Latest
DU Beat – Delhi University's Independent Student Newspaper
Tag

College life

Browsing
Campus Central

Teacher’s Day Without Teachers

By

Thinking about teacher’s day while going through the nostalgia of what the relationship with a teacher meant back in school and what it means now on screen. 

When I think of teachers, my mind doesn’t think of the last class I attended yesterday when I was listening to my mom from one ear and the other one had an earphone plugged in. My mind takes me to one or two years back when my Commerce teacher asked us how would we eat an elephant (not literally). This is how he taught us some most important lessons. You should eat an elephant slowly and steadily, which means you should study your vast syllabus slowly, you can’t swallow it all at once. 

I think of my English Teacher who lent me his books (they were hardcovers) for about six months and never really asked them back but obviously, I returned them. I think of my 12th standard class teacher who was more of my only friend in the class or maybe my Accounts teacher whose determined attitude never stops inspiring me. When I think about it, I don’t feel like I have had a teacher since I left school. 

Maybe more than just teaching, a teacher to me means all other things they do. Like how my Accounts teacher still called up on a random day to ask how I was doing. I never have an answer to the question that followed. How is College? I can rant about online teaching mode for hours but maybe I have done a lot of it already and now silence seems to be a good answer. 

I can think of my seniors telling me how college life used to be, teaching me hacks of not just internships or projects but of life as well. How Swati didi would be present at every open mic (yes online events) where I ever performed and ask for the recording if she ever missed one. How Akshat would always pat my back whenever I wrote something good and provided me with the ‘DU culture’ as much as he could.  

My seniors often tell me how some Professors would join them in protests, how the class would start from a random topic and drift away to revolutionary art or some other topic of political significance. There are a few Professors who are very active on social media. At the hours of utmost missing, I can be found on their profiles, dangling between their highlights. I have saved those posts where they mention even the minutest detail about college so that I don’t feel completely alien when I step on campus. 

I try to know as much as I can, from listening to anecdotes from seniors to watching that 2-hour long seminar whose video lies at the end of a playlist with only 25 views. When the administration made it compulsory for teachers to take classes from the college itself, I heard a Professor from another class took his laptop and walked through the entire college, to show students where they actually belong. 

During the same time, I heard a Professor took his classes from the parking area because there’s a network issue in my college (Yes I am from Gargi). I wish I could see the problems they go through just to be on the screen for 88 students who have never seen them, all they know is just an email Id and a link that arrives daily. 

The number of add-on recharges I have done many times just logging into a class and putting it on mute has pushed me away from having teachers at college. Many of us try but don’t have the ample resources, some have all they need for online classes but that is not what they want. 

So I am a college student, who doesn’t know the names of some of her Professors and haven’t seen a lot of them. Better than hearing a voice that is repeatedly cracked by network errors from both sides, I prefer downloaded lectures from a Youtube channel. I don’t know if I can say I have had teachers or not, but I am sure I haven’t felt what learning actually meant. I don’t blame any side, maybe time and circumstances can bear that pain. 

So maybe Happy Teacher’s day to YouTube, Udemy, PDFs and Google Meet. And also to those people who are my designated teachers right now, I hope we can discuss a variety of things someday in classes, whose window sees the lush lawns and red walls and no link or network error exists in between. 

Read Also: Online Classes: A Blessing in Disguise?

Featured Image Credits: Adobe Stock 

Kashish Shivani

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
Campus Central

The Stolen Sixth Semester: Woes of a Final-Year Student

By

Read the words of our Editor-in-Chief for one last time, before she graduates, as she complains about her stolen sixth semester.

I remember last year, around this time, I was preparing for the farewell ceremony for my seniors at DU Beat- my phone would blow up with some 250 random messages on WhatsApp, endless calls discussing the venue, theme, gifts, and what not. At that time, I didn’t actually understand what the final semester meant to my seniors because I was too engrossed thinking about how life and work would be without them being around. But I also had the settling feeling that I would know when time comes.

Cut to 2020, the last semester of my college life as an undergraduate student, sitting at home, writing this article, and thinking about where my last semester went. I think of the stuff I would have been doing with my college friends and my team at this wonderful organisation.

