The campus seen through the eyes of children

‘A bicycle track through the forest would be great!’ says campus kid Ashwin Aravazhi as he hops on his bicycle with his brother on the back. The university campus has been largely set up by and for grown-ups. But what is it like living on campus as a child? UT Nieuws speaks with the brothers Aravazhi, who have been living and playing on campus since January 2007.

‘Sometimes I get a little bored, because there are not so many children living here. But on the whole, I love staying on campus. There is so much space to do things,’ explains Ashwin Aravazhi ,11, while he sits in his family’s small but cozy campus apartment.

‘For example, my main hobbies are biking, cricket and taking photographs, when I am not using my play station. Well, I sure can do that a lot here,’ says Ashwin as his seven-year-old brother Ajay nods. The brothers can often be seen carrying a ball under their arms, because they also like soccer and basketball. Fortunately, the playground nearby their flat has a basketball net. In winter, the brothers like to skate or ride their sleigh.

Ajay loves to explore the campus, hand-in-hand with his dad, to go and feed the ducks in the nearby pond. ‘There is already a lady who feeds them every day. But I like to help,’ says Ajay. The loud quacking of a duck at that very moment takes us further to explore the animal life on campus, which Ashwin illustrates with some beautiful, professional-looking photographs of frogs and other creatures with four legs – or more.

‘Once, there was a big deer in front of the house. And we’ve seen storks, squirrels and rabbits,’ they both quickly tell me. They also explain how one time when they were woken by a mysterious, persistent, round light, resembling an UFO, it was like in books they’d read. But Ashwin sighs and says, ‘Unfortunately, there was no time to take a photograph.’

In addition to playing with other children living on campus – at the moment around six children of varying ages – Ajay and Ashwin have made many adult friends. ‘Oh, most people know us by first name,’ Ashwin laughs, ‘like the Checkpoint Charlie people.’ They often make new adult friends during major UT events like the Batavierenrace, when they mingled with visitors in tents and admired the hot air balloon nearby. ‘Sometimes we even get invited to parties,’ Ashwin adds not without pride,‘like from the Chinese and Indonesian society.’ One day the brothers joined their dad at his work in the MESA+ building. During that occasion, they had to wear large white lab coats and protective glasses which made for many funny photographs to send to their relatives in India.

Asked if they would change anything at the UT campus if they were rector for a day, Ashwin and Ajay pause briefly. ‘More attractions for kids, definitely!’, Ashwin then says. Ajay already has a proposal: ‘a small ice-skating rink and swings. Ashwin adds his own proposals: ‘a bicycle track through the forest and  it would be nice if they would return the once bright colors on our apartment block. Much more cheerful than the grey color it has now.’

So, according to the brothers, there may be some work for the UT Board here. Upon leaving, I present the brothers with one more final question: Will they rather live in a city or on a campus when they are grown-ups?  The brothers throw me a slightly amazed look, particularly Ajay, who essentially grew up on the UT campus, arriving here when he was four. Then, in choir: ‘On a campus, of course!’

Ashwin, left, and Ajay Aravazhi on one of their bicycle tours.