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CURATOR’S NOTE Browsing through the Internet I am sure you'll go through a sea of inspirational quotes and messages, over every social media possible, in all kinds of typography and textures, that are urging you to be sure of yourself and go conquer the world. There are people, organisations, collectives, ideas and outfits who want you to constantly believe in yourself and let go of that inertia holding you back. They want you to create impact, change the society and make a difference. Some might think they're just shooting ideas in the dark, pushing shareable content over the web but it's possible that one day, that one idea, that urge, to actually change and impact somebody's life might take you over. Maybe, just one day.
APRIL 2014
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the team SUMIT SAURAV CEO RAJ CHOURASIA CTO SAMATA JOSHI Head, Content SONIC PRABHUDESAI Head, Business SHASHANK SHEKHAR Data & Analytics NISHAN BOSE Head, Product Ops.
COVER ART Bechain Nagri
DESIGN Kashmira Sarode Rohit Dasgupta
Shruti Kabo Sadhna Prasad
Parvati Pillai
EDITORIAL Nandini Varma
OUTREACH TEAM NEW DELHI
BANGALORE
NIKHIL KUMAR nikhil7kumar@gmail.com
RAM ram.cancerion@gmail.com
TRISHA CHOUDHURY trishachoudhury7@gmail.com
ARJUN MANOHARAN arjun.campusdiaries@gmail.com
MUMBAI
ADITYA BHAT aditya.campusdiaries@gmail.com
VINEET BHATIA vineet.bhatia982077@gmail.com
CHENNAI
PUNE
RAHUL BALAN rahulbalan@yahoo.co.in
SUBHROJIT MALLICK subhrojit.mallick.2012@sse.ac.in
MANIPAL
COIMBATORE
SIDDHARTH AJWANI ajwani_siddharth@yahoo.co.in
KARTHICK M finishchampster@gmail.com
VARUN BHAT varunbhat94@gmail.com
SURATHKAL AKSHAY KAMATH akshaykamath08@gmail.com Printed by printmedia.com - 99019 89615/16
For any advertising queries please send us an email at sonic@campusdiaries.com Published by: Sumit Saurav
CONTENTS EDUCATION & CAREER
10
The Two sides of a Coin called ‘FYUP’
13
Hello, I’m here to judge you
COLLEGE
16
NIT Calicut and the Case of the Institutional Failure
20
A Project for a Cause: In My Campus
MUSIC
22
Different Strings : Music's Impact on Society
18 THEATRE
30
Theatre shows the way
TEACHER, TEACHER!
34
Shortcomings of the Social Conformist
PORTFOLIO OF THE MONTH
41
38
Jasleen Kaur Tethi
52
35 FASHION AND LIFESTYLE
44
The North East Fashion Glory
SOCIETY
49
This is what change 'Sounds' like
52
Project Emmit: Calculating your Footsteps
60
IN FOCUS
56
Braject: Breaking 'Bra'd
60
Roobaroo: Sweet dreams my little amigo
64
TEDxBangalore: Tipping systems, taking the next big step
POETRY
67
How does it happen?
CARTOON OF THE MONTH
70
Reserved for my wife
ININTHIS ISSUE THIS ISSUE Ojaswini Bakshi Miranda House, New Delhi A massive Doctor Who and Potter fan! And food! She loves travelling around by herself: walking around, meeting new people and trying out new stuff.
Meera Vijayann Ashoka India, Bangalore An avid blogger, writer and social enterprise enthusiast who is working towards leveraging digital media for social change.
Dhruv Menon St Joseph's Pre-University College, Bangalore Dhruv is a foodie and student in Bangalore with a passion for making music, public speaking, writing and playing video games among various other interests. Tanya Kotnala NIFT, Shillong Although a fashion design student, her happiness sets out afar garments. Her foremost devotion is for illustrations and the arts. She finds it amazing when the usual combines to become something unusual.
Jasleen Kaur NID, Ahmedabad The sensitivity in Jasleen’s design, comes from the way she has been raised. Design is her way of expressing the voice that has been withheld somewhere.
Mahitha Kasireddi Alumnus of Sri Padmavathi Mahila University, Andhra Pradesh A day dreamer, a nihilist, a self proclaimed writer and a romanticist. Loves travelling, food, History and English. Looks for the human side of every story.
Gauri Saxena Alumnus of Lady Sri Ram College, NEW DELHI Gauri, can be described as a big lorry. Of questions and thoughts, of opinions that have many ifs and oughts. She claims to have travelled the whole world through her mind.
Areej Mehdi Alumnus of Kinnaird College for Women, Lahore An ink-sniffing book hugger with a penchant for collecting memories. Part-time foodie, full-time Lahori. Currently serving as the TEDx Ambassador to Pakistan.
Garima Sethi MIRANDA HOUSE, NEW DELHI With a never-ending bucket list and a genuine passion for life, Garima abides by her exaggerated ways. While she is a victim of positive reinforcement, food, theater and dance and only incentives which can put her to work. Mikhail Sen The Drama School, Mumbai Mikhail Sen graduated from St. Stephen’s College in 2012. He is currently at The Drama School, Mumbai. An actor in the making, he wants to bring change through his theatre.
Divya R.T. Lecturer at Department of Chemistry, Mount Carmel Degree College, BANGALORE A self proclaimed singer and seasoned columnist and the lady who eagerly waits for the garbage man (because of her love for waste segregation). Asmita Sarkar Hindu College, New Delhi An aspiring writer, Asmita lives in a state of suspended disbelief about magic. She is also a lover of books, travel and food.
Shaunak Samvatsar Symbiosis Institute of Design, Pune A cartoonist, writer and film maker, Shaunak’s credits include the pre-production of two animated TV features and TV series Pakdam Pakdai.
Aditi Mishra Alumnus of Manipal Institute of Communication, Manipal Lover of coffee, adventure and Harry Potter, with misplaced bouts of energy and craziness.
Sriram Ilango Anna University, Chennai An almost washed-up Engineering Student and soon to be IT employee who is still struggling to find the dots.
Manas Kshirsagar MES Abasaheb Garware College, Pune Manas loves all kinds of living beings (in a totally super non-creepy way). Spends his free time playing guitar and foraging for pre-owned books at local raddiwallahs.
Music
College
UNMAGAZINE | APRIL2014
The two sides of
Edu
Edu2
a coin called
‘FYUP’
TEDx
Braject
‘FYUP will bring an end to all academic woes' said the Vice Chancellor. Here is some information and my opinion on what FYUP really is for DU. Garima Sethi Miranda House New Delhi #opinion
F
rom being tagged as ‘potentially very positive’ Indian education pedagogy and curriculum has to a tool which will make ‘brilliant minds dull’, been an urgent demand from the corporate sector the Four Years Undergraduate Programme (FYUP) where employers often find fresh graduates has met with extreme judgements by academia, lacking employable skill. This programme which entails a shift from intellectuals, students and various authorities at Delhi University. With ‘flexibility’, ‘options’ and the 10+2+3 scheme to a four-year graduation with ‘employability’ being its biggest arguments, FYUP multiple exit points and freedom to complete faced considerable criticism and has eventually remaining years later, was repeatedly described found its way in the academic structure of one of as ‘historic’ in the meetings held by Delhi University’s Vice Chancellor, Mr. Dinesh Singh. India's biggest universities Historically, the addition of years to the We wonder whether Mr. Singh thought of the education cycle from 11+3 years in the 1960s to flip side of the coin where ‘historic’ might imply 12+3 years in the 1970s, has had a positive impact biding farewell to Delhi University’s standards of on delaying the burden of generating employment education. The FYUP offers a diploma degree to students on the State, as well as adding to the maturity level of job applicants. An additional education year who wish to drop out of their course after two to all degree programmes as proposed by Delhi years with having completed 28 papers consisting University will continue to add to the benefits; of 12 foundational courses, 10 disciplinary provided it is well-spent in equipping students courses, 2 applied courses along with 4 other with skills they need to meet the changing papers. And Bachelor's degree will be given to expectations of the job market. A change in the students after completing a period of three years
10
LO
EDUCATION & CAREER
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After completing four years, a student graduates with an Honours degree, having studied 50 subjects comprising of 12 foundational, 26 disciplinary, 4 applied along with 8 other papers
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in college and having studied 40 papers with 12 foundational courses, 20 disciplinary courses, 4 applied courses and 6 other additional courses. So, after completing four years at college, a student graduates with an Honours degree, having studied 50 subjects comprising of 12 foundational, 26 disciplinary, 4 applied along with 8 other papers. Students who exit in the 2nd/3rd year can return to complete the subsequent programme within a span of 8 years and this is where we notice that almost 30% of students in DU drop out every year. Out of the 30%, majority (figuratively) belong to socially and economically vulnerable sections and have reasons ranging from marriage to becoming the bread-earner of the family for leaving college. It cannot be denied that for this specific community of students the four-year programme can prove fruitful as under the programme, they get a official paper showing their academic record of the 2 years they attended college and can get a job through this. But, who are is being neglected is that section of the underprivileged, who would want to complete their education fall short of money and other resources because now they need funds to study for one more year. It can increase financial burden on families by as much as Rs. 1.5 lakh a year. Demographic dividend in terms of a young population is seen as India’s strength today. Yet, India is experiencing a paradox of millions of young graduates preparing to join the workforce each year while India Inc is not generating enough new jobs to absorb them. The four-year degree programme is expected to solve this problem of unemployment. But, FYUP will also generate a pool of Associate Baccalaureates; students with a diploma degree who will not be eligible enough for jobs in any filed which will negate the entire purpose of this change in the academic structure. Illustration by Parvati Pillai www.campusdiaries.com/unmagazine
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Applying abroad will be easier with 16 years of academic record is another arguments laid by most supporters of the FYUP programme. This is the strongest argument for switching to a four-year system. But, the reality is that a student majoring in a subject will have studied less in four years than what one currently studies in three years. Delhi University diploma offers no focus on a core discipline at all unlike diplomas offered elsewhere. According to many DU students, students in the USA or Dhaka University, who also do a four-year course, will graduate at a higher level, in terms of knowledge gained, as compared to our current or future undergraduates. The question here is what is the defining factor for a good academic record, an added year or better quality education? So, in argument to the claims of providing ‘more employment’, a diploma-holder from DU will actually be at a disadvantage when compared to a specialised diploma holder from another institute. No research can be conducted without having specialisation. In a country like ours where people who have their M.Phil and PhD are without jobs, how can you expect a two-year Diploma holder to get a good job? The reality is that a student majoring in a subject will have studied less in four years than what one currently studies in three years. The truth is that the teachers of Delhi University have simply disassociated themselves from this whole development and have constantly remarked that the syllabi has been framed in a shamefully constrained and coerced time frame. The total number of teaching weeks has been reduced from 16 to 14. Where in the old system, per unit, there would be 2 classes a week as well as tutorials, in the new scheme there will be only 1 class per unit per week. Those who abide by this reformed system have often pointed out that it should be appreciated for giving more time to students evolve through the course which shows independence the student will have under FYUP, a factor missing in the Indian Education System since it’s very inception. But, increasing complaints about the lack of time for studying from students who now have to present group presentations instead of writing individual assignments and are even forced to counter-question during these presentations simply because it carries a certain weightage of marks, have shown the opposite. Under the new system, students must have an aggregate of 40 per cent if they want to exit the course after 2 years and needs to have an
12
“
FYUP is filled with ironies of many kinds. One of them being giving marks to students for extra-curricular activities but leaving them with no time to pursue the same because of long hours of classes
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aggregate of 45 per cent after three years. Like any other professional programme, if a student fails to clear a particular subject in one semester, she will be promoted to the next semester and have an opportunity to take the exam later. This being a promotional scheme for the new system by Delhi University's authorities, the fact that students are getting inflated scores need no explanation. FYUP is filled with ironies of many kinds. One of them being giving marks to students for extra-curricular activities but leaving them with no time to pursue the same because of long hours of classes. The increasing dissent among students and the system over the foundation programme is becoming more apparent with the number of students not attending classes increasing with each passing day. While the degree has been defined by many as more money, more time and less knowledge with less chances of employment, the same factors stand as the defensive forces. There obviously exists a problem, a discontentment among students. Who would want to study the water cycle all over again in college? Why would somebody take a maths exam in their first year of graduation when they happily bid farewell to the subject by choosing humanities as their main stream in their eleventh standard? Good you are granting laptops to the future of India but what about the lack of hostels, the lack of classrooms and most importantly the lack of teachers to teach these students? We wonder if Mr. Dinesh Singh meant it would end all Academic scope when he said FYUP will bring an end to academic woes.
