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.

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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 dispatchuoh@gmail.com

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 : bolhyd@uohyd.ac.in

: 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

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