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November 18, 2014

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Beyond the Obvious: Jesus and Mary College

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Jesus and Mary College is a women’s only institute situated in one of Delhi’s most well kept areas, Chanakyapuri. Only a kilometer and a half away from the hustle and bustle of other south campus colleges like Sri Venkateswara, ARSD etc, Jesus and Mary College enjoys the privilege of being an on campus college, yet has a quaint atmosphere with all the embassies around.

There are quite a few things that set Jesus and Mary College apart from most Delhi University colleges. The college was founded in 1968 by a Roman Catholic congregation, and is one of the only two Christian minority college in Delhi University, the other being St. Stephen’s College. The college is also one of the few in the University that is not affiliated with Delhi University Students Union, but has a strong and independent students’ body of its own. Unlike many other DU colleges, Jesus and Mary College has very strict attendance and discipline policies.

Spread over 15 lush acres, the college undoubtedly has one of the best infrastructures in all of DU. The ongoing construction of new classrooms has certainly hampered the current beauty of the campus, but the newly renovated library makes up for some of it. Jesus and Mary College’s library, which was already very expansive, is now state of the art, multi-storied, and almost fully digital. The huge multi-purpose hall, which was inaugurated in 2006, is something every Jesus and Mary College student is extremely proud of. The canteen, which has undergone several management changes in the past few years, is doing extremely well. Apart from the regular samosas, chhole bhature, chilly potatoes etc, the Coke Station stocks food items ranging from sour punk to Starbucks coffee and Häagen-Dazs ice cream. There is absolutely no dearth of hang out points for JMC girls. Apart from the well stocked canteen and famous Bhel Puri, Satya Niketan and Yashwant Singh Place are just a short auto ride away. There’s also Taj CCD, which is like a second home for lots of JMC-ites and their friends. Since the college is in quite a prime South Delhi location, Khan Market, Hauz Khas, Saket, Dilli Haat, Sarojini Nagar are all on our ‘hangout spots’ map.

Another thing JMC girls take extreme pride in is their performance in sports and other extracurricular activities like western dance, drama and Indian music, to name a few. The college has consistently been winning sports accolades like the Vice Chancellor’s trophy for many years, with the most recent feathers in their cap being the DU Inter College Tennis Tournament, Apurvi Chandela, a final year student winning the gold medal in the women’s 10m air rifle event and Manika Batra, securing the 4th place in the women`s singles table tennis, both at the 2014 CWG, Glasgow.

A very important aspect for any college is the crowd it houses. The college is renowned for having the right combination of beauty and brains. The college celebrates individuality, and successfully breaks many stereotypical beliefs every day: no, we girls don’t dress up for guys, we do it for ourselves; yes, we’re equally likely to show up in our track pants when we feel like it.

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Interviews

Interview: IndiaCollegeSearch CEO Anirudh Motwani

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IndiaCollegeSearch.com is one of India’s most successful online educational portals providing aggregated information about colleges and applications, so that students can evaluate both quantitatively and qualitatively and choose the best option for themselves. Already a million-strong community, it is still expanding. Our correspondent recently interviewed the Founder and CEO of IndiaCollegeSearch.com, Mr. Anirudh Motwani.

Ayesha: How did the idea of IndiaCollegeSearch.com come to you?
Anirudh: When we were looking for colleges, we faced the same problem of inadequate levels of information. It is very common among Indian students that they don’t have many choices as to which colleges to go to. We started with a Classifieds model in 2008, but we did not find it fit for education sector, rather it worked for jobs better, because students need a lot more than just the contact details of the college, like teaching faculty, placements etc. Through our existing model, we are trying to do so.

Ayesha: How does IndiaCollegeSearch.com garner the high quality information for and from both colleges and students?
Anirudh: Initially, in 2010, we did a lot of research, looking up into college websites and field work, but now we have almost 5000 colleges that are updating their own profiles. Our job is mainly now to keep a tab as to which profiles are out-dated, and keep updating them.

Ayesha: Did you face any problems while incorporating in your website such a large plethora of career options and institutions, more so with the advent of new off-beat career choices?
Anirudh: IndiaCollegeSearch.com was started mainly for Engineering and Management courses, which are quite similar in their professional structure. In every course, there are a lot of factors that matter, like for Medical, it is not the college really, but the attached hospital that is important, and also for Vocational courses, the campus ceases to matter, but the infrastructure. So, we do try to provide a standard level of information, but it is difficult.

Ayesha: Just like IndiaCollegeSearch.com, do you feel that there lies any potential in the growing online education sector?
Anirudh: Of course. Our specific arena is mainly admissions, but we also have a backhand software which about 1000 colleges use to manage their applications in one place, including some DU colleges. Infact, we processed around 2 lakh applications from our website last year. So yes, all this is definitely going online, and it does have a bright future, with more and more procedures switching to online.

Ayesha: Any further development you are looking forward to in IndiaCollegeSearch.com?
Anirudh: Yes, what we are looking to do in the upcoming months is social selection of colleges, like where are people from your city have applied in the past, which colleges or courses, where your friends have applied, which possible colleges have received most number of applications, what are your chances of getting in, what is that college’s acceptance rate or average response rate. This will make the whole application procedure much simpler.

Ayesha: What is the significance of your website’s Review Section?
Anirudh: Whatever general data is available, cannot tell you how life is like in the college. What the canteen is like, how are the lecturers, how far it is; that is the softer aspects of a college that you can only get to know from an alumni or a current student.

Ayesha: What, in your opinion, makes IndiaCollegeSearch.com stand out?
Anirudh: We have always focused on the students, to give them basic information and not try to give publicity to any college or course. We prefer to keep the power of information in the user’s hands.

Ayesha: Especially for our readers, do you offer any placements or internships for students?
Anirudh: We have hired DU alumni, though not on-campus. And, we are also planning to start internships and appoint Campus Ambassadors for ICS, because after all its they who are in the system and our best information source.

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Uncategorized

Test

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One of their major programmes that have been successfully running is the Know Your Body, Know Your Rights Programme. It works with adolescents from 12 to 18 years of age to talk to them about sexuality education and everything that comes under it,
including gender and violence, sex and pleasure, puberty and body image. The KYBKYR programme focuses on the needs of those whom it wishes to serve – what they want to learn, what they want to know. It aims to impart information to the youth in an unreserved manner and empower them to be become more sensitive to their own sexual and health-related needs and rights. The main focus is on these young people’s relationship with their rights.

Volunteering for KYBKYR isn’t just about becoming a peer educator to some of the sweetest kids you will ever meet, but it is also about growing and expanding your own selves. It is an experience that makes one feel happy not despite but because of the tiredness that comes from a full day’s work.

Volunteers learn as much from the kids they talk to as from the trainings they undergo before they become part of the organisation.
Becoming a part of TYPF is also like joining a crazy, dysfunctional family that will guide you through your mistakes as much as it celebrates your successes.

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