Known to have begun around 1964, the weekly book market at Old Delhi’s Daryaganj is said to be one of the oldest regular book markets of the city. Every Sunday, hundreds of early birds flock to this place to grab their share of the charm of the old dusty page.

In the mile long stretch between Delite cinema and the Jama Masjid bridge sit tens of vendors selling books of all ranges, sizes and prices. The books are all spread on the floor and thus much of the walking space is reduced, which causes congestion and restricts movement. However, it must be borne in mind that the consequences of putting a bibliomaniac in a place that offers books for as low as Rs.10 can be border-line suicidal. Pushing is the most natural instinct of some people and they become an environmental hazard.

Acting in a nonchalant way on finding a book is a good way to obtain a good discount as the book vendors are known to shoot up or bring down the prices on the basis of the reactions they get to their books. Certain book sellers offer books under Rs.50 as part of exchange offers. Apart from this, the market attracts a large number of students who are preparing for various competitive examinations, as competition books are otherwise quite expensive. Second hand books offer the best scope for bargain and depending on your bargaining skills you can avail a high/low discount rate.

The market is surely an interesting avenue for people who not only love to read but who also love to collect books and literary works. Old editions of magazines, newspapers of erstwhile important dates are also found but the looker must be ready for exhausting treasure hunts.

A book lover or no, a reader or no, the place is definitely worth going to atleast once, to go back to the old world charm of purani dilli and to get a little bit of dust, a little bit of discount, and a little bit of Delhi.

Nearest metro station- New Delhi (Note- take the exit from Ajmeri Gate side)

Image Credits: www.enjoyourholiday.com

Use your imagination! It is the morning sun shining through your window, summoning you to come out of the covers, you splash yourself with the steamy water, wear the best of your attires, clear the hazy mirror for some self admiration; suddenly you  catch the glance of your eye and ponder, ‘Where am I off to, though?’

“Water, water everywhere, not a drop to drink.” – this quote from S.T. Coleridge’s famous poem ‘The Rime of an Ancient Mariner’ befittingly describes the dilemma we, the students of DU, face; especially in the winter semester, wherein each date on the calendar associates with itself half a dozen of cultural carnivals, department fests, academic congresses, MUNs, panel discussions and similar fancy names taking place in several colleges across the university. The notice boards are replete with posters of all hues and sizes.

The past week was the perfect example to quote when it comes to simultaneous conduct of events in colleges. Miranda House’s Tempest, Kamala Nehru College’s Ullas, Hindu College’s Mecca and JMC’s Montage were the annual cultural fests coinciding on almost the same dates of 19^th, 20^th, 21^st& 22^nd February.  In addition to these, there was Deshbandhu College’s Sabrang and Ramjas College’s Mosaic Unplugged. Not only the college fests, but the department fests like Hansraj College’s Vanijya Utsav, SRCC’s Ecostasy and DCAC’s Quest had more or less overlapped each other. The list is not exhaustive of course, there are numerous other clashes; to the extent that, big colleges like SRCC [Fest of Eco & Fine Arts] andHindu [Fest of Commerce & History], have different departmental fests going on together causing chaos, confusion and reduced footfall.

Moreover, numerous big stars’ performances happen back to back. Hard Kaur performs one day, Kailasa the next day coinciding with Papon. This is followed by Arijit Singh on the next day and Mohit Chauhan towards the end. The crowd is of students after all, who have to juggle parental concerns, attendance and internal exams that have begun in most of the colleges.

All in all, hosting a plethora of events on a single date does practically no good to anyone, the endeavours made by organising team get a cold response,lower than that it potentially could have got. The crowd of spectators and participants gets distributed; and at times students even miss out on some posters, or if at all they read, it all skips the mind completely. Students with fests in their own colleges have to either ditch their loyalties or have to let go of a major fest.Performing societies have to juggle multiple performances in a day sometimes the number going up to three and four. Moreover, the organisers of one event don’t get to see and learn from the mistakes and qualities of others zeroing the objectives of holding these fests.

Hence, in the best interest of everyone, the fests should not ideally clash; the organisers should keep in mind the taken dates, and encourage healthy competition providing congenial atmosphere to learn and enjoy. The DU Beat events calendar can prove to be a blessing in disguise for that matter!

‘Happy Festing’ fellow DU-ites!

Image Credit: Gurman Bhatia for DU Beat

Sixteen exams, six dozens books, six years of extensive study and a rigorous life with tight articleship schedule, work pressure and coaching leaving no spare time or personal space. Yet, the eyes gleam with the iridescent dreams of a shining future, the determination is strong, the zeal unfading. There is some kind of latent pleasure in this monotony that they find; which keeps them going despite of the extensive and deep disciplines, aggressively tough question papers and tight results. This is the life of all budding Chartered Accountancy aspirants, bogged down with tonnes of things yet progressing towards the final goalpost, of being able to use the two most beautiful alphabets – ‘CA’ as a prefix to their names.

The CAs are entrusted with the substantial responsibilities of tax audits, financial consultancy; taxation planning and project consultancy underlining the confidence society has reposed in the profession, however the path to success is narrow and the risk of failure is alarmingly high as the regulatory body, ICAI has substantially reduced the pass percentage to single digits in last few attempts due to numerous reasons. The steep downfall is attributed to the market conditions of demand and supply wherein institute tends to meticulously match available opportunities with aspirants and thereby declare results.

Moreover, the institute wishes to keep a vigilant eye on quality of students being passed which has diluted with the overexploitation of CA as a profession by tutors and coaching houses. Another reason that is supposed to be working behind the tough exams and tight results is to encourage students to gain in depth working knowledge for practical situations from the course as well as disciplines, which seems to have been replaced by rote learning in the system.

No matter how tough the going gets, the tough still get going. Numerous famous CAs have scaled great heights of success whether it be CA Subhash Lakhotia (anchor of famous CNBC show ‘Tax Guru’), CA Shekhar Kapoor (Actor, Writer & Reality TV Judge), CA Parveen Sharma ( faculty at the most sought after name in CA coaching – ‘ETEN – CA’) or other names such as K.M Birla, Motilal Oswal etc. It all lies in our vision, for some CA is possible but difficult, while for others, it is difficult but still possible.

There will be inevitable heart breaking failures which when matched with apt patience, dedication and will to excel can amount to mightiest of successes. Be not afraid of progressing slow, only fear standing still.  Allow me to quote author Ritu Ghatourey, ‘At any given moment you have the power to say – this is not how my story is going to end.’