I am
reflecting on a time from my student days, oh, so long ago! As high school was
nearing its end, I realized that the only subjects I really liked, were
English, Maths, and Biology. However, this combination for undergraduate
studies was not available anywhere. I decided then to take up the
Maths-Physics-Chemistry stream for the B.Sc. program, and give Biology a miss,
though I was really interested in Life Sciences and I loved drawing for the lab
journal. There was a sneaky reason too, for saying goodbye to Biology at that
point. My parents would have liked me to sit for the medical entrance exams,
and I didn’t. So, it figured that if I did not have Biology in my course, I
would automatically be out of the running!
Through
those three years of Undergrad, I enjoyed the studies; I guess by today’s
definition we were nerdy! I was fascinated by Maths. We would hunt around outside
our prescribed books, for new differential equations to solve: that’s how geeky
we were! Then came the preparation for the entrance exams for postgraduation. That
I would take up Maths, was a no-brainer. But fate had other plans.
I sat for
the entrance exam for MSc Maths, at two I.I.T’s. I didn’t make it to either.
Physics was my second choice. Half heartedly I sat for the entrance for that
too, and surprise! I got through. For a short while, the disappointment of not
getting Maths was there. Then slowly, Physics began opening up its treasure
trove of pure knowledge. Kudos of course to all the professors who showed us
callow students, the mysteries of the Universe and how to unravel them. The
bonus was that there was plenty of Maths to sink my teeth into. The beauty lay
in learning how pure numbers translated into physical phenomena.
Physics was
not just a career path; it made me evolve as a person too. For that I am
grateful for not getting the subject of my choice, all those years ago!
This blogpost is part of Blogchatter Half Marathon
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