New Life, New Lessons

Hello Reader,

For eighteen years, I had been living in a small city called Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh. That was my world; I was born there, I got educated there and made many friends. Though I was getting all the love and care, and the best colleges post high school, I decided to move out; not because I was not happy but because I wanted to experience living in a new city, meeting different people and getting more exposure which lacked otherwise. So, I told my parents that I want to study in some other city, far from home and become more independent. My parents were not very happy about me leaving the house but anyways, they supported me. I wrote the entrance exams for many colleges and finally got a college In Bangalore.

As the train left the station, I was getting teary eyed as I watched my parents wave me goodbye. But, I was also excited about the start of an all new life and about living in a big city like Bangalore.  And, this important step of mine gave me the best four years of my life. I, obviously, felt homesick in the initial days. Then, I started making friends and meeting new people from different cultures and having different ways of speaking, with a mixture of local slangs and dialects. It was all very good. Along with my engineering course, I also discovered in me, a love for writing. And, then I started writing poems and short stories and my diary writing became more frequent. I often wonder, had I not taken that step of leaving home, I would have never known that I can write. I never expected that I would meet people who are now my best friends ever.

Before coming to Bangalore, I had made many assumptions based on the little knowledge I had and I learnt many life lessons along with the course, which proved my assumption wrongs many a times. I was a lazy guy but I became independent and had no other choice but to do my own work, because now my mother was too far away.

So, like that went the four years, crawling, falling and much learning. I got used to the streets of Bangalore. It sort of became my muse. Then, one day, post-college, I got a call letter for my first job which transferred me to Delhi NCR. I had a choice to stay in Bangalore and look for a job there or leave the city and go to Delhi. I chose to move again. I had the same feeling which I had while leaving my hometown. And now, I am meeting a different breed of people and tasting absolutely different cuisines. But, each change is a new learning experience and is much better than staying at the same place all your life. And, I say yes to A New Life.

#StartANewLife

-Ashish