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College Round Up: Hindu College

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With yet another academic session almost coming to an end at the University of Delhi, it is time to look back at the year that has gone by, before all of us get busy with semester examination preparation. Going by the thought, DU Beat brings to you its exclusive series ‘Colleges’ Round Up (2017-18)’, where we present the highlighting incidents of numerous DU colleges that took place over 2017 and 2018.

From various controversies and protests to successfully organising fests —Mecca, and Mushaira, Hindu College has had quite an eventful year.

Feature Image Credits: DUB Archives

Raabiya

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Shri Ram College of Commerce

College Round Up Series: Shri Ram College of Commerce

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With yet another academic session almost coming to an end at the University of Delhi, it is time to look back at the year that has gone by, before all of us get busy with semester examination preparation. Going by the thought, DU Beat brings to you its exclusive series ‘Colleges’ Round Up (2017-18)’, where we present the highlighting incidents of numerous DU colleges that took place over 2017 and 2018.

From welcoming their first woman principal to hosting the varsity’s biggest fest, Crossroads, successfully for yet another year, Shri Ram College has had quite an eventful year.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat

Raabiya
[email protected]

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DUB Speak

Pros and Cons of DU: From Liberalism to Infrastructure

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The University of Delhi is a hub of intellects from various corners of India and abroad. The name and fame of DU are spread far and wide. However, how well is this fame justified?

Delhi University is a dream of many. From Assam to Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh to Kerala, students flock in to study in the centuries-old, prestigious university of India. Be it privately funded or government aided, the colleges under DU are known for the excellent courses provided in Arts, Commerce, and Sciences. Illustrious reputation doesn’t necessarily ensure everything proficient. And I say that because of the pros and cons that must be highlighted in lieu of the hype that people relate to a national university like ours.

As I begin in favour of the university, I must say that the liberal staff and students are the pillars in making DU differently awesome. From Pinjra Tod to Nazariya, students of DU are collectives of various mindsets that have helped shape the future of the university.

  1. Less stringent curfew timings for the girls’ hostels: After upheavals from students communities about the huge differences in the in timings of boys’ hostels and girls’ hostels, the curfew timings of many hostels became less stringent, allowing the girls to stay past 10 p.m. at night.
  2. LGBTQ representation: People of all genders must be paid equal respect and attention – that’s what has been the main agenda of the queer collectives that stand to empower the students of DU and Delhi-NCR region. This is indeed a great step towards creating awareness about equality in every aspect of social life.
  3. Social work for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs): The National Service Scheme (NSS) and Equal Opportunity Cell of DU provide ample services for the students who have entered the university through the PwD quota. Ranging from scholarships to placements, no student is denied help when needed.
  4. Dynamic societies: DU is known for its vibrant societies, be it dance, music, drama, or photography. The fame of these societies is spread far and wide as they have won in national platforms.
  5. Flexible class hours: More than anything a student can ask for! The teachers are cooperative, in many cases and allow for rescheduling the classes. In fact, for internal examinations, the dates are chosen by the students. How grateful are we?
  6. DU is cool enough to have created the excellent course design of Cluster Innovation centre (CIC). Students who enter CIC through entrance tests can later choose their own set of subjects and that too in the college of their choice, provided they have good grades. Which other university in India has given the student this choice?
  7. Politically active students try to make conditions better here in DU. The student unions work for better fests, better amenities, and a better environment for all.

Cracks and crevices are a part of every institution. As much as we are grateful for everything mentioned above, we should also highlight the ills of the institution.

  1. When we talk about the infrastructure of DU, we do have a frown on our face. Be in the classrooms in the government aided, and semi-government colleges, something or the other is always missing. Fewer classrooms and ever-increasing number of students has led to the downfall of the infrastructural amenities. The students’ unions are trying their level best to pave way for the coming batches to take over the improved base in the college.
  2. Student exchange programmes: DU hasn’t been much active in the student exchange programmes from different colleges in India and abroad. This is a lag that DU needs to work on to provide better opportunities to students.
  3. Specialised courses: DU doesn’t provide extensive specialised courses in the various disciplines of the university. This makes the students opt for other universities for higher education when they want to go for specialised courses.
  4. More colleges like IHE, CVS: Vocational studies are important courses that need to be more diversified and integrated. Better opportunities can be provided to students who want to go for more branched out disciplines like performing arts, photography, mass communication, etc.

