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A Three-Step Plan For Effective Self-Improvement

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Read on to find out how to make an efficient and simple plan to be a better version of you through the practice of self-improvement.

Self-improvement is an intimidating process that is often perceived as a short struggle rather than long-term metamorphosis. Read on to find out how to go about it in a simple way-

Seek emotional stability:

Whoever you are and whatever you do, you are a result of millions of years of evolution and have been made and raised with love and care. Respecting yourself, your emotions, your insecurities, your fears, and every part of you is the first step to be emotionally stable. This would be the most difficult part of your transformation plan, years of negative thought processes and social conditioning is not easy to get rid of. Maintain a journal where you consistently pen down you emotions, without fear of judgement and with absolute candour. Embrace honesty as a virtue and communicate openly, even if others may not want to hear it. Being authentic in a world where almost everyone portrays a façade gives an irreplaceable sense of pride. Most importantly, respect yourself for who you are; that will effectively help you become a happier person. Have a healthy emotional relationship with yourself and with others, which should include respect, kindness, and forgiveness.

Engage in a physical activity:

Irrespective of your fitness levels, make time to engage in some form of physical activity daily. This advice has little to do with your physical appearance or how you feel about your body. Go for a run, take a long walk, play a sport, dance, keep moving daily. Channel the physical strength of your body and marvel at the beauty of its fluidity every day. Your body is a wonder, a piece of art that you have absolute control over. Relish the experience of running until you are out of breath, spent, and exhausted. Exercise by its very virtue, be it playing a sport or going for a jog regulates our emotions and gives us a passage to express our angst in a healthy way.

Focus on your long-term goal:

Most college students are devoted to multiple societies and NGO’s while pursuing a full-time education. These additional commitments require long hours of dedication. This makes one feel like they are being pulled in too many directions at the same time. As a result, most of us end up compromising on our academics which can lead to a long-term setback. Therefore, allocating a window of time that you would dedicate to academics, or whatever your primary long-term goal in life is and working on the same religiously during that time, will help you with bettering yourself as a person.  The number of hours you need to dedicate to this would vary from course to course and is subjective to your individual capacities and needs. This time period should be fairly realistic in nature and should be followed strictly. Try incorporating it into your schedule at a time when you are most likely to be free, say early in the morning. Once you are doing what you are primarily supposed to do, whether it is studying for GMAT, entrance examinations, or recording music in order to learn music production, you would feel more in control of your life and therefore happier in general.

Most importantly, in this entire process of self-improvement, do not forget to love all versions of yourself. Seek growth but do not forget to live in the moment and celebrate your gifts and form meaningful bonds with people that reinforce this kind of positivity. Choose to improve yourself not because of hate and disgust for your current self but out of respect for your ambitions and due to a desire to be better in the future. Happy growing!

 

Feature Image Credits: Embracing Money

Kinjal Pandey

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DUB Speak

Budget 2018’s Focus on Education

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The Union Budget for this fiscal year was announced on 1st February 2018. Here is a look at all the aspects concerning the student varsity of India.

Economists and critics have had their opinions about the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government’s last budget before the 2019 elections. Let us look at how education fared in Arun Jaitley’s last budget which mainly focuses on the agricultural sector.

1 lakh Crore will be invested in RISE (Revitalisating of Infrastructure and System of Education) till 2022 aiming to improve the state of quality education and infrastructure of such institutions. Similarly, Eklavya schools will be opened in areas of more than 50% tribal citizens. The real question is whether this money will be fully utilized in these missions or will the future generation of India still grapple with low standards of education in its government schools. According to studies, the quality of education in the already established government schools is abysmal and students often drop out.

18 autonomous Schools of Planning and Architecture will be made in Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and National Institute of Technology (NIT) across the country. In the latest Prime Minister Fellows Scheme, 1000 B.Tech students of premier institutions will be selected to pursue their PhDs from IITs and IISs. They would be provided with handsome fellowships and be expected to teach in high schools for a couple of hours every week. This scheme would help scholars having  limited means improve their job and future prospects. A Railway University will also be set up at Vadodara, Gujarat.

