The Global Resident

Life has slowed down since the last post. The helter skelter routine that we followed during the prepaid sales training was mistily reversed when postpaid came along. That’s when we started to realise the new environment we’ve been a part of. At least it plays out that way for me.

Only after a classmate called today and noted the time I was away from home, did it sink in. It’s been a month if you consider another two days. For the most part, I haven’t felt very much ‘away’ for the time I mentioned maybe because the initial phase of work demanded so much out of us that we never had the time to retrace our steps - look back beyond our shoulders to see how we came to this point.

This one morning, I was waiting at the bus stop when I got thinking about life here and how things have changed all of a sudden. I can clearly remember college days – sitting for lectures, wasting time in the canteen, happily doing committee work & fighting my way to get off a fast train on the way home in the evening so the next day’s PPT could be done on time. It was one routine that was more than just fun and learning for 2 years.

And here, starting the day with a kind of breakfast grub that I never thought I’d have was something in itself. Parothas and curd. Bread pakodas. It wasn’t something I didn’t like or detested (if some feel I’m putting that across), but the kind of change or adaptability (MBA jargon here we go) it demanded from me was significant to my conscience.

One learns a lot from travel. A comfort ride in a local in Mumbai can mean nothing elsewhere if the facility or crowd for that matter, doesn’t exist. The Delhi Metro is a landmark construction and enabler that most of us in Mumbai wouldn’t understand the value of. Only till the day we get ourselves one of those. Food, varying in taste, style and form is another aspect to adapt to countrywide. In this case however, I’m more than happy to indulge in an extra share of momos. Local populace and their lifestyles is something to get accustomed to. But one can mould into their ways if the mingling is consistent. This reflects when you can handle rickshaw guys a lot better than what you did when you first set foot in the new town. The roads start getting familiar too. You recognise those red buildings, the sequence of bus stops on your way to work and the landmark mall on the left hand side that acts a cue for your disembarkation.

Not much that can top the feeling when you gather snippets of a new city and put it together to form a reasonable understanding of the way of life within it.

Do that many times over for sites across the globe and you have a dream fulfilled.