To say that I slogged like a donkey would be undermining the efforts that I put in for the past few days… it’s more of the brain challenges that drain people out and it seems I could take a few more challenges at the end of the day! Agreed that I enjoyed studying microeconomics this semester, but the exam that I wrote today, in part felt like it wasn’t the same subject at all; thank heavens our grades are curved! That apart, I had a paper submission due the same day. And at 6pm when I was done with the typing of the last few words of the memo, I felt feather light and I was sailing and floating all around the campus. It had been a week since I went towards the Washington square park facing our library, and my!! I was spell bound with its transition to a beautiful park as though painted with the color of fresh green leaves, with a fountain amidst sprinkling water and creating mists all around! The sight felt so refreshing, just what I needed! Well I needed to treat my taste buds too. ‘Tasti-d-lite’ has caught my fancy these days for the fat free ice creams it serves to people like me. Relishing my mango ice cream with hot chocolate sauce[which more than compensates for the fat free ice cream] I headed home for the second half of the day and night…

Ah yes! The carrot… it’s now 2.30am on Wednesday morning and I still have the energy to pack and plan my trip to California after that long long day!! After all its no exam, and I can wake up even at an ungodly hour to travel or not sleep at all which just might be the case tonight…. the flight is just a couple of hours away and I ‘think’ I can catch up with the lost sleep on the long plane trip… [No high hopes though] with my brain finally showing signs of slowing down, I wanna try my luck at a few precious minutes of sleep….

Enlightenment seemed to have dawned upon me, all at once and is as true as me living my dreams…I knew that it wasn’t the ‘its all about the money, honey’ deal that drew me to the United States…I had a feeling and urge for something beyond the tangible.. more to do with my craving to develop beyond the bounds of my own imagination…that’s what drew me to this place…and I see all of that happening…

“The before picture” - which is before I reached here, I was more of a ‘one task is more than I ask for’ kind of a person. If I was studying, all I could was that alone and nothing else and the same with freaking out and enjoying. There was no clear spectrum on which I could function. It was ‘an all or none’ phenomenon! and that in a way helped me focus and develop one thing at a time….but the time had come to put all those learned things together to paint this dream for myself…

The transition phase- writing GRE was my first step to breaking the set pattern; the first step in the direction of exposing me to knowledge beyond the realm of medicine text books…developing my quantitative[math] and verbal abilities was more of fun… Yes, the good score helped me get admission into good schools, but the so called ‘pain staking’ application process described by others was a challenge for me. Especially when the time came to write about myself; my passions and goals; what I wish to do in life… It’s no easy job for a student fresh out of college to introspect on all these and write a prize winning essay about oneself…but then with constant efforts I was able to pull out a decent essay… that was the first step to identifying my true inner self. Writing all those bits and pieces of notes to polish them gave a fresh perspective to my passions…

Landing here has been more like getting out of a ‘comfy cocoon zone’…all of a sudden there seems to have developed within me an uncanny ability to multi-task…and dream in different avenues for many things…well, did I develop an extra vision? I am quite not sure of that… But I seem to doing so many things all at once and enjoying every bit of it!! I remember feeling so sick of monotony during my midterm-that being my first term, it was a fresh playground for me…with books and only books for two weeks before the exams with all the others coming to a stand still…was barely managing bathing and brushing! I was determined to change that when my finals were around. And change! Boy!! It did…I was doing more of other things which I enjoy doing with the finals a few days due… watching Hindi movies, swimming, meeting friends and hanging out, contesting for the board of student association,… ‘Studying’ suddenly didn’t seem like the center of the universe…though I loved what I learnt; there were other things to keep me going. It’s a transition that I am proud of and wish to add on more to the list of things that I love doing…I realize life is beyond those exams that I write… more about what I wish to see in myself and less about what I wish others see in me… its the true spirit and the love for this city that has kept me ticking so far…God! I love this city…