12.56 Crore rupees have been allocated for scholarships for students with disability. Government teacher training will also be provided to improve the quality of education in government. schools. The focus and benefits for startups are likely to create more jobs in the economy.

The government’s decision to reduce Employees’ Provident Fund from 12% to 8% is not an intelligent move as it decreases the employee’s retirement money as well as interest that could have been earned. No focus has been paid to construction of more medical colleges and availability of easy student loans.

The budget is not inclusive of all students and does not benefit them equally. The students’ votes would depend on how well the government performed during these past four years overall and how well it helped boost our economy. The economy is a vital tool in the functioning of any country, considering the fact that approximately 50% of the population is below the age of 25, the economy must cater to students due to abundance in numbers.

Feature Image Credits: The Financial Express

Prachi Mehra

[email protected]

 

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DUB Speak

Absurdly “Realistic Stereotypes”

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Whenever college students are depicted in movies, you have to take it with a grain of salt. They are generally depicted as 25-to-30-year-olds never studying or attending class while focusing all their time on their social lives. That being said, sometimes there’s an ounce of truth to these stereotypes.

Here is a carefully crafted list of college students as movie characters that you find in every college-

The tomboyish exuberance: Anjali from Kuch Kuch Hota Hai

For an industry that had a history of being stuck with “gulaabi gaal” and “reshmi zulfein”, Anjali was a miracle. The tomboyish exuberance, the loud disposition, the nonchalance towards fashion and social mannerisms was more real than Bollywood likes to be. Millions of girls across India felt seen for the first time. For this, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai will be a landmark and blessing to Bollywood, always.

The self-loving socialite: Poo from Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham

She loved herself. Right from her killer entry dancing on “It’s Raining Men” to her looking for fat-free stuff on the dining table, Poo’s world revolved around herself. She refused to be bossed around by men and did the bossing all by herself. She also taught every woman that there’s nothing wrong with finding yourself sexy. You’ll definitely come across a Poo in college whose fashion sense might be over the top, but is never afraid to speak her mind.

The reckless and westernised archetype: Laxman aka Lucky from Main Hoon Naa

Lucky represents the most radical divergence from the typical Bollywood hero figure. From the moment he first appears on screen, Lucky typifies everything that Bollywood culture seems to fear. He wears Westernized clothing (leather jackets and ripped shirts), drives a motorcycle, plays the guitar, and is a serious lady’s man. Lucky also sports long, unruly hair, a sign of recklessness and wild behaviour. Throughout the movie, we see him smoking, failing classes, and denying any romantic feelings for girls in order to maintain his image. In each college, you would encounter such a prototype who would appear reckless from afar, but on close scrutiny, you’d discover the “softer” image of their character.

The Youth Leader: Michael Mukherjee from Yuva

In every college, we see the erudite college youth leader who wants to bring about a change in the social order and wants to use student power to change the festering fortunes of Indian politics. He doesn’t think it’s wrong to hustle people around as long as the ends are achieved. He is passionate about his ideas to the extent that he’d be willing to turn down a US scholarship, like Ajay Devgn’s character did in Yuva.

The good student whose passion lies elsewhere: Farhan from 3 Idiots

Farhan has a passion for photography in the movie and his passion is to become a wildlife photographer. But he joined an engineering college to satisfy his parents. Throughout your college life, you’d come across many of his kind who have been compelled to choose a course of life they are not passionate about, but still go ahead due to certain compulsions.

The ditzy party girl: Haley Dunphy from Modern Family

Sarah Hyland’s ditzy yet lovable Haley has had a rough collegiate road. She first got kicked out of college for freshman drinking, thereafter got enrolled in community college and then started her own fashion photography blog. If you pay closer heed, you’d see that every college has someone with this party-girl persona.

