Carving out a future

From the albums

This photograph was taken in 1965 at VHD Central Institute of Home Science in Bengaluru. It shows the students of the first batch of MSc (Home Science).

 In the early 50s, the city was a hub of higher education along with Mysuru and Dharwad. Several undergraduate courses with excellent hostel facilities attracted bright youngsters from smaller towns. Maharani College and Mount Carmel College were two vibrant institutions exclusively for girls.

Maharani was quick to add new courses. Prof Sushila Lingaiah was a visionary who started a home science section with a handful of dedicated teachers.

However, it attracted only a few students initially due to a misconception that it is basically a cooking course. It was due to the untiring efforts of Dr Sushila Lingaiah that an independent VHD Central Institute of Home Science was started in 1961. Ours was the third batch of BSc in the new premises. The first convocation of the newly created Bangalore University was conducted in July 1965 at the Lalbagh Glass House. Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the then President of India, delivered the convocation address. Dr V V Giri, the then Governor of Karnataka, was also present.

What started as a course for a handful of 10 students rose to hundreds within a decade.  Ours was the first batch of MSc there. We had a set of excellent teachers which included Prof Selvi Das, who later became the vice-chancellor of Mysore University. Others were Dr Shakuntala Mane, Dr Nirmala Rao, Dr Musthari Begum, Dr Vasanthi, Dr Indira Gowda and Dr Vatsala Koth. Dr C N Tara was a favourite for chemistry.

Among my MSc classmates, K Padma, Padmam Nair, Jameela Begum, Mustari Begum and Rudramma obtained a doctorate and became teachers. I joined CFTRI, Mysuru, and did a doctorate in sensory science before retiring in 1999. Prabha, who also joined CFTRI, is no more with us. Kanthi and Godavari pursued a career in dietetics and teaching in schools.

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