Under the “mapped by digital vision” program, Miranda House has installed a hundred QR Code acrylic scanning sheets at several important places across the campus like the library, canteen, classes etc. Miranda House’s Principal, Dr. Pratibha Jolly, feels proud on taking a step towards making technology more accessible to the visually challenged.
The digital signages work through a customised smartphone app that sends out digital signals when a user is found in a proximity of three feet of the QR Code. The app identifies that location and gives signals in the form of verbal messages. These messages direct the visually challenged to the direction and number of steps to be taken to enter a place. “If a student wants to meet me, the digital signage in the office corridor gives a warning about the glass door and verbally directs the student on how many steps she should take to reach the spot”, said the college’s principal.
The digital mapping program was undertaken by the college’s “Enabling Society – Lakshita”. The society also carries out a program, “Samdrishti” under which student volunteers guide the visually challenged around the campus, to metro stations, or to bus stops. The initiative of installing digital signages is an extension to the program which adds to making the college’s campus more accessible to disabled students.
By taking such an initiative, the college has taken a big leap towards making Delhi University’s campus more disabled-friendly. The technology may prove to be a boon for students as well as volunteers during the admission season, enabling students to move around in the campus independently.
Every Academic Year, the University of Delhi witnesses a multitude of events, including those that add glory to its name through the students’ or educators’ outstanding achievements, and those, that probably lead us to question the existing status. Having their own significance, here are the Proud and Dark moments of Delhi University, which added stars to the University’s glory, and brought our focus to the issues that urgently need to be addressed.
Proud Moments of Delhi University 2016-2017
DU ALUMNUS ANKIT KAWATRA, SLECETED AS ONE OF THE 17TH “UN YOUNG LEADERS” IN THE WORLD
Ankit Kawatra, an alumnus of DU’s Keshav Mahavidyalaya College, also the founder of the NGO, Feeding India was selected by the United Nations (UN) as one of the “UN Young Leaders” at the Social Good Summit. Ankit quit his corporate job at the age of 22 to lay the foundation of his NGO, which has now expanded to feed over 1 million people across the country.
DU’S HIMADRISH SUWAN HONOURED WITH SWACHHTA WARRIORS AWARD – 2016
Delhi University’s Himadrish Suwan, was honored by Shri Narendra Modi on the succesful completion of two years of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan. Suwan is the convener of Mission-E-Safai, an initiative by students for the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan through which he connected universities & their student’s group under one umbrella to function as clusters to spread awareness about cleanliness.
DELHI UNIVERSITY STUDENT WINS DOUBLE GOLD AT WORLD UNIVERSITY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Akhil Sheoran, a graduate of Delhi University brought laurels for the nation at the sixth International University Sports Federation’s (FISU) World University Shooting Championships, held at Bydgoszcz, Poland. A part of the 34 member contingent from India, Sheoran bagged two medals in Men’s Air Rifle Events and made the country proud.
An enterprising group of Delhi University students made headlines by creating a new world record of making the Largest plastic cup pyramid by using 5 7,000 plastic cups at Thyagraj Sports complex on September 21st, 2016 . The contingent of 22 students led by Kushagra Tayal, an Economics Hons student of Hansraj College, took 3 days to accomplish the feat. The group broke the existing world record from Mexico, where 42,935 plastic cups were used for creating the pyramid.
The largest plastic cups pyramid made by DU students
DU SHINES AT PARALYMPICS TOO
Apart from representing India in Olympics, a student of Kirori Mal College, Delhi University, also represented India at the Rio Paraolympics 2017. Sharad also broke a 12 year old record in the men’s high jump category and joined the league of Apurvi Chandela, Lalit Mathur in representing the country at the international level.
