day was followed by a visit to the magnificent Akshardham Temple – an architectural delight, a beautifully carved stone edifice, surrounded by expansive gardens with the backdrop of heavy and heavenly monsoon rains. The buses took us straight back to the station – where the Gyanodaya express was waiting to be boarded for our next destination – Mumbai.

July 11-12 – Arrival at aamchi Mumbai and departure straight to The Naval Base, Colaba. Our excitement knew no bounds because well within sight were a fleet of ships and frigates of the Indian Navy all marked with initials INS – Indian Navy Ships. Our contingent was taken inside INS Viraat – the second largest ship (aircraft carrier) in the Indian Navy. The disciplined (and handsome!) Navy officers not only exhibited how a ship this big rules the sea but also gave an insight into the tough life of the defense wing of the country.
Colaba to Juhu was a journey to remember – crossing Santacruz, Ville Parle, Bandra, Marine Drive, Worli Sea Link, Taj Hotel and the ‘dwellings’ of The Ambanis, The Jindals, The Bachchans and The Khans and Kapoors caught our fancy. An evening at the Juhu Beach with friends in tow, what more could one ask for!

Day two at Mumbai began with a visit to the Marine Drive, the famous Mahalaxmi temple and the Dargah of Haji Ali. No stopping at Gateway of India while in Mumbai and giving the girls no time for shopping – surely a criminal offence of it’s kind! With long faces, we were dropped at the station at 1 pm while the train was scheduled for 6!

July 13-14 – Destination Goa, Let’s give time a break! The land of silver sands, grey rocks and rushing waters awaited the Delhi damsels! Worth a mention is our Goan Resort with the pool and spa that refreshed our tired travelling souls and the day was spent at the beautiful and picturesque Calangute, Baga and Anjuna beaches and shacks that looked majestic in the monsoon rains!

Being among the lucky few who had the opportunity to peep into the second half of the defense wing and visit the air base in Goa, found it an extraordinary experience. Fascinated by the grandeur of INS Hansa and the expertise of the Indian pilots, we saluted our security wings for safeguarding the nation. The Portuguese architecture of the Goan Churches caught our awe and the afternoon was spent at the Old Goa Church after which we returned to our hotel-on-wheels, the Gyanodaya Express!

July 15 – The Garden City of Bengaluru beckoned us! A visit to the Indian Space Research Organization(ISRO) provided a sneak-peak into the space world and the working of the satellites. We made the most of our leisure free evening at Brigade road and MG Road satisfying our junk food appetite!

July 16 – City of Palaces, Mysore was our destination next! Starting with a visit to Tipu Sultan’s Museum to handicraft shopping and buying the famous Mysore silk sarees for our mothers back home, we girls spent hours in the streets of Mysore culminating it with a visit to the Chamunda Devi Temple. Next stop was the profusely decorated Mysore Palace, the majestic, mystical and mesmerizing beauty of which left us absolutely spellbound!

July 17 – Back on the tracks (quite literally!) as it was another full day in the train heading towards Nagpur and Wardha, our last stops. The projects were in full swing with everyone occupied head on. The library-on-wheels, providing us food for soul and the doctor aboard attending the homesick-ness cases!

July 18 – Nagpur neglected, we were dropped off directly at Wardha. The university arranged for a hundred and thirty Innova cars to take us to Wardha University. Their VC addressed the DU-ites after which we headed towards the Village of Service, Sevagram. The journey in its last lap made us very ambivalent about the fact that we were returning to Delhi. While we were making the most of the last moments of being together, the night saw an unforeseen and unfortunate event of the express being looted at around 2 in the night. Laptops, purses, chains, mobiles, cameras and other valuables in coaches 8 to 15 were robbed leaving the entire train shocked and terrified in the middle of the night. In spite of high security provided by the university, the unwanted visitors had a field day as they managed to have their way. After the investigations and FIR formalities and a delay of five hours, we headed towards Destination Delhi.

The goods – We owned an entire train, the staff not only made sure we were comfortable with leaving our luggage and carrying just one bag for two days to every state but also took care of the lost and found. As promised, the buses and hotels were all air conditioned. Providing internet did help us stay connected with our family through skype besides facilitating making of the projects. Also, we stuck to the itinerary, so everything went as planned.

The bads – Food. Main problem. Food. Sure, they hired the best catering services of the railway industry and having it while in the train was never a problem, but we had little idea this food would be given to us thrice a day for 12 days, even in the hotels! But a Delhiite’s appetite is never complete without hogging on KFC, Mcdonalds, Pizza Hut and the chatpata street food – thepla, khakhra, dhokla while in Ahmedabad, panipuri and vada pav in Mumbai, Sea food in Goa and Sambhar Dosa while in Bengaluru and Mysore, we had it all by cutting on our leisure hours or getting it room delivered!
Another important thing that the trip organizers overlooked was arranging for a guide to guide. We wish the security agencies were vigilant enough not to spoil the trip of those who lost their valuables. Little hiccups here and there like not letting us wear shorts(even knee-length) on the beach or not giving us time to shop in Mumbai, did not matter much with friends around to have a merry time with!

