Friday, July 28, 2017

First Step into Adulthood

Adulthood, the state when one is fully grown and mature. Some reach it faster than others and some never at all. I am beginning my journey into adulthood this week. Freshly out of college, I embark on this trip where I don't know what the final destination is but I do hope the journey will be worth it.

I am a person who has never been really away from home for more than a day or two. I don't know what it is like to exist by oneself far away from one's family. I usually consider myself an independent person, but now I realize what true independence actually is. It comes with a lot of responsibilities. This past week I was out shopping and for the first time, it hit me how much stuff a person needs just to exist. From combs to shoes, from utensils to damn clips for clothes, it is a massive pile of crap. Useful crap. Shopping is not really something I enjoy and I always put it on my beloved family to shop for me, but that isn't going to be possible anymore.

These are small things. Big things like having no one on your side in a completely different city with a completely different culture are much more difficult to tackle. They don't hit you all at once, the realization comes in small seemingly insignificant instances. For example, I was haggling with an electric rickshaw driver a few days back and I realized where I am going there won't be any such transport. Where I am going, people won't be able to understand my native language. The things I love the most like my books, I'll be leaving them behind.

However, it is not all bad. The new land is giving me an opportunity for which I have worked for all these years. The opportunity to establish myself, find my footing and the ability to shoulder the burden that is existence. It opens doors to a new life and a new more responsible me.

Hopefully, I'll be able to keep myself together and face this world with grace and dignity. Grace might not be possible at all times, but dignity is non-negotiable.

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