Searching for the dream:Page 9
Bhumika Ghimire
March 02, 2006
Clearing my account
July 1999 I leave home again to pursue my dream of becoming a Chartered Account. My destination is Chennai; India.There was no direct flight to Chennai from Kathmandu so train journey was my only option. Taking a flight to another city and then flying to Chennai was too expensive. So my dad bought a ticket for me to travel from Gorakhpur to Chennai, a 72 hour journey. Then he bought a bus ticket for me to travel to Gorakhpur from Kathmandu, a 7 hour journey which normally lasted for 10 hours because the security forces on both sides of border were usually more interested in finding out if you are carrying anything which they might be able to use than the security stuff.
My journey to Gorakhpur was normal one, with lots of dust, smoke, dirt and yes humiliation. Indian police would treat me as a potential shopping spree, going through my things they would find many Made in America things which they decided to keep for themselves. The Nepali police would treat me as a traitor, angry that I am going to spend my money in India and not in Nepal, so they wanted their share, something they would call gift, which is more appropriately called "ghus" in Nepal was relieved when I reached my hotel room in Gorakhpur, not for long though. My ticket said that the train will be leaving at 3:30 in the morning; it was already middle of the night.
With very little sleep I managed to get, next morning I left for the station, and was waiting for the train to arrive for next hour or so. The train finally showed up at 6 and left at 9.So much for the timing of the railway system. After I managed to squeeze into my seat, pushing the entire crowd behind, I had nothing but sleep in my mind. I dropped all my baggage underneath the seat and went to sleep. After what seemed to be 10 seconds I hear some very loud noises, like people are fighting over something wake up and look around, there is the ticket collector fighting with 20 30 people who are traveling without ticket. After a while they reach into an agreement and the fighting stops. I don't know what the agreement was, but can say for sure that it benefited both sides. The people stayed on the train and the ticket collector got back his badge and coat.
I could not go back to sleep so I decided to just look outside the window at the villages passing by. I could see the long lines of people lining up to get water from the wells, women working at the fields, kids just running around naked. The large open fields, fresh morning air and the pond where I could see the reflection of the tall trees. It was all very beautiful. Rural side always has a quite charm, pure and untouched from the schemes of modernity. I was finally relaxing and having a good time.
After 2 or 3 hours, we reached Lucknow, a historical city which has beautiful Mogul buildings and museums and beautiful culture and manners. But all poor me could see was the dirty gutters, poor kids finding food among the open garbage fields and open sewerage wonder why areas around the railway stations are so dirty and poorly managed. I could not see the beauty of Lucknow, all I saw was the poverty and mismanagement. I wish we had more cities which would allow visitors to see some beauty of the city instead of hammering us with the harsh realities I am not saying hide the poor but please let us see the beauty too. After Lucknow it was Bhopal, then Nagpur, then Guntur, then Vijaywada then finally Chennai. All these cities have long history of culture and civilization but all that I saw was dirty platforms, beggars and screaming vendors.
My Indian friends are mad at me for not so pleasant things about India but then please take heart. I am not a big fan of Nepal too. I don't believe that we have look at the good sides of our country and forget the negatives. Nepal is poor, cities are dirty and poorly managed, pollution is crazy and there is caste discrimination, shortage of drinking water. And so on and on. Anyway during my stay in Chennai I learned many beautiful things about Tamil culture and the people. I have always cherished that.
First and most important thing I learned about Chennai is that when you are a newcomer in July, when the Sun is shining at 50 C, you don't leave the house. Stay in, and if you have to carry an umbrella and wear a sunscreen. I learned this after nearly passing out of heat stroke that day I went to complete my admission process. Then there was this thing about dress code, always better to wear Kurta Slawar then Jeans, especially if you use public transport. You don’t want all these strangers on the street gawking at you. And yes if a curry says hot, then it is HOT, no mild medium or low. Some of these I learned the hard way, some my friends suggested, at the end I acquired new life skills, which I am happy about.
Three days after arriving in Chennai, my classes started. For first 3 weeks I had no idea what was going on. The accounting systems, finance, corporate law and calculus, all went over my head. I was learning Finance, law, accounting for the first time, and doing so in such advanced level made it even harder. Then there was this calculus which I had learned before but then it was of no help because I didn't remember anything. So in all, academics was a steep battle. Sometimes I thought why am I doing this if I don’t understand anything, But then I put the picture of me with fat bank accounts and a great car and big house in my mind and kept my struggle alive.
The struggle went one till November, by then I lost all my hope and desire to be a Chartered Accountant. I had no interest in the profession or in the subject matter, I never had passion for the field, just desire to make money and be someone great. By late November I realized that unless you pursue something with real passion, we are not going to get any where. So I left Chennai, my dream of becoming a Chartered Accountant and went back home to find out what life has in store for me.
