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If Politicians Were Delhi University Students

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A ‘what if’ scenario imagining politicians as DU students. 

The great leaders of tomorrow are made in the great educational institutions of today. So, for satire’s sake, we tried thinking how it would be to place some eminent politicians of our nation as students in some eminent colleges of the University of Delhi. The results have been weirdly amusing, to say the least.

Manmohan Singh: He is the studious student who has it all sorted out. You can find him on the front seat with thick lenses focused on the words in his books, and the words on the blackboard. He arrives in class, studies diligently, and goes back home without anyone detecting a trace of his existence, as he hardly utters a word. He belongs to the species of nerds but finds it tacky to show off his knowledge.

Preferred course- Economics, Political Science, and Philosophy. 

Preferred college- SRCC, Hindu, Hansraj

Assaudin Owaisi: He is the one kid in college who can’t live without using his vocal cords to the maximum of their capability. The troublemaker student, he will always find himself in some sort of pickle, be it with the fellow students or the administration. Despite this rebellious attitude, you cannot expect him to align himself with one particular faction or group. Therefore, he also falls in the category of those students whose friend circle keeps changing every college year, not implying that he is a snake (saap in classic DU terms). 

Preferred course- Political Science, Law

Preferred college- Ramjas, Law Faculty

Maneka Gandhi: She is the classic feminist University of Delhi girl. You can find her tactfully expressing her opinions against misogyny and patriarchy through her carefully chosen words. Apart from issues related to women, she is be expected to show up at any/all protests surrounding threats made to the members of the DU fraternity face, with the venue, mostly being the classic Faculty of Arts. Mess with this student and you might end up paying a hefty price.

Preferred course- Sociology

Preferred college- LSR, Miranda House

Shashi Tharoor: He is known for his good grades, good looks, self-confidence, and charm, used to impress all the girls in the college; Shashi Tharoor easily falls within the bracket of students who have it all. He is usually self-obsessed and narcissistic in order to maintain his image, especially in the way he arranges his hair or the bourgeoisie language he uses. As mentioned previously, he is the Casanova of the college and is likely to have a girlfriend who meets his intellectual capabilities. However, when two intellectuals are together, a clash of opinions is inevitable. 

Preferred course- English, Philosophy

Preferred college- St. Stephen’s (isn’t that obvious?)

Lalu Prasad Yadav:  Our classic Bihari babu is an expert at everything pertaining to cattle and fodder, but, don’t underestimate him “inki girlfriend Rabri Vidhayak hain”. He is the kid that questions the teacher and mimics him behind his back for the sake of entertaining the whole class. He helped us understand the value of friendships in college; he says ‘I thought Nitish babu was my friend in the first year, but by the third year I realised he is a snake in lieu with that CR Modi’. No one ever trusts him with money as he always says it’s for his cows back home, but never returns it.

Preferred course and college – “arrey bhaiya kuch bhi dedo bas DU main le lo”

Yogi Adityanath: Hailing straight from Uttar Pradesh, this bhakt of Ram is the most religious kid on campus, with a passion for ‘renaming things’.  As a result of this, Jackson from class became Jai kishan! He’s always dressed in orange, a unique dress code that seems to be the fashion of the days. Don’t underestimate him by his size because he beats (quite literally) everyone in his love for the cow. He is a fresher to the college but has already made his presence felt everywhere.

Preferred course – B.Sc. mathematics

Preferred college – Hindu college   

Rahul Gandhi:  The baba himself, though it is too early for him to go to college, his mother still comes to drop him off. You can never spot him in class as he is most likely to be sitting somewhere doodling, or staring into space. No one takes him seriously even after he became the CR. People from the other class joke about him on their class Whatsapp groups. He is following family suit in standing for college elections, but honestly, he just wants to sit at home and watch Shinchan. However, he is surrounded by a lot of seniors who are saving him from trouble, but until when?

Preferred Course – whatever Mom says

Preferred college – St. Stephens (is home tuition still an option in college?)

