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Kalki Visits St. Stephen’s, Talks About Her Upcoming Podcast with BBC

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Actor and writer Kalki Koechlin visited the St. Stephen’s College on the 14th of August 2018 to talk about her new BBC World Service podcast, ‘Kalki Presents: My Indian Life’.

The podcast, released on 4th of August, is a series of real-life experiences that talks ‘about being young and Indian in the 21st century’. “It is about great, compelling, fascinating stories from all around India,” said the film and theatre artist, who is also known for actively speaking about social issues.

After a small welcome, the Margarita, with a Straw star and her fellow panellists, Geeta Pandey, Mallika Taneja, Eshan Hilal, and Aditya N. had an interactive session with the audience in the college hall. Some students had an on-stage belly dancing session with Eshan, who has been featured in the first episode of the podcast, ‘Dancing To His Own Beat’, a story about a Delhi-based professional belly dancer from an orthodox Muslim family. The best belly dancer won a solo photograph with Kalki.

Aditya performed a song for the crowd. “I found myself in the St. Stephen’s College stage after almost 16 years,” said theatre artist Mallika, an alumna of Kirori Mal College, who appears in the second podcast which is about a woman using her naked body to convey a powerful message. The event went on till 4:30 p.m.

Kalki gave autographs and also allowed clicked selfies with fans. “The program was supposed to start at 3 p.m. but she (Kalki) reached here at 2:30 p.m. and I think that’s super nice of her as an artist. She’s a beautiful person with a pyramid of kindness and professionalism in her,” says Aashiya, a student of St. Stephen’s College who attended the event. BBC informs that there would be ten episodes in the podcast and that it would be made available on as many platforms as possible.

Feature Image Credits: Geeta Pandey

 

Ananya Acharya
[email protected]
(Inputs from Aashiya, St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi)

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Campus Central

St Stephen’s College Installs Sanitary Napkin Machine

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St Stephen’s College, University of Delhi has installed a sanitary pad vending machine in college on 15th May. The machine is sponsored by ONGC and is set up by for free by CSR Research Foundation, though the cost of refilling is to be borne by the college.

”It’s a small step towards a bigger role of greater awareness in the larger discourse of health and hygiene, regarding menstruation-how it is in fact just a natural bodily function. With that there is no shame, embarrassment or isolation” remarked Beth the second year ICC (Internal Complaints Committee) representative. She also added, “In a college like ours, where a large proportion of students live off-campus, ready access to sanitary napkins for women students will be of great benefit.”

“The main taboo about the menstruation in public spaces like universities is that we don’t talk about it openly. Sanitary napkin stations will sort of normalise the idea and therefore break the taboo” said Joan Sony, the final year ICC representative

Most girls used to carry a pad or two in their bag for the emergencies as the cycle is often unpredictable. Also, girls may not feel comfortable finding the nearby stores, to buy the whole packet when the need is of one or two. “We do not have a medical store nearby, I often had to go to my room to get pads for people” said Namita John, a first-year resident student. She also added, “ Now girls don’t have to run to the resident in case of an emergency.”

The inauguration was done in the presence of the Chairman of the Foundation, CA Deen Dayal Agrawal, the principal of the college, Prof. John Varghese and was attended by the faculty and students of the college.

”Menstrual euphemisms and taboos are old. I see periods as a monthly cycle which every woman goes through proving their strength irrespective of their workload and mental stress. It’s not about the pain or stain during periods, the actual worry remains that of perceptions and prejudices”, said Ananya Kapoor, a second-year day scholar.

 

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Campus Central

St Stephen’s College Chapel Vandalised: ‘Mandir Yahin Banega’

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St Stephen’s College chapel door along with the cross outside it was found defaced with a Hindutva slogan on Friday. While the perpetrator of this inflammatory act remains unknown, the incident has caused a momentous uproar.

Reportedly, some students had noticed the graffiti with the words ‘mandir yahin banega’ (a temple will be constructed here) written on it with black ink on Friday. Moreover, the cross outside the chapel, on the grave of college founder Samuel Scott Allnut, was also said to have been defaced — with an ‘Om’ symbol drawn on it, along with the words ‘I’m going to hell’. However, by Saturday afternoon, everything was cleaned up by the college staff.

