College is seen as a land of magical dreams and abundant freedom. After slogging for their Board Exams, freshers look forward to letting their hair down and experimenting with everything under the sun. While every fresher takes a different route, we look at some common trends among freshers in the first few months after college begins!
- Getting their hair coloured-Ah, come college and you’ll notice many hardcore freshers dyeing their hair in a variety of colours. Red and light brown are too old school now and people have moved on to more off beat shades like purple, blue, green and even white. In case you dislike everything that is main stream and want to stand out, just shave your hair off completely; that should do the trick!
- Joining societies and ‘youth organisations’– It is common knowledge that the batch of first years is easily the most enthusiastic lot in a college at any given point of time. Fresh out of school, they want to try their hand at anything and everything, and usually end up joining about 5 different societies in colleges, or the many ‘youth organisations’ comprising DU students. Needless to say, they don’t think too much about it and jump into such activities. This zeal fades, eventually, and students end up in the one or two societies that they really like.
- Getting tattoos and piercings-Nothing screams freedom and individuality like tattoos and piercings, right? There are many fucchas who line up outside tattoo studios and jewellery stores to get inked and pierced respectively the minute they get into DU. They get their ears, noses, eyebrows and even unmentionable body parts pierced. Cryptic tattoos are definitely in, though most like to keep it simple with the symbol for infinity being a popular option.
- Adopting a hippie outlook- This transformation is relatively slow and not something that everyone goes through. But slowly and surely, you’ll notice some freshers adopting certain habits. Such students claim to hate all that is main stream and switch to loose, brightly coloured pants and tops and can be seen smoking around campus. And no, that’s not a cigarette they’re smoking! They’ll start growing out their hair and adopting an ‘I don’t care about anything’ attitude. Many of them even start listening to Pink Floyd to seal the deal.
- Creating LinkedIn Accounts-This isn’t an immediate occurrence, but within a month or so, students start creating LinkedIn accounts for ‘professional purposes’. Especially those in Commerce, Economics and Business courses feel that a profile on LinkedIn will help them get important contacts. Only problem is that the next time they log into their account is about a year later, if at all.
What a glistening mirage college life radiates! To each of those dreamy eyed ones, campus life is a gift wrapped experience of enthralling fun, persistent chilling, some really cool signature hangouts, and truly the incidence of “the best things in life” with a validity of three years! This picture perfect imagery might just be shattered with some mundane schedules and chores that we hate to get around with, but that isnt too much of a problem. Delhi University offers you some splendid locales, that would be just enough to reconcile all the pieces of the broken hour glass.
The more happening north campus has much to allure. With attempts to modify classrooms to student’s interests, what happens around in the haven of students is not worth the miss! It’s the ever so famous Kamala Nagar market that you will splurge on, you’d live to die for QD’s scrumptious delights. The more desi ones will take refuge in Chatte de Hatti and monsoon rains will pour on Kamala Nehru ridge, to all lovers’ glee.
The more popular colleges will leave you spellbound with blissful experiences. Whether it is the iconic sports complex of SRCC and the adored Irfan’s canteen or the ultimate café of St. Stephen’s, ranging to the unexplored ones like a supposed Bhoot Bangla, a Graffiti wall, SPIC MACAY’s Canteen and the Tibetan market, you would want to venture into every barricade and every locked iron door, simply because this place breathes youthfulness and freedom.
To satiate your drive to explore some more irresistible places, do not hesitate to visit all that south campus has to offer you. Lined up in Satya Niketan is an array of enticing cafes including student’s paradise QD’s. The elite Taj’ CCD is a host to a number of campus birdies too. Contrary to that is the incredibly popular Chowrangee in Satya Niketan which feeds you to your heart’s satisfaction.
Living up to the popular perception of Delhi’s malling culture, Delhi University students will never refrain from spending days together in malls like they were their second homes. Many of whom have attained nirvana in our favourite Select City walk. The ones in Vasant Kunj have supremely come up with the ice skating and bowling trends, which is truly GenY’s thing to do.
Delhi University is a world in itself and it’s unbelievable how seemingly short the time we have here seems. It has a myriad of joys to spread and heaps of experiences to retain forever and for life. So, cease this year here and set out on the journey to unveil new avenues. Hope you have a Xing on experience!
Picture Credits: Additi Seth]]> 
54,000 students take admission in Delhi University every year. But are they all of the same kind? I don’t think so. Here I take a look at the very many facets of this unique species called “fresher”, spotted only in and around the DU campus!
(1) The “rag me!” – These freshers are the ones who come to experience the quintessential Delhi University life. They are so interested in trying out everything that is “so DU”, that they even want to be ragged! I encountered one such fresher during my college orientation; she actually stood up and told her seniors, “I want to be ragged. Shall I do a dance number?”
(2) The “chilled out!” – These types of freshers are not even remotely scared of their professors. They never submit assignments on time, their course book probably wouldn’t show signs of human touch and their short attendance would probably be excused with an easy medical certificate. They believe that college is a place where one should just take it slow, and they certainly are in no hurry to end the post-boards-enjoyment-break.
(3) The geek and nerd – The type of freshers who their college studies seriously are the ones who are mapped in this category. The only problem is, a bit too seriously. They’re always found in the library or with a professor, trying to gain an even higher level of expertise in their respective skills. No doubt, the Sheldon Coopers of DU excel in academics and are likely to get placed in a good job, but some amount of fun wouldn’t cause any harm, would it?
(4) The “I will try for every college society” – These kinds of freshers are exactly the opposite of nerds. They take every ounce of advantage that DU’s vibrant ECA circuit provides. They will audition for almost every society, and try to participate in as many activities as the college allows them to be in. They make their presence felt and are usually quite popular in their respective colleges. Probably a rare sight in classrooms, their professors might not recognize them if they ever enter the classroom (if they get a break from rehearsals that is).
(5) The social activist – This category of freshers usually comprises of the ones who aim to join politics in future. They are rarely involved in extracurricular activities, but try to make the most of student unions, organizations, Parliaments. They aim to make it to ABVP or NSUI, and hope to become the DUSU president in their final year.
(6) The “trying to fit in” – This division of freshers try hard to fit in and gel with the crowd. But at times, their efforts become a wee bit over-the-top. They will shop till they drop. Looking for the trendiest bags, tops, jewelry and other stuff that comes with a “popular in DU” tag. However, after some time, the excitement wears out and people come back to the evergreen jeans and tee combo.
See what category you fit into and tell us!
P.S. in case you’re wondering what category I belong to, I’m a mix of category 3 and 4!
Picture credits: Additi Seth]]> 