 

Feature Image Credits: India.com

Shaurya Singh Thapa

[email protected] 

Haris Khan

 

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DUB Speak

The Educational Refugees of Kashmir

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As many in the country target a community in hatred, read the account of being marginalised and misunderstood in the country’s capital.

It is easy to protest when there are people to answer your slogans. While in Kashmir, I participated in some of the street protests. I protested when my friends got killed and blinded by the ‘non-lethal’ pellet guns. I knew the risks of participating in such gatherings; death, an injury, or a life full of misery. However, I had made peace with such possibilities under the belief that protesting was indispensable to a democracy. I had concluded that this equanimity was justified.

After shifting to Delhi four years ago, I found myself in a different situation. I came across people who knew little to nothing about the Kashmir conflict, and people who thought they knew everything. The latter was more difficult to deal with. Their primary source of knowledge about Kashmir was Bollywood movies and biased news media. I had two options- one, stay quiet and the other was to make them understand what the conflict is all about. I chose the latter.

As a Kashmiri studying in a premier Indian university, I have witnessed the cognitive dissonance of the supposedly intellectual lot of the country. Being a student of journalism, I cannot run away from these discussions. But it has been a daunting struggle to balance my safety and will to speak the truth. I can recall an event of my early days at college when a police officer was baffled to see Urdu on my Aadhar card. To quench his astonishing curiosity, I amicably mentioned that this is how Aadhar cards are in Kashmir. However, I had amplified his suspicion. “Kashmir se hai, phir toh acche se bag check karva” is what he said. Ignorance offers complete impunity to the perpetrators of intolerance.

Repeated shutdowns and curfews forced me to migrate. Delhi was not my first choice. However, I couldn’t get my passport on time because of the ‘thorough’ and slow verification process that only Kashmiris undergo. The conflict followed me to Delhi. I realised that no matter how quiet or non-opinionated I become, I will be attacked for who I am. My survival is a protest in itself. I and various Kashmiri students like me are the educational refugees who have made a decision to leave their homes for an education. Many Kashmiri students, in the past, have been charged with sedition for unjustified reasons. As Kashmiris, our each move is scrutinised, and each action is seen as for or against the state. We brave numerous odds to get an education but then it is our comrades back home who face the worst.

The recent attack in Pulwama unleashed the bigoted ‘reactionary violence’ on our community. A wave of suspensions and xenophobic attacks against Kashmiri students followed. Kashmiris like me who live in various Indian states for a decent education are being attacked on the pretext of supporting the militants in Kashmir. There have been repeated calls for violence against Kashmiris on social media and no action has been taken against the culprits. As a student who has been bearing the brunt of this conflict and the hate that it accompanies, I want peace more than anyone else does but this ‘blood for blood’ attitude will always result in more violence. We must not let this hate consume more blood.

In the end, we are just normal students with our own dreams to achieve. But we cannot afford to let our guard down at a time when our identity and our rights are being trampled upon. A life of normalcy is a distant dream for us but hope for a better future is what keeps us going.

“Hope is a weapon. Survival is victory.” –Dunkirk

Feature Image Courtesy: Kashmir Reader

Maknoon Wani

[email protected]

 

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Hindu College

Straight from the Horse’s Mouth: Hinduites on the V-Tree Pooja

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The tradition of the ‘Virgin Tree pooja’ at Hindu College, wherein students pray in front of a tree on Valentine’s Day with the hope of losing their virginity, is viewed with diverse and opposing perspectives.

“I’m just young, rich, and tasteless,” says rapper Pusha T in the song ‘Runaway’. It might be an apt slogan for the tradition of the Virgin Tree (V-Tree) pooja at Hindu College. “Young” because maybe we’re the youth desperate to get laid; but also “tasteless” because maybe we recognise the problems with the tradition and go on regardless. “Rich” is slightly irrelevant here.

