Life, I know, is never meant to be easy! They say the ship is safe at harbour but that is not what the ships are made for; they had to go to sea and man(or woman) the weather! But the ships do like it when after a long journey, it is washed and painted at the workshop, before embarking on the next journey.
Two years ago, I was quietly flipping through twitter when QS world ranking for institutes doing Development Studies popped up. Institute of Development Studies(IDS), University of Sussex, the best in the world was shown above Harvard, Oxford and Cambridge. Curiosity became the lust of the heart. "What about studying in the best Institute in the World?", said the heart! Oh, you won't be able to make it said the mind. The practical mind! Life went on! The thought never did.
Suddenly one fine day I found myself walking in the green, serene campus of the University of Sussex! I was lost. I looked lost too I presume, for one stranger walking past me, stopped to check on me. "You look lost son, can I help you", she asked! From that day, Sussex has been so kind. So very kind!
Growing up in a dusty small town in a remote South Indian town can never be the best exposure to the world out there! But dreams are sometimes funny; I dreamt and Sussex was where my dreams took me to.
Sussex was in fact made of dreams. I dreamt of sitting in an intellectually stimulating discussion with people from many different countries, and that is what my institute was all about. I dreamt of reading economics and development and here I was debating the theories of development economics. I dreamed off policy research, and policy research is what I did most of the year. Of course I had a dream to go to the Lords, watch a match in the hallowed lawns of Wimbledon, peep into the majestic Old Trafford stadium, play cricket in the villages of the English country side, and ended up doing all of them! England gave me everything I had asked for! In fact everything I had dreamt of. And it was kind! For everytime one dream came crashing down, it healed me with something different, if not better.
Then there were the people! The beautiful people from across the world. The people Sussex threw at me. So many of them from so many different countries. From Syrians to Pakistanis. From Canadians to NewZealanders. And ofcourse countrymen from different parts of India. Sussex and the dreams would have never been the same without them. They were the family away from family! They were the rock on which I built the dream. They accepted me as I am! The careless, uncombed, bearded, dirty, loud mouthed individual; And better still, they shared similar dreams. When dreamy eyed people gather together, It is fun! Believe me.
So, sadly today I woke up to reality! The dream is coming to an end. The ship is washed and painted. It is ready to go. The huge waves of life are ready to swallow them. As I waved and hugged the final good byes, I realized most of us may never even meet again! Yet we braved ourselves for the final farewell, for dreamers don't exist until they go out to make the dreams come true.
Farewell Sussex! Farewell IDS! Life as I know in reality is much harder. But you taught me that dreams do come true. Until life's dreams bring us together again! God speed.
Two years ago, I was quietly flipping through twitter when QS world ranking for institutes doing Development Studies popped up. Institute of Development Studies(IDS), University of Sussex, the best in the world was shown above Harvard, Oxford and Cambridge. Curiosity became the lust of the heart. "What about studying in the best Institute in the World?", said the heart! Oh, you won't be able to make it said the mind. The practical mind! Life went on! The thought never did.
Suddenly one fine day I found myself walking in the green, serene campus of the University of Sussex! I was lost. I looked lost too I presume, for one stranger walking past me, stopped to check on me. "You look lost son, can I help you", she asked! From that day, Sussex has been so kind. So very kind!
Growing up in a dusty small town in a remote South Indian town can never be the best exposure to the world out there! But dreams are sometimes funny; I dreamt and Sussex was where my dreams took me to.
Sussex was in fact made of dreams. I dreamt of sitting in an intellectually stimulating discussion with people from many different countries, and that is what my institute was all about. I dreamt of reading economics and development and here I was debating the theories of development economics. I dreamed off policy research, and policy research is what I did most of the year. Of course I had a dream to go to the Lords, watch a match in the hallowed lawns of Wimbledon, peep into the majestic Old Trafford stadium, play cricket in the villages of the English country side, and ended up doing all of them! England gave me everything I had asked for! In fact everything I had dreamt of. And it was kind! For everytime one dream came crashing down, it healed me with something different, if not better.
Then there were the people! The beautiful people from across the world. The people Sussex threw at me. So many of them from so many different countries. From Syrians to Pakistanis. From Canadians to NewZealanders. And ofcourse countrymen from different parts of India. Sussex and the dreams would have never been the same without them. They were the family away from family! They were the rock on which I built the dream. They accepted me as I am! The careless, uncombed, bearded, dirty, loud mouthed individual; And better still, they shared similar dreams. When dreamy eyed people gather together, It is fun! Believe me.
So, sadly today I woke up to reality! The dream is coming to an end. The ship is washed and painted. It is ready to go. The huge waves of life are ready to swallow them. As I waved and hugged the final good byes, I realized most of us may never even meet again! Yet we braved ourselves for the final farewell, for dreamers don't exist until they go out to make the dreams come true.
Farewell Sussex! Farewell IDS! Life as I know in reality is much harder. But you taught me that dreams do come true. Until life's dreams bring us together again! God speed.
