Ideas, Imaginations And JNU

Subverting the status quo, questioning the norm, demystifying mysterious social rules, challenging orthodoxy, and questioning modernity are some of the distinctive characteristics of JNU culture.

- Mammo Muchie, Noklenyangla, Mishra Rajiv and Sheikh Fayaz

JNU has a campus full of green forest in the middle of New Delhi. Most of the staff, the students and guests stay in this unusual environment full of green trees and a variety of animals. This campus is like a world where different ideas can be expressed. Debates and dialogue flourish making all forms of ignorance, intolerance and dictatorship perish inside the campus. The nationalist versus ant-nationalism conflict was turned into a great resource for learning, daily lectures and debates. Knowledge was flowing like a river every day. It was truly special to witness this extraordinary JNU experience as a visitor from Ethiopia and South Africa (for one of us), as it has been very engaging for the rest of us as India’s emerging scholars.

In the pages of history, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and its formation provide many insights and answers related to the conception of JNU being a unique university and how it relates to Indian society with its identity. Spread over a vast campus of more than 1000 acres, JNU is housed in a lush green dense forest in the Aravalli hill range, with more than 200 bird varieties sustaining a birdwatcher's paradise, and also some other forms of wildlife.

The hidden beauty of the campus, however, lies in its distinctive admission criteria whereby students from all the nooks and corners of India are attracted irrespective of caste, creed, and economic status. Not only from India, but it has also enrolled students from more than 140 countries. This great student diversity makes JNU a microcosm of the world. It has not only fulfilled the much required intellectual duty for India but has significantly alleviated the disadvantage of downtrodden sections of India.