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DU REPORT CARD

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New to DU? Unsure of whether to believe the glossy prospectus which makes your campus out to be some mini-heaven, or your grumpy seniors who see it as hell on Earth? Let us guide you with our very own DU Report Card!

Infrastructure
A lot of colleges in DU could serve as the next location for some RGV horror flick with their crumbling walls and desolate air. Smells ranging from those of unwashed socks and hospital wards may be waiting to invade your noses as you step through most college gates. However, there are still a few institutions where you can pee without having to hold your breath and not have to screw your eyes shut to block unmentionable horrors. Some even have furniture which go beyond mere bits of wood held together by rusty nails. Overall, though, the state of DU infrastructure is pretty bad.
Rating:  2.5/5

Hang out zones
Now this is something we can totally brag about. Whether it’s shopping or hunger pangs or coochie-cooing or just plain time-pass, DU has a place for everything! Kamla Nagar offers options galore for shopaholics and foodies alike. From bhelpuri to chuski and Puma to Fabindia, you get all of it right here. Head to Sarojini if your wallet’s on the thinner side and skip over to paranthe vali gali if you’ve got food on your mind. Sadly though, movie-lovers are left with little choice with most of the cheap theatres like Chanakya closing shop and the ones still functioning charging rates so exorbitant, you’ll have to go hungry for a month to pay for the tickets.
Rating: 4.5/5

Fashion
When it comes to fashion, there are no rules in DU. You can wear anything you want and get away with it. From carefully made up Barbie dolls in their stilettos and tight clothes to the tousle-haired PG kids in their pajamas, walking straight from the bed to the classroom, DU gates are open to one and all. With so much variety and colour, our creativity can put any designer to shame! However as always, once in a while you are bound to come across a walking, talking fashion disaster who’ll make you want to cringe or wish you had little marbles instead of eyes so you’d be spared the torture.
Rating: 4/5

Atmosphere
“Chilled out” describes the DU atmosphere best. Yes, we know how clichéd the term is and it is exactly what reporters and journalists have been harping on since forever, but for once they seemed to have hit the nail on its head. DU is where pretensions vanish, where you are just you and no one else. Unlike school, where you had teachers and parents pushing you around and directing your every little step, you’re truly set free in DU.
Rating: 5/5

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News

Website Woes

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Results Declared, students still in the dark.

Delhi University has declared the results of the annual examinations, 2009 for most courses. The announcement of results commenced in the last week of June. However, several students studying in North Campus colleges have complained of the inaccessibility of the same due to the irregular maintenance of the official DU website, www.du.ac.in.

South campus colleges have not faced this problem as their results are not displayed on the official DU website. All the required information is available to them on www.south.du.ac.in, a website dedicated to south campus colleges of DU, which is regularly updated.

Says Dikshant Bagh, a student of Electronics in Hansraj College, “I found out about the declaration of results from the south campus website. The official website did not display the results until two days after the declaration. This distressed me greatly as I saw the number of failures on the south du website and had to wait two days to find out my own result”. The situation was worse for philosophy (Honours), the results of which were displayed a full six days after their declaration. Many anxious students were forced to rush to their respective colleges to find out their result, defeating the whole purpose of the website. The problem was compounded for out-station students, who spent many nail-biting moments on the phone trying to find out their result. The website in question seems to have a track record for failing at crucial moments.

Says, Resham Manaktala of Lady Shri Ram College, “The website is not user friendly. It kept hanging when the date sheet came out. It also does not provide specific information for many Post Graduate programmes offered in DU.”

Courses whose results are declared include philosophy honours, geography honours, chemistry hons , bbs , journalism ,psychology and applied psychology hons, and maths honours. Most results are expected to be out by  July 21.

( The writer can be contacted at [email protected])

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Jaane Tu, Ya Jaane Na?

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Did you know the reality behind these DU misconceptions?

1. Fashion: Dressing sense, no bars. Wardrobe revamping for the new session? Hear, hear. Before fashionastas jump to conclusions and come up with the next session campus couture, let us make it clear for all. DU does not believe in following so and so trend predicted by so and so designers. With all due respect to national dailies, Delhi University refuses to abide by their “must-haves” and “campus fundas”, and remains the quintessential free spirited campus, where fashion is (not)concerned! Yeah, college is all about wearing what you like, whichever way you like.

