Monday, March 30, 2009

and life comes a full circle!



Exactly two years back, I was enrolled in a place called MICA. A post-graduate programme with a difference, they say. I don't know how different it is, but I do know it's scaled me completely in two years. I miss soo many things about that eco-system. In a way, MICA has spoilt me without any conscience. And this is in terms of more physical and tangible things. For eg. when I set foot at home, I was met with load-shedding. This totally took my goat. Later, the many plumbing disasters that need attention, took me back to MICA. Then there were the lush and beautifully manicured lawns. The laundry, the internet connection, the 'lan' culture, the fight for more and more shared drive, the complete meals, with both butter-milk and curd. The oh-so close 'chhota' and tt canteens, the credit, and the list goes on.

But there other intangible things also. There is the self-occupation that MICA affords. There you were allowed to stay unnoticed, do anything just by yourself, listen to any kind of music at any volume. At home, that is inconceivable. Everyone is involved with each other. One person's sneezing affects everyone in the house. The food, the temperature, the mood, etc. It's much more intrusive but more feeling. In MICA, there were no right or wrong timings for things. Here there is a right time for bathing and having food. There was no one place or even any place for anything, here there's place for everything. There was little civilization, here that's all there is to see.

What a world that was. People were alike and yet different. They confused me no end.
Collectively they would be mad. Individually they would be madder perhaps. But towards the end, I also realized that the batch would come together and make all things happen. I bow to that experience. I bow to the people, who would follow their dreams with most passion. I bow to also the ups and downs, for they made the journey like a ride. There was learning in the fine details and the broad strokes. In the grounds and the classrooms, in the solitude and togetherness and in every person I rubbed my shoulders with.

And while I am back at home, I have a summer vacation before which i can join work. I believe these might be the last summers, when I can learn to move a little bit in the kitchen, learn a little bit of French, tennis and also learn to plop-plop without having tea :)Therefore, learning doesn't stop. It never will. I will try and make the most out of it, while I can.

Later