The Lost Global Citizen : Part Two

Dad was soon posted to Kathmandu after the Royal Family Massacre. Not a great time to go, but probably I learnt the most about the beautiful country then.

New school, new friends, and the old dear basketball. It was a bliss. I met my sarcasm mentor, Megha Ramesh. We would scribble and draw all day long in our books, especially in the 'Hindi' textbook. 'PARIBHASHA' was never our thing.

And with the course of time, I had to come with the inevitable face of every student in India : The BOARD EXAMS. It is such a big deal. I belonged to the batch after whom, the following batches would have a different syllabus. And in my opinion, the easier syllabus! Cause for them, attaining a 90 percent is just an average score. For my batch, score in 80s was not that bad!

I was torn between my love for basketball, and the extra hours of study forced upon me by my parents. No sir! I didn't want to study at all! And then came the mid-term exams, grade 10. I got 57 in maths. Yes. My parents had a mini heart attack, but the real victim was the television. It was asked to go away till I got a decent score in my pre-Board exams. I don't know whether that was helpful or not, but I did manage to get a 97 in my finals.

A huge fuss is created around boards exams. And frankly speaking, when you reach eleventh grade, all you wanna do is "NOT STUDY". It just starts getting worse from there. Those two years of continuous reminder of how important 10th is, you loose interest in what is to happen later in life. Trust me kids, 10th is the easiest of them all. So save up your energy for the years to come!

The next two years was when I realized what a tomboy I was. My first relationship, which lasted for a month. And then all I did was play basketball and badminton. Buying clothes was not really interesting me. And buying fitting clothes was totally against my soul! Getting tanned was never an issue. Boys, were just competition. Yes, crushes were always there, but they eventually did go into the competition group.

What was my real takeaway from Kathmandu? Music! Linkin Park was what I would hear before every exam. It was so encouraging. It worked like coffee for me. Guns n Roses, The Eagles, Cranberries and many more I came in touch with. My friends and classmates were amazing singers and guitarists. It was the most amazing time of my life! My best friend, Abhaya would never say no to a live performance, even on the phone. My love for music took a whole new shape and I was blessed to be surrounded by awesomeness of rock. It was no noise that I thought it was. It was the true, real meaning of life.

Right after the dreadful 12th grade's boards, I headed back to Delhi. My dream of being a doctor took me to the Aakaash institute for a two month crash course. Complete waste of time. I made friends, giggled and stayed up night after night trying to mug up as much as I could for the exam. Nothing. Didn't get into any medical college.

And then came up Delhi University. My saving grace. Miranda House. Botany Honors. The plan was to prepare for the exam for a year. The crowd was amazing. There was so much to do. So many opportunities. Such interesting personalities. Daily, I had a three hour, sweaty yet wonderful bus ride with two old and wonderful friends, Anshu and Lara to reach the north campus. Reaching Kashmere gate in the evening, having a burger daily and always competing to see who finishes first! I would roam around the campus, go to other colleges, attend plays and rock concerts. BLISS. DU is a wonderful place to be. I suggest, anyone who doesn't get into a professional college, and then turns to DU, You are in for the best time of your life. So much to learn. So much to do! But then, a month and I had to leave. My dad's job had done it again. Reservation Quota for children of MEA employees had found me a new place.

I wanted to become a cardiologist, and yet I ended up in Murthal. Chottu Ram State College of Engineering. Haryana. Sonepat. A whole new place. A whole new culture. A very different culture. Here, you must become a part or be consumed by hatred. Boys and Girls must never speak. If they do, then it is probably because they were having sex. No two people from different genders could be friends. But winds of change hit Murthal as well. After my batch, the AIEEE was the criteria for admission. New people, new thoughts, new culture.

I probably learnt the biggest lesson of my life in Murthal. And hence, I don't regret even a second I spent there. I met the craziest and my best friends for life in Murthal. I become a girl from a tomboy. And then from a girl to a woman. I learnt about the caste system. I learnt about the difference which took violent turns in the villages around us. It doesn't dishearten me though. It makes me stronger. Probably for Murthal I will write a whole another post. Probably part three of my journey of being the lost global citizen should be dedicated to the  most eventful four years in Murthal.

The Blind India

An eye for an eye, will make the whole world blind - Mahatma Gandhi

Perhaps, that phenomenon has already occurred in India. We refuse to learn from our history, from our mistakes. We mix religion and politics and get carried away. Everyday.

We elect our leaders, we find faults in them, we condemn them for having faults and then we start our only one way out of any difficult situation, the blame game.

And then again, we elect our leaders. Why is it so difficult to see? That we have to start at the root. It has become a habit, a belief. A politician is a corrupt one. And we believe in it so much, a little hint of corruption and we rub the man's face black.

Every time a situation comes up, we are all set to march at India gate and start our protests. For a day or two. Sometimes an entire week. And then? Did something change? Are we in a better position than before?

Not really. We need to start realizing. That the change actually begins from home. My father's favorite quote, which was used every weekend : "Desh ki safai ke liye sab uth kar chal padte hai, par apne ghar pe safai kisi se nahi hoti."  My siblings and I were the laziest at the "Clean your room" event. And I guess, we all are. Let's take the case of rapes in Delhi. The victim's are now younger and the brutality is more. What is going wrong? Perhaps, we should start at our own homes. Are the children always more scared of their father? Why? Does he scream, loose his patience, hit his children? Stage 1. Dad can scream, be violent and get away with it. Because, it is for our own good. No, don't get me wrong. Dads are usually doing this for the good of their children. But here is where the first difference comes up.

We need to bring equality at home first. Yes, the world out there is nothing less than a big bad hungry wolf. But make it so for the males as well. Or bring freedom to both.

The idea that women are not helpless should be propagated at home only.

The other issue that has come up is the cross border prisoners. To be specific, the age old war of Pakistan and India. This one might never end. Common people suffer every day, for an agenda favoring the few. One Sabrajit Singh for Sanaullah Ranjay. And all that we have now are two distressed families. Who will never be able to hear the voice of their loved ones ever again. And for what? There was a hue and cry over what Pakistan did to an Indian. A few days later, what did we Indians do to a Pakistani? Did we both gain something, or did we both only loose?

And along with that comes the war of religions. WHY? Why is it hard to respect someone's individual decision to reach god in his own way? There are so many modifications to the religion we follow. We do what is convenient for our survival at the end. We all do. And hence, there is no core religion left. And hence, we should leave this topic alone. We are hindering our own progress over God. If you think God is happy with you for trying to protect your religion from some other, think again. Even if India only had one religion, there are many more variances within. Castes will start fighting. We are always worried about voicing the opinions of our society and we are forever quite when the moment comes to express our opinions. This silly fight over differences in lifestyle will never end and will also never be beneficial. Trust me. I am selfish. And if there were any benefits I would support this war. India's strength is it unity in diversity. Let it not become a weakness.

We jump onto bigger issues without ever considering to fix the smaller underlying problems first. We come together, waste our energy, go back home and sleep. And the next morning, again the worries of job and finances comes over. Then why not focus on those issues first? Perhaps happier citizens are the only way to development, to a revolution. To be powerful enough to bring about changes of paramount importance, we first need to be happy and content with ourselves. Quit the blame games and start fighting with the roots, the basic, petite conditions within first. Then, we might be able to bring about the big changes. We might be able to provide solutions to real problems. We might eventually have a chance at what they call as 'Peace & Prosperity'. We might have a chance to finally not be blind ever again.