However, I have always believed ‘expect the unexpected’ and I think that this is the only thing that is keeping me sane in such uncertain times. As kids, most of us might have experienced an unsettling feeling when somebody would snatch out a lollipop from our mouth. This is exactly what happened to our final semester.

Having said this, I would not talk only about the sad situation we are in. As a graduating student, a host of memories flash in front of me right now- the day I got admitted to the University of Delhi(DU), the day I met my college best friend, and the day I joined this organisation.

The three years of my college life have been the most challenging, yet the best years of my life. From being a student coming out of the protected cocoon of school life to graduating college with confidence and an identity, this is what these three years have made me. As college students, we are stuck with assignments, internals, submissions, deadlines, placements, societies, and endless preoccupations.

The nationwide lockdown gave me enough time to introspect and surprisingly, all that mattered to me during this difficult time were the people. I realised that my college life was not only defined by a degree or my friends, but also the security guard of my college who would wish ‘Good morning bacchon’ every morning, the canteen staff who would talk about their families, and the housekeeping staff of the college who would smile and wish me luck before every exam.

I wish I could get to relive all this one last time because I didn’t know that the chai I had on 6th March in my college canteen was the last cup I would have with my college friends while Ravi bhaiya (college canteen staff) talked about his Holi plans. You know something impacts you a great deal when you are unable to write about it without being cheesy and clichéd. It’s a faux-pas I’m willing to indulge in for the sake of honesty.

As much as I have talked about the final year students, I would also like to talk about the juniors. They are also the ones who hope to give their seniors the most memorable days of their college life. The end semester is also a reminder that they have become older, and are now themselves seniors. It’s a nostalgic time for the third-year students but what we often forget is how overwhelming it is for the juniors as well.

Dear Delhi University, the batch of 2020 will miss their last fest season, internals, college parties, night stays, bunks, submissions, and the last lectures and yes, they will miss you too- a place which gave them friendships, lessons, and lots of memories.

Feature Image Source: Anoushka Sharma for DU Beat

Anoushka Sharma

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
Arts & Culture

An Open Letter: Why I Left My Society

By

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Feature Image Credits: Hitesh Kalra for DU Beat

Akshat Arora

[email protected]

Prabhanu Kumar Das

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
Arts & Culture

Blurry Lines of Friends with Benefits

By

In the age of instant gratification, longterm commitments can sometimes seem burdensome. Presenting to you, an insight into the weird contrast of being ‘friends with benefits’.

Friends with Benefits, in simple terms, is being friends with the added benefit of a sexual relationship, sans the feelings. In theory, it seems like the perfect idea: you are sleeping with someone you trust and like enough, who has mutual respect for you, but there’s never the added baggage of emotions and commitment. However, contrary to the simplicity it promises, it is a relationship that requires utmost care while being dealt with. Friends with Benefits (FwB) is an interesting dynamic, for it falls between romantic attraction and sexual attraction. There are people you could be romantically compatible with, and there are people you could be sexually compatible with; while there are people who you might have the hots for, they don’t need to be the same people you visualize a happily ever after with. In those cases, if you and they are interested in being around each other sexually, having a chilled out (but a well discussed and thought out) friends with benefits relationship can do wonders.

Like all healthy relationships, the key to a healthy FwB relationship is understanding and communication. For a friends with benefits arrangement to work, you have to know each other and understand what feelings the emotional and sexual dynamic evokes in you. It is also important to communicate about what each person expects and where each is, as the relationship evolves. A third-year student, shared, “Given the difference between sexual and romantic attraction, along with the fact that some people are better as friends, I think a friends with benefits arrangement is ideal. Labeling relationships always leads to unnecessary expectations, which friendship is free from. I find that it is quite liberating in that way. The only thing that one should always keep in mind is that it stays consensual and that there is complete clarity on the terms of the agreement”. But, before getting into one, it is very important to check if you’re both on the same page: that you’re neither looking to commit to the person nor do you want them to commit to you. This helps to avoid misread signals and hurt down the line. It is also important to both remember and remind that this relationship would not develop into anything more intimate.