Music
College
Theatre
Radio
Carbon Footprint
?
Edu
Edu2
LOST & FOUND
Poetry
EDUCATION & CAREER
Roobaroo
Hello, I’m here to judge you TEDx
Braject
Portfolio
Teacher
Cartoon
We live in an era where all knowledge is the light that shines even brighter than gold. A sad thing that a lot of students have to endure is the multitude of people who gauge their ability and importance on the basis of what they study. DHRUV MENON St Joseph's Pre-University College, Bangalore #choices
T
ne one thing I have experienced during life in India is that meeting new people sometimes happens in a very different way. People tend to ask you what you study before telling you their name. Some of these strangers look at me with such confusion in their eyes, as if they are my closest relatives watching me trying to immolate myself when I tell them that I chose to study Commerce over Science. Those who actually show some gesture of appreciation do not stop there. They venture more and more into my academic background and make their assessment about the person I am, based on my marks, my elective subjects and my academic acumen. One thing never changes though, 90% is always going to be the best and Science will always have trumps over Commerce and Arts. My parents and immediate family have always been the most supportive kind, and they have been supporting my decisions through thick and thin. I’ve learnt to address the occasional smirk or confused look I get from strangers with nothing more than a pinch of indifference. One day when I was felt the hollowness of boredom Illustration by Parvati Pillai www.campusdiaries.com/unmagazine
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more greatly than on normal days, I indulged myself in the act of refreshing my Facebook news feed over and over again. Needless to say, when I saw a picture on a post in my news feed, I was shaken out of my boredom and reverie by iron hands. It said that education in India was divided in four classes—the 'first class' students get technical seats, and become doctors and engineers, the 'second class' students pass and then get an MBA to become administrators, controlling the first class, whereas the 'third class' students enter politics and become ministers, thus controlling both and lastly the 'fourth class' students, the 'failures', who join the underworld and control everybody. I still find it hard to believe that there are people who are so low endowed with rationality and a decent sense of judgment; one may think that I am indulging myself in the pursuit of overly analysing what seems to be a joke, but what I see here is a serious problem with our society. People think that the ultimate destiny of the Indian student is to study science, score in the high nineties and become a doctor or an engineer. Everyone who doesn’t study science has lost track of his/her life somewhere and has thus been ‘punished’ in the form of being compelled to study something different. People actually find it hard to believe a person who says that he voluntarily
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People think that the ultimate destiny of the Indian student is to study science, score in the high nineties and become a doctor or an engineer
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14
chose to study something other than science when they had all the capacity to study science. I myself chose commerce voluntarily since I find things like management and marketing really amazing. Discrimination on the basis of caste, nationality, sex and colour is something that is on its way out. The positive aspect of equality, equality among all human beings regardless of any superficial factor except ability, is what modern civilisation is expected to follow. Somewhere along the line, people have lost track of the real meaning of ‘ability’ and only understand it on the basis of subjects. Each and every person must be subject to discrimination on the basis of ability. No person’s ability should be gauged on the basis of the subjects he studies. Each and every subject is as difficult as the others in their own simple way, but more importantly, each subject is as important as the rest. Some of India’s top politicians are Harvard and Oxford alumni. How can anyone so narrowly classify the political class under ‘third class pass’ if this is the case? Perhaps we should also have a look at some dropouts and seemingly ‘uneducated’ people who have made a bigger difference than anyone into shaping the country and the world that we live in today. At the end of the day, today’s youth are the future of tomorrow’s India and tomorrow’s world. What we study, how we study and if we study shouldn’t make much of a difference. If someone fails to achieve, it should not be blamed on the educational attainment of that person but rather on the lack of ability of a person to convert the opportunities his way of life provides into sources of success. Society is not something that stands tall on its own. Society is based on a hierarchy of blocks that are placed on top on one another for support, and ultimately, society grows and benefits because of these blocks. Scientists innovate and
EDUCATION & CAREER
create, managers and marketers push innovative products into markets and politicians develop and maintain that atmosphere which is conducive to the growth of economies and markets. There is nothing ‘low class’ about either ‘block’. One must realise that one person’s skill is essential to support another person’s skill. Honestly, I look forward to a day when strangers will stop acting like my guardian angels and people will stop thinking of first class and distinction scorers as ‘second class’ passes, a day when the textbooks that I carry to college do not add any weight to my ability, a day when 95% in history or accountancy is the same as 95% in Physics, a day when people realise how important the youth and not the students really are for the future of our country. Maybe some people ought to go back to school just to rework the way they think. Perhaps when we become the ‘uncles’ and ‘aunties’ of tomorrow, we will rid the country of such stupid and baseless judgments.
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I look forward to a day when strangers will stop acting like my guardian angels and people will stop thinking of first class and distinction scorers as ‘second class’ passes
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Illustration by Parvati Pillai www.campusdiaries.com/unmagazine
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UNMAGAZINE | APRIL2014
NIT CALICUT
AND THE CASE OF INSTITUTIONAL
FAILURE
Who is to be blamed for what happened at NIT-C? The Director and the staff or are we missing the point? SRIRAM ILANGO Anna University Chennai #Administration
T
his is what everyone knows till now. Mannam Venkateshvaralu, a 19-year-old Computer Science undergrad from Andhra Pradesh was killed in a wall collapse at the National Institute of Technology-Calicut on the 15th of February. The angered students of the institute went into protest with five formal demands that they wanted the management to address. Meanwhile, things began getting out of hand. Students began drawing graffiti on other walls of the campus. On the 17th of February, the Management arranges a grievance meeting and fearing that things might
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take a violent turn, they cancel the meeting. The same night around 11.15 pm, the hostel students get a circular which asks them to vacate the premise of the hostel within the next morning or else be considered as trespassers. The college has remained closed since then. The next day, after the intervention of Ministers Shashi Tharoor and Pallam Raju, a formal probe into the incident gets launched. The college announces that classes will resume on the 3rd of March. If Kanye West has a baby with Kim Kardashian and decides to name the baby North West, we talk about it for 10 days. If Barack Obama gets elected
Music
Edu
TEDx
College
Edu2
Braject
LO
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If people can’t get a response for things as trivial as a water cooler being broken, they generally lose faith and stop complaining about the things that actually matter
the President of the United States of America, we talk about it for 10 days. Is the NIT-C incident going to be a 10-day sort of thing? Sadly, it most probably will be. I talked to a number of people from NIT-C regarding the incident, the protest and the aftermath. What they had to say was disheartening at the least. "A group of Mechanical Engineering students before a few months started complaining about the wall to the Registrar and other officials but they were not the least interested in what we had to say," quotes a final year Mechanical Engineering student. Why is this? I asked Jaseem Abid, a 2013 CS Alumni of NIT-C. “It is not about this once incident. Whatever you complain about, you don’t get a response let alone an action. If people can’t get a response for things as trivial as a water cooler being broken, they generally lose faith and stop complaining about the things that actually matter.” “It is not just the students. Even staff members have already made complaints about this particular wall," says another final year student. It seems that this particular tennis/squash practice wall is usually something that everyone at NIT-C crosses paths with at least once during their stay at the Campus. Jaseem states, “I think the reason why the protests got this extreme was because everyone could relate to what happened. When you are playing cricket, the wall is where the wicket keeper and slips stand. When we hear about the story, we automatically think about our parents
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and friends and what they would have had to go through if something like this had happened to us. This was not a motorcycle accident. It was just a kid who was playing cricket one moment and gone the other." When asked if he feels if this incident was a result of negligence, he replies “Yes”. There has been a host of incidents like this at NIT-C over the past few years. A second year student fell downhill from a poorly maintained hillside road and broke his spine last year. A few years back, a staff member fell into an open drain, a few other bike accidents and so on. NIT-C is not a ‘what's-the-name’ kind of college located in the middle of nowhere. It is a prestigious institution where students from all over the country come to study. The level of students that populate the campus and the calibre of staff that teach them are obviously a grade higher than the national average. Despite this and the considerable amount of money that the government invests in NITs, the infrastructure in NIT-C remains awful. Over the years, the student intake has almost doubled but no new hostels have been built. Even a mega-sized library remains under construction for more than four years. This made the students graffiti the walls of the institute with slogans like “Danger – Can fall on anyone. It could be you” and “Death Building”. The medical center inside the building is “almost non-functional” according to the students. For an ambulance to arrive at the campus it
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takes more than 20 minutes and even when the ambulance arrives there is a daunting 13 km journey before you could reach the nearest hospital. Could Venkateshvaralu still be here with us if there had been an ambulance stationed inside the campus? We might never know the answer to that. Then there was the case of asking the students to vacate the hostels in the middle of the night. Did they really have to do that? “Maybe it was the police who insisted the management to ask the students to vacate the hostels,” says Venugopal, a fifth year Architecture student. “The same thing happened during my second year when there was a fight during the students’ body election," he adds. Maybe that experience helped him during this time. Another student said to us that they were “frightened” during the whole episode. The circular to vacate the hostel had arrived only around 11.15 pm and to make matters worse, the internet inside the campus as per schedule got cut off at 12 midnight. This meant that the students couldn’t book tickets online and had to rush towards railway and bus stations to spend the night. Praveen Sankaran, staff at NIT-C on a very elaborate post at Quora writes that the approach towards vacating the hostels was “relaxed”. He adds that none of the girls in the girls’ hostel were asked to vacate immediately. Another question that the students posed to me was why
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Despite the considerable amount of money that the government invests in NITs, the infrastructure in NIT-C remains awful. Over the years, the student intake has almost doubled but no new hostels have been built
