India - My home

The crowd, the noise, the peeking-into-neighbors'-personal-matters, the flies, the mosquitoes, the dirt, the scorching sun, the simple but street smart people - I am going to miss them all! I have lived in Europe and America for sometime and am fully aware of the million reasons why Indians flock there. But just like any other form of love, the love for one's country does not overlook the shortcomings, but rather celebrates them. I am set to go to the US for possibly next four years (at least). I still cannot imagine how will rains be as delightful as they are in India on speck-free roads of the US without creating the muddy mess, how will driving be so enjoyable with the lane system and no cutting paths and finding shortcuts, how will I be able to spend the festival days in the US away from my family and how will I feel missing my friends' weddings because I cannot come to India.

I have talked to people who have returned back to India after spending many years in US. The reason they give for returning is none of the above; it is for the family.

P.S. I am currently reading Shantaram and have fallen in love again with Bombay.

(Written before leaving for US)

Real World

It has been around a year since I last blogged. I graduated from college and stepped into the so called "real world". A lot has changed since then; my outlook, some relationships, my country of residence, my work etc. and one post is not enough to capture it all. There are things which I hold on to that luckily haven't changed much, at least not yet. It seems the "real" in "real world" stands for the real problems that people face, as opposed to the seemingly big, but actually shallow problems they face in schools and colleges. A big part of stepping into the real world is taking responsibility towards one's family, work, career and in later stages kids. It is easy (or difficult from someone else's point of view) to live an isolated life, without any constraints or responsibilities. Growing up means sometimes keeping your own priorities below others', doing things you might not like much but have to do nevertheless and being accountable.

Real world also means you have power; biggest of which is the power of choice. You can choose what to buy, where to work, with whom to hang out with, who to care about, where to spend time etc. This gives us the power over our life; we sit in the driving seat of our life. We even have power over the company we work at; we have the power to change it for good or bad. We have power over the people we interact with. We have power over our relationships. We have power over our money and time. The real in 'real world' does stand for the real problems but rather real power. We need to be aware of this power and accept the responsibility that comes with it. Greatness comes from acquiring, nurturing and living up to the expectations of great power. When dealing with the intricacies of this power and responsibility, we are alone. We do not have teachers and parents to tell us what to do and how to do it. Yes, we do have the support of our mentors, friends and family, but beyond a certain point, we are alone. We are free to make our own choices and live their consequences. We learn to be independent. Real world tests our real self. The real world (and not the test results of various exams) is the real test of how well we were trained in our "non-real" world. An achievement is lot more sweeter and a failure lot more painful in the real world as they both stem from independent selves. The true support comes from within, from knowing one self, one's strengths, weaknesses, dreams, passions, fears, desires and powers.