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University of Delhi – The Cradle for Indian National Politics

By DU Beat July 11, 2019

With a remarkable number of politicians on-field who have graduated from The University of Delhi (DU), one can aptly caption the Varsity as the cradle for Indian Politics. It then becomes very natural to ponder upon the question: ‘What makes DU the ideal place for politics?’

Shashi Tharoor, Arun Jaitley, Kapil Sibal, Maneka Gandhi… and the list continues.

A common thread which connects all of them is their Alma Mater= DU.DU stands as a place which serves as the first turf for experiencing and coming face-to-face with the many realities and images of India one hears through the thousands of students who come here from all walks of life, from all places, and from the lengths and breadths of our nation.

Calling it the cradle for Indian National Politics seems natural enough because of various factors, all of which fall just in the right place justifying the title so. These are:

LOCATION

Vicinity and closeness to the lawmakers matter a lot. Being in the capital of the nation gives the student politicians and protestors of DU a handy advantage of being capable enough to have their voices heard in the power centre of the country, thereby not only presenting up the demands concerning university life, but also of the things they observe around themselves. The age-old proverb, Dilli door nahi, rings a familiar bell.

PLATFORM

DU offers the ideal place to bring out your voice, your opinion, and your views on any and every matter that concerns you. Be it through performing arts or through student protests, your voice will not go unheard here. The ideal place for expression and to get into action, DU shapes your personality by bringing the importance of politics close to you.

DIVERSITY

It is in DU that you get to actually experience India, through the eyes of students who come from all parts of the nation. Be it the North-East or down South, DU does not limit itself just to North India but accepts and stands as a melting pot of cultures, traditions and experiences students from all walks of life have to offer. Their experiences make you more receptive, aware and alert of things that are happening in the country and fail to reach up at levels of concerns. The DU experience sensitises you to the nation you are living in and what issues are pulsating through its veins.

Hence it wouldn’t be wrong to say that DU stands tall as the mighty cradle for grooming the leaders of our nation, leaders who are inspired, motivated, evoked and aware of the ground realities and ready to ace up the face of the Indian political scene.

Feature Image Credits: Niharika Dabral for DU Beat

Amrashree Mishra

NSUI to Pay First-Year Fee of Children of Slain Soldiers and Farmers

By DU Beat June 21, 2019

NSUI’s offer to bear expenses, expressed in a press release made by NSUI on 19th June, was made on the occasion of the birthday of Congress President Rahul Gandhi.

The student wing of the Congress, the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), has decided on a move to pay the first-year fees of the children of late soldiers and farmers who are taking admission in the University of Delhi. The offer, expressed in a press release made by NSUI on 19th June, was made on the birth anniversary of Congress President, Rahul Gandhi.

“NSUI has made a plan to take an important step to serve the families of the Army on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Congress President Rahul Gandhi Ji. NSUI wants to help and provide services to the children of the family of martyred army, security force [sic]. For this, NSUI wants to pay one year fee for the children of martyrs who are going to take admission in Delhi University this year,” the press release stated.

Calling out the “unfortunate and painful” manner in which the army had been “politicized” by “all the parties” in the “past few days,” the press release said that the NSUI was “standing in every way with the families of those soldiers.”

The press release further said, “The National Student’s Union of India [sic] is also standing with the families of the farmers, who had to commit suicide due to non-payment of loans to the banks. NSUI also wants to pay fees of the children of those farmers.”

The process for the same requires students to register on the email [email protected], following which the National Committee of the NSUI will verify the students’ details.

NSUI National President Neeraj Kundan was quoted by ANI as saying that the party will reimburse the students’ fee in case they had already submitted it to the University, while also adding that the programme “reverberated” Rahul Gandhi’s thinking.

When asked about whether the decision was taken in view of the student polls, Kundan was quoted as saying that the organisation wanted to forward it’s leader, Rahul Gandhi’s ideas instead of just cutting a cake on the occasion of his birthday.

