Clubbing at college, with govt nod: DU welcomes bhajan initiative

Phone torches, a few hundred of them, sway in tandem in the warm February darkness at Delhi University’s Shivaji College. On stage, a singer channels Elvis Presley. Next to him, the band builds up rock concert energy, with guitars, keyboards, drums. The occasion is the finale of a 10-day ‘Bhajan Clubbing’ event sponsored by the Delhi government’s Art, Culture & Language Ministry, across the Central university. On his January 25 Mann ki Baat episode, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed happiness that “our Gen Z is taking to Bhajan Clubbing”, framing it as a beautiful merger of spirituality and modernity. Soon after, Delhi Culture Minister Kapil Mishra announced a ‘Vasantotsav 2026’ tour across DU, with Bhajan Clubbing the star attraction. On February 10, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta kicked off the “tour” from Ramjas College, and it covered six other colleges before wrapping up at Shivaji College. The main act today is the band Eternal Bliss by SAM, the youth wing of ‘Divya Jyoti Jagrati Sansthan’. The Sansthan is best known for its founder Ashutosh Maharaj, whose “clinically dead” body has been preserved for the past 12 years by his followers in the belief that he will come alive one day. Before Eternal Bliss comes on, the college’s own cultural societies present events to mark ‘Shivaji Jayanti’. One of the participants is a B.Com first-year student, a member of the college’s dance society ‘Footloose’. While it is “a Western dance society”, she sheepishly admits, today they are doing a Lavni dance. “There is also a play, a Chhatrapati Shivaji-themed fashion show, and kathak,” says the student, who does not want to be named. The play is on the killing of Afzal Khan by Shivaji. Says an impressed Aprajita Singh, a first-year B.Sc Honours student: “His mother raised Shivaji to never bow down and to respect every religion. But if someone looks at your religion with malice, do not spare them either.” Shivaji’s defeat of Afzal Khan is met with cheers and slogans of ‘Har Har Mahadev’. Anushka, a first-year BA Programme student, admits the term ‘Bhajan Clubbing’ “literally confused” her. Nods her friend Aditi Jain: “The words seem contradictory.” But, the “craziness” of the idea has them “excited”. Ankit, a second-year student and ‘event management head’ of the Women’s Development Cell, says: “It’s a new concept, but from what we saw on Instagram, it is great… People dance to bhajans at temples. If we are spreading that in a college setting, what is the problem?” The crowd, a few hundred strong (2,000 had reportedly registered), also reflects the confusion. No one is sure what the “dress code” for Bhangra Clubbing should be. So if there are young men and women in high boots and ripped denims, others have turned up in traditional suits or sarees tied in the latest styles. Some men have tilak on their foreheads. An older man in his late forties is wearing a Nehru – or Modi, take your pick – jacket, with a map of ‘Akhand Bharat’ pinned on it. Around 7 pm, the main event starts. Lights come on, revealing a huge banner reading ‘SAM – Transforming Youth’ in the backdrop. Eternal Bliss says its “fusion rock band” has been around 16 years. Its members include a PhD in Indian classical music, a chartered accountant, a music producer, an MNC employee, and an All India Radio-graded artist. They are part of SAM for the love of it, the members say, and take no money. The singer with the Elvis Presley look has the crowd hooked with his greeting: “Are you guys ready!” After the band has played a couple of known numbers, including Hare Rama, Hare Krishna, and “patriotic” ones such as ‘Jai Hind’, ‘Rockini’ comes on. The song is a mix of rock and raagini, the traditional Haryanvi folk music. The lyrics suggest a generation that is adrift: “Dude has a new mobile; dude has a new Bolero; chats on Facebook… bunks classes and cheats in exams; gets money for fees but smokes it away in cigarettes; participates in unnecessary fights for swagger; isn’t concerned about the nation…” Some youths have climbed onto the shoulders of others, while smaller groups have formed, dancing among themselves. Bharat Airi, 37, the MNC employee and one of the band’s singers, says later: “(It is all about) nation building, youth building, channelising youth energy.” However, not everyone is charmed. A man