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A lab publication of the Department of Communication, S.N. School, the University of Hyderabad.
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UOH DISPATCHA LAB PUBLICATION OF DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION, UNIVERSITY OF HYDERABAD
Volume 8, Issue 10, Pages 8
GETTING A
DUPLICATE
ID CARD P3
RAYAPROL
POETRY PRIZE
AWARDED P2
THE CAMPUS
TEA CULTUREP8
Garbage mess in University
Ashutosh Prasad
The University of Hyderabad
campus produces four tractors of
bio degradable and non-bio
degradable waste every day.
Proper management of this waste
is a no-nonsense task. When it
comes to the collection and dis-
posal of waste, the much hyped
zero waste-management system in
the campus cannot be termed as a
success.
“Building premises are be-
coming dumping yards and the
basic problem starts from the ab-
sence of coordination between the
cleaners and the collectors.This
makes collection of waste difficult
for collectors and results in slow
work” Said Ajay Kumar Koli,
PhD student from School of Man-
agement Studies, who has been
coordinating voluntary waste
management programmes under
the NGO Free Service.
“Campus community should
understand the importance of
waste management and use waste
bins to make the collection eas-
ier,” said Shyam Sunder, Sanitary
Inspector, University of Hyder-
abad.
It is not just the problem of
using waste bins. The garbage is
not properly segregated or recy-
cled. Often waste is burned in
open near hostel premises in an
unsceintific way, affecting the air
quality .
“We are facing work force
crunch. We have only seven work-
ers,which is not enough to clean
the vast campus” Said Raju, su-
pervisor of contract agency
Sukuki Exnora.
Collected waste is brought to
the dumping yard behind the
Men’s Hostel-F.“After collecting
the waste we segregate dry waste
so that it can be sent for recycling.
Food waste is put in compost pit
to use as fertilizer” adds Raju. But
Ajay disagrees. “They pick re-
sellable items from the collected
waste and remaining will be
burned.There is no proper recy-
cling or reuse” he said.
“We are handing over the
waste management to an efficient
agency .Tendering process has
started,”said B.Mallesh, section
officer, sanitation department.
South campus lit upMeghna Neogi
The stretch starting from Men’s
hostel F to South campus has
overcome the issue of lack of
streetlights as the authorities have
started fixing them. The commute
from the north campus to the
south campus was very unsafe for
students when there were no
streetlights.Snakes,scorpions and
other wild life often cross this
stretch of the road at night.
“I had to struggle every night
on my walk back from my depart-
ment. There was no hint of light
on the road because of which I
would religiously carry my
torch,” says V. Ramesh, a second
year B.Sc student. However, the
absence of lights went unnoticed
by the authorities for a long time.
"We have had a shortage of
funds for maintenance because of
which many of the street lights
have not been working", says Mr.
Mukhtar, Assistant Engineer,
Electrical department.
It is not as if there were no
streetlights, surprisingly they
were left unlit.Initially authorities
installed solar powered lamps.But
they were not enough to light up
the wide road.Solar powered
lamps apparently required high
maintenance also.
“Once while I was riding my
bike and out of the blue I saw a
guy in a dark shirt crossing the
road. I had to halt suddenly to
avoid running over him. Had
there been streetlights, my visibil-
ity would have been better,” says
Preethi, M.Phil student.
A highway could match the
one leading to south campus in
terms of the quality and width of
the road. Now, it is fully lit
throughout the night for com-
muters to travel comfortably. Fi-
nally authorities have taken this
issue seriously by fixing the lights
before the occurrence of any un-
toward incident.
Building collapse:Time for quality checkRajesh Dupta
A portion of the newly construct-
ing Zakir Husain lecture hall com-
plex in University of Hyderabad
caved in recently, raising several
questions about the quality of con-
structions being taken up in the
campus. Nobody was injured in
the incident.
“I have requested detailed re-
port from the chief engineer. Once
we receive the report, necessary
actions will be taken” In-charge
Professor A.C.Narayana said to
the students’ representatives. The
metal bars were falling down
while this reporter was talking to
the officials. This also brings up
issue of security of the construc-
tion workers.
“These things will not repeat.
The part of the construction col-
lapsed because of some faulty
metal bars used to balance the
concrete. All the expenses for the
reconstruction of the collapsed
portion will be borne by the con-
tractor” said K.Y.Reddy,contrac-
t o r - i n - c h a r g e , R a m k r i s h i
Infrastructure Private Limited
Company.
Contracts for constructing
buildings in the campus are given
through the Central Public Works
Department. “Only qualified con-
tractors are selected by
CPWD.Regarding this event, we
are waiting for the detailed report”
said I.Ramabrahmam,University
Registrar.
Various students’ representa-
tives present at the scene pointed
out serious negligence on the part
of the administration. It is a well
known fact that buildings con-
structed in the last few years have
started to show cracks and water
seepages. Once the construction is
over, CPWD and the contractor
leaves the scene. It is up to the
University administration to en-
sure the safety of the buildings.
The University doesn’t have a
permanent engineer to continu-
ously monitor the constructions.
“ There is no continuous monitor-
ing of the health of the buildings
in the campus. There should be an
immediate appointment of perma-
nent engineer for the university.
We also demand a detailed inquiry
of the event” said Vincent, Presi-
dent of the Students’ Union.
Poacher caught on campusAvnish Kumar
Jerripothula Ashok, an animal
hunter was caught in the south
campus recently. The hunter hails
from Gowlidoddy village in
Telangana, which is a few kilome-
ters away from the University
south campus. He has been using
the University campus for a while
now for his hunting expeditions.
He was using five trained dogs to
catch the animals around the
wildlife- rich campus.
Ashok was taken into custody
when Jillapalli Ravi, a PhD
scholar from the Department of
Animal Sciences, spotted him and
informed the security in charge.
The next day he was handed over
to Gachibowli Police Station for
cross-questioning.
“We have given him a warning
and he will come again for inter-
rogation,” says Benjamin Frazer,
Assistant security officer. So far
no FIR has been registered against
Ashok.
The boundary walls at the
south campus are not high enough
allowing hunters from outside
easy access into the campus. “Pea-
cocks, monitor lizards, rabbits and
other species are allegedly being
caught on a regular basis and sold
out,” says Ravi.
Ashok’s brother Laxman has
another story to tell. “We belong
to a very poor family and our fa-
ther passed away last year. Ashok
has to look after his wife and three
young children.” He also said that
Ashok is engaged in cattle rearing
and may have entered the campus
along with his livestock.
According to the Wildlife (Pro-
tection) Act of 1972, a person
found guilty of hunting can get
imprisonment up to two years or a
fine of maximum Rs 2,000 or
both.
Cases of hunting have been re-
ported in the campus previously
as well. “I feel it’s everybody’s
duty to safeguard our wildlife,”
says Ravi. He suggested electric
fencing to keep outsiders from
trespassing and formation of a
proactive groupto monitor hunting
activities in the campus.
