Mithibai College of Arts BJMC Review By Rahul Gupta

Mithibai, one of Mumbai's heartthrob colleges, is known for playing well within itself. Almost all the colleges offer the BMM course in Mumbai, and a mandatory entrance test is required to get admission. I was getting admissions in Ruparel, Wilson College, and other colleges but Mithibai College was perhaps the only college in Mumbai that I knew before even landing in Mumbai. Hence, it became easy for me after I saw that I was eligible for admission to Mithibai. In BMM, you need to have some natural instinct as one can't be aggressive because it's a tedious job. I am saying job because the course was more like a job where all we had to was run up and down the whole day long, do this and do that, but on the whole of it, I enjoyed my stay in Mumbai and college life at Mithibai to the moon.

How the college has built the education is of more interest than knowing what the course taught us. The highest level of education was the highlight to me because even for a day, we were not spared. On Sundays also our many plans were ruined because we were given some or the other task as studying journalism is not at all easy. We all have journalists working 24/7/365 because that's the nature of the job that journalists have to live with. So, for all that, we were made to prepare much in advance because without sweating hard and gaining as much as knowledge from the ground, one can never become a journalist. So, BMM is not a normal BA course where if one has to come to the college, they can take leave or do whatever they want. BMM course had a lot of compulsions, and for three years of my life, I lived with those compulsions.

There were just four faculties who were permanent as the rest all were guest faculties. People from India Today Group, Times Now Group, BBC and others people from media where the ones who took lectures and provided us with much-needed internship. I worked for BBC, and mind you, Mithibai helped me work with one of the best in the business. I did a few projects for India Today Group and some for BBC. BBC means no filter, no spices, just the factual news, and rather responsible journalism is what I learned from the guest faculties of BBC. Talking about the permanent faculties, they too had experience of working in the media industry but teaching enticed them rather more and therefore they have become one of the most renowned professors of Mumbai University.

Essel Group, better known as ZEE Media, is a partner of college in placements and were the ones who hired 30-40% of the students. A majority of students went for higher studies because we all knew BMM was just the beginning and we all have to learn further to become responsible and complete journalists; therefore, we followed that path.

The college is so small that having a hostel in and around the campus is just not possible. So many students from states like Gujarat, Karnataka and other places were my classmates whom I made friends within the first few days, and we all rented an apartment near the college. The rent in Mumbai is on the higher side, but it was worth it as the college was amazing, and I have learned a lot of things which I wouldn't have if I was not in Mumbai.

The college's infrastructure is quite unique as the 12-floor building has three colleges in it. Some facilities are common, like the in-house activity room. There are three halls and two auditoriums in the building. There are multiple canteens along with a bakery inside the building. If one doesn't know, the food joints just outside Mithibai and NM College are one of the best. The parking area is outside the college as inside there's hardly any space for parking. There's a medical room inside the building, and it probably has all the facilities that one can ask for. If one is wondering do we have to climb 12 floors every day, then let me tell you there are enough lifts and staff and students, both can use it.

Well, the campus is one of the liveliest campuses that one will ever witness in India. Students of NM, Pravin Gandi and Mithibai College used to mingle as some of the events and the annual fest Kshitij were where we all used to perform together. There were departmental fests which were of respective departments like ours was Colosseum. I miss every day I spent over there as in this lifetime, and I may get over anything but not the time that I have spent at Mithibai College.