The Rajput Diaries...13

Understanding love and attachment...

There wasn't much to do in Ajmer besides visit the Ajmer Sharif Dargah. Well that's what I'd have thought if not for some 20 odd people insisting I see this institution, this legendary landmark they call their Almamater. And so, I did just that. I went to Mayo.

As it turns out, I had a few friends from my college days that were in Mayo, but the number of friends I'd had for years that also turned out to be Mayoites was an insane surprise! Add to that, all the new friends I made on my journey so far, who were also obviously Mayoites. I didn't realise until that moment, that my life was suddenly full of them! Every single one of them without exception, so passionate about their boarding school, swearing love, loyalty and allegiance to it - far more than I've ever had the pleasure of receiving from all the men in my life! Jokes apart though, it intrigued me. What was all the fuss about? What was up with the attachment the boys - regardless of age, have with this place? Why this desperate need for me to go see what at the end of the day, is a school?

I think for once, my pictures will speak more than my words... but then I don't really think my pictures did justice capturing the elaborance, serenity and magnanimity of it all. From the grand enterance to the grand main building to the grand golf course to the grand everything - this place was grand!!! I'm not sure I've said it enough...grand!!!

The students were home on holiday so I was given a VIP tour around every single inch of the huge school campus and its premises. I visited the dorms, the class rooms, the guest house, teachers quarters blocks, learnt of the history, the admission process, the uniforms, the prices and all the tons of amazing facilities this school had from horses and stables, indoor and outdoor pools, basketball and squash courts to cricket and football fields. Awestruck and dumb founded, my jaw hit the floor. I felt like I didn't have a real schooling and all this made me want to go back to school immediately or have that lie of convenience turn into a truth immediately, so that my (fictitious) son could be schooled there and there'd be no debate about it, since his (equally ficticious) Jaipuri father would certainly be a 3rd/4th generation Mayoite too! I was suddenly oh so envious of all my friends who studied here!!!

I was told of stories, mischief the boys got up to, the naughtiest batches and I visualised it all as we passed by peacocks and squirrels on the numerous, extensive and impeccably manicured gardens and lawns. I even sat on that famous marble bench that every Mayo boy will know of.

I was really thrilled all my Mayoite friends pushed me to go visit it, dissing my whole 'but its so random' attitude. I now get why they are so attached to it, why they talk of it so fondly, why they are like a secret brotherhood, why no matter what - their children will always follow suit and be admitted there; why they boast of being a 5th or 6th generation Mayoite, why they have so much pride. I left Mayo thoroughly impressed, my Mayoite friends all gloating and beaming as my phone beeped non-stop with curiosity, during and after the visit.

I stood corrected - this certainly wasn't 'just another school'. Besides the obvious beauty, it was these 3 hours that seemed to transcend all dimensions of time. The past kept flowing in and out of an imaginary future, as I breathed in the cool, fresh air, alive and totally aware in every moment of the now. 

So if you're in Ajmer, do go visit here too - trust me you won't regret it, especially if you have someone like Ripudaman Singh to show you around, like I did. And if you have a son, you should seriously consider sending him here to Mayo, he'll thank you and me for it.