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LSR Indefinitely Defers Tarang, Cites Security Issues

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Lady Shri Ram College (LSR), has indefinitely deferred their annual cultural fest, Tarang, citing safety and security of the students as the main reason behind its cancellation.

On 5th February 2020, a statement released by the organisers of Tarang, states “keeping in mind the present environment and concerns regarding the safety and security of students. Tarang has been deferred until further notice. We apologise for the inconvenience caused.”

Dissenting Voices of LSR, a collective started by students within the college, released a statement which states, that “Tarang, which was supposed to take place after a poll by the students. The poll decided it would take place, and, was not cancelled by the students who spoke out against it”

They point out the ironic nature of how “a huge majority of students in a liberal arts college believe they can curtail an individual’s fundamental right to protest.” they also allege that the Student Union, which has initially brought up the idea of cancelling Tarang is deliberately shifting the “blame for the fest being cancelled by the repressive admin to the marginalised students.”

The cancellation of Tarang also affects the societies within LSR. As Disha Rawal, one of the coordinators for Projekt, LSR’s Film and Photography society said, “ I think as a society we really looked forward to Tarang, and we planned a lot for it. We had an exhibition, film events, and photography events. As a society, we really looked forward to Tarang as the one place where we will get to showcase your work and interact with the circuit, which is very important. The effects it has had along with morale going down is that to establish yourself in the circuit, you need to have events and Tarang was our main event now we will have to look for other things which will be smaller in scale and size, secondly, this will lead to a trust deficit with the sponsors. On the other hand, I do understand where the admin has come from, there is a security concern, so we are assured now that no threat will play out.”

DU Beat has reached out to the administration and members of the Students’ Union and received no comment as of yet. This report will be updated on receiving further information from them.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat

Prabhanu Kumar Das

[email protected]

 

 

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Arts & Culture

To Have or Not to Have Tarang: LSR Students’ Union Asks Students

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Students’ Union of Lady Shri Ram College proposes cancelling Tarang, their Annual Cultural Fest in the current political scenario, however, receives arguments on both ends.

In a political scenario as such being faced by the country today- with unpopular bills being enacted into laws, unlawful internet shutdowns being imposed, students widely protesting across the country and many being victims of sheer violence by the Delhi police while others not being protected by them, the Students’ Union of Lady Shri Ram College (LSR) proposed the cancellation of Tarang, the annual cultural fest of the college, which was to be held during the first week of February.

Tarang is a platform for societies to organise inter-college competitions and for students to enjoy pro-nights with popular artists being invited by the Students’ Union. It is a commercialised event where sponsorships are raised to fund these artists (their fee, travel and accommodation), setting up of stages and food-stalls etc.

A General Body Meeting (GBM) was conducted by the Students’ Union on 9th January so as to discuss whether or not Tarang, a celebration, should be hosted in today’s political situation. The GBM entertained arguments from both sides- those who believed Tarang should take place, and those who felt otherwise.

Some of the claims of those against the cancellation of Tarang suggested that this cancellation would be a rather tokenistic action by the college and the students should instead actively participate in protests and carry out dissent during and beyond Tarang. Some believe that cancelling Tarang isn’t enough to represent solidarity if other DU colleges continue to host their annual fests. They believe that this would not guarantee any impact on the government and only be a huge waste of resources.

Students, particularly from performing societies, argued that these societies and the Organising Committee (OC) have worked tirelessly for months preparing for this event and with the cancellation, will also incur a huge financial loss given the sponsorships were raised several months prior. However, they suggested that if this loss is compensated for, they would not have any reservations against cancellation.

Other arguments were presented suggesting using Tarang itself as a platform of expressing dissent via art forms, moulding the agenda and theme of the event so as to make a political statement. They suggested removing the “celebration aspect” of the fest, particularly the pro-night.

These arguments were countered by the claims of students advocating the cancellation of Tarang. It was argued that in this grim scenario where public universities and fellow students are under attack, and where our democracy is in danger, it would be “insensitive” to hold Tarang, while the students of LSR affirm to support the students’ struggles. A commercial fest in such a scenario appears unfitting.

