Beginning early morn, when the first rays of the sun filter through the wooded premises, the UoP wakes up from its slumber to welcome people from all corners of the city. Not just into its classrooms for study and learning, but to the various nooks of its premises for whatever they may want to do! Yes, it gives you the freedom to be.More than anything else, the sprawling acres provide breathing space to the cityfolk forced to confine themselves in their matchbox homes. The UoP gives them place to get out and stretch their legs, literally. The many walks around the campus and the roads curving around the departments are choc-a-bloc with early morning walkers, joggers and cyclists. If you happen to be in the vicinity of the old swimming tank on the approach road to the examination department, do not be surprised if the morning stillness is shattered by a sudden Ki Aa. Yes, you guessed right - that's where young karatekas come to hone their martial skills! Fresh air, so much of free area, no traffic - it's an exercise-freak's paradise.And also a haven for nature-lovers. With its abundance of flora and fauna, a Sunday here is a field day for bird-watchers. And many can be spotted in some shady corner, armed with binoculars and knapsacks of food and drink, all set to spend a day looking out for the feathered kind. Close on the tracks of bird-watchers arriving on campus with food hampers, the picnickers aren't far behind. Family, school and picnics, gangs of friends - the kattas, the lawns of the Main Building, the Alice Park opposite the publication cell see them descend in droves. The lawns in front of the examination department, dotted with shrubs, and those adjacent to the Kher Vangmay Bhavan, which has a decorative metal structure, is yet another favourite haunt.How can a campus which affords such picturesque vistas not inspire the artistic soul? Armed with paints and brushes, young art students find their own vantage points in the Alice Park or the road leading to old canteen from where to capture the scenic beauty on canvas. Photographers, too, have been known to head for these spots to get that perfect frame.For those who come here to get away from the madding crowd, the UoP does not prove to be a disappointment. Tucked away in its 411 acres are numerous such secluded spots, where you see twosomes spending a quiet moment by themselves. No intrusions to disturb them, hours flash by in the wink of an eye, and they continue to occupy their favourite perch! Once again the Alice Park is a hot favourite, with its bower of trees, stone and cement benches. Or the broad steps shrouded by banyan vines leading from the Old Canteen towards the gardens in front of the Main Building, the road to IUCAA, the steps behind the Main Building towards the EMRC - these are the hot spots, but of course, you can always find your nook anywhere.Why, the Jayakar Library's reading hall also inspires instincts other than the intellectual! Open till 10.30 p.m., and accessible to outsiders, too, the obvious learning and study activity is often spiced by a casual look from behind book covers that's meant to catch just one particular eye! But it serves primarily as the soil that sees academic ideas and aspirations for a successful future (most often the civil services) take root. For those who may not have such space to read at their disposal, the Jayakar hall comes to the rescue.As do the open fields at the other end of the campus. That's where many people head at the end of the day, to stretch, jog around or play a game of football, handball or cricket. Almost any evening you can spot hordes of youngsters catching their breath on the low spectator steps. Rejuvenated by a hot cuppa at the Shantiniketan tapri, it's time to get back, having sweated away the grind of the day.But it's not the end of the visitors that the UoP welcomes. As the dusk lets in the night and the light atop the Main building switches on, the premises, especially the lawns of the Main Building or the Namdeo Sabhagriha, come alive with some cultural event. Be it for a musical recital, a film screening, a play performance or even workshops in creativity organised by the Lalit Kala Kendra, a more discerning and aware crowd makes its way here. To let the spirit of an excellently-rendered cultural experience fill up their senses.. And before the night is over, it's already bright on the eastern sky, and the magic of the UoP premises gets to work again.
