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Food Review: Tee Dee, Majnu ka Tilla

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Now in DU, do as the DU kids do and explore!

So here is DUB bringing you one of its favourite Tibetan food joints which is definitely recommended for all the foodies out there!

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Location – (2/5)
This restaurant is located in the narrow streets of the famous Tibetan refugee settlement, ‘Majnu ka tilla’, which is close to both the Vidhan Sabha and Vishwavidyalya metro station. Accessibility can be slightly problematic due to the overcrowded roads and remoteness of the area. Students will have to shell out around 30-40 bucks for their rickshaw ride!

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Ambience – (3.5/5) The place is fit to comfortably accommodate over 40 people, and has a bright and sunny feel to it. The food joint is done up in a traditional Buddhist manner with loads of laughing Buddhas and dragons staring at you as you eat. The place can safely be referred to as ‘a small chunk of Tibet’ in the busy metropolitan of Delhi.

Menu – (4/ 5) The menu comprises of your everyday Chinese and Tibetan dishes; with their momos, noodles and thukpa being the crowning glory. Variety of Tibetan dishes like the Gyuma (fried sausages), Shabhaley (fried momos) and Thentuk (noodles with soup) are Tee Dee’s speciality. Their steamed bread and special apple beer can be a good companion to your meal.

Service – (3/ 5) The service is good with the restaurant not being too crowded. The staff though approachable but seemed slightly slow with their service.

Rates – (3.5/5) This restaurant is perfect for the perpetually broke DU kid as their rates are pretty low and the average cost for a meal for two people is around Rs. 400 with beverages included.

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The joint is open from 11 AM to 11 PM and has packing services as well. If one overlooks the slight accessibility issue, this place is great for a date or a day out with friends!

Image Credit: Jayati Bhola

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Admissions 2013

An Open Letter to VC Dinesh Singh

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dinesh singhRespected Mr. Dinesh Singh,

This letter is to congratulate you on your relentless pursuits to making Delhi University a world class university. I am fully aware that due to the “hurried” changes in the degree program, you have received more brickbats than bouquets, but this letter is an exception.

It has been around three years that you’ve been elected the VC of the best university in India. In your interviews you’ve maintained that the preparations for implementing the four year undergraduate programme (FYUP) started as soon as you held office. Even then you made the smart decision to implement the semester system, just to replace it with FYUP after two years. Your uncanny future planning is admirable, sir.

You’ve claimed rather vehemently that FYUP is going to increase the employability of students. I fully trust you when you imply that by studying non-core subjects more than core subjects in the span of 4 years, a pass out will be the preferred choice. I also believe you that by giving multiple exit points and still “benefiting” from the studies, a drop out with a B.A degree will get a job without really specializing in his 2/3 years of study.

Sir, I appreciate your concern for the students who wish to study in U.S.A after completing their graduation in India. Your decision to make structural changes (increasing the span from 3 years to 4 years to suit the USA model) rather than focusing on the quality of the structure (the quality of core disciplines, lessening the burden of non-core subjects) is admirable. Because you see, spending a year extra without learning extra is the goal, USA and all.

I understand you value quality education, that’s what FYUP is all about after all, isn’t it? Therefore I applaud your decision of making students study the disciplines that are in no way related to the field they want to major in. The fact that you’re making an English major aspirant from humanities background study biochemistry perfectly makes sense. Because the value of science foundation courses is so important in literature after all, that it would have been better to delete a Shakespeare text and replace it with physics.  Also, since not everyone has studied biochemistry at the high school level, college level bio-chemistry is going to be pretty much same to high school bio chemistry, so that everyone is able to study, thereby not taking college level studies a notch up. I perfectly see where you’re taking quality education with this.

You, respected sir have created an ideal university, where professors keep shouting and administrators turn a blind eye. Where students aren’t able to learn and nobody listens. Where cut offs keep rising and quality education keeps going downwards.

Congratulations sir. My heartiest wishes to you in your endeavour to achieve life, liberty and happiness, and perpetual deafness.

Yours sincerely
A student who being in second year is facing the misfortune of not studying in FYUP.

Image Credit: South Campus website

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DUB Speak

Delhi’s Autowallahs- Pioneering on Road Infotainment Since Time Immemorial

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We, Delhiites, have certainly travelled in autos at least once in our life. This is almost as certain as the autowallah charging you “Meter se 10 Rupai extra.” As students, rather, as DU students who are late to the first class almost every time, travelling by an auto is day-to-day business.