The tradition, which takes place at Valentine’s every year sees students worshipping the V-Tree. A female celebrity is chosen as the ‘Damdami Mai’ and the Mr. Fresher of the boys’ hostel, dressed as the pandit, does the pooja. Recently, the same has begun for the girls’ hostel also, wherein a ‘Love Guru’ is worshipped by the Ms. Fresher. Water filled condoms are hung on the tree, an aarti is sung, the water is showered on the crowd and a Holi-like celebration follows. Apparently, thou shall loseth thy V-card should thou showereth in the condometh watereth. Hindu 6:9, perhaps? Students view the pooja in a variety of ways. Defenders say that the motive is spreading awareness about safe sex. Others say that it’s patriarchal, misogynist, and excludes many. Yet others fall somewhere in between. “(The pooja) serves the purpose of spreading sexual awareness. It tries to do away with the taboo associated with sex,” says a second-year History Honours student. This was reiterated by Shubham Yadav, the Girls Students’ Welfare Minister. She said that while posters about AIDS awareness are also put up, the aarti is very demeaning.

This reasoning isn’t convincing to many.
Kareema Barry, a second-year English Honours student says that the inclusion of the male celebrity was only “tokenistic.” “What about transgenders? Aren’t we neglecting them? The solution is not to put their picture but to remove all of them,” says Sakshi Priya, Vice President of the college’s Women’s Development Cell while proposing a discussion on safe sex instead. Parakram Chauhan, a Philosophy Honours fresher comments on the “toxicity” behind the the pooja in terms of “seeing getting laid as some sort of prize or blessing.”

What are the freshers expecting?
One such expectation is to see a proper way of disposing of condoms, according to Mrinalinee Sharma of the History department. Khushi Gupta of the same department says “I want to see how they hang condoms after filling them with water, I’m very excited.” Parakram says he’s expecting “nothing at all.” However, a large chunk of them seems to be unaware of what the pooja is. Various students have protested against the tradition and some tell us that the crowds had declined last year. While Pinjra Tod’s article on the subject, which condemns the pooja as a contributor to “rape culture — which slut shames women who assert their sexuality,” is a bit overblown, not even the defenders deny that it could be made more inclusive and less demeaning.

Whether it’s a silly tradition or a serious issue, and whether it needs amendment or abolition, is for us to decide. We must ask if we’re just being tasteless, or something much more serious than that.

Image Credits: DU Beat

Prateek Pankaj
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DUB Speak

Editorial: “Mumma, Papa, meet…”

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Loving in a culture where all love outside marriage is forbidden is taxing. Read our Editor’s take on it.

Love is the common language spoken across the world. Stories of love have existed in every society that ever told stories. When we remember how fundamental romantic attachment is to human beings, how common and natural, our society’s desire to stop people from loving, it seems toxic and selfish. Our parents don’t accept the fact that we could or would want to experience dating, companionship, or love. Most of us aren’t “allowed” to date, not that it means we don’t. We don’t tell our parents about our love life and significant others, caught in the fear that they may never approve. We don’t seek love advice from them, introduce them to our significant others, or share the details of our whereabouts with them with honesty. And if, by chance, our love strays from the hetero-normative narrative of love between a female and a male, the discomfort and fear of acceptance increases manifold.

For most Indian kids, love begins with lies. “I am going to meet Neha,” we say as we dash to the farthest end of our street for a sneaky ice- cream, and walk with someone who is certainly not Neha. These cloak and dagger games can be exciting initially but, as we grow up, we realise they are something far more sinister. Most families hold different beliefs regarding dating and love. Some might want their children to keep away from relationships “to keep them focused on academics” while others have far more rigid ideas about the same, like believing love and sexual experiences are reserved within the institution of marriage. It is in these households where young adults who are actively dating are, at best, at the risk of parental disapproval and, at worst, of losing their freedom, agency, as well as independence.  The punishment of love in India without parents’ approval can range from having one’s phone taken away, to being made to quit the pursuit of education and, in extreme cases, to honour killings as well. Our culture has intertwined love with marriage, with controlling ideas about monogamy, togetherness, and “purity”. The impact on women has been undeniably worse since the “punishment” for loving has been known to be far more unforgiving on them than on men.

