“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both,
And be one traveller, long I stood,
And be one traveller, long I stood,
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth” -- Robert Frost (The Road Not Taken)
I clearly understand Frost’s lament about the inability of travelling both roads; the thrill-seeker that I am, I’ll dig out the thrill in anything you offer me. Hence, the title.
To where it bent in the undergrowth” -- Robert Frost (The Road Not Taken)
I clearly understand Frost’s lament about the inability of travelling both roads; the thrill-seeker that I am, I’ll dig out the thrill in anything you offer me. Hence, the title.
While growing up, I was taught to soak in everything possible, no matter where I found myself, while the perfectionist in forced me to work my butt off even if I happened to be somewhere I didn’t want to be. I wasn’t a nerd to begin with. My forte was sports. I wanted to play everything and be good at it all. I took pride in being the fastest runner in class, and the fact that I seemed smart on the academic front just made it better for me. At this point, I’d like to thank my parents, especially my mother, for raising me the way they did, for making everything less of a struggle for me (I don’t know how you did it, but honestly, when Aneesha was one I could not imagine how that little gibberish talking/singing little thing would ever learn how to talk. And she’s smarter than I am, so I definitely was a handful). For taking me to the zoo, even though I don’t remember those visits anymore, for making me ride rickshaws (that’s to blame for my childhood dream of becoming an autorickshaw driver) and horses and elephants, for reading to me in English and Japanese, for letting me play with He-Man and G.I. Joe action figures and Barbies at the same time, and most of all, for bringing Coco home. I didn’t know my fruits too well at the interview (Papayas, seriously?), but I had a really long discussion with Mr. Kapur about our pet dogs. Honestly, to get a shy kid like me to talk the way I did at the Vasant Valley interview: brilliance!
And a brilliant interview was the start of a brilliant thirteen years at Vasant Valley School. Apparently, I laughed and chuckled in my sleep after my first day there. This school never bogged us down with studies. I mean I skipped my class 10 final exams for a Football Tournament! There were always games, computer lessons, music lessons, dance and drama lessons nicely placed in our timetables. It reemphasized what my parents had been teaching me: that learning is fun, and it happens both inside and outside the classroom. A batch of 90 kids divided into 3 sections, shuffled every year beginning with the third standard, based on no particular ability, I think by the end of it we grew pretty fond of each other. All 90 of us, and the friends we made in the other batches as well! What’s more, Vasant Valley gave us Adventure Camps, Rishikesh being my favourite (rafting!). While they seemed like fun and games when they happened, it’s only now, while pursuing my Post Grad, that I realized their true value. They prepared us for anything - those pit toilets with shovels, the pitching of tents (and their flying off at night), sleeping bags, not bathing for 5 days – something I’d recommend every school to inculcate in their curriculum.
And then my so-called thrill-seeking tendencies sometimes got the better of me. I’d work extra hard at everything (I’ve never bunked a class in school, NEVER), and end up being good at many of them, making it difficult to choose among them when I had to. Odissi vs. Athletics vs. Football, Painting vs. Sculpture, Hindi vs. Sanskrit, Sociology vs. Psychology vs. Economics, gah! And to top it off, I enjoyed most of them. Thankfully DU’s insane cut-offs made the choice easier, but I’d have loved to have done another B.A. in Economics! Yeah, I actually asked my parents if I could. I did my B.A. in Psychology, though I was never in it for the therapy or counselling aspect. I wanted to use what I learnt in various other fields, like sports, or advertising, for instance. And it was probably the unnecessary (well, to me at least) emphasis on textbooks that DU seemed to give, along with an exciting thirteen years of school, that made me question the education I received while I pursued my Bachelor’s degree. I no longer found learning fun. It became a chore, and my exam results showed it. Had it not been for the incessant hard work on class assignments, and the almost perfect attendance, I’d have been done for (read passed, but not with a first div – I’m a perfectionist, it means a lot to me). Honestly, apart from the friends I made in college, those three years are a blur to me. I remember school with great clarity, but college, no. Strange, huh? Vasant Valley does that to you.
And here I am, in my second semester of a PG Diploma in Advertising and Marketing, promising myself that one day I’ll do an M.B.A., just not yet. I’m looking to start a career in Copy, but who knows where I’ll end up 10 years from now? I enjoy Copywriting. I did two internships at some great places before I joined XIC earlier this year. See that label flashing again? Yeah, I wanted to know how the entire process comes together, before I sat my butt down at an agency to work full-time. I wanted one more qualification before taking a break from studies. And till now, I must say, it’s been pretty fruitful.
It’s almost 3:30 AM, and at this point I’m wishing that a day could have more hours. So much to do and such little time!
Over and out.
Malini
And a brilliant interview was the start of a brilliant thirteen years at Vasant Valley School. Apparently, I laughed and chuckled in my sleep after my first day there. This school never bogged us down with studies. I mean I skipped my class 10 final exams for a Football Tournament! There were always games, computer lessons, music lessons, dance and drama lessons nicely placed in our timetables. It reemphasized what my parents had been teaching me: that learning is fun, and it happens both inside and outside the classroom. A batch of 90 kids divided into 3 sections, shuffled every year beginning with the third standard, based on no particular ability, I think by the end of it we grew pretty fond of each other. All 90 of us, and the friends we made in the other batches as well! What’s more, Vasant Valley gave us Adventure Camps, Rishikesh being my favourite (rafting!). While they seemed like fun and games when they happened, it’s only now, while pursuing my Post Grad, that I realized their true value. They prepared us for anything - those pit toilets with shovels, the pitching of tents (and their flying off at night), sleeping bags, not bathing for 5 days – something I’d recommend every school to inculcate in their curriculum.
And then my so-called thrill-seeking tendencies sometimes got the better of me. I’d work extra hard at everything (I’ve never bunked a class in school, NEVER), and end up being good at many of them, making it difficult to choose among them when I had to. Odissi vs. Athletics vs. Football, Painting vs. Sculpture, Hindi vs. Sanskrit, Sociology vs. Psychology vs. Economics, gah! And to top it off, I enjoyed most of them. Thankfully DU’s insane cut-offs made the choice easier, but I’d have loved to have done another B.A. in Economics! Yeah, I actually asked my parents if I could. I did my B.A. in Psychology, though I was never in it for the therapy or counselling aspect. I wanted to use what I learnt in various other fields, like sports, or advertising, for instance. And it was probably the unnecessary (well, to me at least) emphasis on textbooks that DU seemed to give, along with an exciting thirteen years of school, that made me question the education I received while I pursued my Bachelor’s degree. I no longer found learning fun. It became a chore, and my exam results showed it. Had it not been for the incessant hard work on class assignments, and the almost perfect attendance, I’d have been done for (read passed, but not with a first div – I’m a perfectionist, it means a lot to me). Honestly, apart from the friends I made in college, those three years are a blur to me. I remember school with great clarity, but college, no. Strange, huh? Vasant Valley does that to you.
And here I am, in my second semester of a PG Diploma in Advertising and Marketing, promising myself that one day I’ll do an M.B.A., just not yet. I’m looking to start a career in Copy, but who knows where I’ll end up 10 years from now? I enjoy Copywriting. I did two internships at some great places before I joined XIC earlier this year. See that label flashing again? Yeah, I wanted to know how the entire process comes together, before I sat my butt down at an agency to work full-time. I wanted one more qualification before taking a break from studies. And till now, I must say, it’s been pretty fruitful.
It’s almost 3:30 AM, and at this point I’m wishing that a day could have more hours. So much to do and such little time!
Over and out.
Malini
No comments:
Post a Comment