It all started on the 29th of July when horrific scenes of flood devastation flashed across our television screens. B y the end of the following weekend, students and teachers from University of Karachi took an immediate action. A large number of student volunteers started several activities on their own. They formed camps at various stations within the campus and mobilized some of the students to collect money department to department, rather class to class. The number of volunteers is growing and this is one of the strengths of our nation- youth willing to work hard and help their brothers in need. The fund raising campaign continues. Care has been taken to collect what is required. I have also been a part of assembling and packing process. Everything seems in place! But by now, what we all probably have noticed is the element of “individualism”. Be it the students of all the departments or the teaching staff, we all aren’t working collectively as one whole unit. When we all have one common goal then why not one team? Don’t’ we know that an effort is most effective when made as a team or are there some other reasons to justify this “apna apna” trend?
The Department of Mass Communication (UoK) has plenty of notice boards (soft boards). Four on the ground floor and two on the floor above. Only two are used officially, one for the morning session and other for the evening. What are the other four boards used for? I will come to that later. Firstly let me share with you the concerns I have about the boards used officially.
The morning one is too messed up. You will always find pages overlapping each other with no proper arrangement. The only rule which the administrator of the board seems to follow is to pin the notice wherever there is a place, no matter how it looks. On the other hand, the evening board is completely the inverse of the morning one. Papers are always pinned orderly which presents an absolute neat look. If I am not wrong the same administration is responsible for these boards so, what kind of discrimination rather disorganization is this? The tale of other four boards is that they are utilized by students (mostly political workers). The point I want to mention here is that why these students do not dispose the notices when their purposes are fulfilled? You can witness the crushed notices in the frame of board.
Another thing I was wondering was why our very respectful active students of department do not use these boards while celebrating Independence Day, Earth Day and a lot more days? Why those walls of department attract them so much that they paste their lovely messages on them? And then have no time to remove it. I mean you can use these boards and if there is some problem then there is a wall reserved as Students Gallery, kindly put your stuff over there. It will make our department look much tidier and paint on the walls more long lasting.
'Dr. Feroz Ahmed Institute of Mass Communication', what does this name reflect?? Doesn’t it reflect that the particular institute must be dealing with the students solely admitted to the Mass Communication department? Doesn’t it make sense that the department must be equipped with the Mass Communication students only? Doesn’t it makes u believe that the departmental properties like canteen, washrooms, Photostat shop and other areas only belong to the Mass Comm students?
There is only one answer to all these questions and that is YES! YES!
If one is admitted to any of the particular department in the university then that department is no more unfamiliar to him/her, in fact one can call it as his/her 'OWN' department.
Talking about the department of Mass Communication (as i belong to it), its really sad and unfortunate to quote that we, being the students of Mass Comm suffers at the hands of “temporary invaders". Now one must be pondering over the term I just used that what are actually temporary invaders??
Doesn’t it somewhere link with those creatures that invade the respective lands of the people already possessing it or I should better say OWNING it? To all the minds in which this question might have clicked, the answer is again yes!
Our situation is just like those poor and innocent people who watches their properties/land being used by the invaders just like their own together, leaving them with the bitter feeling of deprivation. Now i think i should better disclose as to who these invaders are...
Firstly it includes the students of our so-called neighbourhood UBIT (Umer Basha Institute OF Information Technology) and secondly the students of other different departments coming for their subsidiary classes.
It’s a bit ironical yet unfortunate to say that when these invaders come to our department we just feel homeless! There is not a single spot in the whole department left where you cannot find them sitting aimlessly, munching snacks, sipping tea, smoking a tons of cigarettes, taking photographs, occupying and merely messing the washrooms, fighting the war of waterloo at water coolers and there are a lot of activities they do which i do not want to quote here. In short, one can find them at every corner of our department. I mean I just do not understand that as to why they do such things in our department!? They all are provided with their own respective departments to do whatever they wish to. Having a rule, formulated by the university administration that all the students are suppose to stay in their own departments and are not suppose to pay stupid and occasional visits to other departments, but as it is said " Rules are made to be broken" Similarly, this rule is too violated by the students.
