SILLY NEWS-MAKING

On two consecutive days there was news-making in the Campus. The Principal was seen scurrying around with an angry frown in a pushing manner when on other days he is sober and peaceful. Two burly policemen and a couple of lady constables around him gave more importance than you would otherwise associate with a rampant Principal inspecting the college. In ten minutes, another class-less day had become significant to the gossiper’s mouth. The scattered crowds had gathered together like vultures on a piece of meat and the subject of derision had only to face more shame. Endless tales had suddenly been born and the original story buttressed with spices to ten different versions in no time. 

A senior was caught smoking behind the cafeteria the first day. It was a clear coincidence, some of us knew for some time how much fun they had pulling smoke behind the Canteen. But that you could be caught too had not appeared as a risk. There is great fun in making mockery of the system; proving efforts at making DU a smoke-free zone meaningless has been consistent. Now the officials proved they really meant what they professed. Mayhem had followed immediately. The policemen led him outside, much to his own embarrassment and to the dilution of the college’s good name. Next day there was a notice put up on the board. “Mr. So-and-so has been restricted from entering the College ground till further notice. His brother has been informed about his misbehavior”.

It is not one of unusual incidences. Amongst the little number of people that I know in DU, a good proportion of them are smokers. And girls are no exception in this puffing race too. One of my friends in Satya Niketan told me the other day of a pretty girl she found in a corner of the locality, “She looked lovely as an angel in her elegant composure and beautiful face. Then she turned around her hand to smoke on her red lit tobacco”………. “And she broke my heart”, she said with a sad look.

What is it that leads you to this menace? Plain curiosity? Mere acting silly develops into habit and later into addiction. And I have also heard of smoking increasing your concentration power and helping you stay trim. Isn’t that a loser’s way of saying it is too sunny for water and therefore you needing an energy-boost? In trying to be a sport, and the self-determined assumption of being adventurous that goes along with it; the curse may follow you for a lifetime.There is nothing more disdaining than campaigning for cheap popularity. Sometimes, I tell off a smoker classmate with such harshness; the avoidance seems uncompassionate by human standards. But he has got the hint now, I am not invited anymore.

Booze is still considerably ok, because you can see the bottle draining in front of you and you can tell yourself to stop, unlike a smoke which would appear small but harm you in greater magnitudes. I am not here to stick up for Booze though.

The next day again, someone from another college had smuggled his way inside Motilal. He had a feud to settle with a boy who he felt stole his girlfriend. The gatekeeper had been alerted somehow when the love-strucks dueled each other near the cafeteria. The Principal had found his way again in time, accompanied by policemen. We were sitting on the front lawn that day, class-less as ever. It seemed all funny to us; how love-blind can you be?  That is another reason why we pride in being singles: no jealousy, no competition, no extravagant spending, no insecurity and most importantly no crazy shootouts.

The boy had given a chase it seemed, the police were all over the place. The boy was crying when he was led out. The Principal had supposedly slapped him hard. Someone in the crowd said,”Rula diya bechare ko”.

Funny, this love!!!

by Tonmoy Barua
Image Courtesy: Google 

KNOW YOUR FRIEND FROM DU

After completing his schooling from MVM, Guwahati, Tonmoy Barua spent the five most glorious and beautiful years of his life at the Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehradun. Being a war enthusiast he had an ardent desire to join the defence forces, but before he could gather the technical skills of war and strategy his keenness to serve the nation and don the star-studded uniform came to a halt when he was rejected on medical grounds. But as life goes on, he is now pursuing B.A. (Hons) Political Science from Moti Lal Nehru College, New Delhi and yearns to serve the country on different fronts.

MJ'S ANGELS

For me only a few things hold true in this world…out of which two are friends and dance, both of which came together on Shaheed Rajguru’s ‘Cultural Day’ or I can say OUR cultural day on 30th September 2011. When the notices were put up, I was beyond happy!!! It was a dream come true that I would get to dance here too!! For the background information my good old school would happily volunteer that whenever there was music and a piece of ground, I would be found dancing. So I was naturally thrilled and to my astonishment and delight even my ‘gang’ was!!

