Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College: A Jannat in Waiting!

Life in Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur (SGTB) Khalsa College is about having fun and enjoying it to the fullest. Be it academics, extra curricular activities or sports, the college ensures that you get the maximum returns on the time you spend here. "The trick lies in creating a balance between studies and masti," says Vipin Bhartiya, also part of the same group. "We are more inclined towards seeking real-world knowledge than gathering bookish gyaan. College for us is about exploring and experimenting," adds Bhartiya.

The next time they meet will be for the exams, and so this bunch of first year BA history (hons) are making the most of the last day of the session.

Many of them are touched by the fact that a batchmate, Kusum Singh, who studied with them for a short two months, has come all the way from Lucknow to meet them on this day.

"I made such special friends here that I felt I had to come see them today. Meeting all of them after such a long time is a great feeling," says a shy Singh. "When we got to know that she was coming, all of us were surprised. We did not think she'd want to remain in touch with us after all this while. See, this is what friendship does to you at this place," says Maneet Kaur, a first year part of the same group.

USP: An excellent track-record in sports. Its hockey, football, athletics, cross-country, basketball and cricket teams have won many trophies. It is believed that in the past, at least one player from the Indian national hockey team used to be from this college.

Faculty: The college has a distinguished teaching staff of over 165 members and 101 karamchari staff members.

Programmes: On offer are 20 courses of study - ten in the science stream, seven in humanities and three in commerce. Some of the programmes offered are Bsc (hons) physics, chemistry, electronics, physical sciences, applied life sciences, political science, English, Hindi, Punjabi, BCom, BBE etc. Besides, there are 13 postgraduate degree programmes and two certificate programmes running here. The BBE programme has the distinction of a 100% placement record this year with an average salary of R6 lakh.

IT quotient: The website is pretty comprehensive and gives an insightful glimpse of life at Khalsa. The IT lab has about 30 computers.

Infrastructure: Thanks to the Commonwealth Games, infrastructure got a big boost, with a brand new sports complex, floodlights and improved playgrounds. Apart from this, the ground floor of the teaching block is air-conditioned with LCD projectors. About a 100 computer terminals are available to the students for research. Well-maintained science laboratories and a state-of-the-art auditorium complete the picture.

Studentspeak: "Discipline in the college is not something that we don't like. We respect one another, don't misbehave with people on campus and there are no severe and unjustified restrictions. The decorum is well-maintained and adds to the experience of studying here," says Shantanu Ramachandran.

Clubs and societies: The college provides ample scope for extra curricular activities with societies like Ankur, for drama and Dhwani, for music. DADS is the Debates and Discussion Society, then there is the Commerce Society; Eco-Tryst, the economics society; ELS, the English literary society, Hindi Sahitya Sabha; History Society; Prakriti, the botanical society; and Zenith, the choregraphy team; the Physics Society; Anhad, the divinity society; and Aakriti, the zoology society. The annual festival Lashkara also eagerly anticipated every year. The college also organised its first cultural festival, Srijan, under the aegis of the Equal Opportunity Cell. Differently-abled students from various colleges participated in 17 fine art events on the occasion.

Factfile

Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College has been named after the ninth guru of the Sikhs, Guru Tegh Bahadur. The college was founded in 1951 by the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee in Dev Nagar and later shifted to its present location in 1973.

Wishlist

"We really hope that the college allows non-Punjabi singers to perform at our annual festival. Besides, it would be great if Sikh students can be allowed to attend classes in a patka," says a student who doesn't wish to be named .

 

Author: Garima Upadhyay (HT Horizons)

Date: 5th May 2011