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Students of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur (SGTB) Khalsa College protest against an abrupt increase in fees by the authorities.

SGTB Khalsa, established in 1951, is one of the oldest and most prestigious colleges for Science, Commerce, and Arts in India.

Unlike other colleges affiliated with the University of Delhi (DU), the fee structure of SGTB Khalsa is relatively expensive. According to the sources, there has been a sudden fee hike this year ranging from INR 3,000 for Arts courses to  INR 9,000 for Science Courses. Science students already pay additional fees in the name of labs and it has been increased again. Students are also charged in the name of university development fund, college development fund, maintenance fund, and overall development fund. Further, they are also expected to pay some extra amount as examination fees, which isn’t required in other colleges. Students are convinced that this is nothing but different ways by authorities of extracting money from them. This hike seems unjustified when there is no upgradation in the facilities provided by the college.

The source also revealed that apart from this, the accommodation facility inside the campus is also very expensive. The college hostels have skyrocketing fee structure of INR 71,000 per semester which is almost INR 1.5 lakhs per year. On the other hand, in other colleges, hostel fees are practically negligible or genuinely affordable.

According to Rhythm Nagpal, a student from SGTB Khalsa College, “The easily affordable fee structure is one of the reasons why Delhi University is a dream for students. We worked hard in high school to get here and this unjust behavior makes our efforts seem worthless. This hike is pointless and makes us question the authorities as it’s extremely unfair on their part. What will be the difference between private and government colleges then? The increment that is done gradually over years now takes place suddenly in just a year with no improvement in the facilities provided to us, the college needs to have a reality check and gain a perspective”.

Ravnoor Kaur, another student from SGTB Khalsa College said “The fees of DU doesn’t seem a lot and makes us think that a hike of Rs 3,000 hardly makes a difference but DU has students from all over the nation who are accommodated in PGs and are paying abundant of rent, which is also increased every year at an alarming rate. The administration should think of those students and think what impact this unjust action would have on them and their families”

Feature Image Credits: Shiksha

Avni Dhawan

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Every sport event is more than just a contest for the testing of physical fitness. Each player represents his or her own dedicated effort and expectations in the act of living their favourite sport. Stories of the following sports teams and societies go on to show just how passion drives human endeavor.

 

Image Credits:Surbhit Rastogi for DU Beat.
Image Credits: Surbhit Rastogi for DU Beat.

Winning their first match in an official tournament, the Girls’ Basketball Team of Hindu College defeated a presumptuous patriarchy. Being the first team of its kind in more than two decades, a team with minimum amenities, these self-trained ‘underdogs’ thrive on passionate interest and intoxicating energy for their game.

Image Credits: Surbhit Rastogi for DU Beat.
Image Credits: Surbhit Rastogi for DU Beat.

Championing the second most expensive sport, the Ramjas Archery Team has registered itself as a leading team in the varsity. The girls’ team has won gold for four consecutive years. Playing at the national and inter-college level, the team is expecting even brighter prospects in the upcoming Nationals; for which, two women archers of the team have already qualified.

 

Image Credits: Aakarsh Gupta for DU Beat.
Image Credits: Aakarsh Gupta for DU Beat.

Defined for its individuality, the game of Shooting tests every player’s talent to add up to the team’s overall performance. Four members of the team have been selected for the World University Trials. With the vision of representing India in Olympics, every shooter plays importantly for a sense of gratification and satisfaction. Hansraj College is known for its excellent produce of opportunities for these young shooters.

 

Image Credits: Aakarsh Gupta for DU Beat.
Image Credits: Aakarsh Gupta for DU Beat.

With the background score of players indulging in a game of Cricket, Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College’s cricket team’s coach recounted countless achievements of the team. The team won Lala Raghubir Singh Tournament this season. Looking forward to a better and more rewarding season ahead, the team exudes dedication.

 

The housing of agile talent in University’s North Campus is only a fraction of the vast multitude of achievers and to-be olympians in the varsity. DU Beat wishes all of them luck.

Feature Image Credits: Surbhit Rastogi for DU Beat.

