2013 is over (already in India, after some hours in the UK). This was my year- I dared to dream and dreams became a reality. I got many things without asking or expecting. This year was like 2003- I can easily divide into three parts. Till August 13- I had a different life, then some crazy days at Agia and then again a completely different life in Oxford from 25th September. The best part was obviously the days in Aizawl. I found happiness, friendship, love, success- almost everything in Aizawl.
Part one:
The year started on a bad note until March. The career issues of sister and sister-in-law brought a negative vibe into our family. Everybody acted in wrong ways, including me. I wrote my apprehensions about admission several times in diary until 1st March, the day when I completed my BSG interview satisfactorily. After that, things went fine with me at least. The admission result on 14th March, scholarship result on 6th May, my resignation on 22nd May- events were coming the way I expected. I went to Jorhat for Debaroon’s marriage- awesome to meet Pegu and Digvijoy after so many days. The celebration of Rongali bihu in Aizawl- the responsibilities as publicity secretary, practicing for stage performance on husori and jhumur, the Sunday meetings, making the society website and finally the picnic, my love and respect for Assamese cultural society grew multiple times. I was excited to be accepted by all three leading universities of the UK- Cambridge, LSE and Oxford; compared with the blog posts of 2010, I thanked myself for continuing this voyage even after coming to Aizawl.
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| New year treat at my rented place in Aizawl |
At office too- first time I was saying ‘I love my job’. Really, I was truly happy working for the government. The acceptance of my funding proposals by DeitY and the World Bank, the funny work moments with Pu Muana and Pu Hmachhuana and my two laziest but dearest colleagues- Taslima and Pu Maka were simply amazing. The Delhi visits with Pu Muana, sharing the room with him, the meetings with the World Bank officials, modifying complex budget calculation of 12 crores within 2 hours, meeting Alamin, Kavita, Sumo- I was truly living my life. I will never forget the ways Simon and Vikram treated me once I break the Oxford news on our way to Reiek. I also can’t forget the surprised eyes of the ICT employees when they hear I got into Oxford University. There was reason why I always kept low profile, but nobody was smart enough to guess that, including the ones who helped me several times for appearing in interviews or in booking tickets.
I did bounce back on my non-profit and literary works in the part one of 2013. Annual report, financial audit and 4th anniversary of the trust, Xomidhan’s regular meeting and monthly stats, work with Axom Jatiyo Itihaax, visit of Devabrata Sir and baideu to Aizawl; in the literary front, writing two articles for FRIENDS, the publication of the Air India article on JAM finally and becoming the highest read article of all times, the policy article in Governance Now and finally the blog ‘From Agia to Oxford’ – I had a fantastic year in 2013. Not to mention the crazy stuffs such as helicopter ride, guitar class, earning 15K+ by selling stuffs, watching movie alone in Kolkata INOX, buying vegetables after going to a blind date, trying out Marijuana, 35 hour long Aizawl-Guwahati bus journey, sleeping in dormitory at Kolkata Visa interview-oh my God! If I read my diaries I was happy almost every day- it rarely happened to me earlier.
Bad things – why not? After all, this is Manjit Nath. A strong headache really troubled me many days in Aizawl. Thank God it did not turn out to be a regular phenomenon in part 2 and 3. Though I managed to stay away from relationships in 2013, I had many troubling moments in finally calling off a dreamy relationship that got momentum last year and was continuing since then. Arindam (Sutradhar, Tripura)long back convinced me with arguments that I possess a womaniser character. I hate to be like that, but one more girl entered into my life in 2013; the typical triangle case did not have any predictable future though and my zing controlled me at the right moment. I survived both the jolts; still maintain hi-hello with both the parties and there is absolutely no female factor in part two and three. Family woes too got stabilized towards the end of the year. Overall- I should not complain about 2013.
Part two:
It lasted for only 41 days, but those were some of the busiest days of my entire 29 year old life. Each day started at 6-00 AM and ended at 11-00 PM; ask me what a busy life is! There were two main reasons; first- we started constructing our new home after my admission thing resulted I need not take education loan. Constructing house is one of the biggest endeavours of human life and I got a slight flavour in those few days. Secondly- the movie by Krisang Motion Pictures! Have I ever in my wildest dream thought of a movie based on my life story? No, never. But it did happen, of course, many parties had to pay different prices. I will never forget the agitation by the Garo villagers objecting to our shooting on the day of DC’s visit, our auditions, managing the cook and Gopal Da and what not. Also some memorable incidents during those time—Maa’s accident, the trouble after losing all data from the hard disk and how Samir da helped, getting the RTI wala driving license after two long years and playing with BD. But in between those, I managed to visit Manikpur with Shyamsundar, attended friend gathering at Dudhnoi, took videos with Arup, took part in the facilitation ceremony at school, press meet at Goalpara, drove to-and-fro Guwahati multiple times to take sister-in-law to exam centre- God was great that I did not fall sick. I realized that I can fight with the world if my family is with me- I am such a family person and I feel great about that. Maa cried the day I left for Oxford, I was so emotional that I could not drive the car after 10 kilometres. I was leaving Agia, I was leaving my soul, I was leaving Assam, I was leaving India. That was a moment to remember – one average boy from Agia village was going to study in Oxford University. Today, I feel good and I feel motivated. I think I can do wonder if God is with me. I should try my best.
Part three:
I can’t think of anything memorable in the last 3.1 months. But from a different angle, every day was memorable. I learnt how to live in a different culture- my small little experiments to cook food, to save electricity, to save money and to save my country name. But I can’t compare these initial days with NIT days; Durgapur was worst with ragging and low self-esteem. Food is an interesting experiment here- I have captured my food experiments via my phone’s camera and I shall write about that sometime later. The school experience has been good. As usual, I am an average boy in the class. After high school I was always regarded an average boy, but something kept me motivated and I was able to pull the string at every stage. But I have observed I am not at all worried about this ‘average’ phenomenon in Oxford. May be I have grown up and I know when and where to focus now-a-days.
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| First attempts for cooking food |
Visiting Newcastle was a different experience in monotonic oxford life. I have learnt hell lot of new stuffs and I must admit that. Also, in this part I am doing a lot of experiments with myself- do I love visiting a spectacular city or show, do I love to celebrate important moments with crowd or alone, do I feel happy with myself or with others, am I an introvert personality or extrovert. The new knowledge on Economics and Politics is giving me a different perspective to look at the affairs in India and Assam. I have started to think before opening my mouth.
To be frank, the part three of 2013 is making me an unsocial animal. The fact that I enjoy less attention (compared to part one and two) in Oxford might be a factor for my preference for seclusion. The other factor is that I need to study and take decision on a lot of things. After some deliberations, I have decided not to apply for PhD and not to apply to private consulting firms for jobs. I was worried a lot about the transition to student life before coming here. I suffered a bit, but easily bounced back. And, yes- there has not been a single crush in oxford until now- this is rather unusual for me.
As I am going end this blogpost (I am not sure where I should post this) I want to thank God for all his blessings throughout 2013. I want many more years like 2013- please God! Let me also wish good will of every honest person in the planet. As I embark into a year, I have lot of apprehensions, but I am confident there will be paths.
Signing off
Manjit
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