Illustration by Shruti Kabo 18
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COLLEGE
the Director did not address them at institutional failure. the Open Air Theater as per schedule. It takes an incident like this for us Mr. Sankaran in the same Quora post to realise that the infrastructure in our comments, “That would have been colleges is piss poor. We are okay with it disastrous. Who would ensure that the whatever the government gives us until emotional mob would not harm anyone we get a solid salary package. going in? The students need to accept There is no point in blaming others one thing at this point. You were angry now. The students of NIT-C have put up and emotional at that point of time.” a valiant fight against all that is wrong At this point, we need to take a in their campus despite the imposing broader look at the story in hand. What threat of suspensions and arrests. Now, happened in NIT-C was unfortunate but it is our turn. Our turn to fight and there is no one single party that can be stand up for what is right to ensure blamed here. What happened at NIT-C that no one suffers the same fate as could happen at most other government Venkateshvaralu. run colleges in our country. May his soul rest in peace. Over the years, the numbers of students in take increased, the salary package offered by companies from the placements increased, the quality of life increased but the buildings remained the same. They still remain the same. Deteriorating bit by bit every day. No Over the years, the one maintains the infrastructure in our numbers of students colleges. When was the last time you heard a Government college student say in take increased, "My hostel is nice?" the salary package The Director of NIT-C might be “completely out of place” as the students offered by companies say but is there anything he could have done? Yes, probably. He could have from the placements had the wall removed by listening to increased, the quality complaints, by interacting with students and by keeping an eye on the campus of life increased but the infrastructure. But, that unfortunately buildings remained the is not how things are done in our country. The director and staff of NIT-C same. They still remain did not fail Venkateshvaralu. We did. the same. Deteriorating You, I, the Government, and bit by bit every day. the authorities failed him. It was an
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No one maintains the infrastructure in our colleges
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UNMAGAZINE | APRIL2014
Music
A Project for a cause, In my campus
Edu
TEDx
Trying to fight the Yamuna Disaster, even after people call it the ‘The Lost Cause’ Ojaswini Bakshi Miranda House New Delhi #project
Illustration by Sadhna Prasad 20
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Braject
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"W
hat am I doing with my life?” I asked myself the doomed question for the umpteenth time. It was four in the morning and I had just finished a season of just-anothersitcom. Completely unimpressed by my tenacity, the haunting sense of futility filled my sleep deprived red scary eyes. What on earth was I doing? I needed a direction! I needed a life, for God’s sake! And this was my story for the first year of my life in college. But, that was that until I came across a picture article in the Daily Mail. Utterly not bewildered by the day’s events, I was scanning through the news to bring up some emotion that rested in my ‘Hollow Tin Chest’ (Chandler, anyone?) and that was when I came across this soul stirring picture of a man smiling in neck-deep sludge of foam. The headline read : 'An industrialsized bubble bath: River in India that is so polluted it's become a sea of foam (and pilgrims are STILL swimming in it)' Did he even know that his ‘holy’ river was now burning his skin up? Even I would have just mistaken it for a massive foam bath instead of the deadly thing it really was. Yamuna, the river, is something that was once a pride of Delhi. But as time passed, priorities changed. From once being revered as ‘Yamuna Ji’, the river got reduced to nothing but a mere chemical dump. Yamuna once flowed through the city of Delhi as a sparkling blue river while the Ganga adorned more of a silt laden colour but as time passed, the shades changed. From being the life source of the rural people once, it went on to become something that was not worth using at all. ‘Dead River’, declared the United Nations. Wait! Was this where I lived? Every single day? Not caring? Never looking back? Sure, we read it in our books but was it always this serious? Is my mind so screwed up that I never bothered
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Yamuna, the river, is something that was once a pride of Delhi. But as time passed, priorities changed. From once being revered as ‘Yamuna Ji’, the river got reduced to nothing but a mere chemical dump.
to look it up beyond the purpose of completing the syllabus? I looked up NGOs to work with for the cause and even came across some brilliant ones like ‘Swechcha’! They do a splendid job spreading awareness and doing their bit of manual labour of cleaning the river up but for some personal reason, I could not go ahead with working with them. Days went by but the ring kept buzzing somewhere at the back of my mind. And maybe that is exactly why I jumped at the prospect of joining a research team that my college was initiating. ‘More Miles on Yamuna’ they called it. Being the follow up of their 2012-13 project ‘Miles on Yamuna’, we were to continue the wonderful work that had already been started by our superseniors (the batch which is two years senior to ours).And the most brilliant aspect of the project was that it was just not restricted to the river. It included all the people and the village that rests on its banks and carries on with their life like nothing was ever wrong. While the Sociology and Economics department work on the socio-economic profiling, to understand them, the Chemistry department works on the water and Geography students
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work on the mappings and agriculture profiling. The whole multidisciplinary shebang takes it to a whole new level! It is brilliant to see the humankind adapt. Yamuna, that was once a major element in most of the rituals, is now completely boycotted by many who know what is going around. Agriculture patterns are changing. Rituals are changing. And as a result of that, the entire kinship pattern is changing… People with bare minimum incomes, people who worry about having a meal on their table have actually invested in their own personal water purifiers as their faith in even the Delhi Jal Board has gone down the sewers like Yamuna. Women, who were once the principal water fetchers in the family, are now restricted within the four walls of their homes as the river is of no use to them anymore. . Who would have ever guessed such a ‘simple’ case of pollution could have such a massive sociological impact? Even though many tell me it is a lost cause, you can never just let go. You can never let go when you have seen the river, shining all its beauty when it enters the city. And it thus, can never be a lost cause!
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Different Strings: Music's Impact On Society Manas Kshirsagar Mes Abasaheb Garware College Pune #cause
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A compilation of the some unsung heroes who have used music to make a difference in the lives of many.
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of immense applications. Seeing this media such as Facebook slowly turning into a platform for nurturing insecurities, raising facades or even spying, there are youngsters who are using it for the right thing. And that is what it is really worth. With the rise in philanthropy in our nation, where aid is mainly given by large corporations or extremely well-to-do families, we also have various individuals who do their bit for the community around them. Now there are people who are pushing boundaries for the immense amount of love that human beings are capable of, and respecting the love that other species hold regardless of their fortunes. These people may not be extremely better off, but they do strive to uplift the underprivileged and aid them as far as possible. Although we need even more awareness, there do exist NGOs striving for orphans, the homeless and the needy, following the simple ideology that if we deserve what we deserve, so do they. These unsung heroes go about their work with little or no recognition at all, and it is here, that we show you the hard work of these people.
ome say that music is the universal language. Despite different influences, different backgrounds and different sources, music is the one thing in this world that can unite more people than it can divide. Music has always been an outlet for expression for individuals with a message, a message for the few or a message for the masses—music has always been an integral part of our society. Music, as such, has played an important role throughout history in uniting people. Various activists have often relied on catchy tunes to relay their message in a simple form to the masses, protestors have written and performed songs expressing their anguish and who can forget the various poems, songs and ballads composed by renowned artists to express their support for numerous projects benefiting the underprivileged, the downtrodden and the needy. Historically speaking, moral activism has never been easier. Putting your thought across for a large audience is now a click (or a tap) away. This thought, this idea can fill hearts with hate or warm them to a cause, hence making it a weapon
• Music Basti
By Nandini Varma and Shantanu Anand Music Basti started in 2008 as a project to create awareness about at-risk children and youth and today happens to be one of the most brilliant concepts in learning and developing self-expression through various art forms, particularly music and media. It is a communitycentered project led and managed by artistes and volunteers who enhance these children’s life skills beautifully. “It was initiated to create a fun space for interaction and learning. I have great respect for and belief in music as a medium of selfexpression and self-expression is something that is often extremely challenging for the children
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It was initiated to create a fun space for interaction and learning. I have great respect for and belief in music as a medium of self-expression and selfexpression is something that is often extremely challenging for the children that Music Basti works with. The power to create something, own it and be proud of it is what is truly empowering. - Faith Gonsalves, the Founder and Projects Director of Music Basti
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that Music Basti works with. The power to create something, own it and be proud of it is what is truly empowering,” says Faith Gonsalves, the Founder and Projects Director of Music Basti. In a country where music does not come before science and art does not come before academics, creating a project like Music Basti seems like the biggest challenge. However, over the years, Music Basti has become the most inspiring project with musicians from all over the country collaborating and spreading awareness while teaching through interesting ideas and thinking out of the box. We spoke to Anirudh, who has been working with Music Basti for the last three years and he said, “It works as a fantastic therapy for kids, apart from being lessons in music and skilldevelopment. And in the end you get to see the same thing you learned when you started, in a very different way.” Anirudh Varma is a student of Hansraj
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College, Delhi, and has been playing the piano for 12 years now. He has played with bands such as Cobbled Street, Resonance and Three of a Kind and has had an absolutely enriching experience at Music Basti. “It teaches you how to deal with children of all ages and forces you to get out of your comfort zone and explore new ways of teaching the same thing,” he tells us. Music Basti is managed by Integrated Development Education Association (IDEA) and has been supported by the YP Foundation, Bridge Music Academy, Aman Biradari, Furtados Music India and Gibson Foundation. It works with a creative team of students, young musicians, trained professionals and various performers, and conducts workshops and concerts for children from centres and institutions that rehabilitate at-risk youth and kids. It works to strengthen their creativity and focuses on universality rather than uniformity.