The Bro:  Steve Stifler in American Pie

Much like the offensive but good-natured Stifler, bros are obnoxious, loud-mouthed males who live for partying. Every college has at least one. They usually just stand around holding a red plastic cup waiting for something exciting to happen so they can scream something that demonstrates how much they really enjoy partying. Usually, well concealed under spiked hair with frosted tips, there’s a heart of real gold.

The Nice, Stable Nerd: Max Fischer in Rushmore

Just as every movie features a bro, the flip-side of the coin is the uncool nerd character who is still somehow likable despite being presented as a loser. Unthreatening, intelligent, and helpful, he would be obsessed with joining and starting college clubs like beekeeping, stamp and coin collecting, French, Model United Nations and so. Like Max, the likeable nerd also often has trouble in love.

The talented multi-tasker: Elle Woods from Legally Blonde

Elle Woods had a lot going for her. She was president of her sorority, was charming and most importantly, was a natural blonde. She was also crafty enough to make it into Harvard  Energetic, sweet, and persistent, she is the prototype of the multi-tasker in every college.

 

Feature Image Credits: PNGTree

Vaibhavi Sharma Pathak

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Steep Increase in Delhi Metro’s Fares, Has Hit the Students Hard

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delhi metro

Over two months into the new set of fares, it is imperative to scrutinise the kind of impact it has had on the students of the University of Delhi.

Barring the minimum fare of Rs. 10 for a distance of 0-2 km, which has remained the same, fares have been raised for all other slabs. This has evoked mostly negative responses for student commuters and has caused chaos all over Delhi-NCR. The central question being asked by Delhi-NCR students with limited spending money is- why the Delhi Metro can’t have a student pass system, as there is for DTC buses?

How much does it pinch one’s pocket if one has to pay Rs 10 more per ride on Delhi Metro? The fare hike, which came into effect on October 10, 2017, looks moderate at first glance. But for those Delhi college-goers who take the Metro everywhere, this has been a pain in the last two months.

It used to cost the average South Delhi-ite Rs. 40 to travel from South Delhi to the North Campus earlier. After the two price hikes in Delhi Metro this year, they now have to spend over Rs. 100 on their daily travel.

While this move to hike the metro rates has attracted mounting criticism towards the Delhi government and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation over the last two months, it is not the DMRC which is to blame. As per the provision of Delhi Metro Rail (Operation & Maintenance) Act, 2002, the Metro fares are fixed and revised by a regulatory authority (fare fixation committee) constituted by the Government of India. Under Section 37 of the Act, the recommendations of the FFC are binding on the Metro Rail authority. DMRC does not have any power in this regard.

Nevertheless, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has defended the fare hike, saying it was needed to “maintain a world-class service”. But what good is a world-class service if the common man finds it unaffordable?

The Delhi Metro had made it possible for students to cut down on commute time and attend college far away from home. Following the hike in rates, it has become taxing for them to go back to sitting on a bus stuck in a jam, spending 90 minutes each way on the commute. Auto-rickshaws and taxis haven’t been a viable option either, being too expensive for the student pocket.

Apart from this effect on students, the fare-hike hasn’t “fared” well for the DMRC either. It has in fact led to reduced ridership and subsequent loss to DMRC. The move has also resulted in traffic congestion and increased pollution levels in the national capital. (Remember, remember the fifth of November?)

For others, while a hike of Rs. 10 per ride has not been too much, has that led to better services? It goes without saying that there is a lack of clean toilets at Delhi Metro stations — in fact, few Delhi Metro stations have any toilets, clean or otherwise. While some students wouldn’t mind paying an increased fare, they had expected better facilities to supplement the hike.

Unfortunately, the fare hike hasn’t witnessed a corresponding hike in improved crowd management during peak hours. The case is worse for women students. The fare hike has forced them to adopt less safe modes of transportation or has forced some of them to attend college less frequently.

But things aren’t going downhill for everyone. While the move has certainly benefitted cab operators, it has favoured the e-rickshaw drivers operating near the campus colleges.

Two months down, it is widely felt that the Centre did not assess the ground reality. It is pinching the pockets of students to an extent that it has taken a toll in their attendance, in some cases.

