Home Life

Around 5 in the afternoon yesterday, my cousin took me on a really long walk around Poona. It was really nice, we caught up as we hiked up a small hill and then walked around the college area of the city. It was crowded, but nice - we ran into one of his friends, saw the local soccer team training and got some cold drinks at a local stand. At that moment, a small, bald boy of no more than 6 years, wearing no more than just a long t-shirt and tattered beanie, tapped me on the arm and motioned me to buy a plastic balloon. I stood there, startled - I forgot, no matter how much I feel at home in my cousin's place, watching MTV, reading comics, checking out old episodes of Family Guy and Seinfeld - I'm not in Kansas anymore. My grandfather just told me there were three bomb blasts in Hyderabad. THINGS and PLACES are different here, but PEOPLE remain the same. That's life. My cousin handed the boy his soda without missing a beat.

I've realized now that living in the States can make one soft. It's too easy living. Push the elderly in homes, the homeless in shelters or under freeway overpasses, kids in endless circles of foster care. Does merely tucking away all of society's problems actually solve anything? Is the American way of sweeping society's dust under the collective rug better? I don't think that's a question I, nor anyone else, can answer. Here, abject poverty is in your face. Kids on the streets aren't hidden away in homes. Poor elderly men and women come up and ask for money. I've realized, spending time with my cousins here, that living in American can turn you soft. You don't have to have an opinion, you don't need to care, there's no reminder of how bad people can actually live. Are there poor, homeless, elderly, starving people in California? Of course. Can we move to the burbs, build a white picket fence around our minds and think that everybody lives like we do? For sure.

After weaving in and out of people and traffic on our walk, we got back to the house. We got ready, grabbed our helmets, hopped on the motorcycle and went out on the town on a Friday night. It was still crowded on the streets, the business men and daily commuters replaced with college-age kids headed out to the bars and restaurants of the city. Apparently, there's a million of places to eat. My cousin and his buddies debated for a good 20 minutes before we settled on a place. There was 5 of us in total, and we crammed into one of the guys cars. The conversations on the way over were hilarious. Sounded just like the crew back home. Same jokes, same laid back attitude. PEOPLE are the same. I really liked hanging out with all of them, they were chill guys. We settled on a place in a college part of town. Bunch of places to eat, but the ones we wanted were closed or had changed owners. We wandered into Swiss Cheese Garden, a place in the college part of time. The homies here prefer going out to more laid-back places, I can see why. The place wasn't packed, which was good. Conversation at dinner was fun, a couple of the guys were freakin hilarious. We hopped on the bike back and I really enjoyed the ride through Pune's mostly empty streets. We grabbed some cold coffee at my cousins favorite spot and then took the long way back, which was super chill. It was a breezy night and the air was fresh. Reminded me of skating back home at night, stars above, asphalt below.