Everyone who applied got admission

There were days when admission to Delhi University (DU) was a cakewalk. “Everyone who applied, got admission,” says SN Chibbar, a 1957 alumnus of Ramjas College, reports Aparajita Bharti.

There were days when admission to Delhi University (DU) was a cakewalk. “Everyone who applied, got admission,” says SN Chibbar, a 1957 alumnus of Ramjas College.

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“There was absolutely no shortage of seats.” Now a member of Central Board of Secondary Education’s expert panel, Chibber pursued his BSc (Honours) from Ramjas.

But his three years with the institution were rather unique.

For starters, his first year classes were held at the Daryaganj campus, the same building, which now houses the Ramjas school.

“We used to hang out at the small market in Daryaganj,” he said. “We used to buy our books from Nai Sadak, much like today’s students.”

Set up in 1917 by educationist Rai Kedar Nath, Ramjas is one of the oldest colleges under DU.

The institution moved to North Campus in 1954 and when it did, the canteen became a high point of student life. There was no shortfall on the discipline front though.

“I remember my life in college as a practice of high standards of discipline,” he says. “People valued education as everyone did not have access to it.”