At a time when six rapes and several cases of eve-teasing and harassment are reported each day, the Metro fare hike needs serious reconsideration.

When the government says that it’s trying to give us world-class services, it must also keep in mind that many countries allow discounted rates of metro travel for students. Why is it that the Delhi Metro doesn’t?

 

Feature Image Credits: The Times of India

Vaibhavi Sharma Pathak

[email protected]

 

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DUB Speak

Arts Stream and Liberty: Do They Move Hand In Hand?

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Let’s hope that in the future, people get rid of the contempt that they have for those pursuing arts stream, and treat this career option with the respect that it so truly deserves.

Against many odds and the better judgement of snoopy uncles and aunties, I decided to take up arts stream. My entire extended family was obviously unhappy with my decision, however my father’s confidence in my decision instilled me with courage and hope.

In my second year now, I am so glab about the decision that I made. This is so because it gave me the liberty that no other stream would have been able to. Here I would like to talk about liberty in two aspects- liberty of choice and liberty in thoughts. While talking about the former I would like to say that the sheer amount of options that I have to explore myself and career choices leaves me grateful. My college life is not just about studying my course and trying desperately to pass the examinations. This is because the arts stream gives me the opportunity and time to actually hone my hidden talents and try out something new. Had I taken up anything else, maybe all that I wanted to explore would have been restricted somewhat. Also the amount of career choices that I can take up in my future is ample. Most of these choices are unexplored by the vast population of this country. Hence the cut –throat competition in these fields remains absent leaving a lot of doors open.

Talking about liberty in thoughts, I would like to say that I have learnt to empathise with everyone, to raise my voice against any wrongdoing, to fight for people’s rights and has made me a concerned citizen and human being. I have learnt to question any regressive tradition and reason with irrationality, and learnt lessons on how to maintain my moral ground and never leave it no matter how testing a situation is.
Thus I am being shaped into a liberal in a true sense by my teachers, my course and my books. These perks should be discussed often so that more and more people become aware of this.

 

Feature Image Credits: Fear from Exams
Anukriti Mishra
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International Students’ Day Special: Student Activism

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As Indian universities and schools continue to suffer due to the lack of freedom of expression and the absence of student safety norms, students need to be at the forefront of the movement of change. This International Students’ Day, we, the students, should understand the significance of student activism in everyday issues.  

The 17th of November is the International Students’ Day, an international observance of student activism. The date commemorates the anniversary of the 1939 Nazi attack on the University of Prague after demonstrations against the killing of Jan Opletal, the occupation of Czechoslovakia, the execution of nine student leaders, the transfer of over 1200 students to concentration camps, and the closing of all Czech universities and colleges. The day was first observed in 1941 in London by the International Students’ Council (which had many refugee members) in accord with the Allies, and the tradition has been kept up by the International Union of Students, which has been pressing with National Unions of Students in Europe and other groups to make the day an official United Nations observance.

The Athens Polytechnic uprising against the Greek military junta of 1973 came to a climax on November 17, with a violent crackdown and a tank crushing the gates of the university. The Day of the Greek Students is today among the official student holidays in Greece. The 1989 Prague demonstrations for International Students Day helped spark the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia. Struggle for Freedom and Democracy Day is now marked as the official holiday in both the Czech Republic (since 2000, thanks to the efforts of the Czech Student Chamber of the Council of Higher Education Institutions) and  Slovakia.

How is all of the above relevant to the present day? After Jawahar Lal University starting the nationalism debate, Rohit Vemula’s Death in Hyderabad Central University, Ramjas College stone pelting at University of Delhi, call for freedom in Banaras Hindu University,  pro-azaadi slogans being raised in Jadavpur University, Ryan International School killings raising apprehensions about school safety norms, distortion of state board’s school history syllabi in Rajasthan and Maharashtra, saying ‘Vande Mataram’ for the roll call in a school in Madhya Pradesh and many more similar incidents, I have a question to ask – in the wave of polarisation, are we safe? Do we actually have the freedom to express ourselves in any manner as we want without offending the cultural notions of nationalism in our country? Or will all of us be subject to trolls and rape threats if we put forward our opinion?

