The sprawling 300-acre campus was built on the windward side of the Deccan plateau in 2002. Itaims to coexist with nature and be eco-friendly in its day to day functioning. The hilltop gives a good view of almost all the buildings on campus and I can see the rooftops covered with solar panels which generate electricity and provide for a reliable power supply back up if need be. The buildings are constructed in such a way so as to allow ample natural light to filter in. Just as much as we need light, we need darkness too.
Since the campus is home to a plethora of birds and insects, many of them nocturnal, bright artificial lights interferes with their activities and reproduction, thereby reducing the population. The presence of mostly natural lights and the decrease in usage of artificial lights helps to curb light pollution.
On a short walk downhill from the hostel to the academic building, I came across the most picturesque part of the campus; a place called Aqua Point. In addition to having the best view, it has two earthen bandharas which can hold 30 crore litres of water. This water can sustain the need of the campus for over six months. These water bodies attract various birds and insects and help foster biodiversity. This is an attempt at rainwater harvesting and re-using the water effectively. Up ahead, we see a stunning fountain and you’re probably thinking what happened to the rainwater harvesting? But wait, here’s the catch, all of the water actually drains into the reservoirs which then pumps it back into the campus for re-use.
Now that we finally get to class, we put away our pens and notebooks. Out come the laptops, pulling up the ppts and pre-reads that were sent to us at the end of the previous class. Once the lecture is over, I give my biometric attendance and begin my uphill journey to the mess. Revelling in the marvels of this almost paperless world, I notice somebody whizz past me. You see, here you can just pick up a bicycle and go wherever you wish to within the campus. For the unlucky few like me, who can’t ride one, we walk. The campus aims to be a green zone and be as less polluted as possible, though the buses play spoilsport here. Maybe in the near future they could be switched with CNG ones.
After that walk, we get to the part that’s the second most luxurious thing for most students at a B-school, food. The first being sleep. The mess has two floors and students from multiple colleges on this campus flock to it. You need to stand in a queue to take your food and the board right in front reminds you how much food was wasted yesterday and how many people could have been fed with that much food. With that guilt in your system, you only take as much as you can finish and if you’re like me, annoy your friends into finishing their plates of food too.
Life at B-school is anything but predictable so we don’t know where we’ll go from here. However, staying in the lap of nature, in this college that cares not only about its students but also of the environment around it, is definitely a privilege. As the night gives way to the wee hours of the morning, we finally hit the hay only to do it all over again and keep falling in love with this place, a little more every day.
WHICH ABG COMPANY WOULD YOU LIKE TO WORK FOR AND WHY?
In a day and age when the Durga Pujo season is marred by overzealous marketing and profiteering, Pantaloons makes a distinctive mark for itself. In my hometown of Kolkata, this year, Pantaloons truly stood out in the way it reached out to the masses and yet blended in with the ambient pomp and joy. Imagine walking out of your house and on to a work of art! Pantaloons brought together 400 art professionals and students to decorate one of Kolkata’s major thoroughfares with sprawling and colourful Pujo motifs.
ABFRL for me has made fashion synonymous with celebration and a sense of commitment towards the community at large. Some of the sustainable innovations provided by ABFRL are Louis Philippe’s naturally dyed clothing lines, Van Heusen’s zero detergent wash shirts and Peter England’s handcrafted Madhubani shirts. The conscious practices followed by ABFRL make it the company that I would love to work for.
Ahana Batabyal
Marketing, SIBM Pune
Comments
utkarsh goel
Awesome article.You covered all the nitty-gritty of the campus.
16 Jul 2018, 06.58 PM