MIRANDA HOUSE STUDENT SEXUALLY HARASSED AT SRCC’S FEST
A student of Miranda House faced sexual harassment during KK’s concert at SRCC’s Crossroads. Identifying herself as Meghna, the victim described the event of a man masturbating on her while she was attending the concert, through a Facebook post. She, however, had to face mockery at a public platform due to the audience’s dismissal of the post as an attempt to seek attention.
DU TENSE WITH STIFLED PROTESTS; PROTESTORS ASSAULTED AND DETAINED
Tension arose in the north campus due to violent protests between members of Ramjas College’s
English Literary Society and ABVP activists on February 22. The tension arose due to the violent intervention of ABVP activists in a conference organised by the college’s LitSoc where JNU’s Umar Khalid was invited to present a paper. A large number of protestors were assaulted and detained during the tussle.
A DAULAT RAM COLLEGE STUDENT SEXUALLY ASSAULTED BY BANK EMPLOYEE
A student of Daulat Ram College was sexually assaulted by a male employee of the Indian Overseas Bank branch inside the college on January 18, 2017. The victim lodged a complaint against the accused at Maurice Nagar Police Station where the latter confessed to molesting the student.
Enactus, the global non-profit community which seeks to inspire action, has transformed communities in more than thirty-six countries with the help of visionary minds. Emphasising on the monumental impact of entrepreneurial action, the Enactus community has been working towards manifesting an independent world by generating employability through its unique projects. Colleges under the University of Delhi have established their presence through relentless efforts and have emerged successful in catering to the plethora of social issues plaguing thousands of lives. Here is a compilation of the events, projects, and achievements of the prominent Enactus societies of the University of Delhi.
Enactus Ramjas
The Ramjas chapter of this social venture commenced in 2011 and has successfully catered to three models of business since its inception. These include the Enactus Store, Project Bawarchi, and Project Transcreation. Enactus Store is an online platform which specifically caters to the products and services of Enactus teams all around the country. Project Transcreations seeks to help the transgender community to sustain their lives through providing them with entrepreneurial avenues such as cab driving, jewellery making, etc. They have also launched their very own beauty parlour in Saket solely run by transgenders. Project Bawarchi is a canteen exclusively being run by victims of drug and substance abuse near North Campus and is accompanied by food carts and tiffin delivery. The society has also conducted myriad events to serve the community this year. Under the umbrella of its Project Transcreations, Enactus Ramjas organised a transgender fashion show along with an LGBT pride march. It also conducted the biggest Enactus Festival in February of this year and saw a successful participation. Semi-finalists of Enactus Nationals 2016, the society has carried out more than 30 sensitisation campaigns related to drug abuse since the launch of the project.
Enactus Hindu
Conceptualised in 2014, Enactus Hindu launched its Project Veerangana in this academic session. The social endeavour aims to propagate safety ideals for all by transforming young, unemployed women into self-defence instructors. The previous social campaigns of the society include Project Shreshth and Project Oorja. Their pilot project, Shresth, transformed a group of financially dependent women from the Badli Industrial Area, Rohini into self-sufficient entrepreneurs who manufacture and market incense sticks under the brand name ‘Aanchal Aggarbatis’. Project Oorja strives to preserve environmental balance by providing clean solar lighting solutions to tackle the menace of rising carbon footprints. Under its current project, the society introduced a campaign titled ‘Be A Veerangana,’ and witnessed two months of intensive offline and online promotions, encouraging women to share instances of harassment and breaking the taboo around crimes. At Mecca 2017, the annual cultural festival of Hindu College, their team conducted ‘Road to Safety,’ a unique? simulation of the streets of Delhi, with the objective of raising awareness about simple safety measures which can come in handy in our day-to-day lives. The animal community was also served with its ‘Warmth for Paws’ initiative to provide clothes to street dogs with sweaters made from discarded woollens in the bitter cold months of December and January.
