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Beacon THE NEWSLETTER

The Department of Sociology, Lady Shri Ram College for

Women

Vol. V, Issue No. VII Sunday, September 27, 2015

‘So what is truth, then ?’

‘Truth is a successful delu-

sion.’

Manu Joseph, The Illicit Happiness

of Other People

What is essential in the world of

academia, we are told by our pro-

fessors, is the exercise of critiquing.

The logic behind this is the fact that

any theory or perspective can only

be appreciated when it is seen holis-

tically. Thus we learn and discuss

various discourses in class and

round off these sessions by looking

at the same in critical light, acknowl-

edging their plus points and asking

questions about those things that

are inconsistent with the concerned

thesis .

The word ‘critique’ is from an An-

cient Greek word which translates

to something like ‘the faculty of

judgement’. It is thus a tool which, if

used effectively, can help discern

the value of things.

Emile Durkheim, a sociologist whose

works are considered to be a class

apart, is one academic whose mo-

dus operandi was to always look at

the existing research on the subject

of his research. He would systemati-

cally represent the same and reject

every theory and notion by pointing

out their logical loopholes. After this

would he deign to elucidate upon

his theory. Every piece of his work is

structured in this efficient way. I am

only bringing up Durkheim here be-

cause he was one of those scholars

who were consistent with their style

of treating a research question, hail

wind or high water.

Before we go any further, we need

to understand that the exercise of

critiquing doesn’t entail finding

negativities and errors with some-

thing. It is the methodical practicing

of doubt and asking for clarifica-

tions. It looks at the structure of

one’s premise, highlights its good

points and questions that which is

doubtful.

The development of this philosophi-

cal approach is dated back to the

time of the Enlightenment when

people began questioning the dic-

tates of the Church which they were

supposed to follow without ques-

tion.

It is therefore not a futile exercise to

tear apart someone’s analysis which

involved a lot of efforts. If employed

correctly, it can supplement the

analysis and take it further.

Inside this Issue

Quote–Unquote

National News 2

International News 2,3

The Economy 3

Sports 3,4

Arts and Entertain-ment

4

Op-Ed 4,5

Food for Thought 5,6

A Thousand Words 6

Credits 7

Editorial

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INDIA SEEKS AMENDMENTS IN NEPAL'S NEWLY ADOPTED CONSTITUTION A historic step has been taken by the pre-monarch nation that had encountered pro-democracy movements on a large scale earlier. After considerable amount of debate, Nepal adopted its first democ-ratic constitution on 20th September 2015 which is based on the entitlement approach to rights. It assures fundamen-tal rights to the citizens and also seeks to put an end to Hindu Brahaminical monop-oly. While the expectations of the people from the new constitution were prodi-gious, it has already become an issue of rigorous debate and criticisms. India is concerned about Nepal's constitution; it has asked Nepal to make seven significant changes in the constitution. These amendment requests come from India because of the violence and protests that are perpetually occurring around Indo-Nepal border. 14 INDIANS DEAD IN HAJJ Over 14 Indians have died in a Hajj stam-pede near Mecca. The Consul General Jeddah reports loss of 14 Indian lives in stampede. “We have 13 injured in hospi-tal", foreign minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted. The final number would be only known after confirmation with Saudi au-thorities, she added. At least 100,000 Indians are currently believed to be in Mecca participating at the Hajj pilgrim-age. At least 717 people were killed and 863 injured which occurred as two million pilgrims were taking part in the Hajj's last major rite. It is the deadliest incident to occur during the pilgrimage in 25 years. Indian volunteers were assisting rescue efforts in "large numbers", Ms Swaraj said, adding that her ministry was in constant touch with two Indian officials who had reached the site of the incident. INDIA SUCCEEDS IN ACQUISITION OF AMBEDKAR'S HOUSE IN LONDON India has completed acquisition of BR Ambedkar's three-storey house in Lon-don. It is soon to be constructed into a memorial. “I am delighted that Raj Kumar