So what are the basics that make up for a mundane auto ride from point A to B? First and foremost, whether the autowallah is ready to ferry you to your desired destination or not; on a good day you’ll find a compliant guy in about 3 attempts. Secondly, is your chosen autowallah ready to go by the meter; if you are really adamant about it and it is your lucky day, you’ll end up riding a DTC. Thirdly, and the focus of the article is the socio- political issue that the autowallah would shed light upon in his choicest words. The autowallah’s banter maybe the simplest of rants about the traffic with a garnish of his favourite cuss words or a complex sometimes right wing sometimes left wing talk about the state of our polity.

So I shall now narrate 2 stories of interesting rides around the city.

The first incident happened when my professor of Indian Politics took an auto to go someplace, he didn’t mention where. So being the last person to act as a social pariah he started chatting up the autowallah and the stories the autowallah had to share were rather interesting. The autowallah came from a better than middle class household from a state in the Hindi speaking belt. He claimed to have had acres of land and decent amount of cattle to his name. Yes, even to my professor it struck as a rather odd thing for such a guy to be driving an auto in Delhi and he enquired as to what went wrong. So, our autowallah in question lost most of his assets because he had decided to stand for the local elections. He lost all his money in campaigning, and buying off voters which means most of his expenditure was on “dhols, dhotis and daaru”. Indebted as he was, to raise his head above the debt and to make a living, he now drove an auto on Delhi roads. Though one can still wonder if the expenditure on dhotis and daaru had gone down for him or not.

The second case in point is something that happened when I took an auto to get to college the other day. Not only did the autowallah go by meter he also slowed down and pulled up at the curb when he had to answer his phone! Who in this dammed city does that?! When I appreciated him for that action he went on and explained about how he always went by meter and never acted as a “bhaokhaanewala driver”. He also added that two of his sons were studying in leading engineering colleges in the country and as proof of his honesty he did not merely keep the change when I paid him, he returned me the exact amount of change adhering to what his meter said. His auto was famous and revered in the city, he said as he had the unique number plate that read ‘0002’. That was a rather refreshing start to my day since it did not include a game of What Price is Right with an autowallah.

This city has presented all of us such quirky travel tales. To the extent that in 1971, the then TOI Editor took a taxi from his office to get home and what the taxiwallah said, he reported the next day as an example of how delusionalMrs. Gandhi had the common gentry with her ‘GaribiHatao’ slogan. When he settled in the back seat the taxiwallah remarked, “Sahab election kebaadaapaagebaithna hum peechebaithenge.” Needless to say, both of them stuck on in the same seats even after the elections.

So it has been rightly said that if you want to tap the pulse of our city take a ride or two in an auto and make sure that you don’t sit back reading a book or listening to music cause the autowallah bhaiya has a lot to tell.

 

Anugrah Gopinath
[email protected] 

 

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Campus Central

Ek Khwaab Ko Janm Dein

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Verve, The Street Play Society at Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies is proud to present “MANTHAN 2013”, which aims to harness the power of street theatre to arise a sense of responsibility and cognizance about sensitive issues within the society. Over the past six years of its history, different colleges across Delhi have come together and performed street plays with various alluring themes at many public places, all with an aim to reach out to people and get them thinking. The largest and the most extensive street play festival in Asia, MANTHAN, is widening its expanse this year to a month long fest spanning across 3 cities-Delhi, Mumbai and Chandigarh. Manthan will incorporate ‘nukkadnatak’ performances from various college teams and professional groups on the plethora of social issues plaguing our nation. The highlight of the event is the unique socio-cultural initiative, titled the ‘Street Play to Schools’ programme, undertaken with the purpose of promoting Street Play culture in future college students and to create awareness at the same time. Spanning from 6th February – 15th February 2013, the school programme was host to a volley of excellent ideas and synergetic performances by reputed colleges in various schools across Delhi. The School programme had the following schools and colleges as its participants:

