Latest news with #StStephen'sCollege
Mint
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Mint
Valmik Thapar, who spent 50 years with tigers, passes away at 73
Eminent Indian wildlife conservationist and author Valmik Thapar passed away on Saturday morning at the age of 73. He had been battling cancer. His cremation will take place today at 3:30 pm at the Lodhi Electric Crematorium in Delhi. Thapar was best known for his lifelong dedication to the conservation of wild tigers, especially in Rajasthan's Ranthambore National Park. Over a career spanning five decades, he became one of India's most respected voices for tiger protection. Born into a family of prominent intellectuals, Thapar was the son of noted journalist Romesh Thapar and nephew of renowned historian Romila Thapar. He graduated with a gold medal in sociology from St Stephen's College, Delhi University. He later married theatre artist Sanjana Kapoor, daughter of legendary actor Shashi Kapoor. Thapar was mentored by Fateh Singh Rathore, a pioneering figure in Indian wildlife conservation and a key member of the original Project Tiger team. Throughout his career, Thapar pushed for stronger anti-poaching laws and the protection of tiger habitats. He served on more than 150 government panels and task forces, including the National Board for Wildlife, which is chaired by the Prime Minister. In 2005, he was appointed to the Tiger Task Force, formed by the UPA government after tigers disappeared from the Sariska Tiger Reserve. He was a firm believer that the long-term survival of tigers depended on "preserving areas free from human activity". He often stressed the need to manage a core area "exclusively for tigers". Thapar authored or edited over 30 books on Indian wildlife, such as Land of the Tiger: A Natural History of the Indian Subcontinent (1997) and Tiger Fire: 500 Years of the Tiger in India. He also co-produced and presented several wildlife documentaries, including the acclaimed BBC series Land of the Tiger (1997), which explored the rich biodiversity of the Indian subcontinent. In 2024, Thapar featured in the documentary My Tiger Family, where he reflected on five decades of observing wild tigers in Ranthambore. He was also known for his critical stance on Project Cheetah, stating that "India lacks the habitat, prey, and expertise" required to sustain African cheetahs in the wild. Congress Hails Conservationist Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge grieved the demise of Thapar, hailing him as a leading authority on tigers. "Deeply saddened to learn about the passing of noted conversationalist, author and naturalist, Valmik Thapar. "A leading authority on Tiger conservation, he was as(sic) one of India's most respected wildlife experts and was appointed a member of the Tiger Task Force of 2005. My deepest condolences to his family, friends, wildlife enthusiasts and the conservation community," Kharge said in a post on X. Congress general secretary and former environment minister Jairam Ramesh called Thapar a legendary figure in the world of conservation for over four decades of work on tigers. "It is a great loss," he said. Ramesh said today's Ranthambore, particularly, is a testimony to his deep commitment and indefatigable zeal. "He was uncommonly knowledgeable on a variety of issues relating to biodiversity and not a day passed during my Ministerial tenure without our talking to each other - with me almost always at the receiving end. "During my tenure as Chairman of the Standing Committee also he was a constant source of many valuable suggestions and advice. We had arguments but it was always an education to listen to him, full of passion and concern," Ramesh said. "He was truly an unforgettable one of a kind," he added. (With inputs from PTI)
News18
5 days ago
- General
- News18
Who Was Valmik Thapar, India's ‘Tiger Man', Who Passed Away At 73?
