The Red Walls

During the orientation day at college, the then president of the Students’ Union, Apoorva Kevin spoke about “The Magic of LSR”. She repeatedly uttered about the red walls changing the lives of the students. Little did I know that day that I was about to go through a beautiful metamorphosis. 

I was in the first year of my college. I loved what I was doing. I read extensively, travelled, listened to some great humans speak, met new people who are my dearest friends till date. College taught me a lot. The most important of them all is to make necessary judgements but at the same time, to be non-judgmental. Early on into the college, I attended a documentary screening- “Born into the Brothels”. It moved me in ways that I could never imagine. This was the beginning of my journey of unlearning. I remember wanting to visit Delhi’s G.B. Road but it never fructified. Since childhood we are told a lot of things which we just absorb without much reflection. And then it takes years to unlearn those prejudices. But this journey of unlearning and  accepting diversity is so comforting and clears our vision.

My second biggest learning was that you should be unapologetically you. This was cemented in my heart when one of my friends came out and spoke openly about his sexuality at an inter-college conference. In the world that we live in, that requires guts. I was so proud of him that day. I watched Tamasha around the same time and a rikshawala in the movie tells Ved, “Andar se kuch aur hi hai hum…. aur baahar se majboor”. That’s so painful. Don’t pretend to yourself at the least. Just breathe and live life to the fullest on your own terms.

The final and the most important reiteration is to always confide in someone you trust. We can’t always pretend that we have it all sorted. Tell people when something’s bothering you. I’ve learnt this on my internship at Pravah about which I’ll write a blog soon. That journey transformed me as a person.

In this journey of life we experience a zillion emotions, go through intense turmoils, feel love and witness beautiful things. Make them count and always keep your loved ones extremely close because at the end of the day that’s all that matters. And most importantly never forget what your college has taught you. Those teachings are immensely valuable.

Believe,

Spurthy