Tag

IP

Browsing

Last week, reports of Sushant Rohilla, a fourth year law student from IP-Amity committed suicide for being debarred from giving his exams over short attendance. The student had an attendance of 43% where the required amount of attendance was 75%.  Then where was the University’s fault?

IP-Amity has been known to allow students with attendance starting from 50% to sit for examinations. “Our college has strict attendance rules, yes, but they do bend them at times. Just last year, a girl had to participate in the Ms. India competition and faced no attendance issues at all,” said a source on the promise of anonymity.

It has been widely reported that Sushant was a good student academically and was an excellent debater. He had won several moot courts and was even the convener of the debating society of the college, who won many laurels for the college and even when he had a fractured leg, was fetching sponsorships for the college. The college did not accept his medical application, informed Sushant about debarring him only a few days before exams began and paid no heed to his requests and pleas.

On speaking to a couple of students from the college, we got to know about Sushant’s personal relations with the teacher, which came into play in this case. The teacher let her personal bias get in the way of allowing Sushant to sit for his exams or accepting his medical application. The alumnus of the college along with the current batches have also formed a close group on Facebook, where many pass out students have shared personal accounts of facing back handed harassment by the authorities over attendance issues.

In most colleges, ECA regulations are in place; which allow students to participate in extra curricular activities without the sword of attendance hanging over their heads. It is the prime purpose of a university to impart education and wisdom in students and not stress. The need of our universities to change existing regulations seems dire in the light of  mass protests.

It has also brought to fore and compelled us to think about the kind of society that we live in, where repeating a year in college, or failing in academics is condemned to be the worst possible thing to happen to a person. In a recent development, the teachers in question have resigned after facing severe backlash by the students of the college.

Akshara Srivastava
[email protected]

So, who doesn’t fancy a little drama in their life? At the risk of sounding slightly presumptuous, I would have to say that most of us do. For those who prefer their dose of it on stage rather than off, Hindu College’s annual theatre festival—Masquerade—was the place to be.

The two day event hosted by the English Dramatics Society, ‘Masque’, saw some of the finest colleges of DU showcasing their acting prowess. On day 1 of the fest, IP College for women, LSR, St. Stephen’s and SRCC proved their mettle as masters of nuanced expressions; while on day 2, Kirori Mal College, Hindu College, Sri Venkateswara College and Ramjas College gave them a run for their proverbial money.

To judge the participating teams were two distinguished members of the theatre fraternity. Ms. Amina Sherwani, a distinguished theatre person, journalist and sculptor. She has vast experience in people’s theatre and has performed all over the country as scriptwriter, director as well as light and set designer and has produced and directed over fifty plays. Mr. Milin Kapoor, renowned cinematographer and special effects editor. He has more than 28 years of experience in film, video design, interactivity and cyber space. He has worked on over 400 productions and with some of the biggest names in the Indian film industry.

 

The most striking performances on the first day were that of LSR and SRCC; wherein SRCC stole the limelight with their witty mystery piece titled ‘Three Blind Mice’. While each member of the SRCC team did a commendable job; it is noteworthy that the IP team consisted of only three members and their dedication was par excellence. Their play ‘Sonata’ explored the world of a writer as the events of one night that occur in the lives of these women are penned down. LSR presented ‘Skeleton Woman’, a story about two people who defeat fantastical odds to be together. St. Stephen’s had put together a play that dealt with the phenomenon of False Memory Syndrome called ‘Anna Weiss’.

On the 22nd of February, Sri Venkateswara college mesmerised the audience and the judges with their play ‘Pulp’, a  comical journey of two playwrights and their rushed attempt to churn out one decent play after another, in order to pacify their producers. Hindu College won many accolades for their production ‘Dead Man’s Testimony’—an adaptation of Ayn Rand’s ‘Night of January 16th’, although they did not compete. KMC presented ‘Line’– a story about five people attempting to reach the front of a queue using all kinds of strategies and Ramjas told us what happens when a joke goes awry in ‘Mr. Kolpert’.

 

The results declared were as follows:

1st place – Sri Venkateswara College for ‘Pulp’

2nd place – LSR for ‘Skeleton Woman’

3d place – KMC for ‘Line’

Outlaw Award (For the team which did something different)  – St. Stephens for ‘Anna Weiss’