Enactus Khalsa
One of the youngest members of the Enactus community, the Khalsa chapter of the non-profit endeavour germinated in August of last year. While their pilot project is currently under development, they successfully organised an awareness campaign within the college. Titled #LetsMakeGodTalk, the students of the college were induced to deliberate upon the social sphere. On Daan Utsav, the society also organised a visit to a girls’ shelter home and spent a day there with the kids playing games and interacting with them.
Enactus Ramjas College
Enactus Hindu College
Enactus SGTB Khalsa College
Enactus Miranda House
An active member of the social community, Enactus Miranda House has been the launching pad of four successful initiatives since its inception in 2011. Namely Project Zaffran, Project Jazba, Project Tarang, and Project Daryaft, the society aims to boost the issues of financial dependency amongst the women community, strengthening the standing of acid-attack survivors, developing environmentally complementing products, and enhancing the tourism sector, respectively. This year, the society organised a seminar – ‘Astitva’ in relation to Project Jazba, along with a seminar with Mr. Vikramjit Singh Rooprai on the occasion of Heritage Day under Project Daryaft. The annual festival of Enactus Miranda House – Impressa 2017, was organised with the theme ‘Breaking Stereotypes,’ and witnessed events such as open mics and movie screenings. In addition to organising a waste collection drive, the society has also conceptualised an internship programme ranging from the Campus Ambassador Program to Synergy, the Winter Internship Program to propagate ideals of entrepreneurship and initiative.
Enactus SRCC
Perhaps the oldest member of the Enactus community, Enactus SRCC has been doing pertinent projects for a decade now. Some of their recent projects are as follows. Project Life On Wheels facilitates micro-credit for rickshaw pullers by enabling them to own their rickshaws. Project Aahaar is an initiative to rehabilitate underprivileged women by providing them with culinary training. Project Azmat was an endeavour to liberate manual scavengers by providing them with a sustainable source of livelihood through a development of a micro-enterprise and to facilitate construction of proper toilet systems. Project Sattva was an initiative to bring efficiency in India’s dairy sector by the rearing of high yielding cattle and value addition to milk through a mutually beneficial relationship. Project Asbah aimed at providing clean drinking water to rural households through the development and marketing of clay-based water filters produced by a community of potters. With projects like these, Enactus SRCC secured the second runners-up position at the Enactus Nationals 2016. They have received the prestigious KPMG grant and Walmart grant in recognition of the progress made by their projects.
Enactus Shaheed Bhagat Singh College
Since its formation in 2014, Enactus SBSC has come a long way with three socially relevant and inspiring initiatives. Their first project, Project Karva aimed at the upliftment of women. Under Project Roshni, visually impaired people were taught how to make candles as an attempt to become independent as well as self-sustaining. Inspired by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, they conceptualised their third project, Project Aahar, which seeks to provide affordable as well as hygienic food to people in need. Other than the projects, two fundraising campaigns were conducted this year. From 5th-7th October 2016, Campaign Umeed took place where members sold bookmarks and notebooks made by the specially challenged children of Deepalaya School. On the 109th birth anniversary of Bhagat Singh under Campaign Anghaar, candles made by the visually impaired to the students of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College were sold. Campaign Sparsh addressed the women residing at Anand Parbat and introduced them to NGO GOONJ’s ‘My Pad’ – a kit that contains undergarments, sanitary pads, and a manual on menstrual health. They also addressed the issue of child sexual abuse as it is one of the major evils surrounding Anand Parbat through organising interactive activities for the children and showing videos that demonstrated the difference between appropriate and inappropriate touching.
