S.G.T.B Khalsa College Archives - DU Beat - Delhi University's Independent Student Newspaper

Delving into Why I Am a Hindu by Shashi Tharoor and realising the truth about one of the oldest religion in this world and what it has become now has been nothing less than a tryst between our past and present.

I was a part of the Delhi University Theatre Circuit (DUTC) and anyone even briefly acquainted with DUTC knows very well that DUTC is crazy about Hinduism and Hindutva Politics. Ever since the game-changing play – Welcome to the Machine by Ankur, the theatre society of S.G.T.B Khalsa College came in 2014, the Delhi University campus saw conversations about saffronisation being loudly irked in public domain. And so I decided to read more about Hinduism and Hindutva. After a whole lot of research and reading several books, I stumbled upon Why I Am a Hindu by Shashi Tharoor.

Tharoor creates a mind-changing and super-impactful literary masterpiece that not only glorifies Hinduism in its pure form but also raises several questions regarding its current state in the mind of the readers. I, as a literature student, fell in love with the way the book is structured. I actually went over the index multiple times. Section one of the book makes the reader take a walk through parts of several religious books like Vedas, Upnishadas, Mahabharata, etc. It carefully explains truths, myths, rituals, and espoused in the dense religious texts. The second section deals with political Hinduism and sensational topics of Hindutva and cow politics. And then there’s section three, that asserts the hard-hitting truth and the alterations which we need in the current times.

Tharoor also focuses on several aspects to ponder about like Orientalism, Intellectual colonialism, retaining the pluralistic nature of Hinduism, and so on. Each of these aspects can be further elaborated in separate articles. In times of constant turmoil of religion and politics, arming oneself with knowledge is one of the most impactful ways to contribute to the struggle of orthodoxy and fanaticism.

Feature Image Credit: Manorama Online

Palak Aggarwal

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Admissions 2016

Hiccups In The Second Phase Of Admissions

By DU Beat August 7, 2016

Panic ensued when several DU colleges received an exorbitantly large number of applications, in the second phase of admissions, for the few seats that had not yet been filled after the fifth cut-off list had been released in the last week of July.

The Times of India reported that Hansraj College had received over 84,000 applications for the 50 seats that were yet to be filled last week. Ramjas College had 57,000 applications pouring in for 100 seats, with Lady Shri Ram College grappling with 1,800 applications for 6 vacant seats in the Psychology course.

Several colleges found themselves struggling to compile a merit list from among the thousands of aspirants. DU had provided colleges with a list of students and their best-of-four scores to facilitate the creation of a merit list. The colleges were to then prepare the merit list taking into consideration the number of vacant seats available. The problem aggravated when students who had already secured admission in a particular college applied to another when notified of the vacant seats, without withdrawing the admission they had initially taken. Students were earlier not allowed to apply for a vacant seat without cancelling the admission they had already taken. This rule was changed recently by the admissions committee.

Some colleges witnessed protests in response to the confusion. Protests by aspirants and their parents along with activists from NSUI, were witnessed at SGTB Khalsa College. The activists held protests in the college premises on 29th and 30th July. The parents and aspirants claimed that the Principal had agreed to admit the students to the college earlier, but now wasn’t agreeing to do so. “We were told that our children would get admission in this college. We have withdrawn admissions from other colleges. With no admission here, we now have nowhere else to go”, said a dejected parent. Most parents and aspirants wanted a written note from the college which would secure their admission, and wouldn’t leave them with nowhere else to go. The college maintains that there was no issue with the admission process as admission against vacant seats was completed as per the schedule notified by the University and the merit list was released on time. This was also conveyed to the Dean of Students’ Welfare, Delhi University.

At Aryabhatta College, parents were frustrated with the administration for the prolonged period of time required for attestation of documents. The college also had to deal with an excessive number of applications for a few seats, resulting in difficulty with the release of a second merit list to fill vacancies.

“Though there was a hiccup in the admission process initially with colleges receiving thousands of applications for a few seats, things have settled down now and vacancies have been filled,” said Prof. Nachiketa Singh, a member of the admissions committee.

