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“Perseverance is the key” - truly a reflection of my life over the past three years. I remember working three jobs, heading off to South Africa to plan a PhD project, and presenting to a research group at Cambridge University, UK; only for less than four months later to be penniless with no source of income, and hopes of my PhD dashed right in front of my eyes.

Even though I’ve learnt a lot from my experiences, the true test of enlightenment is to apply the knowledge gained to a new situation, and to avoid making the same mistakes. It is this test that forms the basis of “The Great Escape from Babylondon”.

It’s my intention to share this story so that I may possibly encourage anyone who might be on a similar journey, and also to document the very difficult battle of overcoming mediocrity and self-doubt to achieve my desired goals. This is definitely a journey I will never allow myself to forget.

www.intellectualvagabond.com

EXCERPT

If 2007 was one of the best years of my London life, 2008 was definitely one of the worst.

  I remember reading an article on the BBC news website that said international students would be allowed to stay after their visa expired under a new law, but needless to say, it also said that applications were often rejected even if they were a day late.

  My visa was due for renewal on the 31st of January, and my return flight from South Africa was on the 29th. I had all the documents ready to be posted the day I got back, all but statement of completion from Imperial, which was a document confirming I finished my Masters.

  About a month after I sent in the application, I got a letter from the Home Office, saying my visa was denied, and I must leave the UK as soon as possible, as in actuality, my application arrived on the 1st of February, exactly 24 hours over the expiration deadline.

  The only problem with leaving immediately was that the Home Office didn’t give me back my passport.

  I didn’t quite know what to make of the letter, but on my way to see Ras Asher, I began thinking of all the things that could go wrong from here. My main thought was on how this would affect the PhD I was trying to get off the ground, or if there was even going to be one.

  When I told Asher what happened, his first words were “You messed up!”

  And he was right; there was no “system” or invisible hand of oppression that I could blame (although I tried); this was entirely my fault for not making a clear decision as to when and where I was going to renew my visa, and eventually leaving it so late.

  I felt like I was lying on a bed of fire. I felt so consumed with regret, which soon enough turned into self-doubt, as I couldn’t believe that I actually allowed this to happen. I felt the walls were closing in on me, and I had to step outside for some air.

  After frantically phoning every 24-hour immigration advice number I could get my hands on, Asher and I went for a drive, and as I started to calm down, I began thinking of how I was going to rectify the situation.

  Like the good friend that Asher has always been, apart from making me well aware of the colossal mistake I had made, also helped me put it all into context, which I was always grateful to him for - if it wasn’t for his guidance over the years, I’m not sure where I would have been along this journey. Whether I agreed with him or not (and I often did), engaging with him always helped me to recognise and develop my own thoughts and opinions about how I looked at life, and what I wanted to achieve with mine.

  Around this time, I was working up to 50 hours a week on my student visa, and for my distribution work I was being paid cash-in-hand. I was worried if the Home Office got a whiff of this, there would have been no chance of getting my hands on a visa - so the first thing I did was to quit all my jobs and lay low until I got my passport back.