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| Off to another world! |
Finally, now when the semester has officially ended, I want to take out ome time and retrospect what we have gone through, what it is like to study here in US and how are things here in general. Even if you wouldn't do a detailed comaprison of my BEFORE and AFTER Image of the imagined and my real life here, you would notice stark differences. And as they say, Only by walking in someone else's shoes you get to understand their predicament, so it might be possible that much of what I write here wouldn't be taken as it is by the people reading it! So, I get it ! Through this post, neither I am trying to clear any misconceptions about studying in abroad nor I am attempting to compare anything here with those back at home. I am just trying to present what I have seen, learned and experienced here so far.
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| Keeping Up with times |
With hopes and optimism of balancing and juggling my life around fitness, hobbies, exploring and studying, I came here with my head-held high and confidence unbounded. Fast forward 60 days and the life is all about studying, eating, sleeping and the unending concern about the questionable career! It's not a general answer applicable to all as everything unfolding in your life is a consequence of your choices and priorities. People have been enjoying, really enjoying every bit of their stay here, are exploring places around and are having a good time and are able to manage really well! Kudos to them! But for a major portion of students here, that's not true. Depending on the background they have come from and the place where they want to go, they are busy putting in efforts as per their standards to gain something out of their journey here.
But that's true everywhere. What's so different here? Talking about the academics first, I would like to point out that assignments here are ain't any joke, where you just copy them before the class, design an amazing front-page, put your stack in the pile and yeah you won the battle! Apart from the regular monitoring of your understanding through assignments and quizzes, you are not only measured for the correctness of your solution but for your originality and optimal implementation of your ideas. Well, let's not talk about studies: You came here to STUDY, you have to and are expected to do that anyway! Isn't it?
Let's talk about Food 😀 I swear to you, I am a person who is open to try and relish any dish that comes within the vegetarian boundaries and back at home I pledged to return as an able chef, cooking a variety of delicacies. Now, read for yourself, how our cooking journey went under drastic transformations: We started with all 4 people in the kitchen at the same time, with each sharing the responsbility of Breads, Vegetables, Dishes and Cleaning on a rotation basis. We experimented and cooked 2 proper meals of the day including a mix of Pulses and a vegetable and ate with relish and joy. Fast forward a month and we have shifts of 2 people at a time, alternating the meals and trying to be as efficient as possible. A good attempt, Isn't it? Fast forward another month and we are now groups of two cooking the meals for the entire day, with the word "Proper" omitted as a prefix to the word Meal. From the combination of pulses, vegetables, chapatis and experiments we came down to the world of Rice, Pulses and Chapatis only. Call it the study pressure or lack of interest but really there was no excitement or urge within to cook. It all became a mechanical process: Wash, Peel, Chop, Fry, Pour, Close the Lid; Scrub, Pour, Wash and so and so. We were eating just for the sake of eating, just so that we could keep up with our everyday schedule and allow our body to make us meet the stipulated deadlines. (Were - as we aim to revive that, given that now we have some time for some time). But you were already aware of the food challenges that you would face overseas and still came here, so this ain't any excuse for shrugging off your responsibilities! Isn't it?
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| At times, darkness persists |
Well, these were petty observable things, catering to the externals. What about your heart and soul? What about your well-being at the emotional level? To be truthful to you all, being all alone out here, ain't no joke. There is always a constant struggle to keep yourself busy and occupied else the demons of loneliness and emptiness would take you over, gripping you in a state of unproductivity and inefficiency, decapacitating of your capabilities to do anything. Yes, there are times when you seriously question your decision of coming and studying here, leaving all your loved ones behind! The season of festivals makes you nostalgic and to a guy who is a sentimental at the core, this means a thing. You talk, discuss and realize money is not everything in life but you also realize that it would be a ghastly act towards the people who have put their everything on stake just to allow you to realize your dreams. Your circumstances and your struggle are nothing as compared to that of your family and loved ones and realizing all this you just put your thinking heads apart and get back to work. But pulling yourself up from bed every morning and making yourself do everything required of you is a daring task in itself and since you have always loved taking up challenges, you might be loving this too! Isn't it?
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| But joy and happiness are bound to follow :) |
Having said so much about personal stuff, I would like to talk a bit about the dreamland we are in. Of all the things important to be followed here, TRUST is one such thing which you don't wanna play with, even in your dreams. You go to any multiplex, there would be no one to check your tickets; you ride a bus, no one would prompt you to display your ticket; you wouldn't find traffic police or other, patrolling a particular area and registering their presence from one block to another; stores are open till late at night; book-stores have their books out in the open and so on. Saying all this, I wish to bring home the point that the people here trust you with the thing you said you would do and so expect you to be truthful in the way you conduct yourself, because the side-effects of not doing so, could be quite severe. Moreover, the judgemental comments and analysis absent from the surroundings here, keep you going. You could be fat or slim, tall or stout, fair or dark, wear jeans or shorts, shirt or kurta, slippers or leather boots, you are your master and have the freedom and independence to try and do anything you want, provided that is legal and lawful. Work, Caste, Religion, Color, Region, there is no visible differentiation of anykind prevalent here. All are being treated as equals.
The purpose of writing all that has been written above wasn't to discourage any aspirants from abandoning their plans of studying in abroad. It is just an insight into my own personal experiences which justify a very famous idiom which says that, Drums always appear a symphony from a distance (Door ke dhol suhaawane in Hindi). There is no doubt that these situations are preparing you for the good and transforming you into a being, you thought you could ever become. But the only catch is: It all doesn't come so easy. It all depends on: How far are you willing to go and sacrifice to achieve what you really want in life!!
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| Road is bright ahead, keep moving! |
