APRIL2014 2014 May
CAMPUSDIARIES CAMPUSDIARIES
UNMAGAZINE BEST OF CAMPUSDIARIES.COM BEST OF CAMPUSDIARIES.COM
RS.50 RS.50
THE ‘CITIES’ ISSUE INSIDE: 24 WHY DELHI WILL ALWAYS INSIDE: REMAIN ‘DILLI’ LET YOUR INHIBITIONS RUN WILD!
27 WHAT THEFYUP PUNEDEBACLE METAL 10 DU’s SCENE IS REALLY LIKE 16 NIT-C : AN INSTITUTIONAL 80 INTERNSHIPS Failure OF THE MONTH 44 NORTH EAST INDIA’S FaSHION
It’s not who i belong to, But where
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CURATOR’S NOTE I’ve belonged to one city my entire life. ‘I was born and brought up in the city that never sleeps’, is something I tell everyone who asks me where my hometown is. The answer was never my father’s or mother’s birthplaces, but the city I was born in. It’s been my identity, my confidante. Recently, when I decided to move for work, one of the first things that came to my mind was - is this really happening? Was the love affair ending? Those nooks and corners I knew so well, those habits I cherished, and that sev puri I ate everyday! Everyone told me, it’s your adventure — you will find your belonging. And in a few months, I did. The city started talking to me, responding to me, and I knew this was where I was supposed to be. Now when I go back home, I know I have another one waiting for me back home. If you want to be a part of the UnMagazine (or just send me wonderful postcards), email me at samata@campusdiaries.com and I’ll try to find what you’re looking for.
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
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EDITORIAL Nandini Varma Amitoj Singh
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CURATORS EDUCATION AND CAREER Ojaswini Bakshi
MUSIC
BANGALORE
Amitoj Singh
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COLLEGE Sanika Dhakephalkar
NEW DELHI
SOCIETY
NIKHIL KUMAR nikhil7kumar@gmail.com TRISHA CHOUDHURY trishachoudhury7@gmail.com
PUNE
Asmita Sarkar
PROJECTS Nandini Varma Tanya Kotnala
SUBHROJIT MALLICK subhrojit.mallick.2012@sse.ac.in
ART AND THEATRE
SURATHKAL
POLITICS
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Published By : Sumit Saurav
UNMAGAZINE
CONTENTS EDUCATION
10
Why We Study at India’s Oldest Colleges
CAREER
18
9 Extremely Important Things You Need to Know before Applying Abroad
COLLEGE
24
Delhi will always be ‘Dilli’ for you and me
10
MUSIC
27
Pune, Metal and Me
SOCIETY
30
My Internship Story - Delhi to Bihar
34
Nizamuddin
ART
44
Corners of My World
POLITICS
47
The Votes that Shake the Country
PORTFOLIO OF THE MONTH
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Kawaldeep Singh - Symbiosis Institute of Design, Pune
34 THEATRE
56
City City, Bang Bang
IN FOCUS
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Roobaroo - Taking Jaipur Handicrafts Beyond Borders
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Braject - Different Women. Different Bras. One city.
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71 TEDxBangalore - Empower to Fail (Again!)
FICTION
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Ambition
WHAT’S THE SCENE?
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Events of the Month
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6 festivals India experienced last season and how they fared
INTERNSHIPS OF THE MONTH
80 Best Internships of the Month
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ININTHIS ISSUE THIS ISSUE HARNIDH KAUR Lady SRi ram College, DELHI Harnidh alternates between 15 and 50 years old mentally, and is stuck at a rather inelegant 19, physically. History, poetry, food, travel, trivia and arguments in general make her very happy. Her teenage is almost done, but her drama queen days aren’t over just yet.
SUNAKSHI BHATIA TERI UNIVERSITY, NEW DELHI Sunakshi wants to be a professor and work in the development sector. A science and research aficionado since childhood, she still enjoys knowing the scientific reason behind everything.
UTSAV DAS ALUMINUS OF IIT, NEW DELHI Having recently stepped into a professional life from that of a student’s, Utsav relies on expressing his thoughts. Expressing to himself. To learn and to evolve.
KAWALDEEP SINGH Symbiosis Institute of Design, Pune Kawaldeep loves Brand Identity design and the world of branding. His primary motivation behind design comes from his passion for creation and the fact that there are infinite ways to find creative solutions.
OJASWINI BAKSHI MIRANDA HOUSE, NEW DELHI A massive Doctor Who and Potter fan! She loves travelling around by herself, meeting new people and trying out new things. ‘Awkward’ is her middle name and whenever she trips, it is always the floor that is at fault!
ULRIKE REINHARD Guest Writer for TEDxBangalore, Beirut
SAUDAMINI KALRA ALUMINUS OF IIT MADRAS, CURRENTLY AT SCHOOL OF DRAMA, MUMBAI Graduated with a Master’s Degree in English and now, to make sure she is completely unemployable, studies theatre in Mumbai and writes poetry on the side.
AARZU SARDANA SEAMEDU - SCHOOL OF MEDIA, PUNE Aarzu is a socially awkward penguin in all senses. A student of media, writing comes second to her and she prefers to stay behind the camera. She is a part of setting up PigInk Productions.
Ulrike is a consultant, author, visionary, free spirit and passionate digital native rolled into one. Her belief in the Internet’s ability to empower people and change our lives and worlds for the better drives all her work, whether it be investigating global movements or establishing grassroots self-help projects in Africa and India.
CAROL D’SOUZA ST. Joseph’s college, Bangalore Carol is a media student in love with words who cherishes a burning passion for poetry and the ocean. Self-proclaimed introvert, she occasionally deigns to grace the world with her company.
MANISH SHARMA ALUMinus of ramjas college, Delhi An ardent writer, poet and a photographer who loves to capture nature and things with realistic beauty, Manish is a ‘psychotic philosopher’. Cooking is his hobby and he loves to travel and travel more. Oh! And yes, he is a gadget freak too.
VINIT RAVISHANKAR MIT, PUNE Vinit is a non-awkward programmer. When he isn’t arguing with helpless civilians, he enjoys musicking around, and writing stuff: in English, or, alternatively, Python.
PANKHUDI SINHA MITSOM, PUNE Writing, for Pankhudi, could be an obsession of sorts. She wants to inculcate a creative perception of her own that pierces into the very persona of the ever shifting social way of life and subjects around. She certainly has an ambition to hitchhike the Train to the Writers’ World.
ARYAJYOTI GOSWAMI IIT, DELHI Arjyajyoti Goswami or AJ as he is fondly referred to, is pursuing PhD from IIT-D. When he is not working in his lab or writing something, he can be seen playing with street dogs or gorging on butter naan and shahi paneer in the nearby dhaba.
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SHUBHAM LODHA KIRORIMAL COLLEGE, DELHI He’s a documentary photographer based in Delhi. He can be reached at shubhamlodha@live.com
THIS COULD BE YOU!
UNMAGAZINE | MAY2014
WHY WE STUDY AT INDIA ’S OLDEST COLLEGES OJASWINI BAKSHI, MIRANDA HOUSE, DELHI #TRADITION
“We shape our buildings and thereafter, the buildings shape us”, said Winston Churchill. Here’s a look at India’s oldest colleges from the four corners of the country and the reasons why these students like studying here.
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istory, they say, echoes best in ancient corridors. They take moments right out of our textbooks and bury them deep inside the core of their pillars. The corridors never forget. They sit silent and seep in everything that passes them by. They observe and they wait patiently for years without grieving for you. Once you leave, they reach out to you in your dreams and in your memories, calling you back. And finally, when you do get around to those reunions, they holler out your name and you look back the same way you used to when you were young. Education has always brought about the whirlwind of change and their institutions have been a home to many a revolutionaries: be it the role of an engine house during the struggle for Indian Independence or of a school established by an influential British couple to alleviate ignorance amongst the masses. Few institutions have etched a mark so deep that it runs in our lives till date. They have survived the tumultuous test of time and braved against all odds to stand as tall as they
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did at their inception. With every new novice rediscovering these beauties in their own way, these institutions have evolved and adapted over time to become the most well known of their kind and their stories are something worth lending an ear to.
Presidency University, Kolkata Established: 1817 By Dipyaman Chakrbarti A Presidencian cannot possibly start writing an article on his/her college without enlightening the rest of the world (Yes, we are pretty narcissistic!) about the four P’s namelyPrem (love), Politics, Porashona (the process of gathering knowledge) and Promod (the legendary canteen where a Presidencian carries out the former three P’s and sometimes in that order). Initially named the Hindu College, it was established in 1817 as a centre for higher education for the Bengal Presidency. Our college has seen it all
from the invention of Radio Waves by AJC Bose to being the epicenter of radical student politics in the seventies that saw a shift in the intellectual discourses that characterised the Bengali intelligentsia. For generations our college has been a hub of what I would like to call a weird concoction of the three P’s that I mentioned above. But, that is what any Wikipedia page would tout our university to be and therefore I am not going waste my time telling you that. What I will now share is my perception
EDUCATION
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of the Presidency experience without getting as less emotional as possible. Zakir Husain Delhi College Non-conformism, liberalism and New Delhi radicalism run through the bricks of Establish: 1694 this two hundred year old institution. As I enter the main building through By Kallol Bordoloi the portico and walk through the quadrangle to eventually reach Promod da’s canteen, decade old graffitis Having done my twelfth in a college, Delhi University to have declared itself (some new… some old) greet me with I was not unused to changing rooms so. Then, there was the legendary Chaat the same fervor as if some strange after almost every class or not having hand has assigned the task of being a your own classroom at all. After I got Corner. At the age of 60, it is one of the harbinger of ‘the revolution’ to it. The into Zakir Husain Delhi College in July oldest chaat corners in Delhi, which I sweet taste of freedom and academics ’12, all I noticed or ever visited was the refrained from visiting till around the were integral parts of my Presi-days. It football field, the canteen or the one second month. But, the banana splits has been an enriching experience to classroom we were given till around there are one of the tastiest I’ve ever say the least. Presidency, my college, the end of the first month. I like to say had. Not every college has someone my home, the place where I have learnt that our college’s football field is one of who’d split a banana for you and pour the three P’s of life, to me is an ‘Idea’ the best I’ve seen in colleges here. The sugar and hand it to you with utmost and as any Presidencian will tell you second thing I noticed here were signs sincerity. Perpendicular to the Chaat —“Ideas are indeed bulletproof and that read “Ours is Paan Masala Gutka hence, eternal”. Free Campus”. Almost two years in this Corner is the rock garden which has college now and I can say indeed it is. various kinds of cacti. ZHDC is known Apparently, we are the first college in for its green men and the best thing
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about it in spring, is the flowers. With history living within the campus walls, ZHDC grows older with every fallen leaf, day in and day out. As you look at it from the front, standing between the two front gates, you realize the majestic vibe it articulates and the rich amount of knowledge it has imparted to thousands of pupils over three centuries which has seen it die and be born again. History makes Zakir Husain Delhi College unique.