The one and a very irritating problem that every student of our department faces is the problem of printouts. If we are fortunate enough to receive any assignments and if we wishes to get it printout at the department Photostat shop so we have to think twice! The only hot seat in the Photostat shop always occupies the UBIT students for their printouts. We are mostly deprived of the printout facility that might be solely designed for us but is always enjoyed by the UBIT students. Wait, wait and wait! That’s all we do if we have to get a printout/Photostat of a single page!
Keeping these problems in mind a student's council was too made by the students of the department under the supervision of the student's adviser, with the hope to cope up with these problems but, so far no fruitful results have come out of it and together we are still been unable to overcome these problems.
Studying in the University of Karachi has its perks, from the sumptuous food at PG to various extra curricular activities, the unscheduled cancellation of classes and not to forget the inexpensive transport courtesy the university point service. The incredible university has something to offer everyone from the studious and regular students to the laid back bunkers.
Being the largest university of the country KU boasts an area of over 1,200 acres. Needless to say that the 24,000 plus students that are enrolled at the university have to commute long stretches of roads usually on foot to reach their respective departments some situated at the farthest and remote corners of the university premises.
With classes starting as early as 8.30 or 8 in the case of Ramadan it can be a real pain to travel (read suffer the English and Urdu version both) from far across the city in overcrowded buses to reach the university and then walk along another long endless road to your respective department. If it happens to be really far away as is the case for the huge numbers of students of the Department of Mass Communication and UBIT they usually end up getting late and missing almost half the lecture.
The university does run a shuttle service early in the morning for students but that isn’t always enough as the shuttles are full to the brim with students hanging out precariously from the doors thus many have to be left behind. Despite all this the students brave the long walks and the blazing heat to get to their lectures on time. Perhaps a more feasible solution would be to run a shuttle at regular intervals throughout the day which would really facilitate the students and save a lot of us from years worth of tanning in just a day! Hey don’t judge you all worry about it.
Even with this little snag KUrians are the most spirited and enthusiastic students you would find. After all student life is a treasure and we do make a lot of fond memories on these very walks (I happen to have met my best friend on one of these). After graduation memories will be all we have (and a degree hopefully!). So for now, whether you are a frantic walker trying to get to your class on time, have missed your shuttle or are casually strolling around the university just for fun, enjoy the ride and walk on.
By Syeda Zehra
Performing arts are building blocks of the culture of a region and it gives identity to a nation. We live in a society where performing arts is the most neglected part of our academia. Be it music, theatre, dance and so on. The discipline has always been considered inappropriate to pursue as a career.
University of Karachi (UoK), one of the biggest public sector university lacks a department for performing arts. Most of the departments which come under faculty of arts at UoK are basically related to the sphere of social sciences that is sociology, psychology, criminology etc.
The reason can be attributed to the way our society fails to acknowledge the importance of this discipline, lack of interest of pupils, education system’s fault or religious backgrounds. Another dimension to it is the hold of various student organizations in the varsity which on various occasions have proved to be against establishing a department for this discipline. According to a report, the musicology department at the National College of Arts at Punjab University in Lahore has moved out after threats of ‘dire consequences’ by a student’s organization and the music department of Sindh University is also closed down due to similar circumstances. Evidently no one is paying heed to these influences in our academic structure.
Being a student of University of Karachi, I have first hand experience of seeing no extra curricular activities related to performing arts on regular basis in majority of the departments. English department is an exception. The rest of the talent which is by the way in abundance in our institution remains unnoticed.
Due to afore mentioned situation and lack of proper institutions, parents despite of knowing their children’s potential in creative fields of art do not stand with their career moves. They have a fair idea that it will not prove fruitful in the long run and are not considered as respectable professions.
The root of this tragedy is our government’s and publics indifferent attitude towards promotion of art and culture. Now artists are not accepted as a normal being in our society and on the other hand government institutions deprive them of their chances of growth without influence from outside. It’s high time to re open the question of our cultural identity because not only artists but Pakistani art is also dying.
