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Unforgettable View of Dining at MDI
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Yesterday was the last day for many NMPians like me on this amazingly green campus. Walking down from this heavily guarded and iron gated area alone was not that easy this time. I realized how can one fall in love with every small bit in this campus - be it flowers, lush green playing fields, long lasting gossips over a cup of coffee at Sharmaji, sleeping in classrooms, late night badminton sessions, informative guest talk sessions and walking across bricked walls discussing potential entrepreneurial opportunities etc. The list goes on and it is difficult to express all in this one blog write up. For the last few days, I have witnessed those 100’s of nostalgic pictures loaded everywhere on facebook, status message changes on WhatsApp and friends hugging together time and again while carrying their luggage and seeing them off.
I look at the empty corridors and common room where we used to celebrate getting-to know-each-other ice-breakers in the beginning, birthday parties amid music, dancing and cake cutting. Done with my academic courses, projects, exams and pretty much everything expected of me (not to forget about the still pending dissertation !), I walk around reminding myself that it is going to be the last time for many months/years perhaps before I come back for a visit. The lone thoughts of losing pretty much all building permissions, handing over the room keys and other privileges that come with being a student was very weird. I wonder why they need to do that – taking away something that is arguably the most valuable thing during our college days. But at the end, this is what the truth is and each of us has to live with it.
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| Meethi Meethi Yaadien |
It doesn't end here but the inexpressible feel of interacting with the anxious incoming batch juniors while sharing your experiences in terms of course rigor and learning is unmatched. I will miss those discussions at cafe/ telephone about latent highlights of investing time in this amazing 1-year stint. I always feel amazed that the constitution of the batch which looks so awkward in the beginning (due to huge range and variety in terms of enriching experience) later becomes your strongest learning source. It reminds me of the cycle which has continued from the past and will continue in future making this program even stronger with every passing year.
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| Guest Talk Sessions @ MDI by Experts |
Though I did not get the time and courage to express my explicit thanks to each one of you, but I cannot run away from the fact that I had the honor of learning something unique from each of my 65 fellow colleagues - their diverse thoughts and experiences. I thank you all and MDI faculty for your kind support extended to me over this period. I may have been involved into arguments with many of you over the past 12 months but that doesn't mean anything personal. All of us will be achieving greater heights in career and personal life in the years to come and let us stay connected whenever we find a chance to meet by taking out some moments from our busy lives. I am sure we will start feeling the voids of missing our colleagues in the days to come.
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| Good Bye Millennium City |
Yet, there is sadness. I have learnt a lot just being on campus at MDI and brushed my shoulders with some great minds. One year there and I have come out a really different person. Though most of us may not realize now but will surely do so in the days ahead. Leaving MDI and of course Gurgaon is something which I may take a while to even describe to myself, a sadness that is intensely personal, one that has little to do with people out there. On balance though, I now know it’s possible to be immensely happy and equally sad at the same time in a way that does not add up to zero. This is that one moment. !!
Abishek Mittal
