Random Thoughts

Adventures in a far-away land… this is how I would have ideally hoped to title these string of thoughts that I have been trying to pen down for a long time now…the truth however begs to differ… it will be close to 3 months here and life hasn’t been all that dramatic as I was half-expecting it to be…. No bite of the big apple, no big city lights, no once-in a lifetime photos from breath-taking places and after the initial anguish not even the feeling of being so far away… Wait a minute this is not meant to be a sad post. The introduction is merely a testimony to the fact that life can be beautiful even when it’s not king-size. To the extent of sounding clichéd, I have found happiness or atleast a reason to smile in all the unexpected places whenever I have made the effort.

A foreign country with the idiosyncrasies of its people (or this is how it looks to me) has meant smiles and more smiles whenever I have chosen to see the lighter side. (I am sure I have been a source of amusement alike for many of the locals)… my name pronounced as Gotham, Botham or even Doug (where did that come from?), the sheer futility of trying to drink from the water fountain on the first couple of occasions, managing in the land of toilet paper, ordering the wrong stuff every single time, smiles all round from absolute strangers, nodding heads that convey the opposite of what I have grown up to believe, been told on numerous occasions to speak more clearly and slowly, the sheer bliss in anonymity, chasing outrageous deals, the sheer pleasure of snow, rain and golden sunshine on the same day.

And yet some joys are the same regardless of the land or the people. The joy of seeing smiling children aboard school buses, the thrill of an early let off from work, meeting a dear friend after a hard day at work, cracking jokes at the expense of my colleagues at work, that unexpected phone call from a long-lost friend, the early morning freshness in the air, the laziness of Sundays and the joy of long weekends.

Life for me will always be beautiful as long as I seek happiness in the small things. The bigger picture can meanwhile wait.