COLLEGE SCAN: ST XAVIER’S

Scripting success from college days

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: “A happy time.’’ That’s how actor Shabana Azmi
d e s c r i b e s her stint at St Xavier’s College in Dhobi Talao as she rewinds to fond memories of the years she spent there. It was on that campus, known for its Gothic structures, that she realised she was seriously interested in acting.

The college, with its strong emphasis on extra-curricular activities, proved to be an ideal nurturing hub. “At that time (early ‘70s) there was only an English theatre group. I and Farooq Sheikh, who was two years my senior, formed the Hindi Natya Manch,’’ she says with an unmistakable hint of pride. They went on to bag all the inter-collegiate acting awards that year, she recalls.

Azmi graduated from St Xavier’s in 1973 with a Bachelor of Arts and specialisations in psychology and sociology. She doesn’t get to return to her alma mater often enough, but says she still feels happy when she sees the campus in scenes on television or in the movies.

Things have changed a lot since her time there, she feels, citing the professional and commercial introductions that are evident on campuses. The inter-collegiate festival, Malhar, hosted by the college is an example. “At that time, all the money that we had to put in was from our pockets. The sets were furniture from a friend who stayed near the college and we made do with whatever there was. Now they have commercial sponsors for all of it,’’ she says.

Her message to students: “I consider formal education to be of great importance.’’

Other famous alumni:
Azim Premji, Kavita Krishnamoorthy, Swati Piramal, Fali Nariman, Pankaj Udhas, Soli Sorabjee, Alyque Padamsee, Charles Correa, Terence Lewis.

MILESTONES
St Xavier’s College was affiliated to the University of Bombay on January 30, 1869
The first three graduates of the college got their degrees in 1871
The college went co-ed in 1912 when girls were first admitted 660-SEATER: Xavier’s junior college has 330 seats in the arts stream and 330 in the science

ICONIC INSTITUTION: St Xavier’s is considered by many to be Mumbai’s premier college for arts and science