2019: A Year to Remember
I pursued Commerce for my undergrad while knowing I had no interest in Commerce at all. The only interesting subject for me was that of Communication. I would go in those classes in search for stories. In the world of 'accounts and statistics' where there could only be one answer to a problem, Communication had a sense of mysticism. Luckily, I studied at Ahmedabad University which gave me ample opportunities outside the classroom to explore myself better. Coming from a school which had no library and a background focused heavily on exam grades, in college it was as if introduced to books for the first time. I became a nerd. In 2012, after my last paper, I told myself I will never go back to the classroom again until I really felt like studying something- badly. (I ran an EdTech company for 5 years after that.)
In 2019, at 27, I got a chance to pursue an MA in Global Communication and Development from Loughborough University, London. A course that was one of a kind, I can say it was life-changing. We had lectures which were, at times, 4 hours long but at the end of most of them, I still yearned for more. I saw the magnetic effect of learning something you truly cared for. Communication, as I learnt, is not limited to 'Content Writing' or ‘Digital Marketing’. Whether you are a business or a social movement, Communication is what you put out there for your audience to believe in you. Words-images-videos-animation-stories-tweets are what people buy first before they buy your product-service-ideology. In the recent years, Communication has brought overnight fame to people and also overthrown unjust governments. We are too busy driving targets while the front faces of our projects- people, websites, ppt, proposals, posters, social media- do not communicate (and at times terribly miscommunicate) our vision to our users.
Beyond the classroom, I got the pleasure of meeting people from all across the world. Some of my closest friends were from Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Austria, Paris, Costa Rica and Gaza. I finally got to see the world that exists beyond India and how ‘Indianness' is a blend from all over the world.
Apart from that, I worked on a gruelling 12-14 hour work-study schedule. While I battled the demanding academics, my work gave me a chance to meet new people and be independent. My day started at 5:50 am and at times, did not end by 11 pm. I cooked every single meal on my own and diligently managed my expenses. London can be extremely cruel, gloomy when you are lonely with limited money and far away from home. Now when I am back home in India (forever), I am proud to say that I battled all odds to finish this Masters with a Distinction which was the first of its kind research about digital media activism in India. As I put a fresh step in the job market in 2020, the year of 2019 will always stay with me as a year when I proved to myself: Nothing is impossible.