Ashok with his hunter dogs
Photo by:Jillapalli Ravi
Waste scattered near men’s hostel-J
November 2014, For internal circulation only
page1_Copy of Dispatch 4 11/7/2014 2:16 PM Page 1
2U O H D I S PAT C H N OV E M B E R , 2 014
Green bucket challenge
Ranjani Murali wins the Srinivas Rayaprol Poetry Prize
Sanjana K.K
The sixth Srinivas Rayaprol Po-
etry Prize was awarded to Ran-
jani Murali, a poet and educator
currently living in Chicago,
USA. The award was handed
over by renowned poet, curator
and cultural theorist Ranjit
Hoskote, who earlier delivered a
distinguished lecture in the uni-
versity on ‘The Problem with
Craft’. She was selected from a
list of 175 contestants this year.
The prize is named after the
pioneering Indian English poet
Srinivas Rayaprol and is insti-
tuted by the Srinivas Rayaprol
Literary Trust in association with
The Department of English, Uni-
versity of Hyderabad, to recog-
nize excellence in poetry written
in English. The prize consisted of
a cash award of Rs. 15, 000 and a
citation.
Here is an exerept of an inter-
view with Ranjani Murali:
What inspired you to write
poems?
Over the years, I came in contact
with the works of several Indian
poets and prose writers working
in English, as well as a variety of
poetry translations, particulary in
Sanskrit and Tamil. I started writ-
ing to diffuse the profusion of
sensory experiences I encoun-
tered, and then, slowly, the em-
phasis moved from speaking
about the “feeling” to construct-
ing the evocation of it.
How does it feel being the recip-
ient of the 6th Srinivas
Rayaprol Poetry Prize?
It is an immense honor. I am
overwhelmed by the support I
have received. This award is also
significant to me as a student be-
cause Srinivas Rayaprol’s pio-
neering poetry came at a time
when the Indian English writing
scene was as yet beginning to
take roots.
What do you think about the
present generation’s attitude
towards poetry?
I assume you’re referring to
Indian poetry in English. There
is an extended interest in reading
and writing that may not be in
our “native” tongue, because the
search for our own place and rel-
evance in a digital, global world
is constantly in a state of revi-
sion.
Security lapses in ladies hostels
Entrance Exam: Students’ Union and Admin at loggerheads
Basha P
Venkatesh Mamidi
The United Democratic Alliance
(UDA) won this year’s Students’
Union elections by promising the
student community infrastructure
development and policy reforms.
When it comes to the entrance ex-
amination policy there is a sharp
difference in the views of admin-
istration and Students’ Union.
Administration points out that
the number of applications has in-
creased with the early entrance ex-
amination policy.The ruling
alliance alleges that the number of
students withdrawing after admis-
sion has increased with the new
policy.
“Don’t look at the withdrawals,
look at the joining percentage.
Every year it is increasing,” said
Prof. Ramakrishna Ramaswamy,
Vice-Chancellor of University of
Hyderabad (UoH), brushing aside
the arguments of UDA.
“There is no date clash of our
entrance examination with exam-
inations of other universities.
Also, students can prepare freely
for their other examinations after
giving our entrance examination.”
he added.
“Number of applications has
increased not because of early en-
trance examination,” argues Vin-
cent Benny, President of Students’
Union. “It is because they have in-
troduced online application. In the
past, students had to apply offline
and the procedure was difficult.
It is also important that for ad-
missions to PhD courses, the uni-
versity is giving 40 marks
weightage in advance for those
who have appeared for Junior Re-
search Fellowship (JRF) Exam.
Admission list is prepared based
on this score.Candidates who fail
to clear JRF automatically get dis-
qualified later. This can lead to
legal repurcussions and disreupute
to University” added Vincent.
“Early entrance examination
makes the best students compete
for admission. If we conduct ex-
amination in June or July, other
good universities would have fin-
ished their admissions. Only stu-
dents who couldn’t qualify for
these institutions would join here.
I want qualified students who can
give a challenge to others,” said
Vice Chancellor .
Students’ Union counters this
argument by stating that universi-
ties are not meant to admit only
the best students, but should cre-
ate the best students. The Presi-
dent further pointed out that
public universities should not
allow a single seat to go vacant
when there are a large number of
students waiting to get admission.
Number of applications•
increased
Joining percentage has•
increased
Early entrance exam•
helps students prepare
for other examinations
Best students join when•the exam is conductedearly.
It is because of the online•
application procedure
Withdrawal percentage•
has increased and seats go
vacant.
Early entrance examina-•
tion creates problems for
students in preparing for
other examinations.
University is not just for•
best students. It should
create best students.
Administration V/S Students’ UnionAdministration V/S Students’ Union
Ranjani Murali receiving the prize from Ranjit Hoskote Photo by: Joyel K Pious
CAMPULSE
Joining percentage in the year of 2014-2015 is 96% and the withdrawal is more than 300
Venkatesh Mamidi
Students of the School of Manage-
ment Studies (SMS), University of
Hyderabad, followed up their rice
bucket challenge initiative with the
green bucket challenge. The activity
was initiated by Prof V. Venkata Ra-
mana, Senior faculty member, SMS,
to sensitise the youth and inculcate
a sense of responsibility towards
‘environmental ownership’.
The students and faculty of the
department participated in the event
by cleaning the SMS premises and
planting around 200 saplings.““It is
a great privilege to be a part of the
cleaning drive. Our work is not over
by just planting saplings, we will
nurture these plants till they grow
into trees,”said Raj Kiran, a student
from the department.
The chief guests included K. Vish-
weshwar Reddy, MP of Chevella
constituency, NVS Reddy, Manag-
ing director of Hyderabad Metro
Rail and Prof. Ramakrishna Ra-
maswamy, Vice Chancellor, UoH.
“There are several Government pro-
grams to initiate projects, but the
challenge is sustaining these projects
post their initiation.” said Vishwesh-
war Reddy. He called upon the stu-
dents to go further and ensure that
the trees planted survivie, to reap the
real benefits of this tree planting ex-
ercise.
NVS Reddy appealed to students
to identify the problems and con-
tribute back to the society through
green initiatives.
“The flora, fauna and rock forma-
tions are part of Telengana heritage
and need to be preserved. Our cam-
pus needs initiative support to pre-
serve the biodiversity,” said
Prof.Ramakrishna Ramaswamy,Vice
Chancellor.
Nidhi Gupta
On October 7, a man stepped into
the North Campus Ladies Hostels
premises and was caught peeping
into a washroom when a girl was
bathing. Expressing her disgust,
the girl who wishes to remain
anonymous said, “I was shocked.
I don’t know what to do. I’m still
angry and will not be at peace un-
less the person is caught.”
