DU reopens: 'Time to reclaim lost years'

New Delhi: As Delhi University opened its gates for classes after the pandemic-induced shutdown on Thursday, students poured in in large numbers — barely able to contain their excitement, with professors saying that they could see the happiness in their eyes despite having a class full of masked students.

The varsity was shut in March 2020 owing to the breakout of the COVID pandemic and has now reopened for physical classes after the third wave subsided in the city.

The Vishwavidyalaya Metro Station, the nearest such, swarmed with students as they headed to their colleges in the north campus, where they were greeted by guards bearing thermal scanners in their hands and beaming at the sight of students once again.

Manish Kansal, a teacher at Hindu College, said, "We were meeting our students for the first time. They were wearing masks but we could see the excitement in their eyes. Students were seen clicking pictures of the college, the roads, and the traffic."

Gajendra Mohan Thakur, a 26-year-old Campus Law Centre student, said it was time to "reclaim our lost years" as the few outstation students who did manage to turn up, highlighted how problematic online classes were becoming for them.

Ritesh Kumar, a native of Bihar, said, "We are three siblings. Each of us had online classes and the timings would coincide. Since there was a single laptop at home, we were unable to attend all our classes," adding that regular power cuts and the patchy network would be constant barriers as well.

While the excitement in students was apparent to anyone who was on the campus on Thursday and a decent number of students turned up — some of them for their first physical lectures since they got enrolled — attendance of outstation students was thin, with colleges saying they expect this number to grow in the coming weeks. Principals, however, maintained that the turnout was better than their expectations.

But the outstation students that managed to reach Delhi in time for the reopening came back to hostile PG accommodations and were visibly struggling to find a place to live — with even hostels saying that they were shut for the time being for maintenance.

Gauri, a third-year student of English (Honours) from Kerala, said the PG rates have tripled while Aditi Jain (24), another English student worried about having to prepare for exams (due in 20 days) amid the tension of having to find accommodation.