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| Golf Course |
I remember that evening, when I had come down to Pune all the way from Jaipur. It was a hazy evening; I was in search of a college Foundation for Liberal and Management Education (FLAME), now known as Flame University. As I visited the place to see where exactly it is located, I could just experience smog on the way to a new journey. Because of such weather I had to return and wait for the next morning to rise and finally I will be there getting rid of a long waited destination. Therefore, it was a pleasant morning, and I was prepared to make a visit to that place. However, it was an interview, but I was more curious to see how the place would actually look like. Therefore the surprise or wait was no longer there, I was about to reach the so waited destination, as we drove up the hills, the surroundings seemed to be more beautiful, some breath taking greenery midst the mountains was experienced in the regions of Pune. As it was eight in the morning and smog was still there, covering the beautiful golf course alongside this beautiful campus. As you keep moving down the Ghats, you experience the place, the beautiful greenery surrounding the hills.
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| Cricket Field connecting the Library and Sodexo |
I entered the college gate, at 50 Meters I see is a cricket field, and a full sized football court, if it would not have been an interview, I would have been playing at the field. I felt as if I was at a resort or came here for a weekend. Not knowing how the people around me be like, I walked down the campus with all unknown faces, every step that morning bought a smile on my face as it was just so beautiful all around me. I met a few teachers in the morning shared a few smiles and finished my interview, and then I was set to leave the campus. I did not feel as if I was to leave the place, it felt as if spending decades as well would not be enough here.
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| A Drive to Flame |
I returned to Jaipur, all the way thinking about this place. I had no idea of how the result will come out to be. A few days later, I received an email saying that Mr. Chidansh Choudhary has been selected for the FSLE batch (2011-2015). I was all prepared to reach the destination, which I just have been thinking about since the very first day I came for an interview.
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| Flame - It's always beautiful |
Finally I was there standing amidst our batch people, not knowing where everyone has come from. I spoke to a few people, trying to know about them and in search of finding the best of people.
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| 3.5 |
As I was new to these faces, some knew each other and some were strangers like me roaming across the lovely campus sharing smiles, spreading happiness and at last having the best of conversations turning into a beautiful friendship. Not even seven days of these four years, I could see that bonding amongst our batch mates, though I was the least spoken of all, but at times seeing everyone happy would bring on a smile. We stayed in a campus where we had all the facilities, right there from the sports to the food, everything was in front of our eyes. The student run ventures, Joe’s, Yaarana earlier known as Paathshala and Bottoms up were spread all over the campus, making us happier by serving best of the dishes like, Chilly Cheese Toast, Cheese Chakli Pav and the Momos. The mornings that started at Balus with a tea and vada pav ended up with a blast in our hostel rooms entering anyone’s room and waking everyone from sleep.
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| Paathshala or Yaarana - Picture by batch of 2008 |
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| Kakis |
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| Balus |
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| Cafe Coffe Day, next to the Kund |
However, we were staying in a resort cum campus, but a place where knowledge was shared at every step of your life. From the classroom to your hostel rooms, you had these conversations with best of your colleagues understanding life through a different perspective. Flame introduced us to a different fields of study at a single platform, be it the Social Science, Humanities, Physics and Natural Science, Fine and Performing arts, everything was right there at your doorstep.
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| Where We all Stayed |
However, the campus is spread in an area of 80 acres, but it feels as if you are living in such a small place. Every step lets you experience a smiling face or an interesting conversation. There have been best of lifetime experiences that we all have been a part of at Flame University, like Discover India Project, Flame Leadership Award, and everyone’s favorite Exploration in Life Space, Life Roles & Identity (ELRI). These programs or experiences have been a life changing programs for everyone in some sense, a few like me turned out to be a photographer and more of an intellectual person. However, we all have had a complex time at Flame, not denying the fact, but yes we all were the strength to each other’s arms at the end of the day.
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| We had our own lake |
Since we all stayed in a campus, which was right between the hills, it too had some of the other attractions like the lake, which was part of our very own campus, small kund where everyday someone was thrown into the kund on their birthday celebrations. However, we were surrounded with restrictions, surrounded with hills, but we were grown and liberal through our thoughts. Exploring the hills, the lakes, the people out there became an hobby itself, sometimes just to enjoy the rains and see of how it all looked like from the top we would climb up the mountains and sit there for hours looking at the beauty were we all stayed.
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| How it looked from the Bungalows |
One thing that Flame taught or I would rather say people around showed how speaking, opening up to different people at times could be so meaningful and important in life. You end up learning so many things, when I joined the college, I always stood as a silent pillar, but knowing people and talking to them made me a mature person at the end of these four years. Moreover, the best part was the interaction between the juniors and the seniors, there was no such thing that let us say, “yeh mera junior hai ya senior”. We all were equally at the same level, enjoying the interactions at Balu, Kakis or the sports field.
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| Our Sports Heaven |
One more thing that makes a happy person, were the activities that we have experienced at this place, we had a bunch of musicians, photographers, artists and just people with so much talent all around us. Sometimes you are just sitting in your room and you would find someone playing the guitar at Balus or Kakis, or see someone play at the fields, or read a book. That enthusiasm, something that use to turn out into smiles or force us to be a part of it.
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| Lake connecting to the Temple |
Flame has been an integral part of my life and of course has been for friends as well. We have enjoyed the studies, the classroom masti, dancing with the best of our professors, bunking classes, missing exams, endless nights and things could just add on to the list that we all have experienced under this umbrella. I remember saying that two to three years are sufficient at Flame, fourth year becomes too much at the end, it surely would have. However, once you graduate you understand the importance of the bonding and the love you have been sharing for the past 4 years.
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| Friends |
Words are less to describe the journey I have experienced amidst friends at flame, this one goes to all of you who have been a part of this important journey and who have lived the same. To the best roommate, best of friends, best of batch mates, teachers and the surroundings.
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| Here the smiles came from |
