Coming Home to LLA
“Do you remember that time?”
“How many years has it been?”
“That’s my picture!”
On the eve of LLA’s 25th Anniversary, alumni from across batches gathered on campus in Ooty, many returning after years. Some had travelled from across the country, some from across the world, but once everyone was back on campus, the years seemed to fall away quickly.
The evening had everything you expect from an LLA gathering: games, music, a bonfire, snacks, chai, hugs, laughter, photographs, and endless stories.
For 25 years, image makers have come to LLA from different parts of India, from different backgrounds and age groups. But speak to almost any LLA alumnus, and one thought comes through again and again: LLA became a second home.
That feeling was everywhere that evening. It was in the way alumni found their way back to their favourite spaces on campus. It was in the way they met the Akkas and Annas again. It was in the way conversations stretched longer than planned, because there was always one more memory to revisit.
(To every alumnus who has been part of this journey, thank you for carrying LLA with you wherever you go. The legacy of Light & Life Academy lives not only on campus, but also in the work, friendships, memories, and ways of seeing that each of you has taken into the world.
The eve of the 25th anniversary was a reminder of that.
It was a homecoming in the truest sense.