Every year, on February 12, a special event is organised by the Social Service League in the St. Stephen’s College mess. The long, wooden tables of the high-ceiling hall, on whose walls hang portraits of former principals, are occupied by karamcharis and other non-teaching staff on this day, and the students and teachers of the college serve them dinner.A tradition started in 1926, as per the will of Sushil Kumar Rudra (1861-1925), the fourth and the first Indian principal of the college, the dinner, now named the “Rudra Dinner”, is in its 101st year. In the College Record Section of the March 1926 issue of St. Stephen’s College Magazine, Head Monitor Randhir Singh of the Allnutt Hostel writes: On the 12th of February, the College Social Service League gave a dinner to all the servants of the College and the various hostels. The late Principal Mr. S. K. Rudra has bequeathed a sum of Rs 1,000/-for this purpose, and the dinner is now to be an annual feature of the College activities. It will always be given on 12th February, which is the death anniversary of the late Mrs. Rudra, and also by a strange coincidence, the birthday of C.F. Andrews. Originally a fellow at Pembroke College, Cambridge, an English faculty at St. Stephen’s College and later a foundational figure in Santiniketan, Andrews was an associate of Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranatha Tagore. He was an author and educationist, known as Deenbandhu Andrews, for his excellent work for social justice and for his anti-imperial positions.The commitment in this line – “the dinner is now to be an annual feature of the college activities” – has been borne out over ten decades, even when so much has happened: two world wars, the end of the British empire, India’s freedom and Partition, different political dispensations, riots and pandemics and paradigm shifts in society and economics. When I heard of the practice 16 years ago, three things came to my mind: first, the act seemed to resonate with the rejection of social hierarchy in Jesus washing the feet of his disciples during the Last Supper and the lessons of simplicity and service thereof, now a Christian Maundy Thursday rite. The dinner extended the religious act symbolically to the domain of everyday life and integrated it as an ethical reminder. Rudra dinner at St. Stephen’s College. Photo: By arrangement.In the absence of any affirmative action that the Republic was to later bring in, in the 1920s, the students and faculty must have been exclusively Hindu and Muslim upper caste, other than the British/Scottish/Irish faculty. It must have been a non-religious ritual against the performance of purity that caste embodies and since caste cannot give exceptions even for a day on its strict demands of exclusivist purity, this must have been a step of unsettling hierarchy. The early 20th century efforts towards inter-dining between different caste groups, known as Panthibhojanam in Kerala history, rhymed well with this dinner.A brief look over some published materials from this time didn’t reveal any documented unease or misgivings from even entitled students or faculty. A character sketch, “Principal Rudra”, in the October 2025 volume of St. Stephen’s College Magazine by N.K. Sen quotes students from those days: “It is not difficult to defy authority; but Barasahib’s (a name given to Principal Rudra by the college) love is irresistible”. He could initiate students into newer avenues because they believed in him. In addition to instituting the February 12 Dinner as per Principal Rudra’s will, a night school was also established, named after him by the students for the children of the Karmcharis (reports are available in the magazine) and this is another tradition the Social Service League continues as evening classes even today. Both memorial practices point to the sort of ambiance Principal Rudra strived to create with C.F. Andrews and this cannot be seen as acts of benevolence or charity when we read the then newly dangerous Indian leader – M.K. Gandhi. The sections reproduced in the October 2025 College Magazine from Young India could illustrate that: There was a kind of spiritual bond between him and his students. Though he was a Christian, he had room in his bosom for Hinduism and Islam which he regarded with great veneration. His was not an exclusive Christianity which condemned to perdition everyone who did not believe in Jesus Christ as the only savior of the world…He was a keen and careful student of politics. Of the sympathies with the so called extremists, if he made no parade, he never made any secret either. Ever since my return in 1915, I had been his guest whenever I had the occasion to go to Delhi. It was plain sailing enough so long as I had not declared Satyagraha in respect of the Rowlatt Act. He had many English friends in the higher circles. He belonged to a purely English mission. ..I, therefore, felt that his intimate association with me and giving shelter under his roof might compromise him and expose his college to unnecessary risk. I therefore offered to seek shelter elsewhere. His reply was characteristic: “My religion is deeper than many people imagine. Some of my opinions are vital parts of my being. They are formed after deep and prolonged prayers. They are known to my English friends. I cannot possibly by misunderstood by keeping you under my roof as an honoured friend and guest. And if I ever have to make a choice between losing what influence I may have among Englishmen and losing you, I know what I would choose. You cannot leave me”. ..The reader may not be aware that my open letter to the Viceroy, giving concrete shape to the Khilafat claim, was conceived and drafted under Principal Rudra’s roof. He and Charlie Andrews were my revisionists. Non-cooperation was conceived and hatched under his hospitable roof. He was a silent but deeply interested spectator at the private conference that took place between the Maulanas, other Mussulman friends and myself. Religious motive was the foundation of all his acts. There was, therefore, no fear of temporal power, though the same motive also enabled him to value the existence and use the friendship of temporal power…”The reference to the “extremists” in this note could be to Principal Rudra helping out revolutionary leader Lala Har Dayal, then a student of Sanskrit in college, to escape to the US in a ship after he was charged as one of the accused in an attempt on the life of the Viceroy.All this is happening in Delhi, under the newly established capital of one of the most powerful empires in history, by a few individuals who acted without any fear of fellow human beings, but with utmost care and love for everyone, most importantly for students. It became the norm in less than a quarter of a century but they had no idea it would. All they knew was that they did what was right, considerate and kind. They built not buildings but ethical frames for the future to grow in. And then I think of the dead end I constantly find myself against. Of the alarmism I am so used to repeating, saying successive governments are killing public institutions through callous, empty and diffident moves. Of the helplessness I generate echoing “what can we do, after all?”. Well, a lot to make hope possible, reminds the Rudra Dinner and all the tributaries to and from it. N.P. Ashley teaches English at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi.