The Cotton College prospectus

Guwahati, June 5: It is not just a prospectus for admission. It has become a document to showcase the history of higher education in Assam.

For the first time, the century-old Cotton College has come out with a prospectus describing various historical incidents of the college, including photographs of visits of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Rabindranath Tagore, C.V. Raman and Frontier Gandhi to the prestigious institute. Rabindranath Tagore visited Cotton College in 1919 followed by Subhash Chandra Bose in 1938, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan in 1949, C.V. Raman in 1952 while Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan came in 1970. The college, which considered these visits historic, captured those golden moments on lens.

Principal Indra Kumar Bhattacharyya told The Telegraph that 110 years, by any reckoning, was a long time in the existence of an academic institution. He said the sole objective of publishing the 70-page prospectus was to make the future generation aware of the glorious history of Cotton College. “Cotton College has produced many brilliant minds and will continue to do so. However, it has been found that many students are not interested in knowing the history and legacy of the institution. Such development is encouraging. The prospectus has been designed in a very innovative way to create a curiosity and catch the attention of the younger generation,” Bhattacharyya said.

The college has printed 10,000 prospectuses at the cost of Rs 4 lakh for admission into various courses from higher secondary to post-graduate levels for the current academic session.

Besides the pictures of old buildings of the college constructed by the British government, the prospectus has the photograph with brief details of Sujata Roy, the first woman who took admission in Cotton College in 1929.

Bhattacharyya said the prospectus also carries photographs Lila Devi and Usha Lata Bhattacharyyee, who took regular admission in the IA class of the college in 1933, thus ushering a new era in the field of co-education as well as higher education for women in Assam.

It also has details about the history of formation of the various forums, including the students’ union of the college. The photograph of the first student secretary of the college union, Tilak Chandra Sarma, has also been carried in the prospectus.

There are photographs of first principal F.W. Sudmersen, first Indian principal S.C. Roy, first Assamese principal S.K. Bhuyan and first lady principal Kamala Roy in the prospectus.

“We have also included the photographs of first head assistant Nidhiram Bordoloi, first chowkidar Jaharmull and first hostel cook Raghunandan Ozah,” Bhattacharyya said.

Bhattacharyya said his colleague Abhijit Bordoloi from the geology department played a major role in coming out with such an innovative prospectus. “Abhijit always tries to do something innovative and different. The prospectus was the result of his efforts,” he said.

Set up in 1901, Cotton College was first affiliated to Calcutta University. It was under CU that the institution became a full-fledged degree college. Now affiliated to Gauhati University, the college is now full-fledged PG institution.