The last walk

As I started my walk from the IMA canteen towards the main Gate, I could see the the last three years pass right across my eyes. In these three years lots have changed. When I joined, Sachin Tendulkar was still playing all the two formats of cricket, Mr. Narendra Modi was making his way into the top league of B.J.P, IIT ‘s were a distant dream, “Problem solving” was yet to be immortalized, sounds of “obviously sir” and “trivial” echoed in the class rooms while theones who were to later take center stage, sat silently watching the theatrics, wondering at the same time the correctness of their decision to join “IMA” and  Prof Swadhin Pattanaik was still the director of IMA. 

In these three years I have witnessed the fall of IMA and the rise of a certain individuals who refused to be bogged down by circumstances, who just believed that with enough problems solved they could reach wherever they want. They created what is today known as “problem solving session”. As they say ,father time has always the last laugh. The IMA, one of the premier mathematics training institute in the country doesn’t have a single permanent faculty in mathematics, as of today. The only thing that has been standing tall, is her library, which is world class and better than some of her counterparts, in India. 

In her decade long existence, she has nourished many young minds and prepared them for their next phases of life. Before her glory dies down at the hands of ISI, she can take solace from the fact that, of all the people who loved her the most, five will join IIT’s which include IIT-Bombay, IIT-Kanpur and IIT-Madras, one will go for IISER-Mohali and two will join ISI and CMI. She will also hope that the younger generation follows it up. As for these boys, they achieved more than they set out for, a friendship that would redefine them in coming years and the legacy which they left behind. 

Long after the “IMA” loses it name, perhaps she will live on in their hearts, in the fire that pushes them to make their mark on the world. All they need to do is remember the motto

“leave no problems behind”