One Hundred Years of DAV College Jalandhar – a
Centenary Commemorative Volume
On June 6, 2023 a well researched, written and also elegantly
presented – One Hundred Year of DAV
College Jalandhar, in a ‘coffee table book ’ format, was launched at a solemn
function at the DAV College in which I participated as one of the proud alumnus
of
the great institution of the region. The book was formally released by one
of the illustrious alumni of the College, Retired IAS and Chief Secretary of
Punjab, Sarvesh Kaushal at a function presided over by yet another leading light
of the galaxy of alumni corps, Prof. K.K. Ghai along with the author of the
Book, Principal Jagdish Chander Joshi and Hon’ble Principal of the College, Dr.
Rajesh Kumar. The function, attended by a representative section of the
academic, intellectual, professional, economic and socio-cultural circles of
Jalandhar and beyond was ably and aptly steered by Prof. Sharad Manocha. The
centenary commemorative volume (1918 – 2018) was ready for the release in 2021
itself with the untiring and appreciative efforts of Principal J.C. Joshi and
the College Management but due to one reason or the other it could not be done.
Going by the dictum – Better late than Never, the book was released at a
befitting function and is available at hand. I am confident that students,
researchers and historians will find it as a great source as a ‘Comprehensive
Reference Book’ as visualized by the author and publishers also. While speaking
at the release, the author, Principal Jagdish Joshi, a highly qualified and
acclaimed literary and academic personality – teacher, historian, poet,
translator, and orator and above all a fine human being (a brief profile of the
author is available on the rear title page of the book), rightly said at the
release function:
मेरी तस्वीर के नक़श जरा गौर से देखो ;
इसमें एक दौर की तस्वीर नज़र आएगी।
Principal Jagdish
Joshi is one of my hand-holders in Jalandhar as a ‘Friend, Philosopher and
Guide’ whom I met a few years ago on my return to Jalandhar, my native place on
retirement from a long diplomatic career in and under the Ministry of External
Affairs, courtesy my mentor and senior colleague, Ambassador Bal Anand. It is
my good fortune that I could pick up the threads and in the company of Prof.
Joshi and Ambassador Bal Anand and also my own Gurus (Teachers) namely; Prof.
K.C. Mahendru and Prof. K.K. Ghai and could revive my association with my alma
mater, DAV College Jalandhar, as a humble student of the great institution. As
a blogger, I have written many a times in these columns about DAV College
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| From my ID Card of the College in 1967-68 |
Jalandhar on its multifaceted activities and today again I have decided to
write something about this great work of Prof. Joshi, One Hundred Years of DAV
College Jalandhar, not as an expert or an intellectual but as a layman and a
humble student.
The very opening page of the book rightly says, “DAV College
Jalandhar – 100 years of shaping lives”. The pages after pages of the book
amply testify this assertion in consonance with the Emblem of the College which
carries the lofty ideal – Tamso Ma Jyotir Gamya – ‘a prayer to our supreme
creator to enlighten our minds’. The book has been rightly and reverentially
dedicated ‘to the selfless services of the Stalwarts of the DAV Movement which
resulted in the establishment of the DAV College Jalandhar on May, 1918.” The
Messages of Blessings of the present day persona of the academic face of the
DAV Movement; Punam Suri and R.S. Sharma, President and General Secretary of
DAV College Managing Committee respectively set the ball rolling with the Message
of Principal S.K. Arora in whose tenure the project of the Centenary
Commemorative Book was undertaken. I still cherish the memory of my meeting and
interacting with Principal S.K. Arora at the home of Principal Jagdish Joshi,
the worthy author of the book over a relaxed evening, along with Ambassador Bal
Anand, enjoying the gracious hospitality of our hosts, the Joshis. In the
Introduction, the author termed the book as a ‘Comprehensive History of DAV
College’ which would become a ready
‘Reference Book’ of ‘DAV College, an off-spring of the DAV Movement’ and
rightly so. He gives the details of the planning and contribution of various authorities
particularly the Principals and the academic faculty of DAV College in writing
the book and duly acknowledges the ‘DAVite Sprit’ in which the project was
completed.
