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On the occasion of Teacher’s Day here is looking at one of the most loved scenes of comedy, from one of the most beloved comedies of our times and asking if we realise the cost of the humour we so amply glorify.

It was genuinely all fun and games.

Every time people, peers, and elders, would sit down to discuss 3 Idiots, the film, invariably the Teacher’s Day speech would come up. Look at how Rancho so smartly explains his point to Raju. Did you see how Chatur was put in place? Serves him right. Love watching Virus being put in his place, it’s such fun!

Growing up around people who revered the now cult classic as a rip-roaring comedy on the farcical nature of our education system and parental expectations from children, aspects of the film ever hardly struck me as odd. Until recently while speaking to one of my high-school teachers I was pleasantly taken aback to hear,

I have no respect for a film that makes such comedy out of a public humiliation of teachers and that too by making them the butt end of rape jokes. It is obscene and crude.

Here was a man, a teacher at that, who disliked what is arguably one of the most impactful and successful films of recent years. Not because it spoke about herd mentality, and emphasised excellence over success, but because of the way it treated it’s teachers in the process of proving a point.

Of course not all teachers deserve to be worshipped on altars. Some are mean, insensitive and just bad at their job. But is it okay to make an entire nation laugh by making your professor the butt end of rape jokes? Think about it.

The scene in question serves a dual purpose in the narrative of the film. It is to explain to Raju the importance of excellence and enjoying your curriculum as opposed to rote learning the same. But at the same time it is yet another widely lauded vilification of the figure of the nerd, who is close to his professors, knows nothing but studying, is socially awkward and of course is the butt end of bullying and abuse. And in the context of the film, this very same stooge of the professor becomes the instrument by which the cool students get back at the professors they hate so much.

My argument is simple. In no way am I endorsing a cut-throat competitive world or a teaching persona who believes your life is of no worth unless you pursue engineering or medicine. My problem is simple and different. How can we, as a society come together to hate b laughing at them and making them the butt end of rape jokes? The perpetrators of the crime literally go on to celebrate the victory of the same in the next scene and by the end of the film are hailed as heroes. The nerd is the one who is made to appear in poor light.

Humour is tricky business. Comedy is purposely designed to critique societal norms and the establishment but if the core purpose of comedy is to relieve through laughter then isn’t it important to question where that humour or laughter is coming from? Really think about it. Sexual harassment and abuse in academia is a widespread problem across the world. Horror stories of students, male and female, being abused by professors and teachers galore. We all have that one friend who confided in us about that one evening, in one empty tuition class, when the teacher they revered for so long transgressed from all acceptable social norms.

Another, easily overlooked aspect of the scene in question is the use of language as a tool of oppression. The student in question, Chatur, grew up in Pondicherry and Uganda and speaks, quite unconvincingly, broken hindi. How is it alright to use this as an excuse to vilify him and the teachers he so deeply adores? As a student of a university as large as Delhi University, every day I see students from distant parts of the country, struggling to convey the most basic of questions. Why? They do not know Hindi and their English is not perfect. But they still try. And even as they try and helplessly request people to not speak in hindi, there are people in abundance who think it fun to reply to their questions in hindi just for the sake of a few laughs. It is 2021 and yet linguistic chauvinism is a tool of abuse in the student community.

In the post-MeToo scenario, films, especially cult classics like the one in question, need to be recognised for their casual humouring of abuse. As an outcast nerd myself, I do not know how long it will take for society to actually come around to stop vilifying us. But that is a different issue altogether. But what we can start off, as students, is to recognise these instances of trivialisation of deeply troubling issues such as abuse in educational spaces. Our teachers are not without their faults and by god we are part of a deeply fundamentally flawed education system. But really our teachers and by large our students deserve better representation than this.

Now that I think, is it really all fun and games?

Anwesh Banerjee

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Sex Education, a comedy-drama series, came out with its second season on the 17th of January, 2020, on Netflix. The new season has shed light upon topics that parents prefer not to talk about with their children.

The show essentially revolves around the life of a teenager, Otis, who goes on to follow the footsteps of his mother, who is a sex therapist. From the partial knowledge he gained from her, Otis starts an underground sex therapy business with Maeve in school. Otis, being a teenager himself, gives ‘expert’ advice to other curious students who are on a quest to explore their sexual identities.

