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Foreign Ties: a Conversation with an Exchange Student in DU

By DU Beat March 16, 2023

Did you know that the University of Delhi offers a Student Exchange Program? DU Beat recently got in touch with Dominik, an exchange program student from Austria who’s currently enrolled in Hindu College, University of Delhi. Read on to find out all about this program from a candid conversation with Dominik and his journey so far.

Applying to Attend Delhi University

A history student from the University of Vienna, Dominik is currently enrolled in Hindu College as an exchange program student. Talking about his experiences while applying for the program, he says,

“It was a long process. It took me six months to get everything through. It could have taken even longer if I hadn’t begun on time.” – Dominik

The University of Delhi is in a partnership with the University of Vienna under which students and professors from the two universities are given the opportunity of an exchange program, post a rigorous selection process. In stark contrast with Delhi University’s generally ignorant and secretive nature surrounding the student exchange program, Dominik talks about his home university’s efforts in helping him contact a previously unresponsive DU.

“Getting in touch with the University was the hardest part. My home university professors would constantly email on behalf of me and helped me get in touch with Delhi University. This followed extensive research on available courses and colleges.” – Dominik

A mandatory prerequisite for the program is a language proficiency test. For Dominik, he was required to submit his English language proficiency test scores. The next crucial stage involves several rounds of interview sessions with professors and exchange program officers, who evaluate the student’s overall suitability for the program. The important documents which are essential to be kept handy are a motivation letter, CV, cover letter and academic transcripts.

“It’s so hard to get anything done, get a signature or a stamp. They send you back and ask you to come back later, and there’s no actual reason for it.” – Dominik

University Culture

The conversation further delved into life at university and the cultural aspects of it. Dominik shares,

“One thing that’s great about the university culture here is that you are really close to your professors. They know your name, they really help you out, you have their phone number. This is something which is unimaginable in Austria.” – Dominik

He further emphasised on the attendance system in Austrian universities, saying,

“One thing that’s really different in Austria is that we don’t have an attendance policy, you have a choice whether to attend classes, so there’s a lot of freedom and time to pursue other things that way.” – Dominik

Academic Contrasts

The selection of your course is a crucial step involved and conducting extensive background research before applying is a good idea. Dominik shares his personal experience of going through hundreds of answers posted on websites which eventually helped him make the choices. Availability of a certain course or paper also plays an important role, since unlike Austrian universities, Delhi University has a pre-structured curriculum. Discussing academics, Dominik adds,

“In Austria, you can choose amongst various different courses and you have the option to decide which course to study in which semester. In the framework of sixteen credits, you can build your own course so to say and try out what suits you best.” – Dominik

Speaking of his experience of studying history in Delhi University, he comments,

“You can learn about colonial history from the victim’s side, and not from the oppressor’s side. You can feel the emotions still attached to this history, so it’s really interesting to learn from this perspective, and break free from the Eurocentric point of view of history.” – Dominik

Words of Advice

“Don’t give up. It’s a long process but it’s so worth it. There’ll be bureaucratic hurdles; all this hard work and problems will be forgotten and you’ll only have nice memories then.” – Dominik

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat

Sigy Ghosh

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Life at Delhi University

Dear Freshers, Welcome to the DU Dream

By Aayat Farooqui October 24, 2022

The university that all of your schoolmates drooled over. Red bricks and skyrocketing cutoffs. Living with the cream of the crowd in the city of dreams, Delhi. What does it take to come far from home and survive this fantasy?

Dream incessantly, asleep or awake. When you’re on the metro listening to high volume EDM’s and the aunty
next to you is squishing and pushing just enough to make it to the last empty seat. Dream, looking at the autumnal hue of the Celtis tree while your professor reads out the last lines of a background reading, you with all the determination of a first-sem-out-of-the-womb of a school cocoon had written on your to-do list to complete last week. Dream, you made it to the interview round of a hard to get into, corporate job recruitment drive like college society. Dream, when you fake smiles awkwardly at a volunteering programme you signed up for, because Freuds super ego can handle your social anxiety in a faceless swarm of people. Dream, when you’re a pile of slob sitting on your undone assignments and dirty laundry. Dream, on Diwali evenings
far from home when fairy lights don’t suffice for your mother’s handmade kaju barfi . Dream kid. You are finally living it: The DU Dream.

Be it the first or the fifth list, you are just happy that you made it to Delhi University. Well, that is nothing but
a half-truth. While some of you are sullen for you got a college far less than what you had hoped for in the last two epochs of your school life, the others beam with unsurmountable joy as they witness the first day and the first step towards the college of their dreams. All this would soon melt into a horizon of memories, a marvel you would look at when the first six months pass by. You, the light that recoils in fright, you don’t even know who you are. You chant that you feel ugly on the outside and worse on the inside. You want to fill the voids
and be whole. You will be soon enough, even if partly so.

In between the rickshaw rides and lose change problems. The rent payment and unpaid internship struggles. The all-nighter study sessions, one night before the exam. The PG ka rukha sukha khaana. The maheene only do baar nahana. The Majnu ka Tila and Humayun’s Tomb. The month-end when dessert is a single spoonful of sugar. The cold coffee and iced tea, the Kamala Nagar shopping spree. The morning classes and Delhi’s unpredictable afternoon rains. The last minute presentations. The resume building and the fans that fall off ceilings. The break-ups and breakdowns. In the thick and thin of it all, piece by piece, it is as if all this time you have been trying to achieve this very thing, to separate the good parts of you from the rotten. You seem to have become whole.

