The End
Hello dear reader!
This may be the last time I am writing this
blog for the exchange, as I don’t really want to talk about these days, or else
I may again have a break down by just walking down those alleys of my memory
during the coming week. But, this blog is something I have to write and write I
will.
So, my thoughts on the 30 days with my 15
friends who were the main participants and the dozens of others who made these
memorable days more memorable will start by a question.
In which Exchange program would you expect
the group walking towards a deserted petrol station at 0030 hrs in the morning
for something to drink with the two main teachers wearing similar bowler hats HAVING LED LIGHTS ON
THEM!!!!!!???????? And please take this in account, dear reader that this is
after taking us to a restaurant and ordering some small things for us just so
that the group can dance at the disco there.
So, can you
find this sort of stuff at any other exchange program which you might have
seen?
Well, this
was just 2 hours, dear reader, 2 hours, imagine what would have taken place in
the remaining time that we had with us.
This
thought somehow takes me to the part where I realise that what my expectations
were and what this second leg was in reality.
Expectation:
A trip to Poland where I would get to know a lot about the holocaust, The Iron
Curtain and life in communist Poland etc. with nothing related to India at
sight.
Reality: A
life changing experience where I met and talked not only with Polish people,
but with a Swiss, a Vietnamese, a Pakistani, some Dutch, some Germans and …… a
lot of Indians. This, with getting to know about the European way of life, the
politics, the issues etc. AND with all my expectations except the India part.
This was
just a small comparison whose full account would be very hard to tell, but I
would try.
We were
taken places, emphasis on the word TAKEN, because our friends in Poland took us
to so many places that even if I try to recall each and every one of them, it
would be a very herculean task. We were taken to Wawel hill, Kazimierz Jewish
District in Krakow, Nowa Huta, Auschwitz, The Squares of Krakow, Warszawa
(Warsaw, that is ) and Zakopanne, to many museums, the salt mine, the beautiful
cathedrals, the Tatras, the Zura caves etc. etc. etc.
The places
were important, but the people more so. I met so many people, made so many
friends and what conversations..
About
philosophy with Marcin
About Communist
times, thoughts, politics and books with my polish mum
About
Europe and its association with Gosia and Kasia
About how
Indians are unfit with Gosia and Kasia (again)
About food
with tomek bhaiya (big brother in Hindi)
These are
just the stuff coming into my mind, there were many such intense discussions,
MANY that I just could not write about them as this person has a word limit and
people have a tendency to doze off reading or listening to my words.
Leaving
such friends has been impossible for me.
Just thinking about them has made me cry. I may never meet the most of them again, never
again. And even if I do, it would most probably be after, I don’t know when.
But what I
do know is that I will meet them, and whatever I learned from, I will surely
try to Implement them in my life and make sure that every good turns into the
better.
Sadly, this
is the end of this program, but this will open new doors for us, doors that we
never imagined had existed, paths that were dark before would be now brightly
lit. Surely, this is the end of the rhythm , but not of the program, whatever
that has happened in this rhythm will surely create a lot of waves, which would
in turn create a melody, a melody whose sound would make us remember of all the
memories we made and thus, make us more determined to be better individuals.
Thank you
again , all the people who made this program possible, without whose
participation, the whole system could have ceased to exist.
See you
again, my friends, when the time is right and the stage is set.
Until then,
Do widzenia, 50.07 N 19.78 E
Regards,
Shubham Sharma