The romanticisation of friends with benefits in popular culture does not help either. While all FwB might begin with communication and understanding of the equation between the two partners, it is also very likely that one of them might develop feelings down the road. Stringing along the other person, and being the one strung along, are both unhealthy mentally and emotionally. And among all of it is the greatest fear of them all: losing your friendship over this new dynamic.

“FwB is all fun and games until one of them catches feelings and if you’re anywhere like me, you are doomed. I have had my fair share of encounters but a sense of companionship and the possibility of something more always loomed largely. To each its own, but I have gone from liking to majorly disliking friends with benefits solely because I have zero control over myself,” said Anandi, a first-year student. While a friends with benefits relationship is not the most convenient dynamic to initiate, apt precautions on both the partners sides with a truck full of communication and understanding can sustain the relationship. Regardless of the relationship dynamics, being sexually involved with someone is a churning pot of emotions: emotions build, as does trust, intimacy, connection, and familiarity. If there is room to work through challenges to maintain the friendship, even at the expense of the benefits, then you are in a successful FwB relationship.

Feature Image Credits:

Satviki Sanjay

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
DUB Speak

The Journey of The First Semester of College

By

How does college life hold up to the expectations of freshers?

 

I remember how I walked into my college the first day- dressed dandy, eyes glimmering with hope and my tote bag heavy, with things enough to last a zombie attack. The college itself was brimming enthusiasm and anticipation- the kind of anticipation only 18-year-old kids finally going to college can muster.

For some, college life is a new beginning. For others, it’s a chance to finally delve into what they love. Regardless, I wasn’t the only excited 18-year-old there. A romantic by heart, I was expecting my own Pitch Perfect-esque adventures.  Coming to college felt like that Miley Cyrus song, the one where she hops off with a dream and a cardigan.

The first week of college felt great, but I knew it was too good to be true. The rose glasses soon came off. What I expected were breezy days where I could dress up to my heart and come and leave whenever I wanted, finally doing something I truly was interested in. What I soon found out was that technically college was all that, except with an asterisk that said Terms and Conditions apply in the fine print.

While I already had low expectations, the first thing that college changed was my study habits. Education took a backseat on this ride. Travelling for an hour for just one class became a chore and education for me started revolving around attendance, assignment submissions, internals, and externals. Like every other fresher, I got involved in college societies.

The biggest surprise that came was how the hype around societies failed to meet the expectations. The entire buzz around societies, auditions, and inductions mellowed down as soon as it dawned on us that societies, too, weren’t all games. The first week was filled with overenthusiastic students like me eager to be a part of every society possible. Fast forward to two months later, and half of us had already left or were regretting what we joined.

The desire to join a society, though, felt like a part of my bigger desire to fit in. To find a place. To finally figure out what it was that I was meant to do. It was easy to get lost in a space where everyone is just as talented, especially when I was still on my path to self-discovery and enlightenment.

The one thing that college did get right is the diversity and variety. That any given point of time, there was something happening for someone. Interested in student politics? There’s a protest in the Arts Faculty. A film critic? The film society is hosting a screening. Into drama? There’s a street play at the metro station. And this gave me, and every other fresher out there, a chance to try out new things.

College life showed me how it is easy to get caught up in this whirlpool. Easy to get lost in the eye of all this newfound freedom. Easy to forget who I was amidst assignments, projects, new friends, and ‘getting a life’. What they said was that college was about going out of my comfort box, meeting new people and discovering myself. What they didn’t tell me was how college was also five continuous classes a day, piling coursework and sometimes biting off more than I could chew.

But what I’m learning is that college comes with so many firsts. But it also seems like a place that makes things last and I’m just taking my time on my ride!

 

Featured Image Credits: DU Beat Archives

 

Satviki Sanjay

[email protected]

 

 

Keep Reading
By
Uncategorized

Constructing a Smile

By

 

Why is it that in this gloomy, fast-paced world we don’t put in a little extra effort to make others smile more often? On World Kindness Day, this year let us try a bit harder to turn a few frowns upside down!

As children we’ve all been told on countless occasions to be kind to those around you. It sounds like such a simple and obvious idea and well, it really is! But somewhere down the road the whole concept seems to have gotten lost in its journey. We tend to forget how easy it is to be kind. Kindness is a gift which everyone can afford. So why is it that we don’t share it more often with people around us?

