Hindu College, University of Delhi
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| Hindu College | |
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| Motto: | "Music of Truth" |
| Established: | 1899 |
| Type: | Government supported |
| Principal: | Kavita Sharma |
| Undergraduates: | 2000 (estimate) |
| Location: | Delhi, India |
| Campus: | Urban |
| Website: | www.hinducollege.org |
Hindu College is one of the oldest and well-known colleges of the University of Delhi. It had a humble beginning in a small building in Kinari Bazar, Chandni Chowk. One of the first students on its rolls was Sir Shri Ram who later became the Chairman of the College Governing Body. In 1902, Punjab University threatened to disaffiliate Hindu College unless it acquired a proper building of its own. In this crisis, Rai Bahadur Lala Sultan Singh came to the rescue of the College and donated a part of his historic property at Kashmiri Gate, which was originally owned by Col James Skinner. The College moved to its present campus in 1953. Hindu College was a centre for intellectual debate during India's Freedom Struggle, especially during the Quit India Movement[citation needed]. The college remained closed for several months in 1942 responding to Gandhiji's call to students and teachers to join the Movement. Its amphitheatre at Kashmiri Gate attracted prominent leaders such as Lokmanya Tilak, Annie Besant, Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya, Sarojini Naidu, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru and others[citation needed].
Hindu College has seen enviable growth over the years. Today it is not only one of the most distinguished post-graduate co-educational institutions of the country but is also, by many accounts, the college of first choice of Delhi. It is frequently ranked among the top five colleges in India in arts, science, and commerce.[1] It boasts of an accomplished faculty of about 100 members and a homogeneous student body of more than 2000. It offers facilities for a large number of courses in sciences, humanities and social sciences. It has well-equipped laboratories, extensive playgrounds (its cricket ground is one of the best in the capital), a seminar room with a seating capacity of about 100 people, a men's hostel housing nearly 200 students, and one of the finest auditoriums in Delhi[citation needed].
However, the traditions of Hindu College derive their strength not from the building and facilities but its congenial and enriching atmosphere. Notwithstanding its name, the college prides itself in affording its students a secular, liberal, yet lively and competitive environment.
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[edit] Facilities
Apart from academic excellence, Hindu College firmly believes in overall development of an individual in the moral, physical and intellectual realms. For this there are various college societies to foster comradeship amongst the students.
[edit] College Societies
Every department has its own society which is tasked with organising the department-specific co-curricular activities.
The English Literary Society of the English Department organises its own fest, competitions and activities. It also publishes its own magazine and runs various notice boards. It is widely reputed to be one of the best English societies in the University of Delhi. The Economics Society also holds the All India Economics Students Meet, where top colleges from Delhi and other national Universities send their economics students to compete. It is one of the most reputed events for economics students in the country.
The Film Society called Vivre screens almost 15 films a month at the college seminar room. The films include a huge variety and great names like Ingmar Bergman and Alfred Hitchcock.
The Hindi dramatics society "Ibtida" is by general consensus the best dramatics society in all of Delhi University, with their record in street play competitions being particularly impressive. The English Dramatics society "Masque" is also considered one of the best of its kind in the coubtry.
The English Debating Society, Hindu College is undoubtedly the best debating society within the university, and one of the best in the country both in terms of organization and participation. It organizes four prestigious debates. The Ashok Priyadarshi Memorial Freshers Debate, The Tantra Extempore Debate, The Premchand Memorial Parliamentary Debate and the N.V. Thadani Memorial Parliamentary Debate. Along with these debates, Hindu College debaters are constantly at a war of words with each other in regular debating league sessions that take place all around the year. The 'Eco' Balcony is a favoured meeting point for the members, after which the discussions and arguments begin. The members past and present have won all of the most prestigios debates held all around the country. Many have gone on to represent and win debates internationally amongst the ivy league universities. It is not a coincidence that previous members and Presidents are all leading successful careers in media and other related professions.
The college also organises many extra curricular activities carried out through different vibrant societies. The following is the list of these societies:
Dramatics (separate societies for Hindi "IBTIDA - The Biginning" & English " MASQUE")
Debate (separate societies for Hindi & English)
Elocution
Poetry Club
Adventure and Nature Club
Cine Club
Choreography
Photography
Environment Club
Mountaineering Club
Fashion Club
The college also has a tradition of inviting NGO's and organisations such as Spic-Macay to conduct various cultural programmes on the campus.
