A bus ride that built a college in Shahabad Markanda

During a recent function at the auditorium of college, my eyes wandered to the portraits of the visionaries and philanthropists whose grit and generosity brought Arya Kanya Mahavidyalya, Shahabad Markanda, into being in 1968. Among them, one figure commands special mention — Shri Banu Ram Gupta. His story remains inspirational. I could imagine the moment that stirred him — a simple bus ride when he saw young girls, compelled to travel outside the town for higher studies, being teased by boys.

Having fought for India’s independence and imprisoned during the Quit India Movement, he could have chosen to confront the boys. But the visionary in him looked for a lasting solution, and envisioned a future where girls would no longer need to face such indignities. Education at their doorstep was his answer. With that conviction, he rallied people, gathered contributions, and sowed the seed of the very institution in which I now sit, decades later, still feeling the pulse of his zeal and his resolve to “do something, somehow.”

His life was marked by courage not only during the freedom struggle but also in the turbulent days of Partition, when he extended help to Muslims for safe passage and worked to ensure fair distribution among new settlers. Such gestures revealed a vision of harmony, humanity, and justice that went beyond politics.

Today, as the college stands tall, nurturing thousands of young women, it carries within its walls the echo of that one decisive bus ride and the unshaken resolve that followed. True freedom, as Banu Ram Gupta taught us, lies not only in winning independence but in ensuring dignity, equality, and opportunity. That is the torch he lit — and it continues to shine.

Dr Priyanka Singh, Shahabad Markanda