#StartANewLife
I think of myself as a globetrotter, more specifically, a
nomad. People are often surprised when they hear about my escapades but the
truth is I love living out of a suitcase.
I've traveled across the length and breadth of India, and
even though I enjoy meeting people everywhere I go, the thing that still
fascinates me the most is how similar we are intrinsically.
In 1997, I left home for the first time to study engineering. Living away from family and relatives was tough initially
but everything fell in place with support from new friends I made over the
years.
I returned home in 2001 after graduating from college. Three
years later, I received a lucrative job offer from Oracle and as luck would
have it, I relocated from Gurgaon to Bangalore and got to witness the South Indian
culture firsthand.
By this time, I had become a nonconformist who wanted to
travel outside India and meet people from other nationalities.
In 2005, I was hired by Samsung to work for them in
South Korea. I couldn't have asked for a better life experience. It felt like
starting a new life in a country where everything was unique and scary
sometimes, starting from their culture, language, food, and weather.
I learnt Korean within a year of moving to Korea. I also
started to eat beef and pork, something I could've never imagined myself doing
in my own country for several reasons that are better left unsaid. Fortunately, I made
friends from all parts of the globe, since I worked for a truly global company
that hired expats. What better way to know about other countries!
During my short stay in Korea, I practiced Buddhism, pursued
hobbies like photography, karaoke, and blogging, watched end number of movies,
sometimes in languages other than English and Hindi.
I did a temple stay,
traveled to folk villages, went for musicals and percussion performances, and
even met some famous K-Pop celebrities.
The best part was I came to Korea as a bachelor, and left
the country in 2012 (that's seven long years) with my wife, son, two dogs, and
endless memories to choose from.
Not a day passes when I don't remember Korea, and get teary-eyed thinking about what legacy I've left behind.
Never ever in my effing life had I imagined that I'd go to
an alien land and start calling that place my own. But then I never stopped
believing in the power of dreams.
And you shouldn't as well.
A part of me is so Korean now. Actually, a part of me was
always Korean and it took me awhile to realize. That's the real beauty of
travel, no?
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