Perhaps, I’m the lucky one to boast that only my College in the city of Mumbai has a breath-taking view of the Arabian Sea. And not to forget The Marine Drive—a place where memories are made every single day. Wilson College is what I’m talking about. The oldest, the grandest, most amazing and maybe the best college I’ve come across. Wilson has an aura of its own and trust me, the tag of a ‘Wilsonian’ sticking to you even after you graduate is totally worth it. Wilson’s gothic style architecture is simply marvellous (and sometimes makes a good background for
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Perhaps, I’m the lucky one to boast that only my College in the city of Mumbai has a breath-taking view of the Arabian Sea.
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Wilson College, Mumbai Established: 1832 By Arun Moras
UNMAGAZINE | MAY2014
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photographs). Come along to this personal level. To those who want to college during the monsoon season get their projects printed at the last and you would not want to go minute, say Hi to ‘Himmat Bhai’ or anywhere else. The rains really get ‘Nisha Stores‘ as these are the people the best out of this college and you for who have seen most of the student some reason. Our canteen is the place projects before the professors. where you will find students hanging You will always find other colleges out most of the time. When you’re different or better in many other here, ask our ‘Anna’ for a medu vada aspects. But, the things that make sambhar and a cup of tea. It completely Wilson so awesome and unique can makes your day. never be found in any other college in Here, one can proudly boast about Mumbai. a 100-year-old fountain, a kickass library and a wonderful Nature Club besides many other things. The amazing history of this college, its When you’re here, ask architecture and environment makes our ‘Anna’ for a medu vada you fall in love with it instantly. This college has an amazing faculty for all sambhar and a cup of tea. It its departments who go out of their completely makes your day way to engage with the students on a
EDUCATION
UNMAGAZINE | MAY2014
College of Engineering, Guindy, Chennai Established: 1794 By Vivek C The manufacturer of over thousands of creative engineering minds, the workshop for instigating numerous inventions, the powerhouse of future leadership in various fields, the prestigious College Of Engineering Guindy has stood through roughly two centuries and is still mighty and magnificent in structure and in creating budding engineers as well as reformed individuals towards the world human community. It started off as a School of Survey with eight students and
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evolved overtime to be what it is at present as College of Engineering Guindy, consisting of 10,000 students studying every year. When I entered the premises in 2010 as a freshman, with its rich heritage filled infrastructure decorated artistically by red and white bricks with grand pillars and the huge dome, it gave me a nostalgic feel. Education is not a mere process here but an experience that one needs to cherish and learn from every year, every day, every minute and every
EDUCATION
second. CEG has always given this experience to me via its precious teachers and creating avenues for its students to participate and organise various Technical and Cultural symposiums like Technofest and Kurukshetra to let us experience the art of organising, face competitions and bring out the hidden talents in each one of us and building on the same. On these final few days of April 2014, my four year college life at CEG is coming to an end. These four years were filled with a mixed bag of knowledge, theories, labs, experiments, competitions,
organising, guiding, being guided, projects, innovations and the exhilarating moments with my best friends The Mechanical Maestros. I have not just learnt Maths, Physics, Thermodynamics and Mechanical Engineering here, but I have “lived those experiences� which showed me how tough and challenging life can be and how you, with your sheer determination and perseverance barring all odds, succeed with your hard work. I have learnt from every individual some valuable lessons. In CEG, despite the diversity,
there was unfettered unity. CEG has been a place where thousands of inquisitive minds seek wisdom from their masters and I have definitely gained some during the course of my short stay of four Years in this two century old institution. Men may come and men may go but CEG will stay forever and will continue to make everyone Progress through Knowledge.
UNMAGAZINE | MAY2014
9 EXTREMELY IMPORTANT THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE
APPLYING ABROAD It doesn’t get greener than this folks! PANKHUDI SINHA - MITSOM - PUNE #academics
Planning to study abroad? Well, this process can be an arduous and annoying one. But don’t worry, all the information you need is right here. In detail.
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ities in India pose oodles of Universities with countless courses. High end cities like Bombay, Delhi, Calcutta, Bangalore and Chennai are known for their quality education and pronounced city life experience for students. Then why are Indian students so keen on studying abroad, when our country has some of the finest Universities? The IIMs which are a trademark for their first-rate MBA courses located in Calcutta, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Lucknow and so many other cities of India. Or the NIFTs which are celebrated for their fashion related courses, located in cities like Delhi, Bangalore and Gandhinagar. Both these courses are like chalk and cheese. The point I’m trying to make is that when all sorts of courses are available in India, then why not study here. Why do people prefer to study abroad? When I asked the same question to a dear friend who is studying Illustration in Yale University (YU), New Haven, Connecticut, she said, “Studying abroad was probably the most essential decision that I made. Cherry-picking the right country, city and university not only affected the direction of my personal and professional life, but I was also introduced to a new culture, a new way of life, and new people.” After listening to her line of reasoning, I thought about it myself and came to understand that she made sense.
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I believe that during our undergrad and grad phase of our lives, we, as individuals, flourish in academics but also learn more about one’s own self. Personal growth and development are key components of these years and I am convinced that the experience of studying abroad will offer endless possibilities towards accomplishing those ends. Studying abroad has been a well thoughtout decision for me. I have reached a point in my life where I want to see beyond the walls of my own everyday lifestyle, broaden my perspective and experience something new. I have chosen to go to the USA to pursue Master’s in Journalism. The process of finally coming to this decision was a prolonged and measured one. Through this article, I’m hoping to simplify the process of selecting the right country, course and university, exams to appear for, the application process in the selected university, and finally the process of getting a student visa.
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Studying abroad has been a well thought-out decision for me. I have reached a point in my life where I want to see beyond the walls of my own everyday lifestyle, broaden my perspective and experience something new
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CAREER
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1 LEADING COUNTRIES IN TERMS OF QUALITY EDUCATION As more countries around the world develop world-class universities, there have never been so many attractive possibilities for international students. Below are some of the top countries which provide quality education (not in any particular order) • • • • • • •
USA UK AUSTRALIA CANADA FRANCE GERMANY SINGAPORE
TOP 10 STUDENT CITY RANKINGS: While selecting a university, you should not only consider the aspects related to the educational institution, but also the characteristics of its surrounding environment. Apart from the academic pointers, take decisions on the basis of the city in which the university is located, the volume of international students there, the quality of lifestyle, the cost of living and studies, the employer activity in the city and the overall societal behaviour. Below are the top 10 city rankings voted for by the students: • • • • • • • • • •
Paris, France London, England Singapore, Singapore Sydney, Australia Zurich, Switzerland Melbourne, Australia Hong Kong, China Boston, USA Montreal, Canada Munich, Germany
Illustration Credits : Kashmira Sarode www.campusdiaries.com/unmagazine
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HOW TO SELECT THE RIGHT COURSE?
HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT UNIVERSITY?
There are many courses to choose from. You need to put enough thought on your areas of interests and realise the career stream your interest lies in. Once you have short-listed your career stream, check to see if there are any courses available in your field of interest. After this, you should do an extensive research on each course. It is very important to ascertain that your course offers a good career path as well as a moderate pay. To simplify this process you can create a spreadsheet with the pros and cons of each course that you have narrowed down. After going through the finished spreadsheet you can come to a conclusion as to which course you’d like to apply for.
When selecting a university, it’s important to consider rankings by your specialisation. Don’t go by overall rankings, it may be misleading. For eg. California Institute of Technology is ranked number 1 for higher education according to Wikipedia. When I was looking for the best universities for MA in Journalism, I found that Columbia University was ranked number 1. For this very reason, I’d encourage you to look up top ranking universities by your specialisation. That will give you the most accurate results for the best possible schools. How to create a balanced list? You need to divide your list into 3 categories: • Ambitious—The ones that are your real dream Universities, but you think they are a bit unapproachable given the profile you have. • Moderates—The Universities which you believe that you have a fair chance of getting in. You have researched that people of similar profile have gone through such Universities before. But you still cannot be very confident. • Safes—The Universities that you are confident that you should get a call from. You have checked various forums and you are pretty sure that with your profile, you should get an admit from this University. A few steps that I followed when I was looking for universities abroad: • Consider your own priorities, interests and abilities first. • Research. • Select a country. • Each university has an alumni association, often with an international network. Try to identify alumni who may be willing and able to help you. • Keep an open mind. Identify your priorities, research your options and talk to people but always stay open to new suggestions, just in case there’s something you missed.
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5 THE VARIOUS EXAMS YOU NEED TO APPEAR FOR For an Undergraduate Degree • SAT The SAT is a standardised test for college admissions in the United States; it is a globally recognised college admission test that lets you show colleges what you know and how well you can apply that knowledge. It tests your knowledge of reading, writing and math — subjects that are taught every day in high school classrooms. Most students take the SAT during their junior or senior year of high school, and almost all colleges and universities use the SAT to make admission decisions. Taking the SAT is the first step in finding the right college for you, the place where you can further develop your skills and pursue your passions. But SAT scores are just one of many factors that colleges consider when making their admission decisions. High school grades are also very important. In fact, the combination of high school grades and SAT scores is the best predictor of your academic success in college. For a Graduate Degree • GRE The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is administered by the Educational Testing Services (ETS). GRE is a standardised test that is required to be taken by students seeking admission in any of the graduate schools. It is a test to evaluate skills of the aspirants. The GRE has been developed to evaluate the verbal, analytical and mathematical skills of the candidates. Students seeking admission into any Masters Program in the US and many other European countries are required to take GRE. Individuals applying to graduate schools in order to pursue a Masters in Arts (MA) or Science (MS) are required to take the GRE.