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In 2011, Music Basti launched an album called “Dhanak Dhin: Monsoon with Music Basti” along the theme of Monsoon in Delhi which was supported by artists like Suhail Yusuf Khan and Abhishek Mathur from the band Advaita, Shubh Saran, Five8 and Smiti Malik with around fifty former street-children of the Dil Se Campaign, Delhi who shared messages which echoed the voices of millions of such children around the world. Presently, Music Basti is working on a project called “Re-Sound” with partner NGOs in Delhi, across Mehrauli, Okhla, Kapashera, Papankalan and Mahipalpur. Anirudh is more than happy to be a part of this project, and with good reason, too. After all, there’s nothing better than music that brings smiles to the faces of children, is there?
Kids at Music Basti, photographed by Shiv Ahuja
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Team Paws for a Cause
• Touch Hearts Music: Paws for a Cause By Manas Kshirsagar Comprised entirely of college students, this organisation networks among people and provides an ‘information-exchange’ platform on Facebook for adopting stray puppies, dogs, kittens and cats to people who are interested in nurturing them as their companions. Their Facebook page states with a clarity that depicts a well-formed ideology: ‘A Nationwide campaign aiming to promote the adoption of strays, stop breed-ism, sensitisation of society toward strays and provide immediate official action against any form of cruelty that is reported in association with PFA, PIFA and several Animal Welfare Officers’. The director of this team Shantanu Naidu, is a last semester engineering student in PVPITPune. He is a musician, lyricist, composer and a script writer. ‘Paws for a Cause’ was the brainchild of Shantanu and his friends, who were already raising social awareness through music under the banner of Touch Heart Music . “When I was in 10th grade, I used to care for the stray puppies in my neighbourhood, often delivering them to willing people with inviting homes entirely on my own. I guess that was the starting point,” says Shantanu. On the team of Paws for a Cause are Shardul
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A Nationwide campaign aiming to promote the adoption of strays, stop breed-ism, sensitisation of society toward strays and provide immediate official action against any form of cruelty that is reported in association with PFA, PIFA and several Animal Welfare Officers
Bapat (composer/violinist) and Kedar Khire (composer/pianist) both students at PVPIT-Pune in First year and Third year of their degrees respectively, Sukrut Teni (editor/director) Dilip Suthar cinematography/photography) & Ravina Bakshi (core crew/ co-direction) studying at MAAC Animation Institute-Pune, and Anuja Shikhare (vocals/direction/script), a student of B. J Medical College Pune.
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Their Facebook page is updated with photos of various canines and felines that are up for adoption—all non-breed specific, nonetheless endearing. Respective phone numbers are put up Paws for a Cause is a project which and interested people browsing the page adopt them. In a city like Pune where the municipality seems like any other, yet stands on a lacks legal systems that deal with the condition framework of some unusually hardof stray dogs, a project like Paws for a Cause is boon that deals with the problem in the best way working shoulders. The members of possible. “We are trying our best to spread the message Touch Hearts Music run the organization through a creative way so that people love it and while attending full time college, classes are aware of different issues," says Ravina Bakshi, a part of the team’s core crew and co-director for and have no source of external funding their music videos. Paws for a Cause is a project that seems like any other, yet stands on a framework of some unusually hard-working shoulders. The members of Touch Hearts Music run the organisation while interesting visuals and symbolism. The videos are attending full time college, classes and have no accompanied by soundtracks entirely composed source of external funding. All the capital needed and performed by the members. The music video for running it is sourced from their parents, which ‘Gehna Meri Pyaar Ka’ calls out with its lyrics the members receive without having to ask for “Khuda le na jaa gehna meri jaan ka, it, which they mention proudly. Investments for Khuda barsa duva, maasom bujhta diya” production of videos (which started out on digiA rape victim’s mother’s voice calling out to cams) and soundtrack on standard equipment God, her heart appealing to Him, a mother should now average about Rs. 12000. not outlive her daughter in a fashion such as this. Shantanu started the group Touch Hearts The music and lyrics are inspired by the widely Music with the vision of bringing out social issues mourned Delhi Rape case. The video depicts out into the front with the help of music. The team jarring visuals, innovatively done, effectively considers it to be an effective medium for activism executed. and have uploaded 4 full music videos on YouTube The team and its works have been covered by a under the username ‘Bachpan Mera’ mirroring the variety of leading newspapers. Still, there remains idea of video they have published on the subject of still a sense of incompleteness in them; apathy child labour in India. They implore all the artists on part of the people. There is still negligible out there to use their arts for something greater awareness than what is needed amongst people. than the art itself, the betterment of society and As all ideas do, Touch Hearts Music has evolved the world we live in. and is looking for celebrity endorsements. They “I always wanted to be a part of change. I found have been in talks with artists like Ronit Roy and the way to inspire change through cinematography. Anju Mahendru and have received support from I discovered that I can contribute to society and them. here I am as a part of Touch Heart Music,” says The group is soon about to release a press Dilip Suthar. conference with a celebrity. They hope that this Besides Paws for a Cause, Touch Hearts will indeed give their multi-faceted cause the Music has also dealt with social issues of Rape, public exposure that it so deservingly needs. With Child labour, and the underappreciated heroes the excellent work that they have done and the of our society like maids and Traffic Police. The accolades that they have achieved at such a young videos have been filmed innovatively, with the age, their work, and the kids themselves definitely hard hitting truth in them brought out by some deserve this exposure.
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• Count Your Blessings: Eastern Fare Music Foundation By A mitoj Singh The Eastern Fare Music Foundation, established back in 2007 was the brainchild of Assamese musician Jim Ankan Deka. Jim, who hails from Guwhati, is from a family of writers and academicians. However, he felt that the life of an academician was not for him, and from an early age, developed a passion for music. Jim left for Bangalore in 2006, for further studies and in the hunt for a job, and it is here that he noticed the apparent lack of quality music schools. In 2007, with an aim to provide quality education in music to children, Jim and a few friends of his set up the Eastern Fare Music Foundation. Armed with an affiliation to the Trinity College London, the Eastern Fare Music Foundation now trained children to appear for the Trinity Guildhall Examinations in Music theory. With growing numbers and much success, in 2009, The Eastern Fare Music Foundation opened up a club for its members, which offered various amenities including access to a library, music studios, a jamming room and a discussion room for the members to meet in. Apart from imparting education to children that could afford to appear for the Trinity Guildhall examination, Jim and other members of the foundation started teaching music to various people around their institute for no charge, including waiters at restaurants and underprivileged children around their first branch at Koramangala in Bangalore. In 2009, Jim also founded Eastern Fare, an Acoustic Rock band with members from the Foundation. Having performed at many notable venues like Kyra Theater and B-Flat, the band organised a lot of street performances as well, to promote their foundation, and to promote music among the masses.
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This philanthropic initiative also concentrates upon bringing some light into the otherwise dark and lonely lives of senior citizens left by their children at old-age homes, and the unfortunate orphans at orphanages
They shot to fame with various projects of theirs, most notably ‘Awaaz’, which was established in light of the 2012 Delhi gang rape case and went on to win many accolades, including the Best Music Video Award at the Mumbai Shorts International Film Festival and the Hollywood Shorts Reel ’14. “To protest against the crime, a rally was being organised in Bangalore by a couple of my friends. They asked me to join the rally and play some music, something to invoke the emotions in the crowd and relay our message to the masses. So I sat down with my team and we composed ‘Awaaz – speak up against sexual violence’ as an anthem against such horrific crimes”, says Jim. Wanting to do more for the community, and wanting to give back to people less privileged, the
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Eastern Fare Music Foundation, in 2010, started a project called ‘Count Your Blessings’. Largely self funded, this project aims at providing utilities and/or financial help to NGOs and other institutions that are in dire need of help. The money for donation is collected from the members of the foundation—teachers and students alike, and after rigorous discussion as to which organisation is it to be given to, is given either in the form of a monetary relief or by buying utilities that the chosen organisation needs. This philanthropic initiative also concentrates upon bringing some light into the otherwise dark and lonely lives of senior citizens left by their children at old-age homes, and the unfortunate orphans at orphanages. Minishows are arranged specifically for these people every now and then that are aimed to provide some entertainment and joy to them. Often, the underprivileged children too, join in on these ‘jam sessions’. The foundation also visits slum areas and imparts education and aid to the underprivileged children. Most recently, the foundation has chosen three, very talented underprivileged children and is aiding them in every possible manner, to help them appear for the Trinity Guildhall Examination this year. When asked about other means of raising money for such initiatives, through concerts, and
the kind, Jim replied in a very grave tone, “The problem with organising concerts is this —people refuse to pay. They want it all to be free. For large companies and all, it is okay to organise benefit concerts of this kind and generate money. But for us to be able to do so, break even and even collect a tiny amount of profit to donate is visibly impossible, because people simply refuse to pay to attend such benefits.” In order to create more funds and awareness for their philanthropic work, in 2010, the Foundation set up a studio called the Eastern Fare Production House. The main focus of the production house is to create short films and documentaries on the North East and educate people more about it, and also a video series on the workings of various NGOs in and around Bangalore. Both these projects are aimed at creating awareness about places and organisations that are not very well known. What the foundation aims to do through its various activities is to educate the youth and send out a message to them to contribute and offer physical help for such initiatives and thereby, help the community as a whole. As a start-up that has come a long way since its inception, the Eastern Fare Music Foundation has achieved many accolades, and with perseverance, will continue to provide for the betterment of its immediate community.
Team Eastern Fare Music Foundation at one of their sessions.
