I am a Professor of Economics at Azim Premji University. I was an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts, Boston before that. I was a post-doc at Columbia University and received my PhD from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
I was one of the first batch of A-level students at CFL. It was a wonderful few years, partly because the school was finding its feet at that time and things were gloriously unstructured. I very much felt like part of the adventure that the teachers had undertaken. The relationships that I built with my classmates and my teachers were and are among the most special in my life.
CFL was much more than a school. It was (and is) a vibrant community of people who had the courage to break away from the imperatives of society and in doing so gave everyone— students and teachers alike—the chance to explore deeply together some of the most compelling questions that arise in life in a happy and caring environment. Even if I was not aware of it at the time, this was an extraordinary gift.
For most people, school prepares you at best for a career. For me, CFL provided me with the confidence to explore my interests outside that box. More crucially, the questions which were asked in CFL about life and relationship militate against glib answers. They are things which I carry about with me unconsciously.
A full quarter century has passed since I left CFL. I find that age doesn’t necessarily bring wisdom. The world continues in its ways and I in mine, all the time looking for more clarity on the questions of how best to live this life.The questions remain, even if unanswered.