Enactus Miranda House
Enactus SRCC
Enactus SBSC
Enactus Maitreyi College
Established in 2014, Enactus Maitreyi is currently working in collaboration with the National Coalition of People Living with HIV on their third project – Project Samya. True to its name, Project Samya aims at bringing equality to women affected with HIV who are evidently socially excluded and are often forced to quit their jobs. Enactus Maitreyi’s first project, Unnayan, helped the women of Mayur Vihar to make and market a liquid dishwasher, ‘Clean Ninja’ for them to become self-reliant. They launched their second project, Swadhin in 2016, with the aim of helping the physically impaired community by equipping them with entrepreneurial skills. This year the society started its own plantation drive. Other than this, Enactus Maitreyi purchased stationery items for the specially-abled students of Anukriti School, with its own funds by keeping aside INR 2 from the sale of every product. To raise funds, Enactus Maitreyi launched a fundraising campaign called,#IDidMyBit, which was conducted over a period of 2 months. A photo booth in Connaught Place was also created to raise money.
Enactus Sri Venkateswara College
Conceived in 2015, Enactus Sri Venkateswara College has been appreciated for its innovation and uniqueness of projects. The society has successfully churned out three projects, namely Project Captain Compost, Project Aushadhi, and Project CiggB. Project Captain Compost aims to provide a solution to the garbage menace in the city while uplifting the social and economic status of ragpickers at the same time, and Project Aushadhi merged the two issues of homelessness and medicinal waste. Winner of the Blue Dart Grant worth INR 40,000, the society launched Project CiggB this year which focuses on the disposal and recycle of used cigarette butts. To establish a communal outreach, they organised stalls in the fests of Hindu College, Indraprastha College for Women, Kamala Nehru College among others, along with stalls and exhibitions under ‘Heartist,’ where they provided a platform for street artists to showcase their skills and sell their products. In association with ‘People for Animals’ and Enactus SRCC, Enactus SVC also set up a winter cloth collection drive in December 2016. They have also collaborated with ‘Parivartan’, the social service society of Sri Venkateswara College for interaction and skill development of slum children and organised a special event for them to celebrate Children’s Day.
Enactus Hans Raj
A cognizant member of the Enactus community, Hansraj College’s Enactus has been running four projects since its commencement in 2011. Project Lekhni has been successful in helping five women from Jhandewalan to rise from the status of victims to the masters of their lives, Project Boond seeks to solve the problem of clean drinking water for the underprivileged masses by providing them with low-cost water purifiers that run without electricity, and Project Mithaas is an endeavour aimed towards providing a stable source of income to farmers in India by encouraging them to adopt beekeeping as a practice. Enactus HRC conceptualised Project Aaangan this year to provide day-care facilities to working women of lower income strata. Winner of the Best Project for showcasing the spirit of VEER at Enactus Nationals 2016, Enactus HRC has, in addition, conducted a donation drive for Project Aangan. Aashayein’16 was an initiative for the kids of an NGO Navjyoti to help them experience the dream they wished to live. It was a small drive by Enactus Hans Raj to fulfill wishes and spark a fire in them by overcoming challenges.
As the year 2016-17 comes to an end we bring to you the list of achievements, laurels and good happenings around the university of this year.
1. 59th Annual Flower Show of University of Delhi
The 59th Annual Flower Show of the University of Delhi took place on On 23rd February, in Mughal Garden, North Campus. Special Holiday was announced for the Delhi University colleges on account of this event. As a result, the premises were abuzz with students, teachers and flower enthusiasts appreciating the vibrant and varied blossoms.
The event was inaugurated by Vice Chancellor Mr. Yogesh Tyagi and the Chief Guest of the event was Dr. Harsh Vardhan, the Science and Technology Minister.
Canadian High commission and Miranda House host THE SOUTH ASIAN YOUNG WOMEN LEADERSHIP CONCLAVE
The High Commission of Canada in India, in association with the Women’s Development Cell of Miranda House, National Commission for Women and Women’s Feature Service, organised a dialogue on Women leadership and empowerment, from 8-10 February at the India Habitat Centre.
Over the 3 days, the South Asian Young Women Leadership Conclave saw participation of people from different walks of life- with only one aim in mind, to discuss women’s issues and development.