I welcome you to this dream with a strong heart. You, who will stand tall and love the fresh air that comes from
following this ever-onward road. You, who will stride in bold steps, and feel a sense of pride in each one. And this journey is not about a destination, an arrival point or a finish line, for there is no such thing. This dream is about the people you meet and how you made them feel. For it will take you to places unchartered within yourself and beyond. Friends come, friends go, often-times you would be alone. Then make solitude your
companion, take it as it comes, good or bad, and keep moving forward.

Aayat Farooqui

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Parampara, Pratishtha, Anushasan: DU Then VS Now

By Siddharth Kumar October 13, 2022

DU has lived through multifarious eras. Hence, it’s only safe to assume that its heritage and
legacy, are something made for the books.

With all its troughs and crests, the University of Delhi (DU) has finally reached its centennial
year. This mammoth of a moment comes during an era of a cultural and political boom, and drawing a contrast between the nascent traditions and practices of the university and its contemporary versions comes as the only natural move to understand why DU is the way it is.

Charting the temporal political mapping of the university reveals a sort of political dilution that has come about over the years. There is an increase in university organisations endorsing the usage of top-down models to inculcate structural implementations that have evidently reduced the scope for diverse conversations.

There has been a depoliticization of campuses on purpose over the years because of the critical programmes that used to be conducted in our times, and that had to be reduced
because of the fervour they created.

a professor of DU

When it comes to the academic shifts over the decades, one of the most critical changes being imbibed was the shift from an annual to a semester system. The latter became a part of the 2010-11 session. Until then, the academic system functioned on an annual basis. This
change was much debated at the time because of the questionable impact it sought to create.

In our times, we used to sit with a topic or reading and discuss it holistically. But now I feel students are made to skim through just to complete the syllabus in time. I mean, it is wrong,but it is also the way things are now.

a DU alumna

The semester system and the paucity of time to finish the syllabi prop up the question, “What is all this for?”

In our time, the syllabus used to be more academic,whereas now, it has become more industrially inclined to make students more skilled and employable for sure. But the important question is to find out the whereabouts of these internships.

Ms. Nancy Pathak, a Professor of Political Science at Lady Shri Ram College for Women, on the evolution of the syllabus and the culture of internships

The hustle culture and the dire need for an internship have steered the students into accepting whatever grunt work is thrown at them.

Lastly, mapping the “attendance” trajectory is yet another important facet of a DU student’s life.

I’ve noticed that attendance is such a strict criterion only in women’s colleges.

a professor at DU

The question here arises, what is the gendered rationale behind such strictness in attendance? Perhaps it is a question that creates a debate beyond the confinement of the article.

Regardless of all the good and bad, these comparisons have helped us trace the progressions and regressions over time, something which is true of every development, and that should be acknowledged to understand and respect the university’s run so far.

The Subtle Art of Romanticisation

By DU Beat September 26, 2022

Lights, Camera, Action! What does it mean when you’re not just the main character of your life, but also the cinematographer? Does the subtle art of romanticisation actually resolve all the mundanities of life, or does it only blur them to the point of denial? Read more as we try to make sense of this era of romanticisation.

“Half love, Half regret. Dressing up for polaroids and cigarettes.” This ménage à trois between cute outfits, aesthetic pictures, and sleek French cigarettes is the perfect escape for any DU student in today’s day and age. But does it really save you from despair, or is it simply eating up your storage?

To understand the exact set of emotions, lighting, and reasons that go behind explaining how “August slipped into a moment of time”, one either needs to possess a creative mind or be accepting of one. The art of making the mundanity of daily life feel like a Bollywood movie is not an easy one, but is it as rewarding as social media makes it out to be? You spend 30 mins selecting the best, most “aesthetic”, and Pinterest-worthy clips and photos. Another 1 hour goes into compiling them in the right order, adding the right effects, choosing the right music, and then posting this 2363574th masterpiece you’ve made on social media at the RIGHT time (yes, there IS a right time for posting) with the right captions and hashtags (because of the algorithm, niche, SEO, and other paraphernalia), curating the perfect Instagram feed. A total of near about 2 hours in a day. The distraction these 120 minutes bring in the life of a generally overworked, anxious, done-with-existence student can actually do wonders. The hassles of the excruciating deadlines, haggling seats in the metro, and waiting in long queues at Rajiv chowk effortlessly translate into a moment of bliss and peace when there’s a lens behind which everything seems less glib and the world feels a little less real. And so, the “era of romanticisation” takes the wheel of your life. Every metro ride, every day at the college, every date, and every concert becomes a potential reel idea!

Also Read: #DUBeat Review – Pavsacha Nibandh: An Essay of Dissolving Rain and Romanticism

Someone might see a leaf on the road, but you see the beauty of the rain and the nature tethered to the leaf that has fallen too far from the tree it was once attached to. Full Imtiaz Ali moment. The once “unrealistic expectations” from Bollywood movies feel a tad too realistic, now that you’ve tapped into your creativity. Maybe keeping the delusion alive is how you attempt to ape a life less ordinary. But that’s also exactly where Bollywood is to be blamed. The uncertainties of starting a new life in a new college in a new city with people you’ve never met before can’t all be washed away just by hitting the record button. It might feel like you’re trying to make sense of everything by this but it can take mere seconds for the cloudiness of romanticisation to fade. What is it, if not a coping mechanism? On some days the skies are pretty, the concerts hit a little too well, sunlight adorns the classrooms just right, the art date with your friends develops into a core memory, and the day ends on such a high that nothing ever could top it off. What follows is the next day where you’re in bed all day, just lying there and existing, while the sky out there is painted in grim hues of blue and grey. Or even the day when you have the abhorring realisation that your college fans don’t actually work. That’s when the yearning for another good day kicks in; the addiction of never having another dead day. That erstwhile feeling of contentment gets laundered by the echo chambers of your extravagant “carpe diem” needs. Your emotional, mental, physical, and GPay capacities all take the brunt of your #PinterestEra.

