Shared by Mr Yojit Govindani (PGP 2016)
13 April 2016. It remains to date one of those magical days in my life, a personal watershed moment. The best management institute in the country had just offered me an invite to be a part of their illustrious family. The day also happened to mark my late grandfather’s birthday, which made it all the more surreal.
As I sank to my knees in sheer ecstasy, images of the campus flashed through my mind, images that I had thus far only had the fortune to view through the lens of an outsider – the main gates to the hallowed campus, the evergreen Louis Kahn Plaza façade, and not to forget, the fabled Harvard Steps.
Amidst all this, there was another reason for my happiness – my wife, then girlfriend, resided in Ahmedabad. The simmering love affair that I had with the city until then was about to metamorphosise into an everlasting bond.
Fast forward to Day 1, and I remember how, despite having landed a dorm in the new campus, I mistakenly ventured through the main gate of the heritage campus and, amidst all the lush greenery, obtained a first-hand view of the Harvard Steps. I remember being too nervous at that time to let the grandeur of what I had just seen sink in, but here is the good part: there were two years ahead to do just that!
Over those ensuing two years, I recall moments spent near or at the Harvard Steps that I continue to cherish till date. From my weekly jogging sessions at the cricket field and subsequent walk back to the new campus, to the night of September 28th, 2017 tirelessly spent decorating the campus entrance façade for the inaugural edition of The Red Brick Summit. From being a spot where I would frequently meet my wife, to one where I bid my closest friends goodbye post convocation. The Harvard Steps has been my companion through thick and thin, always opting to stay in the background (no surprises there), yet somehow always managing to hog the limelight.
The single most beautiful memory of the Steps though, surprisingly yet fittingly, came a few months after I swapped my status as a student to that of an alumnus. With marriage on the horizon in early 2019, my soon-to-be-wife (then) and I decided to do our own little photoshoot, capturing the different spots in the city we used to visit in our years of friendship. As we set about creating a shortlist of the chosen locales, the Harvard Steps and its mesmerising environs, needless to say, figured as one of the most prized ones.
Personally, these photographs succinctly illustrate the two most beautiful jewels in my life that the city of Ahmedabad has given me. In both I found my family. With both I found meaning and purpose to life. As is the case with all dreams that come true, I feel truly blessed.
