The buzz never stops here
When I think of it now, it had to be this trip to break this long silence. In more ways than one a trip to the greatest city in the world can tend to drift you towards thinking towards evaluating and re-evaluating your life. It may sound too reactionary on first hearing, but I believe its true that if you really keep your eyes and ears open and closely observe behind the 'busy'ness there are many lessons to be learnt.
The 2 weeks that I spent there add up to something similar to the tiniest atom in the smallest drop of the ocean. I agree with that but I am very thankful I am not just returning home with a bag full of body splashes, jackets and creams but a handful of memories that will help inspire me through life.
These lessons we ignore when growing up because they are usually most unappealingly wrapped in long spiels from parents after PTA meets or when examination results came out. Only when you really experience them is when you really begin to question why it really did take so long to realise what they had been saying all this while. Here are some of my lessons from NYC:
Lesson 1 - If there is a substitute for hard work, show it to me and take all my money - New Yorkers love to work hard and everything that they do when they are not working is therefore well deserved. Whether it is the lazy afternoon sipping hot chocolate at Bryant Park or even the 'date' with your spouse that you've been planning every hectic workday.
Lesson 2 - Nothing works better than a smile - yes all of us have our problems. Some problems are huge, some are gigantic while others are colossal messes. But while you wait to cross the street and you are met with a gentle smile when you look around, it will whisk your problem away for a fleeting moment and leave you thinking about how to make the most of everything you have now.
Lesson 3 - If there is anything that can beat human resolve, it is only another human's resolve - My first lunch was at McDonalds (it also turned out to be the last) were I saw a homeless woman sitting crouched at the entrance with a placard explaining her predicament and seeking help. Half a dozen thoughts blazed through my mind - should I take my camera out and freeze this self-composed malady in my frame or should I give her some money or food. Back home, this woman would have been mercilessly frisked out of that place and given a hearing and a beating. While none of that happened here, I saw in this woman's eyes a steely resolve that essentially appeared to say that she was in this situation because of something horrible that happened but she wont be for long.. so what if she's asking for help to get back up but that is all that she will ask for. When she stitches her life back, she will have no regrets and will have her whole life to look forward to.
Lesson 4 - Lastly but not conclusively, never let anybody tell you who you are. Nobody knows who you are, where you come from, what you want and what you can do better than you. The world is an unfair place. We dont decide whether we are born in the US or Europe or born in India and everything that follows. But there is nothing to say or prove that you cannot do what you set your eyes on. There is nothing as race and there is nothing as racial superiority.
Lesson 5 - At the end of the day, there is nothing like home.
The 2 weeks that I spent there add up to something similar to the tiniest atom in the smallest drop of the ocean. I agree with that but I am very thankful I am not just returning home with a bag full of body splashes, jackets and creams but a handful of memories that will help inspire me through life.
These lessons we ignore when growing up because they are usually most unappealingly wrapped in long spiels from parents after PTA meets or when examination results came out. Only when you really experience them is when you really begin to question why it really did take so long to realise what they had been saying all this while. Here are some of my lessons from NYC:
Lesson 1 - If there is a substitute for hard work, show it to me and take all my money - New Yorkers love to work hard and everything that they do when they are not working is therefore well deserved. Whether it is the lazy afternoon sipping hot chocolate at Bryant Park or even the 'date' with your spouse that you've been planning every hectic workday.
Lesson 2 - Nothing works better than a smile - yes all of us have our problems. Some problems are huge, some are gigantic while others are colossal messes. But while you wait to cross the street and you are met with a gentle smile when you look around, it will whisk your problem away for a fleeting moment and leave you thinking about how to make the most of everything you have now.
Lesson 3 - If there is anything that can beat human resolve, it is only another human's resolve - My first lunch was at McDonalds (it also turned out to be the last) were I saw a homeless woman sitting crouched at the entrance with a placard explaining her predicament and seeking help. Half a dozen thoughts blazed through my mind - should I take my camera out and freeze this self-composed malady in my frame or should I give her some money or food. Back home, this woman would have been mercilessly frisked out of that place and given a hearing and a beating. While none of that happened here, I saw in this woman's eyes a steely resolve that essentially appeared to say that she was in this situation because of something horrible that happened but she wont be for long.. so what if she's asking for help to get back up but that is all that she will ask for. When she stitches her life back, she will have no regrets and will have her whole life to look forward to.
Lesson 4 - Lastly but not conclusively, never let anybody tell you who you are. Nobody knows who you are, where you come from, what you want and what you can do better than you. The world is an unfair place. We dont decide whether we are born in the US or Europe or born in India and everything that follows. But there is nothing to say or prove that you cannot do what you set your eyes on. There is nothing as race and there is nothing as racial superiority.
Lesson 5 - At the end of the day, there is nothing like home.
posted by Saurabh at
3:35 PM
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