 

Kartik Chauhan

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Mahi Panchal

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Surbhit Rastogi

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Aakarsh Gupta

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Upholding the pomp and glamour of the fest season, Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College celebrated its annual cultural fest, Lashkara, from February 22nd to 25th, 2017. The four-day show presented a motley of events to be experienced and enjoyed by the student community.

The first day of the fest kicked off with the inauguration ceremony, officially drawing the curtains open to the festivities of Lashkara. The initial two days witnessed a myriad of departments, including political science, mathematics, history, botany, English, Punjabi, BBE, Hindi, economics, commerce, electronics, and B.A. Programme putting on display a diversity of intriguing and enthralling competitions for the participants to devour their interests in. The competitions were a mixture of department-oriented quizzes, contemporary topics, and fun activities.

Ankur, the theatre society of Khalsa College, organised Pratyaksh, a stage play competition, with Shunya of Ramjas College securing the first place. Due to the volatile political environment in the North Campus, the second day of Pratyaksh was postponed to a later date. The poetry society, Acrostics, celebrated the magic of words with Shabdotsav, a slam poetry competition, and Epiphany, an English poetry competition. The western dance society organised Meraki, with Gargi College’s Enliven bagging the first place followed by Sri Venkateswara College’s Verve. Swarang, the music society of Khalsa College, organised Antara, Taal Mel, Swarsagam, and Bandish on the two days to invigourate the music chords of the hearts. Enactus Khalsa, the fine arts society, and the photography society also conjured captivating exhibitions of the work of their members, enhancing the cultural ambience of the fest.

The last day of the fest commenced with the enthralling folk dance performance, attracting the audience with foot-tapping rhythms and enthused souls. The crowd poured in with the anticipation of witnessing the star performance of Guru Randhawa. The Punjabi singer of ‘Suit’ and ‘Patola’ fame invigourated the crowd with contemporary hits, concluding the eventful fest on a merry musical note.

 

Feature Image Credits: Guru Randhawa, Instagram

Saumya Kalia
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Ankur, the theatre society of Shri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College, have postponed their street play competition, Pratyaksh, which was being organised in the Nukkad on the second day of the college’s annual cultural festival, Lashkara.

Day 1 of Lashkara on February 22 saw myriad competitive events by a plethora of societies, metres away the violence and chaos that erupted in the north campus mid-day onwards. Disrupting a peaceful march by students and teachers to protest against the intervention by the ABVP of an academic conference at Ramjas College, the student political party blocked the entrance of Ramjas College. Violence erupted in front of the college campus with students also stuck inside the college premises for hours.

Following reports and warnings advising students against entering the college campus after the events of February 22, the cultural festival observed a low turnout on February 23. The theatre society’s street play event, organised for the second day, was set to witness participation from majority of colleges around the campus. The street play events during Delhi University festivals are known for raising pertinent issues about the prevailing social and cultural issues, often on taboo and lesser-discussed themes.

The DUSU president asked us to call off the competition as elements from different plays might be construed negatively in the current political environment. The police also appealed to us to call off the event in the interest of restoring peace and normalcy in the campus. The administration had to take the call of cancelling the event to ensure safety of students,” said Saikat Ghosh, staff advisor of the theatre society. He also pointed out that theatre in Delhi University has always been a tool of speaking up against what was felt unfair, and the medium of raising voices and taking a stand whenever words have been discouraged.

After deliberations between the society, the students’ union, and the college principal, with recommendations from the police authorities to ensure the safety of the students, the event was postponed to a later date to prevent escalation of chaos on campus. Members of the society were unavailable for comments.

Feature image: Kartik Kher for DU Beat

Saumya Kalia ([email protected]) and Akshara Srivastava ([email protected])

 

The Theatre Society of SGTB Khalsa College depicted the stark truth of the different shades of war in their Annual Production and witnessed a full house on all the three days.

Shakespeare said “All the world’s a stage” and his ideology has perfectly resonated with times and minds. For the students of Ankur, the Theatre Society of SGTB Khalsa College, the Nukkad (also known as Jannat) area of the college was transformed into an opportune stage for the audience to indulge their creative pleasures in!

