Six

Exactly six years ago from today, I landed in the United States of America to do my Ph.D. Since then, a lot of water has flowed through the Hudson, and I have traveled ten states and District of Columbia. Don't believe me? I have been to New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona, Maryland, Massachusetts, Illinois, Virginia and Ohio in that order. That number is almost equal to the number of Indian states I have visited in the other 26 years of my life.

As one grows older, each year seems to pass more quickly than the previous one. So it is not surprising that these six years have passed fast. It seems like just yesterday that I flew here, met some of my closest friends at the TA workshop at my university, saw New York for the first time, and stood under the Niagara Falls. But although it seems like yesterday, these six years have been eventful. I finished my Ph.D., showed my parents around the US, and learnt to drive. In the meantime, my sister got married and gave birth to a baby. Of course, the most important things that happened to me were none of these - they were changes in my way of thinking. Not only did I learn a lot academically, but my general outlook towards life has changed greatly. I cannot say whether all of it is good or bad, but there is no doubt that I am a different person now from the person who landed in Newark six years ago.

Unfortunately, I am too busy today to write a longer post "celebrating" my US visit anniversary. I did not want to ignore the date, so wrote this short one just for the sake of it.

Six years ago. I'm wearing the most colourful sweater.