Proudly holding my scholarship worth Rs.5,000 and a certificate |
The blog has become too travel-centric ever since I have decided to push it towards the travel genre with glimpses of inspirational stories. This sort of led to tying my hands as I could not freely post anything like I initially did. I absolutely enjoy sharing my life moments and whatever I feel is worth sharing or worth announcing, so this sudden shift in the blog niche is certainly taking a toll on my writing. This post, though narrates one of the proudest moments of my life, is a platform to share what I couldn't in the past few weeks.
I would love to know what you feel about this shift. I am in two minds as to whether to retain the travel blog title or be a lifestyle blogger that I was before. I was leaning towards the lifestyle niche with a lot of travel-related posts since I am working full-time as a writer and cannot travel as frequently as I used to before getting a job. On the contrary, the Instagram feed I have built is full of wanderlusty pictures and the followers I have recently gained are travellers.
Anyway, call it an epiphany, but while writing this, I realised that my blog was started because of my passion for writing and the desire for sharing my life stories, so here is hopefully what you waited to hear for: I have finalised on the lifestyle genre with 60% of travel posts and the remaining 40 a concoction of other genres. Also, I'll strictly stick to quality over quantity and in order to achieve this, I might as well take one whole week to construct a post.
So with that, here's sharing the behind-the-scenes and the actual moment from the day:
Around a week before the prize distribution, I got a call from a lady that muttered something and while she was about to cut the call, I digested what she said and it excited me. I was getting a scholarship for being a university ranker. Due to work and other important events of my life, I had completely forgotten that there were students who had scored better than me. However, when I told it to my best friend from college, she asked if anyone else was invited too. That's when I realised I was not a university ranker but perhaps one of the toppers of my college. I was not disappointed as I know that I study to educate myself and not to compete with anyone. I am someone least interested in studying hard to top.
Posing on stage while the former president of my college's trust directed that girls don't bow down |
I was elated and announced happily to my colleagues. They congratulated me and my happiness had no bound. The next question was: what to wear. I was planning on a wine coloured velvet dress but had no jacket to cover my upper body. Then I thought it was a bad idea but there was one thing that I wanted badly and certainly missed in my closet. The thing being a smart blazer.
I wanted a blazer so badly that three days before the event, I ordered a striped blazer at 1 o' clock in the night. I was hoping to get it on Friday, i.e., one day before the event, but waited until Saturday. I was so desperate to get it that I was about to go collect it from the logistics centre. However, there was no contact number on the web, but just a vague address. I asked my dad to tag along and we were dressed and near the door when I decided to not waste time in searching the centre since I was already running late. So I stuck to a Vero Moda sheer blouse, snake printed skirt and my college blazer (that I hate but looked surprisingly good this time). I packed my heels and wore my favourite bellies that take inspiration from Gucci's flats. I wore a pretty fuchsia pink lipstick by Focallure and I won't lie but I looked stunning. I was worried about my outfit since it was a big day and I had no outfit planned till the last minute. It is unlikely of me as I am someone who picks outfits days before the event. Anyway, satisfied with how I looked, I left for my college.
I reached pretty late. I was called at 10:30 am but I stepped in the auditorium at around 11:15 am. I noticed that the program had begun but the students were dancing and I thanked God for not being too late. After two dance performances and boring speeches, the prize distribution began. We were called soon and there I was, standing in the queue, proudly, to collect my scholarship.
While on the stage, I attempted to bow down in front of the chief people standing, which kind of made them laugh. One of the persons on the stage directed me that girls don't bow down followed by an, "Are you a Sindhi?" question that ended with a, "No; I'm a Maharashtrian" answer.
After collecting the scholarship, I met my professors. Next to them, a professor from another field was seated. She took my hand in hers and proudly said how cultured I was and how it's gonna take me far ahead in life. I replied saying it comes from my roots. This was the best moment of the day. So far, the lesson I learnt from my graduation and postgraduation days is
Study with your whole heart and enjoy what you do, and you're sure to make it...