The beginning of a new Beginning
It was August'06 when I first came to the UK as a visitor. I still remember that day, I was travelling from Zurich and my brother-in-law : Mr Komil Shah (referred as "Jiju") had come over to pick up at the London, City Airport. From the flight I had seen the amazingly organized lights(houses) and loads of football grounds. It turned out that this was one of the many trips I made from Zurich to London (I guess about 7).
Coming out of Kingsbury station travelling all the way on the Jubilee Line I was just shocked ! I felt like coming back to a neighborhood in India. The language, the people and even the road side stalls ...everything was there. Meeting my parents, going crazy with the shopping at Primark, going to the amazing Jain temple and of course the amazing food all around.
This was followed by the lovely network of friends my Sis and Jiju had developed. Poker, Tennis, Swimming, Badminton, Cricket, Diwali parties etc I was all part of it. Was amazed to see the enthusiasm and friendly nature of the group. This where I made some lovely friends: Achint, Bejal and Tejas Varia, Kavita & Ritesh, Jai and family, Bhavin and Bhavna and many more...I cherish some of my best memories with this group. Always welcoming, creative and brilliant with the ways in which they have mingled in the UK but still have retained the values and culture.
The frequent trips were also now part of a reason. I had started thinking aggressively about a long cherished dream to do an MBA ! After hundreds of hours of discussions with Jiju and Vaish, I finally decided to take the plunge. I went to India in August 2007 and appeared for the GMAT.
Coming back there were more surprises to come....
Jiju sent Vaish for a trip to Zurich as an Anniversary gift! With Vaish around for my b'day it was no doubt one of the most amazing birthdays. We traveled like crazy in two days and left almost no area unexplored. But there was a bigger surprise to come... I got the news that I am going to be an Uncle (Mama) soon ! Can't imagine the amount of happiness and joy that came along. I still vividly remember Jiju's mom calling me to tell the news and I standing puzzled, oh my sis was going to be a mom !
Around the same time I was busy with my work and MBA applications. It was surely a nightmare ! But not only for me it was also for jiju, vaish and many of my friends. Although I had great examples and stories, my essays were at times horrible. Hours were spent discussing and drafts went around. This was the time when again I realized, what difference your family and friends can make.
With my frequent visits to the UK, the comfort level my parents had with London and the prospects of doing a 1 year MBA from an international school i decided on UK as my next destination ! At one of the MBA fairs in Zurich I found about MBA at Oxford.
After visiting Oxford University and attending the Open day at Said Business School, I was immediately in love with this amazing place. The University campus with buildings more than hundreds of years old has a mysterious charm that is very difficult to articulate. Walking down on the cobblestone streets, I could as if I had suddenly gone back 100s of years. The business school campus - a high tech modern building - is a complete contrast to the Oxford tradition. It was an amazing feeling just to imagine learning in a campus that has been educating leaders of the world for 800 years ! The school trip, meeting a few students confirmed my opinion.
Finally I ended up applying to only Oxford university in UK. It was almost certain of doing my MBA from Oxford whenever it may happen. The application process however, was tiring like any other business school application. However, writing those long essays made me think hard and also draw a lot of my hidden skills. I got an amazing support from my friends from Asha for Education, Zurich Chidu, Priyanka and Vishwa, just to name a few. Of course there was a constant support from my jiju and sis all through out. I was amazed to get support from my then senior manager and also from clients. They helped me with recommendation letters and also general guidance for the application. I submitted the application at midnight on the last day for the second round. Was amazed to have been invited for an interview after a few days. No doubt i took the opportunity to again travel to London and Oxford. The interview was tough and I was unsure what the decision would be. But my business school seniors (who had also helped me all through out) - Alok Mathur, Aparna Patel, Larry Kao and Lindsay Miller, just to name a few - encouraged me to be patient ....rest is history !
Between then and now, I have experienced what I know, the best time of my life. Giving a paper pen exam after more than 5 years, sitting for more than 3 hours a day in classes, getting to know people from different ends of the world ....it was just overwhelming ! There is just infinite amount of stuff that I can write about my MBA and Oxford...but the main thing that I feel i have with my is ...great Friends ! This is the place where I have met some fantastic people who I am sure would be extremely successfully wherever they go in life ! Would be proud to tell my kids ...he/ she was MY friend at Oxford.
Fast forward 12 months and after a lot of ups and downs, I am finally at a point where I am about to make the next big change in my life. Very soon I will be moving to India and then travel far-east to a new country, new city in a completely new industry for a very challenging role ! But hold on ...this time it is going to be very different.
Gosh ! I am going to get married next year ! Another big decision that i made which sent around ripples amongst my friends. The number of comments on FB when I surprised everyone with the news was extremely humbling. It was the first time I realized the explosion in the network of my friends ! Things went to such an extent that many of my western friends debated and discussed about arranged marriage. It was very weird for some, shocking for many and astonishment for all that I decided on something so fast.
In all the years that I have spent abroad, this is the only year where I am making my third trip to India and that too within almost 3 months ! Somebody has done the magic ....of course :)
The common cliche statement is ..."change is constant in life" ...but for me this has been just too many things at a time. As I write this post, I stand at a point where I will very soon leave behind a wonderful time. I keep remembering my words "Life is very short ...make the most of it today as tomorrow may not come" ...
It is a very strange feeling to leave behind a lovely family, most importantly my nephew .. Arjun and all his sweet gestures, my lovely sister, my Jiju, my cousin and her family, my friends from Oxford, CTS and Prudential and the aunty, uncle and friend where I am staying as a paying guest since the past two weeks. All of this has been possible just because of the wonderful support I got at every step from my family (including my parents who were there through out my course ...thanks to my nephew) and friends from all over the world.
It reminds of one of my favorite songs ...the Jamican Farewell
"I am sad to say I am on my way Won't be back for many a day "
posted by Priyank at
10:01 PM
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