We don’t grow up with the right ideals of love.  We live in a country where a common experience of all our peers is telling their first big lie to their parents with regard to someone they were dating. We couldn’t talk to our parents openly, or ask them questions about love, sex, relationships, boundaries, consent, and respect  because we could never anticipate if it would be met with disapproval or punishment. We hid under our blankets sneakily texting our 9th grade crush, or sneaked out for study sessions with our boyfriend/girlfriend, and came to college and talked to our parents about everything in detail, except the person we loved.

Love, in itself, is capable of inciting fear. We invest our time and energy into someone who could one day casually walk up to us, say that it isn’t working out, and walk away, leaving us to deal with the walls crumbling around. But aside from the natural insecurity, in families, cultures, and communities where love is taboo, people are more likely to confuse love with and abuse. After all, they were never taught the difference between the two.

The approval of our parents is important. Running home after a star in our notebooks, or winning a match, a debate, a rangoli competition, and hearing them say, “I am proud of you, beta” is immensely precious for many of us, and nothing really beats that, not when we were ten and not now as well. It is sad therefore, that our parents don’t say it enough, and sadder perhaps that the approval they reserve for academic and extracurricular achievements, isn’t extended to forming  beliefs systems which make us healthy, happy, fully-functioning human beings. Our parents will not tell us they are proud of us for breaking away from a toxic partner. Most of us would never have our parents sit down next to us, and comfort us with a cup of chai and a heart-to-heart conversation about heartbreak, like they did after every bad result, lost match, public failure.

I wish, like all the kahaaniyan (stories) our parents told to put us to sleep when we were children, the ones that taught us how to be brave, how to be kind, how to have compassion, also told us how to love, how to be respected and respectful in love, when to stay and when to leave, when to hold on and when to let go. Perhaps, we would have been kinder to ourselves and those we have loved, then. For Indian parents, who claim to do everything for the well-being of their children, do one more thing – give them the freedom to love, whomever they want and however they want.

Kinjal Pandey

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Arts & Culture

A Republic is Yet to be Born?

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India is slowly inching its way into making its mark on the global and anarchical realm of international politics. But in the hustle, bustle, and glamour, has the Republic of India lost touch with what makes it a Republic?

A Republic is typically defined as a nation wherein the people are the key stakeholders in the governance of the
country; a nation where the citizens are empowered to rule themselves by choosing their elected representatives,
legitimised by the Constitution. It was on the establishment of the longest written Constitution of the world, the
first Republic Day was celebrated on 26th January 1950.

Talking about how much context matters, the Constitution of India is ever growing and ever evolving, despite being one of the most rigid and absolute texts to have come into acceptance. The authors of this book entailed in its pages, modern concepts that are still relevant to this day. This statement, thus, begs the question: Even after 69 years of India being a Republic, has the current political scenario backtracked the sovereign, and reduced it to mere power politics?

Sovereign state boundaries exist for a reason. It is the demarcation and the geographic separation of land that makes a country a nation-state. But the true meaning of a nation-state, seems to have been lost on the citizens of this country, who have forgotten what their duties and responsibilities are. Its essence is adrift on our political leaders,
who are bound to be the representatives of the grassroots, but in status quo, are sadly only illustrative of the few who
dominate the wealth and the banks.

The protection of the sovereignty and dignity has been one of the top most priorities, coming out of shackles of colonialism. Yet there is still a Kashmir in India, supposedly housing the fantasy of a heaven on Earth, where the honourability of each citizen is questioned everyday due to political games and disputes. Yet, there is still a North-East in India, where voices seem to never be heard.