They believe that cancelling Tarang would be the most decent and bare minimum step by the students, making a strong political statement. Given that it is one of the biggest college fests in the country, it would also set a precedent for other colleges to take equally significant political stances in their capacities.

“My personal opinion is that we shouldn’t hold Tarang during these fascist times where students like us are protesting day and night, where brave woman of Shaheen Bagh have taken up the streets leaving the comfort of their homes to raise their voices against what is happening in the country. We cannot justify having a celebration when we do not know what is happening in Kashmir, Assam and people have lost their jobs, degrees, daily wages and lives. Dissent is never comfortable and we, as students of LSR need to look beyond the factor of our enjoyment. Tarang cannot be politicised so anyone believing that we can is just cannot look beyond their apathy, indifference and insensitivity”, quoted Prashansa Singh, Treasurer of LSR’s Students’ Union.

Some students also argue that this commercialised fest has also failed to be inclusive of the marginalised groups. It usually represents a homogeneous culture and most of the food stalls, etc. are not affordable for everyone.

The minutes of this GBM was shared by the Students’ Union across the students of LSR where in the opinion of the union was cited- “The union expressed that they do not feel appropriate to have Tarang at this point, given that it revolves around a sense of enjoyment by having pro nights and food fests. While going to protest is a choice, by cancelling Tarang – a student body initiative the students have the power to make a huge political statement against what’s happening in the country right now. Furthermore, protest and resistance are not meant to be comfortable and convenient. Students’ Union feels that even if Tarang moulds itself as a way of showing active dissent, it would be an appropriation of the protests happening on the streets in an enclosed safe space”.

The Students’ Union has suggested the release of a poll on the matter so as to collect the general opinion of the student body. However, this too is opposed by many students claiming that polls would fail to collect well-versed opinions. Some also argued that by favouring majority vote, we would be basically “oppressing” the minority, leaving no difference between ourselves and the very government we are opposing.

On an Instagram page “overheardlsr”, multiple anonymous messages were received suggesting that the GBM held by the Students’ Union on this issue was highly biased and appeared to be “threatening” to those who supported the hosting of Tarang. The Students’ Union allegedly seemed judgemental against the performing societies and did not allow easy arguments against their own stance.

Feature Image Credits: DU Beat Archives

Aditi Gutgutia 

[email protected] 

 

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Campus Central

Will it Take a Stampede for Unions to Take Security Seriously?

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By bringing a popular star, organising committees think their fest was a success, conveniently ignoring the ruckus and lack of security beside the glamorous stage.

Perhaps, it’s an Indian thing: no regard for personal space and history of crowd disasters. Everyone- the organizers or the participants- has normalised trampling and minor injuries. It’s seen as an indispensable part of fest experience. This explains why the President of Lady Irwin College, Nikita Tiwari, bombarded the comments’ section of our Facebook post that reported the injuries and mismanagement suffered by the guests at Quintessence’19 instead of accepting responsibility. In the same breath where they admit to being crowded, she stated how such incidents are common and regaled the tale of hard work that goes into organising fests.

At Reverie’19, the annual cultural fest of Gargi College, reports of rampant sexual harassment were especially shameful, considering the fest theme emphasised consent’s significance. Gargi’s Union had substantial time to craft a sensible reply and do a self-assessment but it chose to deliver a response devoid of any apology, even taking credit for victims who voiced their experience, by stating- “Their standing against the discomfort experienced by them due to some ill elements present in the crowd, stood testimony to the success of our theme.”

Maghendra Pratap Singh, Cultural Secretary of Hindu College Parliament, told DU Beat that the medical room in a building in the sports’ ground was open, and volunteers were available to assist anyone who needed help. Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) was on the same bandwagon, but both the colleges failed to provide concrete answers about why this information wasn’t publicised. In case of an emergency, how can a non-Hindu or non-SRCC student be expected to know where the medical room is? Does the union expect the aggrieved to look for volunteers, instead of rushing to a designated help desk that should have been placed?

In the backdrop of Pulwama attacks, India is vulnerable to terrorist attacks; fests, like all mass gatherings, have a risk of being a terrorist attack target, which makes the first line of security at the entrance gate crucial. The top colleges of India seem to forget this and open their gates for all. On the last day of Mecca (Hindu College), the gates were left open without guards at later hours of the fest. The Parliament had no response for this. In SRCC, the entry (that was initially via passes for non-SRCC students) was opened for all. When asked about it, a union member said the decision was made by the administration to curb passes’ sale.

