NRAI School of Mass Communication Review By Gunjan Patanwadia

NRAI was different as the one year course was not divided into semesters and we had 7 theory and 1 practical exam that have to be cleared to get the PG certificate. Print journalism was my area and along with that we were also taught PR & Advertising and Photo Journalism among others. NRAI not just have youngsters because there are no age criteria for the course many students who after working for two three years joined this course to be a part of ever developing media industry. Getting employed is one thing and job satisfaction is another. I got the latter as NRAI has tie-ups with many big media houses and electronic and print media companies. Working alongside experienced students was a newbie experience but there wasn’t any senior junior as in the law of the college we are were treated equally.

Classes to teach us not just the blueprint of the industry but also ethics of media law. One is aware of the power that media has but to use that wisely is equally important. Nowhere else I think this subject will be taught. We had a whole subject on that and had to study all the laws that comes under media scrutiny. Now the syllabus had all the bases of journalism but in practical we were free to choose the specialization we felt we are good at. Practical would happen every Wednesday and Saturday. College timings were short but we were taken on the field and other media institutes to get an edge over them.

College faculties were known faces as many journalists or people who work back stage were hired as professors of NRAI. If that’s not all the current faces of media houses too would come and take lectures on each and every subject. Faculties were assigned for practical of each subject. Faculties worked alongside us to teach us and practical assignment has to be done within the deadline or else you would lose out on many opportunities that the college offers.

Times Now and NDTV hired 80% students from our batch. As per the respective specialization that we did, we were given the roles in these media houses. For those who wished to work independently were given independent roles by them and that was the best part. Placements were almost 100% and all the students were offered placements worth 3 lakhs and around. I was satisfied because I got the job that I was looking for as not all got the job they were chasing. These companies offered the roles as per their requirements but luckily my area of interest wanted me and I am glad to be working with such a big nationalized media house. NRAI has done tremendously well all these years as we can see the students placed by them at top posts of many media channels like Times Now and FM Radio.

NRAI doesn’t have a hostel facility. 90% of the students were from Delhi NCR and luckily, I came here with my friend so didn’t felt alone. Delhiites do gave us a warm reception during the freshers’ party of the college. Delhi has a lot of student PGs and just opposite the Green Park metro station which was just half a mile from the college there was an entire building for boys pg. College was just at a walking distance which is anyways well connected with DTDC and metro station.

A building is all that NRAI has. The building has everything from a nice library to a studio which covered half of the 2nd floor of college building. Editing room and auditorium were at the top floor of the building and computer lab had all Apple PCs. Each student can enjoy a single PC as the college has planned their schedule really well. Metro station and bus stand were nearby and it was quite easy to locate the college as it was on the main road. The building has huge boards and right from the entrance you will see student chirping as we were all kept busy to the core by the college.

Every now and then we used to see the journalists that we saw on TV. Students were given an interaction session with all the journalists or celebrities that came to our college. This was more than enough for me to justify my idea of coming to Delhi and study at this very college. NRAI’s annual fest was organized at SK Mohit Palace and that was the first time I saw that future journalists do have a backup of being rockstars. Some students performed so well that it just ended our time at NRAI on a high note.