The Annual Production, titled Check, Mate. was performed from 23rd-25th October 2016 attracting students, parents, and teachers through the light-adorned area for a perfect evening under the stars. The audience could see a vast setup of black drapes bordering the stage and were delighted with the playful Mario-theme preceding the starting. The costumes complemented the traditional flavour of the play, and the setup piqued the interest of the viewers.The play opened up to an exciting, comic and intriguing dialogue exchange amongst the members of a community. It was switching between two modes: one, of the rural area of the aam aadmi; two, of the corporate world of business executives who strike deals disregarding the impact on the world of commoners. As the play progressed, a blanket of curiosity had settled amongst the crowd; each phase of the play received with a desire to precipitate more. Shades of politics, human nature, and societal attributes were beautifully portrayed by the talented actors who were thoroughly absorbed in their characters. The play was able to thoughtfully provide an insight into the complex consequences of war on the human mind and the human life.

The intriguing story ended with jingoistic music echoing in the background as the scene symbolized the never-ending cycle of the game of war, and how its strings are being manipulated by certain sections of the society. With a texture of humour induced by the ‘samosa cravings’ and ‘bathing scenes’, a tinge of reality being laid out in terms of women symbolization and narrow visions of a backwards community, and drawing parallels between the worlds separated by the stage borders; Ankur beautifully carried out the painful atrocities of war and impermanence of peace on a relatable shoulder. It proved how war is greater than the borders of black and white, and thus, the show was brought to an end with a thunderous applause for the brilliant efforts!

 

Image Credits: Saumya Kalia for DU Beat

Saumya Kalia

Turning inspiration into reality, the art exhibition by Strokes seized imagination and hopes over two days! 

“The world is but a canvas to our imagination.”

-Henry David Thoreau

Art is all-pervasive, and the students of SGTB Khalsa College portrayed their imagination beautifully across the broad horizons of their college. Strokes, the Fine Arts Society of SGTB Khalsa College, organised their annual art exhibition, Duende, on 17th and 18th October 2016, to display the work of their zealous artists. The event was set up at the heart of the college, the famous Jannat, and attracted eyes and interests throughout the two days. The area was adorned with a variety of shapes and forms of paper craft hanging above the people, giving a shade of ethereal beauty to the contiguous area.

With more than thirty paintings displayed, decorated and placed in the structure of a circle, each painting spoke a unique story, and wove a beautiful aura amidst the sublime atmosphere. Themes such as life style, new beginnings, fire and ice, sacred love and many others were captured. The inspiring paintings were a fascinating visual to behold. The live painting session gave bystanders a chance to get their portraits drawn. The artistry displayed was exquisite and gave birth to some brilliant pieces. The creative streak did not end there. The visitors were also invigorated to see a quirky craft station set up. With bookmarks, paper corners, envelopes, cards, dream catchers and many other handmade products, Duende did justice to transcending the essence of art across a multitude of platforms, which piqued interest and praise.

A member of the society, summarises the experience on the first day, “The turnout was huge even on the first day of college after the mid semester break. People who visited the exhibition were astonished by the work done by the artists which further increased the enthusiasm among the members.” With a combination of a unique theme, stirring paintings, and personalised stationery and activities, the members of Strokes set high aesthetic standards that moved the audience.

 

Saumya Kalia

Image Credits: Saumya Kalia for DU Beat

Gulzar Gali was staged on 15th, 16th and 17th of October at SGTB Khalsa College’s central place (Nukkad).
It was a theatre based event, showcasing a montage of short stories and poems by the living legend Gulzar.
Mr. Gur Pratap, writer and professor in Hindu college, Amritsar was one of the dignitaries who attended the event.

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Along with him, members of Khalsa’s management committee, principals of various colleges and many theatre professionals came to contemplate the evening.  The duration of the show was 1 hour 40 minutes and the audience stayed engrossed all through out. Theatre societies of various colleges of Delhi University and IP University also praised the efforts and spirits of the show.

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The team was highly overwhelmed by seeing so much of support and warmth as their efforts proved to be rewarding.

Strokes, the fine arts society of SGTB Khalsa organized ‘Chauraha: 15 artists, 15 tales’, their annual art exhibition on 29th and 30th of September. As the name itself implies, the theme of the exhibition centered around 15 different tales of 15 different artists who contributed their art work around the idea of crossroads: a place where 4 roads meet. The exhibition was also located strategically inside the college campus. Also known famously as ‘Jannat’, this place leads to 4 different paths inside the college.

