“ I might not have always got what I loved , But I have always chosen to love what I have got, and believe me it is all worth it in the end”
Today was not one of those days when I would get up latein the morning and savor my breakfast in front of the tele-vision, today was different. It was one of those days when I had to cook the breakfast for myself , rush from one corner of Delhi to the other, attend back to back two-hour lectures, and then rush back to where I started on time, to avoid cooking the other meals myself, without getting insane.
So, after a multitude of efforts, I finally managed to force myself out of the bed, and got ready for the hectic schedule that lay ahead for the day. I got myself readied and rushed towards the Green Park metro station and was surprised to see metro crammed with people in such an early morning hour. People who ranged from those nine to five office goers , wearing shirts and trousers to those typical Delhi University students with knee length shorts(though many were far above) and those green/red/black converse chappals. I positioned myself comfortably at one corner of the metro as I wished to have a sound nap for the next 40 minutes of the metro run. But constant fidgeting of the people deprived me of the surreal experience, so I rather took out my ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’, an around 200 paged book, that I have been attempting to finish since past around 3-4 months and began reading it.
Nevertheless, I reached THE faculty of social sciences on time, came to the class and occupied one of the corner seats. Not wanting to have messed up the first day at my new college, I preferred to confirm it from someone if it was the right class I was sitting in.“Excuse me, is this M.A Poitical Science previous class?” I asked a girl who was sitting in a row just ahead of me, as I kept my ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’ back into the bag. She said a “yes” with an apparent perplexity on her face. Her look made me even more confused. As if not been able to resist the temptation, she turned back, and asked me “is this your first day at the class?”
Okay, so now the lecture begins, the first one was on the “Politics in India” which I enjoyed immensely. The professor was a learned person, taught us many things about India’s development, the clamoring of Emergency in 1975 under our very own Indira Gandhi ,reservation politics and blah blah. The lecture was an engrossing one and without much effort the first 2 hours passed away. But what really impressed me was the second lecture on “Political Theory”, a subject that I hated the most till today. The professor, was the exact replica of what I always imagined an “intellectual” to be. Her whitish grey hair, plain white saree with golden border , and that “glow” on her face was enough to convey to me that I am going to have the time of my life in the next 2 hours. And corresponding to my expectations, I really did. The discussion ranged from natural sciences to social sciences, encompassing the crucification of Christ and the other two people along with Him, the law of gravity , what is normative what is empirical , augusta christie’s novel etc atc,and believe me it was marvelous , I never thought that I can listen to this subject with so much interest and commitment.Certainly ,a good teacher is what you need to make a dull, lifeless subject, vibrant with life!
So this marked the end of the 4 hour lecture for today which had to be followed by tutorials which I skipped. Then I headed towards the library to do the necessary formalities, when I met ‘her’ again. Yes, the girl with those “bizarre” reactions. She started off the conversation and I being democratic by nature could not walk away. She began enquiring about what I have been up to since past 2-3 years, and I was again amazed at the degree of respect that she suddenly showed towards me when I told her that I was preparing for civil services. I could not control my laughter at that time. Anyways, annoyed by so many questions that she bombarded at me one after the other about my coaching, optionals etc etc, I lied to her that my friend was waiting and that I had to leave. But another blunder that I committed was,asking her name. “Oh, what’s your name?” I asked, as I peeped into my mobile,“Pretty” was the answer that I got.“ Excuse me did you just say that , or I heard it wrong” was what I was about to say but “oh preeti” was what I said. “No no, It’s not ‘preeti’, it’s ‘pretty’.” She exclaimed with too much emphasis on the letter ”t”, showing her apparent dislike for the former name. I did not know how to react to that, neither could I smile back at her. I just walked away from there with the same bizarre reaction that she showed towards me in the very beginning.
So this was the story of the day. Masters is a wonderful experience. I wish I had the foresight few years back of the apparent benefits of a post graduate programme. But sometimes destiny has other plans for us and it leaves no other option for us but to abide by it. Nevertheless as my all time favorite Chanakya puts it-“Beeti baatein bisar ke, jo aage ki sudh ley, Usi ko jag mein yash mile, usi ki jai jai hoye."
P.S - This post was suppossed to be published last year, blogger is really sorry for the delay, though she hopes that her readers enjoy it!