To say that the State has failed its citizens, is a convenient scapegoat that can be applied to any prevalent
government in power. To say that the citizens have not been wise in choosing their representatives, is also essentially
conveying the same sentiment of shrugging off the blame. Alas, what choice are the people left with, when None
Of The Above (NOTA) has no legitimate effect in the political structure. In our electoral system, NOTA has no electoral value. Even if the situation emerges where NOTA gets more votes than any candidate in the elections, the candidate who has secured the highest number of votes after NOTA will still hold office. This expression of rejection through casting your vote guarantees no accountability,since it does not constitute a re-election or change in candidacy. The very fact that NOTA is emblematic is the dreadful reason why it cannot be successful in an illiterate and puerile democracy like ours, where charisma and ascendancy are given more significance than one’s ability to introduce and implement affirmative policies.Is India, truly a Republic? A Republic where the voters are robbed of the right to express their dissent? Are the citizens then, really empowered to choose?
Our democracy is scattered, lacking structure and the focus that is vital to rebuild this great nation’s glory.
Maybe the need of the hour, is the introduction of a Machiavellian Prince in status quo, a strong individual who cannot be reckoned with, to get us back into track. To a time when we were not broken, were not colonised. To a time when there was supposed peace. I wonder when that time will come. I wonder, when sisterhood among differences will prevail. I wonder.

Bhavya Banerjee

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Uncategorized

The Girl with a PhD: Dr. Kamala Sohonie

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In a country where women are still told which professions are suitable for their gender, Sohonie is an inspiration who literally helped open the doors of research in science to women. If somebody ever says “women are not cut out for science”, use excerpts from Sohonie’s story to inspire you forward.

 

“Kamala Sohonie was a quiet, unassuming person. A woman of few words.”- Vasumati Dhuru, an Indian author.

 

This woman of few words, born in 1911, had decided as a young child that she would become a renowned chemist just like her uncle because she resembled him in appearance. The hurdles, struggles, and misogyny did not exist for the young kid’s resolution. That did not deter her from going on to earn the title of the “first female PhD-holder of India”. Her contemporaries were budding to satiate their love for curiosity, but Dr. Sohonie had to pay the penalty of rebuke and ostracisation for her curiosity, despite the unwavering support of her highly-educated family.

 

Graduating first in her BSc course class from Bombay University, she challenged the first Asian Nobel Laureate in Physics- Dr. C.V. Raman- when he refused her admission for Master’s at the Indian Institute of Science based on her gender. She publicly stated later on, “I can never forget the way he treated me just because I was a woman. This was a great insult to me.” Yet when it came to enduring his unnecessary conditions for allowing her an education at the Indian Institute of Science, she did it all for the love of science. Professor Raman began to admit female students after Kamala’s work captivated his scientific mind. She surpassed the stereotype and opened the door, quite literally, for female curiosity.

 

She won a scholarship for Cambridge, then a fellowship at the laboratory of Fredrick G. Hopkins. Less than 16 months after working under the Nobel Laureate, she submitted a thesis on the role of cytochrome-C in the respiration of plant tissue. Her doctorate was one of the landmarks for the entire science community because it was merely forty pages in length, when theses of over ten thousand words were a common convention.

 

Returning to India in 1939, she became a professor and the HOD of biochemistry at Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi. She joined the Royal Institute of Science in Bombay as a professor in 1947, but it took her four years to head the department because of gender biases and politics. This Rashtrapati Award winner who worked on ‘Neera’ collapsed and died, 86, at the Indian Council of Medical Research shortly after her honouring ceremony, in a setting she strived in her life to be a part of.

