My Intellectual Life at Divyadaan

This was an essay I penned for the final exam of English in Divyadaan. Read on…

Divyadaan is a place that stands on the two pillars of study and prayer. The aim of the place is to sharpen and develop the fertile minds of the young seminarians, Salesians in particular. The journey to Divyadaan is pretty much pre-established for the Salesians belonging to the Mumbai and Panjim provinces. I belong to the Panjim province and so had no choice but to move here after completing the novitiate.

I remember asking my Rector when I was in the aspirantate, the purpose of these three years of study post-novitiate. He told me that it’s a time to broaden my outlook, sharpen my intellect, develop critical abilities and expose myself to new experiences. Looking back on these three years I’ve spent here in Divyadaan, I feel that all those things my Rector told me should happen have happened. I have broadened my outlook by being exposed to a diversity of philosophers and philosophies; I’ve kept my intellect sharp through multi-tasking, reading and taking on challenges; I’ve developed critical abilities through my encounters with philosophy and have developed a critical mind that seeks to augment the status quo to new heights; lastly, I’ve been exposed to a variety of experiences which have broken me down, built me up, shaken me and also strengthened me. I cannot but be grateful to God, my master formator, for accompanying me through the years and bringing me to this day.
I came to Divyadaan with the intention of learning as much as I can and this attitude has brought me a long way. In my first year, I was a bit timid and hesitant to take on new challenges but as time passed, I developed courage and dared to do things I’d never done before. I have never been a person who takes initiatives. I was the kind of person who would at most, do what is told, sometimes not even that much, but now, I’m a regular initiative-taker. The immense resources available in the library have allowed me to develop new interests, deepen previous one’s and feed my intellectual curiosity, not to mention aid me in my projects and assignments.



All in all, these three years spent at Divyadaan have been fruitful and enriching ones. They have helped me grow in all the facets of my personhood, particularly the intellectual. I’m grateful to God for the opportunity and to my fellow travelers for their encouragement guidance and assistance. Divyadaan has changed me and I now set out from here to carry that change wherever I go. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Great Grand Masti 2 (2016) (Movie Review)

Image
Dir: Indra Kumar Starring: Vivek Oberoi, Riteish Deshmukh, Aftab Shivdasani, Urvashi Rautela Dur: 2 hrs 10 mins Genre: Comedy Rating: 1/10 Comment: The jokes, gestures and costumes are sexually suggestive. An absolute waste of time. “What an opening line”, you might think. But to say otherwise would be an absolute lie. This film is in fact, a great grand waste of time. It’s horrible whichever way you look at it. The story is weak and thrives on cheap thrills and sorry jokes. The actresses are no doubt eye-catching but the rest is all a blur. The comedy is in fact tragedy and the film attempts to play on the basest desires of man. It’s unbelievable that actors like Riteish and Vivek would do such a film. I am not a big fan of bollywood but I still feel bad when I see bollywood making films like these. All of a sudden, I see that sex is being propagated through Indian cinema. The views of sex are changing and filmmakers and actors are not hesitating to take on unconvent
Read more

The Challenge of Mercy

Image
Pope Francis has declared this as the year of mercy, and up until now plenty of reflections have been preached and published on mercy. Perhaps each of us too have made our own reflection on the theme of mercy. Since the inauguration of the year, my mind has often reverted to this theme. Every night when I make an examination of conscience, I evaluate myself: my thoughts, words and deeds vis-à-vis mercy. I realize that I am not merciful most of the time and that I resort to do what benefits me over the merciful thing. Pope Francis realized that the Church needed to revisit the theme of mercy; to reflect upon it and put it into practice. Mercy is at the heart of the Gospel. Jesus is the personified revelator of the Father’s mercy. Through his words and deeds he suffused the scent of mercy. His teachings on mercy are appreciated and continue to inspire people even today. The Church itself was founded on mercy: Christ became the expiation for our sins (1 Jn 4:10; Heb 2:17). He for
Read more

Andadhun (2018) [Movie Review]

Image
Dir: Sriram Raghavan Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Radhika Apte and Tabu Dur: 2 hrs 18 mins Genre: Black Comedy Crime Thriller Rating: 3/10 I watched this film on good recommendations. It was hailed as one of the best films of 2018. The mystery surrounding the film went well with the mystery that was actually the film itself. I learnt a hard lesson after watching this film and that is not to go by what other’s say about a film. Given Bollywood’s film making standards, I should not have been surprised. Yet, I found myself pleasantly surprised at the end product. Andadhun tells a complex tale of blindness in a world that is not blind even though it appears so. Confused? Well then, watching the film is not going to make it any better. This film is a classical example of postmodern film-making. It is replete with ample plot twists that don’t allow you to settle into its tricky narrative. Just when you think you have it all figured out, a new twist emerges and challe
Read more