Overall, the journey was an experience of a lifetime and also a wonderful initiative taken by the University and well conceived by Professor Dinesh Singh. Not only did it teach us lessons of trust, patience and endurance, but the unexpected and unusual intrigued us to delve into the place’s very heart as life drifted by in slow motion for us to discover its simple joys…

 

Surbhi Bhatia
[email protected]

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Arts & Culture

The Crisis of Internet Archive 

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500,000 books scrapped from the Internet Archive. Why? Is it because they lost the lawsuit against the powerful few? Or is it because they were declared guilty of copyright infringement, surpassing the fair use doctrine? The reason lies much deeper, yet in plain sight.

In a significant legal decision, the Internet Archive has lost the lawsuit filed by major publishers, including Hachette, Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, and Wiley. The lawsuit challenged the Archive’s National Emergency Library initiative, which had suspended waitlists and allowed unlimited digital lending of scanned books during the COVID-19 pandemic—a departure from its original policy of one digital copy per physical.

The court ruled that this practice infringed upon the publishers’ copyrights, emphasizing that the Archive’s actions exceeded the bounds of fair use. As a result, the Internet Archive is required to remove approximately 500,000 books from its digital collection, limiting public access to these works.

But is copyright the real issue here?

Not quite. At the heart of the matter lies profit and the public right to access information without being financially burdened under the exorbitant costs of the knowledge resources that one, especially a student, is all too familiar with. The Internet Archive’s loss marks the latest blow in a long line of struggles over public access to knowledge.

Expressing his disappointment, Chris Freeland, Internet Archive’s director of library services, said:

We are reviewing the court’s opinion and will continue to defend the rights of libraries to own, lend, and preserve books.

While the publishers seem to care about royalties and fair compensation for their writers, many point out the elitism in the argument itself, including Dave Hansen, executive director of the Authors Alliance, a nonprofit that frequently advocates for wider digital access to books who says:

This ruling may benefit the bottom line of the largest publishers and most prominent authors, but for most it will end up harming more than it will help.

The ruling’s impact goes beyond the financial arguments of publishers. The Internet Archive is a lifeline for those who can’t afford the exorbitant costs of books, particularly students and researchers without access to well-funded libraries. Following the ruling, the Archive stated:

This injunction will result in a significant loss of access to valuable knowledge for the public. People who are not part of elite institutions or who do not live near a well-funded public library will lose access to books they cannot read otherwise. It is a sad day for the Internet Archive, our patrons, and for all libraries.

Zooming out from this particular case, a broader pattern emerges: powerful institutions, whether governments or corporations, are increasingly limiting public access to information. The Internet Archive’s loss is not an isolated incident; it joins a growing list of similar cases where access to knowledge is restricted in the name of fair compensation and other such rights.

Take the prolonged chase of Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, who faces espionage charges for leaking classified documents that exposed government corruption. Or consider the arrest of Pavel Durov, CEO of Telegram, after refusing to provide encryption keys to the Russian government. These examples, while seemingly unrelated, share a common thread: they are all about controlling access to information and knowledge, denying the public the right to transparency, privacy, and free access.

Assange’s efforts to make government secrets public have been presented as a crime. Similarly, Durov’s refusal to sacrifice user privacy led to his prosecution. While the Internet Archive’s campaign focuses on books, it is part of a larger narrative in which these institutions strive to limit access in order to protect their interests, leaving the public with less avenues to explore, learn, and question.

The coming of surveillance tools such as Pegasus spyware originates from a need to control, to see what people are reading, writing, and discussing. Governments and corporations alike are moving closer to an Orwellian “Big Brother” scenario in which information is closely controlled and public access to knowledge is conditional rather than guaranteed.

The question is, can society push back against this tide? Is it possible to save public access to information in an increasingly privatized world?

Maybe that’s too far of a reading from a legal case study, or, one is compelled to question, is it? The battle over information control is not just about books or individual legal cases. It’s about who gets to decide what the public can know, learn, and share. Given the trend of ‘hoarding’,  whether money or knowledge, can the societal pushback save the internet archive from its impending doom? That’s for you to decide. With your actions and words.

 

Featured Image Credits: BBC- Serenity Strull/ Getty Images

 

Read Also: DU Sanctions Rs.110 Crore for Expansion of Central Library

 

Afza Khan

[email protected]

 

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