Badole, Minister for Social Justice and Special Assistance at Government of Maharashtra, via the High Commission of India in London, has completed the pur-chase of the 2,050 sq ft house on Sep-tember 24 at 10 King Henry’s Road, in northwest London,” said Santosh Dass, President of the Federation of Ambed-karite and Buddhist Organisations UK (FABO). Dr. Ambedkar spent his aca-demic years in this house. “Very soon generations of Indians in the UK and visi-tors studying, interested or inspired by Dr. Ambedkar’s key roles in furthering social justice, human rights and equal treatment issues will be able to visit the house,” Dass added. Ambedkar built his strong principles of equality in that house and now, the house will serve as a memory of his. MODI CALLS FOR CONTROVERSIES, AGAIN Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi autographed an Indian flag that was to be given to the president of US, Barak Obama. It has put forth sharp reactions from many political parties, majorly from Congress and the media. Apparently, Vikas Khanna, the world-renowned chef who had prepared the menu for Modi's dinner with 500 CEOs approached Modi with an Indian flag which he signed when he got to know that it was to be given to Barak Obama. Later, Vikas Khanna shared the picture of the tricolour on the media which made a buzz about the same. Reacting to the controversy, the Congress said, “However high you may be, the national flag is above you, you should understand this.”However, the flag was taken down soon by the officials since the issue had caused a lot of con-testation.

National News

International News

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POPE'S CLARION CALL FOR CLIMATE Pope Francis, on his first visit to the US, called upon Americans to combat climate changes and to build a more tolerant society. He applauded President Obama's efforts to control air pollution and reiterated the fact that launching a fight against climate change is something

that they have to do in that moment for their common home. Pope Francis has also focussed on climate as his topmost priority in his landmark encyclical letter earlier. In the run up to the November 2016 Presidential elections, the Pope touched on issues like the wake of ra-cism in America again, referring to late Rev. Martin Luther King, and urged the citizens to create a more inclusive soci-ety for everyone. MILITANT GROUP PUBLISHES HITLIST The Ansarullah Bangla Team (ATB), a militant group in Bangladesh has pub-lished a hitlist of 9 bloggers and secular writers and has threatened to murder them as they were supposedly against Muslim teaching and religious educa-tion. The group which is connected to Ansar ul-Islam, which is a part of Al-Qaeda in South Asia has already mur-dered four bloggers violently in 2015 in Dhaka. This hitlist was released after many of ATB's leaders were arrested in connection to the blogger's deaths. Though this has caused considerable alarm amongst the bloggers, many have been reported in saying that this would not stop them from writing. PUTIN PLANS AIR STRIKES IF US DOES-N'T JOIN FORCES Russia is planning to go for unilateral air strikes against the Islamic State in Syria if the US doesn't agree to its proposal of joining forces. Moscow has stepped up its support for long time ally President Bashar al-Assad by almost doubling mili-tary presence in Syria. Putin desired for the US along with its allies, and Russia, Iran and Syria to launch a joint fight against international terrorism perpe-trated by the IS and to end this five year long crisis. However, the US is acting in a reticent manner, thus frustrating Putin's plan of action and he is planning to attack alone if necessary. PEACE EMERGES BETWEEN COLOMBIA AND REBEL GROUP The Colombian Government and the dominant rebel group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia have to-gether announced that they have

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The Economy DOLLAR GAINS AGAINST THE EURO The Dollar hit a two week high as against the Euro on the belief that the US Federal Reserve will hike rates and the European Central Bank will ease rates further. The Euro hit a low of £1.111 since 4th of September. FALL IN US OIL PRICES US oil prices fell by around 5% on Fri-day to close to a low of £44.68 per bar-rel. The drop came after US energy firms removed 8 oil rigs this week, total 31 in three consecutive weeks. SLOW GROWTH IN ASIA The Asian Development Bank has esti-mated a decline in growth in Asian economy as China's economic slow-down is likely to affect demand. Growth in Asia is now expected to be 5.8% and 6% instead of 6.1% and 6.2% earlier estimated. India's growth is also seen as 7.4% and 7.8% in this year and the next as compared to 7.9 and 8.2% estimated earlier. DROP IN VOLKSWAGEN STOCKS Volkswagen shares dropped down by 20% after regulators discovered that the software designed for vehicles gave