The campus has witnessed sev-
eral security lapses in the past few
months, risking the safety of
hostellers. On October 12, a theft
occurred in Ladies Hostel VII in
South Campus. The occupants of
the room whose window was
pried open lost Rs. 6,000 in cash.
Installation of street lights, al-
lotment of security guards at indi-
vidual hostels, and night
patrolling within hostel premises
have been deployed as damage
control measures. The administra-
tion has instructed female security
personnel to accompany all out-
siders who enter hostel premises
for maintenance works.
“University should insist on
providing security not just for
moral policing but also for the
general safety of its inhabitants,”
said Sanjana Krishnan, a PhD stu-
dent at Department of Political
Science. “We have even taken an
initiative addressing issues to es-
tablish a gender sensitive cam-
pus,” she added.
Students are concerned about
the lax attitude of the University.
“Lights, fencing and clearing of
bushes are secondary measures
which will not make a lot of dif-
ference unless there is cohesion
between permanent security and
security working on contractual
basis. They cannot continue the
blame-game and must work in
unity,” said Rahul Jambhulkar, an
M. Phil student from the Depart-
ment of Sociology.
“The security has always been
given the lowest quotation by the
administration. There should not
be any compromise in the tender-
ing process of security guards. We
have listed out some of the short-
term as well as long-term meas-
ures to the administration,”said
Vincent Benny, the President of
Students’ Union. He added that
the Students’ Union is looking
forward to a positive response
from the administration.
Immediate funds have been
sanctioned by Pro-Vice Chancel-
lor Prof. E. Haribabu for manag-
ing security issues like fencing
and lighting in the hostel premises
said Vincent Benny.
page2_Layout 1 11/3/2014 11:43 AM Page 1
3U O H D I S PAT C H N Ov e m b e r , 2 014 C A M P U L S E
Contract Labour: Sanitation workers seek a fair dealJoyel K.Pious
Sanjana K.K
“I have been working here for
more than 7 years. When the uni-
versity was directly employing us
things were better. At least we
could directly talk to the authori-
ties. Now, we have become com-
modities being exchanged
between different contractors,”
said a sanitation worker who
wishes not to be identified.
Initially employed by the uni-
versity as temporary labourers,
more than 170 sanitation workers
who clean the campus and hostel
wash rooms are now under the
payroll of a contract agency.
“We strictly follow all the
rules and regulations related to the
employment of contract labour-
ers,” said Srinivas Reddy, Propri-
etor of S R enterprises, which
employs the sanitation workers.
The administration also denies the
charges. “Previously when Prab-
hakar Reddy was the contractor
there were lot of issues. Now
things have improved a lot. Salary
is credited before tenth of every-
month ,” said V. Prasanna Kumar,
Deputy Registrar, Sanitation.
But, the situation is not as
promising as it seems. “We don’t
know how much amount is being
cut from our monthly salary for
Provident Fund and Employee’s
State Insurance. We just get a mo-
bile message from the bank indi-
cating that the salary has been
credited into our accounts. The
authorities should provide us a
pay sheet with all the details of
salary,” demand the labourers.
Without a pay slip, workers are
unable to ascertain whether the
contractor is properly crediting
their PF and ESI premium.
“I was not aware of this issue.
I will make sure that pay sheet
will be provided every month,”
said Prasanna Kumar.
Other than Sundays and six
government-notified holidays, the
contract workers are not entitled
for any casual leaves. If they are
absent from duty on any otherday,
that day’s wage is deducted. They
also face issues related to medical
facilities. Many of the workers are
yet to get their ESI activated.
“We request the authorities to
allow us to form a society to work
directly under the University
without the interference of an out-
side contractor,” said sanitation
workers. But this demand is fac-
ing strong opposition from the ad-
ministration. “If we allow them to
work under a society, the next day
they will ask for permanent jobs,”
said an official in the administra-
tion, under the condition of
anonymity.
“We are aware of the prob-
lems .We are planning to bring the
contractor and administration to-
gether to discuss the problems of
contract workers. We will make
sure that the university oversees
the timely disbursal of salaries,
crediting of provident fund and
ESI premium,” said Vincent,
President,Students Union.
Getting a duplicate ID card
The poster problemPriyanka Manikandan
Even a month after the conclusion
of students’ union election, when
it comes to the removal of banners
and posters, the political parties
don’t seem as enthusiastic as they
were while pasting them. Except
ABVP, who hanged their posters
pasted on cardboards and imme-
diately removed them after elec-
tion, posters and banners of all
other parties fill the campus.
Dr. B.R Ambedkar’s face is
painted on the walls of men’s hos-
tels J and K and spray painted in-
vitations to join ASA decorate
south campus. There is hardly any
wall or tree in the north campus
that does not display political slo-
ganeering, making notice boards
mere spectators.
“We have removed all the ban-
ners. But removing all posters is
difficult. We will take an initiative
by taking inspiration from Swach
Bharat Abhayan, ”said, Eswar,
former President of the party,
when asked about the TRSV plas-
tic flags and banners being a
major contributor to the large
amount of election related trash.
“Why can’t people remove the
posters once the event is over?
Students are not concerned about
these issues. Those who are con-
cerned should not keep quiet,”
said Abhishek Singaraju, a stu-
dent from the School of Physics,
who wrote a blog on the same
issue.
Students speak about their right
to paste posters, but they often
forget the fact that any right
comes with an equal amount of
responsibility which has to be ful-
filled.
Harika Vankadara
Speaking at an Indo-Turkish dia-
logue seminar in the university,
Paridhi Singh , a student of Jindal
Global Law School, spoke of the
manner in which countries can
foster good-will and forge friend-
ship by allowing youth exchange
programmes centered on educa-
tion, professional practices and
culture. She said without the re-
strictions that shackle diplomats
and governments in their commu-
nications, the youth of two coun-
tries are sensitised to each other’s
lives through such programmes.
Although not truly an exchange
programme, the University of Hy-
derabad (UoH), since 1998, has in
place, the Study in India Program
(SIP). It is a unique initiative in
the country. Through memoran-
dums of understanding (MoU)
with certain universities abroad,
students from different countries
are allowed to take up a semester
at the university . “This is a one-
of-a-kind programme in India,
wherein grades earned by students
from foreign Universities are
transferred to the parent school.
Courses are sometimes cus-
tomized to meet the needs of stu-
dents,” said Dr. Kanchan K.
Malik, a member of the Manage-
ment Committee, SIP.
The Office of International Af-
fairs, UoH, said that the univer-
sity has entered into MoUs with
universities in Finland, Germany
and Canada. Currently, there are
MoUs with four foreign universi-
ties for a total of eight exchange
opportunities for UoH students.
Two students from the School
of Management Studies visited
University of Wurzburg for sum-
mer internships and two students
of University of Jyvaskyla spent a
semester at two departments in
the university.
