LOCAL VOCAL
Hindu keeps pace

every brick on its walls are testimony to a bygone era. a beginning steeped in history. during the national movement hindu college was the hub of intellectual debate, especially during the quit india movement. in response to gandhiji's call to students and teachers to join the movement, it remained closed for several months in 1942. during the freedom struggle, many teachers and students of also went to jail.a 102-year-old college, hindu was first housed in a small building in kinari bazar. it moved to its present location in 1953. with a phenomenal growth over the years, the co-educational college today stands tall amongst its contemporaries. it boasts of an accomplished 100-member faculty and a homogeneous student body of more than 2,000. ''the college's academic results shows the efficacy of our faculty,'' says principal kavita sharma. she adds, ''the interesting point is that hindu was established by cloth merchants for the less privileged.'' encompassing almost every field from basic sciences, commerce, humanities to social sciences, the college has 19 departments. elaborating on the facilities it has to offer, sharma says, ''it has well-equipped laboratories, an extensive playground (hindu's cricket pitch 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 du.'' the college maintains a well-stocked library. to facilitate easy access to the students, the library is in the process of computerisation. 'indraprastha,' the college magazine invites articles from students including reviews of the educational, cultural, social and other sports activities of the college. ''departments like english, economics etc bring out their own magazine,'' according to sharma. the hindu college parliament is a unique students' organisation in the country. ''the idea behind the parliament was to make youth aware of the issues involved in the freedom struggle. it provides an excellent ground for public speaking and leadership qualities,''says sharma. disha, the counselling and placement cell is the newest addition to the numerous societies functioning in the college. the cell organises seminars and workshops for career counselling to help students with personality development. there is a social service league to enable students perform social work under a trained teacher-in-charge. ''we offer various scholarships on the basis of academic performances. the college also gives fee concession to needy and deserving on the basis performance in the last examination,'' says sharma. the college prides itself in being able to provide students with a secular, liberal, yet vivacious and ambitious environment.