On 27th October 2015, the Sociology Department of Janki Devi Memorial College organized its much awaited and most prestigious fresher’s event, the “M.N. Srinivas Declamation” competition. The M.N. Srinivas Declamation is a prestigious contest that is held annually for the students of the Sociology Department. Every year a different college gets the opportunity to host the declamation competition and this year Janki Devi bagged the chance. The topic for the declamation “India without Surname, Redefining Identity” witnessed a vibrant discussion from all the participants. A team of two members from eight colleges of Delhi University namely Miranda House, Lady Sri Ram, Sri Venkateshwara, Janki Devi Memorial, Maitreyi, Jesus and Mary, Hindu and Kamala Nehru College gathered in the college’s seminar room for the face off. Eminent scholars Dr. Payal Nagpal and Ms. Sanjukta Naskar were the judges. Each participating team had 4 minutes for presenting their views on the topic. The war of words commenced by the arguments and questions from team 1 which was Miranda House, followed by the other teams. Many arguments were made, two of which were “Name and Surname are mere identity for an individual to be a part of a particular social group” and “Surname acts as a compass to guide an individual to trace his/ her lineage and clan”. Many questions were raised which left both the audience and the judging panel speechless. The event concluded by the quote 
“Change in Mentality would redefine identity not merely removing the surname”. This powerful play of words came to an end with the concluding remarks from the chief guests, “It would take lifetime to know what the surname is and is it possible to imagine India without Surname?” Beating the other seven teams LSR team bagged the first position and won the prestigious rolling trophy for the second consecutive year. Hindu college managed to bag the second position. This was a neck to neck competition which proved to be a tough task for the jury to announce the winner, but as it is said “A good orator is pointed and impassioned”.