  • Bal Bharti School, Pitampura- Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies and Lady Sri Ram College
  • Sardar Patel Vidyalaya- Daulat Ram College, Sri Ram College of Commerce
  • St. Mary’s School, Safdarjung- Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College
  • Delhi Public School, Rohini- Hansraj College
  • Sri Guru Nanak Public School, Adarsh Nagar- Miranda House
  • Mira Model School, Janakpuri- Motilal Nehru College
  • Ahlcon International School- Hindu College
  • Mount Abu Public School- IP College
However, this is just the beginning. Taking off from the grand success of the school programme is the first-of-its-kind ‘Street play to NGOs’ programme. Through its launch, Manthan plans to touch the deeper roots of the society by performing street plays in slums in association with various NGOs across the Delhi-NCR region. The schedule for the performances at NGOs is as follows: 18th February 2013- Arya Anathalay, Daryaganj 19th February 2013- Bachho Ka Ghar, Daryaganj 20thFebruary 2013- Prabhaat 21st February 2013- Blind Relief Association Commencing from 25th February is the main event of the festival with each day modeled around a unique theme; plays relevant and pertaining to that particular theme will be performed on that day. At the conclusion of the performances, an open discussion about the theme will be held with the audience under the esteemed presence of eminent personalities from the field of theatre, performing arts, education, media, social and political activists, etc. The event is being promoted as a free-for-all event that promises entertainment and at the same time raises the specter of social evils haunting the nation and drives home a serious and meaningful message of bringing about social changes. Manthan’13 is privileged to present to you its title sponsor – Sun Foundation. An initiative of Vikramjit Singh Sahney, Padma Shree, Sun Foundation has brought self reliance and betterment to the lives of thousands of lesser privileged women and children through their initiatives like Surya Kiran Centres for Women, Taare Zameen Par for specially abled children and Save The Girl Child Campaign among others. Follow the link below to get a sneak peek into Manthan’s endeavor to usher in change. http://www.facebook.com/Manthan.cbs?fref=ts   Ek Khwaab Jo Maine Dekha Hai, Khud Hi Mein Janma Hai… Badlaav Ki Wo Soch Hai, Khud Hi Mein Dekha Hai.   -Manthan 2013. Aao, Ek Khwaab Ko Janm Dein.]]>

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DUB Speak

Why Girls Get Raped In Delhi

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I live in a PG, close to college, because my house is slightly far and the travel is inconvenient. It took me a lot of explaining and convincing to get my parents to let me live separately. They’ve always been very protective and wary of the how unsafe Delhi is. But over the past month it feels like something has changed. I don’t think they’re wary anymore. I think they’re more scared than they ever were. And somehow its not just them, its everyone. Considering how ruthless people seem to have become, nobody wants to take “risks”. I’m used to traveling alone at night with my girl-friends. But over the past few weeks, every time we talk about it, there’s an eerie, uncomfortable feeling. It’s almost like it’s not the same place anymore. My friends tell me they don’t feel safe traveling anymore, be it by autos, metro or even cabs, even in broad daylight. My mom doesn’t want me traveling alone in the dark, even if it’s by cabs. Everybody’s vehemently talking about justice and the need for safety, autos are coming up with panic buttons and people are actually coming out to protest about the lax cops, the need for severe punishment and upping the security levels.

Amidst all this, there remains a section of our population which will always talk about women’s safety being in their own hands. And don’t mistake this for that section which wants women empowerment through ensuring all women are capable of self defense. I’m referring to the quiet significant number of people in our Indian society who believe that it is up to a girl to not be called fast, keep safe and live a protected life, by following the very norms which socialize Indian girls into subservient dummies who are easily suppressed by their male counterparts.

It’s not uncommon to hear neighborhood aunties talk about how “she’s always wearing provocative clothes” or “always hanging around with boys”, or “goes out at night”, with smug expressions and an unsaid agreement about how the girl is calling for trouble. If “Prevention is better than Cure”, then why does Prevention here, refer to girls following a certain code of conduct in order to not be raped or harassed. Why doesn’t it apply to boys, who need to be brought up respecting women and learning to control their desires. Isn’t that what socialization should be about? Shouldn’t the babas of the world be preaching to the boys to keep it in their pants, rather than telling the girls to fall at their attackers’ feet and appeal to them as her “bhaiyas”. Shouldn’t parents be instilling morals in their sons about how a girl’s clothes are not an index to her availability, rather than telling their daughters how she’s merely going to attract attention by dressing in a way which is even slightly off the conservative Indian code of dressing – cover everything. I’m not saying that every person in our society believes in such unfair notions, but a considerable number do. The city be made safer, rather than the girls be put under curfews and restrictions.

