After trotting a month on the streets of Europe and settling back in the serene and green IIT Bombay campus; one fine evening, I called my parents and brother and implied casually,
"I may have an opportunity to do my last semester from the United Kingdom." It was genuinely a heartwarming response,
"If you believe it will add value to your life, grab it, you have our unequivocal support." And here I am.
A lush-green campus in the heart of a sweet & little town Loughborough located in the countryside of Leicestershire , a university which has been consistently ranked number 1 in terms of the student experience in the UK, a university acclaimed across the world for its sports-affiliated activities ( England Cricket Board's (ECB) National Academy is in the campus) , a truly international university which has students from across the world and also innumerable societies (for instance, bhangra, Sikh, yoga, Hindu, Islam, Shakespeare etc.) to spread the feeling of inclusiveness and make it their home away from home; it is Loughborough University.
Polite, Sweet and extremely helpful are the must 3 adjectives which I will use for people in and around this place. The way they greet and smile, instantly you will feel part of the Lboro community. Adorable and jittery squirrels, purple and yellow submarine of breathtaking flowers, pathways with an array of tall & naked trees on both sides or just the green-green playgrounds, it is awe-inspiring. Pilkington library literally astonished me; from cinematography, drama to Shakespeare, John Keats, from marketing world to world wars, Holocaust & Nations biopic; You name it, they have it and that's why daily, I love to contemplate and spend quality time in the midst of those books and absorb the sound of silence around.
Academically, I am fortunate to study all the subjects of interests, to name a few, digital marketing, international marketing, service marketing, small business, and entrepreneurship.
Service Marketing is turning out to be the best subject of MBA life and it is being taught by a really cool and intelligent German professor. Just imagine reading about service experience, service quality in a country which is known for its exposure and royalty, reading plethora international marketing campaigns and listening to fascinating and riveting stories about the success & failure of small businesses in developed economies and the way to plan and implement a small business from the scratch. It is bringing even more structure and international perspective to the thought-process.
Wandering on the sets of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, witnessing rugby fever, taking French lessons with a lovely person from France,acting in a William Shakespeare play, weekend getaways to Oxford, Cambridge,Bath and London, exploring culinary skills and cheap supermarkets, shooting Live TV shows for Loughborough Student union, 7KM jog in the grounds of university, attending lectures, a warm home, a pretty cool attic room or just a everyday walk of 17 mins with The Beatles, Queen, Pink Floyd or Rehman Sir, from home to the campus with coffee in hand and the temperature hovering between 0-10, I have always loved living independently, always loved my own companionship and this rendezvous is turning out to be pure bliss. As my service marketing professor says, it may be a "good" but it is invariably targeted at a service and my friend, "Experience is everything."
I did not just want to travel and explore the UK, I wanted to feel, sense and observe the culture and this university has provided me precisely that platform. Quoting Dumbledore, "It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." and I write this from the Pilkington library against the backdrop of green grass, tall trees, dark blue sky, aesthetically pleasing flowers, and absolute silence, just that is enough to say that I made the right choice.