Enhancing this pantomime attempt to “romanticise life” is this baarish. Delhi might be literally flooding with the September rains but people are trying to make something out of this too. Great attempt, but just no.

When I look up, the sky is pretty and pink, and the tiny little droplets on my coffee mug, the metro windowpanes make everything all the more bearable and prettier, but that’s when I look down and realise my shoes are soaking wet in muddy water and an insect is trying to climb up my trousers.”

Rain might seem like a good excuse for all your chai-pakora, Mr-Darcy-saying-I-love-you-most-ardently, Barso-re fantasies, but only up to a certain point. After that, it’s just a menace and a week-long recovery from the cold you contracted because of it.

This subtle art of romanticisation could be a product of all the conditioning we’ve garnered as Bollywood or literature babies, or it could also be an artist’s eccentric take on life. Seeing that the realisation of the former will only bring us despair, so for the time being (as we struggle to meet the deadlines and maneuver our college lives), let’s just stick to the latter and pretend we’re all in a Karan Johar production of ‘Student of the Year: Delhi University edition’.

Featured Image Credits: Vidushi Sinha for DU Beat.

Vidushi Sinha

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Violence, Protests and Dirty Politics: The Lens on DU

By Siddharth Kumar September 11, 2022

Throughout its storied history, Delhi University has gained a reputation as a political university. This article takes a look at the political perception of DU and its credibility.

If there is one thing you know about me, reader, it is that I absolutely love telling stories. In fact, I was indulging this exact habit a few weeks ago in a conversation with a friend as I regaled him with the ridiculous tales of DU politics I’d come across during my first month as a correspondent at DU Beat. As I finished my story about yet another instance of some student organisation appealing to their college’s admin on some glamorous student issue that would be great for attracting votes, he laughed and said something that would stick with me for a while. He told me, “Man, you’re a DU student, of course you get dragged into political events.”

“What a strange remark,” I thought, “And really? With JNU right there?” Therefore, I decided to try and figure out why universities like DU have been entrapped in prisons to the politics of the time and here we are. The answer? It starts – just like DU – in the 20s.

Delhi University was established in 1922, with just four affiliate colleges: St. Stephen’s, Hindu College, Zakir Hussain College and Ramjas College. A place like Delhi University, with the space for intellectual stimulation and debate that it offers, was always going to be an incubator for students that cared about where their country was going and were ready to do something about it. Thus, it is not a surprise that students of the varsity were actively involved in the freedom struggle. St. Stephen’s and Ramjas actively participated in the Non Cooperation and Civil Disobedience movements. Hindu College was at the front of the nationalist movements in the 20s – it is the only college since 1935 in Delhi to have a student parliament. This parliament gave a platform to leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Subhash Chandra Bose, Jawaharlal Nehru and Motilal Nehru. The people that walked the halls of these institutions – students and staff alike – were nationalists.

In the 70s, Indira Gandhi’s government declared the Emergency and the country grappled with an authoritarian regime that refused to listen to the opposition. In such a situation, it seems you can always count on the youth of a nation to bring their fire and their impassioned appeals for change. And they did not disappoint at the time either! Delhi University saw the rise of the two major student organisations, the National Students Union of India (NSUI) and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP). The former is the student front of the Congress while the latter is backed by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Alongside them, other student organisations such as Students Federation of India (SFI) and All India Students Association (AISA) also arose, albeit nowhere near to the dominance of the NSUI and ABVP. At the time, the ABVP regularly campaigned against the government, establishing itself with its anti-authoritarianism and anti-emergency protests. This period of tension culminated with the arrest of the Delhi University Student Union (DUSU) president at the time, Arun Jaitley. As Shraddha Iyer declares in her piece for DU Beat, “The arrest of Arun Jaitley had one implication for students: the centre fears their ability to mobilise against them.”

Delhi University has since been home to all kinds of political debates and discussions between different ideologies. While most students do not buy into the exact ideologies of the numerous student organisations waiting to spend lakhs to buy their votes, there is a general acceptance of free ideals and a willingness to raise their voices in favour of what is right and against what is wrong.

In 2020, with the controversial CAA being passed around in the Houses of Parliament, there was a line of protests across the nation. At the forefront? The young minds of one of the country’s most respected universities. DU students did not shy away from arranging mass protests against the bill. They showed, very adamantly, that the majority of the next generation of this grand nation did not agree with the kind of administration that was being set in place for the future that they were to inherit. They claimed that the CAA was unconstitutional as by excluding Muslims it went against India’s core tenet of secularism, Against the central government’s repeated attempts to shut them down – some of which were ridiculously dirty – the students raised their voices even higher. The protests were disrupted by the pandemic in the end, but the students had proved that 50 years on from the events of Emergency, the students of Delhi University were still ready to fight for what they cared about.

