Venkateshwara College hotbed for South Indians
New Delhi: One of the premier colleges of Delhi University, Sri Venkateshwara College situated in the south campus is a hotbed for students coming from South India. The college has a considerable population from the southern side of India with students coming from states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telengana.
"I want to prepare for Civil Services and that is the main reason for choosing Sri Venkateshwara College as the coaching institutes are nearby and it is easier to commute," said Pawan Venkatraman who hails from Telangana and has grabbed a seat in BA (Programme) at the institute.
The immediate vicinity of the college has numerous coaching institutes and a good sizeable population of Tamilians and Keralites which makes the students feel at home. "Delhi feels like a second home, as the cultural boundaries diminish when the people from native state are present in good numbers," said R Ravi who is working as a volunteer during the admission process and guiding his fellow state students.
The college which is named after the south Indian deity, Lord Venkeateswara, and has a temple too in the compound has strong affiliations to its native community.
Students like Pawan can be easily spotted amongst the crowd of aspirants, "Another reason for choosing Venky is because applicants from the South get advantage in cutoffs, courtesy the languages they have studied," said Chetana Srinivas from Tamil Nadu.
Students, who had studied either Tamil or Telugu language up to class 10 are given an additional 10 percent advantage in cutoff percentage for BA and BCom. The College was established and is administered by TTD ( Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams), a South-Indian trust which administers many temples all around the globe.
"Political ideologies and participation do not excite me, I try to steer away from these things and here, the political influence is less in comparison to other North campus colleges, therefore Tamilians prefer Venky," said Nutan, who has come all the way from Tamil Nadu with his brother Manas to secure admission
in DU.