DU Beat tried contacting Saimon Farooqui, the National Secretary of NSUI for a comment, but he was not immediately available.

In our view, while no political move can be separated from the idea of seeking votes or at least, acquiring votes as a byproduct of even a desirable move, political parties often act in subtle ways to expand their reach over the masses. While it is not clear what kind of information will be sought by the NSUI for the programme in question here, a reasonable expectation would be that information such as mobile numbers and other contact details will not be used by the party to reach out to the registrants – such that it does not become a political tool. But voting for a party as per one’s own judgement is, of course, a right available to all.

Feature Image Credits: ANI

Prateek Pankaj

DUB Speak

DU Students Speak on Youth and Politics, What is Missing from Political Culture

By Maumil Mehraj April 28, 2019

In the last part of DU Beat‘s analysis, we look at what the respondents have to say about the role of youth in politics, elements missing from our political culture and some other conclusions.

After having analysed what the University of Delhi (DU) students, mostly first-time voters, had to say about the government, the opposition, the electoral possibilities and what matters to them as voters, our attention is now turned to questions that aim to understand their views about the larger political sphere.

When asked about whether they thought if the youth could influence the politics of the country, almost all respondents answered affirmatively – 71.7 per cent saying “yes, in a major way” and 26.4 per cent selected “yes, but in a limited way”.

A second and related question was whether the respondents had been politically active themselves. Ironically, 49 per cent said they had not.

To give space to respondents to express what they felt about the larger political culture, we asked them what they thought was one major element missing from politics. The responses were not only highly varied, but also threw light on a rather sad state of affairs as brought about by the plethora of shortcomings as perceived by the voter. A majority of them focussed around ideas of accountability, morality and integrity, lack of emphasis on “real issues”, and incompetent leadership and opposition, while some others touched upon the need for a free and strong media and tolerance for dissent. Yet others felt the need for parties to show unity in international matters and put India first.

“Dharm ke sthaan par dharmikta ka chalan,” (The replacement of righteousness by religiosity) wrote Amit Kumar, a student of Shyam Lal College. Shankar Tripathi of Hindu College answered that a “greater acceptance” of student movements, and a safer and workable environment for the same was a missing element. “People take themselves as a subject of government they do not take themselves as a participant in politics,” said Praveen from Dyal Singh College. Some views were rather curious. A student from Kalindi College, who preferred to remain anonymous, said, “Too many rights to common people, they oppose almost every step taken by the government.”

Interesting and varied answers were also given, wherein respondents expressed their general views about the upcoming elections or the political trends – from singular remarks like “NDA>36o”, “Save democracy” and “India should not invite Indira Gandhi Part-2” to lengthy comments.

Namit from Dyal Singh College wrote, “Upcoming elections will be a watershed moment, which will make the picture clear where the country would go in the next 10-15 years. Also, it will be the most difficult election for the grand old party, the Indian National Congress. Eager to see how Rahul Gandhi leads them.”

“The upcoming elections are very crucial not because it is Modi vs rest but because it is choosing between becoming a developed nation or still remain developing. Yes, India is still developing but the pace of development that we have seen in BJP led NDA government is so fast – be it the area of national security, health, education or roads and railways. If now at this point this government is stopped then I believe our graph of development would come down,” wrote Aayushi Agarwal from Shaheed Rajguru College of Applied Sciences for Women.

A student from Hansraj College wrote, on conditions of anonymity, “I don’t know if there has been any work done or not. But one thing’s for sure – I don’t feel secure voicing my opinions now as I did before. And no, I am not anti-nationalist, neither a fan of Congress.”

Conclusions

To conclude, it is quite clear that everyone feels a lot is riding on this election. For some, it is about deciding what and how India and its democracy would be going forward; for others, it has got to do with sustaining what has been done in the past five years. In any case, the election is important.
There is also a near-universal realisation that voting based on caste and religion or emotive issues isn’t desirable and that greater emphasis on more pressing issues is necessary. At the same time, there is also an acknowledgement of the absence of that tendency in the current political and electoral scenario.