• GMAT Quality graduate business programs rely on the GMAT to make admissions decisions, so if you’re serious about business school, then the GMAT is your best first step. The Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) is a computer adaptive test (CAT). The GMAT assesses a person’s analytical, writing, quantitative, verbal, and reading skills in standard written English in preparation for being admitted into a graduate management program, such as MBA. Universities need to know that you have sufficient grasp over the English language. For this you can take one of the two tests mentioned below, depending on the requirement of a particular university. • TOEFL Test of English as a Foreign Language or TOEFL is a standardised test of English language proficiency for non-native English language speakers wishing to enrol to universities. The TOEFL test is the most widely respected English-language test in the world, recognised by more than 9,000 colleges, universities and agencies in more than 130 countries, including Australia, Canada, the U.K. and the United States. Wherever you want to study, the TOEFL
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test can help you get there. • IELTS IELTS, the International English Language Testing System, is designed to assess the language ability of candidates who need to study or work where English is the language of communication. IELTS is recognised by universities and employers in many countries, including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the USA. It is also recognised by professional bodies, immigration authorities and other government agencies. For all these exams, there are particular centres that you will be assigned to when you register yourself on their official websites. You will have to go to the specified centre and appear for the exam. Make sure you register yourself way before the exam date. Sometimes the centre given to you may be distant from the city you live in. This occurs due to delay in registering. Sneha from Pune, Maharashtra went through a lot of trouble on the “centre” front. When asked she said, “I had to go all the way to Bangalore to give the GRE exam because I registered a week before the exam date. This was because all the centres in cities close to Pune were jam-packed!” So, make sure you register at least a month prior to the exam.
6 APPLICATION PROCESS When deciding which applicants to admit to their college, admissions officers look at many different factors. •
Statement of Purpose (also called Personal Statement): You will have to pay special attention to draft your Statement of Purpose. Your Statement of Purpose is a reflection of your goals, aspirations, academic highlights, co-curricular achievements and your enthusiasm for higher studies. Be very meticulous in framing your SOP. It is something that the professors are surely going to read. You 22
need to highlight all your strong points and also explain (in short) the reasons of any shortfall in your application. • Transcripts A transcript is an official copy of a student’s academic record. It is issued by the University on demand. Generally Universities charge a fee for each copy of the ‘Official Transcript’. Transcripts are one of the most essential documents that are required by Universities where you are applying for admission. You’ll need to send your transcripts by post (courier) to University admission office. Your application will not be processed until the University has your transcript. • Letters of Recommendations Letters of recommendation are another item where you need to be very proactive. You may have to spend a lot of time for this activity. You need to identify the professors (or supervisors at work place) whom you’ll entrust with this responsibility. You’ll need to tell them well in advance and seek their approval for the same. • Finalising the List of Universities The first requirement before you start applying is to have a list of Universities where you intend to apply. Depending on your personal choice, you may choose 2-5 universities in these three categories: Ambitious, Moderates and Safes; which I have mentioned above. •
Financial documents to be sent with applications Some Universities ask some financial documents to be sent along with the application. These documents may be custom documents/forms that are to be filled and sent back with bank seal etc. Basically they would like to evaluate your ability to support your educational expenses for the selected course.
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“The elevator to success is out of order. You’ll have to use the stairs, one step at a time.” -JOE GIRARD
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7 WHILE WAITING FOR RESULTS After you’ve sent your last application, the impatient wait for results follow. Please keep in mind that some Universities send results really late while some will keep you in waitlist for long. Most of the time, you’ll get an email once the final decision on your application has been reached. But sometimes they’ll just update your status online and won’t send an email. So, it’s better to keep checking the application website regularly. NOTE: In case you don’t hear a decision from the University, just email or call the concerned admission officer. In my opinion, calling is always a better option than email. Some Universities are quite slow in responding to emails.
9 PREPARATION FOR VISA Finally, you’ve come to the last hurdle before you go ahead and pursue your dream. Visa is the most discussed topic on the internet. Visa issuance policies are a function of the ever changing world dynamics. Hence, you’ll find that getting a Visa maybe easier one year as compared to the other due to the changing policies. • • • • •
8 DECIDING WHICH UNIVERSITY TO CHOOSE FROM
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While not getting an admission letter was a problem till now, multiple letters are no less a problem, because now the ball is in your court again. You need to decide which one to choose. Different phases of application process require different skills. The skill required at this stage is socialising and networking capabilities. I don’t have much to write here except than to stress that you need to talk to as many relevant people as you can to help you take the right decision.
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Essential Documents: Passport DS forms (signed) I-20 (signed) SAT, GMAT, GRE, TOEFL/ IELTS score cards Degree Certificate SEVIS fee receipt HDFC Visa fee receipt (Only the consulate copy) Appointment letter
The process of applying abroad is a timeconsuming one. You should start this process well in advance so that you have enough time to consider all the aspects for selecting the right country, course and university, exams, the application process, and finally getting the student visa.
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Delhi will always be ‘Dilli’ for you and me Growing up leads to realisations of exactly how much growing up still remains. These are my thoughts on cities, experiences and the transformations that come along with it. Harnidh Kaur LSR, Delhi #belonging
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remember the day my mother told me we were going to shift to Delhi, back in seventh grade. I stared at her for a minute, and started howling. ‘I don’t WANT to be a Delhi girl!’, I wailed, and with further gentle prodding, defined a Delhi girl as one with ‘Punjabi pronunciations, kurtas, jholas, Punjabi juttis and a nose pin, swearing at people in Hindi’. And as I sat down in the chair watching the guy from a dingy shop sharpen the needle that eventually led to the peacock green nose pin I carry with a lot of happiness, I looked down at my bright pink kurta, green jhola, silver juttis, and muttered a string of Hindi expletives under my breath. I was, funnily, exactly what I didn’t want to be eight years ago. And, I was proud of it. Eight years in Delhi have shaped me, pulled me and forced me to grow up at a rate that sometimes alarms me. For all the talks of it being a relatively conservative city, I’ve seen the ludicrously fun side of it. Delhi is, and always has been a city of conundrums and conflicting ideologies. The power corridors of Lutyens clash with the affected disregard of the pretty young things in HKV, which bristles at the earnest, almost childish optimism of JNU. And all these identities and paradigms are distilled into one singular phrase that evokes the most
extreme reactions from the people both inside, and outside its structures- Delhi University. Delhi University, or correctly, the University of Delhi, and colloquially, DU, is one of the staples of the Indian education system. Everyone loves to hate it. Everyone cries themselves hoarse at how inefficient the administration is, how stagnant the syllabus is, how unfairly high the cutoffs are and how absolutely unfair the DU arrogance is. And, at the end of the day, everyone applies, everyone tries to mark their places in the hallowed halls of the select few colleges that have the populace gawping when they’re mentioned. This isn’t really a biased perspective. Or maybe it is. Being in LSR has, in fact, bestowed upon me a tinge of the aforementioned arrogance, and I carry it as a badge of honour. When I was told that we’re shifting back to Bombay, I started laughing. ‘You’re taking it rather well this time’, my mother observed, and I laughed harder because, of course I was taking it better. I was more equipped. Yes, a shift at the starting of my last year of graduation was ill-timed and I would be left commuting between two cities like a harried woman, but I was thankful. The year alone I get is going to be one long goodbye to the city that made me who I am. I was born and brought up all
COLLEGE
around Maharashtra, and with a Punjabi family very intrinsically tied to its culture. This left me adrift. The search of a concrete identity and that of roots was one I was on long before the awareness of this schism in my psyche seeped in. Developing two identities, one that spoke Punjabi at home and the other, which like any good convented child from south Bombay turned her nose up at anything but English, left me exhausted. Delhi is unabashedly proud of every culture that thrives in it. While any other city has it’s own character that leads to a dilution of, and ultimately gentrification of strong regionalistic identities, Delhi thrives on the chaos. Take an example of the area around my college. Lajpat Nagar, CR Park, Kalkaji and Amar Colony are all a 20-30 rupees rickshaw ride away, and all of them are cities within the benevolent atmosphere that Delhi provides. This isn’t a side that most people see, thanks to daily reports of racist violence and crimes against women. But it exists, it thrives, and it represents hope in the darkest times of an age where people have lost the ability to trust another person. Living in Delhi helps develop a rather interesting skill set that would put most survivalists to shame. The sheer number of identities one learns to adopt while staying true to roots is amazing. As a student of DU, and LSR, specifically, I’m pushed into situations that force me to adapt on a daily basis. From listening to The Dalai Lama speak on success and ethics, to watching the chicest women around me sitting on the dirty pavements and smoking up, to going to the fanciest, most twee little tea shop in town. Being a student in Delhi is like going to the most comprehensive finishing school that provides you the skill sets to tackle every single situation you may be thrust into, and at the end of the day, you’re still that kid with no idea of the future, with a beer in hand, sitting on your friend’s terrace listening to Coke Studio. Delhi is easy to lose yourself in. It’s a city that can destroy a person’s essence
in trying to maintain its own character. The pressure to live up to the group you identify with, and the pressure to live up to the standards the city sets, itself, is something that can break a person. People laugh about Delhi traffic, and about how once a person starts driving in delhi, he or she can drive anywhere. Living and surviving in Delhi is much the same. Being able to adjust into the milieu of situations that make up Delhi can, quite easily, make a person disintegrate. The tiny, dingy lanes of Chandni Chowk, and the wide expanses of the fancy malls, as well as the splashy weddings in Tivoli Gardens where the nouveau riche display the newly found wealth as the ones with the old money smile at them with a mixture of pity, revulsion and slight fear, and maybe even the hole-in-thewall, unnamed bars in Paharganj. And www.campusdiaries.com/unmagazine
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Delhi is a city that can destroy a person’s essence in trying to maintain its own character
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yet, despite it all, the people of Delhi survive, thrive and exist. And I’m one of the faces in the crowd that does so, too. I love Bombay. Yes, I still call it Bombay, not Mumbai, for the same reason I’d rather call ‘Delhi’, ‘Dilli’. It’s what home sounds like. It’s the place that started off the evolution of the person I am today. However, Delhi was
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the city that tore down the façades of pretensions that I had mastered at such a young age, and it gave me confidence to be myself. It hasn’t always been a happy ride. My 7 PM curfew chafes at me, the fact that I can’t be comfortable in the street across my colony at night saddens me, and the pseudo intellectual culture annoys me. Amidst all this madness
and conflict, Delhi is still home. It’s still reassurance. It’s still the wondrous maze I get lost in every day, and emerge a slightly different person. So, I know, even though my parents will be away and I’ll move away soon, that I’ll always be a Dilli ki ladki. After all, the nose pin and the Hindi gaalis aren’t something I’m willing to give up just yet, or ever.