Debate, dissent, and dialogue are non-negotiable in places of education. Antonio Gramsci accorded the highest value to critical thinking of students more than their employability, knowledge, and skills. Amidst the culture of commercialisation of education, are students losing their right to ask questions and  to move freely in and across campuses? Enlightened students have to be the torchbearers of change and their courageous voice of dissent plays a crucial role in a healthy democracy. The big squeeze on civil society and on cultures of protest needs to be freed and we have to make sure that the state respects not only the articulation of politics of ‘vote’ but also the politics of ‘voice’.

Once in 1975, student movements in Bihar led by J.P. Narayan opposed the autocratic emergency regime and restored democracy in India. We have ample examples from India’s independence struggle to show us what aware students and citizens can achieve. To embark on the spirit of enlightenment, this International Students’ Day, all of us should take examples from the world as well as national history and believe in the power of student activism to bring a change.

 

Feature Image Credits: The Atlantic

Oorja Tapan

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Qui-Vive: Students’ Discounts Around You

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Being a student has its perks – be it in tourists’ places or on various airlines. So, get acquainted with a few privileges you can acquire being a student and make the most out of the opportunities.

With proper documentation, you can indeed enjoy the perquisites of being a student irrespective of whether you are in the first year of middle school or the final year of college. Take it easy on your little pockets and explore the places that can help you cut costs as students.

1. Discount Cards!

The University of Delhi has schemes under which you can get discount cards to help you save 20% to 50% on your expenditure. With an International Student Identity Card (ISIC), you can avail of great discounts all across the world on airfares, hotels, restaurants, magazines, cafes, multiplexes and game ranges. The Paisa Card, Taf Bazaar Card and Desconto are some cards you can apply for- to avail discounts at various eateries, bookstores, apparel stores, gyms and beauty parlours in Delhi NCR.

2. Apple Back-to-School Products

If you love Apple products, under their Back to College offer, you can get student discounts on the MacBook, iMac, iPads and even iPhones ranging between a minimum of Rs3,000 to Rs12,000.

3.  Fly With Discounts

There are students discount schemes in IndiGo Airlines and Air Asia and 50% discount schemes at both JetKonnect and Air India. Under this offer, your check-in baggage limit is increased by around 20 to 25kgs usually. The offer is only valid on economy seats. If you are studying abroad, Thomas Cook offers all US-bound flight base fares from Rs21,500, UK, and Europe from Rs9,800 and Canada from Rs23,000. Air India and other airlines like British Airlines offer free baggage allowance to students.

4. Gym Memberships

Gold’s Gym outlets across the country have a 50% off for all students. O2 gym offers an additional 5% off. Most gyms run student offers throughout the year in and around campus in DU.

5. Bus And Train Passes

Being a student has its benefits while travelling in the city as well.  In Delhi, you can get concession on a bus pass if you are a student but the Metro is yet to offer any kind of discounts. Indian Railways provide students’ concession in train tickets.

6. Courier services

You can use courier services from DHL and FedEx to send your admission applications for a flat rate of Rs890 and Rs990, respectively. To avail of this offer, you only need to carry a photocopy of your current college ID or any photo ID and address proof to verify your age. This has been specially designed for international university aspirants.

7. All Touristy

Heritage sites in most of the states have student tourist discounts. Also, special tour packages are available for college-going students at pocket-friendly prices.

 

Feature Image Credits: Yupcard

Radhika Boruah

[email protected]

 

 

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In Conversation with Dr. Shaik Suleman

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Dr. Shaik Suleman is the General Manager of Overseas Education Services at EdCIL India Ltd. EdCIL is a mini-ratna government company under the Ministry of Human Resource Development which provides education consultancy services to the MHRD.

  1. Russia launched an initiative known as ‘5/100 initiative’ to boost the international faculty and students in its universities by 2020 as part of a wider plan to develop the global competitiveness of their universities.  How does the government plan to increase its institutions’ global competitiveness?