Image credits-
1. Cover- DU Beat archives
2. Graphs- Palak Mittal for DU Beat

Prateek Pankaj
prateekp@dubeat.com

Ramjas College administration: will Not accept Articles on Politics

By Avnika Chhikara April 17, 2019

The administration has put out a notice asking students to refrain from sending articles on political themes.

In a recent move by the Ramjas College administration, articles with political themes will not be accepted for the college magazine Anand Parvat but rather, students are encouraged to submit ‘generalised’ writings instead. A further notice was sent clarifying that students may send the article on any topic but, which stated that, “students should however take precautions that the Election Commission of India has issued certain guideline to give views on social media in light of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections”.

The move apparently comes after the February 2017 clashes in Ramjas which erupted after Umar Khalid was called for a seminar organised by the literary society and the department of English. Repeated censorship and systemic silencing in Ramjas has been condemned by the students.

“I don’t understand how can academic space be divorced from the political and read in isolation, that too in a college like Ramjas, whose walls smell of resistance and dissent. I find it very immature and undemocratic on the part of the administration to issue such an arbitrary notice.” said Yash Chaudhary, a third year statistics student.

Dr. Vinita Chandra, an associate professor at the Department of English who was previously a faculty advisor to the student editorial board remarked that this was the first time in Ramjas’ history where the magazine was brought under the staff council, “the money for the college student magazine comes from the students…College magazines, like school magazines, are meant to provide students a platform to express their creativity and their ideas about college life and the world they live in. It is not meant to be an academic journal. An administration that thinks it needs to censor its students and is afraid of allowing them to speak is truly out of touch with young people and needs to look into the reasons for its mindset.” she added.

The drastic move has also brought about resistance from the students. The Students Federation of India (SFI) plans on organising a protest on the 18th of April, 2019 in the college premises against the administration. Resistance follows Ramjas in uproar on social media and posters in college as the administration remains mum on the move.

“Well, the kind of censorship being seen in a space like Ramjas only further reiterates that there isn’t a better time to serve your country by writing politically, and keep fascism at bay” said another student, who would like to remain anonymous.

According to a Hindustan Times report, magazine convenor G. Chilana said that he had received complaints from various departments about the notice. “We are not sidelining any department or subject. We just want students to write more on academic issues rather than about any political event or ideology which has no relevance for the magazine. They should understand this,” Chilana said.

Image Credits: DU Beat archives

Jaishree Kumar

[email protected]

In a First, Hindu College Provides Office Space for Leader of Opposition

By Anushree Joshi April 4, 2019

On 12 March, the Leader of Opposition of the Parliament of Hindu College was allotted an office space, for the first time in the Parliament’s near hundred-year-old history. How significant would this be?

A day before Hindu College’s annual fest, Mecca, Naveen Kumar, the Leader of Opposition of the College Parliament, proudly announced on his official Facebook page the allotment of a formal office space to the parliamentary representative.

Unlike many students’ unions, Hindu College has a Parliament – christened the ‘Parliament of the Republic of Hindu College’ – to which the student elections are held. According to the constitution of the college, the candidate with the maximum number of votes is elected as the Prime Minister (PM), who then appoints his Cabinet, while the candidate securing the second highest number of votes becomes the Leader of Opposition (LOP). The same constitution also provides for formal office spaces to both functionaries. However, while the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had been in place in the college, the office of the LOP had been absent till now.

Image Source: Facebook Naveen Kumar, the incumbent Leader of Opposition of Hindu College. — Image Source: Facebook
Naveen Kumar, the incumbent Leader of Opposition of Hindu College.

The situation changed under Naveen’s incumbency. He tells us that he had been at work since September to get the space allotted. While his term is about to end soon, he hopes that the new development will benefit the subsequent LOPs.

Often, the margin between the votes pulled in by the PM and the LOP respectively isn’t very significant numerically. Naveen, who lost to Shreyash Mishra, the Prime Minister, fell only 44 votes short. Hence, the LOP also represents a major chunk of the students, as Naveen tells DU Beat, making an office space all the more necessary.

