Salil Sakhalkar

Taking my earlier post as the poetry of the environment further, I need to say that the nature has been extremely influential in my upbringing. Born and studied for a considerable period of my life in the picturesque campus of I I T Bombay has left an indelible impression on not just my mind, but most of us who grew and studied together on the Campus. Basically the Campus had an environment where all aspects of individuals growth were influenced by academic surroundings midst the lavish spread of nature. The entire landscape in the late 70’s through eighties used to be near picture perfect. Surrounded by hills, lakes and a good bounty of greens the place was very close to the scenic country side we see in the Chinese martial arts movies. Simply- SERENE.

The friends were plenty as it was a small community where the concept of politics and protocol was non-existent. As teens we were a group of around 8 guys who were not just trying things at the vast library IIT has, but the places of interest like the Chinko, Rainbow, Boat house (to which the approach was more like a safari, than any thing else), the guest house with the vast expanse of Powai Lake to complement with its grandeur were more instrumental in our upbringing as human beings.

It was a creative crucible, which formed our minds and the way we started to look at things in general. All of us use to gather in the evening at the main building for smoking (WILLS LIGHTS) and spend time discussing on virtually everything under the sky, without any specific agenda. Even the cigarettes used to be a major pool in affair as the pocket money was not sufficed. We used to take turns to sponsor the princely 5 rupees per pack of wills kings. That was fun.

No wonder that few of us finally endeavored in the creative pursuits. Most of us have turned into designers, photographers, and researchers trying to do and offer something new virtually every day. As you grow up the sense of belonging and the nostalgia of the place where you belonged starts to make you sentimental to some point. Any ways, whatever we do as friends to make a reasonable living, we all owe to the place and the people who formed us and that’s I I T Bombay.

posted by Salil Sakhalkar @ 12:58 AM