When flipping through the channels on TV while an aunty from the neighbourhood settled herself beside me, I randomly started watching some movie called “Tanu weds Manu”. In a series of scenes where two girls were seen smoking a doobie, and drinking from time to time, aunty-ji had already declared them as being bad girls, jinse “kaun shaadi karega? inke sath sab ek hi cheez karna chahenge.” I don’t mean to advocate smoking or drinking, but I DO know for sure if these were the male actors instead of the female ones, aunty would have hardly even noticed. I wonder how in such a judgmental society, where any deviation from the “correct” code of conduct is an invitation to be violated, how can one even think about equality? We do need a hike in security measures across the city very urgently, but at the same time, we as a society need to rethink the kind of morals and values we are focusing on, and where these restrictions and norms need to be applied. Though the world didn’t end on the 21st of last month, but the utter cruelty of the case that everyone knows I’m talking about makes it look like a part of humanity did. In a culture that constantly seeks to prove itself SO rich in values and SO moralistic, one begins to wonder whether being conservative is actually synonymous with being moralistic, or maybe are we just fooling ourselves.

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Campus Central

Paying tribute to ‘Nirbhaya’

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The recent uproar on the case where a 23-year-old girl was raped and thrown out of a bus, took a tragic twist with the demise of the rape victim, popularly known as Nirbhaya. The protests held at Raisina hill and India Gate were charged with anger and adrenaline, but her death brought with it an even stronger will to seek justice for and pay tribute to ‘India’s daughter’. After being transferred to Singapore’s Mount Elizabeth hospital on 27th morning, the nation collectively prayed for a speedy recovery. However, the girl succumbed to her injuries just two days later. Her death ignited a flame within the hearts of Indians across the world, and many movements were held across the country to send a message to the Indian law-makers that the war had only just begun. In New Delhi, Jantar Mantar was the prime spot where peaceful gatherings were organised to show solidarity. As Jantar Mantar has been a symbol of non-violent protests even in the past, it seemed to be the perfect spot for the citizens of the capital to gather and pay tribute to the brave girl who fought against the rapists for her life. “The crowd was very peaceful and calm. More than a sense of revenge, there seemed to be a solemn atmosphere. Despite the fact that there was a group of people yelling ‘Hang the rapists!’ at the top of their lungs, most present realised that the point of meeting at Jantar Mantar was to pay tribute to the girl who was raped as well as all the other women who have suffered due to shameless, savage minds,” said Ankita, a student of Lady Shri Ram College. As students continue to organise street plays and people come together to light candles in memory of the 23 year old medical student, the direction of these protests and marches seem to be aimed at a complete overhaul of the existing safety regulations and policies. This might just be the start of a new revolution, spearheaded by the dynamic and powerful youth of a nation infested with outdated laws and run by ageing leaders well beyond their time.]]>

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DUB Speak

Why The Rapists Should Not Hang!

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The rape incident of a 23 year old student (Amanat, as the media has christened her) and the physical mutilation of both Amanat and her friend have once again exposed the underbelly of the nation’s capital. One among the many rapes to be reported in the city’s newspapers (three more reported from the city post this incident less than a week back!), this case was different only in the fact that it caught the imagination of the public. Social media was leveraged to spread the anger far and wide, public gatherings were organized all over the country and a lot of words were spoken.

The public rage since then has turned wild. On day 1 the large protest marches ran over the security barricades at the Home Minister’s residence. On day three, it escalated to Raisina Hill. Any person mildly active on Facebook could tell you what the country wanted – for the accused to be hanged to death! Or if given a choice, people would have them castrated, bobbitized, flogged and publicly stoned to death.

Lots and lots of young, educated Indians wish exactly that for the accused. And I write, hoping to provide a balanced perspective to the entire episode that has gripped this nation. I write to point out the most obvious legal hurdles in granting a death sentence to the accused.

At the outset, I agree that the incident this time around was gruesome. And it deserves a stringent punishment. But I disagree with the few who say that an example should be made out of these culprits. I disagree because I fail to see how this act is any more gruesome than that landlord who raped a minor, or the father and stepfather who alternately raped their daughter. All of this in the past week. Also, it is a statistically proven fact that making murders an offence worthy of capital punishment has not in the slightest affected their rates. Legal opinion is divided on how effective a change in law would be for tackling incidents of rape.