Last Updated: Valmik Thapar dedicated his life to the study and conservation of wild tigers, especially in Rajasthan's Ranthambore National Park. Valmik Thapar, an eminent wildlife conservationist of India and an author, passed away at 73 at his residence on Saturday morning. He dedicated his life to the conservation of wild tigers, particularly in Rajasthan's Ranthambore National Park. He was the son of Romesh Thapar, a well-known journalist. His aunt is historian Romila Thapar. He graduated with a gold medal in sociology from St Stephen's College, Delhi University, and married theatre artist Sanjana Kapoor, daughter of actor Shashi Kapoor. Thapar was guided by Fateh Singh Rathore, a legendary figure in Indian wildlife conservation and one of the core members of the original Project Tiger team. Who Was Valmik Thapar? Over a career spanning five decades, Valmik Thapar was a tireless advocate for tiger conservation, pushing for stricter anti-poaching laws and the protection of tiger habitats. He served on over 150 government committees and task forces, including the National Board for Wildlife, chaired by the Prime Minister. In 2005, he was appointed to the Tiger Task Force, established by the UPA government to assess the management of tiger reserves after tigers vanished from the Sariska Tiger Reserve. Thapar firmly believed that long-term tiger survival depended on preserving areas free from human activity. He argued that a minimum core area must be managed in its natural state exclusively for tigers. He authored or edited more than 30 books on wildlife, including Land of the Tiger: A Natural History of the Indian Subcontinent (1997) and Tiger Fire: 500 Years of the Tiger in India. He also presented and co-produced several acclaimed wildlife films, notably the six-part BBC series Land of the Tiger (1997), showcasing the Indian subcontinent's biodiversity. In 2024, he appeared in the documentary My Tiger Family, reflecting on 50 years of observing wild tigers in Ranthambore. Thapar was critical of Project Cheetah, warning that India lacks the habitat, prey, and expertise for sustaining free-ranging African cheetahs. First Published: May 31, 2025, 12:00 IST
Scroll.in
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scroll.in
‘Stolen' director Karan Tejpal: ‘The film is about trust and having a conscience'
Karan Tejpal's Stolen was premiered to a rapturous response at the Mumbai Film Festival in 2023. Tejpal's feature debut, about the nightmarish experiences of two affluent brothers who are mistaken for kidnappers in a rural corner of India, was expected to get a theatrical release. Instead, Stolen has been picked up by Prime Video, where it will be streamed from June 4. The Hindi movie's emergence has benefitted from the backing of directors Anurag Kashyap, Kiran Rao, Nikkhil Advani and Vikramaditya Motwane. Written by Tejpal, Gaurav Dhingra and Swapnil Salkar-Agadbumb, Stolen stars Shubham Vardhan, Abhishek Banerjee, Mia Maelzer, Harish Khanna and Sahidur Rahaman. In an interview, 40-year-old Tejpal described himself as an 'accidental filmmaker'. A product of Mayo College in Ajmer and St Stephen's College in Delhi, Tejpal set out to be a hockey player but instead veered towards cinema. Tejpal worked in the Hindi film industry as an assistant director for several years, starting with Lage Raho Munnabhai (2006). Tejpal squeezed in a filmmaking course at the New York Film Academy, returning to Mumbai to develop scripts and shoot commercials. Stolen was inspired by a lynching that took place in Assam in 2018, a horrific incident that haunts Tejpal to this day, he told Scroll. Here are excerpts from the interview. Stolen is meant for the big screen. Why is it getting a release on a streaming platform? It would have done quite well in theatres. But the theatrical landscape across the world has become muddled with big-ticket films and star-led vehicles. Nobody is willing to take a punt or has a risk-taking appetite any longer. As more and more films with stars fail, this opportunity is shrinking further. In fact, it was a challenge even to get the film onto a streamer. Why is that, considering that Stolen was well received at the Mumbai Film Festival in 2023? It is exactly the kind of movie that streaming platforms are supposed to be championing. It's been an uphill battle. It was eventually only because of the filmmakers who got attached to Stolen as executive producers that we managed to push the film over the line. The Indian landscape is very determined by who is attached to a film. I always thought that if you made a good film, there would be a home for it. The streamers were so busy in the market that you were confident. Perhaps the latest downturn has got them thinking twice about every project. Also, they have backed films that have done poorly on their platforms. That has affected everybody else's chances as well. Every film has its own journey. This has been our journey – a trial by fire. At this point, I am relieved that audiences will get to watch the film. What inspired Stolen? The film was initially a 30-page treatment born out of an incident that took place in Karbi Anglong in Assam. Two men, a musician and a businessman, were wrongly accused of being child kidnappers and were beaten to death by a mob. The videos still give me nightmares. I had already been working as a screenwriter for smaller projects and on advertising films. I met Gaurav