Hey all..
Its been 3 months and a lil more outside ASB, and thanks to the blogs of Raje and KK i am more nostalgic than ever before...
But before I get into my life post ASB and what I am doing right now, let me introduce myself to the new joinees at ASB... Hey all i am Megha and welcome u all new joiners to the ASB family... Let me guarantee u one thing ASB is undoubtedly the place to be... a fact which will get confirmed once u read the blog. So this is for those who are still not sure whether they wanna live a life with some restrictions amongst hills with lil or no partying :)
The first few days after joining Cavinkare I felt that I owned the world, new work, new position, salary... but ya it was exciting and new for the first few days... What i believed as independence was not so much independence but in fact I realise that now I am caught up in a chain of responsibilities and accountability not just to my seniors as one might believe but also to my subordinates who carry on their work based on the decisions I take for them! In college work was there pressures where there - but there were friends who shared it with u, faculty like dg and Kulkarni sir who made sure that the pressures din make us go crazy... In college I had a family, I had friends - in work u never know... But this is my new life and I am trying real hard to get used to it. Like raje said lil sleep but for me untimely meals! I miss the Elephant mountains, the LOC, the fight for gate pass (and the sheer joy of succeeding to get one) and all my friends and dear teachers.
Life at work, many of my pals are wondering what I am doing... some even be live I am into some form of rural training (courtesy KK..). Well I am in Delhi, so the rural thing is out of the question. I am handling a portion of Delhi as a Territory Sales Officer I will be doing this till Dec as part of training and then will be promoted as the Area Manager... So life is not bad, after a yr of training (since June 2008) I will be given a choice to continue in sales as the AM or move to Chennai as Brand Manager (my fellow pals would know which one I want)
As for ASB I am too far away from it, only memories (and surprising all good ones, I cant remember bad times!!!) of that place where I spent 2 of my most beautiful and wonderful years, where I made friends (116 of them!!!) and family (teachers and staff) for a lifetime... Its very difficult to express in words how much I miss the place - the morning dew, the smell of flowers, the lovely trees, the massive mountains, and most importantly the peace and the silence...
Miss u ASB...
Love
Meghs
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
A Return to Campus....Memories and musings
You know what, you’re right. Experience is one of the hardest things to write about. Especially intense ones: not that they is not pleasurable to think about, but simply that humans as we are made, have complex and multi-faceted thoughts and feelings.
Can you describe the feeling when you see a flower blooming? Or the sensation of watching a sunrise against the mountains?
The more I live Life, the more I realize that victory is in the smaller every day things; and happiness is definitely in those infinitely small, intangible things that you cannot see or touch, but only experience.
I am an alumni of this school. Feels funny to be saying that, I assure you! I visited campus about a week ago to collect transcripts/documents meant to show that I am, in fact, one. :) Sounds like a trying and tedious job. I cant explain to you how different it was…Let me try!
For a person who has, at most, seen Chennai and a few beaches since I finished school this May, returning to the cool climes of Ettimadai with its breathtaking hills and carefully tended gardens, is like a walk into paradise.
Have you ever felt that the most sought-after feeling is that of familiarity? Think about it. Life moves fast. Way too fast for anyone’s comfort. Certainly mine! I certainly didn’t expect much familiarity when I returned to campus. It was so different to walk down that road to the building…even though I would have walked that road atleast a 1000 times over 2 years of school, this time the sensation would not be ‘oh no! Im late to class!’ or ‘I cant believe I am late again! Or ‘Do you think they will notice Im wearing these jeans the fourth time this week?’ or ‘oh my gawd! Im not going to be able to stay awake… my eyes hurt…’
It was more a sense of wonder… a sense of having left this Life behind…screaming of all the things experienced so vividly that fades once you leave the place… But they all changed once I entered the building! Familiar faces from the junior batch greet you with a joy that is most humbling, in the simplest sense. I never knew what it meant to be welcomes back to a place so warmly! I knew how nice it was to catch my seniors back in campus…they always brought back a rush of memories… a memory of comfort of being under their ‘tutelage’. I can only guess it was the same effect. Though it made me feel quite antiquated, there’s nothing like being remembered for something, even if it is something you would rather forget! :P
However, the best was yet to come. Whoever said ‘Teachers don’t always remain teachers’ were right! They then become mentors; someone to look up to for having lived a rich life; someone whose vintage wisdom can throw light onto dilemmas you face yourself. You know the funny thing about the category of people titled under ‘Parents/Teachers’? They always see right through to your last thought at the back of your mind, see your fears and your spots, but they they will simply let you be (as long as its not immediately damaging or decidedly unproductive). :)
To me, that is the greatest wisdom to learn from Life. :) Great wisdom is in knowing what can be changed and what cannot. The greatest ability of all is also, in knowing that the only thing that can change is oneself, never the outside world. Therefrom springs the art of ‘letting be’… for there comes a point of realization…that most things…do not matter in the larger context of Life and its understanding.