 

Image Credits: Feminism in India

 

Anushree Joshi

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DUB Speak

Urban Waste in India: Problems and Solutions

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Urban Waste in India is a huge problem that has led to health and environmental issues. It needs to be focused on, mainly from the ‘back-end’ with better technology, expert planning, fund-raising, and awareness.
Urban Waste can be defined, in simple terms, as the waste collected from the residential and industrial areas of cities and towns. This waste can lead to serious health and environmental issues if not disposed of, treated, or managed properly. According to Down To Earth, “Over 377 million urban people live in 7,935 towns and cities and generate 62 million tons of municipal solid waste per annum. Only 43 million tons (MT) of the waste is collected, 11.9 MT is treated and 31 MT is dumped in landfill sites.”
Sadly, India has recently proved to have flawed Urban Waste Management.A waste management system consists of a front-end (collection and transportation of the waste) and a back-end (treatment, segregation, recycling, and disposal of the waste). The issue arises when the recent wave of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan focuses more on the front-end while the real problems lay at the back-end.
Sweeping and collecting of waste, by celebrities and influential people cannot help Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore which are fast running out of dumping grounds or landfills. Even the waste collected does not go under precise segregation as it is done by manual segregation: rag pickers.

The civic bodies responsible for Waste Management are often ineffective due to lack of funds, internal politics, and mismanagement. Iswar Ahluwalia pointed out that “more than three-fourths of solid waste management budget is allotted to collection and transportation, leaving leaves very little for processing or resource recovery and disposal.”

The solution to this is not mere laws, campaigns or web application (to track the status of various kinds of wastes generated in India). Rather, it lies in technology, expert planning, fund-raising, and awareness!

Hand-pulled carts, manual scavenging, and brooms need to be replaced with waste-to-compost and bio-methanation plants, modern waste segregation plant and e-waste management. Can we make Rs. 20,000 crores that would be required to set up 400 modern waste treatment facilities reducing the risk of diseases or should we keep spending Rs. 60,000 crores annually in health-related costs?

Furthermore, to put lesser pressure on the infrastructure and therefore, to ensure a long-term investment, cooperation is needed through making citizens aware and taking expert advises for a new venture. The most efficient way to treat Indian waste is biological treatment and the worst option is open dumping and open burning (what happens to roughly 90% of India’s waste due to unawareness.) In-house segregation needs to be made popular. The rag-pickers who manually scavenge through waste to pick out a few ‘clean’ recyclables they can sell need to be given better employment opportunities and modern equipment. Furthermore, the expert suggestions like that of Bio-medical waste (management and handling) rules (Common Biomedical Waste Treatment Facility) need to be implemented.
Lastly, Indian citizens and leaders need to be aware that the problem of waste management cannot be taken lightly and if ignored, will continue to hinder India’s process of turning into a developed nation one day.

 

Feature Image Credits: India Today

Khyati Sanger
[email protected]

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DUB Speak

The Indian Amalgam

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With the recent development in the country, it is easy to lose sight of what India, even as an ‘imaginary’ country, had to offer to the rest of the world in its past, be it collective or not. However, in order to move further ahead, we need to think about our past, present, and future collectively and take pride in all the potential that India has and can harness.

India, the  seventh largest in area and the wettest inhabited place in the world, is a country to behold! With a diverse terrain and history reaching back 8 millennia, she is home to the world’s largest number of religious communities and to more than 300 languages!

She is unique in the fact that she has had a glorious past in technology and knowledge and yet never invaded any other country in the several years of history. Civilisations throughout history have tried spreading their influence and dominance over other others through invasion, conquest, and colonisation but India is different. She has been able to spread her influence in a unique way through something genuine, that people themselves felt attracted to. The greatest example of that is the spread of spirituality through Buddhism, from India, to the whole of East without any military conquest.

She never needed to venture out for resources, be it exotic spices, unique Wootz steel, or knowledge. In the past India has always been self-reliant and the modern India has not lost this feature of hers, India had requested NASA for GPS assistance, but was denied. It was then that India built one for herself. Now, the  space programs have revolutionized space science and can contribute to helping the world understand the universe in the best way possible.