Dhingra during an advertising campaign. I pitched the Stolen treatment note. The coronavirus pandemic hit soon after. It was a start-and-stop time for the industry as a whole. We managed to start the shoot in January 2023. Since then, it has been like a bullet train. We shot for 26 days. We were at the Venice Film Festival in August that year. Stolen is set over a night and day, and involves fast-paced action sequences. What went into its making? It was really tough to make. A lot of work went into finding the locations. We shot the film close to where I grew up, in Pushkar, although it isn't set there or any other place in Rajasthan. I was looking for particular things in the locations, and I found them in Pushkar. I've not yet been paid a penny on the film. But what I gave up in terms of a salary, I got back multi-fold in terms of creative freedom to shoot the way I wanted and get the actors I wanted. That's the only way Stolen could have been made. No traditional producer would have let me hire Shubham or Mia, or allow me to shoot long takes. Nearly 50% of the film is one for one – meaning, there are no options for the edit, and you use the scenes as they have been shot. The film was edited in a month, I think. It was a tight schedule. Everything had to be efficient. It was such a rewarding experience that if I had to do it again the same way, I would. What conversations did you have with the cinematographers Isshaan Ghosh and Sachin S Pillai? The in- camera principles were very simple. I wanted the audiences to be on the same journey as my protagonists. I wanted to send viewers on a journey that felt a bit like a social horror. The moment this was decided, every shooting decision was backtracked onto that one principle. We shot 90% of the film with 25mm and 35mm lenses. We decided to shoot only with wide-angle lenses because we wanted an immersive experience that wouldn't be possible with long lenses because then you are looking at things from a distance. Once you have decided on the lenses, the camera position is automatically decided. You need to get close. You're over your main character's shoulder. The perspective becomes very personal because you are in a small space. Since the film is set over the period of a few hours, there are long takes. The less I cut, the more I stay with immediacy. Things are playing out in front of your eyes. There is a crunching of time, a feeling of breathlessness or claustrophobia, which is what the men who inspired the story must have felt like when they were being chased by a mob for no good reason at all. How do you prepare the actors for this kind of a shoot? The five primary actors are all highly trained. Several actors are semi-professional or real persons. Abhishek Banerjee was the first person we went to for the film. Shubham and Abhishek have been friends since college. They are super-close buddies. The chemistry that you see on the screen is real. Abhishek is instinctual and acts from his gut. Shubham is very mental, he performs in his mind. They are different in that sense. Mia Maelzer was cast after I saw some of her films. Harish Khanna and Sahidur Rahaman are again trained actors. It was a collaborative process. Since we shot for such a short period, we did a lot of in-camera rehearsals in advance. The performances were always on the lower scale of the spectrum. Because the shots were complicated and long, the actors were free to do what they had to do because they couldn't repeat the performance. We didn't even have a continuity supervisor. The spontaneity was maintained. If you are shooting from 25 angles and trying to match the shots later, it deadens the performances. What is Stolen saying about the perilous encounter between urban India and rural India? Is it inadvisable to help out in a crisis? The film does talk about the perils of having a conscience. That said, the film is about trust too. Without trust, civilisation would be nowhere, and none of our systems would work. I didn't want to make a nihilistic film. If you have a conscience in this country or anywhere else in the world, you could get into trouble. But have a conscience, do something. Perhaps the film is my callout to myself. Would I stand up in such a situation? I don't have the courage to get out onto the streets and picket against subjects, but perhaps that's why I make movies. The film could be viewed as privilege meeting the rest of India. Absolutely. I come from a privileged background. I got the best education. I belong to a bubble, and I engage with the rest of the country from within that bubble. But the inside and outside worlds intersect in weird ways. The film is about why the two worlds need to coexist, or at least be cognisant of each other. Now that Stolen will be out soon, what are your plans? I'm writing a feature for Mira Nair that will be set in Delhi. I'm also heading the writers' room for the second season of Dahaad. I have a couple of my own projects, one of which is called Umeed, a horror film about a lesbian couple trying to have a baby, written by Abhishek Banerjee, the writer of Pataal Lok and Pari. There's another film I have been working on for a long time, a romantic thriller about a young couple in a taboo relationship. The idea of combining genres with the subjects that I want to talk about is my sort of jam. Play
Indian Express
17-05-2025
- Business
- Indian Express