 

Indian government in the recent days is trying to enhance the standards of the premier institutions of India                  and is already inviting foreign faculty through the ‘Gyan’ program. We are progressing in this endeavour.

 

  1. According to HRD ministry’s All India Report on Higher Education 2015-16, only 45,424 foreign students were enrolled in Indian educational institutes whereas Indian students are the second largest source of international postgraduates in the UK. Are there any incentives the government plans to offer to invite more international students?

 

The official number is 45,424 students but informally more students are coming to India i.e. 1 lac students.                    Currently the government isn’t planning for any incentives but is working to generate more opportunities for                foreign students to come and study in India. At present, our premier institutions like IIMs and IITs do not have          any quota for foreign students but the government being a part of the Kasturirangan Committee is planning on            providing some quota to foreign students which will hopefully increase their number.

 

  3.  At present, roughly a third of all German students spend some time at a university outside                    Germany during their degree programme and are working to increase it to 50%, are any plans in        the pipeline for us, Indian students?

The UGC (University Grants Commission) has given directions to the universities stating that in the designing of         the curriculum there should be an ‘Industry Interaction’ like Barcelona where students attend morning classes             for theory study and in the afternoon they visit industries. Some of the deemed universities are planning for                 similar industry interaction. The government has initiated and the plans are in the initial stages, nothing has               been finalised yet.

 

  1. The University of California at Berkeley is setting up a new campus at Richmond Bay, California, where it plans to host 4-5 Asian and European universities.Has the Ministry thought of setting an Indian university in their campus?

We have not yet been given green signals regarding the same but renowned private universities of India like                 Manipal University etc. are planning to set up their campuses on foreign soils.

 

 

  1. Providing incentives and inviting more international students would strength India’s ties with their countries and greatly influence India’s image as an emerging ‘education hub’, don’t you think?

We can provide scholarships to foreign meritorious students in the fee structure etc. Other than that, quality of            education in the institutions need to be improved. Also, the communication and liaising between the                              institutions and foreign students need to be strengthened like smooth travelling, helping them in settling down            in the Indian culture and exposing them to the Indian culture and diversity. Such aspects play a major role as              well. For India to become an education hub, we need to upgrade our curriculum and provide courses with                      international validity like Big Data, Data Analytics or IOT (Internet of Things). On the other hand, we are very              strong with IT and Science field. The other courses where we are not renowned but good marketing would solve          the problem, then there is no stopping India from becoming an education hub.

Feature Image Credits : DU Beat

Prachi Mehra

[email protected]

 

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The many issues faced by College Students

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A college student has many definitive issues that almost all college students feel. Given below are a few such issues. Read on and let us know if you relate to any of them.

  • Perpetually broke

    If you’re a college student, you are bound to be broke. One of the biggest issues which almost all college students face is handling and dealing with finances and the going gets even rougher when you live away from home. No matter what ensues, no college kid ever has had enough money at any given point of time to go all out and spend on themselves without thinking of all the other expenses they have and doing a mental check of finances. Whenever the cash gets low, the thinking gets irrational. “Was it right to spend Rs. 30 on that rickshaw ride? Honestly, I could’ve just walked!”

  • Being politically, socially correct at all times 

    We’ve all heard the fact that when you enter college, you step into the real world. In college, you meet many new people from different walks of life. Diversity gets a whole new meaning and you realise just how different people can be from each other. In a situation like this, it’s almost impossible to not offend anyone with a joke you crack or a casual remark you pass. But, that’s just how you learn to survive outside the four walls of school.

  • Time management

    College life is so much more than just unit tests, exams and assignments. You have societies which literally suck the life out of you, internships that exhaust; which you have to straddle with academics. Time management is apparently something almost none of us understand or master. One often finds himself/herself perpetually complaining about never-ending work, sleepless nights and time that almost never is enough. The key is to not put your feet into too many boats at the same time and prevent yourself from reaching the burnout phase.

