A tour of Shri Shikshayatan College, Kolkata
A women’s college, with rules like a coeducational college and with a disciplinary system, like that of a convent school, taught us what it’s like to be free and independent but with a sense of responsibility and accountability.
That is how I will always remember my college. It seems to me that it was only yesterday, that I entered the huge auditorium for my ‘Orientation Day’, only to hear my Principal Ma’am say, “Girls, no short dresses are allowed inside our college”.
My college stands tall with its glorious white building on the streets of 11, Lord Sinha Road, Elgin, Kolkata, West Bengal. The location is exotic, with every flavor of South Kolkata oozing out. The street run between the metro station and the panipuri stall on the opposite footpath where you see a huge black gate above which the bold letters cry out loud in pride- “SHRI SHIKSHAYATAN”.
Now, before I start to bore you with my course, the curriculum, and the professors, let me take you on a quick tour of my college. I’ll be your guide today.
On entering the college we will find 3 sets of eyes, in blue uniforms, staring at us and searching for the infamous, ‘ID Card’. When we finally get our IDs checked, in front of us lies the Shri Shikshayatan School compound, and on our right is the Common auditorium. We’ll take a right from here and climb the staircase to the second floor to find the English Department spread out in all its glory. If we keep walking straight, towards the end of the corridor, we will finally realize we found the place from where we kept on getting the smell of mouth-watering Maggie, the minute we reached the staircase. So, the canteen is, of course, my favorite place, on the one hand it is our college sponsored ‘Kakus’ catering food while on the other, it is the part of the canteen that is CCD sponsored. My favorite dish in the canteen has always been the good old, ‘mixed sauce pasta’ with cheese grated on top.
I studied English Honours for three years as my Under Graduate course at Shri Shikshayatan College. The college is affiliated to the University of Calcutta. The faculty here is top-notch, comprising experienced and qualified Professors. The teachers not only guide us through our course of studies but also provide their advice on any personal issue if required. They were my extended family, in its true sense. The classrooms have 3D screens and a projector, along with two air conditioners in every room, including the canteen. The corridors and the washrooms are clean and hygienic.
I was a member of the Literaria Society, Community service Society, and the Drama Society in my college. The other societies in our college were — Debate, Quiz, Cultural and Political societies, etc., but, a person could only be a member of a maximum of three societies at a time.
A normal day at Shri Shikshayatan for me would start with Shakespeare or Marlowe and moved on to Keats or Shelley about fifty minutes later. Then a lunch break where the usual routine was to gather around the canteen with my friends and have fun and laugh my heart out, without a reason to stress. Then after lunch, it used to be the time for Coleridge or Wordsworth, then moving on to Jane Austen or Virginia Woolf, and wrapping up the day with Elliot or Frost.
If ever classes were dismissed, our go-to place would be Nandan for theatres or Cultural movies, or Forum Mall, if we were to watch any commercial movies. If we were to have a normal day out, the nearest place from our college is Birla Planetarium. Then just beside Birla, there is St. Paul’s Cathedral Church, which is one of my favorite spots for whenever I feel stressed out or overwhelmed. Then about a few minutes away there is Victoria Memorial, we usually just roamed around the ground, ‘Maidan’, where we can just sit and chill with our friends, under the open sky, with my favorite ‘alu chaat’ in hand.
Every year we had this huge college fest which had a 2-day long schedule. The first day, “Shree” was the annual function day. It included the performances of our collegemates. The afterpart of the noon was about fundraising stalls to sell any of our creations, like earrings, or food stalls. The funds raised from this event went to an orphanage. The second day is the big event day, “Srijan” where a celebrity performer made a grand entry.
Talking about college always gives me a nostalgic feeling. In those three years, I felt free in a disciplined way. When I look back at these years I am reminded of the feeling of being truly independent.