Its that time of the semester again…the finals are tomorrow and I seem to have made sufficient preparation to feel at ease but not enough to let go to get out and party. It’s during times such as these that my dancing skills and imagination bail me out of boredom. Playing a Hindi song on my laptop, I climbed to the top of my bunker-bed [to keep my thoughts above the books placed on my table beneath]. As I closed my eyes, I was transported to a different world. Visualizing myself on a stage, dressed as I am in my regular clothes, am out there imagining myself dance with exuberance and enjoyment to the tune of the song; free of all inhibitions [coz nobody can watch my sequence of thoughts, can they?] Such vivid is my imagination, that I get pulled out of the maze of books, exams and outer world altogether. After choreographing for two Hindi dance numbers, I felt refreshed to start preparing for my paper tomorrow…Such is the powerful combination of imagination and dance… I wondered.

It reminds me of the days when I used to be home for my study holidays - with a trunk full of Medical books that used to accompany me from my hostel in Davangere… comprehending and retaining huge chunks of information was something I was getting used to by each passing preparation for my exams… during one such study holidays, I chanced upon Old Hindi music cassettes from my dad’s collection; there were some of my all time favorites on the track. Something occurred to me - ‘Why don’t I learn a song or two in my 15 minute study breaks, now and then?’ So there I was playing and rewinding that tape to get the tunes right. At the end of the day I used to recite some of my practiced selections and my dad used to join me for a duet after our dinner… we used to sing along with karaoke music and mic to give the real effect! Our good ol’ neighbor was one day complimenting us that we sing really well; well ,we took that as a cue to decrease our late night singing sessions! Nevertheless, music and dance are sure ’stress busters’ for me.

Happy to be back at my desk, am ready for one more dive and swim in the books!

The three days when I was confined to the four walls of my room while I was unwell gave me sufficient time, space and peace. It was difficult to think hard and stress my brains when all it wanted was to rest… my mind went with the flow of my thoughts and for a change away from the academics and the routine plannings for the day to day activities. Ultimately, it was a totally relaxed and a blissful break. In the midst of  this, our Miss world, Ms. Aishwarya was getting wed to Mr. Junior Bachchan and I was following the events closely, amused at how the media was trying to get a peek into their lives with utmost police protection provided. I was thankful we have a media who is all enduring and pursuing to cover an event which I was surprisingly interested in [I usually care a dam about the personal lives of Bollywood stars]. Mostly because I admire the two individuals- for their qualities of inner strength, perseverance, talent and beauty. Most of all they are the heart throbs of all Indians; I wondered if I ever would get a chance to look into my own wedding so closely!!

Its Monday today, the beginning of a new week; the day I start ‘the drill’ all over again! Attend classes, complete assignments, study…. I could feel the tension of getting it all back in place before my exams next week. So there I was re-aligning my senses and gears to get started and get moving. I didn’t have time to spare. My engines [brains, senses and locomotors!] were a little slow to begin with but they picked up pretty well and soon were functioning to catch with the speed of this city. At the end of the day I had accomplished all that I had planned for and it felt like it was over in the blink of an eye. When I finally called it a day, I had some time to feel exhausted and think about the day that lay next…! Well…welcome back to the life in the city. I wish to do well in the exams next week. Wishing for the best, I shall be asleep even before I know it…

       I had it all perfectly planned and charted out… I had prepared a great time table to study for my exams[even by my own standards!] and was all determined to accomplish the day to day portions I had set for myself..I remember my mother joking about me whenever i used to sit down to plan anything; be it a list for shopping or setting a time table to study for my exmas..I used to spend a great deal of time merely planning.It used to give me a sense of comfort and confidence…it was a different story altogether when it came to me completing the tasks!!