DU students make world record by making Largest plastic cup pyramid by using 57,000 plastic cups at Thyagraj Sports complex
An enterprising group of Delhi University students in September 2016 created a new world record, of making the Largest plastic cup pyramid by using 57,000 plastic cups at Thyagraj Sports complex today. The contingent of 22 students who were led by Kushagra Tayal, an Economics student from HansRaj college took 3 days to accomplish this feat. The students were cheered by an audience of about 1500 people who consisted of friends, family and other well wishers.
Miranda House students devised environment friendly, sustainable and economical. way to control mosquitos
While Delhi was facing an increase in the number of cases of Dengue, some young researchers of Miranda House College have come up with unique and more effective research study on controlling mosquitoes. The research was a part of the undergraduate research project that was taken up by these students who were keen to learn more about research and at the same time contribute to the society.
H.P Singh appointed as Director of Cluster Innovation Center
Prof. Harinder P. Singh was appointed the new director of Cluster Innovation Centre (CIC). A professor at department of Physics and Astrophysics, Prof. Singh is also the dean of International Relations of the university. An eminent researcher in the field of astronomy, he has been the vice president of Astronomical society of India. He is also a member of the International Astronomical Union as well as a fellow at Royal Astronomical society, London.
The Olympics that took place in August, 2016, at Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, included three Delhi University (DU) students competing in different events with DU is the only university to send three participants to the Olympic Games in the same year.
Miranda House bags number one spot in list of Top Indian Colleges
Delhi’s Miranda House is the best college in India, according to government rankings of educational institutions released on 4th April 2017. The rankings were made under five heads — overall, university, engineering, management and pharmacy. Launched in 2015, NIRF is a methodology adopted by the HRD Ministry to rank all institutions of higher education in India. The rankings are important as government funding for institutions are dependent on them. Over 3,300 institutes participated in the second edition of the India Rankings.
Gender Equality Mela is one of the key annual events conducted by the Women’s Development Cell of Miranda House. It is a celebration of the will to survive and thrive. It is a part of the efforts at generating discussions and creating a space for saying what is often left unsaid and for including those who are often left behind in the ideas and plans of ‘development’. The Gender Equality Mela is a part of MH-WDC’s campaign with One Billion Rising (OBR).
This year’s Gender Equality Mela was based on celebrating feminist conversations towards equality, the central theme being ‘Gender and Work’. There was also the celebration of MH-WDC’s Coffee Table Book, ‘Azaad Labon ki Guftagu’ which strives to provide with snapshots of MH-WDC’s journey and their tireless efforts at ‘engaging with wanting to create a more equal and free world, a world where gender equality becomes a live reality for us’, as the book reads.
The 3-day event played host to numerous speakers and panelists like Suneeta Dhar (feminist activist, Jagori), Bulbal Das (legal feminist activist, All India Women’s Conference), Jyotsna Chatterjee and Padmini (Joint Women’s Programme). These speakers emphasised on the introduction to the history of the feminist movement. The topic of manual scavenging was taken up by Bezwada Wilson (National Convener of Safai Karamchari Andolan) and Bhasha Singh. The session on Child Rights and Child Sexual Abuse was taken up by Vaishnava (Bud Foundation), Veronica Xavier (Child Rights and You) and Natuve (dramatics society of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College). The round table discussion on Students in Politics consisted of speakers from Pinjra Tod and Ramjas students. An ‘unconference’ was also organised which placed emphasis on feminism through art, language and music.
On Day 2, the session on Gender and Intersectionality was taken up by Dr. Chandra Sagar and Kusum Ji (All India Network of Sex Workers) and Renuka Bhagat. The session on Trans Community and Work was taken up by Rudrani Chettri. A session on Women and Work through development framework was also conducted by Neetha N. (National Labour Institute). The interactive session on ‘Queering Workplaces’ along with Lafz 2.0, the open mic featured speakers from Nazariya and Delhi Queer Pride. Day 2 also showcased nukkad natak performances by children from SMS (Srijanatmak Manushi Sanstha), LSR dramatics society and Anukriti, the Hindi dramatics society of Miranda House.
