Roots in Assam, Wings in Delhi: A Journey of Becoming

I was like yet another privileged child born in a middle-class family in India, the only difference was that I was born in what the rest of India views as a “remote corner” of the country, but for me, I was born in a slow-moving peace-loving small town of Assam. Having been born in a town that was just in the throes of embracing modernity, I was pretty slow to grab opportunities and talents that I later realised were quite commonplace for my contemporaries in college. Nevertheless, the sound economic condition of my family let me make the most of what my hometown had to offer.

Coming to this university of mine was not some burning passion of mine that I desired ever since my childhood, it was only in about high school when I came to realise that I wanted to pursue humanities going ahead, and having had relatives and family friends in my social circle who had been to plenty of places, I, with whatever knowledge I had developed by then through the means of academics, extra-curricular activities and the internet, decided to envision my uni as THE place where I wanted to be going forward. It was not a step that was extremely new or organic to me since a few of my cousins had already pursued their higher studies from here, nevertheless I did well in my 10th and 12th boards, and my CUET exams and thus I ended up where I am right now. The only time I had a feeling of sadness in my heart was when I was on my maiden flight to Delhi and had realised that this is it and the realisation hit that the home I grew up in was no longer the one I was going to spend the rest of my life in.

Despite being born and raised in such a “remote” place, I can't thank my peers and teachers enough for making me socially sound enough to the point that I did not have any major issues with regards to fitting in once I was in Delhi, but I would be lying to myself if I didn't say that the first few months had me witnessing a bit of inferiority complex in front of everyone else. The reason was simple, although I made use of all that I had to offer, for which I just couldn't thank my parents enough, my town just did not have enough facilities and it was in a state of a perpetual cultural gap so I was significantly behind a lot of my peers in college who had grown up in defence cantonments and major metropolitan cities and the opportunities that I was offered did not count for anything at all in front of the opportunities that they had availed back in their school days.

Yet, there are two factors for which I'm always thankful, the first being the great equalizer that was the internet, which in my school days at the very least made me aware of the vast wide world that existed outside my comfort zone, and secondly being the environment and homeliness that was offered by the University, because I soon realised that this campus did not really care that much for who you were before you entered the University and catered more towards what you are capable of once you are a part of this University, and all of it has only been possible due to the cosmopolitan nature of Delhi.

I have had quite the journey in the past few years, from being a privileged middle-class small-town kid, to an under confident college freshman to an individual who knows his priorities in life, is well aware of the pitfalls of Delhi, and is eager to explore what life has to offer him next. Throughout this journey, one thing that I've learnt is that humanity is versatile, it is what you make of it, it is brutal at one moment, and is the most cherished possession and angelic blessing the very next. My perception of humanity has become a bit more cynical and a bit more non-naive, but everytime I see a bhandara for the poor or the medical clinics right outside of a religious institution, I remember the power that the human psyche holds and the extraordinary ability of doing what is right that humans in their collective capacity are capable of.

And last but not the least, I can't thank humanity@2047 enough for providing me a platform for penning down my views in the hopes that someone reads my story, resonates with it, finds something relatable or unique out of it, and hopefully take the message of gentleness among humanfolk forward.

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