Established by American Jesuits as Nirmala College during the time of partition and then shifted to its present location in 1954 under the trust founded by Seth Kirori Mal, Kirori Mal College is amongst the finest institutions at the University of Delhi. It boasts of not just exceptionally high standards of academia, but also spectacular performance in extracurricular activities.
Rubbing shoulders with other North Campus colleges, KMC has its own blend of the intellectuals and the non-conformists. It certainly doesn’t compel you to make academics your only priority, allowing you to explore other aspects of your personality. Its faculty is amongst the least dogmatic ones in North Campus and always inspire the students to do more for the society.
Location
A stone throw away from FMS, next to Bungalow Road, this college is located in North Campus.
How to Get There
The metro is the choice for most students coming to the college, with the nearest metro station being Vishwavidyalaya, the unofficial metro-partner of North Campus. The metro ride followed by a rickshaw will get you to the college, walking the distance being an option if it is winters and/or you, unlike most others, are not running the Olympics to get to the 9 AM class in time. Students with their private modes of transportation can park their vehicles in the ample parking space available both inside the college and outside. Buses are a cheap option too, with the bus stop being just outside the college.
Popular Courses
KMC offers a very diverse array of subjects, traversing the languages, literature, arts, science and commerce. Of these, English, Economics and Geography are some of the more popular courses that the college boasts of.
Admission Procedure
General Category
The procedure for admittance is thankfully simple due to the acceptance of the common form.
Sports and ECA Categories
Kirori Mal is known for its ECA societies and hence only the best make it. There are special forms for Sports and ECA which need to be filled up and submitted alongside all relevant certificates. It is always a safe bet to figure out what all the college needs before hand from their admin. This is then followed by auditions/trials after which the students who are chosen are admitted.
Infrastructure
Classrooms haven’t been acknowledged for their external beauty and its auditorium, possibly the oldest in DU, has sadly fallen into bad times. The laboratories are some of the best in the university, for all the science courses, as well as for Geography and Statistics. There exist separate common rooms for both girls and boys where one can catch up on the daily dose of gossip or indulge in endless sessions of serious discussions or just nap the time away. To add to these are a good seminar room, one of the most extensive libraries in the campus and a computer centre. Further, the portal – a nondescript room buzzing with activity – has made the process of admission much simpler. While the canteen might not be a looker, the food available is one of the best in North Campus and pocket friendly at the same time. It has an amphitheatre which is put to use for the college’s famous annual street play festival, ‘Sar-e-Aam’. It has an in-campus branch of the Oriental Bank of Commerce and has an OBC ATM at the college’s back gate and a Punjab National Bank ATM near the front gate.
Out-of Station Students
Presently, hostel accommodation is only available for male students, with talks of a possible girls’ hostel in the distant future. The hostel houses 170 students and boasts of Amitabh Bacchan being one of its past inhabitants. The boys’ hostel facility is provided on the basis of merit and a short interview. A lot of options for accommodation out of the college are available for both female and male students, with PGs being the choice most first year students take. The campus area covers residential areas like Vijaynagar and Malkaganj which have a lot of PGs and rooms for rent to students and are close to the college. Girl students can also avail of the Delhi University Women’s Hostel, which is located near enough to the campus area.
Societies
Kirori Mal College boasts of some of the best societies in the city’s college circuit, with its dramatics society, The Players, being the most known of them. The Players has a glorious past, since its inception in 1957 by Frank Thakurdas and has given the Indian cinema and theatre stage a lot of their stalwarts. The music society, Musoc is another of its famous societies, with the band Parikrama being founded around its jam sessions. The debating society of the college is one of the most respected in the debating circuit and continues to flourish through the years. FAPS, the Fine Arts and Photography Society, provides the perfect space for the college’s students with an eye and hand for the visual art to grow in. Kirori Mal is also one of the only colleges in the University of Delhi to have a robust gender forum, Parivartan, which is known for its active participation in the cause for gender equality and sensitisation in the colleges. It also has one of the only film societies in the University and it regularly holds film screenings, while film weeks are a yearly event, with the focus being on World Cinema, Indian Parallel Cinema and documentaries. Apart from these, the college has a society for every niche of the student body, from the literary society, Grubstreet to the dance society, Sensation. While ECA admission is available for selected societies, general auditions take place soon after the college re-opens.
Annual Fests
Kirori Mal College’s fest, Renaissance, is known for being one of the best in North Campus, with the chief attraction for last year’s edition being the concert by KK, a KM alumnus. While the annual college fest is the high profile affair, the annual fests for the dramatics and music societies are also crowd pullers. The college auditorium having seen grander days, the dramatics society, The Players, holds its stage play public performance outside the college, where both students and non-students from all over the city throng to watch the society’s annual stage productions. The Players also has an active street play wing and it has its own non-competitive fest, ‘Sar-e-Aam’ inside the college. The annual fest of Musoc, ‘Surmanjari’, is also famous for its display of creativity and talent. KMC is also the only college to have an annual fest for its gender forum, Parivartan, called ‘Nazariya’ which was graced by a performance by the contemporary theatre artist, Maya Rao this year.
Hangout Points
There are a lot of places to hangout at for the college’s students and most such places are frequented by groups of a particular kind respectively. While the buzz of a hundred students talking together is always on inside the canteen, another popular place to eat and chill is the KHoCa (Kirorimal Hostel Canteen). The students are lucky that the college back gate opens directly into the Kamla Nagar Market, which is filled with places to eat and shop at. The back gate itself has become a place to hang out at, with the Choley Khulchewala there being a favourite with the students. While fast food outlets like McDonalds, KFC and Domino’s maintain their presence, Chache Di Hatti nearby the back gate is still the North Campus institution. Another new favourite is the Shawarma Walla, behind the McD. For the ones still unsure of their place in the crowd, a visit to the Rugby Lawns is a must.
Did you know?
If you’re a Bacchan fan then a visit to Amitabh Bacchan’s former hostel room on his birthday is mandatory where every year celebrations are held on that day.
Become Tingu’s best friend as soon as you can and be assured of constant availability of sugar coated toffees, bhujia and cigarettes inside the college. And don’t take the trouble of finding him; Tingu will find you.
While both Subir Malik, Parikrama keyboardist, creator and manager, and his wife studied in the college around the same time, they did not know each other until years later when they came across each other and found fate to be a funny old dame.