On Day 3, the first session on Taking Feminist Conversation Forward was hosted by celebrated author and feminist Kamla Bhasin, wherein she presented her letter to patriarchy. The second session on Women and Media was conducted by Rakhee Bakshi (Women’s Feature Service), Shrey Ila Anasuya (Feminist and Freelance Journalist), Radha Rani (BBC) and Deepajana Pal (fiction writer). The session on Gender and Masculinity was taken up by Pavel (Breakthrough India), Ahmad Farz (CHSJ, Centre for Health and Social Justice) and Apurv Jain (worker on issues of gender and sexuality). The 3-day mela ended with a screening of the movie Hidden Figures.
Image Credits: Miranda House Women’s Development Cell
National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF), the institute ranking body under the Ministry of Human Resource Development released the rankings of the educational institutions of the nation today. Many Delhi colleges made to the prestigious list, with as many as three colleges in top five and six colleges in top ten from the capital. Miranda House emerged as the best college nationwide with Shri Ram College of Commerce on the third, Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma College on the fifth and Lady Shri Ram College on the sixth position. Many premier colleges of the capital like St. Stephen’s College, Ramjas College , Hindu College, Hansraj College etc. did not participate in the ranking.
As per a news report by the Hindustan Times, more than 3,300 educational institutions participated in the rankings, which took around 20 parameters into consideration. IISc Bangalore, which recently achieved an important distinction after being ranked eighth best small university of the world in the Times Rankings, topped the overall list of the best higher education institutions in India. It was followed by Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IITM) at the second spot and IIT Bombay at the third. A total of seven IIT’s found place in the top ten, which also saw Jawaharlal Nehru University grab the sixth and Banaras Hindu University at the tenth position. The University of Delhi has been ranked 15th in the list.
In the list of the top universities, JNU featured second emerging as the best central university of the nation and Jadhavpur University was fifth in the list inspite of the various allegations and the political crisis surrounding these universities.
“Jadavpur and JNU haven’t got good ranking for raising slogan for Afzal Guru but for doing good work,” Prakash Javadekar, the Human Resource Development Minister under the Government of India was quoted as saying in a press conference following the release. He also said that the institutions which fared well in the rankings will be provided with more funding or grants, enhanced autonomy and other benifits.
The final day of Tempest 2017 witnessed a huge footfall for competitions organised and the much awaited Star Night.
The first event of the day was the Acapella competition organised by Orpheus, the western music society of the college. The event saw a string of high voltage performances by all the major music societies of the university. The event which was adjudged by Awarthanga Chiru, the prodigal musician and Laura Santana, an renowned jazz performer, saw Zephyr, the music society of Kamala Nehru College emerge as the victor followed by the western music society of Lady Shri Ram College and Swaranjali, the music society of Hansraj College ending up as runner up and second runner up respectively.
The second event of the day was Sangam, the solo instrumental competition organised by Geetanjali, the Indian music society of the college. The event was adjudged by Dr. Bipul Kumar Ray and Ranjeet Bishwas, both prominent musical artists from varied fields of the art. Budding musicians from varied colleges gave their best in the game, which eventually saw Shikhar Aggarwal from delhi Technological University win the first prize, Rohan Prasanna from Hansraj College win the second spot and Sanjay Anand Menon from DTU ending up third. In the following western choir competition, Hansraj College emerged as the winner for their outstanding performance, with Gargi College and Hindu College trailing at second and third positions respectively.
This was followed by the Indian Dance Competition where Nrityakriti, the Indian Dance Society of Maitreyi College and SGTB Khalsa College tied for the first position. Nrityangana, the Indian Dance Society of Sri Venkateswara College secured the second position.