The series became a widely watched show in about no time because the producers have touched upon those issues that people shy away from. Along with the development in its plot, the new season went on to use humour and love to carefully bring forth these issues for the audience.

Sex Education has played a huge role in normalizing homosexuality, bisexuality, pansexuality and asexuality as well. The show may be about a boy but the girls are the ones who stand out. Also, another topic that has been addressed here is unwanted sexual contact. Aimee, a friend of Maeve, gets sexually assaulted on the bus while on her way to school. Aimee, after the incident, gets highly disturbed and refuses to board the bus until Maeve, Lily, Ola, and Olivia decide to accompany her.

The writers of the show also expressed the significance of consent through a few glimpses. By taking the example of Maeve and her mother, the show also took a turn and focused on faulty parenting. Jackson, an extraordinary swimmer, embarks on a new journey to discover where his interests truly lie, after experiencing poor mental health and indulging in self-harm.

Aditi Gutgutia, a student of Lady Shri Ram College, said, “Season 2 had fallen more towards a cliché high school drama and was highly predictable, which was somehow disappointing, but on the other hand, the added depth to some of the characters was admirable.”

The addressed issues in the show needed to be brought forth because they are often overlooked by the people. The writers have done a fairly commendable job by tackling these issues with love.

Image credits- Newsweek

Suhani Malhotra

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Different films have been loved and hated over the years for different reason,s and by different people. What remains standing over the years is the debate over Movies versus Morality.

Movies are called a basic source of entertainment; couples watch Romantic-comedies for their movie dates, families enjoy Dramatic-comedies for their family outings, and a group of friends go out to watch their favourite fantasy franchise films that come out. An average middle-class family spends 200 bucks per ticket for plain and pure entertainment purpose, so in this scenario does morality even play a part?

How does it affect a cinemagoer that the film they are watching is regressive, politically or socially incorrect, and offensive to a section of people, misogynistic or plain problematic? The bitter truth is that it doesn’t. We go watch a comedy movie which uses derogatory slangs, laugh at these “jokes”, have a gala time and come back unaffected. Some films fat shame, some are insensitive towards the LGBTQ+ community, while some just do not evoke a sense of diversity, but they are still loved and famous. Old classics like Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham or Pretty Woman are good examples of such films.

Even recent Bollywood Rom-coms or Dramedies like Lukka Chuppi or De De Pyaar De use derogatory slurs to invoke humour. Many found them funny, they did well on the box-office and the question remained the same, should these films be given the benefit of the doubt for the sake of humour?

The obvious answer is no, some might say otherwise, that comedy requires one to be free of judgement and in doing so,  they perpetuate societal stigmas. But anything that does not respect one’s identity is not funny, it is just problematic. I was six when my family went to watch Partner in the multiplex. It came out in 2007 and the experience was fun: the over-priced pop corn, large screen, the whole family together watching a funny movie. At the age of six I laughed at a grown male pretending to be a transgender to enter into a wedding as a wedding planner and this stereotypical representation engrained in my brain. The process of unlearning began early for me to understand that this representation is problematic but, for many this remains funny forever.

Unlike the popular notions, films like The Big Sick, Always Be My Maybe and Bareilly Ki Barfi prove that simpler narratives can also remain funny and distinct without depicting anything blatantly wrong. The former two get representation of diverse American population right, while the latter uses societal norms to critique the basics of our upbringing while remaining funny.

Many critics comment that not all films can have a moral base, the target audience matters along with the budgeting and production. All that remaining, I wonder why many cannot even try to put an effort to get the basics right. Yes, every film cannot be a Raazi, Piku or a Pink but the basics of being funny without hurting any sentiments, that is not a lot to achieve, specially when many shows, movies, and short films already have.

Feature Image Credits: IMDB

Sakshi Arora

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Instead of speaking up against sexist jokes and locker room talk, it is now easier to remain quiet and be passive partners, read more to find out why this is incorrect.