   But this time, I had an inner feeling I could do it… setting my mind on track, I went to sleep to start afresh the next day… But Alas!! I woke up with fever and sore throat…I really couldn’t help falling ill.. Guess it was a combination of the weather, drinking juice straight from the fridge and most of all the stress of exams[ which reduces my immunity drastically]This is not the first time thats happening.. I fall ill right before the exams…this is atleast better in a sense that I have some buffer time to catch up with lost time… I just hope to feel myself again back on track…like how we say in India-’with all the josh’!!!   [meaning with all the enthusiam and drive to accomplish the task at hand]

   I guess my brains needed a break…thats the way I look at it when i sleep for hours together at a stretch throughout the day… Thats works wonders for me…I wake up just to eat my breakfast, lunch and dinner..in a way i love falling sick…atleast i have a legitimate reason to sleep all day long and not feel guilty about it!! I miss home the most when i am sick…you get all the sympathy you can and nobody asks you to work around the house!!  Here, you gotta get done what needs to be done… Like I needed to attend an interview for my summer internship..I would have risked not getting the job lest i missed it… also attending a job interview when you aren’t keeping well speaks about the sincerity to work and the interviewer would be impressed…isnt it..?? ha ha…anyways, I knew I wanted to be there at this one and i must say it went well…I might end up working for the Center for Health and Public Service Research over the summer!!! Yippppeeeee..it was worth the effort to pull myself out of bed to get there…

‘Sitting idle in this city’ is impossible! But also, there goes the adage that nothing is Impossible. Well it depends on you how you get down to getting bathed in the colors of the city and I am all drenched in this rainbow! With every passing day, the sun shines brighter as I discover new facets of life when I walk the streets every morning and evening to and from my university… the color of my feathers turn more beautiful as I fly the freedom of happiness and individuality here.

It’s raining today on the island of Manhattan… a phenomenon rare enough to be sat up and noticed, a reason I decided to unfold my umbrella to enjoy a walk in the rain… and for a change I was not cursing the splashing sludge on the back of my pants! With sprinkling water and wind blowing on my face, I felt like a Hindi movie actress on screen, except that there was no audience…people here are way too busy and that in itself makes me carefree! I could have done my weekly grocery shopping any other day…but the whole foods store, an organic foods market, just a few blocks away from home looked more appealing. If you had asked my opinion of organic foods a few days ago my reaction would be nothing short of indifference. but one curious visit to this store a couple of weeks ago changed that…now my visits are more frequent not that food gets exhausted more often but the free samples of delicious rare cookies, frozen wine to taste, hot chocolate to melt in your mouth are just a few on the list to entice me. Though the prices are way above the rest of the stores [because they are organic] the experience there is priceless…no wonder people throng there afternoon and evening…all days of the week. The thing that stands out from other marts is the business acumen and creativity that this supermarket has developed which is why it is so successful in attracting customers and maintaining it that way…

There are so many places on my ‘to be visited list’ that I haven’t even bothered to make one. I wish to see and experience the flavor of each new place, and as many as possible and make the most of my experience while am here…

Finally I seem to be balancing it all and living my life at the pace of this bustling, vibrant city. Looking back, I can see in my mind, stumbling at every nook and corner as everything seemed like a challenge in itself- the brand new course topics, the people, their culture and even fashion-what’s in and what’s not!. At times I felt so overwhelmed with all the happenings around me that I really didn’t know how to take it all in - whether to react to the situation and change myself or just to be the way I was. There was a constant stimulus to all my senses-visual & auditory. Though I never was comparing myself with all those ’stick-thin’ students on my campus dressed fashionably, [fit for fashion mags cover pages-really!] there was always subconscious feeling that I wasn’t comparable to those around me and at times even felt ‘left behind’. Over the past few weeks, I have come to realize that as long I stand incomparable, I am myself. I love being myself, as I constantly strive to improve and achieve personal goals and targets.

Then there came the time when I felt the need to be accepted by all my friends and whether they would really be able to accept a ‘foreigner’ to be their best buddy and whether I could really ‘fit in’ the group. Fortunately, this transition was not as hard as overcoming my own personal thoughts on ‘life’ around here. They are really amazing and understanding. In that regard, people in general are very polite, friendly and helpful. It sometimes forces me to think whether the 9/11 attack has made people feel more human than before and realize the value of all forms of life around them.

