Beliefs...

I recently had an opportunity to attend a service at a church. It was quite a novel experience, since I had never done so before. Just prompted me to write about how different it is as compared to a service or a sermon or prayer I am used to.

One of the first things I realised is a certain sense of joy and happiness that seems prevalent. I am not saying that we, as Hindu's are not happy. To me, it seems that we are more obsessed with "following the ritual" and bowing down before a supreme entity than paying our respects to that entity. I believe there is difference - you can be happy about the fact you are paying your respects, or you can lower yourself in order to portray that entity as something that deserves your respect. I think we tend to do the latter. I have almost never seen people happy or rather, joyous while praying. ( I perfectly accept the possibilty that I have been observing the wrong people. But I'm just trying to write what I have seen. :) ) The only time I remember people to be enjoying their prayers are at the Ganesh festival, where people are not enjoying the fact that they are praying. They are just enjoying the whole thing.

During the service, the people seemed happy to be there. They also seemed to express that a bit more than I have generally seen. (Although, Americans in general express their feelings much more than Indians.. so I shouldn't count this in). The mood was, overall, lighthearted but respectful, not sombre.

I have not been to any kirtans or the sort, so I cannot say how it proceeds. But at this service, it was a pleasant surprise to see members of the church come up and give their interpretation of a certain passage of the Bible. They gave examples from their own life, about their own mistakes in helping everyone understand what they had understood.

A little sentence was spoken by one of these speakers, which has stuck with me. He said, that "staying away from idol worship" as said in the Bible does not mean that one should not look at an image of God to pray. It means that one should never obsess over some object, or activity. Don't overdo playing a video-game. Don't overdo repeating a certain habit. And so on. I liked this definition of idol worship, because personally, I believe that it sorta helps to have an image to which you would like to pray to. Just a sorta little belief.

All this just tells me, that what I believe in, tends to not fall in any one religion. What I believe in, is a sorta my own patched-up version of all things that I have heard and found to be morally and logically satisfying to me.

Culture Shock: redux

After almost an year, coming back to India is a great feeling. Though the country "India" is not very specifically important. I guess you could substitute it for "home". I cannot say definitely. :). The thing I remember now, after coming back to USA, is that you build up your expectations. You glorify what you remember. Here is what a few things almost shocked me... when I landed back in India. A reverse culture shock, in a sense:

1: Cars are smaller. I felt that the Esteem we own was tiny. Ironic, since a year ago, I used to find it comfortable.

2: Traffic is scary. I flinched, jumped, clenched the seat a couple of times, even when it was my dad driving. And it was 3 am in the night, when traffic is supposed to be bad. (Though 1 week later, I was back in form and driving away almost the same way I used to drive last year).

3: India is not that inexpensive. Well, initially when you come to the US you multiply everything by 40 and start sweating. And then mentally, you remember the rates in India. Eventually you just remember that in India everything was cheap. Hulloooo.... wakey wakey... I spent almost 300 rupees on coffee for four people. 2 of us had a meal that cost us 600 bucks. A pair of jeans i bought cost me 1000 rupees. Convert it, and its like almost the same price as the US. Though, roadside food, non branded clothing and all that is cheap, I agree.

4: Calling from your cell phone is not the preferred option. Roaming charges, STD charges all make calling from cell phones expensive. SMS use is widespread. Night-time calling is NOT free. Damn. 70 bucks on one call... ouch ouch ouch.

5: Travelling in the city is soooo easy! Two wheelers rock!

6: You realise that almost everyone has the wrong notion about the US. You also realise that you too had a wrong notion and you smile to yourself. And then,again, its time to answer to all those questions about "how it feels to be back". (The answer is, it always feels good)

7: Leaving India the second time around is harder. It hits you that this decision to study in the US was sorta life changing. And all the future course of your life truly depends on you. The realisation is a bit overwhelming. Probably, when in another frame of mind, I might say that this why it feels good to be here, in the US.

The grand debacle ?

So much for the grand plan about posting from all the places I stop on my way to India. This is what happened.

I thought of writing up something in the flight. But I slept through all of them. Woke up only for the food and sometimes I slept through that too. When I reached Dallas FW airport, I was amazed by its size. Its slick. Its huge. And the MCO seemed so small and raw, if you get what I mean.

The waiting area near the gate 30 of terminal D seemed like a mall. The restaurants, duty free shops and coffee places just seemed to be out of place. The flight to Heathrow, London was peaceful. The American planes are comfy, and my decision to take aisle seats was justified. Though, with the 2-5-2 seating arrangement means that window seats aren't a complete no-no.

London airport is huge. And coming off from another huge airport, one can just appreciate the differences between something English and something American. London, makes good use of the space. So, to an American, the airport will seem ultra crowded and congested.

The reason why the plan failed, was that I got to know that both airports have free wi-fi internet. But in fact, both have wi-fi which needs to be paid for. And that too, in the order of about 10$ atleast. The Dallas airport didnt even have a charging point for laptops. There were places where I could charge my laptop, cell phone etc, but it wasn't free. One needed to pay for it.

Eventually, I tucked my laptop back in my bag, and just looked around. Took some photos. And took loong naps.

Back home. Feels good. Relaxed. More about how it feels .. later.. :-)