Lady Shri Ram College 101, With Gurmehar Kaur

Gurmehar Kaur, a Lady Shri Ram College student, has a few tips for freshers.

Gurmehar Kaur talks about her journey at Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University. 

(Photo: The Quint) 

Cameraperson: Shiv Kumar Maurya
Editor: Rahul Sanpui

When you enter through the doors of Lady Shri Ram College, you just instinctively know that your life is going to change!

Gurmehar Kaur

Lady Shri Ram College, one of the best colleges in the country for women, is also one of the toughest colleges to get admission into. The cutoffs are usually above 95 percent; the entrance exams for select courses, such as English Literature and Journalism, are difficult to crack; the institute expects students to match up to its legacy of academic and extra-curricular excellence – and as a result of all these factors, admissions to LSR are twice as tough as any other college in the country.

The select few who bag admission are put through a rigorous curriculum of studies, examinations and extra-curricular activities, interspersed with peer-to-peer learning. The overall experience is so exhaustive that alumni say it prepares you for anything in the outside world.

Coming from a small town, I was skeptical about the big city. I had heard so much about the college: the professors are tough, the women are competitive. One week into college and my perceptions changed completely. 

Gurmehar Kaur

LSR takes one by surprise, especially in the first few months. It is challenges every notion about your understanding of the world and encourages everyone to have an individualistic outlook to the world, she says.

Thinking straight and living ‘by the book’ are notions that one is usually taught in school and at home. At LSR, one is supposed to think outside the box. And once you do, you will get the ‘magic’ of LSR.  

Gurmehar Kaur

“With a motto of Leadership with Social Responsibility, LSR sows seeds of leadership in each of its members. You can be in the toughest of situations in the world and if there is an LSR alumni around you, you can be assured that you will have a sisterhood to fall back upon,” she says.

“You can take me out of LSR, but you cannot take LSR out of me” is a sentiment a number of alumni seem to share. When asked, Gurmehar says:

The LSR sisterhood is something to aspire to. It creates a protective shield around you. I went through a lot in my first year, it was almost unnatural. The sisterhood kept me going. Everyone at LSR had my back and that is the magic of LSR. It never leaves you, you just keep spreading the magic wherever you go!

To all the freshers who will be entering the college gates this year, Gurmehar has a tip:

“Make the most of these three years. They will be the best three years of your lives! Learn and unlearn as much as you can. This learning will propel you even at 50. Don’t be lackadaisical. If your friend wants to spend extra time at the reference section, go sit with her, absorb every conversation, be a part of as many activities as you can, open your mind to bold ideologies. What you do here will help you shackle your blinkers and help you see a clearer, brighter future”.

All the best!

(The first cut-off list for LSR is expected to be released on 16 June. For admission related queries, email The Quint at [e-mail].)