Brinda Karat recalls Miranda House as a place where drama, demanding teachers and close student friendships opened up new possibilities—while gendered expectations and a student’s death left painful marks. In “A Personal Remembering,” an excerpt from The Miranda Chronicles: Daughters of Independence, she describes how college drew her toward a possible career in theatre, even as her life later took a different course.
What were Brinda Karat’s college days at Miranda House like?
Karat recalls joining Miranda House at 16. Her account is a personal retrospective, not a newly reported interview: Scroll published the excerpt “A Personal Remembering” on July 28, 2025, from The Miranda Chronicles: Daughters of Independence, edited by Devjani Ray and published by Har-Anand Publications. Read the excerpt on Scroll.
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Drama society became the centre of her student life. Rehearsals and performances gave her a creative community and a stage on which to imagine a future. She also took part in athletics and remembers college societies as places where students supported one another. These are Karat’s memories of her own time at Miranda House, not a claim that every student experienced the college in the same way.
How did teachers shape Karat’s experience?
Karat identifies teachers as an enduring influence: “My own experience underlines the important influence teachers have on their students.” Her recollections distinguish the support each offered.
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Krishna Essauloff and the drama society
Essauloff, an English lecturer and drama-society leader, was demanding in her criticism but generous with praise, Karat recalls. That seriousness helped make theatre more than an extracurricular diversion.
Lola Chatterjee’s support
Karat remembers English lecturer Chatterjee as affectionate and approachable, someone students could turn to for support.
Devaki Srinivasan, later Devaki Jain
As an economics teacher for a short period, Srinivasan made a lasting impression through passionate discussions of economic inequality. An earlier interview also identifies Devaki Jain as influential in Karat’s thinking. Read the 2005 Rediff interview.
Ms Dhillon and athletics
Karat describes athletics coach Ms Dhillon as no-nonsense and caring, another example of the guidance she remembers receiving beyond the classroom.
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Societies could foster collective support, but Karat’s recollection also describes constraints placed on women. She recalls clothing expectations and objectionable comments after she was selected in a Miss Fresher contest. The memory captures a contradiction in her student experience: participation and camaraderie existed alongside scrutiny and unequal expectations. It should not be taken as a description of Miranda House norms across every period or of the college today.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why did Brinda Karat want to become a theatre artist?
Karat writes that the drama society and its performances made her seriously consider professional theatre. The aspiration was still alive in her final year: “As for me, I was as yet undecided but strongly drawn to a career in theatre, following the dream that had been born in me on that dusty Miranda House stage.” Her roommate, Madhu Chopra, was also a fellow drama-society participant.
The pull of theatre was real, but it was not a prediction of the life Karat would eventually lead. Her account describes an ambition taking shape, not a direct explanation of her later political career.
How did a student’s death affect Karat and her classmates?
Karat recalls that a hostel student died at the end of her second year. She describes the grief and social consequences among those who remained, including rumours, guilt and the strain of trying to understand what had happened. This is her personal account of the emotional aftermath; the excerpt is not an independent investigation of the death.
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A separate retrospective interview provides context for Karat’s later development without making college the sole cause of it. She said she left for London in 1967 after her degree and was not initially politically motivated. In that interview, she described the Vietnam War and protests against US intervention as prompting her to question accepted ideas. Read alongside the 2025 memoir excerpt, the accounts show a distinction between the young student drawn to theatre and the later political path she took.
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