Stepping into the real world, without that constant protection of our parents in a new town and new city was absolutely unnerving for me, just like it would have been for anybody else.
I’ve been brought up with a science background, yet, through all the years that I had studied science, I felt directionless. It felt as if a multitude of facts were being imposed upon me and I couldn’t weave true meaning into them. I was made to believe by almost everyone around me that science was the option for me, and to a certain extent I agreed to it. Yet, the feeling of vagueness never eluded me. At the back of my mind I always had the idea of doing something creative, something which would matter to society and I, but I didn’t know where to begin. I was clueless about how I would acquire such knowledge which would help me achieve my purpose. Then after a lot of research and talking to a number of people, I decided that pursuing a Bachelor’s in Mass Communication would be the right option for me. I decided to apply to Symbiosis Centre for Media & Communication.
After coming to college I realized that we were guarded by a thick bubble of protection all our early years. Coming from highly privileged backgrounds, events happening around the world are merely stories to us, almost parallel to our notions of reality. We stay content, lazing in our happy bubble, blissfully ignorant and unbothered. Stepping into the real world, without that constant protection of our parents in a new city was absolutely unnerving for me, just like it would have been for anybody else.
The environment of this college is unlike anything I had expected. There are opportunities everywhere and I gained such insurmountable amounts of knowledge within only one semester. I learned ideas and concepts which opened my eyes. The most enlightening class for me was Sociology. The subject was alien to me. All through the duration of this course, Professor Vishal Jadhav introduced new concepts to us which were absolute eye-openers for me. The one which left a deep impact on my mind was the theory of hegemony by Antonio Gramsci. The theory made my question almost every belief I held before. I learnt to not take things as they come but have an attitude of healthy scepticism, in general. As I learnt more ideas and concepts, I found myself dispelling several ill-formed presumptions that I had in my mind about a large number of things. I cannot be grateful enough towards my college for initiating such a change within me. By helping me develop such a perspective which helps me view the world in a holistic perspective and making me question the idea of reality, I feel myself evolving into a better person.
Article by: Sreya Bhattacharjee (Batch of 2020)
Photograph by: Sreya Bhattacharjee (Batch of 2020)
