I'm Confused

“ I live on Earth at present,
and I don’t know what I am.
I know that I am not a category.
I am not a thing—a noun.
I seem to be a verb,
an evolutionary process—
an integral function of the universe. ”

- R. Buckminster Fuller

India - The Ancient, Eternal and the ever New

For thousands of years people have been migrating(most of the time invading) to the land beyond the Hindukush. From the Macedonians under Alexander to the Imperialist British, India has seen it all.
Ever since man came out of Africa, India has been occupied. Thousands of Gods have been worshiped and many, even lost and forgotten. The land was united as one under different monarchs - Chandragupta Maurya, Ashoka, Vikramaditya, Akbar, Aurangazib and the likes, but remained a bunch of kingdoms through most part of history. The whole identity of India, arises out of the British conquest of the land, who, for the first time in history, managed to bring the entire subcontinent under a single crown. For that, we have to thank the Imperialists.

Then came that part in India's history which i consider the worst - Partition.

August 15th, 1947 is known to us as a day that brought joy and liberty from the clutches of the tyrannic British. It wasn't that for millions who were already migrating across the Radcliffe line to the side they were "supposed" to belong to. There was bloodshed and there were trains filled with bodies, traveling both directions. Even the languages migrated with the people. Delhi Urdu, for example can now be found only in Peshawar and Karachi. The land imploded. The situation best described by this TIME cover.



Leaving all that behind, the land (now three different nations) has moved on.

As Michael Wood put it so beautifully:
"The past is magnificent but we humans can unfortunately live only in the present."

Overseas

Last month, i had the chance to leave the nation and cross the sea for the first time in my life. Me and my mom were in Dubai for a week with Dad (He's currently working there).

We landed in Sharjah and after Visa-Eye Scan-Baggage Claim, we went out. It was around 10:30 pm and dad was waiting for us. We hired an airport taxi. Since we were a family, we were allotted a lady driver. She was wearing an Emirati dress. I didn't realize it was her uniform. After a couple of minutes of me looking at the road and all three of us being very quiet, she started speaking.
Introducing herself as Raziyah, she asked my dad, in perfect English, the details about the destination. And then, she said, "Where do you think I'm from?" I was like Whoa! My dad was wondering what to say, when she said, "Just tayik a guess..."
Aha. My dad pounced on the accent and switched to fluent Malayalam, "Chechi Naatla evada?".
"Hahaha Ottapaalam. Ningal?"
"Tamil Nadu. Coimbatore"
She switched to Tamil...
"Nan valandadu ellam Palakad dan. Moonu varusham Thanjavur la irundhom. Marriageku apram Ottapaalam". Turning to my mom, "Coimbatore la "Gundu Malli" neraiya kadaikkume, enakku romba pidikkum. Indha oorla mallila andha manam illa".
Mom: "Aiyaiyo, therinjirundha neraiya vaangi vanthiruppene..."
Raziyah: "Enakku "Kannadi Valayal"um romba pidikkum".
Mom: "Next time ungalukku kandippa vaangittu varen".
Raziyah: :"Inshallah".

She then went on explaining about how she and her husband had relocated to Sharjah and their life there. Then we reached our hotel and it was time to say goodbye. My mom got her contact details and promised to bring her "Gundu Malli and Kannadi Valayal" the next time. She'd already found a friend.

A wonderful start to the trip.

.....

Satyameva Jayate

There's that time in your life when you actually realise that all the dreams that you had as a child, like easily becoming the best man in the world, will remain just dreams. At around the same time you also realise the importance of ”hard work”. You work hard enough, you might just achieve one tenth of the stuff that you dreamt about. This is the truth that stares back at you when you look into your future. There are always ways to work around this truth, that tempt us. It is important to avoid these temptations. The problem arises when competing with those who get seduced by these temptations. Let us hope that the Truth Triumphs.