The book has been thoughtfully divided into nine chapters
with a view to do full justice to the various aspect of DAV College, its
development and progress. The Chapter – I is titled as ‘The DAV Movement -
Spreading Wings’ gives an overview of the DAV Movement in pursuance of the
lofty ideals of Arya Samaj Movement of Swami Dayanand Sarswati (1824-1883) the
exponent of socio-cultural transformation of the Hindu religion in the 18th
centenary as termed by the author ‘to defuse knowledge and dispel ignorance’.
Several men of vision and stature from Rai Bahadur Justice Lala Lal Chand to
Dr. Punam Suri from 1886 to the present day guided the destiny of the DAV
Movement as Presidents of the DAV College Managing Committee with more than 900
educational institutions (schools and colleges) including DAV University at
Jalandhar. It has not only changed and fortified the educational edifice of the
India that is Bharat but also transformed the socio-economic and socio-cultural
scenario to usher the country into the 21st century to meet the challenges in
the years to come. The brief profiles of the Presidents of the DAV College
Managing Committee and Stalwarts of the DAV Movement given at the Annexure I
& II to the Chapter – all men of sterling worth - is a definite source of
inspiration to the younger generations. ‘Before the Beginning’, the second
chapter, gives a brief account of the struggle Pandit Mehr Chand and his
associates underwent to establish DAV College at Jalandhar on May 13, 1918. It
is a matter of gratification to know that the land for the College (Temple of
Learning) was donated by Mohammad Anwar Khan, a student of Pandit Mehr Chand.
It reminds me of the historical fact of laying the foundation of the Harmandir
Sahib at Amritsar Temple of Faith) by a Muslim Saint Mian Mir. We need to
revive this spirit of brotherhood and oneness in our country as visualized by
Allama Iqbal:-
आ गैरियत के परदे इक बार फिर उठा दें;
विछड़ों को फिर मिला दें नक़्शे दुई मिटा दें।
The next chapter – ‘How
they reached thus far?’ -gives a bird’s eye view of the contribution of various
Principals in the development and progress of the College since May, 1918 from
Principal Pandit Mehr Chand to Principal S.K. Arora. It has been an interesting
and chequred journey under the leadership of some of the academics and able
administrators of the region who left no stone unturned in making DAV College
Jalandhar a one of the best educational centre of Northern India over the last
century. After doing my Matriculation from yet another Anglo-Vedic institution,
Sain Dass School of Basti Nau, I joined DAV College in 1966 and graduated in
1970. These were the formative years of my career for bread and butter and life
at large as a humble resident of Jalandhar. While going through the relevant
pages of the book, my own cherished memories became alive. I regarded Principal
B.S. Behl as one of the best educational administrator and an excellent human
being. Author of the book, Principal Joshi is kind enough to accommodate me, a humble
student of the great college, by including one of the anecdotes regarding
blessings of my teacher of Political Science, Principal K.C. Mahendru on page
230. I would like to narrate yet another interesting and instructive instance
of the functioning of Principal B.S. Behl with regard to the student welfare.
It was sometime in 1968. I, along with my friend and a fellow BootanMandian,
Ram Lal Dass, was going to College in our cycles. Two police constables were
standing casually in the middle of the road near the old Sabji Mandi (Vegetable
market) blocking the passage. Ram Lal casually and off the cuff commented
something like this, ‘you are expected to facilitate the traffic and not
blocking it’. The policemen in uniform did not like it and stopped us. A small
tiff and argument followed which led us to the nearby police station. I
tactfully expressed regret and offered apology and somehow managed to get out
of this unwanted situation. On reaching the College, Ram Lal, in consultation
with me, decided to inform the Principal of the unpleasant incident which we
did in writing. In a day or two subsequent days, we were summoned to the
Principal’s Office to confront a senior police officer, may be of the rank of Inspector/DSP,
to explain the matter which we did. We found Principal B.S. Behl considerate
and supportive of us. The police officer understood the message. He expressed
regret on behalf of the erring policemen and promised to issue a general
advisory to police personnel to deal with students carefully. Principal Behl
further impressed and humbled us and won our hearts as a caring father figure.
Perhaps with a sense of paying the debt of gratitude to his alma mater, Ram Lal
Dass donated Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Study Corner to the DAV College Library as
mentioned on pages 56-57 of the book. My blog on the Study Corner may be of
interest: https://diplomatictitbits.blogspot.com/2017/10/ambedkar-study-corner-at-dav-college.htm
Ram Lal was instrumental in re-introducing my teachers; Prof.
