Delhi NCR

Meeting people at Hindu College

Hindu College is the North Campus college with its own Students' Parliament, running since 1935, where students elect a Prime Minister and a Leader of Opposition every year. Between Parliament elections, the Mecca fest and societies like DebSoc and Ibtida, it is one of the most social campuses in DU.

The story of Hindu College

Hindu College was founded in 1899 by Krishan Dassji Gurwale and Pandit Deen Dayal Sharma as a nationalist, non-sectarian institution. It began in a modest building in Kinari Bazar, Chandni Chowk, and moved to Kashmiri Gate after Rai Bahadur Lala Sultan Singh gave it property there. Its trustees were active in the Swadeshi and Boycott movements.

When the University of Delhi was created in 1922, Hindu became one of its three founding colleges, alongside St. Stephen's and Ramjas. In 1935 it set up a Students' Parliament that invited national leaders including Gandhi, Nehru, Sarojini Naidu and Subhas Chandra Bose to address students. During the 1942 Quit India movement, teachers and students joined the agitation and the college closed for several months.

The college moved to its current 25-acre North Campus site in 1953. On its 124th Founder's Day in February 2023 it unveiled a new logo and a new anthem composed by alumnus Dr. Harish Naval. Hindu was ranked the number one college in India in the NIRF rankings in 2024 and again in 2025.

What the campus is like socially

Hindu runs on two seasons. The odd semester is election season, when posters, speeches and processions fill campus as students contest the college Parliament, which is separate from the DUSU polls. The even semester is fest season, capped by Mecca. In between, auditions for theatre, dance and debating societies decide who you spend the next three years with.

The crowd is large, loud and opinionated, with Political Science, Economics, History and Commerce students mixing with a sizeable sports and cultural quota cohort. Canteen corners, the lawns and the open spaces around the academic blocks are where friendships actually form, and seniors are generally easy to approach once you join a society.

Traditions every Hinduite knows

• Students' Parliament elections: Every year students elect a Prime Minister, with the runner-up becoming Leader of Opposition and a student cabinet running portfolios. Hindu says it is the only Delhi college with a Parliament since 1935.
• Mecca: The college's flagship cultural fest. Its 50th edition in 2024 closed with a set by Aastha Gill.
• Harmony: The music festival organised by Alankar, the Indian music society.
• Compass: The intellectual fest run by Caucus, the college's think tank.
• Founder's Day: Marked in February with the full college, alumni and invited guests. The 2023 edition launched a new logo, anthem and alumni portal.

Campus lore and insider spots

• The Kinari Bazar start: One of India's top-ranked colleges began in a humble building in the lanes of Chandni Chowk.
• Across the road from Stephen's: Hindu and St. Stephen's sit next to each other on North Campus, which guarantees a rivalry older than most of their professors.
• Leaders on the Parliament floor: Students like to point out that Gandhi, Nehru and Bose addressed their college Parliament.
• The end of the Virgin Tree ritual: A decades-old Valentine's Day hostel ritual at a campus tree ended in 2023 after student groups campaigned against it.

How to find your people here

Join a society or the fest committee at Hindu College in your first few weeks. DU friendships tend to form around a shared activity, not the classroom, and the North or South Campus ecosystem makes it easy to meet people from other colleges too.

Fests and societies at Hindu College

Signature fests

• Mecca
• Harmony

Notable societies

• Caucus (discussion forum/think tank)
• Debsoc (English Debating Society)
• Alankar (Indian Music Society)

Societies worth knowing at Hindu College

• Debsoc: The English Debating Society, one of the most active in DU, known for the Premchand Memorial parliamentary debate.
• Ibtida: The dramatics society founded by filmmaker Imtiaz Ali when he was a student, famous for street theatre on the lawns.
• Caucus: The college's think tank and discussion forum, which runs the Compass fest.
• Alankar: The Indian classical music society behind Harmony.

Careers, internships and placements

Hindu's placement cell draws consulting, finance and FMCG recruiters, and Commerce and Economics students tend to get the most attention. Society leadership roles, from Parliament cabinet posts to DebSoc and the E-Cell, are treated as strong CV lines in interviews.

The college's deeper pipelines are into journalism, law, academia, politics and the civil services. Debating and Parliament experience have long fed those paths, and alumni like Hardeep Singh Puri show how far they can lead.

Notable alumni

• Imtiaz Ali: Film director who founded the Ibtida dramatics society as a student.
• Vishal Bhardwaj: Composer and filmmaker, one of the college's best known cinema names.
• Hardeep Singh Puri: Union Minister. He studied History at DU from 1968 to 1973 and was elected Prime Minister of the Hindu College Parliament.
• Gautam Gambhir: World Cup winning cricketer, among the college's sporting alumni.
• Aakash Chopra: Former India Test opener and cricket commentator.
• Vikram Misri: Diplomat who became India's Foreign Secretary.

Rivalries and eternal debates

St. Stephen's, right across the road, is the rivalry that defines Hindu: both are original 1922 DU colleges, both are famous for Economics and debating, and each has a well-rehearsed joke about the other. In sport, games against Hansraj and Sri Venkateswara get intense, and in rankings season the debate is Hindu vs Miranda House, which held the top NIRF college spot from 2017 to 2023 before Hindu took over.

What Hindu College is talking about now

Instagram is the campus noticeboard, with official fest and Parliament handles posting through election and fest seasons. Mecca reels arrive like clockwork every spring.

Meeting people at Hindu College by interest

A lot of friendships here form around a shared interest rather than a class or a hostel wing. If you are into debating and mun, music and jamming, theatre and dramatics, poetry and open mics, and reading and book clubs, those pages cover where that scene actually happens in India and how to find people near you who are into the same thing.

Colleges nearby

Hindu College sits close to St. Stephen's College, Ramjas College, and Hansraj College, all part of the same Delhi NCR student scene. Cross-college friendships often start at inter-college fests, hackathons, or shared-interest communities rather than in class.

Similar campuses across India

If you are looking beyond your own campus, students at Indraprastha College for Women, Janki Devi Memorial College, Jesus and Mary College, and Jesus and Mary College Delhi share a similar campus culture, and Zyber works the same way at each: showing you verified people nearby who match on interest, intent, or timing.

Zyber on campus

Zyber is live at Hindu College, matching you in real time with people nearby who share your interests or your drive, with verified profiles only.

New to Hindu College? Start here

If you are just starting out, these freshers guides are written for exactly this moment: first week of college checklist, how to choose societies in college, making friends beyond your branch, and internship in first year.

See meeting people in Delhi NCR, events in Delhi NCR, the freshers guide, the Meet People pillar, or read what Zyber is.