Staying Afloat

It is 7 pm like every evening in the last 3 weeks I am waiting for the Hotel car to arrive at the gate of the MIDC Mumbai office. It has started raining though the showers are light my glasses are losing their visibility how I hate wearing glasses in the rain but it is a must for me when I travel. The three weeks have come to an end finally. Mumbai the city where millions arrive every day to chase their dreams but the Mumbai I saw was so different from what I had imagined. This city did surprise me in so many ways. I was lost in my thoughts when finally the car arrives I put my heavy bag inside and jump in by this time most of the drivers were familiar to me. “madam room no?” and we started moving at 40 km/hr or maybe much less the rain has started pouring and all I could see were the headlights of the swankiest cars I have seen at a single traffic signal not only in India but by any global standards the autowalas as they are referred in our country looked anxious so did the people crossing the roads this massive crowd of people all running towards home which will take them hours to reach.I was going home too but  I was in no hurries my flight was in 4.5 hrs I looked back and confirmed. Taking a turn close to  the hotel were series of the most expensive hotels in the city in a row the driver said and that you see madam is the hotel Leelala Palace 7 stars madam where are you from asked in a quiet confident voice . “Where do I come from?” this is one of the toughest one to answer “I come from the small village Bagdogra where I spent my  10 odd years and most of my memories growing up are based in this place or I come from the small town of Siliguri where my passport says is my permanent address or I come from the city of Kollkata where I worked for so many years and was my last address in India…

For a more practical choice I uttered Sydney.. I mean Australia. Will this always be my answer for all the years to come??

Last one year was quiet a mix of good and bad times looking back I realize life was tough there was not a single day I had not applied for a Job. Being a fresher in the field of finance and not ready to take up any odd jobs was taking a toll on me but finally I got it. Here I am on the 20th floor of Australia square one of the iconic buildings in Sydney typing these lines when someone just popped the question “how was Mumbai?” I replied “Traffic is bad load of people but there is a lot of money” and the answer was “If you are saying so being from there” It is difficult for someone to understand Mumbai was only a name of a place for me till now or a city I have seen in movies so many times. The speed, the hustle the noise the people everything was quiet new for me too. As the flight finally started moving and  I realized we have left the ground I realized that just speaking the same language or being of same color or having the same names does not make you your own. As I made my way through the immigration the smile of the immigration officer made me feel knowingly or unknowingly realize how much this country has made my life easier and taken care of me and provided me opportunities and that I would like call it my home for the coming years.

Every year since I have left India had been equally adventurous and I have never embraced life as I have done for these years. Few days back I have started learning how to swim I am 30 plus years old and yes I did start without the help of an instructor just by watching you tube videos though I got this idea from one of my friends. I float on my back effortlessly close my eyes and let my limbs float .Keeping afloat is a challenge you need to relax and let go I guess this has a striking resemblance with how we should live life. Let go of the things we have no control over and let our mind stay in peace at the end life is so much more simple than we think it is and few things falling into place makes things so much better.