The lure of distant lands..and the yearn to return home..

Westward Ho!!

The electronic buzz and the chatter of people overflows the lobbies of airports across the world where tight security and a festive atmosphere always fills the air. With more people hopping on and off planes than ever before, the world has trully become a much smaller place. And this ever shrinking planet has provided wings to many a dream, one that has captivated centuries of maveric explorers.

Ever since man first set foot on this planet (..though darwinians would put it in a different way..) man has wanted to travel far and wide. And despite the progress of google maps, which gives us a glimpse of every square inch of this planet on our very desktops; the thirst to explore distant lands has’nt seemed to have been quenched. This thirst for adventure though some would argue its greed for the riches of the foreign land drives many an indian student across the seas to the western hemisphere.

The lure for the west is almost as strong as the great gold rush in the US during the 19th century. People tend to choose their professions based on future prospects in a western world. Students leave no stone unturned in enhancing their professional profiles so that they can swoop in on the opportunity to leave the place they have grown to know every nook of.  The educated youth feel they have tolerated enough of their part of the world, and cringe at its shortcomings. People are almost desperate to break those shackles and make that journey. Such is the lure for those distant lands . But just like the explorers of the Americas, today’s explorers find to their dismay, that there is little luster in the the gold they fail to find.

In time though the ultra clean skyrocketing buildings, the pitch dark roads with sparkly automobiles and swanky shopping malls fail to captivate the minds of most immigrants. As time draws on the thought of the dirt beaten roads, ramshackle eat-outs and yester-year experiences in that place they call home seems cozy and comforting. The people around though very warm and friendly in this distant cold land, fail to fill the void created by the absence of family.

The simplicities of everyday life and the grandiose of festivals back home are only a distant dream, a yearning that haunts the senses. And make no mistake its not just the mind that yearns, the feeling is so strong that even the stomach churns at the recollection of the taste and smell of the food of the homeland. This psycho-somato-sensory yearning dominates every conversation and every discussion with fellow victims.

With all the compromises and sacrifices to be made to live in this distant land, which we had dreamt of, as the ultimate liberation, is it worthwhile to make that journey?. It sometimes crosses my mind as to why we always yearn for what we dont have or cant see. Why we house this deep desire to see more than what is shown to us, encompassing our decisions and life, is a mystery that has captivated thinkers for ages.  As a famous kannada poet puts it “Iruvudellava Bittu iradudaredege thudivudhe jeevana” (translation: Life is all about moving on towards what we dont have by leaving behind what we already have”).