Today’s times have made us realise how problematic things have been normalised by us knowingly and unknowingly. Sexism being one such thing has been so intrinsic to human nature and thus reflected in our actions. One such action involves humour. Men have now created a ‘safe space’ for themselves in each other’s company where this sexist humour is found. Where this is not considered offensive, where they can make fun of serious issues like MeToo, where they can objectify women in their locker-room conversations.

Whatsapp forwards are now a common source to pass on wife or girlfriend jokes. These jokes go beyond being funny or light-hearted because under this garb they persist ideas like how scary or controlling women are, how men are mere sheep in front of them, how everything in the household is a “woman’s domain” and so “men should stay away from it”.

 

While the society becoming aware has helped us all come forward, now these ideas are simply better hidden underneath the façade of being a woke boy. These jokes, of several kinds, have the same underlying idea- sexism. Many people have often responded to this view of mine with a sound of annoyance. Seeing me as “feminist girl” which is now equated to someone who “cannot take a joke” or “will start off”. This annoyance then develops into a retreat as given the environment around such issues people prefer refraining themselves.

A friend of mine on seeing my bio on Instagram (I though understanding Math was tough, then I saw men struggling with consent) remarked, “oh, you’re the feminist types, I should stay away from you yaa”. On another occasion, a friend shared how while making her Tinder account she deliberated whether writing ‘Feminist’ in her bio would reduce those who swiped right. Sanjula Gupta, of Kamala Nehru College, says, “It’s high time that we realise these aren’t just jokes, they display our mindset and perpetuate centuries-old misogynistic ideas and stereotypes which have been used to discriminate against women.”

Image Credits: Catchnews
Image Credits: Pinterest

 

But what shuts down other people from speaking up? Apart from the reactions social pressures also play a strong role. Often boys standing up to this are said to be weak or face social boycott. The ideas of masculinity and societal expectations often prevent men from speaking up. Initiatives like ‘Man Enough’ by Justin Baldoni try to sensitise individuals towards this toxic masculinity. This idea is yet to make an impact to bring down such super-structures like patriarchy, but we can see this as a start.

We can often find these wife or girlfriend jokes being discussed at family get-togethers where no regard of what children will learn is taken into consideration. This can have grave impacts in terms of what he or she grows up to think. These jokes are not funny. These jokes are not to be enjoyed in secrecy. These are simple regressive thoughts being expressed under the garb of humour.

Humour can be true humour only when it does not grow from putting someone else down, comedians like Hasan Minhaj or shows like Brooklyn Nine-Nine have set a precedent to this. Beyond this, I encourage and applaud every other person who despite these responses has spoken up and stood by these values. Until the day where this invisiblised sexism does not exist, I will continue to disassociate from such problematic individuals, I will clap the loudest when a Feminist theme comes up in a Parliamentary Debate. We will not laugh at a sexist joke to fit in.

 

Feature Image Credits: Huffington Post

Shivani Dadhwal
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Aries: This week shows signs of bad luck for you. Avoid it by wearing black sweaters and staying outdoors in the sun. It will help.

Taurus: You should give your friends a shopping trip. Spend as much as you can on the group of people you hang around. It will make the coming time prosperous for you.

Gemini: Folks! You have been bestowed with the power to save the world from this heat wave. Throw a pool party and invite everyone you know and you don’t know. Your name will be remembered as the angel of life.

Cancer: Why are you lazing around this summer? Find some work, make use of your time, earn some money and treat people in Delhi University with free ice-creams.

Leo: You should just relax this week. Try not to do or get involved in anything. You should waste as much of your time as you can. It’s one of your talents, make full use of it.

Virgo: Life is so good for you, isn’t it? Well listen then! Your parents might kick you out of your house. You’ve been hiding fishy stuff from them and this week they will find it all out. Good luck.

Libra: Hmm. I see positive signs in your love life. If you are single, you’ll find ‘that one’. Just don’t refrain from your quest regardless of the blazing sun. Go outdoors. He/she is waiting for you.

Scorpio: Water is going to be a bad element for you this week, child. Avoid showers, cold-drinks and anything that feels relaxing to you.