Date: 27th aug, 2010
It’s worrisome that pedestrian over head bridges in front of colleges and universities are mostly constructed after some accidents have occurred and precious lives have been lost. Similarly a pedestrian bridge was build in front of “silver jubilee”, main gate of university of Karachi, when a speedy dumper crushed a KU-student Anum Zehra (student of BS HONS economics, evening) to death. After her demise, this overpass was built. The parents of the deceased inaugurated it and it is named after Late Zehra.
The need for this overhead pedestrian bridge was immense as hundreds of students had to cross the speedy road parallel to the main gate of the university daily. But it is sad to see that despite the presence of this bridge some students do not use it just for saving few minutes. In my opinion students should realize that it was made to keep them safe and they should use this bridge instead of risking their precious lives just for the sake of savings few minutes in order to get to their desired buses. Administration have also taken notice of it and now a green belt has been constructed on the division between the two adjacent roads and for now the pupils have to use the bridge which is good. For me, walking over this bridge has always been a pleasant experience due to the stunning sight of botanical garden. The natural beauty of far and wide spreading green grass, the plateau and a long straight street from silver jubilee to check post, is very eye catching. Sometimes the street seems as if it is a walking track of a park. The garden looks even more spectacular after the monsoon season because the greenery splurges everywhere in the campus after the rain. This scene often tempts me to stop for few seconds, but all the joy vanishes in a flip when I see my only route bus passing down on the road which comes after 15 minutes and the wait looks like of an hour due to heat and humidity of Karachi.
Presence of the street beggars is a dilemma for this bridge. Many child beggars can be found on both ends of the bridge, some ask for money with downcast eyes while others irritate you by holding your bag and walking by your side. If anyone sympathizes by giving money to one of them then it means that they are calling for more trouble as other beggars also come and start asking the same question by emotional black mailing “ Allah tujhe imtehaan me kamyabi dey” and often disgusting lame prays like, “tujhe tere pyar ki qasam” urghh.
Well I pray and hope that no any other Anum Zehra becomes the victim of any such road accident. Furthermore, the mafia which is working behind these child beggars would stop abusing those naive children.
"Humein Tou Koi Information Nahin Hai" the most cherished sentence of the office staff at University of Karachi,most of us are pretty familiar with this sentence and those who aren't will get used to it soon.
A day before Ramzan begins,you go to the office to enquire about the new timings and the reply you receive is"Humein tou ab tak koi information nahin mili" dont you feel like banging your head!,Its completely understandable that it is the duty of the Dean office to distribute the timetable amongst the departments,but it's equally the responsibility of the office staff to keep pressing them until they provide you with the desired information,but that's such a tough job,whose going to do it??? Anyways this was the story of just one department,there is another way ahead then this one.
Here is this International Relations department,and beleive me it really is an "International" department and soon it is going to get a place in the Guinness Book as it has broken all records of being "Highly Informed" and they beleive in providing the students with as much information as they can,which is equal to zero! because at the beginning of every semester one can see students roaming helplessly around the corridors in search of their classrooms about which they are not informed.And how can one forget,whenever you go to enquire about the presence of teacher or whether teacher is going to take the class or not?,here is the reply by an assistant whom you will usually find chit chatting on the telephone,"aap unke office mein jakar dekhlein" I mean if we would have found the teacher in their office then why on earth we would have come here to disturb your conversation? this is the line most of us think,but abstain ourselves from voicing out of mere courtesy.
I use to hear this quiet often that non-teaching staff is negligent of their duties but experienced it when I set my feet in the University of Karachi.
While realizing all the anti-personality development stuff, student entering the university with the hopes of rising sun, might leave the university under shadows of romantic new moon. I have observed the total personality changes in some of my fellows inside the circle of University of Karachi under the name of modernism, friendships and the most influential "university life fun". Along with comes the degraded dialect. Including the effects of Bollywood, we cannot forget the typical language that is found in KU or may be in other government universities too. What is the reason behind sarcastic vision of expensive universities for the government ones - the vision that pierce all the developed personalities too? Why is the prejudice developed about KU students that they cannot dress up, walk or talk good? Even when we have got too many examples when KU students have dominated others, some examples are from our own department; Sabeena Rizwan Khan, Ahsan Raza Firdousi, Hina Mujeeb Aalam, Manam Iqbal. And my own mates Narjis Fatimah and Ferya Elyas who were selected among 200 students from all over Pakistan for scholarship studies in USA.