Elaborating on the significance of the office, he says that it would allow students to raise grievances and make the LOP more accessible so that their complaints could be better addressed – ultimately increasing accountability of the representatives, while also enhancing the significance of the position itself.

However, a problem that still persists is the low number of Parliamentary sessions organised in the college. Many students express this sentiment: a college that once was an intellectual centre of the nationalist movement, now sees its culture of debate and discussion declining. Without Parliamentary sessions, one is made to wonder if the representatives can actually be held accountable and whether the politics of the college could go beyond Mecca to addressing more pressing issues.

Pointing at how the office has been a long time in the making, Naveen says, “People tell me that it took a long time and that my term is ending; I tell them it’s been a hundred and twenty years since the college was established. Compared to that, the few months of my term are nothing!”

Image Credits: DU Beat

Prateek Pankaj

Beyond the Obvious of Delhi University Colleges

News Shows and their Politics of Language

By DU Beat February 21, 2019

While the TV news in India frequently fails in providing relevant information to the citizens and rather becomes an arena for incessant shouting, it also operates in subtler ways. The mere language of headlines, hashtags and names of shows should raise eyebrows.

American linguist and philosopher, Noam Chomsky, theorised the ‘propaganda model’ of the mass media in his book Manufacturing Consent, wherein he talked about five filters of the media: ownership, advertising, sources, flak, and creation of a common enemy. In a nutshell, media institutions are part of big conglomerates who sell their products to advertisers, and whose sources of information are also the elites; those who oppose these elite interests face flak from the system, while a common ideological enemy is created to spread propaganda.

Yet, it doesn’t take a renowned philosopher to observe elements of this model operating on a daily basis; most Indian news shows seem to be following it to near perfection in some or the other way.

Those dramatic headlines coupled with theatrical music and imagery need to only be slightly observed to understand the suggestive undertones of the programmes. Not only biases, but provocation can also be seen. Sentimental and emotive elements are consciously used to shape narratives and capture viewers. News edges closer to the genre of entertainment. Apart from the more conspicuous displays of these elements as seen in the debates and the role of star-anchors, much subtler mechanisms also seem to be at play – headlines, hashtags, and even the names of the shows are culpable.

The most visible examples of this can be seen during critical situations. Since Thursday, following the Pulwama attack, news channels focused almost exclusively on the incident – and rightly so. Yet, the gravity of the situation was used by the channels to draw in audiences with their theatrics. There isn’t anything inherently wrong with drawing audiences, because that’s what news channels literally run on, but the problem arises when the techniques used for this purpose pose harms.

For instance, consider the headlines during the 9 P.M. Broadcast of Aaj Tak on Thursday – “Ye hamla nahi, jang ka ailaan hai” (It’s not an attack, it’s a proclamation of war), “Surgical strike nahi, seedha prahaar hi raasta?” (Not surgical strike, but a direct attack is the solution?). During situations like these, when emotions of the public run high and a sense of frustration surrounds the masses, the responsibility of providing a calm and measured coverage of the news lies with the media to an even greater extent, especially on widely-watched channels like Aaj Tak. Of course, a sense of anger was present in the public. But by using provocative headlines – those that hint towards a call for war – these news shows not only fuel the fire but also send out a wrong message. Similar headlines were seen in Friday’s ‘DNA’ show on Zee News.

News shows often use problematic headlines and tickers. *Image Credits:* YouTube

Be it ex-servicemen, defence experts, or even many common people, there exists a recognition that war isn’t a joke. Yet it makes for good TV, doesn’t it? The severity of a war, the appeal for revenge, the impending danger – all of it draws the audience. Instead of responsibly analysing the situation and, in fact, making an appeal to the viewers to maintain calm and let the concerned authorities take the necessary steps, such programming tries to capitalise on the emotion to attract audiences by stoking the fire. Drawing in viewers also means pulling in more advertisers. That’s just one example of how the filters operate. Yet, these instances aren’t limited to the coverage of emergency situations.

