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Jai
Hind College was not always big. It was very small indeed
when it was born in the wake of the Partition of India in
August 1947. The men who played a major role in its creation
were professors of D.J. Sind College, Karachi, assisted by
a few other educationalists who came together under the banner
of Sind Educationists' Association headed by Principal T.
M. Advani.
Initially,
their tireless efforts to find accommodation for a college
were to no avail. Mr. G. I. Patel, a powerful member of the
Syndicate of the University of Mumbai, suggested that the
premises of Elphinstone College be used during morning hours
to begin with. The proposal was readily accepted and admission
started for the Arts faculty in June 1948, with a formal inauguration
in September 1948 at the Elphinstone College Library Hall.
In
early 1949, Principal T.M. Advani arranged for a bungalow
named "Goolshan" at Peddar Road to serve as a nucleus for
a science college. The college could hardly afford to pay
rent for a bungalow, let alone equip the laboratories. At
this stage, Mr. Bhagwansingh B. Advani, the sole trustee of
the Basantsing Anil Dharmada Trust, stepped in with a generous
donation of Rs. 1,25,000, a princely sum in those days. In
response to his wishes, the college was named Jai Hind College
and Basantsing Institute of Science. A small bungalow near
Goolshan served as a hostel for the refugee students.
It
was proving to be rather inconvenient that the Arts and Science
faculties of the college were five miles apart. Mr. Morarji
Desai, who was then the Home and Revenue Minister of Bombay,
finally sanctioned, in a prime location, a plot for the Jai
Hind College building at "A" Road, Backbay Reclamation. Being
close to the Churchgate Railway Station, students from the
suburbs found the college easily accessible. Mr. Desai also
kindly consented to lay the foundation stone of the building
on September 14, 1950.
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