My bucket list before college life ends!!

12 months in a year was the unit of time once. I never realized when it had changed to one year 25 subjects. Infinite submissions and cases later; I woke up one day to the fact that the sand clock had been turned and it was reverse counting  with 6 months till the journey came to an end.Though what might emerge at the end remains to be seen, this journey would not be quite as complete without the following items:

 The first and foremost item I wish to do with no chance of fulfillment is sleeping under the stars in the amphitheatre . What might be the reason for such a wish must be the natural question. The answer could only be evident to someone who had the pleasure of sitting there and experiencing a power cut. It is at such an opportune moment that I had looked up and discovered the beauty of the night sky above. The infinite stars and galaxies setting up stage for a grandiose night show for anyone who cares to look above the mundane.

The second thing I would like to do is to gift orderliness to the chechi who serves coffee in the academic block. At every class break she experiences a lot disorganized demands for coffee, noodles etc. coming in from random directions. One cannot help but wonder how she manages to hold that smile on her lips in spite of the mad rush every day. I wish to ensure that all of us stand in a proper queue and take our cups of eatables in an orderly manner and thus express our thanks to her. She has set unbeatable standards of professionalism in her demeanor and service and it is time we reciprocated the same.

Next on my action list would be the desire to make proper use of the innumerable story books available in the college library. I am an ardent fan of fiction and I have looked at them longingly for one and half years now. ”Busy life” in first year and plain laziness in second has so far been a hindrance and not allowed me to do the same. Given “enough” time, I would hole myself up in the library with a beanbag and read and read and read all of them.

My next wish might make the reader think that I am too daring even to think of it, but I would like to sit on the balcony of one of those glass walled faculty block rooms and stare out all day. Some of the valley facing rooms half suspended into nothingness provide a breathtaking view from up there and I firmly believe that it would be nothing short of heaven to spend a day on a comfortable chair in one of those balconies, pleasant music keeping you company, you favorite book on your lap and a cup of coffee every now and then .Atrocious – it might be, but that is the thing about hopes and dreams, you can step over your boundaries in them.

The next item in my list would be my SDP project implementation. Our project involved building up a self- sustainable framework whereby students and young professionals volunteer to teach under-privileged kids every weekend. The execution is stuck due to logistic and time management issues. Resources being no constraint, I would like to leave behind a working model where education is gifted to all irrespective of financial health or family support.

Enough of goody goody stuff; I do have the crazy stuff too. I would like to try my fate at dancing. People who know me, are well aware of the fact that I am not the dancing kind; I have two left feet so to say and parties are more of a “stand in a place and shake your head affair”. But given the fact that this is the last time I could try my luck at this, I would really like to.

I would also love to try my hand at doing a staircase art at Arjuna Path. As I write this down there is this niggling fear at the back of my head that it might not be as good and I might end up spoiling it; but then there is that voice inside my head that says “what if it turns out beautifully? “If there is one thing I have learnt in my MBA; that is to not leave the “what if”-s to chance and to try it if possible. Hence given the chance why not.

Last but not the least I would like to go for a road trip into the hinterlands of this beautiful place and explore. Though that is something I might do even after I have left IIM Kozhikode; but something within me reminds me that there is never a better time than NOW.

Here is my list of all the stuff I would like to do during my last few days in IIM Kozhikode. Some might appear rash; some too whimsical; but then there is my instinct telling me “if not now -when;if not here -where?” and that kind of sums it all up. To quote on the lines of Rang De Basanti “College di gate de is taraf hum life ko nachate hai ... te duji taraf life humko nachati hai”(on this side of college gate we make life dance to our tunes; while on the other side life makes us dance).So on the same spirit of trying everything; a person who has never been brave enough to send her writing anywhere decides to give her article to editboard. Funny things the last months  of college can do to you!

~~This article was written by me as part of a article writing competition...Since they seem to be taking a lot of time to judge it,I decided to publish it in my own blog...

A trip to Kannur

“One and half years had passed since I had stepped into Kerala and I had barely explored anyplace around”- This sudden realization led to a hasty plan to go on a tr^th October 2014.It was my journey on a local train after quite a long time and I was all set to make the most of it. The view outside the window itself made the journey worthwhile. The train rumbled through lush landscapes populated by coconut trees and banana fields. Rivers and water bodies peeped through the green canopy every now and then. A hut here, a farm there – Kerala seemed pristine, untouched by the harshness of industrialization and mechanization. The beauty increased manifold when it began to rain. The landscape looked magical through the hazy glass window as raindrops left a trail on their way down. One and half hours later we got down at Kannur.

We walked out and hailed an auto to go to the nearby St. Angelo’s Fort. Originally constructed by the Portuguese and later captured by the Dutch, St Angelo’s fort has its customary watch tower,chapel,cannons,grave stones et all . A climb along the steps took us to the top and the view there would leave anyone breathless. The blue of the sea mixed with the blue of the sky to form a continuous canvas. Here and there the land jutted into the sea as if to delay their separation for a little while and the coconut trees seemed to lean and reach out to the skies in celebration. It took us two hours to explore the place.

Our next destination was Arakkal Palace. It has a museum dedicated to the Arakkal family, the only Muslim royal family in Kerala, south India. It is in fact still owned by the Arakkal family and they get a token amount of money yearly for it even now. A noticeboard inside elaborated on the history and customs of the family. The family had a custom of the eldest member of the family being the ruler irrespective of gender which seemed very fair to me and I was amazed to notice such openness of mind 200 years ago. This just makes you wonder if it is so called modernization that takes us backward instead of forward in terms of biases and discrimination. The museum housed an array of items from vessels to court equipment and weapons to lamps from the Arakkal family.

When we emerged out of Arakkal Palace, it was lunchtime and all the walking and posing had made us extremely hungry. An auto ride to the nearest restaurant and we were slurping down our smoothies like thirsty travelers in a desert. One hour later we were stuffed and barely in any mood to move a muscle when one of us remembered that there is a beautiful church in Kannur. Hence 15minutes later we were a bunch of lazy grumpy ladies slouching our way to the nearest auto stand.

What followed was even more hilarious.None of the auto drivers seemed to know what a church was. So all our questions were returned with cold glares .Asking around helped to fathom that people there recognize churches to be Christian temples and that was the term we were expected to use.One part of the puzzle was solved but what awaited us was a maze ahead. When we asked people, we found that there were at least a dozen churches and none knew which the famous church is. A Google search on our mobile phones yielded nothing useful. Hence we asked in a few shops and finally one man guided us to a cathedral near “Baby Beach”[I am not kidding you about the name of the beach!!].He called an auto and gave the directions so that we could go to the church. In half an hour we landed in front of Holy Trinity Cathedral. The decorations inside left us awestruck. The church alter was decorated with paintings made of tiny tiles. The detailing and the perfection would leave you wondering about the dedication of those who did it. The glass paintings along the ceiling narrated the stories of Bible and the interplay of colors on the church floor reflected by these glass panes made their own pretty picture. The peace and quiet inside would make you wonder for a moment if the humdrum of the city had made us forget to listen to our inner voices. After the church we walked to the nearby beach and the sparkling waters and the dainty houses on the beach made a picture worth a thousand words.

Then we hailed an auto back to the station. There we sat 5 tired ladies on the station bench waiting for the train that would take us back to the familiarity of the mundane. We felt very happy and satisfied , yet we longed for the regular and could not wait to be back on campus. That only makes you think if the joy of the uncommon is more derived from the regularity of the mundane rather than anything else. Maybe it is time we started appreciating the journey instead of waiting for the destination.