It has been 14 days that I have been in US of A...and i have been overwhelmed by this country all the time...Sadly becoz my university houses mostly desis...i hvn't got around interacting with many locals here...but der are some things dat i hve noticed abt people in america...these guys are very hardworking and very professional...dey are exceptionally independent irrespective of their age or impairedness...and they are proud of it...
anoder thing that i notice is dat americans are not scared and they are always open to new ideas and learnings...dey hv shed dogmatism out of their system and look forward to talk to other...the other day i was waiting at the bus stop alone, with just one american...this persons {Jay}...came up..introduced himself very formally and opened a conversation...he wanted to know about india...abt the hetergenous culture..he ws mildly shocked when I told him the joint family institution...he kept on telling about his religion and his culture...and I got to learn a great deal about how the american mind may be working...one of the many reasons why these guys are successful is becoz they have limited egos...they want to learn and imbibe...
and yet anoder american quality which i believe is very different from the hitherto indian mentality is that americans are essentially honest...dey are genuine and have no qualms of calling a spade... a spade...
anyways this is just my first perception...it may change over the course of time...
but one thing i can say for sure us that this country and it's people have welcomed me well...dey have made me feel warm and at home...they are treating me just like they wud respectfully treat any guest...i am glad i came away from home...dere are many learnings here !!!
dis is all i hv for now...will write more about these fiesty people soon :) :) :)
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Parting Thoughts - 1
this is my pen-ultimate day in Mumbai....the city where I was born, raised and cultured...I thought I would feel really sad and wretched thinking that I would be leaving Mumbai...but somehow that doesn't happen...
The last 20 days I have rushed to every nook and corner of this city that I have loved, cherished and even nurtured...right from Marine Drive via Kalbadevi...towards Girgaum....Haji Ali...then "aamcha Dadar"...and on the central side...the entire stretch from Sion to Thane...it always felt like "my personal space" in this crowded city!
And thats funny too...this adjective associated with Mumbai..."crowded"...I remember watching a movie where someone said..."we come to mumbai...become a part of the crowd...and then say Mumbai is crowded..." how true!
The point is ...for the past few days...i left no stone unturned to capture all the places, moments and emotions associated with this city...travelled in crowded trains like the collg days...ate vada-pav off the streets and gobbled countless paani puris...fought with the bus conductors for change and had heated altercations with vegetable vendors while bargaining...each and everything which essentially reflects the true nature of a Mumbaikar - "middle-class and bourgeois"--something that I am extremely proud of. And I did this to bank all the memories of this city....
But today as I stand on the brink of flying away...I feel nothing...so sadness, no feeling of separation..nothing at all...as I was coming back in the auto today...I pondered and realised that I feel nothing...which is queer...I should have felt sad, right? but I guess, that it is because i know that Mumbai is not going anywhere away from me...I am the bearer of it's essence and I would be carrying it in my behaviour, my culture, my ethics, my mind... just as my name, my finger prints are my indelible identities...so is my being Mumbaikar!
When I was a child, I always thought I should have been born in some developed country like USA or may be France...but two days ago, when I stood at the edge of Mumbai..on Marine Drive,,,with my back to the city and staring at the Arabian Sea, holding the bouncing reflection of the city lights....I realised I could not have been born elsewhere...I would not have survived...it's indeed my luck...that this city took me in!
Yeh hai Mumbai meri jaan !!!!
The last 20 days I have rushed to every nook and corner of this city that I have loved, cherished and even nurtured...right from Marine Drive via Kalbadevi...towards Girgaum....Haji Ali...then "aamcha Dadar"...and on the central side...the entire stretch from Sion to Thane...it always felt like "my personal space" in this crowded city!
And thats funny too...this adjective associated with Mumbai..."crowded"...I remember watching a movie where someone said..."we come to mumbai...become a part of the crowd...and then say Mumbai is crowded..." how true!
The point is ...for the past few days...i left no stone unturned to capture all the places, moments and emotions associated with this city...travelled in crowded trains like the collg days...ate vada-pav off the streets and gobbled countless paani puris...fought with the bus conductors for change and had heated altercations with vegetable vendors while bargaining...each and everything which essentially reflects the true nature of a Mumbaikar - "middle-class and bourgeois"--something that I am extremely proud of. And I did this to bank all the memories of this city....
But today as I stand on the brink of flying away...I feel nothing...so sadness, no feeling of separation..nothing at all...as I was coming back in the auto today...I pondered and realised that I feel nothing...which is queer...I should have felt sad, right? but I guess, that it is because i know that Mumbai is not going anywhere away from me...I am the bearer of it's essence and I would be carrying it in my behaviour, my culture, my ethics, my mind... just as my name, my finger prints are my indelible identities...so is my being Mumbaikar!
When I was a child, I always thought I should have been born in some developed country like USA or may be France...but two days ago, when I stood at the edge of Mumbai..on Marine Drive,,,with my back to the city and staring at the Arabian Sea, holding the bouncing reflection of the city lights....I realised I could not have been born elsewhere...I would not have survived...it's indeed my luck...that this city took me in!
Yeh hai Mumbai meri jaan !!!!
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