Academic Grapevine

Joshi‚s nemesisA tenured professor of physics at the Allahabad University (AU), former Union human resource development minister Murli Manohar Joshi could never have imagined that the university would be his nemesis. But so it was in the recently concluded 14th general election in which Joshi was unceremoniously rejected by Allahabad‚s electorate. Reportedly because he failed to get AU the much-coveted Central university status, the varsity‚s faculty mounted a sustained anti-Joshi campaign and openly declared support for his opponents.Their cause was helped by a former MLA who distributed photocopies of the Allahabad University Bill, 2004 which he claimed proved that Joshi never intended to get Central status for the university and that he could not even persuade his own party MPs to make a quorum on the day the bill was introduced in Parliament. According to Joshi the document had deliberately been tampered with to show him in poor light.But there are few in AU who are willing to accept that Joshi spared the time and effort to pilot the bill through Parliament. Indeed Joshi‚s former colleagues in the Allahabad University Associated Colleges Teachers Association organised mass prayers to invoke divine help to ensure his defeat. Even the BJP‚s student wing, the Akhil Bharti Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) neglected Joshi‚s re-election campaign. Joshi‚s notorious arrogance and high handedness didn‚t help either. One of his favourite bon mots was that as an MP he was supposed to formulate national policies, not look into petty local issues. Moreover he demanded that the electorate accord due respect to his stature as one of the “top three leaders of the BJP” as evidenced by a 36 page booklet with pictures of him in the company of prominent BJP leaders. Apart from IIM and IIT campuses, Joshi‚s electoral rout was also celebrated by the Lucknow University faculty who were miffed that Joshi had tried to push for central university status for AU rather than for the “more deserving” Lucknow University.Sic transit gloria.Comrades‚ revisionismFor years now, ever since the left front administration ruling West Bengal since 1977 turned the state‚s universities into red citadels, the University of Calcutta (established: 1857) has been a favourite target of cynics, sceptics, Cassandras and Left intellectuals because of its old world conservatism on academic matters. But the dons of the venerable university seem at last to be waking up to the fast changing ground realities of the marketplace. In its next academic session beginning July, the University of Calcutta will offer a one-year postgraduate diploma course in film and television media studies with a trendy syllabus which offers options like radio anchoring. Nor is that all. Taking cognizance of the mid-life career-switching phenomenon, the university has ‚ for the first time ever ‚ waived age restrictions for admission into its courses. Even elderly professionals are welcome to enroll and hone their audio-visual media skills. The course sans entry barriers has been warmly welcomed by the film industry. According to proud varsity spokespersons, legendary Kolkata-based film directors including Mrinal Sen, Buddhadeb Dasgupta and…