There is also a trend of hiring bouncers from private firms to guard star nights. The SHO of Maurice Nagar, Mr. RA told DU Beat that police can provide close to 100 personnel for a DU fest, but witnesses present only saw a maximum of 12-15 men.

At the risk of being highbrow, LSR practices strictness like no entry post 4 p.m. and pass-entry only. Kaushiki Arha, President of the LSR Union, explains how the security team of Tarang had a total of nine heads and sub-heads, around 30 core team members with close to 600 volunteers who were divided into different slots over three days. She said that in addition to basic medical facilities available in the campus, they tied up with Apollo Hospital, who provided them with a doctor and an ambulance on the second day of the fest since it was expected to see the highest turn-out. LSR doesn’t hire any private security, and has proven to be self-sufficient in terms of crowd control. If Tarang can have this sorted, then why can’t others

If organising committees can spend to book popular celebrities, then it is realistic to expect that they make sure that barricades, police, ambulance, entry-exit procedure, etc. are in place. The only reason why we see a pattern of crowd disaster is that unions don’t care enough about security. No doubt that immense efforts are invested in organising a fest, but the argument here is of a continuous negation of apt security measures. With manpower, money, and time, the organisers don’t get to play helpless when things go south.

Feature Image Credits: Rishabh Gogoi for DU Beat

Niharika Dabral

[email protected]

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DU Annual Fest Season

Day 1 at LSR’s Tarang’17: ‘Redefining Rhapsody’ kicks off with a bang

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Lady Shri Ram College’s much-awaited annual fest, Tarang, is finally here. Tarang 2017, with its theme of “redefining rhapsody” is a three-day long spectacle taking place from the 3rd to the 5th of February 2017. With starry pro nights, exhibitions, games, competitions, workshops and great food, the first day of Tarang was definitely a hit.

 

Take a look at the Day 1 happenings at Tarang captured by us in time-lapse. 

 

 

The western music society of LSR organised events for both solo participants, as well as teams of three. In the solo category, Zacharyah Matthew Abraham of Ansal University,  Kishore Ningthoujam of Amity University and Gurpreet Kaur of Jesus and Mary College won first, second and third place respectively. In the trio category, Kishore Ningthoujam, Lishma Manandhar and Rhea Toor, accompanied by Saarim Khan from Amity University won the first prize, Shikha Agnihotri, G.S Kasturi and Manikaant Suryan, accompanied by Ujjwal Sharma and Ashanka Saha from NSIT won the second prize and Riddhi Sharma, Rigzin Angmo and Klirka Engtipi from Shri Ram College of Commerce won the third prize.

The dramatics society of the college held its stage play event “Yavnika”, and presented five of the best productions of this year. Among the participants were – Yakshagana, the theatre society of Northern India Engineering College, who performed “Shunya Battey Sannata”; Sri Venkateswara College’s Verbum, with “Learning to Drive”, a nonchalant yet hard-hitting play that revolved around child sexual abuse; Natuve, the theatre society of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College with their hilarious production “PA…BHA…KA…”; Shunya, the theatre society of Ramjas College with “Evam Indrajit”. The last performance of the day was “The Play That Goes Wrong” by Dramanomics, the theatre society of the College of Vocational Studies. The non-competitive event allowed the different societies to showcase their performances without any rivalry.

 

SlamNation, a slam poetry completion organised by the Elocution Society saw powerful recitals of spoken word performances. 

The umbrella painting competition conducted under Hive, the Fine Arts society, brightened up the amphitheatre with vibrant and colourful creations.

Check out a sneak peek from the competition

The latter half of Day 1 at Tarang saw a steady rise in footfall, perhaps in anticipation of the star performances scheduled for later in the evening.

The Indian music society organised ‘Malhar’, the Indian solo classical competition. Bhargavi from Kirori Mal College claimed the first position, while second position was shared by Shreya from Shri Ram College of Commerce and Gurditt from Guru Tegh Bahadur Institute of Technology. Rajagopal from Shiv Nadar University took the third place.

