The famous German art critic Bertolt Brecht was asked, “In the dark times, will there be singing?” to which he replied “Yes, there will be singing- about the dark times.” Last year has witnessed waves of instability and attempts at transition and adjustment from the all virtual life of to a ‘real’ one which involves regular commutation to college, google meets being replaced by physical hangouts with friends and offline mode of examination that demands constant academic efforts from students. As an editor, I was thrilled and concerned at the same time about the content that my writers will produce for the outlet: the former because physical experiences generate new inspirations and concerned because what if it becomes impossible to carve out a space for writing in this crucial and exhausting phase of transition? But, all my skepticisms turned into absolute adoration when the ideas were pitched and articles were submitted.
Despite being a minor thing, the fact that the quality of the content did not deteriorate tells a lot about the place that writing as an art holds in the life of a person who associates the same with something intrinsic to their self. First off, it reflects that writing is more than an act of leisure and a tendency that supposes it to be so is exclusive and not compatible with the very history of human civilization. Writing is a way of expressing and asserting one self whose denial can lead to feelings of suffocation and dissociation. An argument goes that the famous Mughal emperor, Akbar formulated his policies concerning the conservative Muslim section of his court in a way that helps him assert his autonomy which was denied to him since his childhood owing to strict control by members of the royal family- a way of self assertion. It won’t be exaggeration if I argue that majority of the emotions and tangible acts that we engage in are nothing but ways of asserting ourselves. For many, writing becomes the medium for the same. Furthermore, writing can prove to be cathartic for someone experiencing mental-emotional torment. We practice art not as a by-product of other ‘major’ trends and changes but to practice art-in this case, writing- is a constant choice that we make.
Articles published in the semester covered themes inciting the young minds of the writers- from political happenings to individual experiences. The performative representation of women in politics (by Sifat), truth and historicity behind the grand ceremonies that hold national importance (by Sumedha) and prevalence of casteism in dynamics of high school (by Annapurna) are some very well-written narrative pieces on politics and its arenas. Media continued to dominate writings of many authors. Cultural lessons drawn from famous media productions (a piece worked on by Priyal) and trends in Bollywood that reflect social realities (by Devanshi) are the highlights of the genre. Some finely crafted, thought provoking pieces were published on the LGBTQ+ community- Aditi’s work is a case in point. Literature, both in its substance and method, has remained to be a subject widely chosen by writers- a piece on derivative literature by Preesha and on Joan Didion by Vanshika added diversity to the rich corpus of articles that were published by Her Campus Delhi South for this semester. Human experiences and lifestyle related articles were well-receipted by the readers- Yashica masters the genre especially with her article on summer self-care along with the one on deadly intersection of capitalism with the concept of love: the latter was written as a part of HCDS’s collaboration with HC at UC Berkley. Significant observations on supposedly trivial aspects of life were made by Ananya in her pieces. It was a matter of honor to have read all the pieces written by an extremely creative team of writers and be in a position to shape the course of the same.
Being the Senior Editor at Her Campus was my first experience as an editor and I couldn’t have asked for a better one. Discharging my duties as an editor has made me realize the power of perceptions- how a story can be perceived through multiple angles but there will always be this one angle that will make an article more inclusive and accommodative, an angle that will elevate the article from a mere collection of words to a piece with which readers can associate their memories and can cherish the same memories forever. It is the duty of an editor to find that suitable angle and help their writers produce a piece that has the potential to bring a change of any magnitude , form or intensity. Writing that merely adheres to a way that the status quo wants it to exist will gradually lose its relevance. Similarly, a piece of writing that caters to the interests of a few is a piece that caters to the interest of none. With this, I sign off as the Senior Editor at HCDS.