false emission data. The company told its US dealers to halt sale of some diesel cars as investigations were launched. The German carmaker could face penalty of upto £37,500 per car if it hasn't com-plied with the clean air rules. If every car involved is found to be non compliant with the clean air rules, them the total penalty will be a whopping £18 billion along with the tarnished reputation of the company. RECESSION STRIKES BRAZIL The once booming economy of Brazil has seen a slump averaging only 2% a year during Dilma Rousseff's first term. De-spite a high global demand for the coun-try's iron ore, soybean and oil, the eco-nomic growth has been sluggish due to loose monetary and fiscal policies. GDP has almost collapsed, pulling the labour market with it. Unemployment increased to 7.4%. In July from 4.9%, the fastest annual rise recorded. Over 5,00000 jobs were cut in a period of a few months. Rousseff's efforts to put the responsibil-ity of the budget on the uncooperative Congress did not get materialised. As a result, there is hardly any family which hasn't faced the burden of unemploy-ment yet.

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crossed the last hurdle in deciding upon a peace treaty between them. The mat-ter of how to punish the people who committed anti-human crimes was the hotly debated last part of the treaty which was ultimately negotiated upon after a 20 hour long meeting. Perpetra-tors of inhumane crimes among the rebels would lead to 8 years of labour if the rebels confess to the Peace Tribu-nal, compensate the victim and vow never to take up arms again. Crimes perpetrated by the Colombia military would also be punished accordingly. This landmark agreement is much needed in almost half a century of gru-elling combat and would mean long desired for peace in the country.

Sports OPTIMISM SURROUNDS THE TALKS ABOUT RIO OLYMPICS 2016 The Union Sports Minister recently had a meeting with officials of his ministry, the Sports Authority of India (SAI), various National Sports Federations (NSFs) and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) regarding the Rio Olympics that are scheduled in the month of August in 2016. Till now, 52 sports-persons have qualified for Rio Olympics out of which 32 are hockey players, four are archers, seven are athletes, eight are shooters and one is a wrestler. The Union Sports Minister sounded very optimistic about the upcoming Olympics saying that," For the forthcoming Olympics, we wanted to know the initiatives taken up by various National federations. Whatever they said was very exciting and encouraging. Re-

spective federations have taken steps to support the athletes so that they can perform well and bring more medals. My ministry and the SAI are giving full sup-port to the athletes. Our target is to get at least 10-plus medals.” MARY KOM COMPLAINS OF REGIONAL BIAS IN SELECTION The five-time World amateur boxing champion, Mary Kom complains of re-gional bias in selection. According to her, the fact that she is from North-east acts as an obstacle in the selection pro-grammes. “Sometimes I feel very upset. Some of the referees and judges do not favour me but I don’t mind. Okay I am from north-east, but I am still an Indian. Though, I prove myself in the ring but it is discriminatory." The boxer claims that Pinky Janagara from Harayana who com-petes in the same weight category as her is favoured by the selectors regardless of her performance. She says that there are m a n y i n s t a n c e s w h e n s h e was favoured despite of Mary's excellent performance. The judgement of the se-lectors is highly biased, in the opinion of the only woman boxer to have won a medal in each of the six World champion-ships. AJAY JAYARAM BACK IN TOP-25 Indian shuttler Ajay Jayaram has jumped seven places to be ranked World No.25 in the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings released on Thursday. Jayaram's appearance in the men's sin-gles final of the $600,000 Korea Open Super Series last week has helped the Mumbaikar enter the top-25 of the world once again. His career-best ranking is, however, 21. Other Indians in the cate-gory, Kidambi Srikanth and Parupalli Ka-shyap, meanwhile, maintained their posi-tions at No.5 and No.9 but H.S. Prannoy dropped a spot to be at No.16. India now has four shuttlers in the top-25 of men's singles. In women's singles, Saina Nehwal is still the top ranked shuttler in the world followed by P.V. Sindhu at 13. In men's doubles, Manu Attri and B. Sumeeth Reddy stayed at No.19 while Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa also remained stagnant at No.11 in women's doubles.

