Once Upon a University Campus

Sunflowers, Bright and Happy Sunflowers

The dark alleyway lead to the main street teeming with tourists, tiny shops selling souvenir, small cafes with patio dining. Like most places frequented by tourists, shopkeepers competed for attention and tried to sell their wares. The cobblestoned street itself appeared to be quite old, harking back to the times when it was meant to serve only pedestrians. Annika was back to hearing assorted languages and noticed delicious aromas wafting at periodic intervals. It was hard for Annika to keep pace with Mr Outsider in the more crowded stretches. It was a wonder that he seemed to make way for himself, his suit, bouffant and shiny shoes intact, while she struggled to dodge pedestrians, hawkers and what not. He did breeze ahead only to wait for her to catch up. Then they turned to a smaller quieter alleyway with an upward elevation. Annika's steps became decidedly slower and Mr Outsider slowed down his pace to make her comfortable. What a contrast it was, just a few feet away the main street was so noisy that they could hardly hear. But now, in the smaller alleyway, the click of Mr Outsider's shoe against the cobbled street rang loud and clear. Sodium lamp flickered on the lamp post with wrought iron antique finish.

"What a waste of resources. They are still running on sodium lights when the world is moving towards LEDs" Mr Outsider remarked rather unexpectedly.

"Inefficient " Annika agreed with Mr Outsider.

The grew quiet again. They passed a on old house with ivy climbing up its walls and small windows with cute panes.

"So, how did your presentation go? " Mr Outsider asked her, again in an effort to make a conversation.

"I messed it up big time. It was a lifetime opportunity and I did not give it my best. I think I got too complacent. I did not expect these many questions and was not prepared for it at all. I let down Prof Phatak, I let down myself. I wasted this opportunity like only a fool would. What is worse, I almost did not interact with anyone except during the question answer session after my presentation. I did not do good, wasted a lifetime opportunity."

"I did not know you gave up so easily Ms Trivedi. This is your first conference, you will learn to navigate it. Do not take all the questions so negatively. Work on it, find suitable answers and make your paper stronger. Besides all is not lost. You still have tomorrow, meet people, make acquaintance. Make the most of it."

"I wish I could make acquaintances here. I don't speak french and it is such a handicap."

"Ah! Don't bother about language. Talk to them in english, most of them know english though they might not speak fluently. You will be surprised how friendly they are. But you have to reach out."

"Thanks. I will try tomorrow. But tell me how did you end up in this conference?"

"Are you surprised to see me here?" he asked earnestly

"I don't know if I am surprised but you were the last person I expected here." Annika replied with the same earnestness.

"You might be surprised to learn that it is only you who is new around here. I am a regular here. Having money buys a lot of privileges. I donate to university endowments here as well as a few American universities. So the organizers are kind enough to include me in these sessions. "

"It is funny. Money can buy altruism as well"

"Nothing altruistic about my donations here. When I started out, Bade papa was taking care of our traditional business. I had to create my own niche. I choose new economy businesses like renewable energy, telecom, IT. Universities are at the helm of cutting edge research in these sectors. So in order to keep a tab on such research, I have to do this. True these donations also got me some tax breaks. Sound economics you see."