आज से कॉलेज बंद है ...

The incidents at college campuses in the last week have been so

disheartening. The place for fun and enjoyment, both in curriculum and

extra-curricular aspects  seems to have been turned into near

war-zones. A sign  of times, you will say and I have no

counter-argument to offer.

But one is reminded of the time when this was a place , not only for

for  practical jokes and college romances but also for heated debates

and sit-down dharnas. All these aspects of college life were displayed by songs and scenes in Hindi films, down the years:  a true reflection of

the changing times , as we explore today.

As early as 1947, when so few Indians were fortunate to received higher education, college was 

termed as ....अलबेली (albeli) in the feminine gender !

 This cute song was penned  for the film Samaj Ko Badal Dalo ( 1947), which explains how

even at that time, getting up at 7.30 was so difficult  !

Just go through this song and imagine the plight of the pupils in that era !~

     In the 1950s too, college remained a place for meeting of diverse

people, their  minds and sometimes, their hearts.

Despite the serious subject of Pyaasa, it did have its light moments

when Guru Dutt and Mala Sinha had a thing going as college friends.

There is a scene in which the hero is reciting  sher in the praise of

the heroine,finishing it in time for the entry of lecturer !

By the sixties, the country had experienced more than a decade being

independent and there was still a hope that those who are in college

will get good jobs and make a name for themselves, being the elite .

The period during study had to be spent in honing skills of singing,

dancing, acting and in general, having a good time !

Despite the

natural walls between the genders in the society, college was seen as

a place for the forward-looking, enlightened people, who will take

India to a more progressive and prosperous future. This is spelt out

so well in the song of the eponymous film College Girl 1960
सुबह सवेरे साइकिल की कतारें 
गुंचों की और कलियों की तकरारें 
ना माथे पे पसीना, ना दिल में कोई कीना  

यही तो है यही तो है , प्यारे जीना

The environment started to change soon after. Mediocrity was setting

in and the bright sparks were few and far between. The films continued

to show the stage songs having songs and dances  but

it was being felt that all was not well.
By the time 70s dawned, the

restlessness of the students was visible and this song from Umang

1970, featuring the young Subhash Ghai as the hero summed up the

sentiment aptly.
 Still this was an energetic response to the troubled

times, wishing to reverse the rot that was stemming in.
 

The mid and late seventies really did us in. The whole country was

engulfed in protest, eruptions and unemployment after education. At

one level  the competition was rising to become cut-throat, and then

there were strikes and marches and sloganeering.
     It was during the seventies that the epic confrontation between Student Naseeruddin Shah and Director Girish Karnad took place at the FTII, Pune.
During the 70s .

There were some good films on the subject like Mere Apne,  Imtihaan, Anjaan Raahein and Abhi to jee lein, portraying the angst of the youth, in and out of college. However, romantic angles were generally  present, diluting the backdrop.. 

Escapism was the classic response of Bollywood to anything serious.
There was also a growing 

feeling that colleges have ceased to be " shiksha ke mandir"On the contrary, 

the summer vacations were a cherished period.
तभी तो , the college song

to have made it to the popularity charts was this one
" aaj se college band hai"

.
Soon we started seeing flabby heroes ( actually in their 30s , 40s and 50s) as

college students running round campus trees with equally old heroines.  Rajesh Khanna, at 32 was a student in Aap Ki Kasam , Rajendra Kumar, at 41 in Dharti. But the icing on the cake is this.
The senior-most  college student would certainly be a 52 -year  old Manoj Kumar in Clerk !

However, there were exceptions and we saw a very young ensemble cast

of  Farooque Sheikh, Deepti Naval, Neena Gupta, Kiran Vairale, Satish Shah and Rakesh Bedi as college students in Saath Saath 1982 , singing this lively

gossip song, with teachers chipping in...

Amongst more realistic depictions was a small film with future stars.

Holi had Aamir Khan and Ashutosh Gowarikar, now needing no

introduction. The tense story of a holiday being denied on the Holi

day and the ensuing power struggle was a stroke of creativity, though

the film remained unsung. This song, however, remains as one of the

few canteen songs, with the impromptu use of cutlery as musical

props !

It was Aamir Khan again, who mirrored the aspirations of a large number of college-leaving boys and girls ( and their parents) when he sang the immortal lines," papa kehte hain bada naam karega" in the film Qayamat se qayamat tak ( 1988). The hopes and enthusiasm of the youth were hinged on getting  that "bada naam" !

koi engineer ka kaam karega 
business me koi apna naam karega
magar yeh toh koi naa jaane 
ke meri manzil hai kahaan

                                                               The conflict could not be, however, wished away.

The late 90s and early films of 2000 decade brought forth the ugly side through films like Yuva, rang de basanti and 3 idiots... All three depicted the life of students, their dashed hopes, trials and tribulations, their struggles to fit in a structured system and the consequences of failing to do so.

talli hoke girne se samjhi hamne gravity
ishq ka practical kiya tab aayi clarity

The paathshala song above,  in Rang De Basanti ( in fact, the whole narrative of the film) brought out the anguish and pain behind the boisterous exterior very well.  So did the sunshine song of 3 Idiots . This was however, more intense and laid bare all the ugly truths and falsehoods.

likh likh kar pada hatheli par 
alpha beta gaama ka chhaala
concentrated H2SO4 ne poora
bachpan jalaa daala 

So, here we stand. at the closed gates of colleges which were designed to be catalysts of change and transformation, leading to progress.
Let's hope the gates open ...and soon. 

Amen