By Raqib Hameed Naik, TwoCircles.net
New Delhi: In July 2016, three friends in their 20s had a get-together, where an idea to start a website focusing on youth was conceived. The three girls-Anida Saifi, Isha Fatima and Farah Hussain-who were working as journalists were determined to turn the idea into a tangible reality.
Anida Saifi (left) and Isha Fatima, co-founders of Yuva AddaThe team of three spent their next four months researching and deciding as to how the website should look like after consulting their friends and well-wishers, who were also journalists.
The result of their efforts was a bilingual website called ‘Yuva Adda’, which will cover stories from colleges across universities all over India. It has been designed as a platform for the youth to express.
“Youths have always remained under-reported when it comes to media. The mainstream media is all occupied with general news and there is no such youth website which particularly focuses on campus news. So, we decided to come up with this website,” Anida Saifi, 22 one of the co-founder of website told TwoCircles.net.
Isha Fatima, 24 who is also a co-founder of the website feels that running a news website has always been considered as a male-dominated affair.
“We wanted to prove that women can run a news website independently, that’s why we thought to start a website which will be dominated by an all-women team at the core,” Fatima told TCN.
The online youth magazine has four important sections, Professor Waani, Campus Yaadein, Campus Hero, Mujhe kuch kahna hai and Kuch kuch hota hai. Professor Waani focuses on stories that are based on experiences of professors and students and aims to fill the gap between professors and students in the campus. “We have already roped in various professors from JNU, AMU, JMI, BHU and DU and we are trying to rope in more from various universities across India,” said Farah Hussain. Campus Yaadein focuses on stories of alumni’s and aims to connect the alumni’s and students. Campus Hero talks of students who have extraordinary qualities and skills whereas Kuch kuch hota hai focuses on campus confessions.
The website was launched on Sunday, December 18, with all three managing the website on a part-time basis, apart from their full-time jobs. “We don’t have an office as yet and we are managing it from our homes,” says Anida.
“We are spending from our own pockets to keep it running and till now we have received an excellent response from the audience which motivates us to keep going,” she adds.
Another girl, Afsha Khan, 22 a student of Department of Political Science in Jamia Millia Islamia has joined the core team of the website. In the long run, the founders of the Yuva Adda are looking to hire more campus reporters across India and come up with campus news, events and let the website become a platform for youths to share their opinions or anything they want to let the world know. “Besides, we want to compete with the mainstream media,” adds an optimistic Anida.