I realized how blessed I am being an Indian or should I say spoilt? Living in a country where someone is always around to attend to my needs. Be it my parents, friends, the guy at the parking ticket(this I never understood by the way), the boys/girls at the petrol bunk, the waiter who packs my leftovers happily, people to help me carry things home, someone to cook and clean my house and yada yada yada..This list can go on as I feel we live a life of luxury, I call it a princess life. So Bangalore country and India my world. I didn’t know of any world where people did things on their own(maybe I did but never experienced so!) and btw! I thought I was an independent woman living in India but in reality, I had a zillion souls helping me at every step and while I thanked them I never valued them in my opinion. The gratitude has increased many folds as I write this now as I know the value of this service/help.
My stay in the US has been nothing less than a self-discovery journey. Talking to the walls as it’s not easy to make friends in the city where I lived. Making my own decisions, carrying my own stuff and cleaning myself etc:).
I took time to soak in the experience and it wasn’t easy, trust me anything outside the comfort zone is not easy. But like they say that is where the magic happens and I connect with that more now.
While this struggle became a part of my life what changed is one experience. One of the days after I started driving I went to the petrol bunk aka gas station to fuel my car and for my dismay, I was left in a limbo as I haven’t done this darn thing on my own. I am so used to someone asking me to park, asking me how much fuel, doing small talk and asking for my card and me zooming away happily. My mind went into a whirlwind, how does this even work, what if I pour the fuel onto myself or the next car or what if I did something stupid as I didn’t even know how to hold the pump. I parked my car at the station and took a few deep breaths as I had to do this and my car was beeping/ hungry for fuel.
I gingerly pulled my car and waited behind the guy who was busy in his autopilot mode filling the fuel as this is what they usually do and has no thinking or learning as it all comes to them naturally(well! I know they started at some point). I walked up to him and said HELP!! and narrated how I was new and didn’t know to operate etc. He smiled and helped me through the process while I did it on my own. He explained things I should know and remember always. He was kind to wait for me to finish up filling the fuel and then waved me bye. I was left happy and filled with gratitude for this BIG help he did.
I learned two things,
Our world is not the end of the world as there is more to it and the day we recognize it we will be grounded
Ask and we shall receive. I let go of my need to know things, I didn’t google, I didn’t call anyone but I just asked and there was help readily waiting for me. So asking never hurts is my next learning.
I have been off blogs as I am exploring life and myself but I wanted to share this with you all as I feel it’s my responsibility to do so.
Thank you for reading!
Love and Light
Bee
Bindu Gopinath 