The Shifting Sand and an Oasis
Like many mathematicians and physicists who have codified theorems to explain various phenomena, I too have codified one to explain life. The basic theorem that I seem to follow is that the only thing that is constant in life is change. That definitely sounds like a paradoxical statement.
Let me go on to explain what I exactly mean by that. My parents live in the country side in the foothills of Himalayas. As a child I grew up in the village environment and did not know much about the vast world outside and was quite oblivious to the complexities of life. I started attending the village school. As a child I did not have any worries about my education and thought that I was getting the best education in the world. Meanwhile, my parents who had seen the competition outside were aware that if I continued in that small school, my future would also become narrow like the simplistic world of the village. I was far from all the worries and enjoyed the freedom. But living in the countryside had its benefits. I was fortunate to learn the hardships of running an orchard. I also had an opportunity to learn how to milk cows and various other things.
However, this liberty and closeness to nature had to be given up, as I had to leave my hometown and go to a boarding school for better education. I joined a boarding school called Rishi Valley School situated in the southern part of India. The transition was definitely for my betterment. I was very fortunate to have been admitted to one of the best schools of India. A world-renowned philosopher, Jiddu Krishnamurthy, also sometimes referred to as the “World Teacher”, started the school in 1930’s and his goal was to mould the students into good and responsible citizens of the world. The school was also situated in the countryside in a valley. Once again I found myself close to Mother Nature and felt relieved that there was someone always there to guide me through the labyrinth of life. The six years I spent in school was the time when I actually figured out my potential. With the encouragement that I received from my teachers and school-mates, I excelled in various fields. I was an active participant in sports, and also learned classical dance for about five years. What has had the most profound effect on me was the approach of the school towards its students. It never interfered with the student’s personal abilities, but guided them in the areas that they chose for themselves.
After completing my high school education it was time for me to say adieu to the school that had nurtured me and had taught me to stand on my own feet. One of the things that I really value having learned in the school is to be independent. I learned to be free-spirited, self-determined, self-sufficient, and self-directing. Since then I have come across a wide variety of people and cultures. And in all these I could find myself as an individual, an identity that I had created for myself.
On leaving the school, I had to decide what graduate course I should pursue. I had a slight inclination towards computer science. The ever-whirling wheels of change brought me to Ansal Institute of Technology and here I started pursuing a course in Computer Information Systems. Coming to Gurgaon was an altogether different experience as it is the newest metropolitan with high rise buildings and malls all around unlike the sylvan surroundings where I had lived till then. However, adjusting to these new surroundings did not come to me as a big challenge because Rishi Valley School had prepared me well. The ideas that school had instilled in me will surely carry me on and will help me stand on my feet even in the strangest shores. In the shifting sands of time and life, the values that I learned at Rishi Valley School stand out as an oasis of hope.