JNU 8

Legacies do not die down, JNU remains a different campus despite enormous growth in its size since 1970s and early 1980s (our time). In any public protest, we still find JNU students (and a couple of teachers) on the forefronts. If the teacher-student deivid is widening, responsibility lies more with the teachers. In our times, it had 7 hostels(with single seated rooms) 5 and 1/2 for boys and 1 and 1/2 for girls (3:11). The number of hostels is multiplied with all the rooms being double/triple seated. The equation of the sex ratio is on the way to reversal as a result of great leap forward in the realms of feminist scholarship  and assertion (and also dalit scholarship and assertion) leading to the change in the compostion of the campus. Composition of the faculty has also changed. Extra-acadamic considerations in the appointment of teachers were never alien but now JNU has caught up with DU and other universities, academic competence and teaching temperament are added qualifications. despite whatever degenrations took place in the campus since 1983, it remains the best campus of the country as far as a democratic academic and political cuture is concerned. And we need not lament about 1983 and subsequent degenerations, as we, who were there in 1983, are the original culprits for compromising and apologysing to sabotage the great spirit that could have turned into a historic movement. Any way, shifting the blames, is normal human nature. At the end, I feel fortunate priviledged to have accidently reached JNU that was a revelation for me, it was a great time and our conrmporaries are different among their likes, whereever they are and exceptions ony prove the rule.