Ujjawal has realized now that he is in love. I have always been in love – but the euphoria is over. I had come to IIFM with a completely different mindset – one teetering more on dreams than what it actually offers. Not that the dreams have shattered – they still form a core of my everyday life, but are dormant. I now know where exactly IIFM can take me… if I only want it… if I only work for it – the destination is ahead, but what about the journey?
This one year has taught me a hell lot of things (keeping awake till late, for instance – I used to call it a day by 10 p.m.!). But the best part of this has been that I have not been taught – I have learnt. And to me, it is a very significant difference. Always the one to question things not understood by me, I have worn my audacity on my sleeves – to not-so-rosy effects. Like the day I was chosen Principal of my school for Teachers’ Day, and I went to school wearing a trendy sleeveless t-shirt just because I was tired of all the ‘official’ stuff (already!), and the teachers were so appalled, they turned dumb with shock – they just stared at me, and didn’t say a word.
IIFM has always been close to my heart – and I wish to experience each and every part of it personally. I make night visits to places I find interesting. Every night, I want to sleep in a different place, just to make it a part of me. But again, ‘society’ stops me – literally. And I am dragged back to the mundane. Why do I allow this? Where are the dreams which drove me? Am I digressing, or am I mainstreaming?
Moot questions all… and for now, I am just content – content doing my own thing, my own way, remaining inconspicuous to the world at large. Not for me the attention… what draws me near is the strange…
--Siddharth Iyer (PFM ’09)