When i knew i will be in US in the next couple of days, I just made sure, i do not inform the near and dear that i will be visiting them soon. It was not that i wanted prove something to someone, but just that i loved surprises, i wanted to surprise the few dear ones here. Alas, as fate could always dance kathakali when u really want to do a bahratha natiyam.....People got to know it before hand, while i was in the air dreaming, how much would people be surprised....and it turned out to be me, who finally had to emote all the surprises...LOL
Venki, as i had dearly called him and troubled him a lot during my childhood, though was not surprised about my arrival, he was surprised by my guts to come all the way from INDIA and hoping i can manage things by myself after i reach here. I had always wondered how people managed when they went alone abroad....when they can, i too can handle....
Over the phone, he just said,"Irundalum dairiyam dan". But i felt not. If at all i do sound more confident, a person who is sure about his ways, its all because of two persons, who just taught me at various point of time which were the important phase of my life. The due credit must be theirs for shaping well, for making me portray as one confident man in front of many.
After that incident i did handle myself well in my hometown. But whenever i went to a new place, i was always shy and was not confident, how people would treat me when i go out...since i will not know the language, their custom etc....It so happened, i visited one of my cousins. Just before i entered my college. And this fella lived in a place called Bangalore then. Kannada was supposed to be language of the city, but all other languages were more prevalent than Kannada.
It was the summer and Cricket was dominating the hearts of many than the hot sun during those times. We too were all geared up to watch the match, unfortunately the picture would not come on the screen. My cousin did some research (LOL) and found the satellite cable wire was cut off. He asked me to get a new holder from a nearby shop. I was happy till then. But suddenly the world around me shrunk. My visions were blurring.
I honestly told him, i cannot. First he thought i was kidding and he just told me to go. This went for five mins. By then he was irked. "If u cannot go there and talk to people, what are u going to do when u visit places? Do u think language is the problem? So what go out there, find the shop and talk. Only if u talk, u can get what u want. Else u will be totally useless". These were the advices poured and frankly it just took time to sink in me. Even after that, i sat in a corner, while he went out to fetch the same. It was on that day, i realized what i can really do when i just think a little further and how i can get myself into trouble, if i just think far too long :):)
He is none other than Gobli, as i always called him. If not for him, i would not have walked the various streets and towns on my own, since then. If not for him, i would not have gained the experience that i have with me, which i earned through various adventures.
Life has not always been kind to everyone. To me honestly, i must confess, it has been great.Time and again someone or the other turns up in the corner to help me out and learn things.
May glory be with kalyan.
