It doesn’t work like this, dear ISB. At least not in the world I live in. Things don’t always go so fast. They just don’t. I don’t know about others, but that anxiety of entering your gates for the first time is still fresh somewhere within. And yet, we are half way through the course, the entire journey. How!?
Apologies for not having paid attention (not that you gave me any time for that), but are we seriously half way through? For heaven’s sake, I haven’t even seen the building properly. And no, glancing at it when running late for a lecture doesn’t count. I need more time, dear ISB. I really do.
I want a few days when I could just sit and watch. Watch the atrium, lie down undisturbed at the 08 lounge, rummage through the sheer variety of books in the LRC, take some pictures, no, take lots of pictures. I need time to sit and soak you in. I need time to observe. How many steps are there to the atrium? I don’t know. How do the bricks feel like? I don’t know! How many kinds of plants are there in my backyard? I don’t know.
But yes, I would want to know. I want to know things to remember you by. You are my first home away from home, dear ISB, and it breaks my heart to know that very soon, before I realize, I would have to leave you. Yes, I will be an alum, I will be always welcome, etc etc. But it’s not the same, and you know that.
Laughing, bawling, jumping, you showed me life I never knew existed. You showed me things I could do, but wasn’t aware of. You opened up a window, and showed me a world where anything is possible. Yes, anything. You taught me the difference between being idealistic and pragmatic. I thought I knew a lot, but you gave me humility that will last a lifetime.
There’s so much you have done, in such a short time. But then, won’t you give me just a little more time? Please?