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Music
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M D Pallavi performing in the play C Sharp C Blunt
At a time when the plight of Indian women appears depressingly bleak, plays like ‘C Sharp C Blunt’ and ‘Thoda Dhyan Se’ provide cause for hope—even if they get uncomfortably close to the bone. MIKHAIL SEN The Drama School Mumbai #Women 30
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oday, the land of Durga, Shakti and Parvathi exhibits a scarred landscape of rape, misogyny, and gender bias that is both scary and a stark travesty of precept and practice. The Hindu scriptures might postulate that “Women hold up half the sky.” But the harsh light of day betrays a grossly unequal sky. According to a recent survey conducted by Thomson Reuters' Trustlaw Women, (a hub of legal information and legal support for women's rights), India is the fourth most dangerous place for women. The survey which encapsulates the views of 213 experts from five countries affirmed that "India ranked fourth primarily due to female foeticide,
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The play raises questions about how society views women and the prescribed notions that exist within it. Each woman deals with objectification and misogyny in their own way. Most choose to ignore it
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infanticide and human trafficking. Up to 50 million girls were thought to be 'missing' over the past century due to female infanticide and foeticide.” So, where do ‘C Sharp C Blunt’ and ‘Thoda Dhyan Se’ fit in? The answer lies not just in terms of thematic synergies, but also because of the powerful processes that both plays have pursued. The name C Sharp C Blunt might suggest a musical note, which has become awry. But as M D Pallavi’s hypnotic performance takes centre stage, the lines between illusion and reality blur all too disquietingly. The impact is both disturbing and dramatic and underlines the power of theatre in mirroring life’s iniquities. The disquiet becomes even more palpable after a discussion with the star of the performance, M D Pallavi and her take on the piece. “The play raises questions about how society views women and the prescribed notions that exist within it. Each woman deals with objectification and misogyny in their own way. Most choose to ignore it. Many women feel intimidated. But it takes a toll on you. It affects your behaviour,
M D Pallavi performing in the play C Sharp C Blunt your lifestyle and finally your work. So, we decided to take all that anger and make a play out of it.” A devised piece created by director Sophia Stepf in collaboration with performer M D Pallavi as well as Irawati Karnik and Swar Thunaojam , the production took a year in the making. “We worked on the concept (which unravelled) the schizophrenia of a working woman in the Indian entertainment industry. We workshopped for a month…then took a break and got back together for a second session. At the end of this session, we
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had our play.” The ‘hard hittingness’ of the play came through because it drew from real life experiences. There is a section in the play where the characters are subjected to question loops. “These are questions all of us have encountered – 'Why are you still not married? Are your parents not looking for a boy? Why did you cut your hair? Are you a virgin? You earn more than your husband? Who feeds your husband if you go home so late?' Says Pallavi, “We use these questions in the play to talk about social conditioning.” The use of sound ingeniously bridges the distance between performer and audience and enables considerable dramatic interaction. Pallavi plays an application (app) where the audience member can control different facets of her being. They can increase the ‘sexiness’ or ‘huskiness’ of her voice according to their preference. This starts off as being extremely humorous but towards the end the audience is left feeling extremely uncomfortable. In fact the audience becomes a critical agent in the performance. “It is extremely challenging to stand on stage, ask the audiences for inputs and then improvise based on what they give. This interactive element makes the show different every time we do it. Each audience is different. Most of the audiences are shy. Some are enthusiastic, while some are sensitive. While rehearsing, we have rehearsed with all kinds of possible audience reactions. So, I am quite prepared for any out-of-ordinary audience reaction.” Likewise, ‘Thoda Dhyan Se’ draws from real life. Stemming from the recent Shakti Mills Rape Case in Mumbai, the production is a powerful 10-minute piece “on how women should dress in the city in order to avoid any trouble that might befall them.” Director-Actor, Mallika Taneja explains that, “The
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process was quite simple actually. I told my group that I would like to do a piece on the idea of being careful and then we improvised it. Initially the idea was to start with a lot of clothes on and then strip down to almost nothing, but then it was suggested that I try this the other way round and it worked. This piece changes and grows with every performance. The piece is not just a response to the Shakti Mills rape but to violence against women in general and the baseless and oppressive advice that is preached to women on how to avoid this by behaving a certain way. I was always aware of the fact that I did not want to quote any particular incident directly.” Very simply put, “The message is that no matter what I wear, I am not asking for it. And in spite of what I wear, I might be subjected to it.” The proof of the pudding, however, lies in the eating. ‘C Sharp C Blunt’ and ‘Thoda Dhyan Se’ may be powerful theatrical experiences. But do they offer something more? How have the audiences responded? According to Mallika there have been a range of reactions to her piece. “A more general one is of appreciation and of women agreeing very much with what I say. The fact that I start out in my underwear makes many people uncomfortable… I am mostly met with pin drop silence when I walk onto stage, but I have had some women thank me for having the courage to do that. One girl asked me if my parents had seen this and if they were okay with it. One gentleman after one show had a few more drinks than he should have and told me that he could cut his wrist for me. And generally a lot of random men have added me on Facebook. And only women journalists interview me. You in fact would be the first male to be writing about this! As you can see, reactions are different and it makes every performance, every experience of it, unique. And (that is why) theatre is a very powerful medium. And it should be
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The piece is not just a response to the Shakti Mills rape but to violence against women in general and the baseless and oppressive advice that is preached to women on how to avoid this by behaving a certain way. I was always aware of the fact that I did not want to quote any particular incident directly
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used more and more to tell our stories.” On a personal level, Thoda Dhyan Se has been transformative for Mallika. “It makes me have to question my own discomforts with my body and how I live my life as a young independent woman in the city. I feel a greater responsibility, after this piece, to be aware of the decisions I take when it comes to my gender. I also feel, somewhere, stronger, more articulate and my sense of self is way more defined. All because I have said something, out in the open, in a manner I wished to. Theatre has great power.”
For Pallavi the entire experience of devising a play like this has helped her channel her thoughts and arguments. “It has strengthened my own perspectives.” She says that, “Theatre is a niche form, but can bring in a significant change in the mindsets of at least a few in society. After a performance, even if one person has changed, I consider it as remarkable. Clearly, there is a long way to go before the light at the end of the tunnel emerges. But plays like ‘C Sharp C Blunt’ and ‘Thoda Dhyan Se’ have begun to show the way.
Mallika Taneja performing in the play Thode Dhyan Se | Picture courtesy: Kartikey Shiva
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Shortcomings of
the Social Conformist Change might not happen overnight, but if you're willing, success is not far away. DIVYA R. T. Lecturer at Department of Chemistry, Mount Carmel College, Bangalore #impact
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e constitue society. However, most often we endow it with third person status. The said tendency is all the more pronounced when some very important protagonist (who is practically everybody) in the societal coliseum, goofs up on his/her job. Everything about it should be well reiterated except for the fact that any one of us could land up in a glaringly similar situation, with ease. We—be it singly or as a whole—side with the assumption that maturity comes with age, whilst nonchalantly dismissing commonplace indicators that strongly advocate the fluid dynamic of the virtue in question. Everybody is a concurring social conformist when things seem appealing to them. So, let me gently break this to you—maturity has nothing to do with most decisionstaken but it is convenience.
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If you attempt to incorporate an extra thing or two into the daily checklists of grown ups, it creates displeasure; allow them to go ahead with their regular schedules and they’ll be grateful to you for not having eaten their brains for breakfast and might probably even thank you. We all have prized repertoires of excuses. My outlook might appear cynical but any normal human being who has a part-time job raking up excuses needs some jest in his/her daily menu to help cope with new and old things he/she might have to take in their stride. One must begin the day by clearly comprehending the contrast between favours and responsibilities, and end the day with introspection. Having said that, I’d now like to transition into the actual area of concern—social impact.
TEACHER, TEACHER
There are ample topics to choose from for this item but I choose Solid Waste Management as mine. Since this write up entails social impact and activities that reinfornce that term, I will speak from experience. From having worked towards betterment of our surroundings in the Mount Carmel College campus, I have just about the right amount of it to throw light on those aspects that would make for a workable framework. Solid Waste Management seems like a hot topic every day you read about it in the papers and magazines but the truth is, knowledge about its utility in our daily lives has been around for long and was especially very popular with our grandparents. This comes from the fact that their lives were relatively much simpler in terms of opportunities available and time to spare. It might at this juncture seem a tad paradoxical
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Solid Waste Management seems like a hot topic every day you read about it in the papers and magazines but the truth is, knowledge about its utility in our daily lives has been around for long and was especially very popular with our grandparents
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Illustration by Rohit Dasgupta www.campusdiaries.com/unmagazine
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to be even mentioning such a thing as one would assume that more available opportunities translates to more people seeking out to pursue their interests.What could possibly hold us back from going great guns at making a solid impact on people’s impressionable minds? We rarely get to notice youngsters who have interests centred around socially impactful issues and those who passionately involve themselves in them. For that matter everything one might do will influence the society as we are but a part of it. But what leaves a lasting impression is choosing to work on issues that need immediate attention. There are very many out there who do actually come out and work towards making an impact on the social front, in small or big ways. However, it is imperative to focus on the lot who are less drawn towards these activities. It can make for an interesting read if one were to research the reasons for this and write a book on them. But I am only a simple person writing a column. There’s just three things that’ll help you, whether a student or a grown up in your own field of work, create the sizzle that social issues require—a real interest in the topic, good knowledge of the topic and the ability to be assertive and spread awareness. Many have displayed great capability in creating such movements on their own, to begin with. For instance, Dr. Meenakshi Bharath is a Bangalorean passionate about solid waste management and mind you, not because it has been filling her pockets but because it is fulfilling to endeavour towards making your belief a success story. Her story speaks volumes about her efforts in Mallesawaran at encouraging and implementing composting at home and recycling paper and plastic. And Voila! Now she has her own team of supporters who are seen thronging to the locations she visits. She was instrumental
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There are very many out there who do actually come out and work towards making an impact on the social front, in small or big ways. However, it is imperative to focus on the lot who are less drawn towards these activities
in commencing the same process in our college in 2009 under the able guidance of the then Princiapl, Sr. Albina. It is indeed great to initiate such ideas single-handedly if you can afford to but when in an institution, one must work tactfully with all classes of people that comprise it. Things don’t come easy especially when you’re not top boss. You will have to gracefully slide down your falls and pull yourself up for another attempt. Conviction and perseverence are what paid off in our institution and also ended up attracting students towards waste segregation activities. When you go back and as much as discuss the issue with family and friends, it is the very first step to creating an impact and even if it were to be the last step, you have already done a world of good. Popularism is the tool to creating interest in people and thus glorifying environmental activities a tad bit wouldn’t hurt if it’s going to eventually help in protecting mother earth, right? So, just like we brush our teeth every morning because mommy told us so, let’s also do something that is conducive to betterment of our environment because mommy nature would really appreciate it.
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UNMAGAZINE | APRIL2014
PORTFOLIO PORTFOLIO OF OFTHE THE MONTH MONTH
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JASLEEN KAUR ThETHI FOCUS Graphic Design
RECOMMENDED BY
Tarun Deep Girdher
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Tarun is a design educator at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India. Since the last over 14 years, he has been teaching typography, publication design, illustration and printing technology at National Institute of Design, besides mentoring senior level design students on their projects. His work includes some very renowned visual identity designs for RTI, NBT and UP State Organic Certification Agency; and several publications on disability, DRR and gender In his free time, he loves to draw sunflowers and chai cups in the books that are hand bound by himself. You can get in touch with him via e-mail: tarundg@nid.edu
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I am a Post Graduate (Graphic Design) student at the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, India with a graduate degree from Govt. College of Arts, Chandigarh, India. Currently I am in Germany for an internship with a design studio called Jaeger & Jaeger. The sensitivity in my design comes from the way I have been raised up. I cannot thank my parents enough ever for shaping me into a person I am, before I am a designer. Design is my way of expressing the voice that has been with-held somewhere. I try to work on a variety of projects ranging over print, publication, infographics and designing for the digital media. I do not want to limit my horizons and thus try to look for different projects to work on.
