Its always been like this

Living in the UK for about 2 years, I have had many wonderful, cherished memories to carry on with me throughout my life. I come from a land where everything seems to "run on its own". We have to take care of ourselves cause no one else will. When I landed in UK, I told my friend that "I can't believe I am in England". A country which first, bought anger because of the history we share and then bought nothing but admiration for all its accomplishments in the field of music, movies and of course for the invention of Cricket, my favourite sport.

Before I came to UK, I have had a lots of never before's in my life. Never before in my life have I met a person from another country than to my own. Never before I had spoken to a guy who speaks English in any other way than the thick Indian accent. Never before have I had to wait for the signal before crossing the road, no matter how busy the road is. Never before I held the door for the person behind me to pass through. Never before have I said "Thank you" to the bus driver before getting off. Never before I had worn more than 2 layers of cloth in my life. Never before I stood in a proper queue in the cinema halls. Never before was I afraid of breaking a rule and getting away with it, by not getting noticed or by paying a bribe. Never before have I had been to a place which is so diverse in the sense, that people are from various different nationalities, but work and live together in peace and harmony. Saying which, I am not a stranger to living in diversity cause I come from a country known for its varied culture and language, but we all live under the same roof of being an Indian, which helps in a lot of ways. But in UK, you see builders, waiters, bus divers, taxi drivers, plumbers, students, lecturers, people from all walks of life, who were born and bought up in different countries but were drawn to the land of opportunities and who are made to feel welcomed by the locals, cause most amongst them were themselves welcomed once.

Where we are heading

It was a saturday afternoon and the summer was on its high in Chennai.I was out with my Friends after a finger licking meal from a not so famous restaurant.During the meal we were all discussing the possible return of Sachin into the Mumbai Indians squad and the slump in form of our local team The Chennai super kings after an impressive winning streak.Just as we started moving out from the restaurant one of my Friend who just started his bike started yelleing at someone who was on the other side of the road,we were all taken by suprise by the strange behaviour of our Friend that we for a second thought that the summer heat had taken control of our buddy and he is so out of his mind.Another of my Friend who just came out of the restaurant after generously paying our bill started yelling looking at the same direction where our other Friend was yelling at.I out of curiousity and of potentially avoiding the insulting looks of the passer by's,took the collar of the Friend on the bike by his shoulders and asked him what had he seen that made him behave this strangely."Look isn't that Ashwini,our classmate" he asked me back pointing to the other side of the road.I took a closer look,and eventhough I was not as good in remembering faces I can't forget the girl named Ashwini who was the talk of our College.I nodded in acknowledgment to my Friends question,by this time the guy who payed our bill strated running towards the other side of the road and cried out her name even louder.She turned and saw in our direction and with a bright smile on her face started crosing the road.

To be continued..................