 

Feature Image Credits: News18

Radhika Boruah
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Admissions 2018

How to Prepare for DU JAT in Two Weeks

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With less than 2 weeks to go to DU’s Joint Admission Test (JAT), it becomes important, more than ever before, to plan a strategy to maximise your score. Many opt for coaching classes for this guidance, but it isn’t entirely impossible to crack these exams without coaching as well. Here is the key to scoring well in this notorious exam.

Around 40,000 students all over India appear for the DU JAT exam annually for merely 1400 seats in the three professional courses in University of Delhi (DU) colleges.

The cut-off of the entrance exam to proceed to the interview round in 2016 was 164 marks, and for 2017, a student had to score 230 above to gain admission in DU’s SSCBS.

  • Quantitative Ability

In the 2016 and 2017 JAT exams, maths of the 10+2 level was given considerable weightage. Topics like AP, GP, trigonometry, and algebra were abundant in the 2016 paper. Areas like Time-Speed-Distance, and Time and Work are also observed but the trend towards them has been discouraging. It is highly recommended to make educated guesses using the options, but if you’re not too sure and not confident in your accuracy, remember that the trade-off would be with 1 mark.

  • Current Awarness + Business Awareness

Do not indulge into the myth of coaching centres helping you improve your general knowledge. The probability of those general knowledge (GK) questions, as told in the said coaching, coming in the exam is very little as there is simply too much to remember. It is better to keep a track of the happeinings in the world. (as unwelcoming as this sounds, it is necessary. Sites like indiabix.com are very helpful aids.) Static GK questions do not enjoy a favourable position anymore unlike the past years. Business Awareness, on the other hand, has always appeared without fail. For the same, you could start off with memorising the taglines of important conglomerates and their founders and CEOs. Keeping up-to-date with mergers and acquisitions in the news front always helps!

  • Logical Reasoning

This is the most scoring and easy to attempt part. Out of 30 questions, be sure to attempt a minimum of 21 questions from this section, and the number should only increase in proportion to the level of easiness of the exam. Venn diagrams, distribution of data, and cubes and dices are definite questions that can be expected and are easy to attempt at the same time.

  • Verbal Ability

This section tends to be on the easier side but can be tough for those who are insecure of their verbal skills. Practicing reading comprehension under time restrictions can help improve speed. Vocabulary cannot be mugged up in such a short span of time, but skimming through past year papers can help you know what to expect.

 

Practice material for the maths and logical reasoning portions are readily available on the Internet. It cannot be reiterated enough, that students who are susceptible to getting stuck in questions should consciously avoid attempting the difficult ones.

It is also important to acknowledge that exam patterns are subject to continuous change and so is the criterion of admission prone to last-minute modifications. Over the last five years, DU has continually experimented with the parameters to assign a student his/her rank. In 2016, no weightage was given to board marks, and GDPI had a cumulative worth of 15%. In 2017, GDPI was discarded and board marks were reintroduced with 35% weightage.

Enrolling for coaching definitely helps, but it doesn’t guarantee you a seat, and the vice-versa also stands true. Now is the time to study hard and smart, and to plan for the remainder of your time well. Good luck!

 

Feature Image Credits: India T.V

Vijeata Balani
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DUB Speak

A Love Letter to Delhi University

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This letter would have ideally been written on a giant maple leaf from Mohabbatein, being ‘the last leaf’ from a third year student to the University of Delhi (DU).

Dear DU

These letters were an emotion I was feeling while I was burning the midnight oil during my Class XII board examinations. When I first visited Delhi after the first cut-off list was announced, I was fascinated by the tall standing of your (University of Delhi) colleges and the charm you exuberated on my parents. For me, Delhi was only about you and honestly, I did not care much about the city in the beginning. I immediately fell in love with you when I realised that there are more food joints in North Campus than the number of colleges. Your warmth was expressed to me right from when I realised that one Identity Card of my college will allow my entry in as many colleges as I want, sometimes with tiffs with the security guards. Your candour about politics, your emancipated campus lawns, your roads of liberation, were all a part of the magic. You resonate with the buzz of the city, and the Delhi Metro enjoys a significant portion of its commuters because of you. Your charisma shares the credit of giving an amazing source of employment to all the brokers and owners of flats and Paying Guest Accommodations’ (PG’s).

