Shri Ram College of Commerce Inculcates Versatility!

When I stepped into Shri Ram College of Commerce's campus on the third day of its annual festival, Crossroads, I discovered that the rock band Agnee had cancelled its show at the eleventh hour, apparently on health grounds. But the organising committee members didn't turn a hair. "We can arrange another band in 24 hours. We have enough funds for that," said a confident Pulkit Sharma, vice president, students' union. In fact, the college managed to rope in not one but three performers - Jasleen of India's Got Talent fame, rock bands Sifar and Indigo Children.

As we all know, Crossroads is truly a magnificent festival and reflects the students' managerial skills and most importantly, versatility. "When I got admission here three years ago, I was told that a lot of students were nerds. But in the first year I realised this was not true. Our participation in cultural activities is as robust as in studies," says Ayushi Gupta, a final year student of BCom (honours).

USP: The oldest commerce college of Delhi University and perhaps the best in India.

Faculty: The college is highly regarded for its qualified and talented faculty members. "Authors of famous commerce books have been our teachers. They are Amit Sachdeva in the economics department and Dr CS Sharma in the finance department," says Ajay Dawar, an alumnus of the 2008 batch.

When these eminent authors teach, students from other sections throng classrooms to listen to them.

Programmes: BCom (honours), BA (economics) honours, postgraduate diploma in global business operations

IT quotient: The college website is very basic and offers limited information. There are no contact numbers (not even email ids) of society representatives or faculty members. But one can contact the principal's office, section officer, placement cell and other important offices at www.srcc.edu/contact.html

Infrastructure: This is a college with the best infrastructure in the university. It has a swimming pool and two hostels that can accommodate 450 students. Two years ago, the college upgraded its classrooms and introduced projectors. Also, all classrooms are air-conditioned.

Student speak: "Our focus is on both academics and extra-curricular activities. Our philosophy is to study hard and party hard," says Udit Garg, a final-year student of BCom (honours).

Alumni speak: "You get a brilliant score (96% or above) in class 12 and might have been the school topper before you seek admission in SRCC, but when you come here to study, you realise that everyone is equally bright if not brilliant and that makes the whole academic environment extremely competitive. I scored 78% in BCom (honours) and was ranked 25th or 26th or even below in my batch (2008). But had I got this score in some other college, I would have easily been among the top three," says Dawar.

Amit Bhatia, a 1989 graduate, CEO of Aspire Human Capital, says, "Renowned tax consultants like Girish Ahuja and VK Singhania, whose books are like commerce bibles, teach at SRCC. If you attend their classes, you learn the subjects so well that you don't forget them, ever."

Clubs and societies: The famous societies are dramatics, debating and western dance. There are other societies for commerce, economics, English literature, history and political science, computers and mathematics. Being an academically oriented institution, students believe that personality development is a necessary evil. "Though regular participation affects our studies, it gives us the confidence to speak in front of thousands of people. Earlier, I was a ‘quiet' person but after giving around 50 street play performances, I have acquired the confidence to put across my point of view in a group discussion," says Anupriya Verma, a second year economics (honours) student and a member of the dramatics society.

When asked if her studies were affected because of her participation in extracurricular activities, Verma says, "I scored 78% in first year, though I could have easily scored more than 80% (had there been no theatre)."

Basic details: There are 108 teachers for 1800 undergraduate students. Twenty five per cent of the teachers are PhDs.

There are a few vacancies (for permanent positions) that will be filled soon, interviews for which took place on February 6-8.

Fact file

In 1920, seven Delhi businessmen set up Commercial Education Trust and started a school in Delhi to offer a post-matriculation diploma programme in commerce. It was initially named Commercial College. It was later rechristened Shri Ram College of Commerce, after its affiliation to the University of Delhi in 1926

Wish list

"The cafeteria needs an urgent makeover. Neither the ambience nor the food is worth talking about," says a final year BCom (hons) student.

Hangout: Like other campus students, Bangalow Road is the favourite and closest hangout joint for SRCCites too. The road is flanked by popular eateries such as McDonald's, Barista and Café Coffee Day, among other eateries

 

Author: Vimal Chander Joshi (HT Horizons)

Date: 11th February, 2011

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