“...It is pretty amazing every-
thing you can learn by this kind of
experience. You learn about your-
self, your limits…you need to
study in another language, with
different teachers with a different
pedagogy and that can be really
challenging because every coun-
try has its own way to promote ed-
ucation,” said Marie-Frederique
Quellet, a Canadian on a govern-
ment exchange programme organ-
ised by the governments of the
two countries.
Pro-active PlacementsAnupama Evani
At University of Hyderabad 39
have secured jobs via the place-
ment cells in their deparments,
with 15 students bagging pay
packages of 7 lakh (and more)
per annum. M. Tech, MBA,
MCA and MA Economics de-
partments have taken a proactive
role in working with the place-
ment office and the students of
these departments have benefit-
ted as a result.
The Placement Office is a
two-member team comprising
Placement Officer Ashish Jacob
Thomas, who is also the univer-
sity’s PR Officer, and P. Upender
who serves as a Consultant
Placement Coordinator. The de-
partments / schools in the univer-
sity are to create brochures on
the courses and facilities avail-
able with them, along with de-
tails of students. The faculty and
student placement coordinators
should then approach companies
with this brochure, printed by the
placement office, and follow up
till the company agrees to come
to the University on a placement
drive. Here, the placement office
takes over and handles logistics,
ensuring that the needs of the
companies are met. 210 students
were placed last year and the
number promises to rise this
year. In this university, 50 to 60
per cent of its students opt for
higher studies. The remaining
opt for jobs, of which 30 to 35
per cent are qualified to get
placed.
The placement office also fol-
lows up with companies to find
bottlenecks and work on improv-
ing the efficiency of placements.
Pro-active departments have re-
ceived feedback from the office
that allows them to concentrate
on soft skills and professional
etiquette of their students,
preparing them for placements.
An issue with the placements
is that students who are not inter-
ested in taking up a job, apply,
secure a job, but fail to join. This
reflects poorly on the University.
As a result, other students in
need of a job miss out on the op-
portunity.
UoH now has eight exchange opportunities for students
K.Divya
While the loss of University
identity card (ID) and the ensuing
procedure to get a duplicate issued
is seen by many students as te-
dious, the University maintains
that the procedure is necessary to
protect students from any unto-
ward incident.
“I lost my identity card to-
wards the end of last semester and
a duplicate was issued to me only
this semester. While the procedure
per se is easy, the functioning of
the system is more problematic. I
had to make several trips to e-
Seva as the officers were away,”
said Mrudula Bhavani, a student
of M.A Comparative Literature.
However, the administration
maintains that the procedure is in
compliance with the guidelines
given by the police department
and the University is obligated to
follow it. The University ID card
is a bona fide identity proof and
hence lost ID cards must be pro-
tected from misuse.
“The intention of introducing
the procedure is not to cause in-
convenience to anybody. An ID
card is an important, valuable doc-
ument possessed by any individ-
ual and following this procedure
is essential because of the reper-
cussions that losing an ID card
may result in,” said Devesh
Nigam, Deputy Registrar (Acad.
and Exams).
Nevertheless, an amendment
has been made to simplify the pro-
cedure. “Now, a missing report is
not required. A letter addressed to
the Station House Officer, Chan-
danagar Police station along with
the acknowledgement received at
e-Seva is enough. Also, we have
been assisting women and physi-
cally disabled students in complet-
ing this procedure,” added Devesh
Nigam.
The procedure is same for stu-
dents and employees alike. It is
applicable only for the loss of uni-
versity identity card. Semester
registration cards are issued by a
simple payment of Rs.50.
Identity card is an important
document for the students
and it must be
protected from misuse
When learning transcends borders
page3_Layout 1 10/31/2014 4:12 PM Page 1
4U O H D I S PAT C H N OV E M B E R , 2 014 i n s i g h t
Printed and published by the Head of the Department, Dept. of Communication, Sarojini Naidu School Of Arts and Communication, University of Hyderabad. We appreciate participation from all departments.
Mail us at [email protected]
THE TEAMEditors: Joyel K. Pious, K. Keerthi Kiran
Copy Editors: Aalekhya Tadepalli, Meghna Neogi,Sanjana K.K, Saumya Painuli
Reporters / Editorial Team: Aalekhya Tadepalli, Anupama Evani,Avnish Kumar, Ashutosh Prasad, Basha P, Divya K., HarikaVankadara, Joyel K. Pious, K. Keerthi Kiran, Meghna Neogi, NidhiGupta, Priyanka Manikandan, Rajesh Dupta, Saumya Painuli,Sanjana K.K, Venkatesh Mamidi
Photographers: Aalekhya Tadepalli, Joyel K. Pious, PriyankaManikandan
UOH DISPATCH
Culture conundrum
When asked why he was stealing plates
from the hostel mess, “It’s university
money. Why do you have a problem?” a
student replied. The long serpentine queue of the
mess and its dining tables showcase something that
doesn’t really reflect that we are members of one of
the finest universities of the country. While behav-
iour patterns at a mess hall can’t be used to assess
students, they do give us some hints about our un-
derlying attitudes.
Here, we have a future generation which is not
even capable of patiently standing in a queue. The
typical ‘Indian queue’ in the mess hall looks like a
snake, with a huge head and a thin tail. The late com-
ers, a group that comprises future scientists, engi-
neers, philosophers, writers, economists, journalists
and artists, automatically move towards the head of
the queue, making fools of the patiently waiting fel-
low students. Sometimes, the ones who are ethically
upright by standing in the queue will have to leave
the dining hall hungry while the late comer inso-
lently eats to his/her fill. The chewed vegetables
carelessly thrown over dining tables for the others
to clean up shows the insensitive attitude of students.
We are in the fore-front when demanding our
rights from governments and administrations. Only
through struggles we can achieve our rights. But
what about the basic rights of our fellow students?
What about the dignity of sanitation workers? Are
they to clean the chewed vegetables spat out by us?
The degrees we earn from here are worthless unless
we learn to respect the basic rights of our fellow cit-
izens.
Women’s safety
The recent incident where a man was found
peeping inside bathroom in one of the ladies’
hostels highlights the issue of women’s safety
in the campus. This incident created furore among
students in the university especially female students
who demanded stern action against such perpetra-
tors. This peeping tom gave security personnel the
slip.
In the past few months, a man was found in-
dulging in indecent acts outside the North Campus
ladies hostels. There is also the case of a robbery at
a south campus ladies hostel where the window of a
room was dislodged and the residents robbed. It is
evident that safety norms are not in place in the Uni-
versity.
The administration has increased the number of
security personnel in and around the ladies hostels.
Bushes and trees in hostel premises have been cut
down for clear visibility. Lights have been added in
all those unfrequented corners of hostel grounds that
were shrouded in darkness before. But the larger
question remains the same. Will the new beefed up
security measures deter such culprits? Men, both au-
thorized staff and non-authorized visitors, continue
to walk around in the ladies hostels unfettered.
