Thick books, heavy looks, an ever-stretching course list and endless studying hours are what law schools are all about. However, beneath these cliches, there lie some finer nuances which a person can always look back to. CampusFever takes a look at life in one of the leading law colleges of the country, NALSAR, Hyderabad.

"Academics form a core part of law school. There is a strenuous curriculum, and the rigmarole of presentations, the lectures and the moot court activities, is inescapable," says Ashrita Kotha, a 3^rd year student at the college.

And how rich is the student diversity? "Interacting with students from literally the four corners of India (Leh, Nagaland, Trivandrum and Bikaner) and also from other cultures such as Bhutan has been an enriching experience...."

What about events and functions? "We have events like cultural and food festivals, such as the Awadh-Magadh, Telugu, Punjabi, South Indian (Tamilian, Malayalam, Kannad), East Indian (Oriya, Bengali and the North Eastern) Cultural Fests that are hosted by the respective students. During such fests, the student-hosts personally serve the food and the mess is decorated traditionally...."

"Such experiences have helped me appreciate and take pride in the heterogeneous and resilient Indian culture. The urge me to speak in my mother tongue-Telugu and my linguistic identity has been reinforced ever since. Owing to the same, I have become more accepting and accommodating and have been able to overcome some of the notions that I had always clung to." says the girl.

And academics must be really heavy? "Not always... see, it's not just classes that keep us occupied...  we have compulsary projects for all the five subjects that we study every semester... and these projects are like research papers.... apart from that.... we have research papers that we have to compose!...

She adds on, "But its good....you can always like them if you accept them as a helping part of your growth.... I have come to realize that my academic or moot court achievements in the past two years are not things that I treasure most, there are other invaluable experiences and realizations which I will cherish for times to come....."

During the semester vacation of December 2006, she had the occasion of working with Human Rights Law Network, Cochin as a part of her course programme. "At such time I was involved with the legal aid work carried out especially with regard to the disabled. As a part of the same, I was able to speak to some of the disabled at close quarters. Such interaction was an eye-opener." she recalls.

So far so good. But lets talk about hostel life. "Well... every college has its drawbacks and hiccups but that does not mean we don't have any good things either.... The walks in and around campus, gossip sessions, late night movies, long phone calls, nonsensical chats, endless orkutting, midnight maggis, last minute submissions, surprise test tensions, times of sudden loneliness, running for breakfast five minutes before classes, friends for life, shopping sprees along with friends, sleeping during lectures.... it was all fun!" she adds cheerfully.

And as it turns out, life is not all books and lectures in "serious" colleges like NALSAR too. While producing some of the most quick and argumentative minds of the country, the college also manages to give the students a good and memorable experience of their lives as well.

So we all know what life in IIT Delhi is like. We say so presuming most of us have read Chetan Bhagat's account of the same. But what about the life at the other IIT's? What's up in IIT Chennai? Or at IIT Kharagpur? Well.... recently one of our writers got in touch with one of his old friends who had made it through one of the most sought after IIT's.... and here follows his account. Campus Fever covers life at IIT Bombay.

Well, first things first, it is still known as IIT Bombay! And not IIT Mumbai. Read on.

IIT Bombay was the second Indian Institute of Technology to be established in the country. It was opened in 1958 with assistance from UNESCO and with funds contributed by the Soviet Union. The site chosen for the institute was Powai (also its current location), 29 kms. from the city of Bombay ( now Mumbai), with an area of 550 acres (2.2 km²) which was given by the then Bombay State Government. The campus is surrounded by Powai lake and Sanjay Gandhi national park and is in close proximity to the Vihar lake. It is extremely green and free from the city pollution.

Rahul, the student we relied on for the story talks to us passionately about his college. "As a student from the place I would like everybody to know some things....  Ragging is banned throughout India and this is taken very seriously by the IIT Management.  The standards of education are good but students are not expected to study all day and night. There is lots of free time for recreation and other activities. The course load on students has been reduced in recent past and student have more flexibility to take up courses from other departments also."

And what about other activities? "The extra-curricular activities like sports, dance, music, dramatics are done on a very good scale and have a very important place in the lifestyle of IIT."

Hostels are the integral part of the IIT facility. And down the timeline, we have known all the official and the unofficial events occuring (and staged) in the hostels across the country. What's it like there? "Food in the mess is edible, not more not less. However, there are lots of restaurants and food joints nearby the campus." says Rahul with a hearty laugh.

It is one of the most prestigious institutes of the country. Time and again, it has given the country some of the brightest minds. Everything in the college is impressive, be it the facult, the performance, the nurchuring or the facilities.

The hostels are almost always abuzz with activity. The management students share the hostels with the undergraduates. There are a lot of inter-hostel competitions that one can participate in and contribute towards the hostel. These activities span the whole gamut from literary events to sports. The hostels have a reading room, a TV room, a gym and a computer room. Usually, every weekend, movies are shown at the auditorium that helps take one’s mind off after a busy week. Further, one can unwind by playing indoor games like Table Tennis, Chess or Carroms.

The college is also touted to have one of the fastest working e-networks in the country. High-speed LAN internet is available for most of the day. However, the authorities have stepped up measures to restrict internet nd LAN usage to cultivate better interaction among students on a personal scale. Says Rahul, "Student interaction is very good and is one of the major factors for the quality of education in IIT."

In a place like this you have the conglomeration of a number of varied mindsets.... philosophers, thinkers, science-freaks, gold medallists... and what not! We guess it can never bore the laziest of the minds! Of course academics are the reason why the acronym "IIT" is so respected and worshipped in the country; however there is more to these institutions than just books and blackboards.

We are sure that college life is one of the most memorable times of one's life. And in the acknowledgement of the same, we have tried to cover life at one of the colleges in India. It is obvious that we might have ruffled up some old memories of some of our readers. And we invite any comments or incidents or memories that one would like to share about their times at IIT Bombay.