What the ‘I Don’t Know’ Actually Meant. . .

WHAT DO YOU LIKE THE BEST AT SAHYADRI?

Yesterday, while conversing with my mother she asked me this question out of the blue. I was at a loss of words. I usually don’t like talking in the way I write because it makes me embarrassed for some reason, so all I could say was, ‘I don’t know.’- one of the phrases I use the most when it comes to Sahyadri. But thanks to my mother’s question, instead of sleeping I was trying to figure out the answer to the question.. And before I start with the answer I came up with, let me tell you the ‘what’ is not singular but plural, so ready yourself.

A) The fact that I can be with friends all the time, it’s quite amusing. I mean, when you stay with certain people for long they become a kind of family, too, so we start caring for each other in a way that isn’t possible in a day school. There’s this bond that is pretty strong. In short, you can chat a lot so when teachers ask you to be quiet in Sahyadri we try harder to do that.

B) The fact that teachers are so approachable. Teachers usually seem like rule-maintaining freaks to students, but there you can literally walk up to them and talk about anything ranging from the subject they teach to some class gossip.

C)The encouragement given to readers. After going to Sahyadri, I took up mythology which I never even dreamt of reading. That was simply because of the level at which I had seen books based on myths, but now I read as many mythology books as fantasy and thriller ones.

The old me would find it funny that I am interested in the same Ramayana written in different ways. Also, seeing someone glued to a book all day long isn’t as big of a deal there, thus, making it easier for me to live.

D)The diversity. In a day school, one meets people who live in the same area as you generally, or at least the same state. But in Sahyadri, you could be from two different sides of India or even the world. In this way, I feel that it helps us learn the skill to settle between strangers (in the beginning) and maybe even befriend them.

E) The fact that you can be odd. You can pursue the weirdest things and at Sahyadri, we’ll find it completely normal. I saw various people do things I thought people didn’t do anymore and boy, did it amaze me. Odd opinions, habits, interests or skills, whatever it is, they’re welcome there.

I guess that’s a lot of reason to be liking a place and if I dug further into my brain I would probably find more but at least I know I wasn’t deceiving myself into thinking I liked Sahyadri.

Yeah, mom, here’s your answer. :)