As the law in India stands today, rapes are bailable. And they never warrant a capital punishment. There is a loud clamour for changing these ‘archaic’ laws and there are reasons why the legislators haven’s sprung into action yet.

A grossly under-reported fact is that rape laws (much like dowry laws) are amongst the most misused laws in India. Section 114A of the Indian Evidence Act states “when sexual intercourse by the accused is proved and the question is whether it was without the consent of the woman alleged to have been raped and she states in her evidence before the Court that she did not consent, the Court shall presume that she did not consent” which in simpler words means that if a male has sex with female, she can file a rape case against him even if the act was consensual. The wordings of the laws have been often misused (or so is popular opinion, the law itself stands). The most common scenario would be one where the woman wishes to marry her lover post coitus and upon refusal, files a case of rape against him. The Supreme Court made the matter slightly more complicated by passing an order that ‘sex with the promise of marriage amounts to rape’.

Now picture this- a hot blooded India demands a change in laws, making rape non-bailable and worthy of capital punishment. The law is misused, even if by a minority (though the numbers are debatable) leading to the chargesheet being filed against an innocent. The person is slapped with a non-bailable arrest warrant and suffers in jail, at the mercy of our over-burdened, and hence slow, judicial process. The capital punishment clause can mean that the innocent could face a severe penalty for no fault of his bacause the wordings of 114A make it almost impossible to prove innocence.

We must not forget that the fundamentals of justice stress more that an innocent man should not hang rather than making all the guilty suffer. Hence, innocent until proven guilty! This is where it becomes so important that we treat laws with utmost care. Each word in an amendment must be carefully scrutinized for what it implies and what loopholes it leaves behind. It is all very well for the masses to shout “Hang the rapist” but it would be wiser for the educated to analyse why our laws say what they do.

Also, there is a fine line between empowering women and decapitating men. Though we feel the need to bring women up to par, it does not mean it shall be at the cost of men. The idea is not to tilt the scales, it is to balance it!

I would like to end by stating that I am not a law student and am not aware of the details behind all of India’s laws. However, my article is based on statements from the Indian Penal Code available on the internet and I assumed it to be wholesome. My intent behind this article was to bring a sense of sanity to this whole outrage that the nation feels. We must continue our fight against rapists, make our streets safer, give women their rights, and all that while not not getting emotionally blinded.

Arnav Das
[email protected] 

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DUB Speak

India Spills Anger at India Gate

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In what is being seen as the next biggest uprising India saw since Anna Hazare’s India Against Corruption, the protest march that commenced today on India Gate has surely got the parliament at its toes.

The official time of beginning the protest was 9 am, however such was the charge amongst people that a significant crowd could be seen assembling from 7:30 am. Slogans of “Delhi Police hai hai!”, “Hang the rapist” and “We want justice” echoed across the entire stretch of Rajpath. Several street play groups came up and vehemently put forward the appeal of death penalty, or something more harsh and cruel for the perpetrators. A very significant part of this protest was that a lot of school students could be seen, accompanied by their teachers. They could be seen holding banners and echoing the appeals that the entire nation seems to voice- punish hard and punish fast.

Celebrities preferred to hide behind the veils of Twitter and their support ended at that. “It seems ironical. The same celebrities who say so many things about social change on T.V. never actually do something to use their star power to the fullest potential”, said Nikita, a protestor. Gopal Krishna Gandhi, former Governor of Bengal showed up to voice his support.

According to me, this protest was slightly different from its past counterparts and by different I mean in a good sense. Lesser were the number of men who went to protests to engage in some “bird watching”. Lesser were the attention seeking people trying to hog into media limelight by coming to such territories. Lesser were the number of people who came with their friends to watch the tamasha. Of course, you could spot some bored looking men wandering aimlessly, giving the protestors a queer expression, clearly realizing they don’t fit in. You could also spot some ladies all dressed up in the “perfect protest March ensemble” trying to attract a media person to let her protest in front of the camera.

However, as far as the majority was concerned, the anger within them seemed genuine and an honest concern for the rape victim could be felt. There was unity in the crowd which prevented the crowd from turning into a violent mob. The only violence that existed was towards the inefficiency of the police and law makers.