(fictional account, any resemblance to a person is coincidence)
continued...
July 1999 I leave home again to pursue my dream of becoming a Chartered Account. My destination is Chennai; India.There was no direct flight to Chennai from Kathmandu so train journey was my only option. Taking a flight to another city and then flying to Chennai was too expensive. So my dad bought a ticket for me to travel from Gorakhpur to Chennai, a 72 hour journey. Then he bought a bus ticket for me to travel to Gorakhpur from Kathmandu, a 7 hour journey which normally lasted for 10 hours because the security forces on both sides of border were usually more interested in finding out if you are carrying anything which they might be able to use than the security stuff.
My journey to Gorakhpur was normal one, with lots of dust, smoke, dirt and yes humiliation. Indian police would treat me as a potential shopping spree, going through my things they would find many Made in America things which they decided to keep for themselves. The Nepali police would treat me as a traitor, angry that I am going to spend my money in India and not in Nepal, so they wanted their share, something they would call gift, which is more appropriately called "ghus" in Nepal was relieved when I reached my hotel room in Gorakhpur, not for long though. My ticket said that the train will be leaving at 3:30 in the morning; it was already middle of the night.
With very little sleep I managed to get, next morning I left for the station, and was waiting for the train to arrive for next hour or so. The train finally showed up at 6 and left at 9.So much for the timing of the railway system. After I managed to squeeze into my seat, pushing the entire crowd behind, I had nothing but sleep in my mind. I dropped all my baggage underneath the seat and went to sleep. After what seemed to be 10 seconds I hear some very loud noises, like people are fighting over something wake up and look around, there is the ticket collector fighting with 20 30 people who are traveling without ticket. After a while they reach into an agreement and the fighting stops. I don't know what the agreement was, but can say for sure that it benefited both sides. The people stayed on the train and the ticket collector got back his badge and coat.
I could not go back to sleep so I decided to just look outside the window at the villages passing by. I could see the long lines of people lining up to get water from the wells, women working at the fields, kids just running around naked. The large open fields, fresh morning air and the pond where I could see the reflection of the tall trees. It was all very beautiful. Rural side always has a quite charm, pure and untouched from the schemes of modernity. I was finally relaxing and having a good time.
After 2 or 3 hours, we reached Lucknow, a historical city which has beautiful Mogul buildings and museums and beautiful culture and manners. But all poor me could see was the dirty gutters, poor kids finding food among the open garbage fields and open sewerage wonder why areas around the railway stations are so dirty and poorly managed. I could not see the beauty of Lucknow, all I saw was the poverty and mismanagement. I wish we had more cities which would allow visitors to see some beauty of the city instead of hammering us with the harsh realities I am not saying hide the poor but please let us see the beauty too. After Lucknow it was Bhopal, then Nagpur, then Guntur, then Vijaywada then finally Chennai. All these cities have long history of culture and civilization but all that I saw was dirty platforms, beggars and screaming vendors.
My Indian friends are mad at me for not so pleasant things about India but then please take heart. I am not a big fan of Nepal too. I don't believe that we have look at the good sides of our country and forget the negatives. Nepal is poor, cities are dirty and poorly managed, pollution is crazy and there is caste discrimination, shortage of drinking water. And so on and on. Anyway during my stay in Chennai I learned many beautiful things about Tamil culture and the people. I have always cherished that.
First and most important thing I learned about Chennai is that when you are a newcomer in July, when the Sun is shining at 50 C, you don't leave the house. Stay in, and if you have to carry an umbrella and wear a sunscreen. I learned this after nearly passing out of heat stroke that day I went to complete my admission process. Then there was this thing about dress code, always better to wear Kurta Slawar then Jeans, especially if you use public transport. You don’t want all these strangers on the street gawking at you. And yes if a curry says hot, then it is HOT, no mild medium or low. Some of these I learned the hard way, some my friends suggested, at the end I acquired new life skills, which I am happy about.
Three days after arriving in Chennai, my classes started. For first 3 weeks I had no idea what was going on. The accounting systems, finance, corporate law and calculus, all went over my head. I was learning Finance, law, accounting for the first time, and doing so in such advanced level made it even harder. Then there was this calculus which I had learned before but then it was of no help because I didn't remember anything. So in all, academics was a steep battle. Sometimes I thought why am I doing this if I don’t understand anything, But then I put the picture of me with fat bank accounts and a great car and big house in my mind and kept my struggle alive.
The struggle went one till November, by then I lost all my hope and desire to be a Chartered Accountant. I had no interest in the profession or in the subject matter, I never had passion for the field, just desire to make money and be someone great. By late November I realized that unless you pursue something with real passion, we are not going to get any where. So I left Chennai, my dream of becoming a Chartered Accountant and went back home to find out what life has in store for me.
(fictional account, any resemblance to a person is coincidence)
continued...
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