CONTACT jasleenthethi@gmail.com Chandigarh, India
PORTFOLIO
GRAPHIC DESIGN PROJECT
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Project Guide: Tarun Deep Girdher 'A Guide to Buying Sneakers' intends to intervene and create an effective communication program for people to educate them about buying sneakers according to the arch of their feet. Project Blog: http://thesneakerguide.wordpress.com/ www.campusdiaries.com/unmagazine
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WEBSITE DESIGN
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Project Guide: Rupesh Vyas Developing a digital eco-system to promote khadi aimed at bringing together khadi and crafts of India at one space by creating an e-business website.
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PRODUCT DESIGN
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Project Guide: Hansuli Matter, Nicole Schneider (Zurich University of the Arts) The Flip Cup is a design idea to create a glass using sustainable materials without compromising the functions. The design is an attempt to replace the cold drink cups in multiplexes and eating joints.
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TYPOGRAPHY
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Project Guide: Tarun Deep Girdher The letterpress project was an attempt to concentrate on hand composing to understand typography better. In the end, three posters were composed and printed on the theme of concrete poetry. Project Blog : http://letherletterpress.tumblr.com/
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PORTFOLIO
ILLUSTRATION PROJECT
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Illustrations of the members of the group called ‘The Twilight Players’ who practise the locking and popping dance style. I am a huge fan of their dance and hence made these illustrations for them. www.campusdiaries.com/unmagazine
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Music
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UNMAGAZINE | APRIL2014
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The North East fashi Fashion Glory TEDx
Inspiration of the street fashion in the North East is derived from the South East countries like Thailand, Korea and the Asian fashion capital, Japan. Tanya Kotnala NIFT, Shillong #lifestyle 44
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tremendously lively Kasturi opens the door to her tiny hostel room, when inquired whether she’s always this thrilled about introducing people to her Korean collection, “I gift all my friends Korean movies on their birthdays!” she replies smugly. Korean theatre is a massive hit among the youth of the North East. I have watched a couple of movies and totally admit that they are pretty addictive, full of family comedy and love stories—a cute pretty girl and a heartthrob arrogant boy both incredibly fashionable.
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My favourite movies are A4 Boys and Boys over Flowers. I love Korean styling, and my daily styling has a lot of elements from Korean style. Imsen, 23, Student
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"I am not really into watching Korean dramas but I really like the way they style themselves. " JACKET AND TOP: GLORYS Lapyn Saiborne, 22, Student
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I have purchased this cardigan from Glorys and I love it! I've visited fashion streets of other cities, the quality you get here is unbeatable! Lynette, 19, Student
FASHION AND LIFESTYLE
Why is there Korean influence over the Bollywood in North East? "It's because they don’t tend to connect much with India and while I was thinking about politics and ignorance, I realised it’s more of the appearance connectivity— what I am trying to say is that the kind of colour silhouettes and styles best suited for features and body type in the North East has certainly more connectivity with Park Shin Hye (Korean actress) than Deepika," Kasturi revealed . Initially I tried to relate the whole thing with Fashion and Theatre alone that’s when Kasturi pointed out that there’s a lot of difference between the movies of North Korea and South Korea, "There aren’t many movies from North Korea because it’s not a democratic country like South Korea. Most of the South Korean movies tend to be about settled happy lives, families where people concentrate on their personality & relationships while always being fluently stylish’’. One can clearly notice the significance of fashion and culture in the Korean and Thai movies, In fact most of them are about fashion, grooming and personality development. One of the most popular Thai movies The thing called love is about a journey of a young girl and her zeal to change her personality and bring out the best in her. "I always want to look trendy. It makes me feel good, it’s also one of my talents," says Rini, a 20-year-old khasi student. As a matter of fact, being confident about looks can persuade confidence, hence the clothes you dress in can shape your personality adversely. Movies from the South East Asia are like your own personal guide to the latest fashion and trends around the globe. Remember how we would admire the north easterns for their amazing fashion sense? Well, that’s almost like a part of
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Talking about the Mecca of such resources, hail the Glorys Plaza situated in police bazaar, Shillong (the fashion capital of the north east India)—is the chest that contains all the Korean and Thailand street style riches
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their culture and upbringing. There’s a lot of value to how one dresses up, grooms/presents oneself and with the presence of all the resources required in abundance—makes it almost effortless! Talking about the Mecca of such resources, hail the Glorys Plaza situated in police bazaar, Shillong (the fashion capital of the north east India)— it is the chest that contains all the Korean and Thailand street style riches, from shoes, wallets, bags to dresses, chinos/trousers, cute boy shorts and a collection of the stylish winter wear to slay for—all of the hottest trend at relatively affordable price. When we talk about the fashion cycle, it guides us throughout the timeline of a particular trend, its origin and the kind of audience associated with it. The cycle denotes that an average trend has an introduction phase
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where the Fashion innovators (such as designers) introduce a trend, what immediately follows is the adaptation of the trend by the fashion leaders (such as actors, stylists etc.) then in its maturity phase the leaders are followed by the fashion followers (such as student and people falling in the age group of 20– 45 years) and at last it’s accepted by the laggard (people who stick to style after the decline of the trend as they find it comfortable & satisfying). In major parts of India the mass population comprises of the Laggards, whereas in the north eastern part of India majority of population is that of the fashion followers. Inspiration of the street fashion here in the North East is observably derived from the south east countries like Thailand, Korea and the Asian fashion capital Japan. Due to the speedy production in the garment industries of these south east countries, time taken for a trend to reach the fashion stores in the North East is very less in contrast to the other parts of India. The vendors at Glorys come from diverse backgrounds, a few of them are Tibetan refugees, Assamese and ofcourse folks from all over the seven sisters. No matter where they come from, they all dig up styles from Thailand and Korea and are very pompous of it. "Sorry sister hum bahot door se lata hain eight hundred
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Whenever I shop for the amazing fashionable stuff here, the thought of visiting Korea and Thailand someday for sole shopping purpose comes to my mind all the time
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last," that’s when you find a scratched off label of 200 Rs. I couldn't help but notice that owning fashion stores happens to be one of the major occupations in Shillong (all the bigger stores and businesses are mainly owned by Bengalis and investors from outside the North East. The smaller stores however are owned by the natives khasis and from the nearby NE states, with huge imports from the flea markets of Korea and Thailand there are more than at least two fashion stores per locality selling from accessories to dresses shoes,bags etc. "Whenever I shop for the amazing fashionable stuff here, the thought of visiting Korea and Thailand someday for sole shopping purpose comes to my mind all the time,” laughs Komal Jain, a student at NIFT Shillong.
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Young organisations and individuals are transforming the way people consume Community Radio today. But, how many of us know what Community Radio really means? Aditi Mishra Alumnus of Manipal Institute of Communication Manipal #Community
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ommunity Radio in India was a result of a long drawn struggle by free speech advocates from various fields, right from academicians to community members across the country, after a landmark judgement by the Supreme Court of India in 1995 declaring that “airwaves are public property�. We as students could never have imagined that Community Radio was something people were fighting for. I personally never gave that room to the community radio in my college,
adorned with mics, huge boards with equalizers and a hundred blinking switches a second look until the day I actually got to work on the radio and got to hear my idea come live, probably being heard by hundreds out there. There are individuals, organizations and institutions who have utilised this platform, innovated and presented it in dimensions where by not only did they create impact but also contributed to the positive change in and around that particular station.
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• Maraa: Transforming Community Radio Maraa, a media and arts collective, is transforming the community radio from being a platform that broadcasts philosophy and literature with as much ease as it does societal issues. Their journey was tough, when they set out to convince people that the right to speech is equally if not more important than other rights and demands. “While conceptualising the organisation, we had three simple ideas in mind”, says Ram, one of the founders of the organization. “We need to walk our talk—so we must start an urban community radio station. A radio station that broadcasts philosophy and literature with as much ease as it does justice and equity. Media creates reality for millions, gives voice to people and yet makes others invisible, and shapes public opinion. So people-owned independent media is worth fighting for. And all development and no creativity make the world a dull place. We want to pay attention to the transformative and indeed liberating power of the arts. We wanted to use arts to engage with the city in which we’re based (Bangalore)—paying attention to creative practices for survival and mindful of the
Maraa's workshops
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We want to pay attention to the transformative and indeed liberating power of the arts. We wanted to use arts to engage with the city in which we’re based
violence that is brought about by infrastructural transformation.” The idea of Community Radio has traditionally been of a station, which talks about which pesticide to use or how to ensure that a mother stays healthy, when she is carrying her baby. Maraa, through it’s relentless efforts has tried to change that with more and more involvement from the student communities and discuss a host of other topics. “Radioactive in Mahavir Jain College is one station which is inside a college campus and we have worked with them to produce programmes on diverse matters. In the city presently all the frequencies have been exhausted and we are
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fighting back to get more. There are only three frequencies licenses that have been granted by the government. We want community radio not just address social issues for example women are not about women’s issues, be it domestic violence or security etc, they also cook, they joke, they have hobbies, the idea is to focus on what preoccupies them lets say. All of us are full of stories and community radio is one platform which can be used to bring these stories forward," said Ekta.
• Vandana and her love story Vandana R. Jaikumar, presently works with Radioactive, fell in love with Community Radio while she was still an undergraduate student. She did her BA from Christ University and went on to do her M.A. in Communication (Radio and Video Production) from Sarojini Naidu School of Arts & Communication, University of Hyderabad. “I read about community radio and then contacted Maraa as to how can I work in this field. Ram asked me to come and sit for one of their sessions, that was in 2010”, said Vandana. There was no looking back for her after that point of time. She did her internship with Radioactive and came back to work with them after completing her post graduation. “It is a cliche to say this but it’s true - everyday has been a learning experience. It has been challenging and a lot of struggle, it takes time. I did enter it in this whole activism kind of mode but one has to be patient and understand the fact that you can not change things in one go. You can certainly contribute towards making a difference”, says Vandana. She was involved in educating and training programmes and assisting in producing various programmes. For Vandana it was like a love affair which started in college and continues till date. “I wake up every morning and want to go back to it, which is a good enough reason to keep working for me," she added.
