CAMPUS HANGOUT: INSTITUTE OF
APPAREL MANAGEMENT, GURGAON
What's to love?
The imposing glass structure housing Institute of Apparel Management in Gurgaon does away with all campus stereotypes that DU campuses in neighbouring Delhi so fondly evoke. Lush green lawns are replaced by marble donning floors, broken and scribbled desks and chairs are given the snub in favour of smart plastics. The library here is perhaps every girl's dream come true for it has every conceivable fashion magazine on its shelves. Amidst sharp decor, the canteen, the students' favourite hangout zone on their one floor campus wants to remain no eyesore. The floor to glass wall affords a scintillating view of the Gurgaon skyline.
What's not to be?
But the canteen grub as the students say is not much to be happy about. “The food in the canteen is not that great,” says Arun, a second year student as he busies himself with notes and books. “We use the canteen mainly to just sit around, copy notes and, of course, exchange gossip,” tells Anchali, another second-year student at the institute. But open spaces are not missed much as the malls are all pretty close by with the regular lures of Baristas and Cafe Coffee Days.
Alternatives
But all of them unanimously swear by the ‘chhole-kulchewalla' at the market nearby, just a rickshaw ride away. “The guy single-handedly ensures that we forget our below-average canteen food,” quips Arun loyally. And what would college life be without the much-needed vendors and their spicy fares! For a campus that is encased in glass from all sides, there is sadly not much to do besides sitting around in the canteen during the breaks or occupying the seats of the sleek library. The students have been recently deprived of their favourite seating area, that is the window ledges, thanks to a decree that the institution has recently come up with. Across the building is a fancy restaurant but as the students sadly exclaim it's not what an average college goer's wallet can afford. Most of the students live close by, thus making malls the best options. The campus definitely reminds one of the phrase, birds in gilded cages!