In an otherwise busy campus, there is one place where students and the local residents just come to relax and unwind… the Washington square park, right across our Bobst library. On a typical evening, I find guitarists and pianists playing in their own world of music and melody. Though people never crowd around them, nevertheless seem to love the romantic atmosphere.

Right in front of this park is a vendor who sells Dosas! I could not believe my eyes that there were some equivalents of Indian fast food restaurants that were within a hands reach to me on the campus. I had made a mental note long ago that anytime I feel like savoring ‘Indian-like’ foods [because nothing tastes as authentic as prepared there in India itself] I would come to this place…And today was the day. Though I had had a full meal for lunch, the thought of dosas made me feel I could still fit it in! I was excited to read the menu posted on the cart - plain dosa, masala dosa, uttapam, rava dosa, bonda and even ’sambhar and chutney’ to match the menu! It was feast to my senses and was happy to order a ’special rava masala dosa’. I stood there watching him intently prepare it with expertise and when it was ready, I walked hurriedly toward a bench in the park. I can say the thought of eating Indian food was more delicious than the food itself. More than happy to relish it all the way up to the bottom of the container, I caught myself grinning with satisfaction at the end of it. On the way, as though to top it with icing, I dropped into the ’star bucks’ for a dessert. ‘Apple fritter’ appealed to my taste buds better than the usual chocolate cookie today. Content with what I had for an extended lunch, which could possibly even cover for my dinner, I finally took the route that lead me back home.

I currently live in a place where interests can merge with the opportunities and limitations are in so far are as you think them to be. In India my interests were many, but opportunities were so few that it never took shape to reality. Though the situation is changing for the better there, the society as a whole should feel the need to expand, explore and set a bold foot out to live their interests. Students often feel the limitations in the form of courses available to them after their completion of common education years. And few are courageous enough to experiment with parallel fields. It is a norm for parents to send their children to study engineering and medicine or at the most stretch their vision to include biotechnology and basic sciences. The educational system as such is a continuous demand to complete one step after the other and it hardly gives time in between for them to really sit back and think as to what they wish to do with the rest of their lives, to explore their passions and interest.

Even after graduating from college with a degree in Medicine, I was not too sure to continue my career in the same field. I knew my ultimate goal in life was to serve people and medicine seemed to be an obvious choice when I was at the cross road. Over the years of my study, I have enjoyed every bit of struggle and efforts put in to do well in my medical exams and perform better to handle the patients. But I was no longer sure that I wanted to be doing the same for the rest of my life once I graduated. My class mates had already started preparing for their next step for a medical graduate which is to study for their Post graduate entrance exam. I was busy looking into fields other than Medicine. That was when Masters in Public administration with a core in health policy and management happened. Though the title itself may indicate work in the public administration sector, the scope is far reaching-it could be health finance, health care and hospital administration, International health… as long as you can be creative and open minded, the list is endless. It involves seeking something out of the conventional, the ‘comfort zone’. Yes, it was tough initially to accept the fact that I was doing something different and that I had to look out and create a path that I am passionate about…all by myself! But I really like the challenge and I have come to realize that this field gives me all the flexibility to mold and remold my passions and keep up with the changing times. So I am up and after it….!

My first week after spring break began with self pepped talks to perform better for the second quarter of the semester and I was not too happy when I began running low on ‘fuel’ already with loads of assignments, lectures & discussions. I had planned to visit my friend Sudha in Philly for the weekend and the mere thought of it made me feel a whole lot better. That was “The Major Event” and I waited eagerly for it like an excited kid!

All the excitement was worthwhile and it was even better than I actually anticipated. I couldn’t wait for the Finance discussion class to end on Friday noon. I had meticulously planned for the trip. Along with my finance book, I had carried a pair of clothes, a night suit & some munchies in my back-pack. I couldn’t waste my time and risk missing the bus…Like my weekend depended on it! I made it through the subway to the bus stand in record time, zipping & squeezing through people like a flexible RBC in blood. I took some breaths only when I boarded the bus. I had made it!!

