I just read the reviews on AMU by some other members. It appears that they are defending the institution for the bad name (which unfortunately) it has attained now.
AMU was started by Sir Syed Ahmed khan, he was the pioneer of this great institution. He had a dream of an institution such as Cambridge and Oxford.Keeping this dream in mind the layout of the entire university was planned.
In the years of its birth the University attained great acclaim and it was famously called the ’Anglo Oriental College’by the British.Soon it attained world wide recognition and students from far and wide came to study here.Sir Syeds dream had almost been fulfilled had it not been for the ensuing years...
When I first visited the campus, I was quite impressed, and I dreamt of studying there one day.With its great legacy
and glorious past, of imparting knowledge & recognition to the thousands that had studied from this university, I eagerly wanted to become a part of this great institution.
Abdullah Hall was huge.It was built in the expanse of some 10 kilometers or slightly less. It had five hostels, a degree college, a school, two libraries, a working womans hostel a phone call centre, the provost office and also lots of open fields.It struck me as a great foundation, laid out for the noble purpose of imparting rich and life long experiences.
And so in the year 1994 I joined AMU as the student of English Literature.But little did I know, that very soon my expectations would not be met. Even though I had great lecturers like Amina Kishore, Miss Kaneez, Najma Shaharya, Shagufta Naeem....
I reveled in the class rooms, in their presence amidst the pictures woven by the power of words. How well they taught!They showed great proficiency and calibre.Their words have been etched in my mind forever....
But the rest of Aligarh..... A concentration of such educated people living in a small community hardly bothered about the condition of roads, sanitation beyond the boundaries of their own homes, was a pitiful condition.
The girls living in the hostels had to sometimes put up with lot of difficult situations when no proper food was provided and there was constant power failure.Without power, the water stopped for weeks altogether.
Even though the people came across to u as very nice and polite, it was not heart felt...and then I felt that Sir Syed dream had not been fully realised. THe people had lost their integrity and their honor. They were merely running an instituion that needed to be run. They had no soul, no longing left , to make it a better place. To make this University shine like a beacon in the dark sky. And I felt sad....at the waste of such great beauty and such a rich culture.
Despite all this Aligarh has left an indelible mark , and through the difficulties I faced, it made me a stronger person.I learned to face the practical problems of this life better than most others who lived comfortably in other hostels.
Many Aligarians will agree with me....In the hostels they say ’whoever survived in ALigarh will survive anywhere in the world!’How ture these words are, when I look back to
those years spent in Aligarh.
Inspite of its flaws and shortcomings..Aligarh has a sweetness of its own, a warmth and friendliness that is a characteristic of its own. It fills your heart with so much love and such kindness that you cannot help but shed a tear when u leave.
And no where else in the world will you find the same thing, and the people who evoke; some much respect and love in you.People like the post man, or the bhais who served us dinner, or the night watchman , or the chat wala and the clothes vendor...and even the bua who cleaned the corridors.
ANd thus they sing along ’ye mera chaman, ye mera chaman, main apne chamn ke bulbul hoon....’