Mohammed Irfan drew the curtains to Tempest’17 as he serenaded the crowds with his hit numbers like Baarishein and Fir Mohabbat. He did not limit his performance to his own songs. The audience seemed thoroughly involved as he made his performance more interactive by dedicating songs to the Principal of Miranda House, the Faculty members as well as the audience.
The much awaited Tempest 2017 lived up to its expectations. A student of Miranda House, in a conversation with DU Beat said, “ This academic session had been very busy for the college. It was very impressive how the union managed the resources efficiently and blessed us with a very good fest this year”
Image Credits: Jasmine Chahal, Hitanksha Jain, Gerush Bahal and Divyansh Dayal for DU Beat.
Meghna Singh, a student of Miranda House, recently went through a horrific incident when she attended KK’s concert of the last day of SRCC’s annual fest, Crossroads. When she came home from the concert, she noticed white spots on her black trousers. According to her, a man had masturbated on her during the concert and the evidence was all over her trousers.
She described the whole incident on Facebook. In her now widely shared Facebook post, she explained the details of the entire incident. She narrated that she could sense something fishy when she felt a guy behind her in the concert. Subsequently, she and her friends, who were scared but alert, held each other on to form a human chain during the concert for protection. She had put up the Facebook post on a public platform in hopes that people would get to know about the harrowing things that can happen to women, even in public and to stand up against such incidents. But instead of the support she was expecting, she got mocked at and trolled. and she was labeled a ‘liar’ and an ‘attention seeker’. On her Facebook post, which has over 8000 comments, many shockingly accused her of being a ‘liar’ and an ‘attention seeker’. This translated into a extensive battle-ground with many people in support of her rubbishing such claims and extending their sympathies to her.
The picture posted by Meghna Singh on Facebook while narrating the incident.
The unprecedented trolling that Meghna faced, forced her to post another status update explaining herself. She explained the hollowness of the claims made by those who opposed her and thoroughly explained the incident further. She said that initially, she didn’t realise what was happening and it was only after coming back to her PG and changing, she noticed the spots on her trousers. She also added, “There was a guy right behind me who,after a while, started feeling me up. I wasn’t sure as I couldn’t recognise if it was his hand or his fingers. Then after a while I could smell the odour, I could feel that something fell on my left leg which I thought might have been sweating and since the place was quite crowded I couldn’t be sure about it.” After the guy tried to get closer again, she along with her friends resisted him and tried to form a human chain to avoid any accidental touches. “After a while, that guy again tried to get closer when I pushed him away shouting “Please bhai tum niklo yahan se” then he whispered something to his fellow partner. They were 3 guys who were there & they exchanged some gestures and then abruptly left. After I returned to my PG and changed, I saw these spots on my pants along with some white discharge. I realised that my intuition of “sweat landing on my left leg” was actually his semen because of his convenient masturbation amongst the crowd of around hundreds of people.”
“We obviously thought we avoided that situation when she pushed him so we went back home,” says Antara Kashyap, one of Meghna’s friend who was there with her at the time. When Meghna found out what had happened, her friends asked her to speak up about it.“She sent us the picture in a WhatsApp group saying it was semen. It smelled and it was definitely discharge. We asked her to put it on Facebook and speak up about it. It was the right thing to do. The first negative comment was from an old “friend” who laughed it off. Then one guy said it could be srikhand and it shocked us.”
Meghna and her friends had not anticipated so many negative comments on the post. Antara said, “We never realised there would be thousands of such people, literate ones at that, who’d comment, slut-shame her and make this something to laugh about. Meghna and all of us, we have gone through a lot. We don’t deserve this hate. Meghna is a strong girl, she’s unfazed. I can’t say that about myself. Maybe that’s why thousands of victims of sexual abuse do not speak up. If you speak up they try to break you down.”
