Campus Buzz: In corridors of Coimbra

The buzz and gossip continues unabated in the corridors as more and more posters show up week after week, writes Annie Datta in From the Varsity.

The university campus at Coimbra is full of informative posters. The displays are free. The sheets of printed information allow us a peep into the world of a student here. Their tastes, their needs and the popularity of a fad. As one enters the campus, free leaflets are handed out to you at the entrance. The University session begins on a festive note and the welcoming of new caloiros (freshers) is usually accompanied by sessions of drinking and singing. The handouts invite you to one of the local pubs for a gathering on a given night.

The printed sheets, graphically poor though and generally in black, are seen all over the faculty. Another handbill would announce an invitation to a cuisine workshop. "Indian Biriani Workshop", for instance, allows you to know Indian cuisine and most probably initiate you to a taste of this much-preferred dish from home for a fee of € 7.50. The poster with a picture of goddess Lakshmi might just disappoint you in case you interpret it to mean a spiritual experience.

Of late, one sees adverts placed all over the canteens and the smell of food around makes the recipe meatier and mouth- watering. Coimbra students are curious about Indian cuisine and those who have had a taste of curry would like to repeat the experience. A friend of mine is a great fan of everything Indian and often requests us for "kheer", the Indian dessert she prefers to have all by herself.

A poster would inform you of a Hungarian dance show or a session of local fado under a starry night in an open praça. Cultural events are quite popular with students and oriental themes do attract attention. Last November a poster transported me back home. It read Mahabharata. A theatrical puppet show of the great epic poem by artists Massimo Schuster e Francesco Niccolini. The academic theatre of Gil Vicente is always holding such events and printed statements on the wall keep you informed of events in the town.

Learn Yoga. Learn Tango. There are invitations to field trips to Tomar, Fatima or down the River Mondego. Chess competitions are also notified. Be part of a Fado Group. The options are endless and the cultural horizon unlimited. Such is the dynamism of university life at Coimbra. It is the best way to acquaint oneself with the Portuguese ethos. The best introduction to multi-culturalism. A student's life pirouettes around such activities and creative lines. Student activities are open to one and all. Participation is the key word.

The University has its own Radio at 107.9 FM. Also there is a local newsletter entitled "A Cabra". The Academic Association of Coimbra (AAC) is the students union and its building houses small offices promoting different sports. It is divided into cultural sections. The corridors invite you to join rugby, chess or tennis. Football, of course, has to be there. The Académica team, currently in the Portuguese Superliga, was born here. One is informed that it is an autonomous football organization inside the AAC. A Briosa, as it is dubbed, shows how proud the students are of their cultural and academic past.

Free publicity, that one sees here, is cultural agenda unfastened. It is indicative of happenings around the campus. The buzz and gossip continues unabated in the corridors as more and more posters show up week after week reminding us of what it means to be here amidst spirited student life. Not surprisingly, the entrance to this university town on A1 highway announces Coimbra the city of knowledge.