MY TWO CENTS ON JNU AND AZADI

At the age of 31 I had already worked in SAIL for 8 years, earned two promotions and was working hard for the third one.

At 31 my dream of joining the elite civil services had died five years back and I had even recovered from self-inflicted inferiority complex.

At 31 my marriage was 4 years old.

At 31 I had already been blessed with two children.

At 31 on a rainy night, in Bhilai, my wife had to get down from my modest second hand fiat car (bought on loan offered by SAIL) and push it so that it could splutter and start and overcome the weak battery that I could not afford to replace.

At 31, that night, I had promised my wife and kids that one day I will earn enough to buy a new Maruti 800 and give them azadi from the rickety car.

At 31 I had even taken a loan out of my Provident Fund account and ensured my parents first flight on Indian Airlines (Raipur- Bhubaneswar) and also pitched in with a decent amount to help them to build their modest home in Dehradun.

And yes. At 31 I had left JNU 8 years back.

I too fought for Azadi.
An azadi with responsibility.
An azadi where I could stand with my middle class parents.
An azadi where the responsibility of wife and children were taken on with fun and frolic.
An  azadi  sans slogans.
An azadi that was not subsidized by the tax payers money.
However,it came at a cost. I do not have the bragging rights of being a revolutionary.
And I could never do a PhD. 

But thanks JNU, you taught me how to live and fight in the real world.