Later on, things turned a little problematic when the crowd tried to force themselves in into the President House premises. The police began a lathi charge and tear gas was splashed. This only perpetuated the anger towards the government. Many people were injured and admitted into RML hospital.

 

Image credits: Kirti Narain 

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DUB Speak

Delhi Rape Case – Who is to Blame?

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The recent developments in Delhi were appalling; and unfortunately, they are the dire reflection of our society. I am the part of the city-Delhi where we actively encourage and assist inhumane violation of our women. To serve the purpose, our supreme police force works around the clock to actively remove any encumbrance to the rape of a woman. Here, we welcome you to satiate your most carnal desires and we find them justified! After all we are the rape capital of the world and we thoroughly believe in “if it is consensual, it ain’t fun.”  Here, women get raped, bystanders look on and the help-lines don’t work!

The article 21 of the constitution gives us-the women, the right to bodily integrity- right to life and liberty to men and women both alike. But does that extirpate such crimes like molestation, does that promise a safe haven for us. I feel scared to walk on the roads now, after it is dark. Men can get drunk, and go out at night alone, wear what they want, and get in a car with any number of people of the same or opposite gender without the inherent risk of being assaulted, but women have to take precautions not to do the exact same things, then women are not free, and certainly not equal. Everyday women have to think how to avoid such tragedies; we may rise to the highest positions in business and academia, but we cannot walk in a skirt late in the evening, and rely on our police forces. Yes, indeed we are talking of gender equality.

Blame the victim- defence of the defenceless! We are asked to take precautions, not from bombs and bullets, but men! Ours is a civilised society, a free democratic society, where half of the population is expected to behave and dress up according to the other half. Am I really free if I am asked to restrict myself to prevent from being attacked by other members of the same society?  This is outrageous.

And the response this incident has evoked is despicable. My Facebook wall was swarmed with posts that condemn the victims, for being out late at night, for wearing provocative clothes, for wearing heavy make-up, for having male friends. There are people out there who believe that a woman would deliberately provoke a sexual assault! As if being a rape victim was so much fun. Rape is always unwanted, always uninvited! Rape is the most heinous crime. A woman that gets raped remains brutally scarred for her entire life. Frankly, I don’t understand why we debate that what-was-she-wearing?, what-time?, must-have-gotten-him-aroused. Rape is hardly about sex and it’s almost always about exerting power. Girls as young as 2 years old get raped, young boys get raped. What’s the arousal thing involved here? Civilised men should take a stand against it instead of justifying and blaming the victim.

And rhetoric in the parliament will not solve the problem, but stringent laws and prosecution will. Because the ones who commit the crime are very well aware of the loop-holes in our judicial system, which they conveniently exploit and then get away with horrendous crimes like rape.

In fact, in most of the rape cases that go to trial, only a handful is such in which the rapists are convicted.  In Mohd. Habib v/s State, the Delhi High Court allowed a rapist to go scot-free merely because there were no marks of injury on his penis- which the High Court presumed was a indication of no resistance. The most important facts such as the age of the victim (being seven years) and that she had suffered a ruptured hymen and the bite marks on her body were not considered by the High Court. Even the eye- witnesses, who witnessed this ghastly act, could not sway the High Court’s judgment.  Another classic example of the judicial pronouncements in rape cases is the case of Bhanwari Devi, wherein a judge remarked that the victim could not have been raped since she was a dalit while the accused hailed from an upper caste- who would not stoop to sexual relations with a dalit.

The constitution did witness amendments in the rape laws in 1983 but there is a need to commute life imprisonment to capital punishment in rape cases. The idea is simple, remove the weed and let the society grow undeterred. Castration (removal of male sex organ) was suggested by Delhi Judge Ms Kamini Lau and we would love to have a law that allows us to bobbitize or stone them to death, but our legal system will not. Capital punishment is possible, like in case of Dhanonjay Chatterjee and if not, then the least they could do is sentencing them to solitary confinement, for life, without bail. Every single day in darkness and isolation, till death.