“Izzaz”, the choreo group dance competition was organised by LSR’s dance society. The first position was jointly shared by Hans Raj College and Gargi College, while the second position was won by Kirori Mal College.

 

Towards the end of the night, Kanika Kapoor made a short appearance to endorse fashion brand Lulu and Sky. She gave away vouchers of the brand to winners from a previously organised competition and sung a few of her songs like ‘Chittiyan Kalaiyan’ and ‘Da Da Dasse’ on popular audience demand.  The highlight of the day was Prateek Kuhad’s soulful concert. He had the crowd completely captivated with his honey-like voice and lilting music.

 

Missed Prateek Kuhad’s performance? We’ve got you covered! Catch a glimpse of his performance below

 

 

 

The first day of Tarang also offered a range of workshops on pottery, jewellery making and modern calligraphy. With such an energetic start, the next two days of the fest are surely something to look forward to.

Feature image credits: Harshit Thukral

Niharika Dabral

[email protected]


Kriti Sharma
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Vineeta Rana

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DU Annual Fest Season

KMC and HRC start day 3 of Tarang 2016 with a win

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Day 3 of LSR Tarang 2016 started off on 7th February with a non competitive event, Nukkad Natak. A total of 8 teams participated. The jury consisted of Pallav Kumar, Director of Manthan, and Sonalini Kumar, Professor of Political Science.

Pitch Please, the Acapella competition opened with Ashoka University’s performance. The judges included the members of ‘Nouveau’ – Sherry Matthews, Ritwik De, and Subatra Kamat, who work together in a music initiative called ‘Nouveau’. The last judge was Apoorva Gandhi. 15 teams participated in the competition, and it was hosted by the Western Music Society. The winners of the competition were Kirori Mal College with Sri Venkateswara College and Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies as runners up.

The judges said that every team had their unique style, and performed well. Special mention was given to teams from Amity University, DTU, and Delhi College of Arts and Commerce.

Along with Pitch Please, the fashion show competition Anarchia- Breaking Stereotypes took place. The competition witnessed a participation of 7 teams, with the winner being Hans Raj College. The judges of the competition were Kamla Bhasin, Vikramaditya, an LGTB rights activist and Ms. Ishita from the Department of Sociology, LSR.

Sri Venkateswara Western Music Tarang 2016
Team from Sri Venkateswara College performs at Pitch Please

There were many other events like TV Show Quiz, Turncoat, and Elocution. The Indian Music Society also hosted a duel competition called Jugal Gaayan.

The college now gears up for the star night featuring the music band Agnee.

 

 

Arushi Pathak

Kartikeya Bhatotia

Sudisha Misra

Alex Arthur

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DU Annual Fest Season

Day 2 at LSR Tarang’ 16 stars off with Indian Music (Group) Competition and Battle of Bands

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Day 2 at LSR’s Tarang ’16 started off with the Indian Music (Group) competition, Sangam. A total number of 23 teams participated out of which 11 were shortlisted for the final round. The jury for the event comprised of Vivek Bhola, a Hindustani Music Vocalist and Maitreyee Mandal, Assistant Professor of English at LSR.

Debashree Basu of Kamala Nehru College said, “As soon as we got on the stage, we could feel the enthusiastic vibe and we knew the competition shall be tough. Every year, the colleges are setting a higher bar to compete with!”

The first position in Indian Music (Group) category was bagged by Hindu College. The second position was shared by Gargi College and Daulat Ram College. Sri Venkateswara College stood at the third position.

Hindu College Collective
Hindu College Collective

With this, Projekt, the photography society of LSR held the Silent Film Making Competition, Musidora. ‘Tangent’, of Shaheed Bhagat Singh College was declared the winner, followed by ‘Ghosts in the Machine’ of St. Stephen’s College. The Quiz Society hosted The India Quiz where Apratim Chandra Singh (St.Stephen’s College), Jayant Verma(Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies), Bishal Kumar (Department of Buddhist Studies, Delhi University) won the event.

With festivities on, there are many events happening all across campus. Battle of Bands managed the gather the maximum crowd. Events like Satyrday, Elocution and Cane Workshops were a huge attraction too.

