LSR’s heritage walk for alumni takes U-turn into the past

Pachpan Khambe, Lal Deewarein is a story that has been passed on to freshers at

Lady Shri Ram College for Women

for years now. It describes the 55 pillars and the red walls in the college. Ask any ELSA (what former LSR students are called) and they will tell you the story behind it.

Dr Kanika Khandelwal

, the media coordinator of the college and also an alumna, told us, "This was the title of the book about a lonely woman. Many believe that it is the story of a teacher from the Psychology department. Everyone in the college knows about it." This was just one among the many stories that were shared on the day that LSR organized a heritage walk in the college for its alumni, spanning six decades.

‘This place is everything’
The walk started from the new building and went to the old one, which included a visit to the new library, as well as the classrooms. Singer

Shibani Kashyap

(1992 batch), who was also a part of the western music society, and Shivani Wazir Pasrich, actor and dancer (1991 batch) from the classical dance society, seemed very excited to be among the students of the dance society during their practice session. "The vibe of the college is just the same. Whenever you are here, you feel like you have come back home. I used to live in Kailash Colony and we used stay in the college till late evening to practise for festivals and other events," said Shivani. She added, “I keep coming back to the college, either to deliver a lecture sometimes or just to interact with the students. This place is everything.”

‘This is completely new’
The principal,

Suman Sharma

, along with Kanika Khandelwal, took the alumni for the heritage walk, which took many back to their college days. The element of surprise for everyone was the new building constructed at the back of the college. "This is completely new and contemporary. In our times, it was wilderness, we used to bunk classes here. Hum balcony mein baithke khana khate thay, yahan kaun balcony mein baithke khana khaega? There is no balcony. We were the corridor girls from the English batch. Elite, you see. I used to love it," said Sanjari Gupta from the batch of 1992.

(L-R) Shibani Kashyap, Shivani Wazir Pasrich and principal Suman Sharma watch the western dance society practise (BCCL)


'It feels like you’re 16 again’
There was the shared emotion of nostalgia the moment the group reached the old building and visited the principal’s room. Most of them clicked selfies and took pictures near the main building of the college. Rashmi Mishra, president of the

ELSA Alumni Association

from the batch of 1971, said, "It feels like you’ve become 16 again. You don’t feel your age. I also remember that we used to have one chhole bhature wale bhaiyya right outside the college, and we used to die for that. Also, we were always ready with safety pins in case somebody misbehaved with us. We didn’t care, we were full of guts. When I was being ragged, they took me outside and made me stop cars to ask people, 'Where is the way to Rome?' and when people reacted by saying, ‘Are you out of your mind?’ I was expected to answer, ‘Do all roads not lead to Rome?’!"

Annabelle Manwaring, vice chairman, Delhi Public School, Whitefield, from 1971 batch, added, "My memory is not that good, so I can remember people, but not everything. But one thing that I clearly remember is the corridors. We used to have classes in the front lawns and we used to love it."

‘Library was my favourite place’
The current principal of the college, Suman Sharma, who took everyone for the heritage walk, was also full of nostalgia. She told us, "When I was a student here, the library was my favourite place. In our times, there were no photocopy shops so immediately after the class, I would reserve a seat in the library because it was very difficult to get a seat in the library."