When I found out that we have history in the first semester, I was overjoyed.
Everything in this world has a back story. People are the way they are because they have been shaped by experiences in their life. Every great ruler that ever kept his foot on this earth had a back story. A story that has been transmitted orally for years before it could be written down. I have always been eager to learn the ‘why’ behind things and that eagerness to know probably explains my love for history.
After writing my class 12th board exams I was confused. Should I make a career out of my passion or be more practical and choose a secure path for myself. I chose the latter and found myself in Symbiosis Centre for Media and Communication. I thought I will have to say goodbye to history forever. But when I found out that we had history in the first semester, I was overjoyed. We had our first class with Prof. Sagar Kamath, our history professor during orientation programme. He was quick and witty with a punch of humour so everyone instantly liked him. There was something very likeable in his personality.
Our classes started from mid-July and I fell in love with history all over again. Before Sagar sir happened, I had knowledge of events and facts but failed to understand their significance. Sagar sir made us realise how everything that we have today – our political system, religious beliefs, traditions etc. is a result of a long chain of events called history.
I would look up to his class every day. History was always the first period but somehow none of us fell asleep during the class. Sagar sir knew how to keep us interested. I would go home and read more about the topic he taught us in class. And I would have fresh batch of doubts to ask the next day. The best part was that Sagar sir never got bored of answering questions. It always seemed like the man wanted to give us all that he could.
There was never a single time when he didn’t have an answer for a particular question. You could ask him anything (under the sun) and expect a thought provoking reply in return. My friends would often find Sagar sir and I engrossed in discussions about anything and everything. After the end of every discussion I liked to know his personal thought and ideology about things. I got the highest marks in history class test and did well in my assignments too.
All the history classes were the highlight of this semester for me. I am hopeful that these coming five semesters at SCMC will help me find my true calling, a career path which is a combination of my passions and skills.
Blog by: Noreen Shah (Batch 2019)
Photograph by: Tejas Manjunath (Batch of 2019)