Delhi Hardlook: To pursue or not to pursue? Delhi University's undergraduates face a crucial decision on the new four-year degree programme
Sitting with his juniors, surrounded by the red-brick corridors of St Stephen's College, Delhi University student Adithyan Ajith is clear about his plans for the future — he wants to pursue a fourth year at the varsity. 'It's not just about one more year,' he says. 'It's about opening the door to places like the London School of Economics.' The 20-year-old History (Honours) student from Kerala will be among the first batch of DU undergraduates who, come July, must choose whether to continue with the newly formalised fourth year under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 or exit with a standard three-year degree. For Adithyan, who comes from a middle-class family — his father is an engineer and his mother a homemaker — the decision is clear. 'I want to build a solid application — dissertation, recommendations, everything. That fourth year gives me the kind of academic depth and research experience that top global universities expect.' DU officials agree. The four-year course under the Undergraduate Curriculum Framework (UGCF 2022), which replaces the three-year system, is more than just an academic extension, they argue. It's a move to ensure students from India's largest central university are no longer turned away from graduate programmes abroad for lack of a 'complete' undergraduate degree. 'A four-year BA course is being introduced not only to align with NEP provisions but to ensure a DU student can easily apply to colleges abroad,' says a senior DU official. 'Every student admitted in 2022 was enrolled under the four-year framework. It's up to them whether to exit after the third year. If they wish to leave, they have to inform their college, which will issue a transfer certificate.' The final year offers four academic tracks: Dissertation Writing: For academic research, higher studies. Academic Projects: Involving fieldwork, data collection, and documentation. Entrepreneurship: To design business models and develop startups. Additional Discipline-Specific Electives (DSEs) and Skill-Based Modules: For Programme students, students of the School of Open Learning, and Non-Collegiate Women's Education Board (NCWEB). Students can choose either option should they opt for the fourth year. They must complete 176 credits to graduate, up from 132 (under the three-year programme). The DSE track is a recent addition, meant for students pursuing Programme courses. 'Not all students want to write a dissertation or build a startup,' says Ratna Bali, Dean of Academic Affairs. 'We've added a fourth track to make it more inclusive, especially for those in BA (Programme) or from Open Learning backgrounds.' DU officials say the curriculum for the seventh and eighth semesters was passed by the Academic Council (AC) on May 10 and will be presented before the Executive Council on May 23. The Indian Express speaks to students, teachers and colleges on the ambitious course and the challenges that come with it. While Adithyan is clear about the value of a fourth year, many of his peers are not. He says, 'In our orientations, professors shared presentations about the various tracks, but the details were vague. Nobody has shown us how it will be implemented.' Adithyan will complete his required 80 credits by the end of his third year. If he chooses to exit in July, he will receive a BA Honours degree, as per the Undergraduate Curriculum Framework (UGCF) 2022. If he continues into the fourth year and opts for a research track, he stands to graduate with a BA Honours with Research degree — a distinction that significantly strengthens applications for postgraduate programmes abroad. For students in Programme courses, however, the course structure doesn't appear to be in their favour. Sujeet Gupta, who is studying a BA Programme course in History and Political Science from Sri Venkateswara College, aspires to pursue a PhD. But the 20-year-old, who hails from Bihar's Gopalganj, says there is a lot of confusion. 'They've held multiple orientations, but every time we ask questions, we get different answers. Even the faculty is unsure. I am pinning my hopes on CUET-PG — if I get a good opportunity in counselling, I'll exit after three years.' If Gupta does exit at the end of three years, he won't be eligible for an Honours degree. He will only receive a BA Programme degree. Under the current framework, students enrolled in the BA, BSc, or BCom Programme courses wanting an Honours-level qualification must accumulate the minimum of 80 core discipline credits by completing the fourth year. If Gupta continues into the fourth year and completes additional DSEs and two-credit skill-based modules in both semesters, he would be awarded a BA Honours degree — but without the 'Research' nomenclature. This is because, as per DU's current policy, students in Programme courses are not eligible for the 'Honours with Research' tag — even if they undertake academic projects or a dissertation. 'This is unfair, I believe,' says Gupta. 'A student who joined in the same year is going to get a research degree after completing four years, but a programme student will not get one!' 