In a varsity of 2,300 acres where security persons
are deployed at all major points, why were only two
lady guards and one male guard appointed outside
the ladies hostel? In a textbook case of wisdom fol-
lowing a tragedy, more security personnel have been
deployed within and outside the north campus ladies
hostels after the peeping tom jostling authorities into
action. However, there is room for improvement in
actually securing the hostels from intruders as loop-
holes continue to exist.
Our intension behind creating
‘Listening post(LP)’ was to
emphasize on the skill of lis-
tening in the academic space. The art of
listening is significant to hear and to be
heard in the world of thoughts, ideas,
and of multitude. Listening to one an-
other is an important precondition for
dialogue and genuine conversation.
Listening post gives you a chance to
join a series of speakers from the aca-
demia talking about their recent work,
ideas and interventions.
The initiative was put forward by
Arvind Susarla, Aparna Devare and
Ratheesh Kumar. We believe that we
are promoting listening as a skill
through this platform, which is believed
to be a precursor and may allow for
meaningful dialogues. In January / Feb-
ruary 2014, an informal initiative titled
Listening Post was started specifically
with a purpose to create a platform for
listening. The thrust at this platform is
listening. It is primarily a discussion
between faculty colleagues from all
schools on their research works, ideas,
and thoughts. However, we envisioned
speakers to be from outside the acade-
mia as well. It is hoped that speakers at
this initiative will present their research
work succinctly, and enter into dia-
logues to foster innovative or creative
conversations, at the very least.
We found that the UoH community
often does not have an opportunity to
listen to their own faculty talk about
their own publications and this forum
also attempted to address this lack. By
definition, LP-model is interdiscipli-
nary / multidisciplinary and allows for
sharing with, and obtaining of feedback
from, persons with various disciplinary
backgrounds. Thus far we have heard
speakers from wide ranging depart-
ments, including: Philosophy, History,
English, Political Science, Cultural
Studies, Anthropology, Sociology, and
Comparative Literature. The first talk
on Listening Post was by the Vice
Chancellor of our University on "The
Unknown D. D. Kosambi." and other
talks were by Prof. Sanjay Palshikar
from the Department of Political Sci-
ence, Prof. Pramod K. Nayar from the
Department of English and by Prof. N
Sudhakar Rao from the Department of
Anthropology and much more.We have
been using social media sites to pro-
mote LP-model and part of the overall
objective was to create an inter-disci-
plinary platform for students and fac-
ulty to come together.
Arvind Susarla, Aparna Devare, and
Sowmya Dechamma are the
co-founders of Listening Post.
Listening as a skill and an art
Annihilation of gender is a theo-
retical concept that is inspired
by Babasaheb Ambedkar's vi-
sion of the annihilation of caste.
Babasaheb asserted that reformist at-
tempts in Hinduism to "reduce" caste
discrimination within the varna system
or to "eradicate untouchability" were
pointless if they did not fundamentally
disturb the framework of caste. He
called for the annihilation of the entire
system of caste. The question is – can
we annihilate gender?
What is gender? Gender is the
bizarre socio-economic construct that
refers to the genital and secondary sex-
ual characteristics of people. In soci-
eties where people exert considerable
effort to cover their bodies, the gender-
specific clothing, the mandatory check-
list of appropriate and inappropriate
behaviours, the mustache retained on
an otherwise shaved face serves as a
quaint reminder of what is hidden, a eu-
phemistic way to refer to bodies. Can
people break the socio-economic con-
struct connecting their natural choice of
behaviour, gestures and clothing to
some veiled reference to their gender?
One obvious question that arises
from such a notion is whether such a
framework destroys the hard work of
some feminist movements to put in
place systems of protection for women
(other feminist movements have posited
the annihilation of gender itself in other
languages and contexts).
Babasaheb’s vision of the annihila-
tion of caste does not mean pretending
we live in a post-caste world, it involves
thinking through ways of destroying
these oppressive systems, while simul-
taneously instituting measures (such as
preferential opportunities, political ed-
ucation, reservation, and empowering
spaces) to combat the historical injus-
tices faced by oppressed castes – this
can be extended to oppressed genders,
“dis”ability, oppressed religions and na-
tionalities. In terms of annihilating gen-
der, what tools we might use to
dismantle the system are up to people
reading this article to think through.
Perhaps all of you should try behav-
ing in ways considered inappropriate
for the gender you were assigned, or
even wearing clothes considered inap-
propriate, to see how sharply gender is
policed around you. The fact that a gar-
ment wrapped around the body can be
considered both feminine (wraparound
skirt) and masculine (lungi) might help
convince you that there is nothing in-
herently gendered about a piece of
cloth; gender is a social construct to de-
marcate socio-economic labour roles
and expectations.
Kaveri R.I. is a Postdoctoral
Faculty Fellow, Cognitive and
Neural Sciences, UoH
Annihilation of gender
From the left: Sowmya Dechamma,
Arvind Susarla, Aparna Devare
CARTOONSCAPE Corrigendum:In the article 'Nipping suicides in the bud', writer
Sumantran Ray was wrongly mentioned as PhD student. He is doing
M.Phil at the Center for Neural and Cognitive sciences, UoH.
Cart
oon b
y: R
P
rave
en V
arm
a
page4_Layout 1 10/31/2014 3:44 PM Page 1
5U O H D I S PAT C H N OV E M B E R , 2 014 R E F L E C T I O N S
The politics of
friendship
The Stu-
d e n t s ’
U n i o n
elections 2014-
2015 con-
cluded last
month with a
new alliance
emerging as the clear choice of
student community. The pre-elec-
tion scenario was in no way differ-
ent from that of previous year. The
atmosphere was filled with slo-
gans aimed at reaching each one
of us. Interestingly, this year too,
politics went along with friend-
ships.
The pre-polling atmosphere
captivated everyone’s attention.
Ironically we witnessed enemies
turning into friends and vice
versa.
It is intriguing to notice that a
person is no longer identified with
his/her name but with one’s polit-
ical affiliation. There is a saying,
“Man is known by the company
he keeps” but that does not always
hold true in the case of our cam-
pus. Here, a person is known by
the political party he/she aligns
with.
There is no escape even if one
is not aligned to any party. People
start assuming that one is an ar-
dent supporter of a party if she/he
has friends who are members of
that particular party. It is beyond
comprehension that why would
someone associate a person with a
party.
Campus politics and friend-
ship are becoming distinct terms.
It seems that if one plans to align
oneself with one of the parties on
campus, one must be prepared to
lose their identity!
It is high time that we consider
these issues seriously and think
back on our actions. In the process
of building new ties, we have for-
gotten our old bonds. Let’s act
prudently and separate politics
and friendship.