India has proven the potential to contribute to the world of space sciences by being the only country which has been able to launch a spacecraft into the Martian orbit on the maiden attempt. India’s Mars Mission, which discovered water on Mars, was monetarily cheaper than the movie ‘Gravity’. The Dalai Lama says “Everything in my head is from India. I am a son of India.” India’s soft power –  like that of no other country – is not just considered its manipulative potential, but is rather debated to be a reality, which can be justified through its past, and which gives a boost to all other ‘potentials’ of India in the future for contributing generously to the world.

India’s culture is put together after years of evaluation and each component of it can contribute to the world is various ways, if taken up by individuals all around the world. Ancient India has a lot of practices which can make the world a better place.

Vegetarianism, which originated in India and is the most prevalent there, is an integral part of India’s soft power. It is believed by some that it can end world hunger since the more people eat meat, the fewer people can be fed. To produce one pound of beef protein, over 10 pounds of plant protein is needed. If these grains were fed to humans instead of animals, more food would be available for the 925 million people in chronic hunger worldwide!

Another contribution of India to the world can be the betterment of health through Yoga and Ayurveda. Surya Namaskar, itself, is known to have over fifty spiritual and health benefits, and has taken the world by storm. Super brain yoga, a simple exercise, is said to be the “energy fuel” by science today that can keep our brain fit and functional. Along with that, Ayurvedic medicines have all been to be based on the belief that health and wellness depend on a delicate balance between the “mind, body, and spirit.”

Even the ancient Indian languages have a life of their own. Sanskrit is the mother of all languages. It has some valid reasons. A general one is that no word in Sanskrit word has two meanings. One, very unique and special quality of Sanskrit is that the pronunciations of the words are chosen with great precision, The Sanskrit pronunciations are such that their sound makes the water in us vibrate in a certain manner which causes changes in us. That is why some words are ‘auspicious.’ Their sound itself can cause positive changes in us, like, ‘Aum’, which is said to be the vibration in all atoms and from the studies of NASA.

India is also a country which has proved her worthy of blending modern development with the colors of culture to create a refined amalgam. She can contribute to the world the most effectively by leading the world into a global environment of progress – in technology and spirituality, both. She has a lot confided in herself, unappreciated and unrecognized by the ‘outsiders’, and India needs to get in touch with her glorious past, become aware of her present potentials and move with vision into the future, to be able to offer the unique amalgam to the world.

AC Nielsen had recently conducted a survey in India. In response to a question on what are the best aspects of living in India, the top answer was the culture of this country. 45% of the respondents gave this as their answer that included factors like India’s diversity, its long tradition and so on.

It, therefore, seems like it won’t be long before India realises its potential throughout  history, which had later been twisted to make the Indians lose their pride in their culture.

 

 Feature Image Credits: India.com

Khyati Sanger
[email protected]

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Biblio

Book Review: I am Divine, So are You

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Many would argue that our gender-equality oriented culture is prominently an on-going matter. It is very off-setting for the youth who openly recognise themselves as LGBTQ, and difficult for the people of the past generations to accept this culture on micro and macro levels. Sexual morality has varied greatly over time and between cultures. A society’s sexual norms and standards of sexual conduct can be linked to religious beliefs, or social and environmental conditions, or all of these. In his book, Devdutt Pattanaik, along with editor Jerry Johnsons and others have introduced the animating principles of the major karmic faiths (based on the beliefs of rebirth) related to sexuality. The karmic faiths Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, and Hinduism share many common roots. The holy scriptures of these religions contain stories, ideas, and narratives of different sexual orientations and gender identities. Sexual orientation and gender identity are two different concepts, as are sex and gender. On one hand, it is biological and on the other it is societal. Sexual orientation is the romantic indulgence towards other people and can range from heterosexuality to homosexuality etc. Gender identity is one’s sense of self as a woman, man, or transgender, and may be different from one’s biological sex. Through the introduction of the modern doctrine of secularism and keeping away organised faith from politics, economics, and identity, there have been escalating instances of societal problems like queer-phobia, which is the explicit and implicit hostility towards LGBTQ people. Hinduism reveals a greater comfort with transgender stories, like describing Lord Vishnu turning into a beautiful damsel Mohini, and Lord Shiva becoming a half- woman. Over time, the traditions and beliefs of the people changed and things turned hostile for the queer. Their exclusion and isolation- socially, economically, and politically- became the new tradition dear to different communities, religions, or nations. However, the overarching and fundamental wisdom common to these faiths make ample room to accommodate the queer with innovative ideas. These karmic faiths describe that our body, our personality, and our sexuality are outcomes of the karmic burden and they are therefore natural. While the third gender is acknowledged in India, homosexual unions are criminalised. This can be traced back to the conservative Christian and Islamic frameworks where there are notes of homoerotic love, like that between David and Jonathan, and it was described as “unnatural sex”. As you read through the book you will realise that the fundamental principle of equality is not a feature of karmic faiths, rather there is a celebration of diversity. They articulate the strains of beliefs that affirm the dignity of queer expressions and encourage a sense of identity that is authentic and liberated from social and illusionary constructions.   Feature Image Credits: Radhika Boruah for DU Beat Radhika Boruah [email protected]]]>

