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Led Zeppelin: The Greatest Band Ever?

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Dinosaurs have supposedly been extinct for a million years but if truth be told, they did make a fleeting comeback during the 1970s. For how else can you describe a cultural phenomenon as humongous and anomalous as Led Zeppelin the likes of which the world had never seen and is yet to see again? They were Dinosaurs indeed.

With a quartet as talented as Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham at the helm, Zeppelin was always meant to soar but few could have predicted that the foursome would go on to redefine idol worship. They were the biggest band in the world and went on to sell millions of records. Stories of orgies and excesses involving the band abound and perhaps moulded the quintessential rockstar image. But is Led Zeppelin with all its mystic and rawness, the greatest band ever to grace the Earth.

Led Zeppelin is best known as a hard rock band but a deeper scrutiny reveals a plethora of different styles in the band’s body of work. The band explored genres as varied as blues, folk, country, metal, ballads, reggae and even punk. For every Dazed and Confused there is a That’s the Way, for everyKashmir, there is a House of the Holy. The point here is that Zeppelin as a band explored music like few other bands have done. The other band most frequently cited as the greatest ever are the Beatles who themselves have a wide ranging catalogue. However, the Beatles were never a hard rock band. They were more like a pop-rock group. The Beatles despite having one of the most accomplished catalogue there is, lack an out an out stadium shaker a la Dazed and Confused.

Moreover, Led Zeppelin were much better instrumentalists than the Beatles. Each member of Zeppelin would easily make it to the top five of his respective category. The same cannot be said of the Beatles. However, there is a strong consensus on the fact that both Zeppelin and Beatles were greater than the sum of their constituents.

No band can claim to be a great rock band unless it can play live. Led Zeppelin were one of the greatest live acts there ever was. Beatles on the other hand would not last ten minutes on the same stage with Zeppelin. The raw energy of a Zeppelin concert was hardly matched by anyone either before or after them.

On strength of all the above I come to the rather bold conclusion the Led Zeppelin were and are the greatest band in the world.

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Campus Central

Signature Campaign by Tibetan Youth Congress

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Tibetan Youth Congress has initiated a signature campaign and organised a street play, photo exhibition, documentary film screening in Delhi University and vowed to take their mission to every corner of the world and spread that Tibet’s struggle for freedom is a struggle for truth and justice.

The organization appealed to students to support their cause highlighting the brutality and sufferings many Tibetan’s face under Chinese rule.

Many students showed their support and participated in the signature campaign. Many DU students volunteered for the event raising awareness about their cause in colleges.

The event was held to commemorate the selfless sacrifices that Tibetan martyrs showed in the uprising of 27TH September 1987.

They lamented the historic event of 1987 when patriotic Tibetan’s demonstrated in streets on the streets of Lhasa shouting “free Tibet” and asking Chinese to go away, but they were arrested and brutally beaten. Despite Chinese military crackdown and harsh persecutions, Tibetan’s in Tibet still stand in unity and raised their voice against the brutal oppression.

“Even today our struggle gets stronger than ever. We would make sure none of their voice goes unheard and we stand in strong conviction that the flame of truth would never extinguish. The current situation is getting even worse and intense inside Tibet” exclaimed one of the volunteers.

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Arts & Culture

Satisfy Your Savoury Tooth with Delights from Mithaas and Chowringhee

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Situated amidst the environs of a predominantly women oriented atmosphere, right opposite Kamala Nehru and Gargi Colleges are the much sought after food joints of Mithaas and Chowringhee and here is an assimilation of how the plethora of delights that they offer on their menu fare.

Mithaas is the perfect example of how size doesn’t matter. With a confined seating and fairly gloomy lighting, this place witnesses customers ranging from an obvious student from either of the colleges, to families living in the neighbourhood and in the latter half of the day, even those who take cricket coaching at Gargi College. Mithaas has steadily risen to stardom with its flavoursome and unmatched chole bhatture along with grilled vegetable sandwiches, a plate of wholesome samosas and a glass of milkshake which also feature on the list of favourites. Many of those around will swear by indulging in the desi Chinese that this place recreates all the time and also its savoury chaat and gol gappa stall outside the shop. Mithaas certainly fares well in the domains of time for serving, quantity, taste and

affordability but what it lacks is a bit of a quirky touch in terms of infrastructure, space and tidiness, considering that its customer base is widely dominated by students.

