New Chapter

The noise around me did not help the emptiness within. I still remember the day couple of weeks ago. The day when I left College Park. I have loved this place. Every face around me reminded me of a story that day. It does feel good when you have about 20 people to wake up at 8 on a lazy Saturday morning just to say goodbye. Feels great to see so many people care! Precious moments; similar to the ones when I first left Mumbai to come to US. 

There were 20+ reasons around me for not living a lonely life and a few more reasons were just a phone call away. I had come here with 3 bags and left the place with a few more, that too without much shopping.

Memories flashed by. The two times when my bank balance touched zero. My first paycheck, walking up to IHOP at 4 in the morning. Several job interviews which I screwed over, few that went well. The day we moved in and shared the apartment with hundred different cockroaches in the kitchen. The day when I went unprepared for a group presentation and ended up saying things like ‘All that shines is not gold, everything has a dark side’ and the whole economics class laughed. 

I can go on. I’ve met some really good people along the way. Sometimes, you have bad experiences, but if you look one level deeper, the people where never bad. The circumstances were. Every Indian student in US knows that he has spent a fortune coming here and will look out for ways to recover it. There’s nothing wrong in that, except in the process you knowingly or unknowingly end up hurting people who are dear. 

The apartment where I first lived - Seven Springs!

Now after 2 years, the fight was over for most around. The waters were calm. When everything looks perfect, there comes the time to move on. You cannot be at the training grounds forever; someday you have to play the match for real.

I don’t know how that world would be. I do not have the experience of swimming in corporate waters. But the days of tracking the next bus on mobile would surely be remembered after buying the first car. Cooking food for 8 people will be replaced by cooking food for yourself or eating outside. Early mornings will be ‘in the office’ and not ‘in the bed’. The long phone calls will be cut down. 

The dream was cut, it was time to say good bye. The train moved and my friend called saying ‘You have left a few things behind’. I looked at my bags, they were all there. 

‘Memories’, he said!