Coming to the university in the hot and humid weather of august especially in Ramadan is a kind of mission impossible for most of the students of University of Karachi. Hanging around in the points for almost half an hour, when we reach at the check post near silver jubilee gate, there is a long march waiting for the students. We helpless students have to walk approx 500m to reach our department in fasting and there is nothing worst than that.
It is acceptable if its ends here but the most irritating thing to do is to return back to almost where we started to take our sub-si class in the arts lobby after only one class or two in our department. This is not only our sad story but also the students of different departments who have mass communication in minor subject have to come three days in a week to the department as well. The university officials have planned a terrific dieting plan for the student by urging them to walk that long but I think they didn’t know that most of the students are under weight including me as well.
I felt that this schedule benefiting rickshaw drivers not the students, they are making money because of this.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Silence please..!!!!
By Huda Ayaz
As I rambled into the library, I heard the librarian yelling at someone, giving him a look like ‘if I hear u speak again I will kick you out!’ Yes yelling!! And forgetting the fact that he was making a noise double than the targeted student, the poor innocent one, who was just caught mumbling.
Whenever I hear the word “library”, the first two things that occur to me are silence and discipline. Unfortunately, I am incompetent to find them in the libraries of my university.
This isn’t just a scenario of my department only. It is what one can scrutinize in almost every library of KarachiUniversity.
It’s not like I am debasing the authorities. What more a librarian can do when nobody gives an ear to what he says.
Not all of the pupils sitting in the library room are studious. Most of them make their ways to the library for resting, telling each other and memorializing what had happened in latest episode of some Indian soups, recommending what color one should wear in her sister’s wedding, or let’s say consuming one’s mobile package. Tormenting the whole ‘studious’ atmosphere. And if you erroneously beseech them to lower their voices, they will in return advice you to change your seat. That’s what I figured.
Apparently in summers, one could possibly think that this is the season of final studies, because everybody seems to rush towards the library. But actually, the air conditioners make students to visit this studious place, so that they could lessen the scorching hotness of summer.
The main Mehmood Hassan library is confronting the same dilemma. Except from the fact that this library is also a so-called meeting centre for ‘love birds’. An ideal place to hide oneself from a wing of people who are, let’s say, umm... against love!!
Not all the visitors of libraries are fun-seeker or rest-seeker; many of them do come to study and issue books on their ‘own’ library cards. Apart from all the attentive, bookish students, others should consider a difference between libraries and cafeterias, and should use the arcades, canteens and gardens for scoffing, fun, and excruciation so that libraries could only belong to the pedantic and studious ones.
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