The single, smallest and the most random act of kindness can make a person smile. Given that we live in such a dismal and cynical society, we all can use a little cheering up. Little acts such as greeting the cab driver a good morning with a happy face can bring joy to a person in ways one never thinks. Who knows your day will turn out beautiful just by saying kind words? It’s almost saddening to see how nobody greets each other anymore.

Our lives these days are very busy. It’s as if we barely have time for ourselves, let alone others. We are so occupied in our own businesses that we ignore the others’. We fail to ensure whether those around us are doing well or not; did they smile today or not? Just a “How are you?” after a “Hey” can make a person feel special and acknowledged.  The words of Dalai Lama ring all the more true now when he said, “When we feel love and kindness toward others, it not only makes others feel loved and cared for, but it helps us also to develop inner happiness and peace,”

Being kind is like giving hope to someone who feels alone. We don’t realise how our words and actions impact those around us. Nobody knows what the other is going through. We casually crack jokes that often can be derogatory but are yet supposed to be “funny”. Thus, always think twice or thrice or maybe even a hundred times before being rude to someone.

It’s the best time to be nice to people around you. Kindness can be expressed in the most mundane actions, for instance, smiling at someone, offering to open the door, letting them know they look nice or maybe just making them laugh.

On asking around I received different views by others as to what they feel is an act of kindness, most people associate kindness as an act which makes them smile. This includes gestures right from sharing music, reminding your friends to ‘stay hydrated’, a random hug, marking your friend’s proxy or just recommending a good book!

What act of kindness did you do today? Did you make someone smile?

 

Feature Image Credits: Navya Jindal for DU Beat

Aditi Gutgutia

[email protected]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keep Reading
By
Arts & Culture

Thighs Attract Boys: The Curious Case of St. Francis College

By

Education is meant to liberate the educated. Read on to know what happens when there exists a polarity between the two.

Recently, a video of St. Francis College, Hyderabad, had made rounds on the internet. The video was received with widespread outrage across different social media platforms. The protesting students alleged that a faculty member had shamed a student for wearing a sleeveless dress. “The head of my department gave the example of actors who are paid to wear ‘such clothes’. That statement affected me. I have written down this incident verbatim in my book,” an enraged student said. “Sr. Sandra announced a new dress code change in the middle of the year and her colleagues told our representatives that a long kurta would get us good marriage proposals. They told our representatives that standing up for a cause is blasphemous, raising your voice is blasphemous.

This went against the very grain of our values as millennials of the 21st Century. Things got worse, every day we were all humiliated for wearing a kurta that was just an inch or less above the knee, we were made to stand outside the college, losing out on classes and tests. Things did not stop there, the college went ahead and hired female security guards in the pretext of security, these female guards were checking the length of our kurtas, they went ahead and pulled girls by their ID (identity) cards and even pulled their kurtas,” Zanobia Tumbi, who is a student at St. Francis, posted on her Facebook profile, along with the video. Eventually, the women decided to protest and were finally allowed to wear “long tops” to college. But that does not even begin to end the discourse. The Indian education system, specifically talking about higher education, has a way of putting unnecessary obligations on students.

Be it a certain way of dressing, a mandatory minimum attendance, or a particular way of writing the papers to fetch more marks, they all contribute to cease the liberty of students. What is worrying is that the students of these institutions have internalised this behaviour, and do not really seem to have a problem with it. When I asked a few students studying in a reputed college which followed the same practice, their answers ranged from, “I have never given it a thought,” to “No, I don’t have anything to say about it.” When humans are fed a diet of entirely problematic substances, they stop dissecting the reality to find out the truth.

Something similar seems to be happening with the Indian youth, and this is a cause of concern. Education is supposed to make them distinguish between real and false virtues, but in such cases, it is robbing them of it. When there is an imposition of uncalled-for rules, it tends to hamper with the real issues plaguing the country and the world as communities. India lags behind when it comes to research, innovations, and modifications in education. Instead of sanitising the post-millenials of their ungodly ways, the system should take a long, critical look within its cracks and make amends to the damage. While the whole world is progressing to form a more holistic approach towards education, actions such as these put a big question mark on the system.

