I really thought this Linkin' Park song might be a very apt title for my first blog post since I have landed in the US. Well, it’s been a little more than a year since I have set foot in the land of opportunities. There have been several great experiences and memories that are worth mentioning. There have also been several setbacks and mistakes made which I wish never happened again. But then, that’s life. You need to keep moving on.
The motivation for this post came from the everyday discussions people have at the place I work and in the University. They keep talking about the elections, which candidate is better, who has done more work for the country, which might do better in the future. It is all routine stuff really. I have had discussions of similar nature when I was in India.
The moment I was asked a question about my take on the topic, I realized I had very limited knowledge of the topic and the people being discussed. In fact, I knew only a little more their names to be honest. That was a painful reminder of a fact that I have been trying to avoid/ignore for a while now: “Do I really belong here?” So, after this happened, I got back home, opened a regional Indian newspaper to see what was happening in the place I lived for 21 years. Surprisingly, the same feeling returned. I have not been following the recent events for so long that I forgot all about current affairs, politics, which leader is doing what or who are the new ministers. In fact, I was a little relieved that the Chief Minister was still the same person.
That night, before I slept, I was contemplating about these weird experiences that I had. If I don’t belong here and if I am not well versed with the happenings in my place of birth, where do I belong? What does that make me? I am sure all the people who immigrate to foreign countries in pursuit or education or better opportunities experience these things at some point of time in their journey. It’s very unsettling really.
So, what do I do? I try to look at people who have settled in the US for a long time and made this place their second home. I find that they are extremely well informed about the current happenings of not only this country, but also have a good knowledge of what is going on back home. In fact, I have found out that in some cases, these people have a better perspective as they see things from a third persons point of view. When I see these people, I truly understand the concept of a ‘global citizen’. This is where I want to reach in a few years’ time from now.
Please feel free to share your own experiences in the comments. I would be really interested to know if anyone else has experienced stuff like this. That’s it for now. Hope this will get me back to active writing.
Take care folks!
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