2007-A Singaporean Odyssey

To the inquisitive reader interested in the curious incident of a human in the time of exchange: It has intrigued me greatly that despite the rather sporadic entries in the comment box not indicating so, my blog, which I haven't updated for ages, has been receiving a good number of hits everyday from known places. (Courtesy: A Statcounter ;). Big brother's watching!). This was written quite some time back. But to update a dormant blog, it requires the effort it takes to get up from bed at six in the morning on a perfect Saturday. Glad I made it!

I look out of the expansive window in front of me while reclining on a cozy rest sipping iced tea. Airplanes stationed directly opposite wait for passengers who make their way through the gates looking like ants homing on a sugar crystal. My flight on very own ‘Indian’ has been delayed. It could not have turned out any other way for if it was Singapore airlines, this piece would lost a bit of its meaning and if had not been delayed this post would not have been penned probably.

It’s the last hour of my exchange visit to Singapore. It’s the time to look back on what has been a really interesting experience. It is also the time when I though I was frazzled beyond recovery after an entire night of packing.

As if caressed by the sybaritic ambience of the Changi airport, the weariness slowly departs from my body leaving my mind free to wander in the lanes and by-lanes of the past. Four months ago, I landed at this airport with plenty of naivety that I would have vehemently denied then. It was an uncertain package that awaited me in the form an exchange program which was introduced for the first time in my college. Maybe that’s the feeling Guinea pigs go though.

Courses (or modules as they called them) were undecided. I was away from an environment that I had grown used to, learnt to thrive in and where I mingled with people I was comfortable with. Heck, I wasn’t sure of being here until three days from the date of departure. I must thank a friend who calls himself the Robocop for providing me his ‘brute-force’ robot-like formula to get the wheels moving.

Things unfolded in a rather curious fashion. I got courses that looking back gave me well-nigh the best of what a student from IITM with my kind of interests could get-a freedom that the institute could do with in good measure, but then maybe not, for as exchange students we had unbridled choice. It must also be said that going out every weekend in the first month was a nice bonus.

But there was this callowness of someone who was seeing first world life for the first time. Add to this the confusion in the mind of a vegetarian living in a meat-lover’s paradise. A modicum of conservatism completed the picture. It was fascinating observing people (a few friends in particular) and looking at the way my mind reacted. A canvas of human emotions was being painted over in front of my eyes; of promises made not to spill the beans…But the detached perspective that I enjoy now was not there when my mind went into a tailspin of its own.

Slowly but steadily, after a good deal of travel, interaction and fun, I got a much better understanding of what I really am, what gets me motivated and what drives me. With increasing workload of a nature pretty different from what I had seen at IITM, the challenge was not to retreat into a shell. Contact with new-found friends really helped in the manner of light drizzle over parched land.

In the midst of all this, an eventful and thrilling visit to Mao’s country was like a brilliant meteor that lit up the semester and helped me look at a lot of things in a different light. That’s for a post of its own though. (Is this the last time I write that line and not write one? I am not sure!)

Before I realized it, I finished my exams after putting in a performance that more or less gives me a good deal of satisfaction irrespective of what the results turn out to be. I was left facing the last 24 hours of my exchange. It was not easy for me to get down to packing. There was no real time to say a proper goodbye to all the people that I had come to know well. Another experience away from India was looming in the distance. Another sojourn that promised to be as fun-filled and eventful as the one that had just gone past.

The call for boarding my flight is issued. I am woken up from my reverie. It’s time to move on. A song from Alan Parson’s project comes to my mind with its lilting grace:

As far as my eyes can see
There are shadows approaching me
And to those I left behind
I wanted you to know
You've always shared my deepest thoughts
You follow where I go

And oh... when I'm old and wise
Bitter words mean little to me
Autumn winds will blow right through me
And someday in the mist of time
When they asked me if I knew you
I'd smile and say you were a friend of mine
And the sadness would be lifted from my eyes
Oh when I'm old and wise

As far as my eyes can see
There are shadows surrounding me
And to those I leave behind
I want you all to know
You've always shared my darkest hours
I'll miss you when I go

And oh... when I'm old and wise
Heavy words that tossed and blew me
Like autumn winds that will blow right through me
And someday in the mist of time
When they ask you if you knew me
Remember that you were a friend of mine
As the final curtain falls before my eyes
Oh when I'm old and wise

As far as my eyes can see