Saumya Painuli is a student of
MA Communiction,SN School of
Arts and Communication,
University of Hyderabad
Saumya Painuli
Predicting weather
and climate
The track
of the
r e c e n t
Hud-Hud cy-
clone and its
landfall were
well-pre-
dicted by
the India Meteorological Depart-
ment. On a different note, the re-
cent IPCC report states that “Most
of the observed increase in global
average temperatures since the
mid-20th century
is very likely due
to the observed
increase in an-
t h r o p o g e n i c
greenhouse gas
concentrations”.
These models
are nothing but a
bunch of mathe-
matical equations. Solving these
equations is not feasible by tradi-
tional math. Therefore, we use
some techniques, such as finite
difference techniques of mathe-
matics for solutions. Weather/cli-
mate prediction needs
super-computing.
The dynamics in mid-latitudes
are essentially due to large scale
changes in air masses, and associ-
ated with huge changes in temper-
ature and pressure on
daily/sub-daily basis, and hence
easy to predict. On the other hand,
in tropical regions, such changes
are not seen. Moreover, the
processes are subtle and more
complex, such as ~10 km sized
clouds supplying energy to a
1000-km tropical cyclone. All
these make the weather prediction
in the tropics more challenging.
With increasing ground-based
and satellite observations, which
are important to design the model
initial state, tropical weather pre-
dictions are improving signifi-
cantly.
The mon-
soonal seasonal
prediction is an-
other challenge.
Monsoon is a
manifest of
processes that
vary on broad
spatial and tem-
poral scales. Ini-
tiated by the land-sea temperature
contrast, monsoons are driven by
external impacts from the tropical
pacific, the Himalayan/Eurasian
snow covers, etc. Of late, some
scientists propose that the anthro-
pogenic aerosols can impact the
monsoonal rainfall. The potential
impact of climate change, which
not yet well understood, is also re-
ceiving serious attention.
Dr. Ashok Karumuri is an As-
sociate Professor ,University
Centre for Earth and Space Sci-
ence, University of Hyderabad.
Dr. Ashok Karumuri
With increasing
ground-based and
satellite observations,
tropical weather
predictions are
improving
An urgent need for reforms
If one was
to judge
the hostels
in University
of Hyderabad
(UoH) by the
Hostel Hand-
book, the little
book that most
of us have religiously ignored, the
mental picture created would be
very different from reality.
A well-disci-
plined, sanitized,
clockwork mecha-
nism is formed in
the reader’s mind,
with students feel-
ing the lack of
nothing.
This very hand-
book also states
that students are
allowed only three
electronic items in
their rooms – a personal computer,
a mobile phone and a personal
music player. While the function-
ality of such norms is understand-
able, their relevance can be
questioned.
In a system where a hosteller is
served three meals a day at a
schedule that jostles for space
with academics, and the quality of
food is determined by the honesty
and earnestness of the mess-in-
charge for the month, one does
feel the need to fend for oneself.
It is an open secret that students
do keep cooking paraphernalia in
their rooms and cook for them-
selves. This, according to hostel
rules, is unacceptable. Appliances
are confiscated during random
checking drives by wardens, and
a fine is charged.
The interesting part here is that
the victims of these checks are
those students unfortunate enough
to be in their rooms at that unfor-
tunate time. Those who are not in
their rooms are untroubled as
there is no systematic way of con-
ducting searches.
However, here archaic rules are
pitted against necessity. When
safe drinking water is not guaran-
teed due to contamination of the
water reservoirs and lack of func-
tional water filters, can’t a young
adult enjoy the right to maintain a
kettle to ensure safe drinking
water? Have you ever wondered
what a dietician would say about
the quality and variety of food
served at the messes in the cam-
pus?
The purpose of the university is
definitely to disseminate and pro-
mote education. But needs of stu-
dents have also continued to
evolve over time and it is time to
accommodate these needs.
A system that allows students
to cater to their needs need to be
developed. Before any sweeping
changes can be
made, infrastruc-
ture needs to be
given a boost to
support the former.
The designs of
hostels are flawed
when it comes to
the case of fires
and other acci-
dents. The electri-
cal wirings too are
cause for concern,
with loose connections and faulty
lines being commonplace in the
hostels.
There is no ready-to-use solu-
tion waiting to be picked up for
these issues. A collective effort on
the part of the university adminis-
tration and students is required to
arrive at a solution here.
Harika Vankadara is a student of
MA Communication, SN School
of Arts and Communication,
University of Hyderabad
Harika
Vankadara
Organisational stabilityM
o d -
e r n
o r -
ganisat ional
theory repre-
sents the do-
main which is
most suitable
to the case of
student organisation in the Uni-
versity of Hyderabad. It has a vi-
brant student politics, where
various student organisations
work with their respective objec-
tives and ideologies. The present
Student Union 2014-15 is a com-
bination of various student organ-
isations which can be called as a
coalition union.
The student community of the
campus is well aware about the
political entrepreneurs. The pri-
mary objective of the organisa-
tion’s leaders to safeguard their
control over their enterprise can
be reformulated as follows: the or-
ganisation leadership’s fundamen-
tal objective is to safeguard
organisational stability. Organisa-
tional stability means the conser-
vation of the organisation’s
internal authority channels. An
example of this is its configura-
tions of legitimate power. Such a
configuration is continuously
threatened by outside environ-
mental challenges (campus issues)
which are at any moment endan-
gering the organisation and thus
offer ammunition to the minority
elites.
All organisations leaders want
organisational stability and lead-
ers try to ensure it in more than
one way. Therefore, the strategy
that is chosen by the organisa-
tion’s leaders to ensure organisa-
tional stability cannot be
predetermined. It depends on the
characteristic of internal power
equilibrium and on the organisa-
tion’s relations with its environ-
ment. In certain cases, all
organisations want their internal
stability as well as good relation-
ship with the environment. In this
case, the organisation’s growth
strengthens its stability. It be-
comes a tool for the consolidation
of the leading group and the or-
ganization manifests tendencies
towards expansion.
On the other hand, expansion is
a product of competition within
divided elites. Organisational sta-
bility can be defended by leaders
through different strategies. In
certain cases, it is through expan-
sion and in the other cases, it is
through the avoidance of expan-
sion by increasing environmental
adaptation.
So, even if it is the organisa-
tion’s inner stability or coopera-
tion with the outside environment,
the student community is bene-
fited both directly and indirectly.
Developmental approach
should be a healthy process. It is
suitable for the organisational sta-
bility and development we aspire
for.