In fact, the mere usage of hashtags in everyday programming points to a bigger picture. Hashtags trend on Twitter, giving news channels an idea of what type of news pieces would sell. Further, this would allow them to focus more strongly on populist topics, which can potentially sideline some crucial but less market-friendly issues. The style and substance of the news shows is also reflected in the popularity of these hashtags; if a particular style of news attracts more tweets, channels will have greater incentive to keep going with that style.

Furthermore, the language of hashtags is also important. A simple YouTube search entry of “Republic TV debate” presents a multitude of clips of Arnab Goswami’s primetime debate show. Every video thumbnail has a hashtag in it. ‘#RahulFakeNews’, ‘#RepublicBharatVsAMU’, ‘#CongAttacksHindus’, ‘#RahulLieCaught’, ‘#UnstableAlliance’, ‘#ModiVsWho’ – these are just some of the many hashtags that invite questions. The hashtags aren’t only reflective of a singular narrative but also give an idea on the type of tweets they’ll invite. Obviously, it won’t be in the show’s interest to display tweets that go against the narrative it wants to portray. Thus, very selective tweets are displayed, giving an impression to the viewers that what they’re watching is correct and supported by the public opinion as well.

The use of hashtags in debate shows also invites questions. Image Credits: YouTube — The use of hashtags in debate shows also invites questions. *Image Credits:* YouTube

Sensational issues are picked by many channels. CNN-News18’s weekly 10 P.M. show- ‘The Right Stand’ regularly focuses almost exclusively on issues having a religious angle.

Even the names of these shows should be inspected. Halla Bol, Takkar, and Dangal are also, in fact, names of action movies, almost as if the shows are meant to be a platform for speakers to brawl over issues; ‘Bhai vs Bhai’ and ‘The Great Debate Show’ seem to have an entertainment element inherently attached to them; ‘Arnab Goswami on the Debate @ 9’ puts more emphasis on the anchor than the news.

Obviously, it’s not possible to deconstruct and analyse every debate in a single piece and even these examples are selective. There are innumerable debates that may be deconstructed and analysed, but the aforementioned selective examples are reflective of a larger trend. A look at the substance of these debates glaringly points towards the problems in the media. But the point is- even inconspicuous elements like hashtags and headlines are at play. So, what does the language of news shows tell us? Bias, sensationalism, and irresponsibility, for a start.

Yet, it doesn’t mean that all’s bad. Even these shows sometimes pick real issues and do a good job covering and analysing them. Like the Editor-in-Chief of The Indian Express, Raj Kamal Jha said, “Good journalism is, in fact, growing; it’s just that bad journalism makes a lot more noise.”

Feature Image Credits: Newslaundry

Prateek Pankaj

Being a first time voter, what to keep in mind

By Haris Khan January 31, 2019

As we move closer and closer to the impending elections that will shape the nation, DU Beat brings to you a guide to tell you how it feels to vote for the first time.

As the nation settles in to this new year, we are also slowly and slowly edging closer to our first opportunity to exercise a right that will change our future as a country. The right to vote in the country’s election and choose who will lead us for the next 5 years. For almost all of us currently in DU this would be the first election of this scale in which we will serve an active role. We are pat of the huge 1.8cr new voters that will vote for the first time.
First, we need to make sure that we have registered to vote the steps and requirements for the same are as follows:
1. Are an Indian citizen
2. Have attained the age of 18yrs on the qualifying date i.e. 1st of January of the year of revision of the electoral roll.
3. Are ordinarily a resident of the part/ polling area of the constituency where you want to be enrolled.
4. Are not disqualified to be enrolled as an elector

As responsible citizens that have been the right of having an equal say it is important to use this vote as to make sure that the ideas we believe in are thoroughly represented, it has been seen that we as a generation have taken it to protests to show any howsoever incompetence the system that we are part of right now and as such we should now in this deciding point believe and support what we think is a better alternative, no matter who we support as a party, every vote that we choose to forfeit is one voice left unheard and one step missed to a change. Things are going to become turbulent with parties trying to seduce votes out specially from the younger generation, this time it is our generation’s future in particular that will be in doubt so we should vote right and vote surely.

