GSSSIETW Karnataka’s first women’s engineering college in Mysuru
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Mysuru: Infosys Foundation Chairperson Sudha Murty’s engineering journey on how she convinced her family to let her study engineering – she was the only girl in a college full of boys, something that’s unheard of then – is now a famous motivational story for many. She has captured her struggle in her book, “Three Thousand Stitches”.
Much has been changed since then but the mindset of conservative families – on sending girls to co-ed engineering colleges – is still the same. This has not only deprived many talented girls from realising their dreams but has also failed them to be empowered.
Understanding this, for over a decade now, the Geetha Shishu Shikshana Sangha Institute of Engineering and Technology for women (GSSSIETW), KRS Road, Metagalli is offering engineering courses exclusively for girls, a first of it’s kind in the State. It assumes significance when the world is celebrating International Women’s Day today.
This was all made possible by a visionary, late Prof BS Pandit, who saw many of his talented students being deprived of opportunities for lack of girls’ college.
Prof Pandit was the member of the first batch of faculty at Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering (SJCE) and retired as Head of the Department of Physics from there. In fact, it was his mother late Rukmini Bai S Pandit who imbibed a sense of responsibility to work for the cause of girls’ education in him, recalls Prof Pandit’s daughter Anupama S Pandit.
“She wanted my father to do something for girls’ education instead of going abroad and pursue other materialistic goals. She had taken a word on it from him,” says Anupama.
For the uninitiated, Rukmini Bai Pandit was running a small learning centre at her house way back in 1940 teaching Bhagvad Gita and Kannada. Her learning centre was named as Geetha Shishu Shikshana Sanga. Prof Pandit registered Geetha Shishu Shikshana Sangha in 1975. Slowly, in 1981 Geetha Bharati School was set up in Siddharatha Nagar with eight students and one teacher. Soon, it grew to high school, pre-university and degree college. But many talented girls quit pursuing their dreams for technical courses as their families were not ready to send them to co-ed institutes. Deeply moved by it, he set up GSS Institute for Engineering and Technology for Women, exclusively for girls in 2003.
“This was not easy. Many ridiculed, discouraged at his thought calling it a lost venture. But he was determined to do it,” recalls his daughter.
Prof Pandit was passionate about girls’ education. Despite many odds including his own failing health, he saw to it that the institute grew strength by strength.
“We had 185 girls in the first batch, although intake was fixed at 240. Of that 45 girls chose to stay in the hostel after the building was completed in 2008. Despite his renal failure, he hung on to his dream and saw two batches coming out with flying colours. That was his will power and commitment,” says Anupama of her late father.
“Looking back, grandmother’s dream and my father’s sacrifice are totally worth it,” says Anupama, who is the administrative officer at the institute. Her father mentored her husband RK Bharat in taking care of the institute and today Bharat is the CEO of the Institute.
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