Let me tell you about the best thing about being with warm and welcoming faculty: It helped me forget the biting tension in the stomach that I had so much to achieve in campus within a day and half! Its quite amazing how that can happen! It was most unique and wondrous…elevating to walk with the same Faculty outside whose room, I would stew over my request for 5 minutes before stepping in. We would discuss matters just as any other individual would. I guess what I never registered during my stint in ASB, that the faculty always treated us as individuals. Today, we remain simply the person we are, taking off the restricting brand of ‘student’ and experience them as people, not only Professors.
You never know Life has changed until you see that you are allowed to joke about the rules in the school without being given a questioning glance. You can have lunch in the staff canteen and not feel weird. :) You can have dinner and discuss philosophy and they discuss your interesting traits during your stint in ASB. It was warm, welcome, funny, inspiring and surprising!
I guess one can never guess that teachers become such an integral part of campus Life. To be honest, I felt truly a part of campus when I would meet each Professor, and pick up precisely from where I left off 5 months ago. :) Some parts of us students have remained in them, and some of them, in us. It is intangible and indelible.
Its amazing. Its another matter that some of them thought I was already a ‘Mrs.’ And hence were bewildered with the Invitation card I had in hand. Hehe…
Like I said in a farewell speech… ‘One can forget names or numbers… But never people or experiences!’ Man! Im glad that I was brave enough to make that statement: for the recent ASB visit proved me right. :)
Can you describe the feeling when you see a flower blooming? Or the sensation of watching a sunrise against the mountains?
The more I live Life, the more I realize that victory is in the smaller every day things; and happiness is definitely in those infinitely small, intangible things that you cannot see or touch, but only experience.
I am an alumni of this school. Feels funny to be saying that, I assure you! I visited campus about a week ago to collect transcripts/documents meant to show that I am, in fact, one. :) Sounds like a trying and tedious job. I cant explain to you how different it was…Let me try!
For a person who has, at most, seen Chennai and a few beaches since I finished school this May, returning to the cool climes of Ettimadai with its breathtaking hills and carefully tended gardens, is like a walk into paradise.
Have you ever felt that the most sought-after feeling is that of familiarity? Think about it. Life moves fast. Way too fast for anyone’s comfort. Certainly mine! I certainly didn’t expect much familiarity when I returned to campus. It was so different to walk down that road to the building…even though I would have walked that road atleast a 1000 times over 2 years of school, this time the sensation would not be ‘oh no! Im late to class!’ or ‘I cant believe I am late again! Or ‘Do you think they will notice Im wearing these jeans the fourth time this week?’ or ‘oh my gawd! Im not going to be able to stay awake… my eyes hurt…’
It was more a sense of wonder… a sense of having left this Life behind…screaming of all the things experienced so vividly that fades once you leave the place… But they all changed once I entered the building! Familiar faces from the junior batch greet you with a joy that is most humbling, in the simplest sense. I never knew what it meant to be welcomes back to a place so warmly! I knew how nice it was to catch my seniors back in campus…they always brought back a rush of memories… a memory of comfort of being under their ‘tutelage’. I can only guess it was the same effect. Though it made me feel quite antiquated, there’s nothing like being remembered for something, even if it is something you would rather forget! :P
However, the best was yet to come. Whoever said ‘Teachers don’t always remain teachers’ were right! They then become mentors; someone to look up to for having lived a rich life; someone whose vintage wisdom can throw light onto dilemmas you face yourself. You know the funny thing about the category of people titled under ‘Parents/Teachers’? They always see right through to your last thought at the back of your mind, see your fears and your spots, but they they will simply let you be (as long as its not immediately damaging or decidedly unproductive). :)
To me, that is the greatest wisdom to learn from Life. :) Great wisdom is in knowing what can be changed and what cannot. The greatest ability of all is also, in knowing that the only thing that can change is oneself, never the outside world. Therefrom springs the art of ‘letting be’… for there comes a point of realization…that most things…do not matter in the larger context of Life and its understanding.
Let me tell you about the best thing about being with warm and welcoming faculty: It helped me forget the biting tension in the stomach that I had so much to achieve in campus within a day and half! Its quite amazing how that can happen! It was most unique and wondrous…elevating to walk with the same Faculty outside whose room, I would stew over my request for 5 minutes before stepping in. We would discuss matters just as any other individual would. I guess what I never registered during my stint in ASB, that the faculty always treated us as individuals. Today, we remain simply the person we are, taking off the restricting brand of ‘student’ and experience them as people, not only Professors.
You never know Life has changed until you see that you are allowed to joke about the rules in the school without being given a questioning glance. You can have lunch in the staff canteen and not feel weird. :) You can have dinner and discuss philosophy and they discuss your interesting traits during your stint in ASB. It was warm, welcome, funny, inspiring and surprising!
I guess one can never guess that teachers become such an integral part of campus Life. To be honest, I felt truly a part of campus when I would meet each Professor, and pick up precisely from where I left off 5 months ago. :) Some parts of us students have remained in them, and some of them, in us. It is intangible and indelible.
Its amazing. Its another matter that some of them thought I was already a ‘Mrs.’ And hence were bewildered with the Invitation card I had in hand. Hehe…
Like I said in a farewell speech… ‘One can forget names or numbers… But never people or experiences!’ Man! Im glad that I was brave enough to make that statement: for the recent ASB visit proved me right. :)
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