There were rough times with attendance issues, homesickness, mental breakdowns, internal examination pressures, 8.30 a.m. lectures and low SGPA. But you retained your aura whenever I freely debated in your classrooms, performed on the stage of the auditorium, used the ‘Delhi University’ Snapchat filter, and ate the best and cheapest ‘samosa’ with ‘chai’. The e-rickshaws that ever so proudly zoom on the roads of your campus and I share a special bond. They seem to be more familiar to the roads of the campus that any other vehicle. You showered your affection on me in the fest season but the election season’s traffic jam and litter took a toll on both of us. At all times, you were always beautiful, caring, and welcoming. You have witnessed my tears and heard my giggles; you have nodded to all the whispers wherein I have thanked God for allowing me to spend three of the most splendid years of my life with you.

While I have entered the last leg of my relationship with you, I do not wish to break away and frankly, Delhi is still about you, and ‘DU’ still equates to an emotion for me, even after the three years. The way I get to show you off in front of my relatives in my hometown has made me grow fonder of your existence.

I have to bid adieu to you now, but I want to tell you that whenever in future, I hear the term “Vishwavidyalaya”, my heart will beat and flutter a little more in your name. The spirit of ‘Vishwavidyalaya’ will always ignite my soul, and your name will never be forgotten.

From

A graduating student.

 

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat.

Oorja Tapan

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Fandom

Tinsel University: Cultural Icons of DU

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From theatre artists to filmmakers to photographers, the list of remarkable alumni associated with the University of Delhi runs into volumes. The article focuses on some such names for whom the university played a crucial role and who continues to inspire its students.

While researching for this article, I bumped into some surprising names I had no idea were part of the University, a humbling reminder of the generations of history that this place has kept hidden. While we have all heard of Shahrukh Khan’s Hansraj and KMC being called the “Bachchan College”, there are many others in the field of entertainment and arts who used to walk the same corridors as we do today. Here is our not-so-comprehensive list of notable alumni in such (and allied) fields:

  1. Deepa Mehta: The critically acclaimed director who shot to fame because of her films like Fire (1996), Earth (1998), and Water (2005) is an alumnus of Lady Shri Ram College for Women in philosophy. While some have called her a transnational filmmaker, Mehta’s films have often broken boundaries such as Fire, a fierce lesbian love story that hit a whirlpool of controversy with its release. The film stars Nandita Das, a Miranda House alumni and Khulbushan Kharbanda, a Kirori Mal graduate.
  2. Rohit Bal: A leading fashion designer in India, Bal hails from Kashmir and is a graduate in history honours from St. Stephen’s College. The city also saw him starting his career with his brother Rajiv Bal in 1986. Today, Bal’s collections are sought after all over Bollywood and many celebrities like Arjun Rampal, Kareena Kapoor, and Shilpa Shetty have walked the ramp for him.
  3. Anjolie Ela Menon: Veteran painter and Padma Shri awardee, Menon is a graduate in English honours from Miranda House. She is now considered one of the leading contemporary artists of India, her paintings beings showcased in major collections all over the world.
  4. Anurag Kashyap: The gritty, “director of the masses”, is an alumnus of Hansraj College. Kashyap’s films such as Gangs of Wasseypur (2012) and D (2009) have been both commercial and critical successes pushing him into the limelight.
  5. Manoj Bajpayee: National Award-winning actor Manoj Bajpayee studied in both in Satywati College and Ramjas College, immersing himself in the campus theatre scene during his college days. As he told Times of India, “Those three years of DU were life-changing for me. I went from someone who could not read the front page of the Times of India to reading George Bernard Shaw and Shakespeare.”