 

With the opening of the well-established and much admired joint of South campus named Chowringhee right across the two colleges, students are steadily pouring in to enjoy the unsurpassed and the absolute forte of this joint – Kathi rolls.  With various filling options like mutton, paneer, egg and potatoes what endears most customers are the chicken rolls. “It is an absolute bliss for students with a jam packed time table to quickly grab a tasty bite at Chowringhee”, says a Kamala Nehru student munching on, at their counter. You could easily satiate a grumbling tummy with their absolutely scrumptious food without giving a second thought to the cost. Kudos to them, for what they are best at!

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Arts & Culture

McDonalds’ McEgg: Egging us on (or not)

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Recently, McDonalds introduced a new burger called McEgg. It is priced at Rs. 25 and therefore affordable by all. I was very excited to try this burger because of the appetizing picture and as I absolutely love egg.

Looking at the picture, you would expect soft bread, eggy interior with onions and oozing mayonnaise. Well it isn’t. The burger is extremely dry and I just couldn’t taste the onions. The burger seriously lacks seasoning and thus, is bland on the palette. This blandness kills the taste of the egg as well. There is a little blob of mayonnaise right in the centre and that’s it. So apart from one bite, you won’t taste any mayonnaise at all, just bread and tasteless egg. The burger is so dry because of the lack of mayonnaise that it sticks to the walls of your mouth. McEgg lacks texture and desperately needed some crunch. That crunch was supposed to come from the onions but even those are sparsely found.

McEgg can be made edible only by ordering it with cheese and extra mayonnaise. But then what it costs is Rs 65. To be honest, I’d rather eat the egg and buns from the roadside thelawalas! The taste is far better and comes at more or less the same price.

McEgg for me is a sad attempt at a burger and lacks everything it should have had. I wouldn’t eat it again unless someone paid me to do so.

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Bazinga

Bazinga

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In a shocking turn of events that has left the people as well as the multitude of Gods that they pray to baffled, Apple Inc., in a move to save face, has decided to give away free iPhone 5s to all Samsung employees. Apple employees had protested against the management for having put them through the embarrassment of walking down the street with people pointing and laughing at them after multiple trolls surfaced on the internet following the patent drama.

“It was getting difficult for us to be out in the open. We were the town’s newest laughing stock”, says Steve (name changed), an Apple employee. In order to allay employee-anxiety, the management decided on this drastic measure in the hope that it’ll keep the trolls at bay.

However, there is inside information that Apple is, in fact, giving away iPhone 4 and not 5. “They’re hoping no one would notice given that it has worked so far”, said the source.

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Campus Central

Ready- Steady- Go Against Violence: The Annual Cross Country Run of LSR

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The National Sports Organization (NSO) of LSR organized its Annual Cross Country run on September 21, 2012 under the theme, ‘Run for solidarity with the people of North East’, in light of the recent violence in Assam between the Boro community and the Muslim community. The registration for the run began at 5.30 am, with hundreds of girls huddling around the Union members and other team members for attendance. One could feel the enthusiasm in the air, with excited girls all around looking forward to running for a cause. “The Cross Country run is a special event for it is one of the very few occasions when the entire LSR community comes together, and participates for a cause”, stated Ms. Meenakshi Pahuja, Head of the Department of Physical Education of LSR. The sponsor for the event was UniStyle Image, an eminent clothing brand that has been associated with the LSR NSO for almost ten years. All the participants were given t- shirts from USI before the run, and one could see enthusiastic participants in colourful t- shirts, waiting for the event to flag off.

 

The event began with a speech by the guest of honour, Ms. Shweta Choudhary, who is an international level shooter, and won a silver medal at the Doha Asian Games, 2006. She is also an ex- alumnus of LSR, belonging to the 2007 batch of B.A program. Accompanying her was Mr. Abhijit Bhattacharya, captain of the Indian volleyball team, who is also a very ardent promoter of sports in his home state, Assam. Both of them urged the students to work hard towards their goals to achieve success, and have an unfailing determination. After their speech, Suparna Sinha, a third year Sociology student of LSR, addressed the crowd, and spoke to them about the situation in Assam. Suparna, who originally hails from Assam decreed the massacre of innocent people in Assam as not a political issue, but a breach of solidarity. “We should help overcome this imbalance. This is a cause I really feel about, and it is something that the youth should tackle with in order to bridge the gap between different communities”, stated Suparna, whose words set the crowd thinking about the true cause of their desire to run in a marathon, thousands of kilometres away from North East India, yet bound by sentiment and understanding.

