Changes

Here's another long one, don't tell me I didn't warn you.

Its been changes galore for me in the past one year. If I turn back the clock to about one year ago, at this very time, I would have been doing something completely distinctive to what I`m doing right now both personally and otherwise.

In the past one year, I have managed to:-

1.To Shift base to Germany for my masters - This wasn't my first time away from home, but to think I'd have to do everything right from setting up my room to cooking my own food was overwhelming in the beginning, but as I now reflect back I end up surprising myself every time; just thinking - one year ago, I was the probably be the only guy on the planet who could burn something as simple as Maggi or would refuse to do his own dirty dishes. Flash forward to present day and I do all of that and much much more. I can cook a decent 3 course meal with desert leaving my friends gasping for breath and keep my room spotlessly clean simultaneously while working 8 hours a day. I began to realize how self-sufficient I`ve become after Appa came visiting. I cooked for him and took him around town. He went home and told my mother about how organized I've become and how I've got everything under control, that she couldn't stop bragging about me to her colleagues. It felt nice to beam like a 4 year old again, when she told me what Appa had told her.

2. To Experience a New Culture - Having come here, it's absolutely brilliant when you partake in the host country's culture. Especially when you have the kind of awesome friends that I have, who have not only taught me whatever little I know about Germany but have welcomed me into their homes and lives with such immense warmth, that I have not for a moment felt homesick since landing here. I live here in a Student Dormitory and almost everyday my neighbors and I; cook, eat and make merry together with absolutely no inhibitions or preconceptions towards each other. They have accepted me into their lives with nothing but good intentions at heart and a warm smile on their faces. It gives me the creeps just thinking how much I'll miss living with them when I move out from here.

3. To Backpack across Europe - A lot of people I know have backpacking across Europe to be among the top 5 in their respective Bucket lists. To say I've realized what is merely a dream to scores of other people would be a gross understatement. It is pure magic hopping across the small villages and towns of Holland, Belgium, Germany and France. It always leaves you longing for more. I do have about half a dozen trips planned for the latter half of the year, it remains to be seen if they will indeed materialize and if they do, expect nothing less than the magic to repeat itself.

4. To learn a new language - Well, this one doesn't really count as a change, but since I had already done 2 years of learning German in India, I didn't really have teething problems on landing here. On my first day here, I had to handle 50 + kilos of luggage from my flight and was making small talk with an aged gentleman(say 65 odd years old) in German on the platform in the railway station, he offered to help me carry my luggage into the train as he was impressed that someone who had just landed from India 2 hours back could speak in his tongue with a fair fluency. Although you can manage with English on a daily basis here, my German fluency has improved a lot after coming here and talking to my neighbors and friends in the language has certainly helped the cause.

5. To Gain a Renewed Respect for your motherland - Since I have to introduce myself to people as an Indian here, it just amazes me as to how proud I feel when telling someone that I hail from a country so rich in its traditions, customs, history and lifestyles. My neighbors and I are equally amazed , When they ask me how so many festivals are celebrated in India, how so many delicious and fragrant food items come from one single country and How one single country can speak more than more than 100 different languages in more than 2000 different dialects. It just gives me goosebumps every time I get into talking about India with topics ranging from language, food, lifestyle to religion, philosophy and beliefs being discussed. I think it would be fair to say, I've learnt to see a whole new side to India and it's greatness after coming here and experiencing my first taste of the Western World.

Amidst these changes, there exist dimensions that remain unchanged and untouched in our lives. These unchanged aspects are perhaps what defines our uniqueness, in carrying out our eventful lives despite the changes that have affected us in the past and the changes that will affect us in future. I know for a fact that 'Change is the only Constant' but I`m grateful to change; for it has widened my perspective, broadened my thought process and given me new and exhilarating experiences.