Learning twice

Kutty,30,was a school teacher back home,but decided to take a break and get back to studying. “Back home,I used to teach history and geography. I got tired of teaching after a few years and decided to continue with my studies. I thought of doing a law degree,because lawyers earn a lot of money the world over. Who knows,I might even choose to teach law,” he laughs. Currently,he is persuing his LLB from ILS Law College in Pune. On why he chose India,he simply says,”I had heard that life in India is very laidback,chilled out. I have so far not experienced anything to disprove that notion.”

Fiji Islands is right now under a military government,but Kutty feels that the military does more good than harm. “Our lives are very peaceful and the bureaucracy runs normally. The military is more of a watchdog than anything,there is next to no interferance,” he says. The country is also a secular one,though the majority of the population is Christian.

So how does he feel as a student,being on the other side of the desk,so to speak? “It’s a little bit like cheating,” he grins. “I have been both a student and a teacher,so I know the tricks that both employ to get their way in a classroom.” He also says that he doesn’t miss his home and family too much because even back in Fiji,he was constantly travelling and was never at home. The food,however,he misses a lot. “Fiji being an island,we get plenty of seafood,with at least one such item with every meal. However,seafood is hard to get in Pune,” he says.

However,the one thing he truly misses is rugby,with him being rather scornful of the standards of the sport in India. “Though Fiji is a tiny country compared to India,we take rugby far more seriously and are counted amongst the best in the world,” he says,with more than a hint of pride.