It takes a community to build a college. We call upon Miranda House Alumnae, Present and Past Faculty, Current Students, and Friends of Miranda House who have been associated with the college in diverse ways to donate for Renovation of the Auditorium as we work towards raising Rs. 1.5 crore to complete the repair and renovation work detailed herein.
We seek 1500 donors willing to contribute Rs. 10,000 each ... no less, no more ... towards a crowd funding initiative to raise Rs. 1.5 crore. All donors will be duly acknowledged as equal partners in this project of immense historical importance.
Donations can be made through electronic transfer on our SBI Payment Portal on the
link provided for the purpose, choosing the option "Give for Auditorium."
Click here
to pay
Else a cheque drawn in favour of "Principal Miranda House (Donations)" can be mailed to the college address (Miranda House, University of Delhi, Delhi 110 007) with a covering letter giving personal details.
[Note: On Payment Portal in address punctuation marks are not accepted.]As an Institute of National Eminence, donations to Miranda House are 100% exempt from Income Tax under 80G(2) (iiif) of the Income Tax Act 1961. A Receipt and Income Tax Exemption Certificate will be mailed to donors.
Donors are requested to additionally email a photograph, personal details, and a 250 to 500 word brief write up on how they are associated with the college, anecdotes relating to events in the auditorium, performances on the stage, and other memories so that their donation can be appropriately acknowledged and documented as part of college archives. Emails should be sent to GiveForAuditorium@mirandahouse.ac.in.
The college is committed to providing state-of- art infrastructure and the best possible facilities in pursuit of sustained excellence while preserving the architectural grandeur of its building. Miranda House has recorded a phenomenal growth marked over nearly seven decades of its existence. This has entailed creation of appropriate teaching- learning spaces. The last decade can be termed as the decade of redevelopment and remaking of Miranda House. The old infrastructure faced several challenges and had fallen into a state of disrepair. The college has worked relentlessly, systematically and comprehensively following due processes, to turn around its entire infrastructure. Visitor feedback makes us believe that, indeed, Miranda House not only has excellent infrastructure but it is also amongst the best maintained institutions.
Government funding and fee collection is limited. The college would like to augment resources through donations. Alumnae, current and former faculty, parents, students, other stakeholders and private donors are urged to contribute in general and towards ongoing projects.
Miranda House has an Auditorium with seating capacity of about 450 in the Main Hall. As one of the oldest constructions in the college, it is part of the college building that was designed by Walter George. The architecture is unique. The Miranda House Auditorium and its stage bring alive nostalgic memories and are of historic importance. Amitabh Bachchan reminiscences about the days when he performed on the Miranda House stage as a student in the sixties. The contribution of the college to the cultural landscape of the country is immense. Miranda House is renowned for its contribution to performing arts. It is amongst the founding members of the national movement SPICMACAY (Society for Promotion of Indian Classical Music Art and Culture Amongst Youth) and has had the privilege of hosting almost all the maestros on its stage. Distinguished alumnae such as Shovana Narayan, Charusija Mathur, Mira Nair, Nandita Das, several faculty at the National School of Drama (NSD) began their cultural foray from the Miranda House stage. The list of those who spent the better part of their college life on the stage is huge ... it is time to celebrate those moments by creating and acknowledging the records.
All this makes the auditorium an integral part of the student identity being nurtured at Miranda House. It is difficult to envisage a situation where the auditorium is unavailable to the college community even for a short duration.
For quite sometime now, there has been a felt need for renovation of the auditorium, air conditioning it and installing state-of-art sound and light system.
On 22 September 2015, a large chunk of concrete from the roof fell on the stage. Since the college cannot risk human life, the auditorium was declared out of bounds. It was decided to remove the false ceiling in the hall to check the condition of the interior roof. Minor repair works were immediately undertaken. A detailed study of roof beams showed up cracks on surface running across their width. In view of the major visually noticeable problems in beams supporting roof, services of Sri Ram Institute of Industrial Research were enlisted for testing of structural strength of beams. A non-invasive test of roof beams showed a honeycomb structure, endangering structure. Simultaneously, it was decided to undertake repairs on the stage surface which had become uneven and unfit for dance performances. As soon as the work began, the entire stage collapsed. The supporting back wall was also found to be resting on a weak foundation. It is fortunate that a major accident waiting to happen was averted by timely action to explore in detail the underpinning reasons for a fallen piece of concrete.
Expert agencies were called in for strengthening and restoration ensuing conservation of heritage. Using own resources, over a period of two years, the college has managed to strengthen the supporting beams and walls; reconstruct the Stage and the Green Room; repair, restore and refurbish the chairs; doors and windows. With this basic work accomplished, the Auditorium was made available to students for Tempest 2018 in February and later the Founder's Day in March.
The college now plans to undertake remaining renovation work. This entails air- conditioning, acoustic paneling, false ceiling, re-flooring, new electrical fittings; sound, light, projection and recording facilities, new stage and door curtains and remote controlled window blinds. At a modest estimate, the estimated cost of these works is Rs. 1.5 crore
We hope this project will attract private donors and crowd funding. This will enable us to create a state of art facility befitting a premier institution of repute. We invite you to contribute to the project. GIVE just Rs. 10,000 ... no less, no more.