 

Feature Image Credits: 24 Update News

Sara Sohail

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DU Annual Fest Season

Highlights: Mecca 2018, the Annual Cultural Fest of Hindu College

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Mecca 2018, is one of the most anticipated annual cultural fests in the University of Delhi. The three-day fest that kicked off on the 14th of March, enthralled the fest going students in the University. With a line-up that included the indie band The Local Train, DJ Zaeden, and Bollywood sensation Amit Trivedi, Mecca 2018 was bigger and better than ever. The fest, which attracted a significant crowd during all the days, was a thrilling event including good music, food, and games.

The decorations of the fest were based on the theme “Around The World in 72 hours”. The college was decked in trinkets, maps, and more which divided the college on the basis of countries and cities. The theme could be seen on the graffitis that were made by students as well. Overall, the decor made the college infrastructure come alive, all the while providing fest going students aesthetic backgrounds to take photographs.

The Inauguration ceremony of Mecca 2018 took place in the auditorium of the college. Alankar, the Indian music society of Hindu College has opened the ceremony with a musical gala which was followed by various cultural performances including Kathak and classical music. The performances enthralled the audience and were a collective display of skills of some of the most talented students of Hindu College. Panache, the Fashion Society event subsequently followed the inauguration in the venue itself.

Various events ranging from Gully Cricket to Street Soccer, Fashion Competition to Musical and Dance Competitions. Slam poetry event, photography exhibition also took place. I Vogue, the fashion society of SGGSCC bagged the first position at the fashion competition. Alaap, the Indian music society won the first prize at Harmony, the Indian choir competition. The Western music society of DTU bagged the first prize at Arpeggio, the western choir competition. Ayaam of Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology came first in the street play competition. Verve of Sri Venkateswara College came first in the western dance competition, and Sparx of Gargi College came first in the choreography competition. SGTB Khalsa College and SGND Khalsa College jointly bagged the first prize at the folk dance competition. The Mecca Idol competition was held in the Hindu College auditorium and was one of the most anticipated events at Mecca 2018. A total of 108 people registered for the competition, out of which 30 were selected for the offline preliminary round which was held on day 1 of the fest. Sukriti Poddar of Gargi College won Mecca Idol 2018.

Sumit Anand, a stand-up comedian spirited the Mecca audience in a fit of laughter with his witty and relatable punchlines. With a happy-go-lucky attitude, his jokes were effortlessly funny, leading to momentous hooting from the audience.

The Local Train, a Hindi rock band was invited to close the first day at Mecca. Their set featured popular songs like Manzil, Aaftaab, Khudi, and Mere Yaar.

The closing act and the most anticipated performance, DJ Zaeden called curtains to Day 2 of Mecca. He entertained the crowd with Bollywood as well as western songs like Shape of You and Attention.

It was time for the much-awaited star night. Indeed, Mecca had saved the best for the last. Following a small delay, Amit Trivedi arrived on the stage with four additional singers. The concert kicked off with the song “Dilli”. The four other singers accompanying Amit Trivedi were Arun Kamath, Meghna Mishra, Divya Kumar and Rashita. Meghna Mishra was a 16-year old artist who had won awards for “Secret Superstar”. The team said that they divide their performance into two halves where the first half was for the ears while the other half was for the legs. The songs they performed included hits like “Maanjha”, “ Gulaabo”, “Shandaar” and “ Ud-daa Punjab”.

 

Feature Image Credits: Ayush Chauhan for DU Beat.

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Bazinga

Bazinga: Meritorious Students of the University to be Taken Abroad

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The University of Delhi is a hub of opportunities for the ones who are willing to take the chances. 

In a recent release of a circular, the Dean of Academic Activities and Projects mentioned that from the upcoming session, students will be taken abroad on an educational international trip, fully funded by the University, and accompanied by professors.

The selection of students will be on the basis of an exam. Since it will be pan DU, undergraduate students from any course can apply. The exam will have elective subjects, English, and Logic. According to sources, if the students who have applied have previously worked on any research papers or projects, their selection chances are heightened. “We want our university scholars to get the best of the opportunities to explore places, find their passion, and work efficiently. This plan was proposed earlier but never managed to come into existence. We are now ready to cater to the students who have the will and the potential to become global leaders”, quoted the Dean of Planning, DU. The plan is to take the students out for international conferences, global summits, and organisational meets. Many colleges and universities abroad run student exchange programmes which are also to be accepted by DU. The students selected through the exams will be sent in the exchange programmes to universities like Yeshiva University, Columbia University, etc.