North-South Community Learning Programme (CLP) workshops by Maraa
L: Vandana Jaikumar creating a training programme
As a platform and as a medium Community Radio opens up avenues which can be creatively put to use not only to dissipate information but also to give a voice to various forms of expressions, promote the local culture, tradition and art. It all boils down to our perspective and our willingness, something which people like Vandana and those working with Maraa have shown through their work.
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Project Emmit: Calculating your footsteps A showcase of Project Emmit : A mobile app that calculates the amount of carbon emitted by your vehicle as you travel.
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hat is Project Emmit? Emmit was originally designed as a social network for environment lovers of which the mobile application was an offshoot. However later the app was finalised as the final project of the fellowship. The Emmit mobile app calculates the amount of carbon emitted by your vehicle as you travel. You can either manually calculate the carbon emission or let the application track your vehicle and give you the carbon emission in real time as you travel. These are the features that the app boasts of : 1. Carbon Emission Calculator 2. Route Calculator 3. Carbon Tracker 4. Directions Finder
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How did the project come about? The create to Inspire Nokia fellowship in collaboration with Oxfam and IDEA was an eyeopener to many of us who were part of it. It was conducted for the first time in Delhi and Hyderabad in 2012-2013. 100 fellows in each city were selected from thousands of applicants and at the end on the day of our graduation there were only 50 left. It was a 10 month programme that required commitment and perseverance. We had to get out of our comfort zones and acquire skills and ideate together as a team. My team had 6 members out of which 4 were engineers: Sahil Sapra, Nukul Soni, Arti Kesari and Sugam Anand, 1 B.com graduate working with Google : Saloni Sethia and 1 MA English student: Asmita Sarkar, also our mentor Tamseel Hussain who is a
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Asmita Sarkar Hindu College New Delhi #environment Cartoon
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India is the most aware country when it comes to the environment but our awareness doesn’t convert into action that’s why this fellowship brought together young people from diverse backgrounds who could come up with unique solutions
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professional campaigner and works with change. org and has previously worked with Greenpeace. The initiative by Nokia wanted to address environmental issues especially in terms of Water, Transport, Energy, E waste. India is the most aware country when it comes to the environment but our awareness doesn’t convert into action that’s why this fellowship brought together young people from diverse backgrounds who could come up with unique solutions. It took months by my team, Team Imagineers, to come up with a cost effective idea that would effect the masses. The idea for Emmit was the third idea that we had come up with which used social media as a thoroughfare. What was the working process? While working on the project collaborating became hard because of our different schedules and the huge physical distance that had to be
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The Emmit mobile app calculates the amount of carbon emitted by your vehicle as you travel. You can either manually calculate the carbon emission or let the application track your vehicle and give you the carbon emission in real time as you travel.
covered to get to a common meeting point. Initially we tried to be there but we all lived in places like Greater Noida, Faridabad, Model Town, Rohini or Mayur Vihar. If you know Delhi you’d know that these locations are all at great distances from each other so we started using Google Hangout and other apps like Prezi to strategise, create content and make the numerous presentations that we had to do. We would meet online with our ideas ready and have discussions on it until something was finalised. As part of the process we designed a team name—Imagineers and a logo. The app is designed by the team for which special credit goes to Sugam Anand who was later rewarded by Nokia with a Lumia Phone for his enormous contribution to the project and for continuing his work on dvlup.com. Our mentor, Tamseel Hussain, gave us a free hand while ideating only stepping in to fine tune our approach to the audience.
The Project Emmit app
What is the future for the project? The app is available on Windows Store today and can be downloaded by anyone with a Windows Phone. After the fellowship ended the project has come to a stand still. The team has not been able to stick together post fellowship to take it forward to something greater unlike some other teams who have taken forward their projects like The Moving Delhi Project. What went wrong and what we did right? We stuck together inspite of our different backgrounds, we took part in the ideation process together even when some of us were lacking in knowledge about technology and we trusted each
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(L-R): Sahil Sapra, Asmita Sarkar, Arti Kesari, Tamseel Hussain, Sugam Anand, Nukul Soni
other to get the final product done. We also had a lot of outside help from Nokia who facilitated the licensing of the app and gave us this platform and funds to go ahead with it. So we have a final product as a symbol of our hard work of ten months. However, the app was only the first step. For the idea to become a movement a campaign was required for which we had the idea of an interactive community website for environment lovers but this idea wasn’t materialised since we couldn’t keep the team together after the Nokia fellowship got over and have all headed to our different directions. What the fellowship did for us? The fellowship was our window, our gateway to exploring aspects that we were previously unaware of. We had seminars and activities scheduled for a whole day every month that brought us together. We got to know people from different streams with different skill sets than us. We also explored spaces that were environment friendly in Delhi
like the Development Alternatives, WWF, Teri University Campus, Max Mueller Bhavan and others. We were part of workshops that included theatre, art, puppetry, music, film making, social media and more that helped in self-discovery and gaining knowledge about how to gamify a product. The fellowship also had strict criteria for awarding someone a fellowship which included attendance, participation, involvement with the team and contribution to the team. However it being the first year of the fellowship there were roadblocks for the fellows as well as the mentors and administrators. As a whole we stumbled and learnt on the job, the fellowship was as hands on for the fellows as for the mentors. Today we are still in touch with our Mentors who too were from diverse backgrounds like Theatre, Art, Dance, Social Media, Filmmaking, Photography and have worked with them in projects outside the fellowship.
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Breaking 'Bra'd Mahitha Kasireddi Alumnus of Sri Padmavathi Mahila University, Tirupati #conversations Illustration by Shruti Kabo 56
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What is Braject? A project encouraging meaningful and constructive conversation among the Indian youth about bras.
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The ‘Bra’. Oops! I said it out! But, you know what? The first step towards breaking this taboo around it is to utter this word more often in our social horizons. Eve Ensler, a popular women’s rights activist sort to urging people to spell out ‘VAGINA’ to break the stigma and ‘desexualize’ the term
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ow come there was not much conversation around things that are so much part of every woman’s daily life? I have been very excited about this article. I thought that the ongoing third wave feminism had covered every possible issue related to gender empowerment. I feel glad to be sharing about the most unspoken thing because I am so obsessed with breaking stereotypes. The ‘Bra’. Oops! I said it out! But, you know what? The first step towards breaking this taboo around it is to utter this word more often in our social horizons. Eve Ensler, a popular women’s rights activist, resorted to urging people to spell out ‘VAGINA’ to break the stigma and ‘desexualize’ the term. This can be a start. Firstly, very honestly I cannot recall when and how I was introduced to them or whether it was my mother or school’s influence that led me to using them. I have had a lukewarm experience with them throughout all these years. All I remember is that I never hated bras but I hated the ‘stigma’ around them. It frustrates me that I had to be conscious about dressing for family parties from when I started using them. It frustrates me always that people especially of my age group poke, nudge, grab my elbow, whisper in my ear, interrupt me in the middle of a serious conversation at the sight of my undergarment outgrowing my dress. I always found myself fumble for words not knowing how to answer them or how to defend. Well, I should tell you, I never hesitate to frown straight at people’s faces when they do that. I give them a ‘how-soconservative-you-are’ or ‘so-what?’ look. I roll my eyes and walk off. I do not know if this is the right way to deal with it. I have never been in a co-ed, probably that is why I could never comprehend why other girls were being so fussy about them. It’s not just relatives, even the sales women at the Life Style frustrate me. They speak in a very low voice, just moving their lips, asking you to lend your ear now and then to answer your queries. I mean, you sell them day and night, everyday to
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I was happier when I was using those long cotton petticoats with floral lace border and half slips. Dressing was easy and never distracted you unlike bras that keep pinching you in your armpits. But, yes, bras gave me a sense of pride that I was starting to dress up like my elder sisters
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‘women’ and yet not bold enough to do the business. No wonder the men at the small retail shops are so good at it. Talking of shopping for bras, I used to do it really fast not because I am shy but because I never saw them as important enough to be particular about. Only till one day when I ended up spending two thousand bucks on all wrong size ones. That was such a disaster. My mom would kill me. I was forced to wear those oversized bras for many days just for the sake of buying them. Until then I could never comprehend advertisements which talk of the comfort factor in undergarments. This episode was an eye opener to why I should be particular about buying the right size bra. Again I just knew one number, the ribcage size, I had no idea even until recently about cup size. I find all this very mysterious. It is definitely not easy to buy (correct) bras. I was happier when I was using those long cotton petticoats with floral lace border and half slips. Dressing was easy and never distracted you unlike bras that keep pinching you in your armpits. But, yes, bras gave me a sense of pride that I was starting to dress up like my elder sisters. The sense of liking here synchronizes with fashion. It was a fashionable action in my view to own bras. I chose fashion over comfort most of the times. And also to be more honest, you cannot separate sex and lingerie. I feel the right way to argue is to promote inclusiveness when you are calling for an open discussion about sex. The end of hushing over undergarments will then follow. Young girls sexualize themselves first in their lingerie. It is important that they have a good experience over the entire issue on bras without feeling guilty or awkward. But, before that, attaining puberty should not be seen as an unwelcomed
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happening. Well, that would lead to a writing another article altogether. By this, I might have directly implied that bras are not very necessary. The most controversial aspect of a small piece of fabric arrives here. I don’t either laud or criticize the braburning feminists of the 1960s, but do we really need bras? A French researcher has published a paper in April 2013 which said that medically, physiologically and anatomically women don’t need bras! He went about saying that a ligament called Cooper’s inside the Breast tissue could break down if women wore bras. The conclusion was wearing bras would actually lead to sagging. Fortunately, this only proved to be a myth by some counter-researches. There are many myths around bras busted, such as bras trapped toxic in the breast tissue which might cause cancer, wearing a bra while sleeping helped in maintaining perkiness etc. The impression all women have that it is the cup of the bra which holds the breasts was proven wrong. It is the bra strap that contributes 90% support. Thus, wearing a bra has nothing to do with health. If the purpose of wearing a bra is to give them a shape or enhance or make them look small, it is absolutely a choice whether to wear one or not. If it is choice it has to be respected. If you cannot appreciate saggy or pointy boobs it’s your perspective issue, never walk up to your sister or friend and embarrass them. It is just a vain hypocrisy to wanting to hide away or disown something that is a very part of you. I am most dissatisfied with not being able to accomplish this right synchronization of ‘colour of the bar-colour of the skin-colour of the dress’. How to get it right? I may not have any qualms about peeping bra lines, but I really wish I could get this right. A white bra inside a white shirt should make it less visible? The skin colour bras are supposed to be for only fair skin people? Dark skin people should look for darker colours? It was my sister’s engagement and I wore a white and white combo. She could very clearly make out the outline of my inner on the front and eventually she did not approve until I changed. Ofcourse it was her day and I did not want to spoil her moment. These days bras come in different colours, so the matter of ‘what colour’ should become a non-issue? Summers are definitely not the time to wear bras. The elastic straps that stick to your skin give you itching due to perspiration and then skin infection. But, cotton dresses are so transparent and underlining is not something you can ignore. So, evolving of bras is not yet over. Bra selling companies are themselves controversial in the message they convey. Offering bras in different cup sizes is intelligent. But, are these supposed to fit us or we are supposed
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I am most dissatisfied with not being able to accomplish this right synchronization of ‘colour of the bar-colour of the skin-colour of the dress’. How to get it right? I may not have any qualms about peeping bra lines, but I really wish I could get this right
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to fit in them? Companies try to prescribe on what is the perfect bust size. Isn’t it out of proportion to do that? Way back when bras were not popular, women would get undergarments stitched. I feel the making of bras should be more personalised, customized and specific to everyone. What’s more baffling is, for even the amount of material that goes in to making them why are bras so costly? If they are a basic necessity to every woman like the sanitary pads, shouldn’t they be more affordable? I might have a narrow understanding over this lucrative business around the most beautiful assets of women. I wish I could understand. The change I aspire is that buying a bra should be equal to any other normal action. Online shopping may well be a good alternative to avoid all embarrassment, but what’s achieved offline is real time progression. Not wearing a bra should never be a matter of speculation and left for individual’s choice. Bra selling companies need to rethink over their strategy and products they promote. Third wave feminism should actively campaign over this. And please leave the peeping bra line alone!
