Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication MJMC Review By Pankaj Garg

I had no choice but to look for the best because though I was doing Post Graduation, I was carrying nothing behind. I had to start from scratch, and my MA in Mass Communication & Journalism from SIMC Pune has costed me my dad’s entire savings. Therefore, I had no choice but to give my 200%. SIMC is rated highly because the institute has tie-ups with all the big media houses and PR agencies. From editing to ground zero, we have been taught all, and also practical application of everything was done under the supervision of experts from prestigious media houses. I don’t think such things can happen anywhere else, as SIMC Lavale is not just a brand name but has delivered when it mattered the most. Some policies laid down by management are aggressive as they allowed us to stay out of the campus for as long as we wanted if we were on a project. Even the girls enjoyed the same freedom as some parents sent their girls over here considering the curfew time, but the university management took care of all.

Is it correct to say that academics here were close to outstanding? Well, it’s a wrong statement according to me as academics here were indeed exceptional. Books were just a medium as unless and until the practical application of everything was done, the chapter never ended. The course made us work as a trainee in the field we would be joining for the entire duration because once we took a project in hand, all we had to do was inform the college about it, and they would excuse us from other things. So, the academics here were like the plate is in front of you; now you decide how much you want to eat.

Faculties delivery was outstanding because they were none other than decorated media people. The permanent faculty also consisted of them, and the guest faculties took over most of the time. The guest faculties took the lectures were the top people from the industry. The interaction with faculty always gave new ideas and helped eliminate all the inertia that was building in the body. So, the initial butterflies that one will have after the faculties will be all gone once you become regular at the college. In media, everyone calls each other by their names irrespective of their age or position.

I was lucky to be from UP; therefore, the Marathi media houses, which were the mass recruiters, avoided us as we couldn’t do it in the local language. So, that opened our gates to even bigger media houses like Zee or the Times Now. If 20 people are seen on a channel on TV means at least 20k people are working behind the camera to get those 20 people to apply make-up on their faces and present the news and everything else to the people. So, I may be among those 20k, but happy to be a part of a channel that has existed for a long time and hopefully will continue to top the charts.

There are quite a few hostels at the SIU campus, but the SIMC hostel was some hostel. The furnished rooms and attached washrooms made my stay even more comfortable. The fees for sure were high, but one cannot disrespect that Symbiosis has maintained its hostels to be in optimum conditions throughout. All this takes money, and even if we weren’t present our rooms used to get cleaned and even though there were timings of the mess, one just had to inform that they will be late and they will keep your food aside. I don’t think anything else is left to say as hostels were just like home.

The campus is like a village, as 350 acres of campus is divided into many colleges. Some colleges were so far off that we had to take bicycles which were available at free of cost at the campus, to go and watch that college. There’s a hospital on the campus and some canteens to spoil us with food choices. I never had Vada Pav in my life, but Symbi Eat Vada Pav was some Vada Pav as I tried many streets Vada Pav in Pune, but our canteens Vada Pav was arguably the best. Almost each university college had their own auditoriums and one central auditorium where mixed events took place. The sporting facilities were highly rated, but I had no time to try those facilities as we were just up and running all the while.

If one wants to know what a college should look like or how college life should be, then be Symbian once in your life and see is there anything better that can happen. It hasn’t happened to me, nor the 120 batch mates of mine, as almost all of us are in touch, and there’s no single day when we don’t laugh at something or the other that we did at the campus.