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What Does a University Logo Mean?
The author sincerely thanks Simon Barnabas and Najeeb Yehia Ezzi Washaly for their comments and suggestions on an earlier version of this article. Dilip Chavan (dilipchavan@srtmun.ac.in) teaches at the Department of English, Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University, Nanded.
Universities in any modern society are expected to supply knowledge, research, and skilled human resources required for industrial production, circulation, and consumption of useful commodities. However, a public university in a welfarist–democratic society is also expected to cherish equality, freedom, justice, and secularism. Do public universities in India fulfil this function? Debate over the logo of the Savitribai Phule Pune University has once again brought these issues into sharp focus.
While moving from Fergusson College to the Deccan Gymkhana in Pune, one comes across a multicuisine restaurant bearing the name “Peshwa,”1 which is invariably reminiscent of the bygone days of the city. On a side of this restaurant is “W” (W for Women), an outlet of a company established by an indigenous capitalist, and on another side is “Wildcraft,” a showroom of a company receiving foreign capital investment. Both the companies have artistically carved logos and both the showrooms also fall in favour of affluent customers.
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