Prof. Mridula Mukherjee, Director,
Nehru Memorial Museum and Library

interviewed by Bhoomika Meiling for JNU News

Bhoomika: When and how did your association with JNU begin?
Prof. Mukherjee: I joined CHS, JNU as a student of M.Phil in 1971. This was the year when teaching actually started in CHS. In 1972, I was appointed as a faculty member. I completed my Ph.D under the guidance of Prof. Bipin Chandra while teaching here.

Bhoomika: How would you describe the JNU community?
Prof. Mukherjee: The absence of hierarchy is perhaps the most remarkable and laudable quality of this place. There has always existed a relationship of equality between senior faculty and their junior counterparts, teachers and students and faculty and administration. Compared to other institutions, in JNU you function on a plane of equality. There is a greater degree of collective functioning on campus. Decisions have always been taken through discussions and debates rather than someone laying down a law for everyone to follow. When I was a very young faculty here, there was no sense of being told what to do or what not to do.

Bhoomika: What trajectory is your second term as the Director of NMML going to take?
Prof. Mukherjee: I must make it clear that this not exactly a second term. NMML's Directorship is not a term appointment. If one takes it up, one retires as the director of NMML. However, I did not want to have such an extended term primarily because I did not want to leave JNU. So I joined NMML on deputation for 5 years. Due to some technicalities, the government could not give me a five-year term at a single stretch. They had to break it up as three plus two years. All this talk about this being my second term is ill-informed and completely redundant. My plans from the very beginning were five-year plans. One of the major objectives has been to achieve as much as possible by the Commonwealth Games in 2010. For instance, we are redoing the planetarium with that goal in mind. Nehru and the Commonwealth were related in such a way that the Games are an extremely significant event for us at NMML.

Bhoomika: What are the different components of NMML?
Prof. Mukherjee: Firstly, there is our research unit which has three chief components. There is an Institute of Advanced Studies which is known as Center for Contemporary Studies and which functions just like any other Institute of Advanced Studies. Then we have the Archives section. NMML houses the largest number of non-official archives in India. It includes private papers, institutional documents, letters, and papers of diplomats, litterateurs, etc. Finally, we have the library which focuses on Modern History and the National Movement particularly and Social Sciences generally. The library stores 2,50,000 books and 400 journals. Apart from these it also consists of an exhaustive collection of old newspapers in English as well as other Indian languages.
Apart from catering to research interests, we also maintain photo archives and a museum on Jawaharlal Nehru.  Finally there is also a planetarium.

Bhoomika: What are the new initiatives undertaken under your supervision?
Prof. Mukherjee: The modernization and upgradation plan at NMML that we undertook 3 years back consists of some new steps. First of all there is the Children's Centre which conducts a large range of activities related to children. Children not only from Delhi but also from the states are encouraged to participate in these programmes. These programmes are meant for children from all classes, all types of schools, special children and also those from under- privileged background. They are introduced to the National Movement through films, theatre, puppets, kites and other fun activities. Their knowledge about Nehru and his ideals of secularism and unity in diversity is enhanced and reinforced by using interactive and innovative methods. We started this centre in 2007. Apart from this the NMML has kept up with its older practices of special tours for schools.
We are setting up a new multi-media library which would house a collection of oral history, photographs and films on Nehru.
We are also planning to build up a documentary and film library with material on the socio- political scenario in India, especially after independence. India does not as yet have a nation-wide repository of documentaries and films with a social message accessible to teachers of schools and colleges. This collection will also contain recordings of NMML's own programmes over the years.
Apart from all this, we have begun on the mammoth task of digitization of the archives, newspapers, photographs and oral history. Once it is done, a lot of it will be put up on the internet. The material which can not be uploaded on to the internet will go on the intranet in the library. We have only recently begun the implementation of our plans in connection with this after planning it out over the last three years. The catalogues of the library will also be made accessible online. The initial 3-4 months will be spent on some kind of a pilot study and then, a full range programme will be undertaken. Once it is running, it will become an ongoing process with additions as and when new material is added to the library.
We have partnered with many institutions for our latest programmes. Networking with NGOs, colleges and universities is extremely important as it widens our horizons and at the same time gives these institutions the sense of being part of NMML.  NMML is also picking up many environmental issues as topics for its programmes to increase awareness among children.

Bhoomika: How different do you think is this administrative job from your academic pursuits?
Prof. Mukherjee: I don't see myself as an administrator at all. If you've noticed, the kind of work we are undertaking at NMML requires more academic guidance than administrative guidance, e.g. we are revamping the museum to keep it abreast of the changing perceptions and international developments as far as India is concerned. The present museum was done up 40 years ago. At that point of time the issues that seemed to be important for highlighting may not be relevant today. We need to highlight different things today. We need to see Nehru in a different light today. This project is much more academic in nature and a purely administrative approach can ruin it.

Bhoomika: With so much on your platter, do you miss teaching?
Prof. Mukherjee: Well, I have never had the chance of missing teaching simply because I have been teaching all along. I joined NMML in August 2006. I finished the monsoon semester course I had already undertaken at JNU along with working for NMML. Research guidance has never really stopped. In fact two of my students are at the finishing stage of their Ph. D even as we talk about it. Then I have been regularly lecturing at programmes of NMML and the Academic Staff College in JNU. And apart from all this, I have been lecturing at programmes all over India and the world. As of now, I am thinking of offering a course in CHS. Teaching has never really stopped for me.

Bhoomika: What message would you like to give to the JNU community?
Prof. Mukherjee: We have built a great and unique institution which espouses excellence in standards of education, research and community living. We have to take care of all these components. Not a single one should decline. Excellence and egalitarianism have to be balanced. We should never give in to populist demands. Social justice and egalitarianism alongwith high academic standards must remain our enduring goals.