College officials deny the incident
When the officiating principal of the college was sought for an enquiry regarding this act, he denied the claims of such vandalisation. “I did not see anything written on the chapel door; there was no such incident,” Bursar Renish Abraham reported to The Indian Express. The pictures below prove otherwise.

College unions issue statements

Delhi University Students’ Union (DUSU) President Rocky Tusseed expressed his anger over the disheartening act. “There is an attempt to divide students of the country along religious lines. The same script of Aligarh Muslim University (where an 80-year-old portrait of Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah created a controversy) is playing out here as well,” Tusseed said to News18. No police report has been filed against the act and Tuseed affirmed that DUSU would raise the issue with the concerned authorities.

The National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) issued the following statement. With a demand to maintain peace and calm, NSUI officials said: “They have tried to polarise the student community on the basis of religion and fake nationalism several times but have failed on every attempt,”. 

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) state secretary Bharat Khatana told The Indian Express, “The college should investigate who was involved in this condemnable incident. There must be CCTV cameras installed, which will help identify the culprits.”

The case of vandalism continues

Today morning, another act of defacement was observed on the Hindu College bus stop. The vandal had written in opposition to the comments written on St Stephen’s College Chapel. It read, “Mandir nahi banega, college yehi rahega.”

Hindu College bus stop vandalised in response
Hindu College bus stop vandalised in response

 

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat

Image Credits: India Today

Raabiya
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Bazinga

Bazinga: Bilateral Talks Between St. Stephen’s College and Hindu College in a Seminar Titled ‘Rethinking Rivalries’

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As part of their annual fest ‘Praasna’, the Department of Philosophy of St. Stephen’s College is organising a seminar which would witness bilateral talks between two delegations from Hindu College and St. Stephen’s College.

This unique event titled ‘Rethinking Rivalries’ would be themed around the heightened tensions in the relationship between St. Stephen’s College and Hindu College. In the same, two delegations of students from both colleges would brainstorm ideas about how to truncate the uneasiness in the relationship between the neighboring colleges. Member of Parliament, Shashi Tharoor, who is also an alumnus of St. Stephen’s College, has been invited to lead the delegation from his alma mater while Managing Director of Republic TV, Arnab Goswami, has consented to lead the delegation from Hindu College, his alma mater.
The event is expected to signify a shift from a spirit of competition to cooperation.

The rivalry, as considered in academic circles of the University of Delhi, between the two neighboring colleges is a well-known one. One interesting myth about the origin of this rivalry dates back to the year 1889. A young prodigy of a rich dad wanted admission in St. Stephen’s College but couldn’t make it. Disheartened, the rich dad decided to start a college right in front of St. Stephen’s. Thus, the foundation stone for Hindu College was laid, and along with it were laid the seeds of rivalry between the two colleges.

Legend has it that once, during the annual fest of St. Stephen’s College, posters were put up saying, ‘Hinduites And Dogs Not Allowed’. The college across the road then retaliated with posters saying, ‘Dogs Are Allowed But Not Stephanians’. This then led to a spate of protests and counter-protests between ‘Stephanians’ on one side of the road and ‘Hinduites’ on the other, with both sides exchanging risqué curses.
In fact, a certain rumor which does the rounds in North Campus is that whenever ‘Stephenians’ are scolded at college, they are told, ‘You don’t deserve to be here, your place is across the road’.

There are various reasons why both colleges love to hate each other, one of them being the difference in the cultures of the two. While students of Hindu College frown upon the exceptionally disciplined atmosphere at Stephen’s, students of the latter refer to the environment of Hindu College as ‘anarchical’ and ‘disruptive’.

This seminar is hoped to diminish the tension between the two colleges and bring about an ambiance of comradeship and amity, thereby enabling two of the best colleges of the University of Delhi to work together to establish eternal peace and prosperity.

Disclaimer: Bazinga is our weekly column of almost believable fake news. It is only to be appreciated and not accepted!