MUSIC
PUNE , METAL AND ME AARZU SADANA
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Seamedu-School of Media, Pune #Metal
The account of a female metal observer in the city of lost music
hat started out as a seemed phase of teenage years, has stuck around till now. The only difference lies in the fact that I’m a huge fan of the live local scene and a passive member of it, or I’d like to think so. It was 2011, when I grew remotely interested in the whole “scene” and the working of it. An elimination of a college fest competition and a news story for the college bulletin left me intrigued with a sense of curiosity and admiration for the musicians. The need to learn more on the same lingered on and I started my interaction with the various bands associated then. Working with these bands began as a simple interest. Over time, I have come to see how it all works out, how the struggles go, and more importantly, what it takes for a band to sustain over time. Noiseware is a true example of how a band can sustain over time and leave their audience as mesmerised as they did at their first show. Life as such has its way of throwing curveballs at you which has led to the disbanding of some really talented bands. When Abraxas disbanded, I think it was the saddest phase for a whole bunch
Above: Bomb Right: North The team behind the Pantera Tribute, featuring Halahkuh and various other local acts
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Halahkuh, at one point. Much brutal love for them
of us. Seeing a band written to get slow fame and with sheer more than I lost. More friends than I had thought of, more talent left a small hopeless lump in us. Whereas, on the other experience and most importantly, I got to do what I love hand, boys from Halahkuh and Dark Helm are doing well with doing. In the process, there were obvious bumps and rocks. a massive national and international audience base. Bands Some people have a habit of not crediting at all because for like Amongst Denied and What Google Can’t Find and Gaia’s them, everything is taken for granted because of the ‘rock Throne have been coming up slowly over time and how! star status’. Another thing which was out there a lot, is that A massive shift in the style of the music can be seen. The I was a “groupie” for this band that I was managing at that bands that are coming up now are more clear of what they time. That’s what they saw me as, the ones who couldn’t want to sound like and who their inspirations are. Bands see the world beyond a certain point and in a certain angle, like Anarchy and Bleeding Edge have distinctive sounds and a which is really limited. And I’m okay with that now. slowly forming audience base. No longer can I see the bands For me, personally, what stands out is how I feel like a experimenting with various styles to attract the audience. graduate of the scene. I’ve made my friends, I’ve learnt what I The confidence and dedication to their music is what attracts had to and I’ve had my ups and downs, and most importantly, the crowd now. have some extremely cherished memories, exactly how it goes Another thing that surprises me is that bands are no in college. In a conversation with a friend some time back, I longer looking for competitions to get exposure from. With realised how we no longer know half of the people who show a new wave of organisers for the scene, in spite of minimum up for these shows and how we tend to linger on the back shows, these bands are getting a chance to play their music like some elite refusing to mingle with the commons. Also, without the impending doom of a 15 minute time slot which how I have become choosy of my interactions and filter my includes sound check .The shows may be irregular and sparse, attendance of the gigs based on my liking for the band and but are varied over genres and locations. the possibility of my friends being there or playing at the As these bands struggled to keep their music alive, I show. found my calling in photography. Everyone has something Have I become old and choosy with age or have I just or the other they got and lost from a phase. I can say I got given up?
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MUSIC
A mass of black t-shirts swells as December Demolition, one of many ‘underground concerts’ begins
Members of the band Amongst Denied on stage at the Battle of Bands - Army Institute of Technology
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MY INTERNSHIP STORY Delhi to SUNAKSHI BHATIA TERI UNIVERSITY, DELHI #INTERNSHIP
Bihar
What happens when a girl from Delhi goes to Bihar for an internship? Here’s an account of the different attitudes, transport and experiences I had in this journey.
I
am a girl from Delhi. I’m ambitious and I want to make a change. I’m about to finish my Master’s from one of the upcoming institutions for development studies, TERI University. In 2013, I got selected for an internship with UNICEF India. Along with seven other students (Indian and international), I was placed in Muzzafarpur, Bihar for two months(June and July) for field work and research - we were part of the Disaster Risk Reduction Programme. I did most of the field work (95%) by myself as I was the only fluent hindi speaker in my team. Every evening after the fieldwork I dictated notes to my colleagues, after translating the conversations that took place during our fieldwork. I spoke to children studying in schools, teachers, headmasters and NGO facilitators. I learnt how to engage with children really well. By the end of the 20 day fieldwork, I could speak easily to around 80 school going children at once. I had spoken to more than 1100 children during these days. My international colleagues were very friendly to the people and vise versa. Although, we were overcharged for transportation, fruits and vegetable markets because when we were traveling together. The international interns made lots of Indian friends in the Muzzafarpur locality. The only difficulty we had was adjusting with the change in hygiene-
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some of the hotels were really bad and open defecation persists a lot. Bihar is blessed with beautiful landscapes and fertile land. But this scenic marvel has its shortcomings too. Bihar is prone to earthquakes—major ones. Also, the northern part is a flood prone area and the southern is drought prone, although we were told that the land in Bihar is the most fertile, most productive land in the gangetic plains. Muzzafarpur is the second largest city of Bihar and it is known to be the “trade capital” of the state. The state is also however, notoriously infamous for being corrupt, crime prone and least developed by implication. In our country, when we call a place crime inflicted and poorly governed, we automatically mean that it is more unsafe for women than for men. I could not imagine how my experience would be because, theoretically, New Delhi is supposed to be a different world, a much better world. During my stay in Bihar, my colleagues and I had the opportunity to speak with the locals. Surprisingly, the people were warm and welcoming. In our conversations we found out that everybody feels the brunt of corruption which could be seen in the poor infrastructure itself. The streets in one of the wealthiest residential areas of Muzzarfarpur had open drains that were choked and overflowing. Everyday to cross that street on foot one had to literally walk on the muddy wet garbage. It seemed that the people had become habitual of their unhygienic surroundings. One day, I took a taxi from Muzzafarpur very early in the morning to reach my exam center in Patna for my UGC
SOCIETY net exam. My supervisors, family and colleagues told me to inform them at each changing point in the journey. I hurriedly finished my exam so that I could leave early and make the journey back to Muzzafarpur. This time, I first took a bus. On asking my fellow passengers I found out that it would take me 40 minutes to reach my next destination, Patna Railway junction. From the beginning of the journey I was nervous and on alert to all the movements in the bus and on the road. There were constant traffic jams on the road and I was getting impatient. I inquired about the time from the man sitting beside me and before replying, he asked me if I was not from Patna. Not wanting to be a dead giveaway, I said “Muzzafarpur.” I tried to keep a poker face for the rest of the journey. He informed me when we reached the junction and got down at the same bus stop. He offered to escort me till the auto stand even though he had to go in the other direction. The guy didn’t leave until he saw me sitting safely in the shared auto but I was uncomfortable and suspicious about his intentions the whole time. Living in Delhi, I’ve always been taught to mind my own business and refuse help from strangers. If one is being helped, he/she thinks “why is this person helping me? What benefit does he/she get? Is it fishy?” That world and those people in Bihar were definitely new to me. The shared auto would take me to Hajipur railway
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I inquired about the time from the guy sitting beside me and before replying he asked me if I was not from Patna. I didnt want to be a dead give away and said Muzzafarpur
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station from where I had to take a train to Muzzafarpur. In the general compartment one of the families gave me space to sit. This journey went smoothly, to my surprise. At the end of my journey, I realised that in New Delhi, in general, we do not have a concept of selflessness and that of helping someone unconditionally. The four hour journey to travel through 80kms left me absolutely tired but gave me a memorable experience. My next adventure was when I spent four days travelling within the city of Patna with my colleagues. We used shared autos as they are the cheapest and quickest option. Whenever we asked anyone about routes and locations they helped us by bargaining for us. Out of those four days I chose to travel Patna all alone for one. Whoever I met and interacted with told me that travelling alone in Bihar as a young girl is not safe. People told me that they were my brother, sister, mother, father and shared their numbers that I shall contact them whenever I am in trouble. That day some college students of Patna were protesting due to the death of children as a result of food poisoning from the free mid-day meal provided at one of the government schools in Bihar. My auto was on the same street as the protest and the college boys hit the auto next to mine with a stick and it turned upside down. The auto driver rushed the auto in the opposite direction, stopped at a safer place where the other passengers and me got down. The driver asked one of the boys in the auto to escort me till a 32
distance where I could find an alternative mode of transport. In another auto, a boy had been staring at me through the rear view mirror which I didn’t notice until a woman sitting besides me shouted at him “You haven’t seen a girl before? People like you spoil the name of Bihar!”. I thanked her and that turned into a conversation. In New Delhi, her reaction would be termed as “interference” but honestly, I was grateful. Later, while walking on the road my phone wouldn’t catch a signal and I assumed that my colleagues would be worried if they called me. I asked a female traffic police for her cellphone but she replied that she does not carry one and I even when I told her my situation she refused to help. After few mins I saw her talking on her phone. However, a man on the road gave me his phone after seeing me in trouble and told me, “I am like your father, don’t mind if I say that do not travel alone in this city even in the bright afternoon”. The unconditional love and support of the people of Bihar raised a question in my head, “How could a place be insecure when everybody is ready to accept you as their own?” I realised that as a result of corruption: the infrastructure, people and businesses were disorganised. But, there is always more to any region other than the level of crime and corruption that persists in it. There is a positive part which the media never highlights - Even some of the most unsafe regions could comprise of the most selfless human beings.
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SOCIETY
Nizamuddin SHUBHAM LODHA I KIRORIMAL COLLEGE i DELHI #DISCOVERY www.campusdiaries.com/unmagazine
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Nizamuddin is a historic colony based in South Delhi. It’s primarily inhabited by the Muslim community. In this series of pictures, I primarily want to photograph the daily life in the area and the Islamic culture, mostly evident by the meat shops in the area.
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SOCIETY
Laila-o-laila (Sholay) plays inside a guesthouse.
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SOCIETY
A child with an Ostrich at a meat shop.
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SOCIETY
Two cats wait for the shop-owner to throw them some meat.
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CORNERS OF MY WORLD UTSAV DAS I
Alumnus of IIT DELHI
#FAVOURITES
E
very city has a soul. A soul that is an aggregation of the people who live in it. Toil in it. Raise families and evolve. Even though subjective, I believe each city’s soul can be seen on every street, every house and in everyone. But there’s one place,
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that’s unmistakably that city—the soul. And when you’re there, those layers of history, culture and your own human instincts align. And you feel one. These two posters are an attempt to visualise that alignment, for me.
ART
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POLITICS
THE VOTES THAT SHAKE THE COUNTRY VINIT RAVISHAR, MIT, PUNE #ELECTIONS One man’s meat is another man’s poison. Here’s a look at the city-slickers’ meat, and the amiable farmers’ too. While they may not be poison, they’re certainly not steak tartare for the other - perhaps Brussel sprouts.