Anyway, the tools of personality development may be styles of speaking, dressing up, gestures and postures, language command etc. These tools can make you dominant even when you have not scored up to the mark but at the same time they can become the weapons of personality destruction too - thus, creating a cold war among students affording different finance for education. I have observed my university fellows saying that professor was giving "bhaashan (term for lecture in Hindi) or a girl commenting a boy as "pappu bacha" or even a student girl wearing so much and heavy make up and accessories in university - just out of limits!!! As this all is a matter of their own and I don't want to restrict anyone and of course I cannot, but what is the cause of blurred scarcity among students that is left even after the university? Teaching differences are not that much, then why there is a clear depiction about from where the student has been taught? Should there be a proper series of personality development teachings before university and during too?
If yes, then lets start it from our own self today :)
To me it is like a miracle to get a seat in KU’s point. Although we all are well aware of the plausible fact that it is hazardous to travel in points, but I must concede that a person should once experience the fun and boisterousness of these overloaded vehicles.
It does not matter how early you reach to depot just for the sack of ‘a seat’, which by the way, one never gets.
Few days back, I bunked my last class because I was fainting and my legs were barely moving. I dashed straight ahead to depot, with hopes that I might get a seat so that I could rest on my way back home, but I was wrong. Even an hour and half before the point’s departure, I was failed to get a seat.
Many of my friends said its better to use the bus services instead of points. But by the increment of inflation, it is more convenient to cover the far-flung distance in 3 rupees, than giving more many and changing two to three buses each time. Plus the fun of points is something one can not find in buses.
In summers, it is hard to cross your way with so much suffocation around. Everyone bustles to get a place near window to get some air and lessen their sweating. One might puke with the smell of stale engine and everyone’s sweat. But once a point starts, the unendurable atmosphere begins to cool.
Girls are always greater in strength than boys. They make fuss to get seats, while boys quarrel to get a place at the door steps of point. Hanging there all the way back, and performing all the bizarre and idiotic things they possible can. Many girls in the front seats start to sing or even fall asleep due to the long and tiring day.
With all of the facts above, one can not choose it, as a blessing or a blasphemy. Management should amend these points and recuperate old ones. But I must reckon up that it is safest and cheapest way to travel our ways back homes, especially in such a catastrophic condition that our city is facing.
It is very sad to see that the education is badly effected due to terrorist activities in the city and the students have fallen victim of these unethical events. The students of KarachiUniversity who are in final stages of their educational life suffer the most due to the halts coming in their way of passing out as soon as possible.
Gone by the days when Karachi was counted as one of the city of lights in the world for its peaceful nature and activities by the public extending to late nights but the tag should now be replaced with city of bloodshed due to the recent target killing events which has inculcated fear among the citizens.
The ongoing wave of assassination of innocent people just for the sake of proving dominance in the city has led to ethnic war between pakhtoons and mauhajirs which started as a political war between MQM and ANP and one should be wondering where this massacre and brutality would lead us?
During these times educational institutions remain closed and so did the KarachiUniversity. Now it has become a routine off for students with strikes being called regularly. Some might enjoy laying back home but majority hates it because their whole schedule gets disturb.
Parents fear sending their children to university of Karachi especially because such violence and conflicts always pave way for clashes that are quite common in KU. The presence of so many political parties makes the largest institution on the city quite vulnerable. For girls, it’s even more difficult to get out of the University in such conditions as they have to wait for their guardians to pick them up because due to violence in the city the point service of the campus closes down.
Teachers also find it very difficult as such circumstances make it difficult for them to bring continuity so that the course can be carried out smoothly for better understanding of the students. The loss of education is immense as it is influence our development.
The killing of innocent people should be condemned but then again there is no use of raising our voices, as everybody knows this is a tradition of our country that whoever raises his or her voices is laid to rest. We can never prosper as a nation until and unless people change their mentality. They should respect the differences and accept the share of others in their domain.
