True knowledge lies not in textbooks but in experiences. Personal growth comes not from passing exams, but through living and passing the test of life. I firmly believe in this and attach very little importance to exams. The thrill of doing well in an exam, however jubilant and heady fades fast with me, just like the bookish knowledge I have gleaned. What rests are the imprints of the lessons that were translated into something meaningful and the innumerable experiences from which I have learnt and grown. When I embarked on this trip to France this time, with serious academic ambitions, I know I would learn a lot while I was in class. But more than that, I counted on the abundance of experiences outside class which would broaden my horizon, force me to look beyond the horse blinkers and learn new things. I have learnt a lot, not just under the tutelage of my professors but also from my interactions with my classmates, encounters with French administration / bureaucracy, ennui of solitary existence in a foreign country and my many trips and excursions. My travelling aspirations had to be limited because of financial constraints this time. Nevertheless I have travelled quite a bit – and my brain is crammed with images, anecdotes, historical and cultural trivia, not to mention experiences that make me feel that even if my course had been unsatisfactory, I wouldn’t have gone back empty-handed.
I made my last trip with CUEF this weekend to Marseille and Aix-en-Provence. A memorable day accented with the warm glow of the Mediterranean exuberance and a million images cramming for space in my head. I may have cursed my stupidity in leaving behind the memory card for my camera all day yesterday, but looking back I know that no amount of photos can possibly capture the true thrill of finally visiting a city I have read so much about, a monument that sends me back to the hours I spent devouring classics as a child. No photo could possibly capture the pulsating rhythm of a city that embodies all that denotes Mediterranean culture. And no photo could possibly capture what my eyes and brain have absorbed yesterday.
Leaving you with a collage of snapshots from the three excursions I made with the institute : Chamonix / Mont Blanc, Orange / Avignon / Pont du Gard and finally Marseille / Aix-en-Provence.
6 comments:
Nice collages you are coming up with!
By the way, does to be at the real place live up to the images you had formed in your head with your readings? Sometime, I find that the two do not match -- the real and the imagined. For example, I was kind of underwhelmed by looking at the photos of the Chateau d'If -- didn't really look as fearsome and imposing as I had imagined it to be. Or, probably, the bright sun-lit landscape, along with the photos of seagull and the flowers, robbed off its fearsomeness.
Pranab, it's true that the chateau doesn't inspire fear today, but you must try and place yourself in the 16th century and imagine being in that place for years at end, with very limited food, often chained at the feet or hands and little hope of every leaving that island.
My photos present it on a lovely day with bright blue skies and I've taken photos of the wild flowers which wouldn't seem very pretty if I had to stay there for months / years at end!
And to answer your question, most places I've visited have not really let me down...
Long time. No post. :(
"There are lots of things that never go by rule,
There's a powerful pile o' knowledge,
That you never get at college,
There are heaps of things you never learn at school."
hello hello disappearing woman. where are you?
"There are lots of things that never go by rule,
There's a powerful pile o' knowledge,
That you never get at college,
There are heaps of things you never learn at school."
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