LSR is gearing up for the EDM Night where DJ Sameer, Aerro and Jochen Miller are all set to perform. Stay tuned for live updates and glimpses of celebrations across campus.

Team Tarang for Day 2:
Arushi Pathak
Shagun Marwah
Shaina Ahluwalia
Tooba Towfiq
Mridul Kumar
Chirag Sharma
Alex Arthur

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DU Annual Fest Season

Day 1 of Tarang’ 16 ends with East India Comedy and The Local Train

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Tarang 2016, the annual fest of Lady Shri Ram College for Women kicked off on Friday, 5th of February and will continue till the 7th. Day 1 began with a series of events and competitions ranging from the quiz competition and photography exhibitions to informal events and tote bag painting sessions. As the day progressed, more and more people started filling in to attend the various competitions, events and the ongoing food fest at Tarang. 

Tarang '16
Follow us on Snapchat for behind the scenes action and commentary (ID: dubeat)

 

There were many events for poetry, writing, photography and music lovers. Some fine examples of the same include ‘Lords of Words’ organised by Expressions, which saw around 30-35 participants and the results of which shall be announced on the last day of the fest. The creative writing society and ‘Slam poetry’, where Anagha Gopal from St.Stephen’s college won first position.
Women’s Development Cell of LSR organised Lutalica, an event revolving around the idea of soliloquy which saw 9 teams as participants. Neha Diwan and Simran came first, followed by Trisha amongst the winners of the event.
With this, Prakriti, the environment society of LSR hosted Block and Tackle. Among other events were Tote Bag Painting, In-house exhibition and participatory exhibition.

The Indian Music Society hosted Malhaar, the classical solo competition and Sugam, the semi-classical/light solo competition. The first prize in the classical solo category was claimed by Alish Mohan of Hindu College, followed by Binit Singh of GTBIT. The third position was bagged by Swaradhana of Daulat Ram College.
In the semi-classical category, Gurdit of GTBIT won the first prize, Sheetal of FoM was on the second position. The third prize was shared by Shreehari of MEIT and Harjot of SGTB Khalsa College.

The other events spread across the campus were photography competitions: Emakimono, Projektions, Spot On and Kairos. Projektions was won by Alex Arthur of SRM and Ishaan Sengupta of Motilal Nehru College. With these, a parliamentary debate competition and Hindi poetry competition was also hosted. Informal events like ‘Taste test’ and ‘Beg borrow Snap’ were also held.

Many events were still underway when the crowd started preparing and proceeding towards the main stage where East India Comedy and The Local Train are all set to perform.

Stay tuned for more updates!

 

LSR Tarang coverage team, Day 1:

Arushi Pathak

Shaina Ahluwalia

Alex Arthur

Animesh Agarwal

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Events

Baila – The Western Dance Competition at Tarang 2012

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One of the most eagerly anticipated events of Tarang 2012 took place at 3:30pm in the auditorium yesterday. As expected the queue to watch this event resembled an overflowing Yamuna. The ten teams which were competing showed great variety in their performances and had the audience whistling, hooting and applauding in encouragement through the course of the event.

Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce started the show with immense energy, their expressions and formations were exceptional. Jesus and Mary College’s dance society ‘Mudra’ displayed great co-ordination, their song choices, skilful use of props, agility and overall tashan stole the show. The suspender wearing ‘Panache’ of SRCC kept changing the mood of the audience by alternating between a solemn and a party song. NIEC’s ‘Dazzlers’ must be given a special mention for their effortless lifts and for using the most unique prop – a rickshaw, during their performance. The performance of Sri Venkateswara College’s ‘Verve’ was marked with headstands, one handed handstand and innovative use of frames. The eccentric song choices of IP College from ‘chikni chameli’ to Govinda’s yesteryear hits was applauded by the audience, the performers seemed to have a great time on stage. The costume of KMC’s ‘Sensation’ changed colours in different lighting; they were the only team to use elements of robotic dance during their performance.

Girl’s colleges dominated the competition; DRC’s ‘Zenith’ was a perfectly co-ordinated piece and a pure delight to watch. Maitreyi college’s formations, use of elements of puppetry were engaging and interesting. KNC’s ‘Enigma’s piece was extremely enjoyable and enigmatic. The noise in the auditorium reached a crescendo when LSR stepped on to perform in the end. They chose to not compete in this event and brought it to a fitting close with great finesse and élan.

