  The elastic and inelastic scattering of $^7$Be from $^{12}$C have been
measured at an incident energy of 35 MeV. The inelastic scattering leading to
the 4.439 MeV excited state of $^{12}$C has been measured for the first time.
The experimental data cover an angular range of $\theta_{cm}$ =
15$^{\circ}$-120$^{\circ}$. Optical model analyses were carried out with
Woods-Saxon and double-folding potential using the density dependent M3Y
(DDM3Y) effective interaction. The microscopic analysis of the elastic data
indicates breakup channel coupling effect. A coupled-channel analysis of the
inelastic scattering, based on collective form factors, show that mutual
excitation of both $^7$Be and $^{12}$C is significantly smaller than the single
excitation of $^{12}$C. The larger deformation length obtained from the DWBA
analysis could be explained by including the excitation of $^7$Be in a
coupled-channel analysis. The breakup cross section of $^7$Be is estimated to
be less than 10$\%$ of the reaction cross section. The intrinsic deformation
length obtained for the $^{12}$C$^*$ (4.439 MeV) state is $\delta _2$ = 1.37
fm. The total reaction cross section deduced from the analysis agrees very well
with Wong's calculations for similar weakly bound light nuclei on $^{12}$C
target.