'I would prefer to exit and apply for a two-year Master's degree because in our country, especially in good universities like JNU, PhD seats are limited. And preference is always given to a student who completes a two-year Master's programme rather than just one year,' he adds. This is not the first time DU has experimented with a four-year UG programme — nor is it the first time it has divided the academic community. In 2013, under then V-C Dinesh Singh, the varsity introduced the Four-Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP), framed as a bold step towards aligning Indian undergraduate education with global standards. It proposed multiple exit points — a certificate after one year, a diploma after two, a general degree after three, and an honours degree after four. From the start, the programme was met with resistance. The Delhi University Teachers' Association led vocal protests, arguing that the implementation had been rushed, poorly conceived, and carried out without meaningful consultation. When the BJP-led government took office in 2014, the FYUP was among the first education reforms to be scrapped. The University Grants Commission (UGC), which had initially supported the programme, reversed its position. Then UGC Chairman Ved Prakash ordered DU to roll back the programme just ahead of the admission season. Speaking to The Indian Express, Dinesh Singh defends the programme: 'FYUP introduced at DU was the first major reform at the undergraduate level in India. It steered the curriculum, without academic compromise, towards addressing the needs and challenges of society and the nation. As a result, the university's global rankings surged ahead of several IITs and came very close to breaking into the top 200.' A member of the 70-member task force that helped implement the FYUP says, 'We saw graduates from top DU colleges doing well in exams but failing to secure jobs — not because of poor scores, but because they couldn't communicate in basic English or demonstrate critical thinking. FYUP was designed as a necessary intervention to change that. UGCF 2022 under NEP 2020 is essentially the same idea, only with a different name…' Even though the four-year programme has come into force now, DU still has several challenges ahead. With over 70,000 new undergraduate students each year across 70+ affiliated colleges, accommodating a fourth year will strain already limited resources. To prepare for the student influx, colleges have begun expanding their campuses. At Aryabhatta College, expansion is in full swing. The college is adding around 40 more classrooms and 20 labs to accommodate the academic load of the fourth year. 'This is the youngest college of Delhi University, and this is how we are gearing up for the fourth year,' says Principal Manoj Sinha. At Ramjas College, Principal Ajay Arora says similar efforts are on. 'We just finished constructing a fifth floor in one of the buildings for incoming students,' he says. 'All we need to do is add some furnishing and wiring in these rooms. We have come up with six big rooms which can be converted into 12 classrooms and two seminar halls.' As per official college data, Ramjas currently has 83 classrooms, 32 labs, and 26 washrooms for over 5,000 students. 'Beyond the 9-to-5 time structure, if colleges are not in a position to add physical infrastructure, they will have to create flexibility in the timetable,' Arora says, referring to the University Grants Commissions's '8 to 8' policy that allows class scheduling from 8 am to 8 pm to optimise space. 'Teacher requirements will increase. All colleges will be approaching the funding agency for sanctioning of additional posts for both teaching and non-teaching staff,' he adds. At Hindu College, the current infrastructure includes 45+ classrooms and over 20 labs, but Principal Anju Srivastava says even that may fall short. 'In today's situation, we can't accommodate all students. More teachers are required, and labs will have to be modified accordingly,' she says. 'We had meetings with teachers even in April to discuss the new curriculum. Now that CUET-PG results are out, we'll get a clearer picture of how many students might opt to stay on [for the fourth year].' Srivastava estimates that approximately 35–40% of the college's 5,000 students will likely continue into the fourth year. 'Around 5–10% of students are interested in research, especially those who want to apply for prestigious scholarships like Rhodes.' On the residential front, the girls' hostel accommodates around 150 students, while the boys' hostel, previously capped at 250, is being expanded to 500. There are also plans to double the girls' hostel capacity. At Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), infrastructure includes approximately 34 classrooms and seven labs, but the college faces unique constraints. Located within walking distance of the Rajpur Cemetery, the final resting place of soldiers who died in the 1857 revolt, SRCC falls within a heritage-regulated zone. The campus is governed by the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment and Validation) Act, 2010; the Delhi Ancient and Historical Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 2004; and the MCD bylaws. These laws prohibit any alteration to buildings within 100 metres of a heritage site, limiting SRCC's ability to construct new blocks or expand vertically. Principal Simrit Kaur says, 'We estimate that around 30-40% of students will return for the fourth year, while the rest may opt for placements. The modalities are still being worked out — workload is being divided, and we are awaiting a concrete plan. There is going to be a faculty resource crunch, and apart from increasing teaching hours, we don't see any other way out.' Miranda House, too, is undergoing spatial restructuring. The college currently has 78 classrooms, six computer labs, and 10 research labs, with a student strength of over 4,000. 