I
t is possible, they say, to find two extremely of modernist literature. You name it. These well-informed, intelligent and well-read ‘slices’ range from the obvious to the odd, from people who will disagree with each other the mundane to the insane. And what better about practically everything. Given this rather a time to analyse these slices than Election interesting observation, we can safely say that Season? Tempers running high; red-faced, brash, 1.2 billion people, regardless of what a professor young men arguing with angry-moustached old might say about their intellect, will never take men. A glorious time to be alive. So, today, we a unanimous stand on any issue. Because choose to focus on a rather obvious slice—the there’s this one, large, elephant in the room, the urban and the rural. Now, let’s be a bit harsh. We, and by we I circumstances of their lives. For we are but the sum of our experiences and with experiences mean humans, are, more often than not, rather differing so wildly amongst people, so do their opinionated. So when I accost an innocent reactions, their opinions, their desires, their civilian on the street, and I ask him,“What do expectations—so do they, in a nutshell. you think the rural voter wants?” he replies: India can, as a country, be cut into neat slices a.) Who are you? in many ways. Rural, urban. Indo-European, b.) They don’t, they just want booze and parties Dravidian. Vegetarian, non-vegetarian. that politicians nearby give them.” Admirers of modernist literature, non-admirers
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Not a very nice brush to paint some 70% of our population with, I fear. Quite apart from the massive alcoholism problems we’d have if that were true, it’s rather insensitive to assume that people would be so willing to sell themselves to the highest bidder. So we turn to our best friend, in times such as these. Statistics. I won’t go into the gory details, but the outcome is rather unexpected. Donning their flowing white beards and their pince-nez, the gods of mathematics look down upon us gravely, and utter. “Yeah, the rural and the urban voters have pretty much the same priorities.” This has probably left you slightly confused. What, you ask with righteous indignation, was the point of this charade? Allow me to demonstrate the subtle, yet very important, differences. These differences are three-pronged. The first, then. According to the survey cited, the largest priority that both rural and urban voters have is growth. Now growth is a word we’ve been hearing a lot, thrown around willynilly by everyone, from politicians to rickshawwallahs. Growth will save India. Growth is the way forward. Growth for growth’s sake is the strategy of the cancer cell. What is this growth of which they speak, then? Well, it depends on whom you ask. The average city-slicker knows what he wants. “These roads suck, bro. And the power cuts... like, my iPhone died yesterday because I couldn’t charge it, man. What a drag.” An exaggeration, perhaps, but true, at its core. An example that invokes more empathy: A sweet middle-aged lady goes to get her driving license renewed. There’s a huge pothole on the road and a bus went into it, so she wastes an hour waiting for the traffic jam to clear, only to find out that there’s been some ‘technical issues’, come again later please. She goes home, tired and bedraggled, and there’s been a water cut, so she can’t even bathe. Poor lady. Their fundamental problem is infrastructure. Roads, electricity. Public transport, plumbing. Queues at the passport office. Traffic jams because a signal went kaput 5km down the road.
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Tempers running high; redfaced, brash, young men arguing with angry-moustached old men. A glorious time to be alive.
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Illustration Credits: Parvati Pillai 48
POLITICS
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The BJP recently said that they would not support striking down section 377. Does that affect your voting decision?
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They’re tired of awful infrastructure, and they’re going to make sure that their MP knows it. Shift focus, now. Villages. Their answer is a lot sadder. I translate, here: “We should be able to get jobs, at least. What’s the point in an education if nobody will employ us?” Jobs. That’s their problem. That’s a lot harsher than shitty roads: a very real problem. Some of the rural folk are being pushed into streams that have perceived employment: Engineering. Commerce. All the while not realising that unemployment exists everywhere. And let’s be perfectly honest - in aspects like these, we’re no Germany—we’re not even Spain. We lack the funds and the infrastructure to sustain fundamental welfare schemes. Though we try: we try, and a good thing too. This next one’s a bit of a controversial one. Social issues. I rub my hands gleefully as I ask people this question. Cities first, now. “The BJP recently said that they would not support striking down section 377. Does that affect your voting decision?” There are two answers you get. The first: “Of course it does. How can I vote for them? I have gay friends man. What total tools.” And the second: “Yaar waise bhi India is not ready for gay sex... let it go yaar kuch nahi ho sakta. Maybe next elections we’ll be more ready.” I’m ashamed to admit that I still don’t know whom I agree with. So, I ask a guy from a rural setting the same question. He looks at me like I’m daft. I repeat. He elbows the guy next to him and says, “he bagh kai mhantoy.” (Look at what he’s saying). Because, to them, this is an issue so trivial, so
inconsequential, that it isn’t an issue at all. They genuinely don’t care—they haven’t given the matter a thought. Are they for it or against it? They don’t know, and they don’t care: feeding their families are a bigger priority to them than a crime that nobody’s been prosecuted for recently, anyway. And as a counterpoint to that last one, let’s have an issue that urban people don’t consider at all. Facilities. We all romanticise the idyllic country life: living off the land, campfires in the moonlight, et al. Until, of course, your wife’s appendix ruptures and you need to walk five kilometers to reach the nearest hospital. The same with schools. A child wasting his time travelling twenty-five kilometers to get to school has, naturally, less energy and time to do useful things. These are legitimate problems for people in villages—even people in smaller towns, upto a certain extent. City folks don’t have this problem, see. There’s always easy transport. If all else fails, the ambulance will get there in time. Schools? Throw a stone, you’ll find one in the vicinity. Understanding breeds empathy. And empathy is something that certainly defies “anything in excess is poison.” By learning more about the circumstances of people whose lives are vastly different from ours, we learn how they think. It’s all a matter of perspective, and perspective is good. And that, I believe, was the whole point of this passage—perspective (though I wonder if ‘I believe’ really works if I’m the author).
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PORTFOLIO PORTFOLIO OF THE OF THE MONTH MONTH
kawaldeep singh FOCUS Graphic Design
RECOMMENDED BY
PROF Manohar DEsai
Manohar Desai is the Head of the Department for Communication Design at Symbiosis Institute of Design, Pune. He is known internationally for his calligraphy application on canvas painting. Some of his works is displayed in the International Calligraphy Museum, Moscow, Russia. For the last 10 years he has been teaching Calligraphy, Typography, Publication Design, Illustration, Printing Technology, Information graphics, Product Rendering Techniques etc. He is very popular for conducting his calligraphy workshop ‘Akshar Mahotsav’ were he helps students to remove the colour, stroke and surface fear. His calligraphic compositions creates beautiful environment in SID building. You can get in touch with him via email: manohar@ sid.edu.in
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I am a Graduate (Graphic Design) student at the Symbiosis Institute of Design, Pune, India. I love Brand Identity design and the world of branding. My primary motivation behind design comes from my passion for creation and the fact that there are infinite ways to find creative solutions. The fact that we can reshape, rethink and create things in the world we live in is exciting in itself. I believe design is not only meant to fit and sell in market but it should also facilitate reshaping core values that drives the world. The same reason justifies my love for Branding. Where I strive through my design to make solutions commercially viable, I also try to make the work that can reshape how people think and perceive the possibilities that lie in this world.
CONTACT thekawaloberoi@gmail.com Pune, India
PORTFOLIO
IDENTITY DESIGN PROJECT
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Project Guide : Manohar Desai Desart entrusted me the development of their Project’s Experimental Identity. Since the project is run and fueled by the contribution of a great number of volunteers, the Visual Identity System I developed is based on giving a personal Identity to every member that contributes to a bigger Identity, just like the Project itself.
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PORTFOLIO
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BOOK COVER DESIGN PROJECT
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Project Guide : Prashant Acharya The Project consisted re-designing book covers for Classics or the books that changed the course of humanity. The aim of the project was to Design Book Covers that appeal to the viewers, raise their curiosity and communicate about each book and resonates with the contemporary audience’s lifestyle. Inspired by design methodology of Chip Kidd.
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PORTFOLIO
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CITY CITY BANG BANG SAUDAMINI KALRA ALUMNUS OF IIT MADRAS, STudent at THE DRAMA SCHOOL, MUMBAI #CHANGE
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THEATRE
Different cities, different scenes, different cultures - the ‘been theredone that’ of the theater culture of Mumbai and Chennai.
I
moved to Chennai in the summer of 2008 to gain an education at every parents’ wet dream come true college— the Indian Institute of Technology. Before you start getting hot under the collar, let me tell you that I wasn’t enrolled in the B.Tech. course, but in a five year integrated M.A. program at the Humanities Department, which is a lesser known but equally stimulating course, covering just about any area of study that you can catch hold of and label as “liberal arts”. To my surprise, I found that IIT Madras had a great culture of literary and artistic exploits, and more specifically, they were patrons of dramatics! I had done a few theatre workshops in Delhi during my school years, and to be on stage had always been an unfulfilled longing. So, I gathered as much courage as my uncertain, “freshie” arms could contain and auditioned for a part in one of the hostels’ adaptations of Patrick Hamilton’s The Rope and got it. So that was my first performance in the first stage play of my life. It was pretty okay, as far as I remember. (“Don’t shake a lot and try not to suck too much” I told myself). As I sat backstage, applying and re-applying lipstick and mouthing not just mine, but everyone else’s lines too, I regretted ever having been born. But, the second I walked up on stage, everything just felt right. It was a competition, and we didn’t win—we weren’t even close. But I did get a special mention from the judges, and a senior and gifted actor came up to me and said “Good job. You held character throughout.” *Bam* I was hooked!
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IIT Madras’s cultural fest Saarang in particular gave me the opportunity to manage and work in plays on a semi-professional scale
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As I sat backstage, applying and re-applying lipstick and mouthed not just mine, but everyone else’s lines too, I regretted ever having been born.
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The next five years of my “insti” life were a blur of rushing from one rehearsal to another. I soon became the Dramatics Secretary—which meant I could pick scripts, coordinate events and yes, hold auditions of my own. I wanted to do it all and the college let me. I directed, wrote, designed sets, acted and did just about anything that could give me control of what finally went up on stage. IIT Madras’s cultural fest Saarang in particular gave me the opportunity to manage and work in plays on a semi-professional scale. “You take this way too seriously” friends and paramours complained. I paid no heed. Soon, college plays weren’t enough and I started eyeing “professional” productions in the city. I put the memories of a bitter experience with an extremely unprofessional “Professional” troupe behind me, and in my fourth year, signed on to perform in a “proper” production. Working with a full-fledged theatre group was very different from doing college plays. For one, their weekly expenditure was more than our entire college budget. I worked with actors who were hired and paid peanuts (but whatever), not “spotted” like me, and, who at least partially, if not entirely, worked in the theatre.
