The jugaad that makes DU’s fests rocking

Delhi University’s fests are not only about fun and frolic. While practising for competitions and attending events, students miss a lot of classes.

Delhi University’s fests are not only about fun and frolic. The student organisers have a nightmare of a time trying to raise funds, besides doing all the running around to put everything in place. The participants too, have a tough time trying to gain that minimum percentage of attendance required to sit at the exams, as they skip classes to practice.

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Yashica Chauhan of Gargi College says, “Attendance sometimes becomes an issue. Our teachers do help with extra classes, but it gets difficult to balance it out.” Aarushi Sharma, a student of Hindu College, echoes the same sentiment. “Our teachers do lend a helping hand, but it gets troublesome when we set alternative time for practices.”

Dr Sudanya Kulkarni, ECA in-charge at JDMC, says, “We’ve allocated a specific time for practice.” The other major hitch is the fund-raising affair. Shubham of Ramjas College, says, “The drama society bears the cost for the sets, but we need to win competitions to gather more funds.” The lack of enough funds for fests is a common problem for almost all DU colleges. Says Anurag, a member of the choreo team of Hansraj College, “Sometimes we need to redo the whole routine when a member falls ill. Funds are the most hard to come by, so winning becomes compulsory.” In a city, where jugaad rules the roost, can we blame these cash-starved groups when they do their little bit to keep their boat afloat?