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Displaying beautiful paintings inside a small circular tent house, the organizers had pretty much arranged everything in the most orderly manner possible, adhering to their central theme of Chauraha. The apt setting reflected on the faces of the audience, all of whom looked absolutely mesmerized by what they were seeing. The art work also very much focused on the theme. With realistic paintings of how people use a crossroad to welcome haunted spirits to the abstract concept of how we deal with small crossroads daily in our life, the exhibition pretty much covered all the parameters of  this unique concept.

Not only this, the exhibition had a stall called ‘Kreartivity’, where some unique purchasable items ranging from bookmarks to book-jackets were showcased. The art focused event also saw a segment under the banner of ‘live art’ where artists were literally creating paintings then and there for everyone to see. A competition with the theme, ‘best out of the waste’ was also organized.

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Mixed with unprecedented segments and a few surprises, the event saw a huge footfall not only from colleges under Delhi University but other colleges as well. Badal Chitrakar, a renowned artist in India and abroad was the chief guest of the event.

 

Photos by Prateek Singh for DU Beat

Brij Pahwa

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Shri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College, often referred to as just ‘Khalsa’, was established in 1951 as part of University of Delhi and is a much sought-after college, especiallly for commerce subjects. Popularly known for its involvement in the field of sports, it also boasts of numerous cultural societies. Alumni from SGTB Khalsa college have paved their way into many fields, including entertainment, arts, sports and more. Here are some of the popular names associated with the college:

1. Rabbi Shergill

Rabbi Shergil is a Punjabi musician well known for his debut album “Rabbi” and the chart-toppersong of 2005, “Bullah Ki Jaana”. A part of the hard-rock music scene during his college days, he subsequently formed a band called “Kaffir”. Earlier this year, he came back to Khalsa College to perform at its fest.

rabbi shergill

Image source: en.wikipedia.org

 

2. Saurabh Shukla

Saurabh Shukla is a well known actor and an eminent theatre personality. Starting his career in theatre after graduating from Khalsa College, he subsequently played a prominent role in many productions and eventually entered Bollywood as well. He’s known for his roles in “Satya” and“Barfi!”. He also won the prestigious National Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in “Jolly LLB”.

saurabh-shukla santabanta com

Image source: Santabanta.com

3. Arvinder Singh Lovely

A student of Political Science from Khalsa College, Arvinder Singh Lovely was the General Secretary of NSUI (National Student’s Union of India) during 1992-96. He was elected to the Delhi Legislative Assembly for the first time in 1998, where he was the youngest MLA. He was made a Minister in the cabinet in 2003. He was the head of Education, Tourism, Languages, Gurudwara Administration, in the Council of Ministers, Govt. of Delhi.

arvinder singh lovely

Image source: thehindu.com

4. Majinder Singh Sirsa

Majinder Singh Sirsa is the councilor and chairman, Municipal Corporation of Delhi and is now an MLA of the Delhi Vidhan Sabha from Rajouri Garden. He is also the general secretary of Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (SGMC), the parent body of SGTB Khalsa college.

manjinder singh sirsa

Image source: nocorruption.in

5. Nona Walia

Nona Walia is a columnist and has been the assistant editor at Times of India for 18 years. She graduated from Khalsa College with an honours in Economics.

nona walia

Image source: twitter.com

 

Kartikeya Bhatotia

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Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College hosted an Inter-College Lawn Tennis Tournament with the finals being played on the 4th of March. Hansraj College and the hosts fought it out for the ultimate prize. The match followed a Best- Of –Three format with two single’s matches and a double’s match. Each match was a three-set match.

In the first single’s match, Kunal Anand from Khalsa college beat Dhruv Goel from Hansraj two sets to nil with a score of 6-1 and 6-3. In the next single’s match, Saurabh Singh from Hansraj beat his opponent, Rohit Bisht in straight sets with a score of 6-1 and 6-3.

With the game tied at 1-1, it was all to play for in the final match, which was a double’s match. Kunal Anand and Deepak Vishwakarma from Khalsa College beat Dhruv Goel and Saurabh Singh from Hansraj in a thrilling match to take home the final prize.