Delhiwale: Meet the Jane Austen readers

Delhi University students celebrate Jane Austen's 250th birthday with readings, performances, and discussions, connecting her themes to their lives.

Such happiness to join a party cheering for Jane Austen.

Aryabhatta College students. (HT Photo)

The coming December marks the novelist’s 250th birth anniversary. As a buildup to the auspicious occasion, the English literature students of Delhi University’s Aryabhatta College have assembled this afternoon in the college’s… oh well, one wants to call this hall a ballroom, but ballrooms belong to Jane Austen’s rural England, where rich men and handsome women fall in love over dance, gossip, and piano forte. This hall is simply called Student’s Activity Center. The consolation is that many students present here happen to be reading Jane Austen, that too for the first time; her novel Pride and Prejudice being a part of their syllabus. But can a long-dead writer of foreign extraction enchant these members of the Generation Z gentry?

The probability is high owing to many reasons. The most relatable is certainly the theme of shaadi that runs through Jane Austen’s six novels. The social pressure for matrimony that overwhelms her protagonists is also set to overwhelm, within a few years, these unsuspecting ladies and gentlemen of Aryabhatta College.

To one’s delight, it’s soon apparent that many students already possess an apnapan with Jane Austen. One gentleman, Aviral by name, professes such uncommon attachment that he has composed a poem in honour of one of her heroines (the irrationally romantic Marianne Dashwood). He courageously recites the opening stanza on the stage:

“Of love and music are the fireworks That I ignite, and set off into the wild night. Is there a man, mama, that shall catch a spark, And not burn, but burn with likewise passion?”Others declare their admiration for Jane Austen in prose, referring to her particular novels.Tanushri: “Jane Austen’s characters are written so beautifully.”Manya: “She is really witty, gives me butterflies.”Fahad: “I get to know through her about the countryside England.”Hridyani: “I really love Mr Collins in Pride and Prejudice.”What! The pretentious Mr. Collins! So dumb even the door nail would roll its eyes!

Whatever, the assembly shifts its attention to a theatrical recreation of the iconic proposal scenes from Pride and Prejudice, staged by three students. A more dressy performance will unfold later this week during the two-day event marked as “Jane Austen @250: Text, Context and the Indian Classroom,” to be hosted by the college’s English Literary Association.

Finally, just before the 2 o’clock viewing of Keira Knightley-starrer film adaption of Pride and Prejudice, a substantial portion of the gathering settles down for a group portrait—presided over by the right honourable Professor B. Mangalam, an agreeable lady distinguished by her elegant white hair, and her authoritative scholarship on Jane Austen’s most loved novel (guess which!). All these fine people now look on towards the lens blissfully, as if the camera had bribed them with their college canteen’s super-cherished honey chilly potato. See photo.