  • Socialising

    A very important aspect of College is friends. There are school friends who you have to keep in touch with, new college friends who you have to get to know better and deal with everyday, society friends, tuition mates, long lost friends and just friends left, right and centre. And there’s so much to do with them! Attend events, attend the best fests in town, explore the city, go to the famous hangout places and go to the not so famous hangout places. And that’s when the conflicts and problems arise because no one knows how to hangout with everyone and visit every place and cross every item off the bucket list and handle regular college stuff, all at the same time. (Prioritisation is the word.)

Feature image credits:
www.sovhealth.com

Akshara Srivastava
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QWERTY: Must have tech for freshers in DU

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College life is driven by a lot of factors. Although, technology is not a very major one, it helps you to keep tab on various aspects of your college life. So, here’s the first part of the list of the hardware that we think would really help you in your undergraduate journey:

  1. Smartphone 

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    Source: pixabey.com

With time changing more swiftly than weather, a smartphone is a must for all new fuchchas out there unless you want to get on back foot for losing out on the random WhatsApp chats and latest class time updates and last minute changes declared by your popular class representative (CR). From taking a perfect selfie to calculating your monthly expenses, your smartphone can be the gateway to the world.

 

 

 

2. Earphones

Source: www.publicdomainpictures.net
Source: www.publicdomainpictures.net

From the drum beats of the theatre society to the noises of students bunking classes, you have to face a whole new level of distractions while trying to concentrate on something in college. In this situation a good earphone can come as a great rescue in time. With a great combination of right volume and right music it has the power to shift you to a different world where you can focus on your work in hand. No doubt some awesome companies like Google, Facebook and apple have earphone vending machines on their office premises.

 

3. Power Banks

Source: wikimedia.org
Source: wikimedia.org

From waking you up in the morning for the 8:30 classes to satisfying your soul with music during break within classes, your phone works harder than you. With WhatsApp and Facebook notifications pinging up in every ten minutes your phone’s battery life is going to get tired like you at the end or even middle of the day. A good power bank can ensure that your lifeline i.e. – phone doesn’t go out of its life and make your life more difficult. Go get one, before you decide between whether to make a last call of the day or to play your favourite song.

 

 

 

Having the right hardware is just not enough. One needs to know how to use it. Else it’s just dead weight that you’re carrying. So here’s the first part of the list of apps and software that would really help you in your undergraduate journey:

  1. For Social Needs

WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat – These are the four pillars of a good social life in not just DU, but in any university across the nation. Most of you, are already on Facebook and WhatsApp. Instagram and Snapchat are the ones on which many of you still aren’t. For an all-round social life, you need to be on the other two as well. You’ll realise their importance once the fest season comes. So register yourself right now and like the DU Beat pages (Yes! That is essential for a very cool social life as well. True Story!).

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2. For Documentation and Project Needs

Open Office & Libre Office – These three are free license office suites which will help you to do all your digital assignments, presentation, reports and projects on Laptop or PC. Microsoft Office suite is one the best but it is paid. These are the best free alternatives.

53. For Utility

Truecaller – If you have an active social life in college or you’re involved in various co-curricular activities, you’ll need to filter out the incoming calls. This app comes in handy. It’s a universal caller ID which gives you the name of the person along with some additional information. User can also block numbers, making it an excellent ‘pervert management tool for girls.

ColorNote– The app is one of the best apps for taking quick notes and messages on your phone. You can make check lists and can even pin your TODOs in the notification bar. It’s available for Android and Windows phone. Similar variants are available for Apple iPhones easily.

Pocket– The ultimate apps for bookmarks. There are various links leading to articles about plethora of things on various social networks which will resonate with your personality. This app helps you save such links so that they can be read anywhere, on any platform or device. You can even save them offline and load it later. All you need to do is save them under your pocket account.

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We wrap up the first part of our tech list here. Stay tuned for more. Do tell us about your personal experiences with apps and software in similar categories.

Image credits: natashascrazylife.blogspot.com

Kavach Chandra and Srivedant Kar
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[email protected]

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