Have you seen the popular reel of a teacher addressing a classroom exclaiming, ‘See you next semester!’ Cut to a panning shot of the students replying, ‘But there is no next semester!’ The visual goes back to the teacher saying a jubilant ‘Yes!’ This is the quirky new way of saying goodbye that final-year students of Delhi University (DU) have come up with.
Kick-starting this online trend were the students of Ramjas College. “The idea of making a farewell reel with our faculty came up on our informal WhatsApp group, and once executed it went viral on our Insta account @room_no.12,” shares Adrit Banerjee, final-year student of BA (Hons) English, adding, “It happened while we were discussing probable ideas for reels that can be created on our farewell day, and then we thought why not include the senior-most prof of our department and our fav Vinita Chandra ma’am! VC, as we fondly call her, has been with us through the thick and thin of our college life, and in particular the college’s English department. So it soon turned into a unanimous decision.”
The original reel by the students of Ramjas College shows the teacher in a joyous state while wishing goodbye to her pupils. “VC ma’am agreed to be part of this reel but wanted to add her own twist to the plot,” shares Banerjee, explaining, “So in the end, she took out a towel and exaggeratedly wiped off tears from her face. This was VC’s magic that was shot by Sara, a member of the photography soc, and edited by my classmate, Aryan. All for the love of room number 12!”
Some teachers were forthcoming to be part of such reels whereas others gave a hard time to students, to get convinced. Eventually, the faculty members hopped onto the bandwagon, but for some students it what wasn’t easy to bid adieu to them and the college. Take for instance Hindu College students aka Hinduites where the History department’s teacher-in-charge, Archana Verma is retiring after the completion of this semester! “It’s a doubly bittersweet moment for us as this is also our beloved Archana ma’am last sem in this college,” says Kunal Sahu, final-year student of BA (Hons) History and general secretary of the department, adding, “It was definitely not easy to convince her to be part of our plan. She even said, ‘Tum log phasaoge mujhe!’ But, we were relentless in our appeal and because in the past we have made these trendy reels — one of these going viral with 2.7 million views — we were adamant on the idea to make the entire college emotional by showing how cool our profs are! It’s true because our teachers are not just academically supportive but also jolly and inspiring in real life. Seeing the reel, our peers from other departments were like, ‘Aisa kyun nahi hota humari party mein!’”
Teachers’ take
The reel shot by students of Atma Ram Sanatan Dharma (ARSD) College features faculty Deepankar, who is the convenor of cultural society and an assistant professor in History. His acting has received better appreciation in the reel as compared to that of the students! “This isn’t the first time that students asked me to be part of a reel, but in the past I have usually declined,” shares Deepankar, adding, “After the Covid lockdown, this is the first batch that has actually learned how to work through college life without just floating by, so all of us bonded really well with the students. Being part of their academic life felt like we’re back from the ‘new normal’ to the actual normal, and now have a soft spot for our favourite students. Though, we teachers don’t have favourites (laughs)!”
