Loyola Love

Today is the 31^st of July. 2016. That implies two things: First, today is Loyola day! And Second, I've finished school already. But I couldn’t be less excited about today. Loyola has left such a lasting impression on me, it has polished my rough edges, taught me to stand a little taller, laugh a little louder and care a lot more. I remember when I first joined school in third grade I didn’t like it, and complained to mom about how “easy” maths was in ICSE schools (I did totally regret saying that in tenth though, before the boards, you know). The school however, as it turned out was not that bad a place. Few months in and I loved it, I enjoyed coming to a place where teachers were not only teachers but friends and guides, where seniors weren’t bossy and snobbish but cool and fun (also hot).

I had two sections when I began school. What actually happened was that a Father (or who i thought was a Father) told me I belonged to one particular section so i went there not bothering to check the notice for allotted sections. When the class teacher asked about my name not being on the attendance register i said, "Father told me I was in this section". After around two weeks the class teacher of my actual allotted section realized I was in school, she came to me and said that's your section, pointing to another classroom. So I had to go. The new section was equally great, and it made me understand how comfortable i had grown to be at Loyola.

But that is not all about Loyola! Frankly, there is just so much about Loyola i couldn’t fit it in here even if i tried.  Loyola led me to discover so many things, it honed talents, built some and the best thing it never imposed conformity rules about who one should be- you do you but be kind, that's Loyola. (it is also “ In all things to love and to serve.”) Thanks to Loyola I have amazing friends, great teachers, some stupid crazy memories but many totally awesome ones too. The nuances of the mundane survival in Loyola seem like one the most magical things that happened. Few days back while talking about Loyola, my friend and I tried to figure out why we love it as much as we do; turns out that it was not that Loyola just educated us in the conventional sense(which it did) but it also taught us about things beyond the pages of a book, of things that are so necessary for surviving today which come to us as second nature because they’ve been so deeply ingrained into our personalities. It completed a huge fraction of our being. L for Loyola, L for love. Loyola is and always will be “A school with a difference!”

Words

Words are just alphabets put together to mean something or indicate a certain thing that we want to express. That’s what you are doing- you are reading the alphabets I put together as words, spaced them and followed certain rules while doing that so that they could make sense. Words thus are a paradox- they are ordinary and yet in the same moment they are magical. They are magical – they can transport you to lands where you want to be, they can make you meet men, women, kids, animals, anyone or anything you want. You can stand there, stay there, dance or do anything you want without being judged. You can possess things that are not possible by the laws of science or by the stretches of rationality. You can bathe in the moonlight and dance in the soft mellow sunshine while wearing that dress you always loved, stare at those snow capped mountains and yet, and yet, stay true to your soul. You can travel to imagination and beyond, yet not move an inch.

Remember when you were a kid and the most difficult words that came out of your mouth were that you hadn’t finished your assignment? Then that changed to confessing what you felt in actuality to that one person you thought should know? And it later changed to taking a stand for yourself, making your own decisions ? You've perhaps not spared moments for this contemplation, but that's what you've done- you have used words. You have used an instrument of magic to cruise through the mundane. You've shared extensions of your being to pass through this illusion called life using some of the most underrated faculties of speaking, writing, expressing, through words. You have done the same thing the emperor did, and the same thing the pauper did, you have used words. It's just the difference of how you used them that brought you to where you are now.

So use them wisely. Use them after thought, spare yourself moments to think about the ones you speak, read or write. Make some positive changes. You never know when your one compliment might make the difference that you've always wanted to make in your life. 

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