Meghna’s post was meant for people to see the unspeakable truths of harassment which are not absent in the campus, especially during the fest season. Parismita Talkudar, one of Meghna’s classmate, recounts a similar story, “I went to see one of my favourite star of Bollywood. We waited for 3 hours to have a glimpse of Shah Rukh Khan at Hansraj College last year. We were surrounded with a whole lot of people and we decided to stay together holding each other. One of my friend was behind a guy who looked innocent . In fact when some people were pushing her, he told them not to. When SRK came after so long, the crowd pushed each other like a wave and we got separated. There was a guy who helped me get out of the crowd. As I waited outside the ground for my friends I saw one of them almost in tears. The guy who was behind her, and who we thought was a nice person, actually came on her. She was disgusted as she could feel something wet on her top and when we looked at it, we could clearly see semen. This isn’t something that happened for the first time only with Meghna. This happens, with a lot of girls. But some decide to keep quiet.”
Miranda House, 15th February: Eminent historian Prof. Romila Thapar along with Prof. Kumkum Roy (Centre for Historical Studies, JNU) participated in a conversation on ‘The Many Meanings of Heritage’ in an event organised by the History society of Miranda House. Pertinent questions on the idea of heritage were raised and addressed by the two speakers.
At the very outset, Prof. Thapar raised the central question of what constitutes heritage. “Is heritage something that each generation invents for itself? Is it representative of the entire society? Who gave us this heritage? Speaking of the process of selection of heritage, she said that it is bothersome that heritage is treated as if it were a package that we’ve inherited from the past, handed down virtually unchanged. Every entity considered as ‘heritage’ has a history of its own.”
According to Prof. Thapar, we tend to regard entities such as trophies of conquest, mausoleums, paintings and sculptures as heritage. She argues, however, that even as simple and non-consequential a thing as black-and-red pottery from an urban excavation site is heritage. This brought the conversation to an important question of how ethical the process of selection actually is. Should we allow people to select heritage or term everything as heritage?
Prof. Thapar believes that in this process of selecting and not selecting something as heritage, the sentiments of the people directly attached to that entity should be taken into consideration. To this effect, she cited the example of the Niymagiri Hills in Odisha, where tribals have opposed the usage of the site for bauxite mining as it is sacred to them. She added that heritage is something that can be celebrated by some people and negated by others. In this process, however, the opinions of the marginalised such as the adivasis should not be deemed inferior and suppressed by others who have a greater say in this matter.
On the responsibility of historians, she quoted E.H. Carr, “The historian that is aware of the concerns of the present very often becomes the one who is successful in studying the past.”
As it happens with most stimulating conversations, the audience were left with even more questions to discuss and ponder upon at the end.
Economics, while all-pervasive and key to the functioning of all realms of society, is also often blamed to be dry and inaccessible for the general population who aren’t well-versed with the jargon that comes with the discipline. Prof. Ashok Sanjay Guha‘s latest release, Economics Without Tears: a New Approach to an Old Discipline, is an attempt to change that perception. Through his book, Prof. Guha, who is recognised as one of the most impressive contemporary Indian economists, attempts to not only introduce economic theory to students and the general reader, but to also show that economics can simultaneously be a learning experience and huge entertainment. The book has been received with much adulation by the who’s who of the world of economics, including Jagdish Bhagwati, Professor of Economics, Law and International Affairs at Columbia University, and Pranab Bardhan, Professor at the Department of Economics at University of California, Berkeley.
The book is set to be launched by Prof. Yogesh Kumar Tyagi, the Vice – Chancellor of the University of Delhi, in the presence of the author, on February 13, 2017, in an event that is being organised by the Department of Economics of Miranda House, in collaboration with Penguin Random House, India. The launch will be followed by an interactive session with Professor Guha and Dr. Parikshit Ghosh, who is an Associate Professor with the Delhi School of Economics.
The event is open for all students and teachers of and beyond the University of Delhi.
Date: February 13, 2017
Venue: Seminar Hall, Miranda House
Timings: 10:30 a.m.
(Students must carry their ID cards for entry)
With inputs from the Department of Economics, Miranda House
