It has been more than a month since I first stepped into this huge, 25-acre campus. On the very first day, I pictured myself in the Ashoka kurta. The excitement was not only on the faces of the 400+ plus students who were about to begin their journey but also on the other side, the seniors and staff who had already covered a few miles of this journey.
The first two weeks in Ashoka have been the busiest yet the best two weeks of my life. There have been many times when I wished I had Hermione’s Time-Turner because I wanted to be in ten different places at once. The struggle of picking one thing out of the bag of events was real and I am not exaggerating when I say that I wasn’t this confused even while choosing a dish from a 10-page menu. The credit goes to our amazing seniors and the administrative board who planned so much for us – not only during the day but even at night.
When I look back, I can hardly remember checking my emails but here at Ashoka, you can’t afford not to. You don’t check your email for one hour and there will be ten different activities being planned for you – chilling, dancing, partying, guest lectures, and seminars. If after all this you have any time left, you will spend them doing your mountain of readings. These readings are a reality-check about how dumb you are and might even make you question what the admissions team saw in you. I remember there was a time when every email was marked as important and I wanted to attend everything but I soon lost track and gave up the ardent desire of a Time-Turner.
This is not even the biggest issue here. Managing time is something we all need to learn but what do we say to the questions of people who don’t understand the concept of a liberal education? The biggest struggle that I have faced as an Ashokan is answering the question “Beta tumhare subjects kya hain?” (What are your subjects?) Even after half an hour of mind-numbing explanation, I fail to make my relatives understand what am I studying. The conversation ends with the questions “But what course are you actually doing? Acha, what will you do after this? No, no I mean what will you become after studying this?” After a tiring exercise, I stop myself from going further into this debate and reply “I will explain in complete detail when I come home.”
It has now been some time and I have adjusted to the Ashoka environment. The path is always difficult but it is the destination that gives us satisfaction. This path we have chosen is different from that of most of our peers but the destination won’t leave you with regrets. Ashoka gives you a cake of hard-work but it is topped with learning and fun.
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Edited by Pragyna Divakar