There is also a debate about what the parents’ reaction is. According to the management of St. Francis, most of the parents had received this decision of their daughters wearing a kurta in a positive light. In this situation, dissent, and not the narrative of “disobedience” that we have been fed, is necessary. Across colleges, and especially in women’s educational institutions, patriarchy or moral policing should have no space. Such places in Hyderabad, Delhi, Mumbai, or across smaller cities, have given the country women that the world is proud of. If we limit them to, and define them by what they wear, these places will stop producing the kind of talent that they have. In an educational institution of the present time, moral policing on women’s bodies and clothing should be the topic of criticism and not a notice issued by the authorities who hold power. When it comes to learning, steps like these comply with the misogyny and sexism women in our country, and from all over the world, have actively been fighting to put in the past.

Feature Image Credits: The Hindu

Maumil Mehraj

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
Arts & Culture

The FOMO of Not Living on Campus

By

Early morning classes can kill you on the inside, and the weariness from attending five back-to-back lectures is enough for you to consider dropping out. But, the real heartbreak happens when your friends, who live on campus, make plans to go out at 8 p.m., and you can’t join in because travelling back home takes you two hours alone. In this moment, you truly feel the FOMO of not staying on campus.

Fresh out of the cages of you school life, college becomes synonymous to freedom and fun- to hours of hanging out with friends, to shop, and to go out to drink or eat. You feel unstoppable, the life at Delhi University is famously known for its leisure and easy accessibility to a number of trendy and hip hang-out spots.

And then you receive a churlish reality-check when you realise that travelling to college from places away from campus buries your dreams to the ground. By the time your friends make a plan to go out to eat at someplace you’ve all been dying to go to, you’re halfway across the city at Rajiv Chowk, suffocating with everybody else on the Blue-Line, making to your way to back to Noida, or getting off at IFFCO Chowk after hours of weary travel in a cramped metro with busted air conditioning. Even if plans are made when you’re in attendance, you are unable to join them because that going out with everybody at 6 p.m. means getting done by 8, which inevitable means  reaching home by 9. Assuming you don’t have a curfew, you still say no because boarding the metro during office hours is a person’s worst nightmare.

It is then that you realise that you’ll forever be the “responsible friend” when everyone is drinking, not because you do it out of the goodness of your heart, but because you have to. You know you have no other option- there’s no way you can travel in the metro while you’re wasted, and there’s no way your mother won’t call you once the clock strikes 7, if you decide to stay back and recuperate. It is always missing out on society meets, and then feeling like a slacker when you can’t attend impromptu training sessions because boarding the metro after 4 means hell. You will have to miss out on seminars and unpremeditated extra classes by professors who keep last minute extra classes, and don’t take into consideration that not everybody lives 20 minutes away from college. It is coming to terms that you’ll always, always be tired no matter how much you sleep and that you will need an entire Sunday to catch up on your week’s sleep.

You understand after the first week that your happening school-schedule of falling asleep at 2 a.m. will be going down the drain because you will start falling asleep at 10 p.m.- even before your parents-to wake up at 6 a.m. and feel like an old person. And lastly, it’s the feeling of wanting to abandon your ancestral roots of being non-violent and floor a person the moment they say, “just shift to campus na, yaar!”

Feature Image Credit: Ivy Marketing

Shreya Juyal

[email protected]

 

Keep Reading
By
Arts & Culture

Living a College Life in the Age of Social Media

By

Social media is a modern-world tool available in the hands of today’s youth, and they find solace in the sea of information found in it.

To connect or to disconnect from social media has been an intensely debated topic, especially among today’s parents and the youth. While a majority of the parents think that using social media is a waste of time and a major distraction, most youth believe that it is a useful tool since it provides a virtual medium for people to get connected with each other, engage in discussions, share information, etc. As a socially active youngster, I am of the opinion that one of the best advantages of social media is that it connects people at the click of a button, with the right source required by them at that particular point of time. This click makes life very easy and comfortable, especially for the teenagers who enter into a new phase of their lives, i.e. university life. These confused teens find solace in the sea of information found on social media.