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BODY SHAMING: WHAT IS IT, AND

HOW CAN WE COUNTER IT?

All throughout history, one thing that

seems to be open to public comment

and judgement, is a woman’s body.

There are specific ideal associated

with being a woman, and those are

being whiter than white and very thin.

The colonization of women’s bodies

also means that the colonialists saw

bodies that differed from such an

ideal as exotic, and thus they only saw

women as objects of sexual gratifica-

tion. So then, what exactly is body

shaming in modern day society?

Body shaming refers to critiquing

someone’s body (it could be your

own, too) in order to fit the aforemen-

tioned ideals. Magazines and main-

stream media often don’t do much to

help the idea that women need to

look a certain way; and this is by no

means a problem that exists only

amongst teenagers.

Adults also indulge in this critique by

pointing out what’s wrong with some-

one else’s body, or their own. If

you’ve ever sat in a room full of rela-

tives to have your aunt graciously joke

about how you would look so much

better and prettier if you put on or

lost some weight, then you’ve been a

vi ct im of b ody shami ng.

Perhaps that doesn’t sound too ex-

treme to you, and you’re wondering

why it should even be a very big deal if

a vapid comment from a family mem-

ber flew across the room to hit you

squarely in the face. Maybe you’re

pondering over whether she is indeed

in the wrong or not and whether los-

ing or gaining that troublesome fat

might indeed make you look prettier.

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We Are Your Friends starring Zac Efron is a vacuous film set in the world of DJ-ing and EDM. Efron stars as Cole, a strug-gling DJ living in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, who bides his time pro-moting nightclubs with his three slacker buddies in between unpaid spinning gigs. He gets a massive break when he’s taken under the wing of an older, successful DJ, but when Cole falls for his mentor’s girlfriend one knows where things are headed. Despite offering an earnest per-formance, Efron’s never quite convincing as a talented musician. The plot itself is so crammed with clichés that if one starts jotting them down they’d end up with something the size of a grocery list. Yet to be fair, director Max Joseph brings some visual flair to the predictable nar-rative. In one impressive sequence at an art gallery, Cole, while on a drug trip, sees paintings come to life. The film, sadly, never takes flight, and a key rea-son for that is the sheer emptiness of the writing. Director: Max Joseph Cast: Zac Efron, Emily Ratajkwoski, Was Bentley and Shiloh Fernandez Rating: 3/5 KATTI BATTI U/A; Romance and drama The film, Katti Batti has been performing abysmally at the box office. It was touted as the next urban love story but it could-n’t keep the buzz. Kangana and Imran make a lovely, volatile pair. Their on-screen chemistry is palpable. As far as performances are concerned, the film is Imran Khan's canvas. His is the only char-acter that is well-etched. Imran is hon-est, charming and expressively convinc-ing. One likes him when he woos his girl-friend, admires him when he sticks to his guns and hates him when he is boorish and callous. On the other hand, Kan-gana’s character, Payal Malhotra comes from a broken family and is an extension of the various roles you have seen the actress perform in her earlier films. She brings nothing new to the table, except for confidently carrying herself off with a plethora of outlandish wigs in the staid role. The fault literally lies in the script of the movie. Director: Nikhil Advani Cast: Imran Khan and Kangana Ranaut Rating: 2/5

Arts & Entertainment

THEATRE GANG OF GIRLS BY HAPPY RANAJIT ''Gang of girls'' narrates several stories about the very idea of ''being a girl'', the mystery and the complexities of a girl transforming into a woman, the fear, fantasies and desires of being a woman. The play is a celebration of women’s sexuality and condemnation of its viola-tion. ''Gang of Girls'' is an artistic re-sponse by a group of performers to the gang rapes like Nirbhaya rape case, do-mestic violence, suppression of women; the play is a satirical narration. Hilarious yet heart touching essays from vagina monologues, the hard hitting poetry of Taslima Nasrin and ugly realities of this male dominated society gives flesh to the performance. Artists: Senalika Bhasin, Rajni Ramachandran, Prachi Sharma, Simran Kaur Time and date: 07:45pm, October 7 Venue: Akshara Amphitheatre, Delhi-110001 Entry Pass: Rs. 300 MOVIES WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS U/A; Drama

