Delhi NCR

Meeting people at Janki Devi Memorial College

Janki Devi Memorial College is a DU women's college in Old Rajinder Nagar, right in the middle of Delhi's civil services coaching hub, near Karol Bagh metro. Campus life runs through Symphony, the annual fest, and societies like Anubhuti, whose Munadi street play contest opens it.

The story of Janki Devi Memorial College

JDMC was founded in 1959 by Shri Brij Krishan Chandiwala in memory of his mother, Smt. Janki Devi. Chandiwala met Gandhi at St. Stephen's College in 1918 and became one of his close associates. He was nicknamed 'gwalin' for supplying Gandhi with goat's milk, was present at Gandhi's assassination and received the Padma Shri in 1963 for social work.

The college is run by the Shri Banarsidas Chandiwala Sewa Smarak Trust Society, which Chandiwala founded in 1952 and which manages several institutions in Delhi. JDMC's motto is Swami Vivekananda's call: 'Arise! Awake! And stop not until the goal is reached.'

Founder's Day falls in early August. In 2015 the college laid the foundation stone for a girls' hostel, and Krishna Hostel, with 105 residents, was inaugurated by former President Pranab Mukherjee on 1 August 2018. JDMC holds an A+ grade from NAAC.

What the campus is like socially

JDMC is a close-knit women's college with a busy society calendar and a very particular neighbourhood. Step outside the gate and you are among civil services coaching institutes and aspirant PGs, so exam prep is never far from campus conversation. Inside, students describe green lawns and a calmer pace.

Societies are the social backbone, from street theatre and folk dance to debating in English and Hindi. Karol Bagh and Rajinder Nagar's food lanes are the default hangouts.

Traditions every Janki Devi Memorial College student knows

• Symphony: JDMC's inter-college annual cultural fest, held over three days in January, with competitions run by its societies.
• Munadi: The inter-college street play competition run by Anubhuti that opens Symphony. Gargi College took first place at a recent edition, with Sri Venkateswara second.
• Founder's Day: Held in early August. The 2018 edition doubled as the inauguration of Krishna Hostel by Pranab Mukherjee.
• Jyotsna: JDMC's two-day Diwali celebration in October, with stalls and performances.

Campus lore and insider spots

• Gandhi's milkman: The founder was nicknamed 'gwalin' because he supplied Gandhi with goat's milk during his Delhi stays.
• A college in coaching land: JDMC sits in Old Rajinder Nagar, so its neighbours are civil services coaching institutes rather than other colleges.
• Losing Munadi at home: Visiting colleges often win JDMC's own street play contest, a running joke the hosts take in good spirit.
• A President at the hostel: Krishna Hostel was opened by a former President of India, a fact residents enjoy.

How to find your people here

Join a society or the fest committee at Janki Devi Memorial 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 Janki Devi Memorial College

Signature fests

• Symphony
• Munadi

Notable societies

• Anubhuti (Dramatics and Street Play)
• Sarang (Indian Music Society)
• Euphonie (Western Music Society)

Societies worth knowing at Janki Devi Memorial College

• Anubhuti: The dramatics and street play society, which runs Munadi.
• Sarang: The Indian classical music society.
• Nupur: The Indian classical dance society.
• Euphonie: The Western music society.
• Abhivyakti: The Hindi debating society, with an English debating society alongside it.
• The Impreneurs: The E-Cell, focused on startup ideas and entrepreneurship.

Careers, internships and placements

JDMC's placement cell runs workshops, group discussion practice and recruitment drives, with banking, consulting, education and services recruiters. Many students head for master's study, banking exams or the civil services instead of campus hiring.

The college also publishes Perspectives, a double-blind peer-reviewed, bilingual Hindi and English e-journal launched in 2021, which gives students a rare taste of academic publishing. Alumnae include an IAS officer, a senior editor at The Hindu and analysts at global firms.

Notable alumni

• Neena Gupta: National Award winning actor who earned her BA at JDMC before the National School of Drama.
• Kamini Chauhan Ratan: IAS officer of the 1997 batch, a 1988-91 JDMC student.
• Seema Verma: Senior Editor at The Hindu, from the 1983-87 batch.
• Shrishti Goyal: Economic consultant at UNESCO MGIEP.

Rivalries and eternal debates

JDMC is usually compared with other DU women's colleges such as Gargi, IP College and Kamala Nehru for commerce and economics seats. On the fest circuit, Munadi brings top street play troupes to JDMC's turf every year. The bigger daily debate is personal: how much time to give societies and how much to the coaching culture right outside the gate.

What Janki Devi Memorial College is talking about now

Official and society Instagram handles carry placement drives, fest promos and union events, and the neighbourhood's coaching culture shapes a lot of campus conversation.

Meeting people at Janki Devi Memorial 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 theatre and dramatics, music and jamming, poetry and open mics, reading and book clubs, and running, 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

Janki Devi Memorial College sits close to Daulat Ram College, Indraprastha College for Women, and Hindu 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 Jesus and Mary College, Jesus and Mary College Delhi, Kamala Nehru College, and Kirori Mal College 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 built for meeting people nearby in real time, with verified profiles only. At Janki Devi Memorial College, that means showing you people near you who share your interests or your drive, whether or not you overlap on a class or a society.

New to Janki Devi Memorial 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.