Flakes are falling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Its Snow time in Boston again. This is my third winter in Boston and as I write, the sun smiles on the snowy streets of Canton (20 miles from Boston, Massachusetts). Huge blocks of snow piled up along the sides of the road, which were just soft flurries couple of days before. So soft that they would melt at your very touch, now they are huge chunks which could hurt if hurled. Just like these snowflakes I can see how each small experience has changed my life, my perceptions.

Its been more than 2.5 years in boston and today I feel like penning my experiences in words. I have finally entered into the life that most of my batchmates have been in, for the past 2 years: "The Working Professional". Infact, as I take my plunge, many of them are returning back to school for Higher degrees. Some have even got into serious relationships and enjoying their committed status. There are yet others who have remained faithful to their 9 to 9 jobs, basking in their bachelorhood, dreaming about new ventures (both professional and personal :P)

Life in the US has been more than just a Master's degree. Its taught me a lot more than what I learnt in the 22 years in India. Every day, every hour here has been a source of revelations. Infact it seems today that I have been doing a hands-on course on "Exploring Yourself", and am yet doing it. Though I have been sub-consciously going through my routine, looking back at what I did and what I am doing really amazes me.

Its been a gradual but massive transition from the days I slept on the bare floor with 9 others in one room, the days I shared a room with 2 really good friends until today when I would soon be moving into a room for myself: Its been a long journey. I describe my experiences in detail:

19th August 2006

With mixed feelings I reach the airport with my parents. Till today I have never left them for more than a week or at most 2 weeks. This time it was going to be a year or maybe even more. But the excitement of going to the US of A, sitting on a plane for the first time, going to study for a higher degree and living an independent life kinda compensated for the sadness of being away from my family and friends.

We were a group of 15 students going to Boston in the same Lufthansa flight. It really helps to be in a group, especially when its the first time you are leaving your family and friends for such a long time. We had a lot of trouble before we checked in, more because we were going around a week after the london plane hijack. So there were too many baggage restrictions and also couple of mess-ups on the part of Lufthansa in their communication to the passengers, causing some of my friends to shell out 8000 bucks at the airport for excess baggage. Well I had to unfortunately return back my guitar to my parents.

Somehow we passed through the security check and were waiting in the lounge at the gate for the flight. We had about an hour to kill before boarding the flight, and we utilised it well by getting to know each other and joking around. At 2 am we were all set and onboard the flight. Well dunno how many have experienced it, but it really gives you a chill knowing that in a few moments you are going to leave your homeland not knowing when you will be back. For me it was all new, my first flight. The plane left the gate and in about 5 minutes it was on the runway. It stopped.

I looked at the Mumbai Airport for one last time, and got a jerk: I yet dunno whether it was the fascination of the first flight takeoff, or the nostalgia of leaving Mumbai or a mix of both, that gripped me, as the plane accelerated and took-off into the skies. The last sights of Mumbai, its glittering streets, the queens necklace and the shores really left me wanting for more.

But then the true realization struck me: I was going to miss all this for a very long long time.....