To learn and unlearn by one’s own experience is a thing of the past, as with the improved network of social media, experiences of successes, as well as experiences of failures are available for guidance. To select a course or a college away from home takes tremendous courage, and that courage comes from the information and knowledge-base provided by social media. “Before taking admission in any college, I went through videos a million times. I saw all the fest coverages and everything. It helped me a lot in knowing what will come my way,” says Bhumi, a first-year student, pursuing B.A. (Honours) Philosophy at Daulat Ram College.

Apart from empowering the students with knowledge, social media also plays an important role in connecting people; more so in making an outstation student feel at home. With the virtual connect, social media enables them to speak and stay in touch with their loved ones back home, and at the same time helps them in making new friends. “Social media helped me to connect with my friends, and most importantly to bridge the distance between me and my family. Also, as a byproduct of its well-connected nature, it helped me to settle in a city with a sense of ease in the sense that I wasn’t only able to establish, but also maintain new contacts in the city,” opines Aditya Nath, an outstation first-year student from Jharkhand, pursuing B.A. Programme at St. Stephen’s College.

Getting the right type of accommodation is a very crucial thing for outstation students who do not manage to get into hostels, and with the advent of social media, students are easily able to find paying guest accomodations(PG) and flats to live in, with the ratings and experiences of seniors recorded on various networking sites. In the words of Avilokita, an outstation first-year student from Chattisgarh, pursuing B.A. Programme at St. Stephen’s College, “Social media, especially Facebook really helped me a lot to find a good PG with a good environment to live in, because being new to the city, it is very difficult to find a safe and secure place where a student can easily adjust.” Social media has also played an important role in increasing the availability of opportunities for students, since all information regarding clubs, orientations, fests, competitions, etc. are circulated on applications like Instagram and WhatsApp. At the same time, it is a saviour for students who take part in sports or extracurricular activities, since they can catch up on all that is taught in the classes they miss by getting notes and questions from their friends through networking apps.

Thus, to conclude in the words of the famous Greek physician Hippocrates, “Everything in excess is opposed to nature.” Truly, nothing in excess is good. Therefore, it is important that each one of us manages the time spent on social media efficiently and usefully, so as to harness the maximum benefits from this gainful resource.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat Archives

Abhinandan Krishn Kaul

[email protected]

Keep Reading
By
DUB Speak

The Reality of College Life: Fresher's Edition

By

After the initial week of jitters and anxiety finishes, faces start to become familiar and the freshers’ no longer need to ask three people for directions to their classrooms. Here’s looking at college life, through the eyes of a fresher.  Somewhere between metro rides, attending lectures half-asleep and making innumerable plans to meet at the nearest chai tapri each day, college life for the most recent batch has kick-started. And it is exultingly unexpected and exhausting at the same time. High school puts most of us in a sheltered and protective delusion where one is far away from the finer nuances and greater responsibilities of adulting. My initial experience of college life at the North Campus of the University of Delhi (DU) has been liberating and eye-opening. The diverse spectrum of students, the dynamics of an all-girls institution and the ever-lasting juggle between academics and co-curricular activities forms the entire experience of college which continues to teach me something new every day. The college has become a stepping-stone of unlearning for me. The judgments, opinions, norms, realities, and conditions that I was exposed to earlier, have all been rethought. The political protests, opinionated teachers, vocal classmates, and active media on campus have exposed me to broader perspectives, new ways of thinking and encouraged me to look at things through a fresh lens. Satviki Sanjay, a first-year student of B.A (Honours) Philosophy from Miranda House says, “Despite popular belief, going to college in DU is so much more than just “chilling”. It gives you the much-needed space to work on your interests and your area of study, which was not possible in school. Being at the University gives you freedom but at the same time, it teaches you the idea of being responsible for yourself. For me, the most enriching experience so far has been meeting different people in numerous societies and being exposed to varying opinions.” The diverse and democratic environment of the University has exposed me to its rich legacy and heritage. It has already pushed me to put my best foot forward, push myself, make the most of the opportunities at hand and get out of my comfort zone. Like me, many first-years are looking forward to the next three years of college and live by the motto – “Sleep more than you study, study more than you party, party as much as you can!” Feature Image Credits: DU Beat Bhavya Pandey [email protected]]]>

Keep Reading
By