SMALL TOWN, BIG SCHOOL

ENSCONCED IN THE PICTURESQUE SHIVALIK HIMALAYAS, SHOOLINI UNIVERSITY’S FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCES IS AMONGST INDIA’S TOP 100 B-SCHOOLS. NOT TO FORGET THAT IT HAS PROBABLY THE BEST VIEW

- ARNAB DUTTA

WHEN ISHANI GHOSH chose the Faculty of Management Sciences FMS) at Shoolini University of Biotechnology Management Sciences, her decision was based on the institute’s academic and placement performances in recent years. Coming from Kolkata, a major metropolis, she knew little about what was awaiting her at Solan, Himachal Pradesh. Spread across the hills of the Shivalik Himalayas, the 50-acre campus, 20 km off the bustling main town, has been more than a breath of fresh air pun intended). After all, attending management classes with a diverse pack of students from various parts of the country may still get mundane at times. But a stroll along the winding roads with picturesque landscapes and chirping birds rejuvenates her every now and then.

The only hurdle Ghosh continues to dread is the steep gradient—a signature of Solan’s hills—that she encounters every day on her way around the campus. But she is getting used to that, too, she says with a broad smile. For Bengalis like Ghosh, an added incentive is the pleasant surprise of being able to enjoy Durga Puja—organised by a bunch of Bengali students, who else—at an ancient temple in the heart of nature. Located inside the campus, the temple is one of the many examples of tactful integration of the area’s originalities and modern structures that the founders of the university have managed to achieve.