Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Three cheers for North Campus

As much as we all think that a 300-acre campus is the ultimate nirvana for a B-school student, I have come to be extremely fond of FMS’s location. I don’t personally think you need a golf course to appreciate Kotler better or seven lakes to learn derivatives and options. One of the few things I like about Delhi is North Campus.

North Campus is quite unique in its location as well as its structure.

Universities all over India and the world have been closed structures confined to rather beautiful, but impervious campuses. Most of the universities in India are just figureheads, just campuses with a motley collection of decrepit departments. They are neither centers of excellence nor are they preferred institutes for learning. The best colleges in India are affiliated to them and most of the time located at different parts of the state/city.

In fact for most of the top colleges, the university tag is baggage, an unnecessary suffix they have to bear with. Their reputations far exceed that of the university. The Loyolas and the Stellas of Chennai, the Josephs and Christs of Bangalore, the Xaviers and Sydenhams of Bombay have all built up equity that exceeds that of the Universities.

Not only that, the best colleges within a city are located in isolated pockets. It is so important for a university to bring the best minds together, and get them interacting with each other.( Even if it means a large majority of the student population will benefit from cross dating, more than intellectual thought sharingJ)

This is where North campus is so well placed. The best institutes share compound walls; their students rub shoulders with each other, and all the institutes are within a 3 km green radius. But there is no closed structure isolating the University from the outside world. North Campus is as porous to bhel puri walas as it is to ideas. It is as open to dissent as it is to traffic. The student community is as diverse as the range of food items. The Baristas and the Mcdonalds are as crowded as the Gwyer Halls and the KMC Canteens. Sometimes as bored B-schoolers, with our deadline filled and assignment saturated lives, when we take a break at the Stephens Café or the Hindu Canteen or the chaat wala next to Miranda House, we can afford to forget our rigmarole and observe…….

Observe the absolute vela- ness of undergrad life. Observe the blooming romances on campus. Observe the total lack of focus in the extended cigi sessions at all the addas. Observe some obscure protest against some MNC operations in India and silently cheer for a different point of view, however leftist it may be. Observe the Punjabi ostentation strewn all over in the attire, in the Mercs, in the weekly updated camera mobiles. Observe the catwalk that Kamlanagar often turns out to be with the ‘models’ coming not only in all different shades, sizes and figures but also different cultures and countries. And smile silently for a while before getting back to assignments, placements, rankings,marks….

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