Alongside these admittedly impressive showings of power by the students, the dirtier side of student politics has also flourished. Student politics are seen as a platform before taking the next step and joining politics at the government levels. Every year in September, the DUSU elections take place at the university. The campuses are gripped by election fever as lakhs are spent by student organisations to butter up the newest batch of students. There is a frenzy for power and authority as the streets are filled with processions of people proclaiming slogans of their respective affiliations. Student organisations feel that the September winds bring back importance to the always prevailing student issues and decide to launch protests across campuses. As I write this article, on September 14th, there are protests taking place in various colleges such as Ramjas, Shyam Lal College, Zakir Hussain, Lakshmibai College and more. All of them are carried out by the ABVP on issues ranging from fee hikes to, for some reason, a boys’ common room. There are seemingly infinite wads of cash thrown by all organisations at alcohol, parties, trips to the water park and fast food for students in a bid to secure their loyal votes.

It gets darker, there are regular reports of politically incited violence on the campuses of the University. It is particularly harsh for the candidates in the running for the positions of the DUSU. In September 2019, the ABVP alleged that the NSUI attacked their candidate for Joint Secretary. Two days later, the NSUI alleged that the ABVP attacked their candidate for vice-president. In 2022 alone, there have been multiple allegations against the ABVP by the NSUI and SFI accusing the rightist organisation of violence.

In the end, it seems my friend was right about DU being political. It may be a perception that’s a little too absolute and dismissive, but it is right to some extent. Delhi University can be a political hotbed. However, more often than not, this is a direct consequence of being a space for debate and discussion of different ideologies right at the capital of the country. Hundreds of students from different backgrounds from different parts of the nation attend this famed university. That kind of exposure brings with it intellectual debates and discussions hidden within the fun of campus life.

All DU ever asks its future students is one thing: what are you willing to stand for? For the pre-independence students of the university it was freedom. For the students in the 70s it was anti authoritarianism. For the students in 2020, it was a sense of secularism and unity. As the elections roll around and the exaggerated showings of student support start, DU and its historically active alumni now ask you, dear reader, “what will you stand for?”

Featured Image Credits: The Hindu

Siddharth Kumar

[email protected]

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Campus Central

Is DUSU a man’s world?

By Manasvi Kadian September 4, 2022

When you look at all the colleges that are not affiliated with DUSU, you will notice that most of them turn out to be women’s colleges rather than co-ed institutions. Is this because of what the students want, or what the college administration deems “right”, or what society considers a norm?

Delhi University is defined by some key components that make up the whole “DU college experience”— the campus, the food, and the infamous student union elections. But you would be wrong to assume that this is the case in each and every college of Delhi University. As of 2019, a total of only 52 DU colleges and faculties are affiliated with the Delhi University Student Union, lovingly referred to as DUSU.

A large proportion of the colleges not-affiliated with DUSU comprise women’s colleges, leaving barely any women’s colleges to be a part of DUSU. The question arises— does an internal bias really exist amongst the female DU students to not want to be part of the process and the complications of DUSU or is this just a manifestation of a system of historical entrenchment of women, not just in politics but in society as a whole?

The scene that we witness on larger political platforms like in various state assemblies or in the parliament, with men occupying most of the positions of power and women being given only token representation, can be seen trickling down onto the university level as well. Many of the contesting groups have only one female contestant amongst a group largely dominated by male candidates, a clear misrepresentation of the ratio of male to female students in the Delhi University student body.

When DUSU is not included in it (women’s colleges), I think it is taking away a lot of political autonomy…. (when) people opt out of it (DUSU) or when we aren’t kept in the loop, we miss out on a lot of political discussions and a lot of very important decisions that can be taken by us,” says Avantika, a former student from Gargi College.

Rather than addressing the concern of college administrations themselves not wanting their colleges to be a part of DUSU, the primary concern would be to address the question of whether female students themselves want to be a part of these elections.

It is not only about if we WANT to be part of the elections or not, but also that women always have and will have more restrictions— in terms of curfews, family concerns, safety issues, etc. Essentially, the way DU politics functions currently makes it very difficult for women to be part of the same, and that gives everyone an excuse and a justification to just not include women in DUSU in general,” says a 1st-year student from Delhi University.

The kind of freedom that male candidates possess and use has always existed in parallel to women candidates. The early curfews mean that most women candidates end up being unable to dedicate the same amount of time campaigning or organising events as a male candidate and the concern for safety, specifically in a city like Delhi, does not add positively to it.

While entering into politics, women majorly face harassment, (wrongful) comments, and at times sexual torture. They are threatened and majorly, they are emotionally blackmailed,” says Meenakshi Yadav, a 2nd-year journalism student from LSR, who is also serving as the president of SFI LSR.

All these factors have, in a sense, culminated to form a sort of vicious cycle— women cannot give enough time or resources to the elections due to the systematic exclusion of women from public life, which leads to them being at a disadvantage and ultimately, in most scenarios, to them not being elected. This ends with a bare minimum representation of women in the elected panel and when women aren’t occupying decision-making positions, how do we expect women’s issues to come up and be addressed on public platforms?

But this is definitely not the only or the complete reason behind the non-participation of women’s colleges in DUSU. Most college administrations would rather not have their college be a part of DUSU, with many of them following on this path since the very beginning while others have pulled out from DUSU in recent years. “Yeh college DU politics ka part nhi hai, yahan padhayi acche se hogi” is a phrase most of the students in these non-DUSU colleges—like St. Stephens, Lady Shri Ram College for Women, or Gargi College—have heard at least once in their life, and this is exactly what the college administration exploits as well. Colleges that are not affiliated with DUSU go so far as this non-affiliation usually gets endorsed by the college administration and further appreciated by prospective students and their parents.