'At least 60% of students will stay back for the fourth year,' says Principal Bijayalaxmi Nanda. 'Around 5–10% of our students go abroad for higher education every year. We are waiting for the master plan approval. They wanted a new hostel; now we're planning to add a floor to the existing hostel building instead.' To meet immediate space demands, Miranda has added two porta cabins on the top floor of one of the buildings and started holding classes in them. 'We are freeing up areas, emptying storerooms, and reorganising spaces to accommodate teaching,' Nanda adds. The girls' hostel currently accommodates around 450 students, with plans to double this capacity in the long term. As colleges scramble to expand physical space, recruit teaching staff, and restructure timetables to accommodate a new academic year, faculty members across institutions remain divided — not on the merits of the fourth year, but on the feasibility of implementing it meaningfully. Dr Maya John, faculty at Jesus and Mary College and elected AC member, says, 'What bureaucrats… conveniently will not tell you is that an additional year of UG teaching comes without additional funds and faculty…' She warns of systemic failure unless additional resources are provided: 'Without increased funding and sanctioned teaching positions, we are looking at a scenario of chaos, compromised quality of UG-level research, and reinforced inequality.' John also points to the lack of awarding 'Honours with Research' designation for BA, BSc, and BCom Programme students in both regular and distance modes. 'This amendment comes in light of the administration's reluctant recognition that current faculty cannot supervise scores of dissertations. But to make such a change after students were admitted amounts to cheating…,' she says. Dr Harendra Nath Tiwari, faculty at SRCC and member of DU's Standing Committee on Academic Affairs, voices support for the structural goals of the four-year programme — though he too acknowledges infrastructural and funding constraints. 'It introduces students to research, allows them to complete their master's in a year… It also aligns students with global postgraduate systems — no bridge course is required abroad.' Tiwari urges the government to step up with resources. 'We are already demanding that the government provide additional funds and sanctioned posts.' He says these demands were raised at the AC meeting on May 10. 'We flagged the need for more infrastructure, expansion of research labs, and faculty hiring — both teaching and non-teaching — to make this rollout successful. The vision is good, but we need real support to implement it.' For now, students are at the juncture of pivotal academic decisions. 'Maybe the system will become clearer for future batches,' says Gupta. 'For us, it feels like we're experimenting with it.'
Indian Express
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
‘Being a civil servant doesn't guarantee freedom from prejudices associated with visual impairment': Commissioner (Municipality), Mahe
When India celebrates and idealises civil servants who become social media sensations the moment they clear the UPSC Civil Services Examination, there are a few for whom success doesn't end the struggle. Satender Singh, who lost his eyesight when he was just a little over one, is one of them. Having cracked the UPSC Civil Services Exam four times, most recently in 2024, Singh currently serves as the Commissioner of Mahe Municipality in Puducherry. But behind this success and title lies a deeper story of daily biases and prejudices that have not disappeared, even with a government ID. Born in a farmer's family in Amroha, Uttar Pradesh, Singh was the first in his family to go to school. After attending school for blind boys in Delhi 's Kingsway Camp, Singh went to Delhi University's St Stephen's College, and then to Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). Later, Singh's interest in teaching also led him to teach political science at Sri Aurobindo College (Evening) of the University of Delhi, before qualifying for the civil services. We need a more inclusive bureaucracy. In this exclusive interview for Expert Talk of The Indian Express UPSC Essentials, Satender Singh talks about the hardships he faced growing up visually impaired in a marginalised community, and the systemic prejudices he continues to confront even as a serving civil servant. Satender Singh: During childhood, I was given the wrong injection that left me visually impaired. The struggles began soon after. The first challenge I remember was that of invisibilisation. I recall being kept behind closed doors during joyful occasions and social gatherings like marriage ceremonies. In our society, disability is often linked to past-life karma, and such prejudices result in insults, humiliation, and disgrace. From an early age, I became an object of taunts and ridicule — something that continued even into adulthood. Access to schooling wasn't easy. Local teachers treated me like a bad omen. They outright denied me the right to study. In one painful memory, the headmaster refused entry, and sent