Eight of us signed up for this, each of us an enthusiast. We didn’t have the prize in our eyes just the opportunity to be able to get in front of an audience and ‘just dance’. I was in charge of the music and made a compilation of our favourites, 'Desi Girl’, ‘Chammak Challo’ and ‘Bounce’. The best part were the practices that followed. I became the choreographer and started dreaming of cool steps at night. Oh the sweat, the sweat!! Slowly but steadily we developed a style and a look. MJ’s look. The dances were hip and not easy at all but I’m a taskmaster when I come down to it and so, all of the group could pick it up. With the dance came the chance of bunking classes!! We would never hesitate to get up from our seats and start walking and when the teacher would stare, we all would go ‘Sir, hum jeet gaye to aapke department ka hi to naam hoga na’. After a lot of practice and high pitched drama we found ourselves on 29th with tempers running super high. The group was cranky and exhausted and also we had developed a hope of victory somewhere down the line. But trouble was still on its way… the next day a girl was missing a hat, a part of the props. It was three hours of running around and getting worked up and me redesigning the sequence around one missing hat. At the very end a batch mate (not from the dance) went to Laxmi Nagar and got us one hat. We were really inspired and decided of dedicating our dance to her. The day was fantastic after that!! A rock band performance… stand up acts… a self written ‘qawwali’… and then the group dance competition. ‘MJ’s Angels’ as the first group, us, ‘dhak dhak, dhak dhak’, our hearts were beating in a frenzy, but I knew that if we remain anxious then as sure as hell we will sink. I prayed, and suddenly there was music and the compere announced that there would be some Rajguru group dance first!! And for half an hour all of us ‘jhoomo-fied’ on various dance numbers however classy or rustic and I could see my group was relaxing… then when the time was near I gave a very emotional sa speech (very Shahrukh Khan like from Chak De India!) and my group beamed at me. The dance.. was FANTASTIC!!! I’ve never been this proud of my gang ever before, each of them was a rockstar!! I think we did well also because of the dedication, we were so much more attached to the performance now! We came down and gave a big group hug and with big smiles on our faces and inflated hopes in our hearts went back to our seats where our batch mates could cheer on us.

After us the other groups went on stage and this is where our mouth brain co-ordination ruptured. The words in the bracket will be what I was thinking. There costumes are good no? (Helloooo!! What are you wearing??), the co-ordination is just fine (far from it) etc etc... Then came a genuinely awesome group and our hopes of winning were shattered, but we were still happy because we were satisfied with our performance, then came another group and the conflict started. Good sequence girls!! (LOL) But the brain and the mouth rejoined when the results were announced and… we were the last group out of four. WHAT THE HELL!! (PARTIALITYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!). We were not sad that we had lost but sad because the judges made their dear students win even when they did not deserve it at all and the truly deserving ones came second. We were heartbroken for some time but then we were just fine when the DJ pumped it up.  Like every day of your life has got a lesson for you, we learnt that even if you work real hard it’s not guaranteed that you will win the competition, but you definitely win something for the longer run… confidence in yourself, trust in your peers and a memorable experience which taught you group work, co-ordination and that you got to take it in your stride even if you fall. So even if you lose, even if you come last and all you hopes are shattered in a cruel way, you need to cheer up and look at the brighter side of it. Later on, my friends pointed out that we WERE winners in their eyes and that is what matters, doesn’t it? So, after all we did win the competition.

Images Courtesy: Google

KNOW YOUR FRIEND FROM DU

Tulika Banerjee is a student of Shaheed Rajguru College of Applied Sciences for Women. She is very passionate about everything she does... she loves to write, sing, dance, paint, speak so on and so forth!! Her friends love her because she loves them A LOT! She generally takes charge of stuff and sees that they are done properly. She is affectionate, strong and a voracious reader. Life is fun for her and exploring it is her job. She hopes that she can grow up well and achieve all her goals.

FICTION

A LIE FOR AMMA

“Mami it’s going to rain” shouted Mallika as the mystique abode above her roared in her approval.

“Bring back the dried clothes from outside or else they are going to get wet”. This time my mom instructed her as she was busy preparing the after-noon tea. It was 5:00 pm.

“Ok Mami I’m bringing”

Soon the rain drops made their way to reach the mortal land, it wasn’t the safest place, they realized, and juxtaposition with the ethereal clouds made it feasible. This type of shower has become the part and parcel of people’s life in this part of the world; a hot day has to end with a replenishing shower.

Tea was served. I occupied the window seat on the oval dining table. Besides me my mom, my two sisters and Mallika occupied the rest of the chairs.

Mallika was our maid, a small girl, 11 years old probably. But she was not treated as a servant or so, rather she was considered among us. One may say its child labour but see her father; an illiterate pervert who was going on producing babies unless his wife gives birth to a boy, having already produced four daughters. Having spoilt his wife’s health he was left with no money to feed his daughters. Thus, Mallika was sent to us. The lean thin girl now transformed into a healthy girl...her dark skin began to glow owing to the time she spent at the dressing table doing permutation and combination to apply various beauty products available. None of my sisters ever scolded her...the reason probably she turned to be the eye candy for all of us. Be it her witty replies or the way she talks, everything got her more points than the daily T.V. soaps. My younger sister taught her the English alphabets, even to pronounce her name...her accent changed, from colloquial Bengali to fine Assamese. If one asked her what her name was, she would reply instantly in English to be precise, “My name is Mallika Sherawat” - the bollywood actress. Actually my younger sister incorporated her surname to her. So it seemed even she enjoyed staying with us.