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Tartuffe by The Drama School, Mumbai The Chennai theatre circuit is a close-knit community— everyone knows everyone and everyone ends up working with everyone. What I realised, much to my surprise, was that the established groups don’t reject new work without giving it fair exposure and do try to support it. Does the theatre community in Chennai practice nepotism, favouritism and other -isms? Sadly, they do. Do they work as meticulously as one would hope from any accomplished fraternity of professionals? Not always and not all of the groups. It has been a year since I moved to Mumbai, so perhaps a lot has changed. I know for a fact that a lot of college and youth groups (notably Crea-Shakthi) are creating and enabling exciting and original Indian work. But these attempts, when compared to the scale and frequency of theatre in Mumbai, still pale in comparison. However, good work still does happen. Groups like Theatre Nisha, Perch and Stray Factory put up inspiring original shows and old groups like the Madras Players enjoy support from loyal audiences, allowing them to survive,
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thrive and put up plays consistently. Some of the best work that the city produces is in Tamil, which due to my limited knowledge of the language I never had much access to. The biggest problem I felt Chennai theatre faces, and I feel this with more conviction now that I have a feel for the Mumbai theatre scene, is that most of the plays in Chennai seems to be performed for no one, or nothing specific in particular. Rarely have I been to a play in Chennai where I felt that the script, setting or adaptation of the show had any significant resonance with the lives and aspirations of the average Chennai-ite. The majority of the plays are plagued with familiar irritants such as fake Brit or Yank accents, clichéd gender roles and a too strict a division between text-based work and physical/movement-based work, with little influence of Madras’s rich history of dance, music and poetry finding its way to the stage. After graduating from college last year, I came to study at The Drama School Mumbai (DSM), for their one-year theatre making diploma course. For an individual
THEATRE
right out of college, and feeling the blues from having your usual slew of low-paying, donkey-work variety of jobs to choose from after a degree in literature, it was a relief to find out about this course; the first of its kind in the city. The DSM has introduced me to many new forms and perspectives of the theatre, and also to many artists in the city whose existence serves to assure me that a career fully devoted to theatre is possible and delightful, even though it is rife with challenges and a bit of the ol’ game of roulette when it comes to financial security. Outside of drama school though, we’re hardly left with much time to do anything else, and I try to familiarise myself with the way theatre in the city works. From what I understand, just like in Chennai, hardly anyone in the Mumbai theatre fraternity auditions for plays. I am not sure why this is, but my hunch is that with the limited funds that even the biggest groups have at their disposal, auditioning newcomers who are unfamiliar with their specific work ethic and spending time training the newcomers becomes too expensive and risky for the groups. If you don’t have many friends (or friends of friends) in the theatre circle, it’s going to take a lot of time and effort on your part to get your foot through the door. For new entrants to the world of Mumbai theatre, a good option is to join an established group as an intern—working in backstage management, lights, costumes, sets, make-up and the many other departments—and learning on the job. I have found that groups are always in need of help with a million different aspects of putting up a show, and happily accept help from enthu newbies. The other option, of course, is to create your own work. Be it writing, acting, choreographing or any other skill that can be useful to theatre-making, Mumbai has no dearth of artists from varied backgrounds, and if you are patient you will find others that you can collaborate with. The biggest worry of the artist today, that throughout history has been the core problem, is that of food and shelter. Sadly, money doesn’t grow outside the lovely Prithvi theatre cafe or on the manicured lawns of the NCPA. But as I see it, Mumbai is home to one of, if not the, richest communities of artistes in the city. If you give them good reason to, they will stake their money on you in the hopes of basking in
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1bhk-shared-by-four-living, shady part-time job holding, hairoil audition giving comrades are still your best bet.
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Illustration Credits: Sadhna Prasad www.campusdiaries.com/unmagazine
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the second hand glory from your gleaming talent. This is of course, idealistic and unlikely. Your 1-bhk ‘shared-by-four’ living, shady part-time job holding, hair-oil audition giving comrades are still your best bet—You meet them online through Facebook groups or your twitter feed, on sites like Meetup or LinkedIn, or just through good old in-person interactions outside performance events. You can spot them going through their leather-bound notebooks and with grizzly beards at your neighbourhood coffee shop or watering hole, or just ask random strangers on your way back from that audition in Aram Nagar, or as one theatre friend puts it, you can recognise the foul stench of struggle as soon as you reach Yari Road. I realise I may have painted the prospects of an artistic life in Bollowood’s home turf a tad too bleak, but there is some truth to the exaggerations. After getting a taste of making and watching theatre in both these big metropolitan cities, I have learnt that making a career or a life out of theatre is hard anywhere. Even theatre artists who visit from the rich and developed ‘first world’
(yes, that detestable term) are never full of stories of great success and job satisfaction despite being much better off than us subalterns. It is a fact that theatre and other live performance arts suffer from the prevalence of cinema and television. So in some ways working in the theatre has become like opening a bookstore in this day and age; the sellers sometimes exceed the buyers. Theatre in India needs to become more audienceconscious. It needs a serious upgrade to a newer version that caters to the 3D-loving-population, or else we will forever remain true to the drama-wallah stereotype of pretentious, high-chinned snoots who no one likes and who fill most of the seats at each other’s opening shows. The optimist in me truly does believe though, that as long as you think that you will one day help change the state of the theatre for the better, you are in the right career...
The House of Bernada Alba performed at IIT Madras | Picture Courtesy : Krushna Ranaware
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kitsch mandi
summernight market
31st may
Pebble. 4pm to 1am
www.facebook/kitsch.mandi
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Taking Jaipur Handicrafts Beyond Borders Manish Sharma ALUMNUS OF RAMJAS COLLEGE, | DELHI #HANDICRAFT
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ROOBAROO
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. Fascinated by Multan, a city in Pakistan, famous for handicrafts made with camel bones, I went around Jaipur to find out more about handicrafts in India and met people who helped me explore further!
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Hamare Rajasthani hastashilpa aur Lahore ke hastashilpa mein bahuuut samanata hai, bhaiya
I
t all started with Maharaja Man Singh I, who brought art and craft in the form of gold enamel artisans from Lahore to India after his Kabul campaigns. I think a lot of art and culture entered and developed in two ways—either through the skills and techniques of these artisans or through their works left and preserved and the influence thereafter. States like Rajasthan, today, especially the areas in and around Jaipur, boast of the handicrafts produced as a result of influence from Lahore as well as the influence drawn by most artisans from those within India who grew when they began
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their own creations soon after the closing of the Maharaja Art School, where they were trained while they belonged to the unemployed section of the youth. While we discovered the influx of handicrafts from Lahore, we discovered the influence which explained the reason for the similarity in handicrafts from Jaipur and Lahore. As I read about Pakistani Handicrafts, I stumbled upon this picture of a man, using camel bone for making some articles for decoration. Multan, a city in Pakistan, is famous for handicrafts made with camel bones.
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Camel Bone Handicraftsman. Picture Courtesy: Ammar Chaudhary
Meet Mohd. Raid. He is a salesman at a Jaipur based Handicraft Factory. He specialises in Footwear. 64
ROOBAROO
Water resistant, super flexible and entirely handmade – Camel Skin Footwear.
Earrings made from coin metal. Stunning handwork and finishing.
Meet Kabir. He was kind enough to let us peep into their rich and diverse collection of handmade jewellery.
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Royal utensils made from gun-metal and white metal.
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ROOBAROO
Beautifully handicrafted marble dust-bangles. They provide jewellery to almost all weddings in the Jaipur city.
The smooth Butter Silk Saree from Khajalpur village. It comes in 60 gms, 80 gms and 120 gms. It easily passes through a ring.
ROOBAROO
Goods bundled and ready to be exported throughout Rajasthan.
Cinnamon crape saree weighs only 120gms. The other one is a bright rangoli saree with traditional Rajasthani prints and patterns www.campusdiaries.com/unmagazine
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DIFFERENT WOMEN DIFFERENT BRAS ONE CITY CAROL D’SOUZA
St Joseph’s College, Bangalore #Society
BRAJECT
What is Braject? A project encouraging meaningful and constructive conversation among the Indian youth about bras.
Different strokes for different folks? That’s the best way to describe the myriad collection of bras that one may chance upon in only one city.