 

Feature Image Credits: The Times of India
Vaibhavi Sharma Pathak
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UGC renews guidelines: St. Stephen’s College to re-apply for autonomy

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The University Grants Commission has renewed their guidelines for autonomy which requires colleges applying for autonomy to reapply. Following this, St. Stephen’s College says that it will reapply for autonomy in the new format. This step taken by the college has been confirmed by the governing body.

Autonomy implies that the college will no longer be affiliated to the University of Delhi and will be free academically as well as monetarily. The college in its 2050 vision states : “By 2025 and certainly by 2050, St. Stephen’s should be an autonomous degree giving University with undergraduate, post-graduate, diploma and doctoral studies, starting maybe as a “deemed to be” university.

The advance of St. Stephen’s towards academic and monetary freedom was brought up in March, 2017. The decision of the administration was protested cumulatively by the students and the faculty members, on grounds that the issue was not consulted with the primary stakeholders before being concluded. The members asked for a transparent procedure and proper consultation with the stakeholders and adjudged that the current procedures contradicted the UGC directive that says,“There are several areas where proper preparation is necessary if college autonomy is to be implemented successfully. These are: faculty preparation, departmental preparation, institutional preparation, and preparation of students and the local community. Such multi-pronged preparation should be completed well before autonomy is sought and conferred upon a college so that no part of the college community is found unprepared for the new responsibility which it is called upon to shoulder.”

The University Grants Commision and the Human Resources Development, have further decided to hold meetings throughout the expanse of the country to dissipate the general misconceptions regarding the issue of autonomy by elucidating the scheme and the monetary concerns.

A senior UGC official spoke to Hindustan Times saying, “A number of colleges fear that autonomy will come with a cut in finances, which is clearly not the case. We want good institutes to opt for autonomy. Colleges with academic and operative freedom, do better than others and possess more credibility.”

 

Feature Image: DU Beat Archive

Trishala Dutta

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Admissions 2017

Admission Guidelines: St. Stephen’s College and Jesus and Mary College

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The admissions for the University of Delhi’s merit-based courses commenced from May 22nd, receiving more than 6000 applications on the first day of the process. The application forms for the undergraduate entrance-based courses will be released on May 31st, along with the forms for postgraduate courses. The admissions procedure is expected to be completed on June 12th, post which the cut-off cycle will highlight the DU website from June 20th onwards.

While the majority of colleges consider applications under the umbrella of the varsity’s common admission form, St.Stephen’s College in North Campus and Jesus and Mary College in South Campus also require a college-specific form. The application timeline for both the colleges will follow the same schedule, with the application process culminating on June 12th. However, the candidate is required to fill the application form available on the college’s respective websites. Admissions will be done in conformity with the rules and regulations of the varsity, and the cut-off lists will be released by both the colleges as per the University’s schedule on their websites.

Admission Procedure: St. Stephen’s College

Image Credits: St. Stephen's College
Image Credits: St. Stephen’s College

Click here for the prospectus and here for the admission form.

Registration period: May 22nd, 2017 – June 12th, 2017

The candidate is expected to apply at the University of Delhi’s centralised admissions portal (https://ug.du.ac.in/app/). The registration number thus obtained should be used to fill up the online admission form to complete the application process. The application remains incomplete until both the forms are submitted.

An applicant can submit only one form. No changes and additions can be made after the submission of the application and payment of fees.

The shortlisted candidates on the basis of the Best of Four subjects will be called for a test and interview. The 30-minutes written aptitude test will be followed by an interview. The weightage of the selection procedure is as follows:

Class XII Marks: 85%

Aptitude Test: 5%

Interview: 10%

Sports quota candidates are required to upload scanned copies of certificates of their highest representation in the past three years. They will have to appear for trials and present the original documents/certificates according to the schedule intimated on the college website.

Admission Procedure: Jesus and Mary College

Image Credits: DU Beat
Image Credits: DU Beat

Click here for the prospectus and here for the admission form.

The eligibility criteria for courses is explained here.