But now they are resorting to stupid band-aid tactics…Banning tinted glasses as if all rapes happened in buses! The big tank of crime is leaking from all corners, but our government and law will prefer to put a little bit of plaster to temporarily deal with one little crack. And that is because they have been so accustomed to doing nothing that now when the people are angry and demanding action, they resort to such stupid solutions! But I am glad the people are angry, I am glad we are voicing our concerns in as loud a manner that our leaders cannot ignore.

Skipping the blame-game, let us think beyond punishments. What can we actually do? As a parent, I would regularly talk and watch over my children, not making topics like sex, rape a taboo but talking openly about it. As a teacher, I will constantly show the right path to my children. As a friend, I will be a good moral support; I would never let my friend indulge in anything that is faintly equivalent to harassing. As police, I will give a sense of security to the citizens. As a politician, I would work to uplift the nation. And as a society, I will contribute to create a healthy environment, reject those who cannot respect all sections.

I will be the change that I want to see.

 

Guest writer – Megha Baid, LSR

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Events

Enrique’s Concert – A first hand account

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Finally it was 19th October, that fateful day when I would get to see Enrique Iglesias Live in concert. There were three classes of tickets, VIP costing Rs. 15000, platinum for Rs. 8000 and gold (the one I bought) for Rs. 2500.

The gates opened at 5pm and everybody was inside the ground by 5:30pm. As soon as they let us in, we ran with all out might to be able to stand in front. Having done that, I managed to stand in the third row of the gold class. There were VIP and Platinum people ahead of course. Sadly I was 5 inches too short.I was stranded between tallies and couldn’t even see how the stage looked like. According to the pass, Enrique was supposed to come at 7pm. Well he didn’t. We stood for four hours just waiting. Thankfully I had friends with me but that ceased to matter after some time because everybody was talking to everybody out of boredom.  1 hour gone…two hours gone…3 hours gone and it started to feel like he was not going to turn up. To make things worse the crowd was well, pressing! People kept pushing and prodding and nudging and there was no place to even breathe. It was starting to get unbearable when finally at 9pm the stage when dark and there was Enrique standing right at the centre of the stage. I’m guessing that’s where he would have been because all I could see were people’s heads. That’s when the crowd lost it and started to push even more and here I was thinking it couldn’t get any worse. For a change the men were civilized and the women went berserk. The girl next to me kept spreading her arms and shouting I love you over and over again when there wasn’t even space to keep my feet. I got so annoyed that I dug my nails into her throat with all my strength as that was the only place reachable by my hands that were stuck in a really awkward position. Ten minutes into the concert, I was completely swamped by people and couldn’t take it anymore. Imagine an ant stuck between long blades of grass, I couldn’t even see the sky above me. I caught hold of the bouncer and asked him to get me out. He warmed me that once I’m out of the crowd; I’m out of the concert as well. I couldn’t care less, it’s not like I could see anything anyway. So he dug me and my friend out of the people, practically pulling my every limb in the process and carried me out in his arms stretched out above his head.

He led us out the enclosure, behind the VIP barricades and that’s when my luck changed. Suddenly I could see everything! That’s when I got my first glimpse of Enrique and my heart melted. There he was wearing a white V neck t-shirt and black jeans looking like a Greek god. Suddenly battling the crowd for four hours seemed worth it.

I got talking to the bouncer who was regulating the VIP entrance. I asked him if he would let me and my friend enter for some money. He asked for Rs. 1000 for both of us but we decided against it since the view was great from where we were. I sang along to all his songs as loudly as I could, cheered and jumped and head banged. After sometime the bouncer came up to me and said if you like him that much you can go in and led us inside the VIP stands for free! I was delighted.  Enrique was right under my nose! So close that I could see his sexy stubble as well! He sung all my favourite songs opening with ‘I like it’ and ‘escape’ and ending with’ Tonight I’m lovin’ you’. He called up a girl from the crowd while singing hero and hugged her for ten minutes, called up a twelve year old surd and made him sit next to him and sing along to his songs. He lay down on the ramp and out stretched both his arms on either side for people to touch him. He took people’s cameras, clicked himself and handed it back to them. He was a complete crowd pleaser.

For me it couldn’t get better or maybe it could if I was the girl he called up on stage! But that would be the jealousy talking because not many people buy the gold ticket and get to stand in VIP stands! The concert lasted for an hour and a half. It was an hour and a half of pure bliss! I fell in love with Enrique all over again and was mesmerized by him.

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