The winners of Baila 2012 were:

1st – JMC

2nd – Maitreyi College

3rd – DRC.

Pragya Lal
[email protected] 

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Events

Day 2 at Tarang – A day full of surprises

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  1. The Stand-up comic Abish Mathew won over the LSR centric audience with his charming ways and inside jokes about cats, our complete dependence on Balbir ‘dabbang’ Bhaiya for crisis of all kind and gave the women some precious insight to the working of the supposedly ‘one track’ male psyche.
  2. The Principal planted an affectionate peck on the cheek of Monsieur Mathew at the end of the performance on the pretext of ‘doing what every girl in the auditorium wanted to’ and stole the show (as always), leaving the recipient of the said peck in a state of visible disbelief.
  3. An armada of XY chromosome was noted to be gravitating towards the quizzing event. Sometimes stopping on their way to ask the directions to the Upper Seminar Room with the hesitance that only a seemingly intimidating same sex institution can fill in one in a shy yet polite manner.
  4. Vinay Bhushan, a character reminiscent of Shahrukh Khan’s portrayal of Surinder Sahni in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi in his blatant simplicity had the audience rooting for him since the very first scene where he brushes his teeth on stage. Post his performance in the KMC production ‘The Line’, an enthusiastic fan was shocked to discover that the actor’s accented English was a part of the act and words like ‘chiterr’ (sic) were not a part of his off stage vocabulary.
  5. The audience at Yavnika – the Stage Theatre event was an extremely temperamental one, rushing out to only to re-enter (with food hidden inside their bags) every time the doors of the auditorium were opened after a performance.
  6. The English Debating Society was spotted practicing their dancing skills at the registration desk while waiting for participants to stream in. Watching the President of the Society learn the steps to ‘subah hone na de’ with so much sincerity while simultaneously mouthing the words was the only thing that kept the NSS volunteers helping with Tarang Security entertained.
  7. It was interesting to see people purchasing earrings, eating Chinese food and test driving a Tata Nano in the same venue.
  8. The flash mob may not have been a total surprise but +10 points for the choice of the single ladies sound track. One could safely say that the strict security measures and the exclusivity of the passes ensure that the ladies of this college remain single forevermore, for the boys who do manage to make their way into the campus ‘if you like it then you should put a ring on it.’Pragya Lal
    [email protected] 
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Events

LSR Tarang 2012 Results- Day 3

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Green Biz Plan
First- Gunjan, Nidhi (Dyal Singh College Evening)
Second- Namrata, Malvika, Anumita and Anurag (NIFT)
Third- Tanya, Kanchi, Charu, Sneha (LSR)

Authors Anonymous
Prose
First- Divyanshu Mishra(KMC)
Second- Akshita (LSR)

Poetry
First- Chandrima Chatterjee(LSR)
Second- Stuti Chandra(LSR)

Bazinga!
P.S Pranika (LSR)
Raaghav Aggarwal(ISBF)

Tongue in Cheek
First- Priyanka, Shambhavi (St. Stephens College)
Second- Sahaj, Radhika (Venky)

FOTOGRAFIA:The Photography Event
First- Raj Kaithwal (Ramjas)
Second- Chakshu Joshi (ARSD)

AMALGAM- Fusion (Group Singing)
First- Brahmanaad (Cross College Team)
Second- LSR Music Society

SANGAM- Indian Music (Group Singing)
First- Swaranjali (Hansraj)
Second- Alaap (Venky)
Third- Musoc (KMC), Geetanjali (Miranda House)

Nukkad- The Street Play Competition
First- KNC
Second- CBS, DRC

Best Actor– Bhupesh (Shivaji College), Lakshya(KNC)

CINEPHILIA- Film Making Competition
First- St. Stephens
Second- ARSD
Third- Venky

Pitch an Idea
First- Rishabh Khattar, Radhika Rajpal
Second- Vedika Aggarwal, Lavanya Bhamidipati
Third- Kavya Joshi, Sunaina Bhattacharya

BAILA- The Western Dance Competition
First- JMC
Second- Maitreyi College
Third- DRC

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