It was 6.30pm when I reached Philly…I couldn’t believe, New York traffic is as worse as traffic in Bangalore; it took me 4 hours to reach there instead of the usual 2 hours! Nevertheless, I was glad to see my friend at the bus stand and she drove me straight to an Indian Udupi style restaurant. I was jumping inside with joy when we reached the place. The aroma of ‘dosas’ and ‘idlies’ was more than enough to whet my appetite. Needless to mention I had the feast of a queen and I was filled to the brim!

Our next immediate destination was to the Philly shopping mall… I agree it was a wrong time to try new outfits (with our stomachs bloated up), but the taste of Indian delicacies had set me ‘rolling on a high’ and I was ready to go anywhere… and shopping is after all my favorite pastime… After a wonderful evening at the mall, we stopped to buy some ice-cream on the way back home; what an icing on the cake for the day to end!!

The next day we were out to visit the beautiful city of Philly…we rode through the city on a Duck! The city tour we took was called ‘Ride the Duck’ and aptly the vehicle fit the bill, shaped like one. ‘Quacking’ our way through the city (with the ‘quacking device’ that our tour instructor had given us) and eliciting smiles as we went, we toured the major places - the independence hall, the trinity church, society hill and the center city. A beautiful amalgam of traditional historic buildings juxtaposed with modern architecture, I fell in love with the city.

At the end of the day it was time to get back home - to New York. With a wonderful quality, time spent I felt recharged and rejuvenated.

Travel has the feeling of liberation in it, liberation from the humdrums of life. Smitten by this new bug, I promised myself to travel at every possible weekend, subject to time and money availability.

My week began on a ‘low tone’ reflecting the gloomy weather and before I could say it would remain that way, I kicked myself out to see this beautiful city!! And thankfully I made the best use of the ‘peeping tom game’ the Sun has begun to play on & off. I sure can make use of the rules I have learnt already!! As unpredictably sunny, snowy and stormy this weather can get, I beat it this time around to my advantage and had a great time!

From the world’s second tallest building, the Empire State I could see the entire “empire in its grandeur”… with the kingdom of Manhattan, sprawling a good 25 miles radius, I could see as far as my acuity would allow me on this rare clear visibility day. Thankfully, for me I skipped ‘waiting in the line trauma’ as I had booked the entry tickets online and could use the energy to ‘’Oooowoooooow’’ about the magnificent views!! Ones not to be missed while here in Manhattan.

Situated in the ‘Fashion hub’ of NY, I couldn’t really head back before burning a hole in my pocket. Being the busiest streets as well, I made a bee-line to the World’s biggest store of Macys’ which lay right across the street. Spanning 8-9 floors in all, it sure had me running around for the escalators. The prices were ‘blissfully’ beyond my reach. Saved the hole and the pennies [: D]

At the end of the day, it feels so good to meet up with my friends and more so when it’s at an Indian restaurant! I literally had starved myself to make some space for the ‘grand meal’ of the day. We planned to venture out to the neighboring city of Jersey. After an hour long subway travel, we finally reached ‘The Destination’. Before getting into the restaurant, one of our friends suggested a walk along the Hudson River. With the cold winds cutting across our faces, I was only reluctant to take that walk. And besides, I had the Indian food waiting for me. Nevertheless, we still went ahead, and I must admit it was worth that awesome experience! Standing on the banks of the river I could see the entire stretch of Manhattan from the financial district to the uptown curved beautifully to accommodate the edges of Jersey city, so brightly lit…exactly like one of those wall posters on sale which I had seen in the Empire State Building… “One Helluva sight”!

We walked back to the restaurant in a great mood, all charged up from the bright lights. The walk had made all of us even hungrier. We stuffed ourselves to the brim with the delicious Indian cuisine before we made our way back. The day was filled with feelings of Magnificence, amaze, and wonder for this city of Manhattan. I wouldn’t mind being abandoned on this beautiful island!!