“Upcoming Lok Sabha are an opportunity for the first time voters to take responsibility of the nation on our shoulders” – as the PM said in his Mann Ki Baat tweets. It is the time for us to make our thoughts of change into actions.

Feature Image Credits- Hindustan Times

Haris Khan
[email protected]

DUB Speak

A Match Not Made in Heaven: Politics and Art

By Anoushka Sharma January 28, 2019

Is it the purpose of art to suit certain political sides? Is it necessary that it subvert opinions? The age-old question of the politics in, and of art remains, but should its consumption be denied solely based on that?

Arundhati Roy, the Booker Prize-winning writer, said, “Ignoring of things is as political as the addressing of them.” The significance of the activist cum writer’s words becomes more evident when one takes a good look at the current
discourse surrounding art in India. With the elections about to commence amid a fervour of political blameshifting,
staining of opposing strategies, and the power play of the entire nation, ‘propaganda’ is a word found commonly
conjunct with films these days. There is certainty that this theme of thought cannot be let go off without a patient
analysis, unlike the way it has been conveniently ignored by the members of the film fraternity meeting with the Prime Minister as fansin-awe instead of citizens-in-power.

The Accidental Prime Minister, Uri: The Surgical Strike, PM Narendra Modi, a biopic on our Prime Minister, are some of the films with nationalist, or an explicit political sentiment endorsed in their content. It is foolish to deny the
agenda meant to be fulfilled by them, to target the audience that is soon going to vote. But a question that arises in the storm of posts filled with the criticism of these films is: is art essentially only political? The answer to this should not be the direct conclusion to the question: should art be dismissed solely based on its political propaganda?

At the risk of inviting backlash, the answer to these questions is a plain negative. This does not deny that ‘personal is political’, but the purpose of art was not to live up to the standards of morality, simply because morality may change according to cultures, subjectivities, and circumstances. Even if one disagrees with the politics of a certain artwork, making that the primary reason for its non-consumption or criticism is a problematic course of action. If individuals decide that the dismissal of art on the sole criterion, i.e. its impact on the mindset of society, is the road to take, then a dangerous form of censorship rises to the pedestal. It is the misguided way of justifying a curb on free speech.

One of the parameters for the consumption or criticism of any art, according to academicians James Bruce Ross and Mary Martin McLaughlin, is the context in which it is placed, and the political baggage of it cannot be left behind. To look at art as art, not a theoretical course or an argument in itself, it is important to first consume it with patient judgement. There will always be a political debate brewing in its context, and if the dismissal of art is confined to it, then there will probably be not much art left to consume without a feeling of guilt towards one’s political and ethical ideologies. It is absolutely possible to be critical of art, but it is only through its consumption that one can become informed, and misinformed choices are not the way to take in the attention-grabbing era of political marketing.

Feature Image Credits:Artmajeur

Anushree Joshi

Uncategorized

Power and Politics of Pockets

By Muskan Sethi September 22, 2018

While men have always had spacious pockets catering to their utility, women have had to endure a lack of pockets, false pockets, and pockets so small nothing would fit. DU Beat traces the journey of pockets through the 17th century and the gender divide they propagate every day.

“The history of pockets isn’t just sexist, it’s political.” Fashion thrives on sexism. Whether or not a garment gets utilitarian pockets depends upon the gender the garment is being stitched for and the norms surrounding that gender. While men have had baggy, spacious pockets since their advent in the 1600’s, women still continue to struggle with fashion norms that dictate a lack of pockets, false pockets and pockets, so small that you couldn’t fit anything inside.

In the late 17th century, pockets made their move to become a part of men’s clothing, permanently being sewn into coats, waistcoats, and trousers. However, women had to get creative and wrap a sack with a string around their waists and tuck it way under their petticoats as a substitute to pockets.