K.C. Mahendru and Prof. K.K. Ghai on my return to Jalandhar on retirement. They
were kind enough to embrace and accept me whole heartedly and I benefitted
immensely from their association. Prof. Mahendru even invited me their MLD
Dayanand Public School Mahendru as a Chief Guest in one of the functions. Principal
V.K. Tiwari was popularly known as ‘Student’s Principal’ and I met him on
various social and educational events in Jalandhar some years ago. We developed
an instant rapport and occasionally exchanged notes on matters of mutual
interest and concern. He was a much acclaimed academician and a leader by his
own right. His wife, Prof. Sarita Tiwari, a renowned multifaceted personality
in her own right kept in touch and I reviewed in my blog, as a tribute to
Principal Tiwar, her autographical book on her worthy husband; Principal V.K.
Tiwari – Father Mere Puttran De which was later included by her in a book of
tributes to the son of the soil, Principal Tiwari.
The College Management under Principal B.B. Sharma and
Principal S.K. Arora and the present Principal Rajesh Kumar have been
considerate and kind to me and had been occasionally invited me to various
important functions to my advantage and benefit – Prof.
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| Speaking at the College |
Manohar Lal Sondhi
Memorial Lectures, referred to in the book, delivered by my senior colleagues
in the IFS fraternity; Ambassador Sharat Sabharwal, an alumnus of the College,
on India Pakistan Relations and by Ambassador Ashok Kanth on India-China
Relations – Opening of Dr. Ambedkar Study Corner in the Library – 14th National
Youth Parliament – Ambassador Bal Anand’s Lecture, Alumni Meets and several
other occasions. I note with a sense of belonging that all these activities
were duly recorded by me in my blogs available at: www.diplomatictitbits.blogspot.com
Chapter IV is donated to the ‘History of Academic Departments’
in the College which makes an informative reading and makes the College a
‘Centre of Excellence’ both in sciences, Commerce and Economics and Humanities.
One can easily make out that how much effort and energy must have been invested
to reach the level of progress made by the College over the decades gone by. The
faculty to run and manage these Departments reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ in the
academic and educational sphere in the region. The College publications; The
Ravi Magazine and The DAV News were the established mouth-pieces of both the
faculty and the students in the recent past but due to one reason or the other
it could not keep pace with the changing times. The College Management informed
at the book release function that both the Ravi and the DAV News were being revived;
it is a matter of satisfaction to note. The Lajpat Rai Library of the College
is one of the best college libraries in the region – well stocked and
documented with almost 2 lakh books acquired from 1918 to 2018. Coming to
Chapter V of the book, one can sense the flavor of excellence as it is said
that the taste of pudding lies in its eating – the academic results is the true
mirror of an educational institution and in that respect DAV College Jalandhar
have been on the lead. The author has rightly observed, “Right from its
inception, DAV College Jalandhar had had the privilege of glorious achievements
in respect of annual examination results.” I recall that in the IFS fraternity,
two of my colleagues and fellow alumnus; Harish Dogra and Sharat Sabharwal were
Gold Medalists in Mathematics and Political Science respectively. Yet another
illustrious alumnus who found mention in the book as a Judge at the
International Court at The Hague (page 223) is Sat Paul Jalota who was the Head
(Joint Secretary) of the Legal and Treaties Division of the Ministry of
External Affairs. The next chapter deals with ‘Extra Curricular Activities’ -
an important and inalienable aspect of education in the development of
students. DAV College remained the flag-bearer in this respect having
established a full-fledged Department of Extra-Mural Activities during the
tenure of Principal Suraj Bhan, an icon of the DAV Movement. I vividly recall
that during my years in the college in later half of 1960s it was compulsory
for every student to become member of two Clubs/Societies with a view to
explore and avail of inherit talent among the students for poetry, drama,
debate, music and dance etc. The College and its Alumni are proud of recalling
the glorious aspect of these activities in naming some of the legendary
personalities like; Ghazal Maestro Jagjit Singh, Sufi Singer Hans Raj Hans,
Diljaan, Sukhwinder Singh, Comedian Birbal (as told by Prof. Sharad Manocha),
Actor and Satirist Jaspal Bhatti, Classical Musician Baldev Saran Narang (He visited
and stayed with us at our official residence “India House” at Edinburgh
(Scotland) where I was the Consul General of India and fully engaged and
entertained us with his classical renderings for a couple of evenings),
Sudarshan Faakir, Upendra Nath Ashk among others. I understand even Dr. B.R.