The run was flagged off by the Vice Principal of LSR, Dr. Priti Dhawan. Within less than ten minutes of the run being flagged off, the first winner, Aanchal Bohra came to the finishing point effortlessly and her win wasn’t a surprise for anybody for Aanchal is a national level runner, a silver medallist at the CBSE championships, and the pride of the Athletics team of LSR. An Economics student, Aanchal described her win as a step towards her goal of running for India at the international level in the future. “I wish to represent LSR in the Commonwealth Games in the future, and I dream of competing in the Olympics too someday,” stated the enthusiastic second year student. The run was highly successful and enjoyable for all the

students, and one could see the really satisfied students at the refreshment counter. The run went off without any glitches, all thanks to a brilliant Union, comprising of Pratibha the President, Shivangi, the Vice President, Saumya, the Secretary, and Somya the treasurer. They were assisted by a huge volunteer team that provided water and first aid to all the participants, diligently waiting at different locations to help.

‘It is our privilege to be associated with the LSR NSO, and we wish to see the Cross country run bigger and better in the future,” said Mr. Ashwinder, part of the sponsorship team of USI. The Cross country run ended on a bright note, with all participants and volunteers receiving refreshments, and enthusiastically clicking photographs. It is hoped that the LSR NSO continues conducting such events which bind the LSR community together, and create such a vibrant atmosphere.

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Campus Central

Do Cool Things That Matter: Google at LSR

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On 18th September, Google organized its pre-placement talk in LSR. Being one of the most sought after and innovative companies, Google had ‘do cool things that matter’ as its theme this year to attract prospective applicants in their pre- placement talk. The talk was led by Ms. Shwetambari, a senior executive at Google, India, and the talk began with a little quiz on Google and its products, to see how ‘Googly’ the LSR girls were. The ones who gave the correct answers received goodies from Google, and with a brilliant start, Google managed to capture the attention of all the girls from the various departments of LSR, sitting in that small room, dreaming about working for a company like Google in the future. Apart from departments like Economics and B.com, which are standard departments sitting for placements, the Google pre-placement talk saw students ranging from departments like English to Political science. The job profile offered was the business analyst program, which entailed tasks like reviewing Google advertisements, servicing global small and medium business customers, etc. Apart from these, the program also trained the employee in selling skills and business management. The employee would also learn how to use the Google Adwords product. The pay package offered was good, considering the fact that a company like Google was employing fresh graduates. The employees would have to work and learn with Google for two years, before they could move on to other job profiles. One thing extremely special about Google was- its emphasis on employee satisfaction, and Ms. Shwetambari kept stating throughout the presentation that Google did not believe in binding unhappy employees to the company, and if an employee wished to leave, they could do so, without facing any penalty. In fact, they could also keep the ‘gift’ stocks that they are given at the beginning of their tenure in office (considering the fact that Google stocks currently value at around 270$!). Google also seemed like a really ‘cool’ place to work in, with parties being thrown at the end of every week, and guest speakers like Lady Gaga coming to sing and speak to the employees. The office would be located in Hyderabad and Gurgaon, and Google also offered free accommodation for two weeks in a guesthouse, to give time to the employee to settle in the new city. The facilities and bonuses offered by Google were also very lucrative, and after the talk, the first round of the placement process was held. It was a written round, in which all the candidates had to complete a quantitative and verbal analysis test in 40 minutes, and a writing test in 30 minutes. The test by and large tested the aptitude of the students, and there was a round of positive feedback after the entire session got over. The results are now eagerly awaited for the girls who managed to crack the test and move towards the next round of placement in the ‘cool’ place to be: Google. Do cool things that matter.  ]]>

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Campus Central

DUTA takes a dig at Vice Chancellor while meeting the President

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A deputation comprising of all the Delhi University Teachers’ Association (DUTA) office bearers met the President of India, Hon’ble Shri Pranab Mukherjee, on September 21 to inform him of the widespread administrative vacuum and sedition of the varsity’s autonomy affected by the dysfunctional and autocratic Vice Chancellor of the University from the time he took over in November 2010.

In it’s press release for the same, DUTA has stated that the lapses on the VC’s part includes ‘series of violations of the University Act, its Statutes and Ordinances, the brazen misuse of Emergency Powers to bring in courses and start new Centers like the Cluster Innovation Center, the manner in which he has forced the AC to pass plagiarized courses under the B. Tech in Innovation programme, as well as his culpability and lack of accountability in the widely reported ‘Marks Scam’ in the first semester results’. This all, they alleged, have led to the embarrasment and dishonor of the Unversity.

