Its been more than a month now in the US, and has been quite a ride since the start!

I have often been asked what is the difference between this country and mine...
My brother pops this question out every now and then...
well, in the time that I have been here and what I have observed, is probably best explained through the following experiences I had...

I entered the New Delhi airport after saying bye to mom, dad, bro, nani (granny), mama (uncle), mami (his wife), dada (elder cousin)... that moment I felt like being separated from my flesh and blood! I live with them and for them! is what I am going for something worth giving that all away?
I felt that the purpose of living your life is for your family... your people with whom you share your happiness, sorrows and all...

Inside the airport, when we lined up at our gate to enter the aircraft, all the passengers were asked to take their passports out... everyone took out their passports, there were many people and as many passports all around me... I looked around me and saw a group of French tourists take out their passports, then a Portuguese couple took out their, the Thailand boy took out his passport, the German traveler took out his, then the Spanish guy, the American ... passports were all flashing in front of me, and everyone was talking to their people in their own language... I felt like someone all alone with no one by my side... no one to look at with a sense of belonging... no one... my own... It was then when I looked at my passport, and as I read 'Republic Of India', I could feel the whole nation standing right with me... the echoes of thousands of people, just like in a stadium, all around me as if saying 'we are all right beside you my boy'... my passport was the only thing that gave me my identity in that moment. It was my belonging to a nation... my right to a land...

Reached Vienna.. my first stop... I had to take another flight to Chicago from here... This place was different.. majority of people (for the first time in my life) white, and there I was with another Indian by my side, standing in a sea of white people... we were walking in the airport, and we bump into a poster of Longiness watch which had Aishwarya Rai on it! India had arrived...

There on, I was not just Ankit, or the numerous nicknames that I had been know with.. I was an Indian. What ever I did, said would invariably be linked to me, my nation, my people... Had to be ready to shoulder that responsibility... its not as if u take it on you, it just comes... you have to stand up whether you like it or not...

To be continued...