Mount Carmel College, Bangalore

“ Would you like to teach in Mount Carmel’s College, Bangalore?” asked a friend and fellow book lover. I was at a loose end after having chosen to return late for the semester, in St. Joseph’s College, where I had worked for 12 years. I preferred staying on for my grand daughter’s birthday in London, as I had come especially for it, on my way home from the US. She was going to be six and grumbled that I only went to the US and hardly came to the UK. Ofcourse my son echoed her sentiments roundly. So here was I leaving the UK well after the 15th of June and well after the start of the semester. And sadly well after the classes had begun. But Mount Carmel’s required someone with my skill set in Science and the Environment Journalism and who was I to refuse? A doctorate opens not just doors, windows of opportunity too and I was fast beginning to realise it.

For the first time I was going to be teaching in an all girl setting and in a new college where my own sister had passed out. It was an exciting new prospect. And the added bait was Keerti my friend who also lives on Hayes Road, would come and go at the same time. So we could Ola it to and fro! Ah! That was the life. Mount Carmel College, Bangalore is a women's college in Vasanth Nagar, in Bangalore, India that was established on 7 July 1948. The college offers undergraduate and postgraduate courses and the college is 'A+' accredited by NAAC and was awarded Three Stars by NAAC which few colleges can boast of. Affiliated to Bangalore University, the college functions as an autonomous institution. In 2008 it was ranked by India Today as one of the top three colleges in Karnataka in the fields of arts, science and commerce. And for me a lecturer to teach kids who come in on the basis of an interview, means you are teaching kids, who are there to learn and explore academics, not just for the degree.

Hardly had I mentioned that I was teaching in Mounts when there was an explosion of so many friends telling me they were MCC grads on Social Media. What is interesting is looking at their who’s who sign board -- everyone from actresses Anushka Sharma and Deepika Padukone to Nirupama Rao our ex Ambassador to the US and Margaret Alva Rajya Sabha minister and Kiran Mazumdar Shaw owner of Biocon. The line up is too long to mention here, but clearly shows the calibre of the kids studying there. As for me the change could not be more welcoming. I walk into classes which are silent and students who have fixed the laptop and overhead projector for my lecture. Students who want to learn, who pick my brains, who enjoy the subject as they chose it because they love our planet. And I am happy as I know those 60 women will go out into the world and may not write about what I am educating them about, but will apply their knowledge in their own homes when they have them. Already with an assignment four of them went to Daily Dump and learned exactly how composting works and installed khambhas in their own homes! Rain water harvesting had that group insist their parents fixed RWH in their buildings. Solar energy was another eye-opener and Anu solar has been contacted to erect panels in their homes. Cutting back on Single Use Plastic -- the college canteen was the first place targeted and cleaned up.

Women rule, that’s what I can see in the impeccable campus and the attitude of the students. No begging for attendance, they are there because they want to study, most with 100% attendance. Four classes at a stretch rather than drag me all the way everyday. I don’t come home exhausted any more, needing to sleep of the rigours of yelling. Instead I come home pleased that I am able to share my knowledge and my western style of teaching, that I learned while studying abroad. What does that mean? I dont ram down notes, they research, do assignments and by that learn much more than our Indian style of top down education. Life is good and long live Mount Carmel’s!