A
s the morning sunrays touch the skyscrapers of UB city, a group of young athletes are halfway into their warm-up exercises on the grounds of the Kanteerava stadium. Day in and day out these young women are up before dawn honing their skills. “Clothes make a (wo)man” it is said. I, however, have come to find this is not to be always true. Most of the time, it’s the circumstances that determine choices. Identity becomes the unwilling victim of appearance. Women are largely accused of being overly obsessed with appearance, and while this might be true for a certain section, for the most part it’s either comfort or necessity that drives clothing choices, especially in a metropolitan city which is home to a mixed crowd. Observing the athletes, one can see that they are clad in cotton T-shirts paired with track pants or shorts. Outward picture of comfort; but when it comes to women and their garments this is not the only variable, is it? What is not evident to the eyes of a passing by observer is the bras these young women are wearing. Sports bras would be the most convenient, considering the activities
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I always think of undergarments as thoughts in so much as they always reflect in actions. Comfortable undergarments give you the kind of ease that is mirrored in the confidence you exude
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being indulged in. But if their constant tugging and adjusting is any indication, synthetic Avon bras are at work here. I always think of undergarments as thoughts in so much as they always reflect in actions. Comfortable undergarments give you the kind of ease that is mirrored in the confidence you exude. While the best part of the day is coming to an end for the early bird athletes, most working women in the erstwhile garden city of Bangalore are just greeting the new day. The city is dotted with tech-parks that justify the reference made of Bangalore as the Silicon city of India. The techies, by necessity I presume are always on the run. Their style statements scream utility
UNMAGAZINE | MAY2014
packed with style. Neat and classy, a minimiser bra has all the qualities of being their best friend. Bangalore is a city which juggles both newage look and old world charm with grace. The typical old school Kannadiga wife would be skilfully managing bisibele bath and filter coffee on the same stove by the time the techie is going for that snooze button second time around. Cotton is a housewife’s friend. It is soft, enduring and comfortable. It would only be logical extension of thought to presume that old world cotton conical bras are preferred by these women. While old school women might prefer old world styles, new-age housewives albeit still under the charm of saas-bahu serials, are in no way behind when it comes to style statements. Who said seduction is dead? Lucky men are still recipients of their wife’s lacy charms. It is interesting to see how preferences change from generation to generation. Clothing choices are one of the few obvious ways of observing this phenomenon. While seasoned women have a quiet taste, young caterpillars that are just turning into butterflies reflect a more adventurous spirit. College going girls are said to be an index that represent the current style quotient. Mount Carmel College (as any over-15 boy would attest) is the land where the stylish divas reside. From classily sober to jazzily funky, they are all there. Seamless bra that gives the semi-transparent T-shirt that extra bit of shape or the padded bra that flirtatiously misleads; the Carmelites don them all. Nightlife in Bangalore has just the right amount of jazz, catering to varied tastes. Though the time restriction is considered a nuisance,
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“
It is interesting to see how preferences change from generation to generation. Clothing choices are one of the few obvious ways of observing this phenomenon. While seasoned women have a quiet taste, young caterpillars that are just turning into butterflies reflect a more adventurous spirit
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flexible Bangaloreans hardly let anything put a cramp in their style. The strapless, the push-up, the demi all come out to play. If one were to take a round of the famous haunts may it be—Pebbles, I-Bar or Tao-ladies, the working class, as well as students, can be seen having a good time. Every city has an underbelly. Flesh trade for all its flaws feeds women who work on their back. While to a middleclass traditionally raised man, a bra might be a symbol of sexuality or even a tool for seduction, to a working class man who pays for a good time on the streets it’s just in the way. Women of the night generally go for gaudy undergarments; it serves to draw in the attention. May it be on the streets of Majestic or Brigade, flashy is what they are going for. The design text book probably has a chart of which bra with which dress, different bra for different occasion and so forth; it is peculiar how women make do. The swalpa adjust madi attitude that is used to describe the typical Indian Mentality, has been present in the women’s psyche for the longest time. Undergarments for the most part have been treated as a necessary evil, they probably are, but since they are admittedly necessary isn’t it about time they given their proper place in the ensemble of garments that make a woman? Different women, different bras, one city. If the city were a painting all the hues of the rainbow wouldn’t be enough to represent the diversity it encompasses.
EMPOWERED TO FAIL (AGAIN!)
Bangalore ULRIKE REINHARD | GUEST WRITER BEIRUT
UNMAGAZINE | MAY2014
With the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, we’re no longer addressing the major problems that plague our society—we simply glance by and shuffle on
B
ombay—I like Mumbai’s old name much better—is a megacity. An estimated city population of roughly 20 million people and a metropolitan area population of probably 23 million. It’s the second largest city in India (just behind Dehli) and the fifth largest in the world. If people talk about the economic uprise and success of India, they point to Bombay as its symbol. For many Indians, living in Bombay is desirable—it offers all the benefits, tensions and challenges any capitalist metropolis has to offer, and maybe a little bit more. Because it is India. And because in India the caste system is still very much vital, vibrant and alive. And because in Bombay the gap between the super rich and the poor is most likely bigger than anywhere else in the country. It’s a study in contrasts. Bombay gives also home to the biggest slums in Southeast Asia. Some of them lie on prime property right in the middle of India’s financial capital. According to various studies it is estimated that up to 60% of the people in Bombay are living in slums and slum-like areas. Crime rates are exceedingly high. A social inequality which is simply mind-boggling. A time bomb is ticking! So, it may not be coincidence that the largest number of active non-government, not-for-profit organisations (NGOs) are registered in the state of Maharashtra in the metropolitan area around Bombay. A nationwide study, commissioned by the Indian government, put the number of such entities at 3.3 million (in 2009). That is one NGO for less than 400 Indians! And many times the number of primary schools and primary health centers in India! This is just another staggering number! Many of these NGOs aim to empower underprivileged, abused, and left behind girls and women. Young girls who witnessed over years their mothers working as prostitutes. Sex trafficking, child abuse within the families, gender inequality —you name it, it’s there. And much more in Bombay than
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anywhere else in India. The people in NGOs are working very hard to give back hope, dignity and self confidence to these people and to support and enable them to lead a decent life. To re-integrate them into society. Millions and millions of people! What is Bombay going to do with them? Does Bombay’s “society” want them to be integrated? I think these are pretty fair questions to be asked. Bombay’s society is characterised and dominated by caste and its old money going along with it. Dominated by the simple question: Where do you come from? Which family do you belong to? A society which excludes by name those who are NOT wanted. And thanks to the miracle in Indian economy there is a huge number of the “nouveau riches”. Those who “made it” and are benefiting disproportionately high from their capital. Here is a little story. It’s a “small” thing but it describes vividly Bombay. A few weeks ago I went to Bombay to attend a conference. It was on World Women Day. It was all about the power of women—I followed the invitation of the Indian Merchants Chambers’ Ladies’ Wing. What a beautiful location it is, the Jamshed Bhabha Theatre in the National Centre for Performing Arts. The goal of the event was to connect women with cutting edge technology and ideas on women’s issues such as public health and safety, to women at the top of their field, be it finance, science, medicine, or fashion with those who struggled and who are still struggling. The event started and at the end of the welcome session my neighbor – a young entrepreneur from Bombay—pointed out to me, that these women standing on the stage at that very moment were probably worth 20 billion USD. Or shall I better say their husbands and families. The richest of the rich, the inner circle of Bombay. Beautifully dressed in the most colorful and precious sarees, lined up and setting the stage for “their” presenters. Among the presentations was one performance on sex trafficking, child abuse and prostitution. The performers: teenage girls from India’s biggest cities who left their homes and found shelter and professional help in one of Bombay’s countless NGOs. Nine young ladies who somehow took their chance and made it – at least to the extent that they are able to articulate their struggle and decided for themselves that they don’t want to be treated as “victims” any longer but as social advocates enabling others to follow their paths. What a step they’ve made! What a responsibility they have shouldered! Everybody applauded deeply impressed.
TEDx
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Young girls who witnessed over years their mothers working as a prostitute, sex traffickers, child abuse within the families, gender inequality – you name it, it’s there in Bombay
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They received standing ovations. Then came the break. Everybody went out. I was curious to see how theses young girls will connect with the attendees and the organisers of the program. But, as it turned out again, there was no connection to be made. No interaction between the “society” and those young women, who were empowered to perform and admired after their performance – but kept “untouched”. One could literally feel the exclusion. So far and no step further. The same thing happened during the reception after the event. The girls remained among themselves. In a silo. I confronted other attendees and the women who organised the event with my observations. I asked them why they didn’t connect with these girls. They stared at me rather surprisingly. Why would they? Why should they? I received answers like “I don’t want my kids to interact with them” or “I will let my friends know about them!” One of them said – and this was the gritty height of impudence – that she would send her driver to drop a check for them. This gap threatens to destroy our cities and us. So what do we do with those whom we’ve empowered? What are the possibilities? One could think about hundreds of so called reintegration programs. They are actually happening. A large amount of energy and (tax) money is spent on (re-) integration. But do we see any promising results? Do these programs really help and decrease inequality? Do they lower the gap? No. Because these programs never address the roots of the problem. And frankly speaking: they can’t address it. The problem is far too complex and dynamic. History has proven that extreme inequality in wealth and
incredible social tensions have taken wars and depressions to arrest the inequality dynamics and to sustain social peace. Now the ineluctable process of blind capital multiplying faster in fewer hands is under way again and on a global scale, the consequences are potentially terrifying. And most visible in megacities. The super rich are effective at protecting their wealth from taxation and progressively the proportion of the total tax burden shouldered by those on middle incomes has risen. The middle class is paying the bill. So do the 300-400 million middle class Indians, who don’t have the wherewithal to sustain them. Wealth inequality thus becomes a recipe for slowing, innovation-averse, rentier economies, tougher working conditions and degraded public services. Meanwhile, the rich get ever richer and more detached from the societies of which they are part: not by merit or hard work, but simply because they are lucky enough to be in command of capital receiving higher returns than wages over time. Our collective sense of justice is outraged. The lesson of the past is that societies try to protect themselves: they close their borders or have revolutions – or end up going to war. The solution? Most likely: Reconciliation, dialogue and networking. For the solution we need to set up structures as dynamic and as complex as they are on the problem side (Ashby’s Law). This requires cooperation and collaboration—even among competitors. It requires transparency and openness. Everybody should be included—not excluded. It cannot be done by governments alone—it needs every single entity in our society. It’s a collective effort in which some of us will lose (in my earlier scenario it will be the super rich and the rich who will lose but still be capable of living a very decent life) and some of us will gain. For the better for all of us. It’s nothing less than a shift in paradigms. This transformation process won’t be a tea party, but it will be much rather a process in tiny small steps with constant feedback loops than realising one big master mega plan. And it will happen. It’s within the network theory to find constantly new balances. Delhi has taken its first step in this direction with the short AAP government intermezzo. It came as quickly as it failed. But it left marks. It’s been disruptive and one still can feel the aftermath. So it might be on Bombay to take the second step.