[edit] Hostel
Situated within the college campus, the Hindu College hostel has 150 rooms to accommodate 300 boys. The building forms continuous structure which borders a lawn. The well-maintained lawn has rosebeds and hedges which pruned regularly. The hostel has a T.V. Room and a Common Room which provides facilities for chess, carrom, and table tennis. The hostel mess provides three meals a day for the residents. The WUS Health Centre of Delhi University provides a 24-hour health care for students.
[edit] Library
The college maintains a well-stocked library. The library is open to the bonafide students of all the classes. All important textbooks are kept in the reserve section to enable the students to write their tutorials. It has subscriptions to a large number of dailies, weeklies, periodicals and journals. These publications are available to its members in the well-equipped reading room as a reference to a wide spectrum of academic and non-academic subjects. Students, teachers, and other members of the staff are entitled to become members of the Library. The library has 3 floors holding more than 1,50,000 books excluding the journals, magazines and dailies which it stocks. Students from other colleges often visit the library to read. The reading room has space for a hundred students to sit and study at one time.
[edit] Magazine
Indraprastha, the college magazine, publishes articles by students and reviews of the educational, cultural, and social and sports activities of the college. Each section of the magazine is edited by a Student Editor under the supervision of a member of the teaching staff.
[edit] Sports
The college maintains an extensive playground and a sports complex. Cricket, Table Tennis, Lawn Tennis, Basketball and Swimming are organised in the college under direct supervision of Director of Physical Education.
[edit] Hindu College Cricket Team
Hindu College cricket team is one of best college teams in Delhi University. The current team has 6 Delhi state players. Many famous names who have played in the national side had started off in the Hindu college cricket team. Some of them include Ajay Jadeja,Gautam Gambhir, Murali Karthik, Vinay Lamba, Ashish Nehra, Deep Dasgupta.
[edit] The College Parliament
The Hindu College Parliament is a unique student organisation in the country. All the students and teachers are its members. The students from amongst themselves elect the prime minister at the beginning of each year. The speaker of the parliament is a teacher nominated by the principal in his/her capacity as the president of the Hindu college republic. It is a forum for discussion of academic and other issues. It is an excellent training ground for public speaking and leadership qualities. The Principal of the college is the President. The Government passes an annual budget which allocates funds to the various societies and departments of the college. The various ministries are Finance, Sports, Student Development, Food Services, Campus Development, Cultural etc. Each ministry has a minister and a secretary who handle the affairs. The Parliament often meets to debate issues pertaining to the college. It has a reputation of attracting famous speakers from all over the country to address the students. Pre-independence, famous nationalist leaders debated fiery issues with students in this very parliament itself. A famous former Prime Minister of India, attended the Budget session on The Hindu College Parliament and after watching the proceedings, said " This Parliament is indeed a great institution. And quite a lucky one because today it holds not one but two Prime Ministers" referring to the Hindu College Prime Minister and himself.
[edit] College Cafe
Hindu college has a modern, newly built cafeteria for its students and staff, where all barriers are broken down amidst much bonhomie.
[edit] College Annual Event - MECCA
The College student body organizes annual cultural event by the name of MECCA. The event which span over multiple days involves theatrical, literary,dance and other misc events. Previous years have also seen Star nights ranging from Classical to Rock and Roll.
[edit] Principal of Hindu College
The principal of Hindu college also serves as the Honorary Heads of the Students's Republic of Hindu College. The following is the chronological list of teachers who have served as as principals of this institution:
| Principals of Hindu College | Years as Principal | |
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| 1 | B.B. Mookerji | (1899–06) |
| 2 | N.N. Roy | (1906–11) |
| 3 | P.B. Adhikari | (1911–15) |
| 4 | S. Sen | (1915,–17) |
| 5 | N.V. Thadani | (1917–28) |
| 6 | S.K. Sen | (1928–34) |
| 7 | N.V. Thadani | (1935–50) |
| 8 | A. Bhattacharya | (1950–57) |
| 9 | R.N. Mathur | (1958–64) |
| 10 | B.M. Bhatia* | (1964–71) |
| 11 | B.M. Bhatia* | (1973–80) |
| 12 | P.C. Verma | (1980–95) |
| 13 | S.N. Maheshwari | (1995–97) |
| 14 | Kavita A. Sharma | (1998–present) |