In the late 1800’s, sewing pockets into skirts became a medium of rebellion and the sign of a strong, independent woman. However, the idea of women having fabric between their legs made people uncomfortable because of reasons like “femininity.” With both the world wars, women’s fashion introduced utilitarian clothing, which meant that women finally got pants with pockets,

“After the first world war there was a drastic change in women’s clothing. Edwardian ideas were put out. There was a brief period in the mid-20th century when there were pants without pockets. The idea of this revolutionized fashion was that women would look thinner without pockets,” says Avnika Chhikara, a second year English Honours student at Maitreyi College.

By the end of the 18th century, women’s fashion revolved around restraint in terms of skirts being pulled close to the body, the thin slender waist, and the silhouette fitting the stereotypes.

“Victorian era gowns used to have decently sized pockets concealed in the skirts. That was practical at that time because the skirts of the gowns were fluffy and big. With the evolution of fashion and the introduction of form fitted clothing coming into the trends, the size of the pockets started to shrink,” says Bhavya Banerjee, a third year Political Science student at Daulat Ram College.

She further adds, “Women’s clothing is designed in a way so it looks more appealing, beautiful, flattering, rather than how it can help women be more productive, or according to their convenience. It’s not designed to help them advance or be more functional in a workspace.”

Esteemed designer Christian Dior was reported by the Spectator in 1954 as saying, “Men have pockets to keep things in, women for decoration.” Men’s fashion has always centred around comfort and utility while women’s fashion revolves around set stereotypes of beauty. The giant different in terms of pockets reinforces sexist ideas of gender.

To break free from these gender norms, it’s important for us to introduce liberal ideas within fashion and giving people their own space to experiment along. “Maybe we can start a trend of having a pocket in the middle of the shirt at the divide to symbolize gender neutrality,” says Antara Rao, a third year Economics Honours student of Jesus and Mary College.

While women’s false pockets are pleasing to look at and serve aesthetic value, they also create a culture of dependency around them on other things/ people. “False pockets are just there for the aesthetic value. For me, they serve as half assed policies and tokenistic concessions that look good just on paper and are meant to be like “Oh look we are so forward thinking that we removed pads from the luxury tax bracket #feminism” while the actual question is why do they still cost so much if they’re a necessity?” says Charvee Gupta, a second year student of B.Com. (Hons.) at Jesus and Mary College.

The question remains, how an entire industry that claims to cater to women serve them to poorly? When an outfit has pockets, we look at it differently. Pockets also instil a sense of comfort and confidence in the space and utility they offer.

“I get my jeans stitched simply because I need normal pockets. The shop’s location is: A Teen, Mohan Singh Palace, CP. You can get A1 fit and latest designs in less than Rs. 1200,” says Niharika Dabral, a third year BA Hons. Humanities and Social Science student at the Cluster Innovation Center.

“One supremacy there is in men’s clothing… its adaptation to pockets. Women have from time to time carried bags, sometimes sewn in, sometimes tied on, sometimes brandished in the hand, but a bag is not a pocket,” wrote, American feminist and novelist, Charlotte P. Gilman, in 1905.

“Not having pockets forces women to buy handbags and clutches (they don’t even get nice wallets), so a lot of advertisements and films term this as extravagance and thrifty. It’s a necessity,” says Anushree Joshi, a first year English Honours student at Lady Shri Ram College for Women. But a bag is clearly not a pocket.

The lack of pockets has made handbags a necessity today and has increased the dependency women face when they go through this. “I feel the idea of women not having pockets stems from capitalism and consumerism. The lack of pockets forces women to buy another product – handbags! I feel that it’s purely business; create a need and then make money off of it,” says Shania Mohapatra, a second year student of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Cluster Innovation Centre.

Though today, the red carpet does show women like Amy Schumer wearing dresses with pockets, posing with their hands tucked into them, the idea of pockets hasn’t yet trickled down to everyday clothing like jeans or dresses.

Feature Image Credits: Racked

Muskan Sethi