In the image attached above, we can see someone who is not a threat and definitely can’t harm anyone with that tiny tiny gun. Being dorm council in her first semester to AAC head, she has gained so much experience and is now running for the position of School President.

I think she’s the only one who can say she met Jackie Chan and didn’t even bat an eye. She loves playing indoor cricket with her brother, which is never complete without breaking at least one thing in the house and also loves cooking when the grilled cheese isn’t coal-burnt.

Devyani secretly wishes to be in her 20s in the 80s, which tells a lot about her music taste. Sidenote: we actually started talking because of our music tastes! Also, she lives for Kinder Joy, which reminds me of middle school.

Middle school is when Devyani joined Woodstock. She was here before COVID, and that’s how most categorize students at Woodstock. This is her 6th year, and she realizes how much the school has changed but still can’t point it out – it is the minor things accumulated that make it feel like so much time has passed. While it is the ‘old Woodstock’ she reminisces, she does feel that the change can be for the better with collaboration between the Ed-Team and the student body. When I brought up how students miss how bazaar days used to be and the freedom that was given, she said that everything happens for a reason and policies are made considering multiple factors, but there is always a solution, a workaround like how we found one for the gadget policy when we gave our view backed up by rationality. 

With the experience of working in StuCo for a year now, I asked Devyani if she finds any shortcomings in the way StuCo works and how she would want to work on it. She thoughtfully replied that it is something she would have to work with her co-president and the council on as she can’t make any changes to the council without their opinion she has no authority as it needs to be fair and democratic. 

Last year, there was a vote of no confidence, and some say it was because of their grade not wanting a female president. To this, she said, “That particular time was extremely heated because of a lot of constitutional changes happening and because of the constitution being in the state it was back then, I believe we all arrived on the result we did but looking forward and seeing how Woodstock is grateful to have a good constitution in place because of the StuCo advisors and the constitutional head, there is a positive change, and hopefully it will work well.” She feels that having a male and female president helps achieve a balance and improves transparency. 

The changes to the gadget policy made possible because of Nivedita and Devyani is something everyone in DP will be grateful for (the deadlines that are not missed because of it!) but while convincing the Ed eam they faced several expected challenges she took away from. When she was sitting in the office talking to a teacher from the Ed Team, she felt that though she wasn’t in the position to do this, it was what her grade needed, and she needed to be a voice for it. There was a straight no, but when both of them explained where they were coming from, they understood and accepted it even though it was a long process. 

Talking about her plans to improve transparency, she said that she hopes that the presidents for next year will be a part of bodies at Woodstock discussing student body issues. “When you are discussing something related to the students, it is important for student representatives to be present there. Also, even though open StuCo meetings haven’t happened often this year, blocking the calendar would allow us to organize it more frequently next year.”

If a group of students alleges discrimination and bias in the selection process for school leadership positions, including StuCo, she thinks that she would try finding the stem of the problem, the people who are making these claims and understand from their perspective why they feel so and ensuring that an Ed Team member or an advisor is present during it as they have a tendency to not be biased. 

Talking about Neil and Akshat and what strengths they would add if either of them were elected. Working with Neil before at the GAIL conference, she knows how he is a great listener and complements her work style well. She is also interested in seeing what ideas Akshat would bring, having an unbiased perspective. 

Interviewed by Narayani, co-editor of The Woodstocker