Most of the faculty at these colleges believe that the time during and around the DUSU elections is bubbling with hooliganism and leads to a very disruptive atmosphere in the college. Monika Nandi, associate professor at the Indraprastha College, is against taking part in DUSU elections “because of the use of money and muscle power”. But the teachers also do not hold a unanimous opinion over this. On the other hand, Bhupinder Chaudhary, associate professor at the Maharaja Agrasen College, does not feel that the issue of money and muscle power subsides by restricting the college’s or students’ access to DUSU. “All college students are above 18. If at that age they are allowed to elect the country’s government, why should they not be allowed to elect their union?” Moreover, he raises a very valid question, that is, if teachers can have their own union, the Delhi University Teacher Association, then why can’t (shouldn’t) the students?

Most of the colleges don’t want to indulge in the disturbances which come from external sources like colleges, media, students, etc. (during elections). They want to keep a peaceful environment by suppressing the opportunities of students. They fear the revolution and violence that they think they will have to face if the students are involved in Politics, ” continues Meenakshi, in conversation with a DU Beat correspondent.

College administration would rather argue that it is for the “benefit” of the female students that the college would rather not affiliate itself with DUSU, citing the same reasons that society has cited to women for centuries now— “It’s for your own safety” or “Acche ghar ki ladkiyan yeh sab nhi krti”, all platitudes to suppress the voice of women in a world standing on the foundation of patriarchal bullies and misogynistic ideals.

They tell us to lock up our doors, shut tight our windows, dress right, look down, speak low, hide away; because whatever makes it unsafe for us out there, that is not going to go away.

So yes, women have been told to hide away for decades, and yes, “men will be men” and “we can’t change the society” have been the go-to phrases for centuries of missed opportunities and stolen platforms, but does that mean that in 2022, women belonging to such prestigious institute ons like Delhi university colleges— well-educated and independent-thinking women— should be denied of opportunities as basic as being able to vote? Even though all these colleges might not be a part of DUSU but that does not mean that DUSU does not affect these colleges. None of us exist in a vacuum. Delhi University has always been and will always be highly interdependent, so how does it make sense for the college administration to deny a platform like DUSU to students just because in technicality it is allowed? How does it make sense for us to talk about women’s problems in front of a male-dominated panel, elected by a predominantly male student population, who belong to an electoral college that barely includes any women colleges? How does it make sense to be living in a time when we still need to fight for women’s suffrage?

Feature Image Credits: indiatvnews.com

Manasvi Kadian

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Where are you ICC: Looking at DU’s history of sexual harassment

By Ankita Baidya July 15, 2022

A sexual harassment incident can leave an individual scarred for their entire life. The least that could be done is to identify the accused and bring justice, something the ICC of DU works towards. However, it is often found missing when horrific incidents come forward. Why is the ICC dormant when it is most needed? Read for more.

Basking in the morning sun while discovering the Delhi Metro and the joy of stepping into the college corridors brings a feeling of accomplishment. A transition from school to college brings with it a million sacred dreams that can’t wait to be unraveled. Somewhere it becomes the duty of the institution to protect those dreams and let the innocence cherish the moment in hand. However, a question of safety and security is a product of oblivion of these dreams.

Living in a city like Delhi, people – especially women – do fear about their safety and security. Yet, they sleep at nights dreaming about the endless things they can do and achieve. Their dreams are not hindered by the question of safety but as soon as the Sun comes out, it becomes too obvious to think about it before stepping ahead. Hence, university remains the only place to live those dreams carefree. However, what if even the university becomes the place putting a question mark on one’s safety and security. What if University becomes the place which we term as “unsafe”?

In the recent months, it has become too obvious that the university is not providing a safe space in this regard. From the incident of the Ramjas Debating Society to the scars of the festival of Holi, University of Delhi (DU) has put its DUites under the question of safety and security. It is true that as a woman we have to think about an endless list of things before stepping out of our residence. However, college is surely not the place where a student has to worry about these things but here we are, wrapped up in our thoughts of if going to a certain place will be safe for us?

A question of safety will always be present at the back of our minds but if a mechanism comes into place which redresses our concerns in regards to harassment then a sense of security can blanket the students and teachers of the varsity. One such committee is the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) which addresses the grievances of students and teachers in regards to any form of sexual harassment. Now, the mechanism seems pleasing since the committee is present in most of the colleges and societies apart from a centralized committee of the varsity. The question arises when we take a look at its functioning.

When a Ramjas Debating society’s member was stripped off his credentials for alleged harassment or a student of DU had to face sexual harassment, where was the ICC at those times? Isn’t it the duty of ICC to keep the varsity a place free of harassment? Aren’t they responsible to spread awareness regarding the same? Where was it when such heinous crimes were unraveling themselves? There is an endless list of questions that need to be asked and answered for the scope of improvement of the safety and security of the campus.

In conversation with DU Beat, a member of the ICC explained the functioning of the committee in DU. The member explained that the ICC expects the complainant to come forward or directly come to the office and give the committee a written complaint. Once the complaint reaches, it is taken up in a meeting. If the entire committee agrees on the authenticity of the complaint and if it falls under the jurisdiction of ICC then the complaint is taken forward. As this is the final step where the complainant can withdraw their complaint, the ICC asks them if they want to pursue it or not. Once the ICC gets their consensus, they are asked for 6 copies (as recommended by law) of the complaint. Then, as the ICC is law bounded with an external legal advisor, they send the whole complaint to the respondent, without censoring anything, and give them a 10 days period to submit their clarification or response to the complaint. After this, both the parties are called in a manner where they don’t see each other and individual hearings take place. Then, the ICC gives them a chance to call the witnesses which is followed by witness testimonies. At the end, the committee comes up with their findings and send them to both the parties involved. If nothing else comes up that could change the nature of the proceedings then the committee arrives at recommendations, and according to those, further actions are taken.