As we all were sipping our hot cup of tea the door bell rang; as if with fury. My small sister rushed to open the door. Who could be at this point of time...I mean making his way in this rain. Must be someone whom Mallika knew; my sister called out her name as soon as she opened the door.

I was still absorbed with the droplets; the person who visited was none but Mallika’s father. We still were finishing our tea as both father and daughter chatted for a little while. Soon we all went to the drawing room where Mallika and her father were talking. It took only a while when he announced that Mallika would not be staying with us anymore. The reason when asked was that Mallika was beaten and tortured by us. Moreover her mom needed her at home.

My Amma, gave a look of surprise tinged with utter disapproval but she knew it was of no use to beat her brains out. Even my sisters were surprised, I was also included. How can one put a lame excuse? My mom didn’t say anything but my elder sister confronted Mallika, “Did we ever beat you or even slap you?” Without letting a sense of remorse to devote her face she nodded an affirmative.

A year’s trust slivered within a second. She was paid for her service to us; even though she didn’t pay back what we deserved. Well our family lamented not for the loss of a maid but for the loss of faith; a faith that was entrusted.

***

It’s 20th May 2011. Delhi University summer vacations just started. I’m waiting at the New Delhi Railway Station (NDLS). It was finally 2:30 am when I boarded the train with fears over burdened. I have a ticket but it was an E-ticket and it was on W/L- 2. An e-ticket with waiting list is considered to be without ticket as the money is refundable. So, basically I was considered to travel without a ticket but I was desperate to go home at any cost. I thought I would board the train and if the T.T.E. (Travellers’ Ticket Examiner) asks I’ll pay the fine; even brought the cash for fine. My summer vacation started from the 16th of this month. It’s not that I haven’t visited my home for years but I was eager to see my home, my Amma. Even though it was the third time in six months, I was still excited to go home.

My elder sister and her friends also boarded the same train as they were on their way home after their educational tour to Delhi. Luckily I managed to sit in between them. Finally, after fifteen minutes or so after the train departed the T.T.E. came. I occupied a seat which was supposed to be my sister’s friend; he was absent. He came near me for inspection purpose.

“Number 64”

“It’s me” I said firmly.

“Ticket”

“The ticket is with our teacher. He is in the next compartment”

“Ok! “

“Thank you Sir.”

I’m wondering what made me lie so spontaneously. Perhaps I was desperate to meet my mother at any cost...be it the shelter of a lie.

As I was still thinking deep; I remembered Mallika and her lie. Was her lie also for her Amma? May be...even though it was like home at Delhi but still I was missing the homely affairs there. My real home can never be replaced with anything. She was a small child...maybe she was also missing her home badly. A sense of remorse evoke in my heart as any kind of lie hurts me deeply. But I reminded myself, “It’s a lie for Amma”.

by Syed Wasbir Subhani
Image courtesy: Google

KNOW YOUR FRIEND FROM DU

Name: Syed Wasbir Subhani
Nick name: Aquazir
College: Ramjas College, University of Delhi
Course: Physics

Hobbies: Syed doesn't like to work. He likes to read novels and play some sport.
Interests: He loves writing and doing all chores that are forbidden to him.

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DU Dastan’s Travelogue

SATYA NIKETAN MARKET

"Satya Niketan Market" the main attraction and the common hangout spot for the South Campus Colleges.

Identification of this market is through overcrowded lanes with people, cars and shouting and howling, after all it’s the HOTSPOT OF SOUTH CAMPUS!!!!

Be it 9:30 in the morning or 4:30 in the evening, this hotspot attracts students from JMC to Maiteryi College and of course the ones opposite Satya Niketan market. It has become a get together joint where students gather to meet friends and pass time in between the classes. The famous eating joints are Barista, Café Coffee Day, Subway, and of course the famous Chowrangee Rolls – value for money!!!- are located in this vicinity. Their names in themselves are a big attraction for all and they even cater to all pockets.                                                                          

Satya Niketan market is also a hub of various institutes and computer courses which again attracts the younger crowd. 

All said and done along with everything positive is also attached the negative - the narrow lanes, the huge garbage disposal place right at the main road opposite Sri Venkateswara College. The place stinks especially during the rainy season. There is a lot of water logging on the main road which makes walking very difficult. WAKE UP AUTHORITIES !!!!!!!!!!

By Vrinda Makhija