Ambedkar, the Chief Architect of the Constitution of India spoke to the DAV
College students on the Parliamentary Democracy in October, 1951 as mentioned
in the Introduction and in Chapter IX of the book the author says, “One
conspicuous feature of this chapter is that Dr. B.R. Ambedkar delivered a
speech at DAV College Jalandhr on October 28, 1951. His views are still
relevant about the real “Parliamentary Democracy”. Besides this, College has
been a preparing base for the defense forces in motivating and training young
students under the wings of NCC and NSS. Col. Manmohan Singh is a legendary
personality living in Jalandhar is the flag-bearer of this defense forces brigade
of the college. The next is an elaborative narration of Sports activities, yet
another important aspect of education. It is a matter of satisfaction to note
that the College remained second to none in sports too. The photo gallery of
Sports Stars in the segment – Through the Lens Eye - is awesome and inspiring
in almost all disciplines of sports. The College produced Olympians and players
of National and International Standing to make ‘We the people of India’ proud. Skipping
Chapter VIII, the last but one, I come to Chapter IX on the Distinguished
Visitors – a galaxy of VVIPs; President, Vice-President, PMs, Governors, CMs,
Judges, Ministers, MPS, MLAs, Highly placed Bureaucrats in the Indian Civil
Services: IAS, IFS, IPS etc, Technocrats, Academics, Professional, Entrepreneurs
and so on. The Hall Fame, a landmark on the DAV College Premises is adorned by
the photos of these prominent visitors and serves in making history. Author
Principal Joshi has rightly noted, “Eminent persons came to this temple of
learning either on the specific invitation of the college or of their own
choice (especially the alumni).” The appended speeches of Mahamahim Rashtrapati
Rajender Prasad delivered in 1961 and the speech of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar delivered
in 1951 would certainly be of great value for the research scholars. The second
part of the book is – History: 100 Years Journey – Through the Lens Eye gives a
pictorial presentation of various aspects of the contribution of DAV College
Jalandhar in producing a reservoir of talented and intellectual Human Resource
to make India a “VISHWAGURU’ in the years to come – results in culmination of
‘100 Years of Shaping Lives’. On a bit of personal note, I observe this with a
sense of pride that as many as 5 of my fellow BootanMandians (residents of a
non-descript locality of Bootan Mandi on Nakodar Road Jalandhar) found place in
‘Through the Lens Eye’ – Ambassador Ramesh Chander, Former Chief Parliamentary
Secretary of Punjab, Avinash Chander, PCS Anupam Kler, PCS brother, Pawan Kumar
and Sunil Kumar and a Community Activist, Ram Lal Dass, it is just a
co-incident but gratifying.
All said and done, as a feeble attempt to say something on
this great work of history and referral value – One Hundred Year of DAV College
Jalandhar, I come to the conclusion with a few of my humble observation on one
of the most important chapters – Looking Back. In fact, Looking back, to my
mind, is always pregnant with the hidden desire of Looking Forward. The observations and remarks by some of the ‘men
of vision’ associated with the DAV College Jalandhar say all. Dr. Satish
Kapoor’s reminiscences referred to the nuances of the English language grammar
learnt from Prof. A.C. Deveshwar, a saintly teacher with complete mastery on
the subject. With a view to join Dr. Satish Kapoor, I may humbly add that I
still carry Prof. Deveshwar’s book on Grammar with me which I purchased from Mai
Hiran Gate sometime in 1966 and I still consult it as and when required.
It has already become a long piece, not by design but by
involvement, and I conclude this by thanking Principal Jagdish Joshi and his
associates namely; Prof. Sharad Manocha, Prof. Dinesh
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| With Principal Jagdish Joshi at the launch of the book |
Arora among others and
the worthy Principal of the College, Rajesh Kumar for presenting this excellent
book for wider circulation and benefit of the society at large. This narration
may be closed by endorsing the poetic assertion of one of our fellow alumni,
Asad who must be a diligent student, with my own sense of gratitude to my alma
mater. I quote the Urdu couplet credited to Asad by Prof. Bansi Lal in his
reminiscences on page 221-22 of the book:-
अगर उस्ताद की खिदमत निशाने कुफर ही ठहरी;
मेरा ईमान लेता जा मुझे यह कुफर देता जा।