Since there are a lot of complaints at a given point of time and law has given us 90 days to resolve an issue, it generally takes 4-5 months to resolve a complaint.

Member of ICC, DU

Upon asking about the reason behind the recent jump in harassment cases in the academic space, the member stated that it could be attributed to the pandemic where people did not understand the consequences of the things they did behind their laptops and mobiles. Further, the member claimed that the varsity has a persistent issue of gender sensitization. For the part of ICC, as the member claimed, it is taking more and more steps to make people sensitized about the gender, to make students aware about what is right and what is wrong.

The harassment cases haven’t increased exponentially but they have increased, particularly in the cyber space.

Member of ICC, DU

Further the member added that there are certain guidelines issued by the ICC in regards to the recent trend of cases that are coming to the committee but it is difficult to enforce them at the grassroot level. Additionally, the member informed that the apex ICC has no jurisdiction over individual ICC of various colleges and hence cannot intervene in their matters. However, if the grievances of a student have not been resolved at the college level, they can directly write to the ICC of DU and then further steps can be taken in the case.

On asking about what if a particular ICC is not functioning properly, the member said, “I can’t comment on it but you can ask the Proctor of the University. There are other mechanisms to address the issues related to the functioning of ICC of a college.”

When the question about how the ICC intends to improve its functioning was popped before the member, they responded by stating their wish to include more members. However, as they stated, the law has bounded ICC to include only 10 members.

As the member said that the ICC’s duty is to deal with the sexual harassment cases and the problem of gender sensitization only then, who is there to keep a check if the guidelines are followed or if a subordinate ICC is functioning properly? Just as the High Courts have a superintendence over all the subordinate courts, who is there to supervise the subordinate ICCs? What happens if a sexual harassment case is shut down for all the wrong reasons? Who is there to keep a check on the functioning of the redressal mechanism?

Learning To Speak Truth To Power

By Anwesh Banerjee July 15, 2022

A deeply personal essay on the degree about to be gone past, and a final attempt at courting the essay form and being the Joan Didion of DU Beat one last time.

It has been three years. Let that sink in first.

Three years ago the world around us was struck by what will go down in history as a life-halting and soul-sucking pandemic. Freshly off my board examinations, like all students from my batch, I had dreams of making it big in this world. I too thought a liberal arts degree would equip me with words that would have the power to change the world around me and albeit propel me eventually towards a career in the liberal arts. However, the sudden imposition of the pandemic which immediately drove us within the four walls of our house seemed to indicate that I need to reconsider these choices.

At a time when my family was mourning for loved ones lost to the pandemic and finances seemed precariously perched, the obvious decision for me would have been to stick to a college in Kolkata, my hometown – and why not? There was an entire pool of prestigious institutions for me to choose from and one could always pick up the dream of moving out of your hometown for one’s postgraduate studies. To avoid giving my parents and family members weekly bouts of anxiety I even enrolled in a Kolkata college but everyone around me knew that my heart was not there. After a six month long wait that felt like an eternity when I got the merit list making it evident that I had indeed made it to one of the leading North Campus colleges in a degree I have wanted to pursue from the day I could think, I knew this was a decision I had to make. Back then, everyone around me seemed hesitant – is it really necessary? What was I trying to prove? But my guts said otherwise.

A year of online classes and two years of being in Delhi later, I am glad I stood my ground that night. Coming to the University of Delhi has not been the sweetest of experiences, but the bitterness that underlines this has now started lifting its head up in the form of a sweet melancholic nostalgia. With thirty days left for this degree to end, I look back on the years gone by and the moments of euphoria and heartbreak. I then look at the mirror (and trust me as a literature student freshly off Lacan that is difficult) and realise the person, or subject (yes I will crack Literature major jokes) is barely the lanky, long-haired boy who stepped into this institution so many moons back.

For one, this University puts you in place. And for good. Especially for a city-bred, English-educated man like me, buzz words like “Unity in Diversity” and “caste masquerading as class” became stark realities. Thrown into a liminal campus space where people of a host of disparate cultures not only lived together but often came into violent conflict with each other was a lesson in life. The spurious nature of identity politics left a stark impression upon me and while multiple friends and lovers became alien overnight, in the by-lanes of Gupta Chowk and Jawahar Nagar, I found my greatest lessons in kindness and empathy. You could be sharing a small plate of Malabar Biryani in Cafe Lucid all by yourself and the person sharing the table with you, suddenly strikes up a conversation and before you know it you have made a friend for the next set of semesters to come. You might be strolling down the ridge on a sultry evening and you will chance upon the sight of two lovers stealing moment, and you silently smile to yourself for this moment of rare affection that wasn’t yours to begin with you — but now is, because moments are meant to be borrowed and loaned, till you find yours.

During my tenure as an author for DU Beat, I have written on a wide range of subjects – ranging from student politics to cinema. But the one thing that I have continued advocating for and writing about relentlessly is issues pertaining to queerness and the queer experience. And on that note, in this final piece of mine, I wish to mention something. Loneliness is one of the biggest problems plaguing every student who lives on this campus on a daily basis. It is divorced from alone-ness and it is something that operates at a structural level. Its violence is less performative from the stone-pelting in protest marches and its cure amorphous. In fleeting moments it buries itself in the fists raised to the chant of azaadi and under the varying colours of the Pride flag. But it raises its uncanny head on metro rides where you see a stranger taking glitter off their jaws with tears in eyes and the person in tattered cargos as they scour your canteen for the millionth time with pamphlets people will stamp over in seconds.

