Zakir Husain College B.A Review By Himanshu Pareek

Zakir Husain College is certainly not the most famous but one of the best colleges in Delhi University. It's been great fun to study here and take part in various activities. The college is in a prime location, and the nearest Metro Station is New Delhi Metro Station, which makes it easily accessible. Zakir Hussain DU runs in two shifts, morning and evening, so as a student, you get to experience both, Delhi-6 buzz in the morning and the nightlife of Connaught Place, which is right behind it. The college follows the admission process decided by Delhi University and provides admission on a cutoff basis. The competition here for admissions is lesser than North Campus, but what you get for the next three years is equally good. It's just sometimes you may not like the college management because they are way too strict and lazy. You don't get to enter college without your ID card ever. You have to face huge queues during the admission process and examination process. However, that helps you more friends.

I took admission in Zakir Hussain College evening in BA Honors English. It is one of the most reputed courses in Delhi University and thus, the competition is high. You have to go through the DU admission process, which requires you to have good enough marks in the 12th standard to compete for the high cutoff. I joined this course because I wanted to learn to speak and write English, and it has been helpful to me. For the first few months, I didn't realize why I was there as they taught literature from various countries and not the English language. But ultimately, I understood that has helped me furnish my language and writing skills. This course helps take jobs like content writing, translation, professor, teacher, and various other options.

There is a staff of more than 80 highly qualified professors in the college, handling various departments. For English honors, there are around 20 teachers, and HOD keeps changing every two years. Most of them possess good enough experience, to quote more than 20 years too. In the English honors department, some teachers have been teaching for more than 40 years. They have Ph.D. in their respective fields or have Master's degrees with their NET JRF cleared. They are delivering guest lectures in various foreign universities too, and attending seminars, and presenting papers. I don't think you find such qualified and trained teachers in any other part of India than Delhi University.

ZHDCE is more Arts oriented college and not science. There aren't many technical courses either which companies can come looking for, so Zakir Husain College Placement cell of the college is not very active. However, the placement cell is there and functional. Every year, 2 or 3 companies come and select the candidates for general jobs. Even I got selected once, but the company turned out to be a fraud, and since then, placement cell has been very cautious. The average package for selected students is 3-4 lacs PA. Companies like HCL and some other have reached college.

Hostel facility is not available in college. Most of the students studying here live in PGs or rented flats nearby. You can eat in a cheap canteen though.

The infrastructure of the college is a mixture of the old and new architecture. There are rooms which can suffocate you to death, as well as AC rooms with conference hall-like facilities too. The area of the college is not so vast since it's amidst the city. Evening college has just inaugurated a high-tech new building. The Library of college is fine. It's AC with good enough space, and you get to find all your course-related books as well as magazines and newspaper. It's a quiet and spacious place to spend your time. The auditorium of the college is one of the best in India, which looks like a theatre. It has cozy seats, dim light, and a beautiful aura. The playground used to be there in college, but there is a new building now, so no playground now. Medical and emergency support is there as a doctor is always available in college. Girls get free sanitary napkins from the machine, and both genders get free assistance in the clinic whenever needed. The canteen is good with a great menu and low prices, but too crowded.

Zakir Husain College Campus life is fun. People from various cultures and parts of India gather there to study. Debating Society, Arts and Culture Society, Sports Society, and many more are there. There are annual fests of all societies as well as grand union fest where Punjabi singers perform live. It's all fun in college as you get to see politics, sports, fun, and everything.