Op-Ed JUNIOR INDIAN HOCKEY TEAM TO FIGHT AGAINST PAKISTAN The junior Indian hockey team will play against Pakistan at the Sultan of Johor Cup, to be held in Johor Bahru, Malaysia on October 11. Hockey India (HI) on Thursday confirmed that India, who won the last two editions of the six-team tournament, will participate in the fifth edition of the event organized by the Malaysian Hockey Confederation."It's a very important tournament for us for two reasons. Firstly, because we are aim-ing at continuing our winning streak and defend the title which the team has suc-cessfully done for the last two editions. Secondly the win here will help boost the team for the upcoming eighth Junior Asia Cup as they are vying for the Asian Champions title," HI secretary general Mohd Mushtaque Ahmad said. The In-dian team will be coached by Harendra Singh.

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of an extreme diet are quite dangerous,

and no, mainstream media will never

address them or even give you that in-

formation. Thus, it is alright to want to

gain or lose some weight - as long as

you’re doing it for yourself and not be-

cause of some seriously skewed societal

standards.

Beacon

If you are thinking along these lines, then

you still need to educate yourself further.

The reason that body shaming is a seri-

ous issue is because it can lead to the

victim spiralling downwards into depres-

sion, losing all self-confidence and blam-

ing themselves for their appearance.

This can take over their life and lead to a

number of different disorders, all be-

cause of the nature of critique that soci-

ety imposes upon people that do not live

up to an ideal. Losing your self-

confidence further has more side-effects.

I was recently reading an article in The

Guardian which talked about how there

was a need for the sexual pleasure of

women to be discussed. The fact that

popular representation of a ‘sexy’ woman

hasn’t moved much beyond a skinny and

white female is a problem. The fact that

we do not recognise that women should

be comfortable in their bodies to enjoy

sexual encounters is a problem. The fact

that many men still believe that women’s

bodies are only meant for male gratifica-

tion is a problem.

There exists a definite need to yell from

the rooftops that you love yourself for

who you are, body, mind and everything

in between included. There need to be

more instances where we meet women

who tell us that they appreciate their

bodies, that they love their “flaws”

equally.

None of this means that it is wrong to

want to change your body in order to

become healthier, given that you are

extremely clear about what ‘healthy’

means. If you starve yourself for days in

order to lose those stubborn pounds,

then you need to be aware of the many

ways in which you are messing up your

metabolism for life. The side effect of

ruining your metabolism isn’t only weight

-gain, you could end up with thyroid

problems, which could in turn give you

hormone problems. The butterfly effects

Food for Thought

A SUMMARY

A summary of an interview with the soci-

ologist Ghanshyam Shah on the Patidar

agitation published in

FRONTLINE magazine [October 2, 2015]

Sociologist Ghanshyam Shah, keenly

studying deprivation and development

in India, has closely analyzed the Gujarat

model of development and its human

costs.

Shah is known for his work on untouch-

ability, land reforms, and social move-

ments.

The colonial rulers and governments of

the post-independence era had a busi-

ness-friendly tone in Gujarat. Gujarat

has been projected as a land of enter-

prising people which invites investors

with the tagline ‘sow a rupee, reap a

dollar’.

The upper castes of Gujarat were the

first in the nation to launch anti-

reservation agitations, spearheaded by

Patidars, in 1981 and 1985. They have

been an upwardly mobile group in the

caste hierarchy; all upper castes support

the current Patidar agitation as they

provided all resources for Hardik Patel’s

rally on August 25.