2. Love-shove, et al.: Ah, Bollywood fillums, you know. I could never fathom this one, why did they (read directors, producers) always think college was this place for puppy love, candlyfloss and bubblegum chewing yuppies? I mean yes, we love love and all the other things associated, but then, there is a lot more to us than boy-meets-girl stories, for Christ’s sake.

3. Academics and DU: Do not, ever, fall into the dark with this one. You will pay, and heavily too. College is fun, frolic and fantastic, but not all the time. We study. Whoever said college is all play and no work? No, it was not always about bunking classes, like our dear celebrities so happily announce!

4. Nonsense abbreviations: K’nags (Kamla Nagar) and BTMs (read behenji-turned-mods) is understandable, but GJs? Seriously now, when did Gulab Jamuns become shortened to that? And, “fucchas”. For my life, I never heard any sadistic senior address any hapless fresher with this word.

5. Rivalry, eh? : Okay, we may have grudges against so and so college; however, it definitely isn’t as pronounced as the world around us projects it to be. Some of the best friendships are forged across the common wall, and some of the best activity/society partners are made yonder.

6. Girls’ Colleges: Guys on motorbikes circling girls-only colleges, did you actually ever see that happen? No. We are not talking about the shady Delhi-ite here, but still, this is one sight I am yet to come across in campus. Nah, college was not that romantic ever.

7. “Happening crowd”: Agreed, college is cool and hip and all that, but honestly, it’s overrated. University is a mixed bunch almost always, so we do have a fair share of wannabe Rakhi Sawants and Rannvijays. Isn’t that what going to college is all about? Meeting your (in)famous celebrities right there!

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News

A Faith Questioned

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– Aditi Sharma

On February 4, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati asked the Prime Minister to put a ban on the text recommended for the Delhi University History students, which allegedly contains objectionable references to the characters in Ramayana. Mayawati made a written complaint to the Prime Minister, after Akhil Bhartiya Vidhayarthi Parishad (ABVP), and BJP students wing protested in Delhi and Lucknow, alleging the text was a part of a book compiled by Prime Minister’s daughter Upinder Singh.

According to Shiksha Bachao Andolan Samiti, ABVP, Indraprastha VHP, Bajrang Dal and other socio-religious organizations this is degrading to our Hindu culture. A number of groups have organised protests and have raised objections to the inclusion of an essay by (late) A. K. Ramanujan, titled “Three Hundred Ramayanas: Five Examples and Three Thoughts on Translation�. The said essay is one of the readings for the Delhi University concurrent course on Ancient Indian Culture in the B. A. (Honours) programme, which has been offered in several Colleges from July 2006 onwards.

In the essay, Ramanujan illustrates and analyses the great dynamism and variety in what he describes as ‘tellings’ of the story of Rama within India and across the world. It has, however, some references to Hanuman which the ABVP says are offensive. “This is a deliberate attempt to hurt the sentiments of the Hindu community. If the article is taught, students will be expected to reproduce it in exams as well. In our education system, unless you write what is taught in class, you do not get marks. Hindu students will be forced to write something they do not believe in,� said Niharika Sharma, the ABVP’s Delhi General Secretary. A memorandum has been sent to Deepak Pental asking for the deletion of that text from the course.

The Prime Minister’s Office, however, said there had been a misunderstanding as Upinder Singh’s name had been found in one copy of the text. “I have absolutely nothing to do with this text. The contentious article is not written by me. Nor is there any book of mine, which contains the article. I fail to understand why I am being linked to the text,� Upinder Singh said.

Some students are of the opinion that the entire issue is baseless and aims to promote party politics. “India is a country of diverse cultures. These epics were in fact oral and were later converted into written forms as per the various cultures. And so (that explains) the differences.� said Shreya, a History student from Stephens.

“One cannot teach by imposing. One cannot questions different faiths and other versions. The crux is the same�, said Arushi, Vice President, Gargi College. History Department teachers in LSR, too, spoke on the same lines, saying that they defend the issue and “The article should certainly be included in the curriculum The aim of the course in question is to teach University students to be able to analyze a variety of source material academically, analytically. One should not get sentimental on issues like these�

As the famous saying goes…“History is past politics� and Politics is “present history�. It is after all a game of select few who decide the paradigm of the events that happen in a certain country. India is a free country where it is our democratic right to express freely. Whether this debate will uphold that freedom and integrity is still a question mark.

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