Registration period: May 22nd, 2017 – June 12th, 2017

The candidate is expected to apply at the University of Delhi’s centralised admissions portal (https://ug.du.ac.in/app/). The registration number thus obtained should be used to fill up the JMC online admission form to complete the application process. The application remains incomplete until both the forms are submitted.

An applicant can fill only one form; 3 preferences can be marked on one form. If a candidate applies for B.A. (Programme), she will be provided three choices of discipline combinations in order of preference.

Students appearing for sports quota will have to appear for trials and present the original documents/certificates according to the schedule intimated on the college website. The minimum eligibility for appearing in trials is I/II/III position at the interzonal level or I/II/III position at the state level.

Students appearing for the ECA quota will have to appear for trials and present the original documents/certificates according to the schedule intimated on the college website.

 

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat

Saumya Kalia
[email protected]

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Hindu College

Colleges Under University of Delhi Planning to Seek Autonomous Status

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A few prestigious institutions under the University of Delhi, namely, St. Stephen’s College, Hindu College, Ramjas College, Shri Ram College of Commerce and colleges run by theDelhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee, have expressed the desire of achieving a deemed university status. The proposals are at very initial stages, but if granted, these colleges will have the power to formulate their own rules and fee structures which will not adhere to the functioning of Delhi University.

The matter was raised in the governing body meeting of Hindu college, and it was declared that in later stages if a college wants a deemed university status, they must have an ‘A grade’ accreditation under NAAC for 3 consecutive years. A senior university official stated, “Few colleges like SRCC, Stephen’s, Ramjas, Hindu and the ones run by the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee want deemed university status. The Union Human Resource Development Ministry has also formulated some norms for providing more autonomy to colleges but deemed status will give them complete freedom of functioning on their own”. It has been speculated that if this status is granted to any of these colleges, they will not be bound by any of the rules and regulations of Delhi University, and thus there will be no need to seek sanctions from the University for any decision. Despite of all these proposals, it has also been speculated that the Student Unions of these colleges might oppose this move because the college will then have a liberty of deciding their own fee structure, and thus there might be a price hike in the fee which would make affordability a great reason of concern for many students.

St. Stephen’s College has already been in a tussle with the University of Delhi for the past couple of years regarding an autonomous status. Attempts to reach out to the Student Union of the college for their comments were unsuccessful.

 

By Joyee Bhattacharya ([email protected])

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A pledge for misogyny? St.Stephen’s ANGA comes under fire for V-Day oath promoting misogyny

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ST Stphen

The latest video, showing the members of St. Stephen’s College’s ANGA taking a pledge on Valentine’s Day to promote misogyny, has caused a furore on the internet.

 

A video making the rounds of social media since 14th February, showing the members of St. Stephen’s College’s Alnutt North Gentlemen’s Association (ANGA) taking a pledge, has been grabbing a lot of eyeballs lately. The oath is taken in the Alnutt North men’s residence block alongside the block tutor every year, and has been a part of ANGA’s V-Day tradition for quite some time now. It is a ritual not unlike Hindu College’s Damdami Mayi Puja of the Virgin Tree on every Valentine’s Day. An eyebrow-raising aspect of it, however, lies in the fact that the men, in the name of “Liberty” and building a “paramount egalitarian fellowship”, simultaneously pledge “to philander exclusively with men” and to “promote among them all misogyny”.

A source, not wishing to be named, clarifies that though most of the boys participate in the ritual and head out for an ice-cream afterwards, it is nota compulsory oath. They are even told in advance, ‘supposedly’, that the pledge is all in good fun. It is not meant to be taken seriously under any circumstance, and the issue was never given such publicity or brought under the limelight before. With social media providing instant access these days and the video going viral, however, ANGA has come under direct attack from various student groups, some of which even claim to have been protesting in vain against the ritual for quite some time.

