She may be a glamourous actress now but Seerat Kapoor was driven by a thirst for knowledge during her college days. Smart, sophisticated and bubbly, Seerat takes a trip down memory lane and shares some of the things that made her college life a special experience.
“Up until Class XII, my attendance was poor and I barely made the cut-off mark but once college began, I was quite regular and used to maintain 70 per cent attendance, which my college was strict about,” says Seerat, who completed Bachelor of Arts from RD College in Mumbai.
“I wasn’t exactly a nerd, but at the same time I loved attending classes and learning new things and studying in the wonderful environment of the college. It certainly was a wonderful experience,” she says.
Unlike regular colleges, RD College had rather unconventional college timings as Seerat’s classes began at 6:30 am and would go on till noon. “Waking up early in the morning was the hardest thing for me to do. I'm normally a nocturnal person and I like to study at night, because that's when it is most calm. So rising early was indeed a challenge,” the 21-year-old explains.
Despite the inconvenient timings, Seerat says she was quite enthusiastic about going to college. “Once I got past the struggle of waking up, I would actually look forward to going to college, especially the journey. Because it was early in the morning, the roads would be clean and the air would be fresh, so the journey from my home to college was refreshing,” the actress says.
Seerat also looks back at her college times with fondness as she made a lot of friends, who stood by her through the good times and the bad.
“Honestly, I don’t know what I would've done without my friends. They were a great support system for me and whenever I didn’t attend college, they would encourage me to come more often. Even during exams, my friends would always help and support me. I would also look forward to having Maggi noodles with friends during study sessions, though now it is banned,” recalls Seerat, who has acted in films like Run Raja Run, Zid and Tiger.
The actress, who joined Ashley Lobo’s dance institute as a dance instructor at the age of 17, says she was extremely fond of her teachers in college. She was also quite the ‘model’ student — not in terms of being regular but in terms of fashion! “One of the things that I loved about college was the fact that there was no uniform and that I could wear whatever I wanted. I would always make it a point to choose different colour combinations from my wardrobe, dress up and feel good about myself. So my teachers knew me quite well. I would always approach them and speak about myself and they were very sweet. In fact, they knew me so well that if I missed class, they would know exactly what my reason was,” Seerat reveals.
The actress, who is currently working on a couple of projects, says the qualities she learned from college were determination and drive.
“As I was already a dance instructor and had signed a film, it would have been easy for me to discontinue college. But I was hell bent on finishing college because I really wanted to experience college life. So, in a way that drive to finish college is what I take back with me,” Seerat says proudly.
“I’m also a very lively person and I like meeting new people. In my college, there were students from other countries including China and Africa and I was very intrigued to learn more about them. To sum it up, learning in a healthy environment, meeting new people, making new friends and discovering yourself is what college life is all about. And it is something everybody should experience,” she adds, with a smile.
— suhas@newindianexpress.com