The University of Delhi, and I never thought I would say this, is a family. Yes, because families are spaces with imbalance power dynamics. If there is anything I have learnt from these three arduous years it is this, there is nothing greater in this world than your truth and you alone and speak the same (Foucault says hello at this point) . If you choose to let this university teach you anything then let it be the urgent need and the requisite power required to speak this truth and claim your space. Be it a battle of queering the space, or gendering the discourse, or dismantling caste hierarchies. This is a place, and you belong, let no one tell you otherwise. For the ones who think the reality of the world begins when you step out of the bubble of your college, you are wrong. Aren’t you the real world in all earnest?

Anwesh Banerjee

[email protected]

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Editorials

Aatish-E-Chinar

By Aayat Farooqui July 7, 2022

Memory is the most important tool which oppressed people have. The oppressors want us to have amnesia. The only potent weapon we have as people is memory. “Our memory will always help us to sustain the struggle against injustice,” said Khalid Parvez in an interview with David Barsmain. Indeed, between the neat beds of crimson bloom, her fragrance is like a time machine, granting me a fleeting visit to the land that clings on to nothing, but memories. To my mother’s land. To memory.

Aayat: “Appi it’s not working, why can’t click a photo?”

Mir: “Give it to me, give it to me, I know how to do it…It’s on video mode, now try it like this.”

As god sits on a Shikara painting the paradise, he paints it deep blue and green. A lake so magnificent that it reflects the willing canvas of the mountain and sky. And when he strikes the brush he weaves strings of harmony, and when he strikes the brush he writes poetic songs of the light that is played upon the wind dancing ruffles of willows and trees, and when he strikes the brush he breaks dawn in crimson and wine red, giving it a
watercolour effect. But if the kahwa in his hands slips into a tumultuous storm that wipes the sailcloth grey, was it man who did it or was it divine justice that did not come into play?

Sitting in the university garden, in the serenity of the whistling waters of Dal, our hearts tuned to the flow striking the fixated stones; it was then that I had believed so much in beauty, it was then that I had believed so much in its imposing power that transforms any human being. Every second spent in Kashmir is etched to me like a memory, that if ever revisited, redefines each moment that has ever lived in me, in my mind’s eye.

We were happy. Mountains in summer, lawasa and noon chai, spinach curry dinner on red carpets. The intoxicating smell of afternoon rain with nadru (lotus root fritters) in newspaper wraps. All year round we waited for summer, because summer meant holidays and holidays were a month-long dip into the relieving
waters of a home far away, a fernweh. And because holidays were the hugs and kisses of khala as she spoiled and stuffed us until we turned into a burrito. And because holidays were not only days spent playing
in doll houses or snow-laden balconies, but by then holidays were like a dream that kept on returning to kiss greater life into our souls.

Dated: 12/6/2019
Walking bare feet on wet grass in Shalimar does not equate to the baghs in Delhi. How can nostalgia be so weak that it can’t cling to the last pieces of what is lost? It is because so much is lost. Nothing is the same.
Jhelum boils red in the loss of mothers, endless suffering, endless pain, the endless murder of life, widows, orphans, rape, politics, law and order. Oh, the border, the border! Shelling and pelting, take the youth to detention centers so that the ‘high sir’ can do the belting, the shooting electrocuting.

Nothing is the same. Life is cheap. The winter wind comes with its hollow screams, its quiet cries. But the whispers linger on, the blood dries out, covered under the snow. Don’t let yourself show. Out in the dark, at night. A son born here is a son died. Nothing is the same. Army bunkers and barbed wires surround the roads, mental agony surrounds the people and it is grief that they breathe in. I live in Delhi now, Lucknow feels unlike home. Mir left college after his father died of a heart attack. He sits at the shop now with his elder brother. That is how they earn a living. I went back there after 7 years. Sitting on the stairs at Hazrat-Bal, I see a gamut of pigeons flying. The people often feed them. Just like they feed the hope inside. The walls are scribbled with Azaadi, of what they want, but who are they? Are they some of them or all of them, and if they are who they are, who gives them the liberty to want what they want? Who gives them thought? They are nobodies. No blood and bone. No skin and soul. They are dust. They are ashes. They are long-lost dreams. They are the wind-blown chinar leaf you step on while you walk in and out of paradise(hell) in peace.

“Jis khaak ke zamir mein ho aatish-echinar
Mumkin nahien ke sard ho wok hake arajmand

Wo arajmand ab hogaya hai sard o iqbal
Ab ro raha wadi-e-kashmir phir se ek baar.”

Aayat Farooqui

[email protected]

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Campus Central

DU Professor Nominated for Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence Programme

By Ankita Baidya June 16, 2022

Professor Vandana Saxena is selected for the Fulbright SIR programme. In conversation with her, she tells us about her experience and her perspectives on the pedagogical system. Read ahead to find out more.

Professor Vandana Saxena from CIE, Department of Education, Delhi University (DU) has been accepted for the International Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence (SIR) Programme. Currently working as a Professor at CIE, Delhi University, she completed her post-graduation in Physics, masters in education, and doctorate in science education. She has taught for four years in a school as a science teacher before joining CIE in November 1997. In her academic persuasion to cultivate democratic educational environment, she has engaged with teaching, training, research, and consultations developing research-based and thought-provoking pedagogical designs.