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Ambition 74
Aryajyoti Goswami , Alumnus of IIT, New Delhi #people
FICTION
“
It’s all good ma. Today I went for recording another song.” “Wow. That’s great. Whose movie is it?” “It is for Shahrukh Khan”
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T
he clock showed 7:30 pm. Ravi was just back from the studio. It was a long day at the recording. There were numerous takes and at one point of time he got really frustrated and almost left the recording. But, thankfully the manager was a good fellow and he sorted out the things. He stretched out on the bed. He still had a little discomfort to turn to the left side. His cell phone rang. It was his mother. Ravi sighed and picked the call. “Hello ma..” “Hello. How are you?” “I am fine. How are you? How is chhoti?” “Your sister misses you. How is it going in Mumbai?” “It’s all good ma. Today I went for recording another song.” “Wow. That’s great. Whose movie is it?” “It is for Shahrukh Khan” Ravi could hear his mother chuckling in joy from the other side. “Bless you beta. May you keep getting success in your life” “You take care of yourself and chhoti as well. How’s father?” “He is still busy with his job at post office. I have told him so many times that your son is a singer in Bombay, you can sit at home now. But you know him no, he won’t listen” “Yeah I know. How is didi?” “She is also fine. After we could arrange for the car, her in-laws have
Illustration Credits: Shruti Kabo
stopped troubling her. Say a big thank you to the producer who gave you the advance. Without his timely help Sunita’s in-laws would have made her life hell. May god bless that producer. Leave all this, did you have any food?” “I will just go to the restaurant.” “My poor child. Surviving on restaurant food. You are singing for Shahrukh khan, why don’t you keep a cook in your flat?” “Good cooks are hard to come by here in Mumbai.” “Come back to village wen you get a break from singing, I will make all your favourite dishes” “I will. Okay ma, someone’s calling me. You take care of yourself and chhoti. Give my Namaste to father” “Okay Ravi. You too take care.” Ravi’s roommate Kishan came in. “So..?? What’s up Mr. Singer? How was the recording?” “It was ok. The lead singer was an idiot. He kept messing up” “Oh ho! I bet you would have done better?” Kishan teased him. “Yes! You just wait till I get a break. I need just one audition for a solo... Just one. And they will acknowledge my singing.” “Right right. But, as of now you will have to make do with your chorus singing. Ready to go to work?” “Yeah. In a minute” Ravi silently got up and started
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changing. His shift was about to start at the Chinese restaurant where he worked as a cook in the night shift. When Ravi took off his vest the scar on the lower left side of his torso was visible. “It was absolutely stupid to sell your kidney” Kishan said in a low voice. Ravi was unfazed. He put on a new vest , “So what was the option? Tell me? Sunita di’s in-laws would have burnt her alive if we did not arrange the car. Who would’ve lent me the money?” “But how would you spend the rest of your life with just one kidney?” Ravi was buttoning the shirt he didn’t answer. “Then few weeks back you donated blood in exchange of money for chhoti’s admission. You are working whole night at the restaurant, running whole day looking for work as a singer. All these with just one kidney. Your body has limits.” Ravi put on the sandals, “Okay, enough already. You ready to go to work or you’re planning to deliver speech all night?” Five minutes later they could be seen walking at a brisk pace towards their workplace. Gradually, they got lost amongst the heavy evening crowd thronging the market place. A bunch of insects were swarming over the street lights at the market. Ambitious of touching the blazing flame, which ultimately consumed them.
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WHATS THE SCENE?
POWERED BY
Events of the Month The last decade has seen a surge of some large, wellorganised festivals and events in India ranging from music, art, theatre to technology and even startups! So, in an attempt to tell each of these successful festivals’ stories, Campus Diaries—a youth storytelling platform, Grallo—an event transport and logistics service and Explara - an event ticketing and registration portal have come together to provide the young and restless their monthly dose of these exciting fests!
Ruins of the Renaissance
Date: May 31 and June 1 Location: Karle Town Center, Hebbal Tickets: TBA Ruins of the Renaissance (ROTR) is a two day weekend festival for everyone. It is a festival where you are not a bystander, watching in awe as artists perform, wondering if you could ever do what they do. It’s the one where you drop your inhibitions and give it a try. Where you open your mind, explore interests, experiment with materials, learn and collaborate with other artists and innovators.
Escape Festival
Date: 17 May Location: Delhi (TBC) How to get there: www.grallo.com Tickets: (TBC) A unique festival started in May 2009 when a few musicians and like-minded people decided to get away from New Delhi for a few days. They chose a picturesque resort at Naukuchiatal, at the foothills of the himalayas which became their Escape. Escape, has grown since then to become one of India’s foremost outdoor art, music & camping festival.
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Kitsch Mandi
Date: Saturday May 31 Location: Pebble How to get there: www.grallo.com Tickets: on the door, Rs 100 Kitsch Mandi is a startup to support creative entrepreneurs through organizing art festivals and workshops. We aim to create a platform where art meets society in a casual yet inspiring environment.
UnPluggd - The Startup Conference
Date: 24th May 2014 Location : MLR Convention Center, JP Nagar How to get there : www.grallo.com Tickets : Price : Rs 1500 to 3200 http://em.explara.com/event/unpluggdsummer-edition-2014 India’s Biggest Startup Conference that brings together amazing speakers, Actionable Insights and provides great networking opportunity for entrepreneurs, geeks and investors.
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or both musicians and music lovers, now is arguably the most exciting and certainly the most diverse period for independent music India has ever seen. The Scene is simmering with independent artists that are being afforded the opportunity to play regularly, and some are even being paid handsomely for it! Shocked? Be it EDM, folk, metal, rock, dubstep, the only genre being widely excluded is the passe Bollywood tunes which was all India “raved” to at a point in time. Just a warning, don’t tell them you’re thinking of becoming a punk icon, it won’t wash. As a result of the growing ranks of talented bands, and their followers, the event companies have being innovating themselves, and festivals resembling some of the infamous events globally are popping up. The whole world has heard of NH7, and Sunburn but what about Magnetic Fields, or goMAD? We’re going to take you through the best festivals of the 2013/14 (in no particular order):
WHAT’S THE SCENE?
most happening festivals India experienced last season and how they fared
23 Magnetic Fields (Alsisar- Rajasthan)
Zambhala (Goa)
A new festival this year, and these guys succeeded in bringing a whole new concept to India. A well organised, and quality intimate event in a magical location. Arguably, the best line-up ever for a small festival. The music: Mixture of live and electronic-live, and a load of DJ’s to put the party through the night. Ambience: Excellent. Crowd: Most sophisticated crowd in India! Value for Money: Too much value for money, it’s a must-see event.
A strange mixture on the face of it. How does music and Yoga work together? Bring some young, cool, fit people together and once the yoga’s over the party starts. The music: Live bands Ambience: Yoga buzz; there’s great live music and a deeper spiritual element to boot. Crowd: Yoga heads and alternative minds flock to Goa for a unique experience Value For Money: You get fit and listen to great music, a bargain.
1 Supersonic (Goa) Nikhil Chinnapa is back in the festival scene and we think it’s going to be Supersonic! The music: EDM, EDM, EDM. Currently, they don’t have the biggest artists in the world, but it’s long on quality. Ambience: It’s Goa, it’s Christmas time, it’s on the beach, where else in the world would you want to be? Crowd: The ones who have been Sunburned and looking for the next big thing. Value for Money: Half the price of its big brother next door.
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Supersonic
UNMAGAZINE | MAY2014
4 Sunburn (Goa, December) You can’t mention Supersonic without mentioning Sunburn, undoubtedly the biggest festival in India. People flock from all four corners of the world to this festival. The music: More EDM, Sunburn will give you the biggest DJs in the world right now Ambience: It’s heavy, you won’t get much sleep but it’s the party season, so you’ll have a blast! Crowd: Every self respecting EDM fan should go to Sunburn once, there’s a good mix of local and international crowds in Goa to soak up the best of India has got to offer. Value for Money: It’s not cheap but nor is a Rolls Royce!
Sunburn
5 NH7 (Pune, Bangalore, Delhi & Kolkata)
I was there! RIO
6
Bacardi NH7 Kolkata leg was the perfect gift a festival hungry city could ask for. And the city didn’t dissapoint either, with massive turnouts both the days. The happy festival made the city happier. We had a ball. Eagerly waiting for the next edition!
goMAD (Ooty) Up in amongst the clean air of the Ooty hills goMad did something different to the rest of the Indian festival scene. It has a more European feel to it imagine sitting in a field with the sun in your face, a cool beer in hand. Hard to beat. The music: eclectic, there are art installations, and creatives at every turn Ambience: Very relaxed, apart from when the metal is on Crowd: music loving and adventurous Value for Money: You’ll come away feeling like you’ve had a holiday and a party. Two for the price of one. 78
NH7
One of the oldest and purest festivals around. The guys at OML take the plaudits in ensuring you have a great time, trying to ensure the success of the festival does not take away too much from the experience. The music: Live bands, Djs and a wide array of independent music Ambience: the weekender is the “happiest music festival” or so we are told, and it does not let us down, in all four cities in 2013 it was a super atmosphere, even amid the downpour in Bangalore Crowd: Like the music the crowd is diverse, there’s something for everyone Value for Money: For the range in music, and quality of the production, it’s a steal at approx Rs 3,000.
WHAT’S THE SCENE? How to get to the festival for free There a few options here; go and work for the event organiser in your spare time, do it on the premise that you are going to get a free ticket once the event comes round. Don’t ask for anything else and definitely don’t agree to work during the event. You may even see if they can give you some drinks coupons! If interning in an event company is not up your street, every festival has a host of student volunteers that help out. You’re unlikely to get paid but you get to check it out, and probably sneak a peak at a few bands! Grallo has a paid intern program where you can travel with the team, to all the events that they work on, it’s no easy ride but you get to see the inner workings of an event from start to finish. Finally, find a mate who’s got connections, or join a band… if you are the son of large event organiser, we suggest you keep it hushed up, right up to the last minute, otherwise you’ll rightly be mauled by doting new “friends.”
Next is What? With the Indian festival season coming to a close there is a lot to celebrate, and so much more to come. The big festivals are getting bigger it is certain that another dozen or so festivals will crop up and try their hand come the 2014/15 season that will kick off come August. As the 2013/14 Indian season comes to an end, the real festival heads turn their interest to Europe, where festivals of over 20,000 happen every weekend. To put this into perspective, Sunburn rarely touches 40,000 people. Highlights include the gargantuam Glastonbury, with a whopping 140,000 people, the tickets sold out in 37 minutes this year. Creamfields and Sonar, are two of the big stars of the EDM season in the west. Sonar is set in Barcelona by the sea and has a truly unique urban feel to it, and it is hard to beat. Womad, a festival set in rural England has similarities of goMad and not just because of its name. There’s Benicassim in Spain, the Secret Garden Party in England, both have a similar vibe to the NH7. The biggest bands in India should be looking to get gigs abroad to broaden their horizons and come back to India at another level. It’s exciting times in the Indian music scene and there’s no doubt it’s just the beginning. The word is that Modi is a massive fan of EDM and if he wins the election, will be celebrating on the beaches of Goa to the sounds of Tiesto, Swedish House Mafia and co.
“
If interning in an event company is not up your street, every festival has a host of student volunteers that help out
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VOLUNTEER SPEAK
NIKHIL SHENOY I have worked with Grallo for a few events like the NH7 weekender. It was one of the best experiences I’ve had! I got to learn lot of things and make more contacts and the people are fun to work with too! It’s a complete win.
GANESH Srinivasan Iyengar I never knew that behind such successful events there are so many dedicated preparations and so many event partners! I was astonished and amazed by the amount of involvement and effort put in by many personals and volunteers too. This learning opportunity has helped in understanding various aspects of planning and organising a festival that has given me a different level of courage and experience!
UNMAGAZINE | MAY2014
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