College teachers in India are the focus of this article. Working conditions, attitudes, and their organizational milieu are surveyed. Data for this article are provided by a case study of the University of Bombay. The ambivalent role of the college teacher as an individual with an inadequate income, declining social status, and yet the pretensions of professionalism is a theme of this article. The Indian teaching community has been called on to function in a rapidly expanding higher education system but with inadequate resources. This situation has led to declining standards of education in general, and in a demoralization of the academic community in particular. A tradition of bureaucratic involvement in academic affairs and only a limited amount of academic freedom have further retarded the growth of a profession and effective teaching community.