“Being a centralised government institution, Delhi University has achieved milestones and the students have never failed to bring glories to their beloved colleges in the name of DU. This will be another platform for the deserving candidates to showcase what they have learnt and discovered. We are hoping to hear about more such steps taken by the university” said the Principal of Lady Shri Ram College for Women. Shahjadi Rahman, a student of Zakir Husain Delhi College commented “This chance given to the students of DU will increase the prospects of acquiring practical knowledge, exposure, and experience – rewards of days of attending classes, taking notes, and studying. The skilled students will definitely get through it, and also have the most adept training for the future.” Few other students collectively said that this was not a good idea because there are students who may have potential but won’t be able to crack the selection exam. Mass participation is expected, but the students are wishing that the selection process be unbiased.

*Disclaimer: Bazinga is our weekly column of almost believable fake news. It is a humorous, light-hearted column that should only be appreciated and not accepted.

 

Feature Image Credits: Mecanica

Radhika Boruah
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Humouroscope

Life When You are in an On-Campus Relationship

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A great man once coined the term ‘on-campus relationship’ to describe sleazy couples, which reside within the capacious four walls of North Campus, University of Delhi, occasionally seen coquettishly enveloping hands at Sudama Tea Point or attending a certain act of worship of a certain tree on that certain occasion mostly dreaded by single people. From having Parathas at Patel Chest to being evasive when you run into each other post a painful breakup, here is a piece of research that people in on-campus relationships would relate to:

1. You have to be careful who you look at: In North Campus, if you think you’d get away with casually flirting with a guy you met while buying Surf Excel at the neighborhood general store, you’re wrong. Because North campus is like a well-knit community of people, chances are that friends of friends of friends of friends would also know that you’re dating a certain someone. For all you know, the boy you were casually philandering with, might be the same person your boyfriend’s roommate’s classmate practices dance with. Conversely, people would be more cautious of making romantic advances on you because they’d know you are dating so-and-so.

2. Frequenting the VC lawns: The Viceregal Lodge, now called ‘VC’s office’, came into existence in 1902 was handed over to the University in 1933. 0.67 seconds post that, the first couple entered the VC lawns that surround the office. These exaggerations apart, the VC lawns, which are known for its ambrosial greenery and prepossessing foliage, are a hit amongst nature-“lovers” and poets alike.

3. Cups of Chai at Sudama: In a parallel universe, if tea stall owners were to be Pop Singers, Sudama Ji would be Lady Gaga. If Sudama Tea Joint earns ‘x’ amount of money from regular ‘single’ students, it earns ‘x²’ from couples who spend lazy evenings sipping cups of chai at the joint. Because on practical terms, on a student budget, spending INR 10 under the beauteous foliage at Sudama’s seems more appealing than spending INR 1000 at Mc. Donald’s.

4. Going to fests together: In a hypothetical situation, if the first college fest of University of Delhi was inaugurated at 10:30 hours on the fated date of 23rd February 1701, we can assume that the first couple held hands in that fest at 10:31 hours on 23rd February in the same century.

5. Avoiding running into each other post break-up: Whether you go out to buy toothpaste in Vijaynagar or to buy Maggi in Kamla Nagar, there would be a constant nagging at the back of your head that screams, “Get out of those sweats! Dress well! You don’t want him to know that you’re not dealing well with the breakup!”. Moreover, things get weird when you see the ex-beau with a new boy/girl. And then things get weirder when you stalk that new person on Instagram and before you realise it, you’re scrolling through her/his aunt’s best friend’s baby-sitter’s graduation pictures.

6. Overlapping friends’ circles: Taylor Swift in her song “We’re never getting back together” had sung, “..you go talk to your friends, talk to my friends.. but we are never ever ever getting back together”. She isn’t called the Queen for nothing, for she could accurately sum up what happens when an ‘on-campus’ couple breaks up. When you’re in such a relationship, you tend to spend so much time with the significant other’s friends that you end up becoming friends, your respective friends end-up dating, and your friend’s circles end up becoming a confusing web of common acquaintances. As a result, when you break-up, the equations in the friend’s circle gets disrupted and WhatsApp groups are formed titled “Sheetal broke up with Sanjay, ab kya kare” (What to do now that Sheetal and Sanjay broke up?).

 

Feature Image Credits: Gewusstwie Lerntherapie

Vaibhavi Sharma Pathak
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Jesus and Mary College

JMC’s Fest Montage 2018 Draw Curtains on a Musical Note

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The second day of Montage 2018 began on a musical note with Swaraangan, the Indian Musical Choir competition of Jesus and Mary College. Shri Onkar Nath of Indore Gharana judged the competition.  Alaap of Sri Venkateswara College bagged the first position followed by Sangeetika of Kamala Nehru College and Swaranjali of Hansraj College were declared the first and the second runners-up respectively. All the colleges in the competition captivated the audience with their melodies. In the Bollywood Solo Singing Competition “Afreen”, Purvi Chaturvedi of Kamala Nehru College won the first prize. Deepayan Mukherjee of Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology and Shayan Chatterjee of Shri Ram College of Commerce secured the second and the third positions respectively.

Beaux Arts held a 3D Jewellery Making competition and Nabyah Hafeez and Jasjot Kaur from Dyal Singh College (Morning) won a cash prize of INR 2000.

Annual General Quiz 2018 was organised by Curiosus, the Quiz Society of JMC. Adittya Nath Mubayi was the quiz master for the day. After several preliminary rounds and final rounds, Tushar Anand and Akash Verma were announced as the winners.  Vishesh Balani and Aditya Barthwal as second runners-up, and Sushain Ghosh and Duttnath Thakur came third.

Amidst all the competitiveness of dance and street plays, Sunny Mugs Poetry Club organised a creative Slam Poetry Competition to drown the moods of Montage into melancholy and imagination. Themes of loneliness, love, parental rejection, and lack of acceptance in the society underplayed all the poems. The judges Aditi Angiras and Vikramaditya Sahai announced Isha from Ambedkar University, Kanika Ahuja from Dyal Singh College, and Soumya Vats from Hansraj College as the winners of first, second, and third positions.

The highlight of the day was Chimera, the choreography competition hosted by Western Dance Society of JMC. Exquisite performances by Hindu College, Gargi College, Kirori Mal College, Sri Venkateswara College, and Lady Shri Ram College for Women among others on the themes of gender binaries, illiteracy, sins of life, etc. added charm to the event. Judges Benjamin Jacob and Himanshu Sharma announced Sparx of Gargi College as the winner. Terpsi Chorean of Hansraj College grabbed the second prize.

If the western dance competition wasn’t enough, the audience was treated to a one of a kind event called Delhi Dance Fever. The first round was the auction round. Teams bid for dancers from other colleges and performed with props given to them such as lathis, wipers, badminton rackets. The songs were each better than the other with classic Bollywood songs such as ‘Nimbooda’, ‘Kajra Re’ to pop songs like ‘Havana’,  ‘Strip that Down’, and ‘Young Dumb & Broke’. The next round will be held in March, along with a wildcard entry.

Playback singer and music composer Nakash Aziz of ‘Highway’ and ‘Rockstar’ fame ignited the stage with evergreen Bollywood hits such as ‘Humma’,  ‘Badtameez Dil’, and R. D. Burman’s ‘Bachna Ae Hasino’. It was a treat to witness him engaging with the crowd as he swooned to the spunky number ‘Om Shanti Om’. His versatility was on display as he effortlessly switched over to newer Bollywood hits such as ‘Pyaar ki Pungi’ and ‘Ilahi’. With this JMC’s Annual Cultural Fest Montage 2018 drew its curtains.

 

Feature Image Credits: Surabhi Khare for DU Beat.

Radhika Boruah ([email protected])

Oorja Tapan ([email protected])

Raabiya Tuteja ([email protected])

Vaibhavi Sharma Pathak ([email protected])

Anukriti Mishra ([email protected])

Prachi Mehra ([email protected]) 

 

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