Kala Bhavan, Shantiniketan, West Bengal India

At Shantiniketan's Kala Bhavan, Visva Bharati University, they swear by Rabindranath Tagore's immortal words, "Where the head is held high, and knowledge is free." The college believes in giving complete artistic freedom to students. "We don't believe in tying them down with rules and regulations," says Pankaj Panwar, professor in sculpture at the university. Does that mean they are free to bunk classes? "Well, the interesting thing is that if it's not a compulsion, they will not bunk classes. And if they are truly interested in classes they wouldn't bunk," says Sanjoy K. Mallik, associate professor, art history. It's almost as if the onus lies on the teacher to get the student interested in the subject.