Sagittarius: Missed Humouroscope editions, all this while?  Yeah, I know we did too.Anyway, so your life is about to take a huge turn. You might get a movie offer or something of that sort. Keep all your fingers crossed.

Capricorn: A trip abroad is on cards. Stars are in your favour this week. Make use of it. And don’t really believe horoscopes.

Aquarius: You’ve been happy all this time. It’s all about to get over. Your boyfriend/ girlfriend is going to dump you, you might suffer from a heat stroke, your hair is going to start falling and you are about to witness a living nightmare. Just wait.

Pisces: You are the luckiest zodiac this week. Just lay back and relax.

Disclaimer: Bazinga is DU Beat’s weekly column of almost believable fake news!

Among the host of changes the University administration is implementing for the year 2013-2014 is a Teacher Review System (TRS), which requires students to compulsorily rate their teachers on an annual basis from 1 to 10. The least rated teacher in every college will be dismissed from their job. The guidelines issued by the office of the Vice-Chancellor direct all colleges to conduct this review right after the year-end exams.

Students across the DU campuses are excited about this initiative of the University, for a change. “It will make college like Bigg Boss’ house! I hope my college can add the provision of someone with a baritone announcing the eviction of the least rated teacher on the PA system,” says an enthusiastic first-year student. Another says, “It will be easy to trade good ratings with attendance. Long live the VC!”

We also came across scores of students who were upset they’ll have to attend college now to know their teachers’ names and faces since the review is compulsory.

There is unrest among teachers following this ruling. “It is merely a bargain the University is trying to strike with the students for the autocratic imposition of FYUP, but why are we being the bali-ka-bakra?” cries a teacher.

Meanwhile, dramatics societies of colleges have started adopting this issue for their upcoming plays. A writer from a well-known college’s dramatics society tells us, “Plays on patriarchy depicting why and how it needs to be eradicated are becoming stale, but this issue acts like a perfect replacement. It’s essentially the same thing but it’s more relevant in today’s times.”

 Disclaimer: Bazinga is DU Beat’s weekly column of almost believable fake news!

ARIES: The stars ask you just this one question, “Aap Roadie kyun ban na chahte hain?”

TAURUS: Sorry, but your Mom will discover your secret stash of Baba Sikandar Bangaali’s ‘medicines’.

GEMINI: Go buy those lucky draw coupons, chances are that you will win a new washing machine.

CANCER: You will find your favourite professor squatting on the curb smoking beedi with 3 Rupai ki chai and fruit bun.

LEO: Your caller tune shall automatically change to Sweety Sweety Sweety tera pyaar chaida.

VIRGO: If you are trying to write a book, then the pen name- DOLLY DAGGER will bring you great luck.

LIBRA: Your partner is going to make you watch re- runs of Uttaran till your brain drips out of your ear.

SCORPIO: You will receive a special package of Sorghum from Burkina Faso. Hide it from the cops.

SAGITTARIUS: No one will marry you if you don’t make round rotis.

CAPRICORN: Go to each and every college fest and sing Wavin’ Flag on the Karaoke podium, the audience shall swoon.

AQUARIUS: You will go to see Les Miserables and come out feeling More Miserables.

PISCES: After playing for three years, you’ll find out that the only thing you actually grow on Farmville is lonely.

Image Credits: www.socialmediatoday.com

Aries: Your friends will finally find out that you are still addicted to Chota Bheem, we feel for you.

Taurus: Be wary of DTC’s, you will have your pocket picked. And when they finally do find your wallet, some dark and dirty secrets will be revealed, publicly.

Gemini: Because of your wild Holi adventures this year you will look like Rudolph the red nose reindeer till next Holi

Cancer: You will be the butt of jokes when you say the following words to your friends ‘Bhai please meri selfie kheench de.’

Leo: Re watch this season of Koffee wth Karan, it’ll help you in the upcoming internal exam.

Virgo: Your elder brother is about to steal all the coins from your coin collection and give them out to charity.

Libra: Get hit by at least 3 water balloons each day, it’ll bring you good luck. This applies to all festivals including Holi since we know that Librans are not really into bathing.

Scorpio: Voting for the third front this time would benefit you personally, wear red while you go to vote.