Moreover, the delegation reportedly acquainted the President about the apparent impunity with which the ‘Vice Chancellor has attempted to stonewall any possibility of dialogue with the democratic organs of the University’. They especially drew attention to the fact that despite DUTA constantly raising the issues of four thousand teaching vacancies in the University, the constitutional need to immediately implement the UGC’s Reservation Policy of 2006 and start the process of long-due promotions at the earliest, Dinesh Singh responded with hostility and never made an endeavour to meet the DUTA. They also alleged him of ‘making slanderous remarks against DUTA and threatening teachers against participating in the activities of their Association’.

Apparently, the members also claimed that Singh also tried using ‘cheap and cowardly tactic’ in the sense that he tried putting pressure on the Principals of SRCC and Ramjas College in order to deny their organization a space to conduct its annual general body meeting on September 22. However, according to the them, the tactic was finally withdrawn as he realized that the President had agreed to meet the DUTA.

Urging the President to intervene, the delegation expressed its concern that ‘if the VC is allowed to carry on functioning in the present manner, he will push the University towards a catastrophe’. Reportedly, the President has promised that he will ensure the answerability of the VC, and the restoration of administrative delivery and the University’s prestige to the satisfaction of the teachers.

 

Vatsal Verma
[email protected] 

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DUB Speak

Snorting the Social Media Drug

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Picture source:  www.business2community.com

 

Think about the last time you read an important piece of information. More often than not, it comes from the status updates of your numerous friends on Facebook. When you put forward an opinion, a lot of it might have drawn inspiration from your favourite tweets on the same subject. Instead of flipping through the pages of your neatly organised notebook, you would rather zoom into the picture you saved of your college timetable on your phone. Information is now merely a click away, giving people from even the most remote corners of the world an opportunity to communicate easily and efficiently. However, a majority of us are now crippled by our continuous dependency on these virtual crutches.

In the light of the latest crackdown on social connectivity, consisting of the government restricting messaging to a meagre 5 per day due to the threat towards people from the North-East did not sit too well with a society that is completely in sync with the social networking era. Thus, what actually began as a somewhat reasonable ban to prevent rumours spreading on a wide scale is now being seen as another excuse by our country’s leaders to crack the whip on our freedom of expression, be it through the SMS or the more dangerous threat of control over sites like Facebook and Twitter. Agreed, a simple ban on texting will in no way stop malicious stories leaking into the public domain. However, what is also evident is the fact that the lack of proper texting facilities didn’t lead to the end of the world a good four months before December 21st, 2012. Life continued in the same fashion as it did when the rights of texting were more liberal. When the Telecom Authority of India had declared a ban of 100 SMSs a day, so many users received a reality check when they learnt of their addiction to a piece of electronic genius. However, just as we gradually got accustomed to this new regulation and our tired fingers were fortunate enough to be subjected to marginally less typing, the new ban for a short period of only 12 days is too insignificant a sacrifice being paid for the uproar it has caused.

With the messaging limit being later extended from 5 to 20, and finally the lift of the ban, social networking sites immediately saw the appearance of memes and statuses proclaiming happiness almost equal to a nation winning its first world cup. The excitement of being able to send 15 more messages a day seemed palpable as almost everyone had their phones out the next day, furiously typing as they stared into a mini screen that flickered with notifications received from their equally enthusiastic recipients. However, the comment that made me stop and re-evaluate how dependant we really have become to these social platforms was when someone casually remarked, “I don’t know about people with those outdated phones, but almost everyone has a Blackberry or a smart phone now. That keeps us connected through BBM, Whatsapp and Facebook. This ban on texts is just a minor glitch,” said one such addict with a beeping Blackberry in hand.

The number of times we refrain from using our electronic gadgets for practically everything can be counted off our fingers. When you start working on your super important project one day before the deadline, you thank the Google and Wikipedia gods for showering their blessings on you. Our internalisation of technology is evident from the use of phases like ‘I googled that information’ or ‘I saw that on her wall last week,’ while only a couple of decades ago, walls referred to those rectangular combinations of cement and plaster of Paris that form the outline of every structure. As for the future, this incessant need to be constantly linked to everyone around only seems to be growing as social media spreads its branches and reaches out to every single entity within and beyond its periphery. Social networking and technology provide us with an easier and more efficient lifestyle, but that doesn’t alter the reality that if our parasitic existence continues, we might just be witness to the dawn of a Matrix-inspired end to our civilisation.

 

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