me away from the school gates. I felt as if I were not a human. It was a harsh beginning, but also the start of a journey defined by resilience. There were also specific struggles against what I call the prejudices of ableism. In the rural area of Amroha, where I grew up, the loss of vision led people to believe I had magical powers. Some thought I was destined to become a katha vachak (religious storyteller). Manas: When you moved from a rural area to an urban setting, how did the nature of the prejudices and challenges you faced change? Satender Singh: In urban elite circles, different kinds of prejudices and humiliation still exist. To give an example, I recall the controversy last year involving an IAS officer who allegedly submitted a fake Persons with Disability certificate. What shocked me was how some very senior bureaucrats and people in high positions in this country began questioning the reservation policy for disabled candidates, even doubting their competence for administrative roles. I found this deeply disturbing. Clearing the examination again has become one of my motivations — to prove myself. They call it the toughest exam, and I have cleared it four times. There have been disabled civil servants who have performed better than their non-disabled counterparts. Yet, if such prejudices and stereotypes continue to persist in society — especially within elite circles — it reveals how the everyday struggle doesn't end, even for those who have cleared the civil services and served in high positions. One important point I want to highlight is the absence of vacancies for visually impaired candidates in the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) under the UPSC Civil Services Examination 2024. Do they want to tell us that visually impaired individuals are unfit to serve as diplomats? If it is so, that is yet another example of bias. If visually impaired officers can serve effectively as district collectors, why not as diplomats? The last visually impaired candidate to join the IFS was in 2015, and none have been selected since. If someone has a strong grasp of foreign policy and international relations, why should disability be a disqualifier? I strongly urge that the IFS be made accessible to visually impaired candidates. I think it should be a matter of pride for the country to show inclusivity and sensitivity at the highest level in services like the Indian Foreign Service. We need more inclusive bureaucracy. Manas: Do these prejudices still exist for you, even after becoming a civil servant? Satender Singh: At present, I have greater access to resources, influence, and awareness to help improve conditions. But these are not battles that can be won once and for all. Being a civil servant does not guarantee freedom from the prejudices and struggles associated with visual impairment. It's not like poverty — once you climb the ladder, you might escape it. My struggle is constant — every day, every hour, every minute. I must continually prove myself and my credentials. So no, the struggles haven't gone away. But I see equalisation of capabilities as a long-term solution that can bring a change. Satender Singh: To be honest, the civil services were not my first choice. I was more inclined toward academics. However, due to issues like increasing ad hocism in academia these days, I was drawn toward the more secure career path offered by UPSC. One of the major reasons for choosing civil services, though, was that this field allows marginalised candidates to rise to the top and claim the equality, justice, and respect that are often lacking in academic spaces. Manas: But now, when you go back to your village, where all these discriminations started, are you seen as a role model? Satender Singh: One doesn't become a role model overnight. First, they dislike you, then you succeed, and they don't want to believe you; they are in denial. With time, they gradually accept. But the process is really slow. It is like when the steam engine was first invented, the onlookers first said it wouldn't start. Once it started, they said it wouldn't stop. Prejudices continue to exist, they are long-lived, and do not die. Manas: What message do you have for visually impaired candidates and all those who face struggles in the civil services? Satender Singh: Visual impairment, or any kind of disability, should not be seen as a marker of incompetence for any service. Visually impaired individuals can be just as efficient and capable as diplomats. One message I definitely want to share with all those who aspire to or clear the civil services is this: remember that a career, including civil services, is just a small part of life. Enjoy life as it comes. When I think about struggles, I'm reminded of a poem by Jagdish Gupt. Apne hriday ka satya apne aap humko khojna Apne nayan ka neer apne aap humko ponchhna Aakaash sukh dega nahin Dharti paseeji hai kahin Har ek raahi ko bhatak kar hi disha milti rahi Sach hum nahin, sach tum nahin. 'Remember that a career, including civil services, is just a small part of life. Enjoy life as it comes,' says Singh. (We must search for the truth of our own hearts ourselves We must wipe the tears from our own eyes ourselves The sky does not offer joy, Nor has the earth ever truly softened It is only after losing the way That a traveller finds direction. Truth is neither you nor I alone.) For your queries and suggestions write at @