Sagittarius: If you’re wondering why you had 32 Gujiyas in one go this Holi, it wasn’t because you were watching Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and you were bored, it was because of Bhaang beta, Bhaang.

Capricorn: You will have some ill luck around public toilets. Do make sure you remain seated during the entire performance.

Aquarius: You’d be sore for about 2 weeks from that college trip you took, the one which was called ‘Tour Groupe Lube Aynard’.

Pisces: Yes, you are looking for options to celebrate your birthday. We don’t recommend Twinkle Kumar Super Famous Chaat Bhandar.

 

Image source: www.cospick.com

Aries: One month before mid-semester break you thought to yourself – “I will fully utilize the free time to get my study material organized and cover my syllabus.” Your thoughts now – “Where the hell did I keep my PVR tickets??”

Taurus: Let me go over this again – you actually went over to TGIF, on a Monday, just to correct them that it wasn’t really a Friday? And you said all that before you even ordered your drinks? I am sure they are beginning to rethink their marketing strategy…

Gemini: I have come to a very logical conclusion that Newton’s third Law is a load of bull. Take, for instance, that time when you tried flirting with that cute girl at the club. There was no such thing as “equal” in her opposite reaction.

Cancer: Your parents often encourage you to read biographies of great people like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Albert Einstein…but when you point out that they were dropouts you don’t really get a pat-on-the-back.

Leo: In the near future you shall discard this paper. – This accurate prediction has been brought to you by Du Beat Humouroscope: ‘beating the living crap out of Chinese fortune cookies since 2007…’

Virgo: You are getting an itch at the back of your skull. An itch you get every time you have the feeling you have forgotten something important. It acts as Peter Parker’s spider sense only twice as useless because it never helps you remember until the very minute when it’s all too late.

Libra: You shall enjoy a great bounty of success and prosperity in the near future. Hold on! Apologise, wrong augury, a moment please…ah yes here it is…the children born under the constellation of Libra shall be given false hopes about a successful future and prosperity.

Scorpio: Ahh…you are in love aren’t you child? I can read it clearly in your giggling eyes, the shy twitch of a smile, the burning colour of your cheeks and the fact that you actually shampooed your hair today.

Sagittarius: They say that the best things in life cannot be bought by money. I say, “Oh, please! Thor was a freaking Norse God of War…and he got trademarked. Period.”

Capricorn: Get ready to experience the delights of being caught in a traffic jam, stuck in an elevator or suffering power blackouts(Events Coming Soon this Summer) as temperatures begin to rise again in Delhi. If that isn’t getting you hot under the collar folks than I don’t know what will!

Aquarius: You are very likely to get robbed by a pickpocket today. Instead of letting rage control you try to remain optimistic and tell yourself, ‘I have not been robbed today. In fact, I have fed a desperate man.” On second thought…optimism sucks! Find that sneaky rat!!

Pisces: You are born under the unluckiest constellation. I suggest venting your anger on the Gods or whoever it is that discovered the constellation.

Image Credits: legomessageboards.wikia.com

The Sri Ram College of Commerce auditorium was packed to capacity with students lining up to see Papa CJ bring his unique brand of comedy to Delhi University. The performance was the highlight of day two at Histrionica 2014. The International comedy sensation had the audience in splits as Papa CJ didn’t even spare the SRCC principal in his act.

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He didn’t miss out on a single opportunity to roast the students and the faculty of SRCC with digs at the various societies and foundation courses while he not so subtly continued to crack jokes about things like politics and terrorism. In classic Papa CJ style he constantly kept the audience involved as he made them do an exercise to enjoy comedy and mock as many spectators as he possibly could. As he continued to profess his pride to be Indian, he continued to rip American checking at Airports and second generation Indians in Britain a new one.

With all the inside jokes on SRCC about Crossroads, the Dramatics Society, Demeanor and of course the gay boy digs at the Doscos sitting in the audience he made sure that the students did nothing short of falling of their chairs as they laughed through the act.

Want to laugh a little? Here are two cracks from the show!

“The only two types of people who do Yoga are foreigners and first year B.Com students.”

“What the hell is Integrated Mind Body and Heart? In our time we called that Masturbation.”