Responding to the immense backlash, ANGA states, “We as members of the ANGA family and the larger Stephanian family have always upheld its values actively, supporting the ideas of gender equality. The ANGA oath has traditionally been a mockery meant to take a dig at the institutionalised inequality that exists in our society. It was a clear expression of sarcasm… we believe that it is not right to exaggerate it to such a large extent… at the end of the day, we all belong to the larger Stephanian family. We will, in the future, continue to fight for issues of gender inequality. We are extremely saddened by this kind of misinterpretation of our intentions… [This was] never intended to start a war against the other gender.”

Caught between a battle of interpretations by DU’s various feminist students and women’s groups, and a round of clarifications by ANGA itself, the ritual stands contested. Whether this, or even the rituals like the one followed by Hindu College, ought to be followed or not, is an entirely separate debate altogether. As of now, the spotlight is on ANGA.

 

Deepannita Misra

[email protected]

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On a vacation, Three Students from St Stephen’s College drown in Periyar river in Kerala

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Three students from St Stephen’s college along with a private resort owner drowned in Periyar river in Kerala’s Ernakulam district and lost their lives, Friday evening.

Anubhav Chandra from Bihar, Aditya Patel from Uttar Pradesh and Kenneth Jose from Kerala’s Wayanad were on a college trip accompanied by two female wardens. Anubhav and Aditya were third year students from the Department of Sanskrit, while Kenneth was a first years student from Chemistry.

The three had left their group to visit the location by the side of a private resort on Friday evening. They were accompanied by Benny Abraham, who owned the resort. The incident occurred at Paniyeli Poru, a tourist spot where the river has dangerous clusters of slippery rocks, near Perumbavoor in Ernakulam district. It has been reported that one of the four slipped into the river and the other two jumped to save him. Upon failing to do so Abraham, the resort owner who was familiar with the water also jumped, but lost his life while trying to save others. Abraham’s daughter is also a student of St Stephen’s College.

John Varghese, principal of the college addressing the incident said, “This is a moment of great sorrow for us. This was part of college trip. A warden was accompanying the children.They went away from the group. One student was drowning and others died while saving him”. He also reassured that the college would assist the parents concerned in all its capacity.
The three students were a part of the Malayalam Literary Society, which organises a trip to Kerala every year. The spot where the incident happened had warning signposts too. According to the police, the spot is known for its death traps for tourists because of strong undercurrents, though the water is only few feet deep. The bodies of all four have been recovered and taken to the Taluk hospital at Perumbavoor.

According to students, Aditya and Anubhav were very close friends. A condolence meet had also been planned for Saturday morning .

With inputs from NDTV.com

Tooba Towfiq

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St. Stephen's

Society activities for the session conclude at St. Stephen’s College

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The society activities at St. Stephen’s college came to a closure with its famous Informal Discussion Group aka IDG hosting an interactive session on student politics in India. Its Music Society celebrated the first edition of its annual ‘Milestones in Music’ and Sabha (the college’s multilingual dramatics society) presented an interesting play, ‘No One Killed Mr Malik’.
The IDG hosted Dr. Rajarshi Dasgupta who works as an assistant professor at the JNU, New Delhi. He spoke on the topic ‘Theological Turn of Political Rationality’. The lecture was dense and technical enough to keep students involved. Dr. Dasgupta theorised the dimensions of growing authoritarianism in the country and its growing acceptance. He also talked about and interacted with students regarding the sacrifices that students of different backgrounds are seen making. Numerous questions were raised regarding the recent rows at Hyderabad Central University and Jawaharlal Nehru University.
The Music Society of the college came up with the first edition of its annual ‘Milestones in Music’ which witnessed a jam-packed audience. Milestones was the last society event this year in the college. The event started with Johann Pachelbel’s Canon in D and then went on covering several genres and paying tributes to eminent Indian singers like Asha Bhonsle. Though the audience looked captivated throughout the event, the electrifying Sweet Child O’ Mine guitar performance and the Bow Band/Girl Group Face Off gathered most of the shouts. The event ended with a huge round of applause.
Sabha’s annual production, ‘No One Killed Mr Malik’ brought together college’s well known faces in acting. The play was a thriller, full of mystery, and attracted a huge crowd as well.

Featured image credits: PhotoSoc, St Stephen’s College

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