A stroll through Berkeley

A university campus makes you feel like a student once more. It's just the ambience- filled with buildings of different sciences, that kindles the thirst for knowledge. 

The Berkeley campus is one such. It is early summer at this time of the year. The days are long, with bright sunshine well after 7 in the evening. Out in the sun, it feels warm, but the moment you step into the shade, you feel the nip in the air. 

You walk down Oxford Street till you meet Hearst Street. The university campus stretches beyond Hearst. There is no clear demcarcation between the town and the university. They seemlessly merge into the other, without a boundary wall to separate the two worlds. Perhaps, the founding principle of "free speech" at Berkeley, influenced such a juxtaposition. Alternately, in an earlier world, there was no need for additional security. After all, the Berkeley campus goes back in time, to the late 1800s. 

The terrain in undulating. You are negotiating slopes all the time. From vantage points within the campus, you look yonder, and you can spot the Bay. In the sun, the limpid water of the distant bay is a crisp silver line and beyond the bay, you can see the outline of the mountains, colored a deep purple.

Redwood trees that California is known for, pock the university campus. The trees are gigantic- with the bark, several feet wide and with dark green foliage. It is a riot of green-some trees with a fresh coat of light-green leaves in spring and the redwoods, with its deep-green competing with these newborns! A tiny creek creeps its way on one side of the campus. The flow is gentle, with the sound of one of those therapeutic fountains that you would keep in the living room- just that steady drip, and no more,

You leave the redwoods and it opens into vast meadows of green, that sparkle in the late afternoon sun. The department of Psychology, the Life Sciences building and the Library are imposing structures. 

Alongside, is the campus clock tower called the "campanile". This tower can be seen from most parts of the campus. It tolls and announces each hour. Beyond the campus tower is the Greek Theatre- It looks like a colliseum- a stadium in stone, arranged in a circle and overlooking the stage. The Graduation ceremony is held here for select departments.

The campus also hosts a stadium, bigger than the Greek Theatre. Almost the size of a Cricket ground, this is the location where the Graduation ceremony for all departments is held. Almost 8000 of them graduate each year and the stadium is packed with 10s of thousands of spectators for the Graduation ceremony. 

The library holds special interest. Once inside, it looks like Victorian era palace, with paintings on the walls. There is a sculpture of Mark Twain, sitting casually on a bench, as soon as you enter the library.

An essay on Berkeley would be incomplete without mentioning its characteristic shout of "Go Bears!" Each ceremonial speech is ended with "Go Bears", that is met with the same response from the raucous crowd!