complains loudly: “This is insanity. Bhajan is one end of the spectrum. Clubbing is another.” On the stage, the music has taken a break, and ‘Sadhvi’ Ruchika Bharti has come on, with a mic in one hand and an unlit glow stick in the other. Showing it to the crowd, she says: “This is a plastic tube stick, absolutely dull. But when we come to such a devotional atmosphere, how do we become?” On cue, she flicks a switch on the stick; it flares to life. “We glow like glow sticks,” Bharti says. The crowd shouts its approval. Bharti is not done. “But brothers and sisters, there is a limitation. By morning, the stick will be phuss (extinguished)… You will leave from here, and find yourself in the same tensions of life, exam pressures.” The solution is ‘Brahma Gyan’, the knowledge imparted by “His Holiness Shri Ashutosh Maharaj Ji”, she adds. Bharti also has a cautionary tale involving Chandrashekhar Azad, talking about how he pulled up a fellow revolutionary over posters of women. Bharti says Azad told him: “We have to write the history of India’s freedom. We cannot be caught up in these cheap pleasures.” There is a shift in the crowd, which is uncertain about this vibe change. Bharti takes a turn again, this time to Shivaji. “He was your age, 18 or 19, a ‘Gen Z’ of his time,” she says, an “Alpha Man”. The crowd’s eyes on her again, she also mentions Elon Musk. “If Musk loses ₹10 lakh, it doesn’t matter, but for a cab driver, it is a crisis of survival. The point is… how rich you are from the inside.” Minister Kapil Mishra calls DU’s response to ‘Bhajan Clubbing’ “shandaar”, linking it to the government’s “broader cultural outreach on campuses”. If last year, this saw a Navratri gathering at the university’s North Campus stadium, this March, they plan a similar event at JNU and more throughout the year across colleges, Mishra tells The Indian Express. Thanking the PM for the “inspiration”, he adds that each Bhajan Clubbing event cost around ₹5-6 lakh. Aprajita Singh is all praise for the effort. “Our government, our honourable PM, initiated Bhajan Clubbing to ensure we can have fun while remaining connected to our culture. We must never forget our roots.” Aditya Tyagi, a member of the college’s Debating Society, is more practical: “Whatever be the case, the system of the government in power prevails.” Eternal Bliss, meanwhile, is wrapping up, finishing their performance with the hit song Sadda Haq from Bollywood film Rockstar. The song is about youth demanding their rights. Incidentally, it is two days after DU banned all demonstrations on the campus for one month. The directive followed clashes over the University Grants Commission’s stalled equity regulations, aimed at addressing caste discrimination. Most students gathered this February evening have not heard of the ban. Says Dhananjay Garg, who is pursuing BCom Honours: “Some restrictions have to be imposed. There have been incidents pertaining to women safety.” Aishwarya Khosla is a key editorial figure at The Indian Express, where she spearheads and manages the Books & Literature and Puzzles & Games sections, driving content strategy and execution. Aishwarya's specialty lies in book reviews, literary criticism and cultural commentary. She also pens long-form feature articles where she focuses on the complex interplay of culture, identity, and politics. She is a proud recipient of The Nehru Fellowship in Politics and Elections. This fellowship required intensive study and research into political campaigns, policy analysis, political strategy, and communications, directly informing the analytical depth of her cultural commentary. As the dedicated author of The Indian Express newsletters, Meanwhile, Back Home and Books 'n' Bits, Aishwarya provides consistent, curated, and trusted insights directly to the readership. She also hosts the podcast series Casually Obsessed. Her established role and her commitment to examining complex societal themes through a nuanced lens ensure her content is a reliable source of high-quality literary and cultural journalism. Her extensive background across eight years also includes previous roles at Hindustan Times, where she provided dedicated coverage of politics, books, theatre, broader culture, and the Punjabi diaspora. Write to her at aishwaryakhosla.ak@gmail.com or aishwarya.khosla@indianexpress.com. You can follow her on Instagram: @aishwarya.khosla, and X: @KhoslaAishwarya. ... Read More