A Pumpkins Saga

A Pumpkins Saga is a Tale of Pumpkin. His journey through Life, his frustrations, joys and gives the reader a first hand acccount into his unusual way of looking at the world around him. And overall attitude towards the thing that he doesn't give a dammn for

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

Hello Gaiety!

I have just booked my Air Tickets to New York and Boston for this Christmas Break. I belive, this is the only good break that I'm likely to get while my Schooling in Manhattan. Summer time will be spent working in my Lab and with next winter will dawn my time to drop home in India for a few weeks.

Bus this break is all mine. I'm planning to spend time with Sourabh in NY and then celebrate the entire Christmas Season with my Family in Amherst, MA. It is always good to spend time with family. I can't wait for Christmas break to set in.

Occasional student

occasional student

The Ressurection

I feel the need, the urge to pen down my thoughts. Unlike always this time I have so much to see, so much to write and so much to express. And what better a form of expression than typing down my Thoughts in a blog.

The truth is; that there is so much to say that I do not know where from to begin. I've been lazy - that I admit or to put it in a better way- I've been busy most of the time. And when I have not been busy I've been lazy.

But that can not constitute as an excuse for not blogging. I do not blog for anyone but me. So it seems I've to schedule my blogging - in such a way that I can periodically express myself via this medium. The last couple of months have been both exciting, demanding, fascinating and overwhelming. Then there have been moments of confusion, indecision, procastination, guilt and patches where one loses a bit of self-confidence (although these did not last for more than a few hours).

I have met more people here in such a short span of time than I have ever done before - except for when I was born. In a way I look upon my journey to the US as a sort of rebirth. Here I can do things that I have never done before, learn new things, live new ideas and re-examine the old ones. My new birth in the US signifies my personal and intellectual growth.

Although, I don't claim to have achieved much with respect to what I have stated in the last paragraph; it has happened to a number of time that a completely new idea has presented itself to my forcing me to shake my preconcieved notions on things. I believe you can grow, only when you possess the courage to explore - and you can do that only when you have immense self confidence. If you dispossess this quality all growth that you would achieve would be partial and stunted.

I do not claim that one can achieve growth (in the philosohical sense) only by living in a foreign culture - but I can say that it is definitely is helpful to do so. Obviously, the choice to do so is entirely individual. No one comes to the US to achieve philosphical growth. They so so because they feel that they can get a better life in the US than they would in their own country. And it is very true - the only reason that the US is such a great nation is because 'This is the only nation in the world other than your motherland/fatherland where you can get an equitable amount of respect as an individual'. And that is exactly why even the smallest of Colleges in the US represent an amazing spectrum of racial and cultural diversity not found anywhere on this planet.

I can see a lot of Indians around me, in the Summer these are the only people I can see. I have heard that the CIS Dep't has only 3 non Indian Students this year. Thus it is tempting for many Indian students to keep themselves cozy with people from their nationality and live a lifestyle that they have lived in India - completely oblivious of whatever goes around them. When they graduate from School, they have learned absolutely nothing of the American Way of life. All they have leaned is a biased and jaundiced opinion of most Born-Americans. They have an I'm holier than thou attitude which they carry with themselves all throughout their lives - happliy believing that their opinions, their philosophy and their perspectives on life are the most accurate.

They fail to understand that there is more to life than rote curricular learning. They live in the US and they live unhappliy constantly criticizing and belittling others. I do not advocate renouncing your culture and your roots. I only suggest that one re-explore them. And thus understand their utility. Keep the ones that are pertinent, modify the ones that can be modified and discard the ones that do not serve you ony good. Learn to live life in its context. I do not claim to have achieved even a part of what I have mentioned here, and I know that there is so much more to be learned, to be lived. But I sure know how to go about doing what I need to do.

As for the rest, it will follow.