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DUB Speak

Looking Back at the Past Year: India’s 2017

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India saw its many ups and downs in 2017; demonetization was on people’s minds till March and a couple more months. Peace was restored in Kashmir, but communal clashes and numerous heinous crimes committed by cow vigilantes reigned in 2017.

India started the year with a victory by successfully launching 104 satellites in a single mission on 15th February. ISRO’s PSLV – C37 consisting of two nano-satellites of India, INS -1A and INS -1B, and nano-satellites of other countries i.e. Israel, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, and United States of America from SDSC SHAR Sriharikota. The 101 international satellites were launched as a part of the commercial arrangements between Antrix Corp. Ltd, the commercial arm of ISRO and international customers. ISRO set a world record by launching 104 satellites in one go.

On July 1, India woke up to one of the biggest reforms after Independence. GST came with a baggage of confusion, uncertainty, and critique. All small and medium-sized businesses have to register with the government and now every business has to make cash memos and bills. The months that followed the reform saw inflation in certain sectors and lower quarterly GDP. Critics are divided on its long-term results, but for now, the loopholes and glitches in the technology have been dealt with and the process is smoother.

The same month, India’s 14th President, Ram Nath Kovind was elected with a majority of 65%  and M. Venkaiah Naidu was elected as the 13th Vice-President of India on 5th August.

Soon after, India’s most contentious issue which persists to date, the triple talaq bill started gaining heat across the debating circles in India. Supreme Court made historic decisions on the right to privacy and triple talaq. The 9-judges bench ruled in favor of the right to privacy and declared it as a fundamental right. Indian citizens were awarded the basic liberty of taking decisions of their lives, which was a much-awaited right for the LGBT+ community. Legalising same-sex marriages in India still has a long way to go but India is beginning to tread on that path.

In the case of Shayara Bano VS Union of India and Ors, the court banned the custom of triple talaq. Thousands of women in our country have suffered because of this practice and our neighboring countries banned the practice ages ago. On one hand, the court’s decision is still questioned by women’s rights’ organisations, and on the other hand, the Muslim community contends that they are not bound to follow the law because religion and the constitution are two separate entities.

The Supreme Court criminalised sex with a minor girl, whether in wedlock or out of it, but the Kerala High Court did not rule in favor of Hadiya, who had a consented marriage with a Muslim.

In what can be termed as a dark mark in the journalistic history, Gauri Lankesh’s cold-blooded assassination sparked outrage and people from various walks of life questioned the freedom of media under the present government. It was a blow to the very spirit of journalism but the media woke up to a renewed fire of protecting its freedom as an homage to Gauri’s death.

The year ended for North India on a bitter note with pollution levels rising across all the northern states. The pollution levels had reached disgraceful levels last October and it is high time the government and we take strict action towards it.

 

Feature Image Credits: Newslaundry

Prachi Mehra

[email protected]

 

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