Business communities constitute less

than twelve per cent of the population,

fifteen per cent of the people are Adiva-

sis, and more than 15 per cent consti-

tute fishing communities, pastoral, peas-

ants, and artisan and Dalit communities.

Political commentators are of the opin-

ion that the agitation is a reflection of

the failure of the ‘Gujarat model’ in ad-

dressing issues of employment and liveli-

hood. Shah defines this model as a

means to provide generous subsidies,

infrastructure facilities, including land at

throwaway prices, and all administra-

tive/political support in a very efficient

manner to industries for inflating the

GNP [gross national product] even at the

cost of the environment. But not one-

tenth of that efficiency has been har-

nessed for human development in gen-

eral… This model is based on hype and it

uses modern and traditional techniques,

idioms and symbols to create hopes for

better jobs, more income and urban life-

styles.

Investment in industries has increased

but employment has not increased in

proportion. Employment per factory has

declined, from 99 workers in 1960-61 to

59.44 in 2005. The government admitted

that “on account of capital-intensive

investment, industrial employment in

Gujarat has gone down”.

Casual or contractual employment has

been created in the informal sector but

sans social security.

Dissatisfaction on the economic front

has been brewing for few years; the

rapid expansion of private higher educa-

tion has worsened the situation. Apart

from inflating expectations for place-

ments in industries with hefty pay, pri-

vate educational institutions are very

expensive and provide education that

does not satisfy market requirements as

most teachers are inadequately quali-

fied.

Also, wages in Gujarat are lower than

that in most States; the average farm

wage is Rs.169. The farmer-agricultural

labourer relations are characterized by

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A Thousand Words

The girl in the Indian suit is no more different from the one in a western one. The languages they speak may differ, the locations of their busi-nesses obviously contrast and their backgrounds may probably be 'worlds apart', as the saying goes. But the truth is, 'worlds apart' being worlds apart from reality, they be-long to the same nation. A good chance exists that they hail, even, from the same region of that same country. Yet, upon one glance, we say 'worlds apart'. Be it a village or a metropolitan city, people, it happens, seem to be the same. The girl in the village who has seen nothing but the ten kilometre stretch of that village works with the same diligence on her farm as the girl in the urban office, typing away. Their ideas may be different, but if you look carefully enough, they seem to be walking towards the same lamp. The next time you see that person so different from you, try, maybe, to not just get your hand stamped with that mehendi. Cook up a conversa-tion like you would with a student from another college. Interesting things may happen. Because every pair of eyes tends to hold a myriad of tales.

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This photo taken in Dharamshala in September, 2014.

occasional tension on the issue of mini-

mum wage.

As input cost for cultivation has increased

over a period, one-third of the Patidars,

being small and marginal farmers, lack

resources or access to regular credit for

investment. Thus, young Patidars from

farm-families are pushed to migrate to

urban areas to seek employment in non-

farm occupation.

Land-owning communities, such as Pati-

dars, expect better educational facilities

and secure jobs. They are intolerant to-

wards ‘others’ i.e. earlier, Muslims, now

OBCs, Adivasis, and Dalits, whom they

consider lowly in ritualistic hierarchy, as

the ‘others’ are receiving benefits

through reservations by acquiring jobs

and education; thus intensifying caste-

based conflicts.

The Hindutva ideologue aims to dissolve

conflicting socio-economic interests be-

tween upper castes and traditionally de-

prived people. They have attempted to

forge unity among them under the ban-

ner of ‘we are all Hindus’. The Patidar

agitation represents the traditional

casteist mindset in politics; the RSS

[Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh] will now

support a reservation policy that is based

on economic parameters but in reality

would consolidate the power of the

dominant castes in Gujarat.

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Credits

Editor Puja Shukla

Sub-Editor Reeya Rao

Photographer Harshita Sinha

Op-Ed Writer Trisha Pande

Food for Thought Writer Chitrangada Singh

A Thousand Words Writer Mariam Rauf

Correspondent Anwesha Chatterjee

Correspondent Apoorva Rao

Contact us at: beaconlsr@gmail.com Our website: www.beaconlsr.weebly.com

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