Featured Image Credits: www.indianexpress.com

Akshara Srivastava
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Abhinaya Harigovind
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Campus Central

Top Societies at Delhi University Fests: S.G.T.B. Khalsa for Folk Dance

By Brij Pahwa March 30, 2014

Every year, societies from colleges across the campus compete neck to neck and put up spectacular performances during the fest season. This year too, saw certain teams shine a little brighter than the rest. We bring you a series with college societies that put their heart and soul into their respective fields and took home the top prizes at various cultural fests. The best college society in each category was selected by creating a tally of the top 3 positions at competitive events held during 13 cultural fests of this season. Whenever a society won the first prize they were award 3 points, for the second position they received 2 points and for the third position, 1 point was added to their tally. In the folk dance category, S.G.T.B. Khalsa’s Bhangra Inspire emerges victorious with 14 points. Gargi College’s Nazakat follows next with 11 points.

The Winning Society at a glance

Bhangra Inspire, S.G.T.B. Khalsa

Bhangra Inspire, from S.G.T.B. Khalsa, lit the stage on fire during fests like Montage and Tempest with their Bhangra performance. “Our losses from last year helped us strive for more this year. We practiced hard, and although 2 of our team members met with an accident and got injured, we never looked back and emerged as the winners in most of the competitions we took part in”, said the team. Names of performing team members: Gurdeep Singh Babbar (President), Prateek Kathuria, Karan Sardana, Jagjeet Singh, Harsimran Singh, Gurinder Singh, Harpreet Singh, Harpal Singh, Chamandeep Singh, Kanwalpreet Singh. Note: The thirteen fests included in our analysis for this series include SRCC’s Crossroads, Gargi College’s Reverie, Sri Venkateswara College’s Nexus, LSR’s Tarang, Hans Raj’s Confluence, I.P. College for Women’s Shruti, Daulat Ram College’s Manjari, Hindu College’s Mecca, Jesus and Mary College’s Montage, Miranda House’s Tempest, Kamala Nehru College’s Ullas, Kirori Mal College’s Renaissance, SGTB Khalsa’s Lashkara. Out of the fests listed, only 7 had conducted a competitive Folk Dance Competition.]]>

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Campus Central

Top Societies at Delhi University Fests: S.G.T.B Khalsa for Street Theatre

By Iresh Gupta March 28, 2014

Every year, societies from colleges across the campus compete neck to neck and put up spectacular performances during the fest season. This year too, saw certain teams shine a little brighter than the rest. We bring you a series with college societies that put their heart and soul into their respective fields and took home the top prizes at various cultural fests. The best college society in each category was selected by creating a tally of the top 3 positions at competitive events held during 13 cultural fests of this season. Whenever a society won the first prize they were award 3 points, for the second position they received 2 points and for the third position, 1 point was added to their tally. S.G.T.B. Khalsa’s Ankur stands at the top of our tally with 13 points. The society is followed by Kirori Mal College’s The Players at the second position with 9 points. The third place is a tie between Shivaji College’s Vayam and Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce’s Manchatantra.

The Winning Society at a glance

Ankur, S.G.T.B Khalsa College Ankur from S.G.T.B Khalsa , proved its mettle during street theatre competitions with its play, ‘We, the people!’. The play talked about the role of active participation of an individual in a democracy where governments are formed through electoral voting. Though the message they hoped to deliver had a complex thought behind it, their mantra for success was simple, “We try and keep it simple with our deliberate attempt to creatively experiment, unlearn and start from the scratch.” Names of performing members: Prabhjot Singh, Dhruv Vats, Raman Bhalla, Saheb Kaur, Firoz Khan, Divay Agarwal, Gaurav Batra, Nagender Garg, Ashmeet Kaur Ahuja, Ronit Sharma, Shriya Mukim, Tarun Kaur, Rashmi Khurana, Harpreet Singh, Guneet Singh Nanda, Sarabhjot Singh, Apurva Chaudhary, Srishtee Basera, Vipin Pokhriyal, Himanshu Brar, Harsimran Kaur, Himanshu Dua. Musicians: Ashmeet Kaur Ahuja, Nagender Garg, Guneet Singh Nanda. Note: The thirteen fests included in our analysis for this series include SRCC’s Crossroads, Gargi College’s Reverie, Sri Venkateswara College’s Nexus, LSR’s Tarang, Hans Raj’s Confluence, I.P. College for Women’s Shruti, Daulat Ram College’s Manjari, Hindu College’s Mecca, Jesus and Mary College’s Montage, Miranda House’s Tempest, Kamala Nehru College’s Ullas, Kirori Mal College’s Renaissance, SGTB Khalsa’s Lashkara. Out of the fests listed, only 10 had conducted a competitive Street Theatre Competition.]]>

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