Pratapa Chandra Nayak is a
Ph.D Scholar at Department of
Political Science,University of
Hyderabad
The changing dynamics of student requirements should be addressed
Pratapa Chan-
dra Nayak
UoH has a vibrant
student politics,
where various student
organisations work with
their objectives and
ideologies
page5_Layout 1 10/30/2014 11:47 PM Page 1
6U O H D I S PAT C H N OV E M B E R , 2 014 P h o t o P h i l i a
Keeping Clean: A day out of the lives of often unnoticed sanitation workers
captured by Aalekhya Tadepalli, Joyel K. Pious and Priyanka Manikandan
page6_Layout 1 10/31/2014 4:08 PM Page 1
7U O H D I S PAT C H N OV E M B E R 2 014k r e e d a
Harika Vankadara
Abhishek Paul, Saketh P, Veer-
ababu Gorla, Akhil Chakravarthy
and Jaya Prakash put up quite a
fight at the South Zone Inter Uni-
versity Chess competition at Vel-
lore Institute of Technology
(VIT). Saketh P won the Individ-
ual Board Prize for winning every
game he played at the event. Cap-
tain Abhishek Paul won 6 of the 9
matches he played. These five stu-
dents of the University were cho-
sen after a screening round with
about 25 students. Interestingly,
not even one woman auditioned
for the team.
Saketh from School of Man-
agement Studies has been compet-
ing at tournaments since 2002. He
won an international rating of
1,735 in 2006. “I use ChessBase,
a database of 14 crore chess
games, to practice and study the
game. This is a game whose result
depends on a player’s talent rather
than luck,” says Saketh.
‘I don’t know how my passion
for chess began. It has shaped my
life: my character and attitude,”
says Abhishek Paul, a student of
Department of Communication.
He has an international ranking of
2,010.
“He played extraordinarily
well for someone who is partici-
pating in a chess tournament for
the first time,” say Saketh and Ab-
hishek proudly of their team mate
Veerababu Gorla. A student of
IMA Linguistics, Gorla won five
of the eight matches he played at
VIT. A basketball player when in
school, arthritis deprived him of
the healthy use of his legs. Adjust-
ing to this sudden health restric-
tions, Veerababu started playing
chess as the game allows the ex-
ercise of mind power. Taking in-
spiration from his teammates,
Veerababu wishes to earn an inter-
national rating soon.
Akhil chakravarthy is a fourth
year student of IMSc Chemistry.
This is the third year that he rep-
resented the University at chess
tournaments. All the team mem-
bers were full of praise for their
manager Naresh Kumar Benny,
who they say was extremely sup-
portive and encouraging through-
out.
While sports persons in the
University continue to battle all
odds to perform well in the sports
of their choice, the lack of admin-
istrative support discourages
them. The system is such that stu-
dents have to choose between pur-
suing a sport or faring well in their
academics.
If this condition was somehow
remedied, sportspersons believe
they would have room to perform
much better.
Varsity Chess team shines at South Zone level
Saumya Painuli
A team of six students from Uni-
versity of Hyderabad represented
the University at the National
Cross Country Championship
held at Ernakulam, Kerala.
The team members, C. Malle-
sham , Center for Health Pyschol-
ogy , B.Vinod Kumar, Department
of Anthropology, G. Naresh ,
School of Economics , Praveen
Punia, College of Integrated Stud-
ies, P. Sreenu, College of Inte-
grated Studies and B. Prashanth,
Department of Telugu represented
the University at the cross country
event of 12.5 km.
The championship was organised
by the Mahatma Gandhi Univer-
sity, Ernakulum and a total of the
1500 participants from all over the
country took part in the event. Ex-
pressing the joy after securing de-
cent rank at the event G. Naresh
said, “I have improved my timing
from the last year. This year, I se-
cured 331 position. This is my
personal best and also the team
best score.”
P.Sreenu said, “We had been
practising from July. We per-
formed well but lagged behind be-
cause we don’t have separate
coaches for different events.”
Athletes brave all odds
K. Keerthi Kiran
The University of Hyderabad car-
ries a reputation of being the top
University in South India. How-
ever, it reels under staff shortage
as there are no permanent coaches
in the University.
The Students’ Union 2014-15
President Vincent Benny says,
“The University does not have
sports quota. However, the admin-
istration does ensure that a camp
is organised for the students. For
the camp, coaches are brought
from outside and the students are
trained for minimum 15 days.”
The suffering of sportspersons
in the University has gone un-
heeded by the administration and
other authorities. G. Naresh, stu-
dent of IMA Economics, says,
“We require separate coaches for
track events. As of now, we only
have Physical Education Director
who takes care of all the sports
events.”
Evidently,University has failed
to provide adequate infrastructural
facilities to athletes. Naresh adds,
“We have to pay Rs 300 per
month to use the facilities at the
Gachibowli Stadium.
Vinay Pradeep, student of IMA
says, “I represented the University
team at the inter-university Vol-
leyball tournament. The trials
were held 15 days prior to the
event and we were given training
only for 10 days.”
The University was granted an
amount of Rs 50 lakhs by UGC
during the XI plan. Out of this,
only 25 lakh was spent for devel-
opment of adventure sports, infra-
structure and equipments.
In this regard, the Physical Ed-
ucation Director, Dr. K. V. Ra-
jashekar says, “There is no need
for providing full time coaches be-
cause when ever we organise
camps the attendance is very poor.
The University lacks a sports cul-
ture. On the whole we need to be
more sports oriented.”
Ruthvik Chowla, Sports Secre-
tary, says, “It is very unfortunate
that a reputed institution like ours
doesn't provide regular coaching
facilities because of which tal-
ented students suffer. I was in-
formed that a call for tenders will
be initiated as soon as possible.In
this aspect I will try to make sure
that there is no delay in this
process.”
He further added that there are
many issues that need immediate
attention like implementation of
sports quota as per University
Grants Commission guidelines,
renovation of sports facilities, and
establishment of sports complex
in south campus, permanent arena
for indigenous sports like kabaddi
and kho-kho and indoor sports fa-
cility for every hostel.
No sporting culture in the University?
From left to right P Sreenu, Dr.K.Kishore ,B. Vinod Kumar, G.
Naresh, B. Prashanth, Praveen Punia and C. Mallesham.
UGC granted Rs 50
lakhs during the XI
plan. Out of this, only
Rs 25 lakh was spent
From left to right Akhil Chakravarthy, Veerababu Gorla, Saketh P, Naresh
Kumar Benny, Abhishek Paul and Jaya Prakash.
The authorities cite lack of enthusiasm from students as the primary reason
Cricket Time: An action packed moment from final match of the 4th
Senthil Balraj Cricket Night Cup.The tournament saw approximately
108 knock out matches Photo by: Aalekhya Tadepalli
The team is preparing for the
upcoming All India Athletics Meet
that will be held in Mangalore in
January 2015. “The team would
strive to include as many athletes
as possible. The team members
will participate in different track
events,” said Praveen Punia.
page7_Layout 1 11/3/2014 5:41 PM Page 1
8U O H D I S PAT C H N OV E M B E R , 2 014 P o t p o u r r i
Saumya Painuli
Launched in September
2014, “UoH memes, Just
for fun” is a Facebook
page replete with satirical com-
ments about campus. Be it poli-
tics, administration or students,
the page does not spare anyone.
Popular posts on the page target
student political parties, and oth-
ers attract attention to different as-
pects of campus life as can be seen
here:
“Who are we?”