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Sweet dreams, my little amigo Edu
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Reintegrating street children into the Pakistani society
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Areej Mehdi | Alumnus of Kinnaird College for Women | Lahore | #society
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What is Roobaroo? A project to establish a human, ground level socio-cultural exchange between youth communities in India and her neighbouring countries. Season 1 is #Pune2Peshawar— between India and Pakistan.
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napshot: A pair of intelligent, searching eyes peeking through layers of dust and grime, purchasing for your attention. His hands hold multiple scars, which he doesn’t care to hide. The last time he put a decent morsel of food in his stomach was so long ago, it feels like another life time. Hardly anything to look back at and remember fondly, even less to look forward to, and yet there he is playing on the curb with his army of stones, as if the world is his play ground. You’ve just met Sadat. He’s only eleven. And he’s a street kid.
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Pakistan is home to one of the largest populations of street children in the world. Around 1.5 million homeless kids fight for day to day survival on the street
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Pakistan is home to one of the largest populations of street children in the world. Around 1.5 million homeless kids fight for day to day survival on the street. Some of them have been the victims of violence and abuse, others have experienced the loss of a loved one; almost all of them have an uncertain future on the streets. For children like Sadat, childhood quickly becomes a luxury. Living on the streets becomes a game these young kids have to learn the rules for quickly. The two most important things on a homeless kid’s list are food and shelter, with no concern for quality control. From sifting through people’s garbage to begging for money, from sleeping in public parks to finding shelter under bridges on rainy days, these kids are forced to confront the realities of life at an early age. You either adapt or you perish. While the issue of street children has yet to be fully realised at the government level, there are various social welfare organisations currently working to integrate street children back in to the society, giving them hope for a better future. One such organisation is the Azad
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Initiatives like Azad Foundation and LettuceBee Kids are essential for a society to heal. For a country whose name gets coverage for almost every wrong imaginable in international media, initiatives such as these are steps that encourage broader sets of conversations around issues that truly matter
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Foundation. Established in 2001, the Foundation works with street children and engages them in meaningful interactions and activities. The Foundation’s aim is to collect and disseminate information regarding street children’s plight in an effort to create a more informed public through workshops and seminars. With the establishment of its rehabilitation center, Dehleez, in Karachi, Azad Foundation provides street children with resources, skills and training to get off the streets and become more productive members of the society. LettuceBee Kids is another initiative in the same direction. The brainchild of Sarah Adeel, Fulbright scholar and Acumen Pakistan Fellow 2014, LettuceBee Kids is a self-sustaining entity working with street children to reintegrate them into the society. The organisation is centered on four guiding principles, for the successful reintegration of street children, namely: arts and crafts, importance of music, relationship with nature and respect of elders. Why these four guiding principles? Backed with extensive research, these principles further the organisation’s objective to not only provide food, shelter and quality education to street children, but also to inculcate in them selfsufficiency and an entrepreneurial spirit. The goal is to not just feed and clothe street children but to shape them into the best possible representations of themselves, through education and self-belief. Initiatives like Azad Foundation and Lettuce Bee Kids are essential for a society to heal. For a country whose name gets coverage for almost
Drawings by children of LettuceBee Kids
LettuceBee Kids
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every wrong imaginable in international media, initiatives such as these are steps that encourage broader sets of conversations around issues that truly matter. Moreover, such initiatives are essential in building on the framework prepared by Pakistan’s most well-known humanitarian and social worker, Abdul Sattar Edhi. What’s important for us as citizens of any country is to ask ourselves, what kind of society do we want to live in? Do we want to encourage a society built around rationality, kindness, and collaboration? Or do we risk a society built on hysteria, bigotry and apathy? I believe the answer lies in the issues we
choose to invest in and stand for. As for Sadat, we chatted over a box of juice, some crisps and lots of biscuits. Sadat animatedly talks about how he wants to go to school but enjoys garbage picking and playing on the street with other kids just as much. He is neither sure about his days nor nights but it’s still better from where he’s come from. I tentatively ask him if he’d like to go back to his real family someday. He’s tightlipped about his biological parents. But I can sense his eyes watering up so I jokingly tell him I’ll wait for him to grow up and earn enough to pay me back for this impromptu treat. Sadat beams widely, “Baji, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
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What’s important for us as citizens of any country is to ask ourselves, what kind of society do we want to live in? Do we want to encourage a society built around rationality, kindness, and collaboration? Or do we risk a society built on hysteria, bigotry and apathy?
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Fulbright scholar and Acumen Pakistan Fellow 2014, LettuceBee Kids
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Bangalore
TIPPING SYSTEMS, TAKING THE NEXT BIG STEP
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Ever yone A Changemaker ™
Taking a look at why TEDxBangalore and Ashoka Foundation are coming together—championing young changemakers and their ideas. Meera Vijaynn | Ashoka India Bangalore | #changemakers
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n 2009, two young graduates from IIT had a dream. They wanted to explore rural India and use their skills to find solutions for its people. So they undertook a journey that would potentially change their lives; they set out to the hinterland, not knowing what awaited them. Over a period of six months, they used their weekend breaks to travel in rural areas surrounding West Bengal and Delhi, struggling to understand and engage with the vibrant Indian farming community. In this quest, however, they came away with more questions than answers. They found that farmers had little knowledge to lift themselves from poverty, little or no access to the market and were weighed down by traditional thinking. Finally, determined to find a solution and change things for the better, they launched “Farms n Farmers (FnF)”, taking the big step towards changing the way Indian farming functioned at its very core. Today, this company launched by Shashank Kumar, an Ashoka Fellow, and Manish Kumar, in 2010, has already changed the lives of over 5000 farmers.
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They found that farmers had little knowledge to lift themselves from poverty, little or no access to the market and were weighed down by traditional thinking
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Shashank and Manish Kumar | Source: Outlook India
In India, we aren’t strangers to inefficiency. We witness it everyday. Be it frustrating exchanges with the municipality to access basic facilities or using public spaces freely without any threat to safety. But, we are also, by and large, passive in acting when it comes to handling an issue. The biggest obstacle in our approach to problem solving is that we undermine vision; we settle on short-term solutions for long-term problems. At Ashoka, we believe that an individual’s power to transform systems doesn’t come from his or her idea alone but his or her ability to look at the larger framework and find solutions that will help change an entire ecosystem. In India, the vision of the Ashoka fellowship has helped drive social entrepreneurs and young changemakers in a direction that will result a paradigm shift in sectors. Through this year’s TEDx Bangalore, we want to support and champion these amazing people and the ideas that make them.
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IN FOCUS
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This year’s TEDxBangalore is a step forward towards creating a better future. Young people have always been central to Ashoka’s ultimate goal of building an “Everyone a Changemaker” world
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Focusing on the city’s never-say-die spirit, we want to celebrate the city’s diverse youth communities and their potential to bring about radical change in the world around them. For instance, Ashoka Fellow Kuldeep Dantewadia, co-Founder of Reap Benefit, may seem like every other a native Bangalorean; an easy-going twenty-something who reminisces about the city’s ‘good ol’ days’. But his organisation was borne out of his sheer will to bring about change in the city. Driven by nothing by enthusiasm and a curiosity to delve deeper to understand and solve environmental problems, Kuldeep started first by collecting garbage and understanding the waste economy. Today, his organisation has worked with over 85 educational institutions, and helped save almost 2,100,000 litres of water and nearly 200,000 units of power. A few may look at this success in awe, but this is, what we believe, the true power of vision. At Ashoka, we don’t merely look at change as a singular ideal, we look at it as a collaborative effort that can help shape the way we lead our
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lives for the better. Needless to say, this year’s TEDxBangalore is a step forward towards creating a better future. Young people have always been central to Ashoka’s ultimate goal of building an “Everyone a Changemaker” world, a world where each individual can develop and apply the key skills one needs to drive change. Bill Drayton, who founded Ashoka in India in the early 1980s, wrote passionately about his vision in a piece published in the Innovations Journal. “Society cannot significantly increase the proportion of adults who are, and know they are, changemakers and who have mastered the necessary and complex underlying social skills until it changes the way young people live,” he says. Because of this, one must encourage and cultivate in young people, not compassion, but empathy, a unique skill that will help them identify and help transform each of them as leaders. If we are successful in this, we have truly taken that first step forward to tipping a system.
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H ow and when Does it happen That we begin to grow complacent, When the squalor and dirt Around us No longer bothers us. When the shrunken bellies of Children, staring Through torn rags Become a part of the scene A part of our lives. When success and worldly possessions Hold the key to Man’s respectability In society. When goodness and integrity Are just words That are used often But mean nothing. When not being yourself is being clever Being clad in masks most natural. We have built a magnificent Facade around us. We, living in the most ingenious, Most prosperous time, Are most creative In deceiving ourselves. Illustration by Sadhna Prasad 67
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