The Fulbright Program is the United States government’s flagship program of international educational and cultural exchange. It is a unique initiative that is specifically driven by the goals of U.S. institutions of higher education to enhance internationalization efforts on their campuses. The S-I-R Program promotes cultural and intellectual diversity among the institution and the wider community. The institution benefits from the expertise provided, and the Scholar attains experience in the U.S. higher education arena.

In conversation with Professor Vandena Saxena, who is a reflective thinker and practitioner, told DU Beat about her attempt to create a harmonious ecology for herself and others around her. With family being her greatest strength, living in the moment, being humble, acknowledging the contribution of others, and always willing to explore a new horizon has kept her grounded in life. On asking about her nomination for the scholarship and her academic work, she enumerated various aspects of her research. Read ahead to know more about her thoughts.

Tell us more about yourself. What is your vision for the future in regards to your academic persuasion?

Personally, I come from a humble background. My parents strongly believed that education has the potential to change our life. I am now engaged as a professor in a public university which is completing hundred years of excellence this year. I have lived every moment in this journey and deep inside I am full of conviction that equal opportunities to access, retention and progression as a systemic approach can create innumerable possibilities for each person. My prime contemplation is on Conceptualizing Research in Education, Driving Research Questions, Academic Writing and Ethics in Research, for which I am conducting workshops with researchers in various universities at Pan-India level. Through this part of my journey I look forward to creating opportunities of academic exchange across the two countries while taking the flavours of India’s rich cultural diversity to the university and community there.

The Fulbright Scholar-In-Residence (SIR) Program is a prestigious program. How was your experience from deciding to apply to getting nominated?

So, I did not apply for this programme.The universities in the United States apply for this programme. The shortlisted application is shared with few countries across the world and the countries nominate candidates as per the requirement of the university. So, the Mississippi Valley State University’s application was shared with the Fulbright Delhi office, which nominated me for this programme. I had an online interaction with the senior officials of the university and finally my nomination was accepted for this programme.

The S-I-R program offers to support up to only three awards each year internationally. So, it’s a very humbling experience for me. I wish to especially mention my guru Prof. Krishna Maitra, for constantly believing in me and showering me with her blessings.

Your research focuses on Diversity Pedagogy and Inclusion, Science Education, and Research in Education. Can you tell us more about it?

My professional journey is founded in reflections and contemplations derived from lived experiences of self and others. I was introduced to the idea of individual differences and the possibilities of questioning the system during my bachelor of education programme. My idea of the ‘whole group as also the whole school’ approach was sowed during that time. Just after completing this degree programme in 1993, I joined as a science teacher in a private school for four years. During this, I realized the responsibility of a teacher as a facilitator for improving the learning curve of each student irrespective of any variations. My doctoral research was thus, about pedagogical planning in science catering to the needs of each student and nurturing the learning experiences of all with a vision of them being adults contributing to a harmonious, peace-loving society in the future.

The university teaching brought forward many other challenges. I was to teach courses aimed at preparing teachers to teach physics from grade six to twelve. The syllabus for the course was almost fifty years old and posed significant challenges. The university system to modify the course was complicated. It took me almost six years to design the new syllabus for this course. Till then, I continued to discuss the themes of critical significance with the students, going beyond the given syllabus.

The journey was getting a parallel initiation into the world of education for children with disabilities. I got immense exposure in this field while visiting the institutions offering teacher preparation courses in this field. Soon, a more updated syllabus for this course was developed and approved through all the channels of the university. As part of teacher education I was also visiting schools to supervise the teaching of trainee students. What I realised there was that private schools had students who were economically well-off and public schools had students coming from socially and economically humble backgrounds. I was able to visualize the complex matrix of factors leading to success in the life of individual students. I had now started thinking about how education can provide the agency to students to optimize their potential. I also observed that teachers in any type of school were working relentlessly to support the educational experiences of the students. So, for me the prime question was that even with motivated teachers and enthusiastic students why the educational experiences were compromised.

Can you tell us about the developments in your research?

I developed an approach to teaching with the title Diversity Pedagogy. This is founded in the conjecture that the belief system of all the stakeholders in education (at any stage) holds the key to success. I have founded the guiding principle as ‘unconditional mutual respect’ for each other. I am constantly trying to imbibe the basic principles of togetherness and hand-holding in any situation. I have designed courses with the theme Inclusion, School & Pedagogy; Inclusion in Education: Context and Continuity for the students of two year M.Ed. programme. The pedagogy for these courses is based upon a grounded theory approach. The students while discussing their lived experiences attempts to theorise the major dimensions of understanding and appreciating diversity in any given context. Their critical engagement with these ideas facilitates the process of imbibing the art and science of reflective practices. The research conceptualized and completed by the students exemplifies this claim.

Is there any piece of advice that you would like to give to your students?

I grew up in a different era altogether and am not aware of typical challenges in the life of youth these days. Yet, I wish to share with them that it is true that I am extremely fortunate to be surrounded by a group of people who love me and always pray for my well-being, but I have faced a lot of criticism and rejection in my life both on a personal and professional front. I did feel alone and infringed but such is life and such are people. I have bounced back with more resilience each time. So, keeping us grounded with an unshakeable belief in self is critically essential, constantly trying to be a better version of ourselves is the key and then gradually even those negative experiences and people stop bothering. With humility and unconditional love for each other we can make it a better place for each other. Let’s try once!

Featured Image Credits: Jagran Josh

Ankita Baidya

[email protected]

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