“We are seminar attendees.”
“What do we want?”
“High tea!”
As the page came into being
just before the Students’ Union
election 2014-15, it drew flak
from ardent supporters of different
parties.
Some students say that the
page should have been named
UDA Memes because most of the
posts target SFI and ABVP.
Notwithstanding this, there are
students who like the jokes and
comments made by the adminis-
trator of the page. Within a couple
of days of its creation, the page at-
tracted 352 likes and the number
continues to rise.
Aamir Hamza, a student of
Department of Communication,
said, “I got to know about the
page a few days ago. Some of the
posts are original but others are
from popular pages. I do not feel
good about the political trolls in
it.”
Despite varying claims, the
page makes light and witty com-
ments about the events that tran-
spire within the University
premises. From comments on
SFI’s defeat in the recent elections
to ABVP being devoid of social
justice, the posts are a favourite
among students.
The administrator of the page
who does not wish to be named
said, “We do not claim to be neu-
tral. Neutrality for us is a very
problematic concept. Given one’s
subjectivity, one will always be
biased. All claims of neutrality
and objectivity are bogus.”
Talking about the page, the ad-
ministrator said, “We believe that
we should be biased towards the
cause of equal rights and justice.
This page was started before the
elections. We felt that there is a
need to get in touch with the peo-
ple and discuss various issues
through a medium that appeals to
them. We chose to do so using
memes because they are funny as
well as pinching. We are commit-
ted to our cause and we won’t
spare anyone from our 'memetack'
if we see them to be deserving of
that. We don’t care about parties
or individuals.”
University students trolled by UoH Memes
Bol Hyderabad invites volunteers. You
can produce programmes which could be
an interview, a documentary etc. You can
also hold live shows. Drop in to showcase
your talent at Department of Communi-
cation.
Contact us on : 040-23135542 or
Mail us at : [email protected]
: Sending a powerful message
Priyanka Manikandan
The energizer of intellectual dis-
cussions, the boost of friendly-
chats, the drink that refreshes the
mind after tiring classes, the
favourite evening beverage,…No
prizes for any guess, it is nothing
but our chai. Tea is the favorite
and most consumed beverage in
the campus.
“I drink a minimum of three
cups of chai everyday and maxi-
mum can go up to 10. Chai gives
an instant energy and helps to con-
trol sleep in the class. Can’t imag-
ine our campus without tea stalls,”
says Abin George, second year
IMA student, sipping a cup of hot
tea from Mazar tea stall in the
south campus.
An average of 250-300 litres of
milk is used in eight tea stalls in
the campus. The student’s canteen
alone uses 70-80 litres milk for
making tea. The Mazar tea stall,
recently shifted to south campus
from Gops, has a good business.
“Only few people prefer
coffee.We use 20-25 litres of milk
every day for making chai. Busi-
ness is expected to go up in an-
other week,” says Mujahid
chaiwala in the tea stall.
For Chitra Ashok, an MA Eng-
lish student, tea is a temptation.
“If I spend 5 minutes at shopcom,
I drink a cup of tea, if it is half an
hour it becomes 2 or 3 tea…After
all I like tea...The tea we get here
is the best,”she says . Apart from
8 stalls and canteens that serve
tea, the ‘Night Canteen’ at south
campus and ‘C’ canteen near the
shopcom are also favorite spots of
‘Theics’.The tea stalls at Gopan-
pally also have large number of
student customers.
While tea makes students
happy, not all sellers are happy.
“We are not benefited much from
selling tea. A small cup of tea is
sold for Rs.5 and big cup is
Rs.10. In some canteens it is Rs.8.
Rent and milk price are going up
but we can’t increase the price of
tea,” says Mohan, tea seller at
shopcom.
Be it day or night, winter or sum-
mer, tea consumption never goes
down below the margin, agree all
the tea sellers. Now, you wanna
have a tea? Let’s go to shopcom.
Aalekhya Tadepalli
Graffiti as an art form is
controversial in its very
nature and is generally
associated with the youth re-
belling against the system or cor-
porations using it as a means of
expression. The campus space is
no exception to using this disputed
art form to convey a strong mes-
sage. Some of these graffiti’s like
the one on the wall adjacent to the
Social Sciences building reinstate
the age old saying, “A picture is
worth a thousand words.”
On the wall adjacent to the so-
cial sciences department parking
lot is a huge commercial for Pepsi
covering the entire wall, and
under it, in white ink, is a little
man, holding a bucket under an al-
most empty tap and looking up at
“Pepsi” for water.
It is widely known that corpora-
tions like Pepsi and Coco Cola are
allegedly responsible for the de-
preciation of underground water.
By the clever placement of this
graffiti the artist (who is still un-
known), is making a strong state-
ment against these corporations.
This well-loved yet notorious
art form is used by several other
student groups as well. ‘Just An-
other Students Group’ is painting
several interesting graffiti around
shopping complex and Humani-
ties department asking the stu-
dents to “annihilate gender.”
A film club of the University
created a black and white graffiti
with a three dimensional effect.
Looking at these art works, it is
evident that the campus is a great
space for art and ideology to come
together to convey strong mes-
sages having global significance.
Graffiti near social sciences building Photo by: Joyel K.Pious
Aalekhya Tadepalli
A taxi driver telling the story of a
woman, whose husband is a mi-
grant worker,
sets the stage
for Bidesia in
Bambai, a docu-
mentary film that
sketches the lives
of migratory
workers in Mum-
bai.
The taxi driver
is also a migrant
who moonlights as
a Bhojpuri singer.
Bidesia in Bambai, produced and
directed by Surabhi Sharma, came
out in 2013.
Through a series of lively and
colourful frames it explores the
music space of the Bhojpuri mi-
grant workers in Mumbai. The
songs of the migrants deal with
several anecdotes of men singing
of what the women want. There is
a scene which shows a man
singing “My wife might have ac-
cess to me through the mobile
phone, but shy as she is. When she
calls on my number, she doesn't
know what to say.” Through its
lyrics, the film gives the viewer a
sense of missing and longing of
the wife for her hus-
band.
Kalpana, an estab-
lished Bhojpuri singer,
articulates the music of
the migrants as shy and
direct in demanding af-
fection. Scenes show-
ing the workers singing
lines like “I don’t need
to write letters to my
dear anymore, because
I will call him from my
mobile phone,” show how tech-
nology is reshaping the lives of
migrants.
The documentary shows how
the migrants maintain their iden-
tity in a cosmopolitan city like
Mumbai. The artists portrayed in
the film live a dual life, one as ca-
sual labourers at day time and the
other as songwriters or singers at
night. By the way of clever mix of
sarcasm and sensuality the film
speaks of the home sickness and
livelihood issues of the migrants.
Bidesia in Bambai
MEDIASAURUS
It is always chai time in campus
Copyright : Calvin and Hobbes comic strip on GoComics.com
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